Accidental DIY Repair Success

I pride myself on being able to do minor repairs and fixes.   Most of the time, I am successful.  It usually take longer than hiring someone, but it definitely is much less expensive.    Sometimes, I am unable to fix initially. The fix isn't done for a while, which upsets my spouse and I put more effort on it.  Then sometimes I luck out and get an accidental fix.  

The following two accidental fixes happened recently.

• Several years ago, one of the whole house speakers stopped working in the kitchen.  I did a lot of trouble shooting to determine the problem.  I switch the speaker lines and the other one stopped working.   I switched out the volume control with no effect.  I undid and reconnected all the speaker wires with no change.  I concluded that one the wires must have gone bad and decided to live with it.
  
  Fast forward to mid last year.    We purchased a new modern entertainment stand to replace our armoire entertainment cabinet.  I wasn't looking forward to moving the stereo equipment from the old armoire cabinet to the new entertainment stand since it involved reconnecting over 20 wires to the equipment.   After much delay, I spend a day reconnecting the wires which I had previously marked.  Some of the wires had become detached and I needed to reattach them.  One of the detached wires was for the kitchen speakers.  After reattaching the kitchen speaker wires:  Surprise both speakers worked.   I've continued playing the kitchen speakers and both continue work.   
  
  I could swear that I had checked the connection on the speaker wire several years ago.  But I guess I didn't retighten them correct.     Anyway, I'm still claiming a belated DIY success.
  
  
• A few months ago, my son showed be a brown residue around his bathroom.   I figured he was just messy and wiped it away.   However, the next week it appeared again.  This time I suspected faucet body might be defective.
  
  Since the faucet has a lifetime warranty, I decided to take it apart and submit a warranty request. Since it has been a few years since it was installed, I retrieved the installation instructions to use for the dismantling.  It was a tight space under sink and it took a while loosen it. Further dismantling was going to take a while.  Unfortunately, the next day, my son was having a friend over for a playdate.  So I reassemble everything, tightened all the nuts and turned the water back one, and wait for the residue to occur again.
  
  That was months ago and no residue returned.  Tightening all the nuts was the solution.   Another accidental successful DIY repair.

Yeah, I was lucky both times.  However, lesson learned: make sure all nuts and screws are tight first in the future.

For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday for a new segment.

This is not financial nor do-it-yourself advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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