If you have recently moved into a place of your own — or if you are about to — there are three repairs that will almost certainly happen in the first twelve months. Not might happen. Will happen. Here is what they are and how to deal with them.
1. The blocked or slow drain
Bathroom drains clog. Hair, soap residue, and general debris accumulate in the pipe trap beneath the sink or shower. The first sign is slow drainage. If left, it stops draining entirely.
The fix: a plastic drain snake, €3 to €5, inserts into the drain and pulls the blockage back out. Takes ten minutes. No chemicals, no plumber. Keep one under the sink — you will use it more than once a year.
Prevention: a simple drain strainer over the plughole catches hair before it enters the pipe. €2 at any hardware store. Replace it when it is full.
2. The dripping or leaking tap
Taps drip because the ceramic cartridge inside has worn. In older buildings especially, taps may have been dripping quietly for years before you moved in. A dripping tap wastes roughly 3,000 litres of water per year at the lower end — and it gets worse over time, not better.
The fix: a replacement cartridge, €8 to €12, takes about 20 minutes to fit. The process involves turning off the isolation valve under the sink, removing the handle, unscrewing and replacing the cartridge. Full instructions and photos are in She Fixed It.
3. The running toilet
The cistern that keeps hissing after a flush. The toilet that sounds like it is always refilling. This is a worn fill valve — the component that controls water entry into the cistern. Left unaddressed, it wastes water continuously and the sound becomes permanent background noise.
The fix: a replacement fill valve, €10 to €15. Turn off the water supply, disconnect the hose, swap the component, reconnect. About 25 minutes. Full instructions in She Fixed It.
Why these three
These repairs share a few things: they are caused by normal wear that affects every home eventually; they are simple enough to fix without professional help; and they are consistently outsourced by people who would rather pay $100 to $150 than spend 20 minutes on something unfamiliar.
They do not need to be unfamiliar. All three are documented in the manual. You can fix the first one within a week of reading this.