Good news, Lars, you did it. My DH called for me to do the same thing you needed your brother for. He had tried propping it up on something but in the end I held it. Always a good feeling to have it done.

My back and neck hurt after I replaced our disposal. Very contorted to do anything under the sink.

The only drastic measure I’ve had to do is cutting my own hair, which may not have been to deal with a disaster so much as to create one.

I figured out why my dishwasher was slow to start up. Now it starts and is ready in a relative snap and SWMBO is starting to like it more. We are more desirous of sanitizing now, so we run everything through the dishwasher, even if it was hand washed.

Very perspicacious of you, John, to have that beast of a DW at the ready!

Lars, congrats on the successful installation. I have observed many disposers being installed, but I wouldn't like to have to do it myself. Bravo! It is not cheating to have Kevin hold it. :)

No disasters of late (touch wood and tell the fairies). Please no disasters!

perspicacious! thanks for the delicious word!

Our appliance repairman is offering assistance via FT for $50, which is applied to a service call if it turns out you cannot DIY. Our freezer drawers didn't seem to be working so we tried to schedule something but alas they don't do Subzero and the drawers seem to have self-cured (bet a kid just left one open).

We will get another chance as one of our washing machines needs help. One DD always overloads them (doing laundry once a semester can do that I guess) and then they need adjusting. I know they can help w that because they've done it before. DH is in his glory because he likes to do this stuff.

A week or two ago he spent a few hours trying to fix our canister vacuum, when one of the attachments didn't work. Online people complained you couldn't get it open to work on it but he managed to. So interesting, there was essentially a wire on a ribbon (new to me) that allowed you to telescope the handle without jamming a wire. Turns out the ribbon was flimsy and had broken but DH was able to cull one from another canister vacuum we had (IDK why we own three; BAER). This was a $500 vacuum and less than 2 years old.

Personally my dalliances into new work realms have been housework related. I am also trying to become a marble cleaning expert now that my appointment for that is in limbo. I've had a poultice on a spot for 24 hours, gonna for for 48. Also tried straight ammonia. I am doing areas that are covered by a teak bench anyway so I can experiment away.

I am impressed, Lars, that you did the garbage disposal!!!!

DH has fixed the finicky Thermador ice maker twice, but last week, we started buying ice from the store.....

Way to go LARS!!!!

For a disposal, I would have called an appliance guy. I clearly remember how much trouble it was for my last BF to install the one I have now, and there is no way I would put my current BF through that. It was a bit(h! :-) You should be very pleased with yourself - I can't think of any repair I would rather NOT try!!

My icemaker stopped working recently, and I had an appliance service come out and fix it. He wore shoe coverings and a mask and gloves. I have zero issues with that. He was very nice, and we discussed the whole service-call issue with the virus going on. He said business had been initially slow for a couple of weeks, but then it was back to normal. Everyone that calls for repairs is told about their "virus protocol", and he said that most people really did not seem to care. They just want their stuff fixed.

I had a bad leak in my bathtub faucet that had started a few weeks ago, and I scheduled a plumber. But the leak went way south and I wound up having to turn off the water to the entire house in between water usage. Since the plumber could not come for 9 days (he is slam booked) my BF said he would have a look at it. I called Delta and they suggested a new cartridge (I bought the next day at Lowe's) and they also gave excellent advice on how to install it. I also found a youtube video of the exact repair on an identical faucet. I sent that to my BF and he watched it, and he came over the next night, and had it fixed in 20 minutes. He's a pretty handy guy. :-)

A year or two ago I replaced the ice maker in our Kitchenaid refrigerator in L.A. That was a lot more difficult than the garbage disposal, but at least I didn't have to get under a sink to do it. The first ice maker I bought would not install, and so I had to exchange it for the correct model. The electric connections were rather complicated, but I documented the removal so that I could see how to connect the new one.

I felt this was cooking related because it has affected how I had to deal with food scraps. I had to be careful not to drain anything into the old garbage disposal until I had replaced it.

As it turned out, there was a leak in the valve. It was causing a slow drip at the place where the water comes into the icemaker and it had frozen up. He had diagnosed that within a minute - so he definitely knew his stuff, and he showed me where it had frozen up too. He had a new valve on his truck thankfully as it was a fairly common one (Kenmore by Whirlpool - it pays to NOT have LG or Samsung these days LOL!) so he had it fixed in about 40 minutes after he came in the door. First time I have used his company, and I will call them for any future needs now.

I changed a kitchen faucet once. But under a sink, with a center stile, convinced me that's one job I'll call a plumber for.

We have been trouble shooting all our appliances since in this house. All manuals have a trouble-shooting section and maintenance suggestions for best performance. Most people don't bother reading those.

The GW appliances forum has been super helpful and I have helped some with a fridge issue in the past. Y-tube is great as well.

Congratulations, @Lars, on a successful installation. I'm waiting for a new refrigerator to be delivered right now. The installers haven't called to schedule the delivery so I wonder if I will get it today or not. My 30-year-old unit started leaking water from the bottom last week and cannot be repaired. At least it is still holding the temperature, so it's functioning. All of the usual appliance stores are closed around here, but a little family-owned shop gave me a referral to a kitchen design company that sells appliances, so I was able to order from them.

I was a little upset with the original repair guy that I called because he came out with no shoe covers, no mask, put his tools on my kitchen counter, basically followed no virus protocols. I disinfected everything in his path after he left, but you can't really disinfect the air.

I thought of this last week when we had 10 bags of salt delivered for the water softener. They usually come inside and check the system but on the phone we asked they leave them outside the garage door and we will not open our door. They said 'thank you' as they were about to say they will not come in and DO NOT open your door. (he was wearing a mask).

We don't have many N95 masks but I put them in zip-locks. If someone does need to come in I will give them one they can take with them. If you are making some, make extra. Give them away if someone needs to come in. I have a no-sew design I've not yet made but did a quick prototype. Everyone in our area and all deliveries are wearing masks so this is less of a concern as it was early on.

I am making more masks, as I brought more cotton cloth with me. Almost all of the fabric I had with me here was silk, and it does not work well for masks. When we went back to L.A. for a couple of days last week-end, I brought back cotton fabric and some other more needed supplies. We also had to check on the appliances in the garage. While I had thought that the freezer was not working there, it turned out that the reset switch on the outlet had tripped, and so there was no electricity going to it. The refrigerator was plugged into the same outlet, and so that was not working either, but it only had beverages in it that did not go bad. I had Kevin unplug all the recharging devices in the garage (which are on the same circuit) so that less power would be used and so that the reset switch would not trip again. We did not turn the freezer back on, since we left it empty.

Lars, dontcha just love that we have YouTube now? I did a repair, albeit minor, on my disposal a few years ago and I was so proud of myself. I could not have installed one though, so I am thoroughly impressed!

Just as all this Stay at Home stuff started, my disposal sprung a leak. I talked to a friend who tried to help me diagnose it using Face Time. We finally came to the conclusion that my best option was a new disposal.

@Lars, my hat is off to you for replacing your own. I’ve put a bucket under mine to catch the leaks until I’m comfortable letting a plumber come replace it. I think I’m going to order a new one from Costco.

Bbstx - they are easy enough to replace if you replace the old one with an identical model. That way you do not have to replace the fittings in the sink. I do think it takes two people to fit the new disposal in place, however, as they are unwieldy and it is difficult to make the attachment by oneself.

I think I’m going to buy a more powerful disposal. The one I currently have is 1/3 hp. The one I’m looking at at Costco is 1.25 hp. I don’t know what the difference in power means, but the difference in price is negligible so I’ll go with the more powerful.

One thing that I’ve consistently been taught by experience is that I am not very good at plumbing. Neither is DH. I actually have the plumber in my cell phone book. 😉

If you are getting a more powerful one, it is going to be heavier and even more difficult.

Kevin and I installed our own bathroom sink faucets, but those are extremely easy. I did hire a plumber to install my Universal diverter box for the shower, and since mine is German, it was not that easy even for a plumber. I had to reset the stops myself after the last one was installed, but the plumber I had in Palm Springs was not familiar with Hansgrohe, although the one in L.A. was.

I tried that once. I have always installed/replaced faucets so figured I could do it. I did the same thing you did, I bought the exact same one. I couldn't do it though, I can't remember why. Maybe the same issue you had. I had to call the plumber.

I’m impressed Lars. We are completely devoid of DIY capability.

Oh does that bring back memories! Many years and perhaps 3 houses ago DH replaced a garbage disposer. He said "never again" after he finally got it in! And we've never lived in a house with one since.

I have replaced a disposal, faucets, ceiling fans & lights, outlets and switches, gaskets in the outdoor faucets, and even a dishwasher - but on that last one I had to call for help because I lacked the specific tool needed to unfasten something (20 years ago so I don't quite remember what). I have an old household repair book from Reader's Digest that still applies to the wiring and such in my 79 year old house. YouTube videos are great but often I can't find repairs for older stuff.

My current "disaster" although that is a little bit of an exaggeration - I picked up an old vacuum cleaner that wasn't performing well. It powered on but as I suspected, was very clogged everywhere with pet hair and debris. Unfortunately the motor was also packed with hair so I had to get into that compartment to clean it out - and when I had it all reassembled, it no longer powered on. Disassembled it again and found a wire pinched; every other connection seems fine. So I suspect the pinch fractured the wire. I am going to try to figure that out, since it isn't a very old unit and should work well if I can fix it.

Lars, that is great. Isn’t YT wonderful? My DH is pretty handy. He can install just about anything but he absolutely hates doing plumbing.

We need to replace the rubber thingy in the sink that is attached to the garbage disposal. Ours isn't removable, it is somehow integrated with the attachment point. I looked at how to’s and it looks fairly easy, but finding the exact replacement for our 20 year old disposer is tricky. And you still have to remove the disposer and then reattach as if you were installing a new one. I really haven’t looked that hard as I know DH will procrastinate about putting it in, so I might as well call a plumber when this is over.

I've also replaced ceiling fans, and my brother has replaced outlets and switches - he majored in electrical engineering for four years before he switched his major to art, at which time he basically had to start over. We also installed several outdoor wall sconces, and I replaced one of our outdoor faucets. I do not work on cars, however.

Cars- me neither, except for replacing the cabin filter and wipers!

Ceiling fans are pretty simple - most anyone can watch how to do it on Youtube now. I just put a new one up a few weeks ago.

Lighting is one of my specialties, and when I was working as a furniture designer, a lot of my designs were of chandeliers and wall sconces, for which I also wrote and illustrated detailed installation instructions. I'm not sure how many people read these instructions, but I had several architects in New York thank me for them. I don't think people in L.A. read them, however.

Not to spoil your fun, but while ceiling fans may SEEM simple, they're not. They require a properly mounted junction box. You have to make sure that's what you have before you hang one. Attaching a fan to a box designed for a light is asking for an unpleasant surprise with a loud noise and possibly an injury.

Replacing a ceiling fan with another ceiling fan is what we were talking about - at least I was. I agree that replacing a light fixture with a ceiling fan is a different story, and so you have not spoiled any fun, I think.

" while ceiling fans may SEEM simple, they're not. They require a properly mounted junction box. "

Well not to spoil YOUR fun :-), but installing a ceiling fan in a new location was certainly not what I was referring to. Obviously the proper electrical box would need to be there.