Finances & Money • Home

Of Fridges and Flooring

I’m not sure, but I think when we moved the fridge while installing new flooring 2 weeks ago, we may have messed something up. Since then we’ve had a drip, drip. drip from the bottom of the fridge. The fridge is a 7-year-old GE Profile Arctica (left by the last owners) that has an ice and water dispenser. This isn’t the first time we’ve had fridge problems though:

• First, our icemaker stopped working. Rather than call a service technician, I gave the repair job a shot myself. I ordered the icemaker from RepairClinic.com for about $100 and installed it myself. It took a couple days for it to start working (I was worried I wasted the money during that whole time), but since then, it’s been running great.
• Next, everything started freezing on the fridge side and the freezer side seemed to be a bit warm. I called up Sears to check it out, but in the end, I ordered a part from Repair Clinic and saved $233 off of Sears’ quote by replacing it myself.

This time, it appears that the “water valve and bracket kit” (about $65) has gone bad. This is where the water line comes in and distributes out to the fridge to dispense water and make ice.

I’m hoping the part doesn’t explode though. Why? Because the water shutoff is in the crawlspace. The last owners were too stupid to install a shutoff valve on the fridge line, but now when we replace the valve kit, we’ll also add on a shutoff valve to the line. I still have to go under the house, but at least if we need to disconnect the fridge in the future, I won’t have to get covered with bugs, dirt and fiberglass from the insulation.

At the same time, I also ordered a replacement water filter, which you’re supposed to replace every 6 months. I think it’s been a bit longer than that, but I couldn’t resist saving $20 off the Lowes/Home Depot price ($43 vs $63).

Ultimately, when it comes time to replace the fridge, I don’t think I want one with an icemaker or water dispenser, given the added cost and less space inside the fridge, and of course the hassle of more parts that can break (and gush water everywhere).

Status on the Pergo Floor

And as a quick note, my father-in-law is coming down this Sunday-Wednesday to finish the flooring. The section where he’ll be starting is pretty tricky, but I’m totally confident he’ll finish it all perfectly. And the cost to us? Well, he won’t accept payment, but I think I’ll steal his Tundra and fill up the tank and probably buy a few hundred in Lowes gift cards, even if he’ll be using it for other clients (who will pay him in cash eventually).

I gotta say, if you’re not handy, make sure you marry into a family with a master carpenter and handyman. It’s even better when he loves his work so much he won’t charge you (although you’ll have to be creative in ways to pay him back)!