Friday, March 23, 2018

The Ikea Effect

The old house is almost empty.  The only things left are tools and cleaning supplies.  After this weekend, (hopefully) we can hand the house off to the realtor.

We stopped there after work yesterday and brought a carload of assorted items from the basement, attic and dark corners of my workroom.  We parked in the driveway, unloaded by the back door, and I unlocked the door.  Or attempted to.  It didn't work.  I checked; I had the right key.  I tried again.   .

Mario tried his key and it didn't work.  We both stood there for a second, staring at our suddenly-uncooperative door.  It reminded me of the time several winters ago when I turned on the kitchen faucet and nothing happened - your brain is just so used to faucet = water that it didn't compute when the water didn't happen.  (The pipes were frozen, but it took a few seconds for the realization to sink in).

This was like that.  Key + lock = entry to house, right?  Nope.

Mario let himself in by the front door and was able to open the kitchen door from the inside.  He was going to call a locksmith, but it wasn't a key/lock issue, it was apparently that the entire handleset was somehow wonky, and I didn't think that was worth paying someone else to tell us.  We looked up new, similar sets online and while they're expensive ($150ish), it's something that lasts for decades, so it's worth it.  We decided to let it go and just use the front door for now, until the old house sells and we have more cash on hand.

But.

After dinner, as he was settled in on the couch, talking back to MSNBC, I got my work light, some lock lubricant, a couple of screwdrivers and a pair of pliers, and went to work on the door. Oh, and a glass of wine.  Lubricant for me, as well as the lock. I got the old set off, took it apart, cleaned and reassembled it.  A few interior screws were loose, and while I can't fix the screw at the bottom of the handle (it's both stripped and corroded, so I can't even remove it), I was able to get the whole thing back together, on the door and functioning.

It's not perfect, but I'm optimistic that we can get another 6 months out of it. And if I was able to temporarily repair and reinstall this lock, I'll easily be able to install the new one.

They call it the Ikea effect, that rush you get from completing a task yourself (albeit sometimes imperfectly), rather than paying an expert to do it for you.  It feels good.

Or maybe that was the wine?

4 comments:

Nursebennett said...

I’ve never heard that term, but yay for you! Hang out at Home Depot and talk to the employees there and you’ll learn a lot. I’ve learned to install toilets, change faucets, locks, interior doors, set tile and install laminate flooring, which is super easy. It gets a bit addictive. Hmmm....kind of like advancing sewing skills.

Summer Flies said...

That's a new term for me too but I get that feeling all the time when I fix things. I hate paying for things if a simple fix and I'm happy to have a go.. I mean if the door handle couldn't be fixed then you were really not worse off. It is a bit addictive but I like it.

Jodie said...

Totally get you! Hope the old place sells soon!

Pattyskypants said...

When you have nothing to lose, when fear is replaced by a lovely beaujolais, for instance, it's always a shock what one can do!!