I went to take a shower and the cold water faucet handle broke loose.
The grooves got stripped.
Fortunately the local Lowe's hadn't closed for the evening yet, and I
replaced it.

But this got me to thinking: Which parts should a homeowner keep on
hand just in case something goes wrong late Sunday night when the
hardware stores are closed?

Faucet valves and handles to fix any of the faucets. I've learned that
one the hard way.

What else? What other common emergencies require having replacement
parts on hand in advance?





-- Steven L.

On Sep 16, 3:05*pm, "Steven L." wrote:
I went to take a shower and the cold water faucet handle broke loose. *
The grooves got stripped.
Fortunately the local Lowe's hadn't closed for the evening yet, and I
replaced it.

But this got me to thinking: *Which parts should a homeowner keep on
hand just in case something goes wrong late Sunday night when the
hardware stores are closed?

Faucet valves and handles to fix any of the faucets. *I've learned that
one the hard way.

What else? *What other common emergencies require having replacement
parts on hand in advance?

-- Steven L.

I just had to replace a shut off valve for a toilet. It would not
shut off as there was a pin hole leak in the valve body itself. This
happened the night of the hurricane and only Lowes was open but sold
me the wrong valve. Plumbers putty and tape kept it down to a drip
and I got the right part the next day.
Wife said, why don't you get an extra one, but I'm thinking it took
over 35 years in this house for this to happen for the first time and
all the shut off valves have been replaced when faucets and toilets
were replaced.

On Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:17:29 -0700 (PDT), Frank
wrote:

On Sep 16, 3:05Â*pm, "Steven L." wrote:
I went to take a shower and the cold water faucet handle broke loose. Â*
The grooves got stripped.
Fortunately the local Lowe's hadn't closed for the evening yet, and I
replaced it.

But this got me to thinking: Â*Which parts should a homeowner keep on
hand just in case something goes wrong late Sunday night when the
hardware stores are closed?

Faucet valves and handles to fix any of the faucets. Â*I've learned that
one the hard way.

What else? Â*What other common emergencies require having replacement
parts on hand in advance?

-- Steven L.

I just had to replace a shut off valve for a toilet. It would not
shut off as there was a pin hole leak in the valve body itself. This
happened the night of the hurricane and only Lowes was open but sold
me the wrong valve. Plumbers putty and tape kept it down to a drip
and I got the right part the next day.
Wife said, why don't you get an extra one, but I'm thinking it took
over 35 years in this house for this to happen for the first time and
all the shut off valves have been replaced when faucets and toilets
were replaced.

I can only think of one non-disposable "spare part" worth having
around. Furnace ignitor. Mine is about 8 bucks.
I needed the spare one time, and had it.
Not because I was smart enough to have a spare handy, but I had bought
it unnecessarily when I was doing some trouble shooting.
That's why I had it.
Now I keep a spare.
There might be something else, but I can't think of it.
I always found that most spare parts wind up in the garbage.

--Vic

In article ,
"Steven L." wrote:

I went to take a shower and the cold water faucet handle broke loose.
The grooves got stripped.
Fortunately the local Lowe's hadn't closed for the evening yet, and I
replaced it.

But this got me to thinking: Which parts should a homeowner keep on
hand just in case something goes wrong late Sunday night when the
hardware stores are closed?

Faucet valves and handles to fix any of the faucets. I've learned that
one the hard way.

What else? What other common emergencies require having replacement
parts on hand in advance?





-- Steven L.

Thermocoupler. Limit switches for the furnace fan.

On Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:05:22 +0000, Steven L. wrote:

I went to take a shower and the cold water faucet handle broke loose.
The grooves got stripped.
Fortunately the local Lowe's hadn't closed for the evening yet, and I
replaced it.

But this got me to thinking: Which parts should a homeowner keep on
hand just in case something goes wrong late Sunday night when the
hardware stores are closed?

I'd suggest thinking in terms of what you need (parts and tools) to
isolate faults and work around them until the following day, rather than
trying to plan for every possible failure. So, a few pipe fittings, pipe
cutter, make sure there's gas in the torch, keep some wire and wire nuts
handy etc.

My big single points of failure are probably the well pump and the
cooling system in the fridge. I can't think of anything else that would
be a major inconvenience until I could get to a store, only lots of minor
ones :-)

cheers

Jules

On Fri, 16 Sep 2011 19:05:22 +0000, "Steven L."
wrote:

What else?

Duct tape

Steven L. wrote:
But this got me to thinking: Which parts should a homeowner keep on
hand just in case something goes wrong late Sunday night when the
hardware stores are closed?


wire *and* wire cutters.

The concept is good. The individual list of parts needs to
be specific to what kind of home. Trailer, versus McMansion.
I think the faucets, toilet valve, furnace ignitor, are all
good ones. I've worked the idea around in my mind for a
couple days. One other item might be exterior or interior
door locks, have a spare lock or two.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Steven L." wrote in message
...
I went to take a shower and the cold water faucet handle
broke loose.
The grooves got stripped.
Fortunately the local Lowe's hadn't closed for the evening
yet, and I
replaced it.

But this got me to thinking: Which parts should a homeowner
keep on
hand just in case something goes wrong late Sunday night
when the
hardware stores are closed?

Faucet valves and handles to fix any of the faucets. I've
learned that
one the hard way.

What else? What other common emergencies require having
replacement
parts on hand in advance?





-- Steven L.