There’s nothing that halts a busy household like a broken refrigerator. Whether the ice maker stopped working or the food in the fridge is starting to smell suspiciously foul, your fridge can run the full spectrum on what’s wrong with it—and unfortunately, how much it costs.

When Josephine Garis Cochran invented the first practical dishwasher in 1886, she did so to solve a problem. She wanted a machine that could wash dishes faster than they could be done by hand and without breaking them.

A leaky fridge is never a welcome sight – and with all the potential causes for that water puddling beneath it, you could spend the better part of an afternoon just trying to figure out just why the refrigerator is leaking.

As you prepare to make dinner for yourself or your family, there’s nothing more frustrating than when you find yourself faced with a broken oven or stove. But before you panic, remember that you have several options - you can first try to diagnose it on your own, then have a trained professional come take a look.

Out of all the appliances in your home, the refrigerator is the one you rely on the most to keep things cold and keep your food safe for consumption. So, it’s not surprising that when the refrigerator starts to run warm, stops cooling properly, leaks water or suddenly turns from a quiet machine into a noisy one, you understandably get nervous that your hard-working appliance is about to call it quits. But before you reach for the phone to dial a service person to come over and evaluate it, you can take a few simple steps to diagnose your broken refrigerator yourself - here’s how.

If your clothes aren’t coming out completely dry at the end of a laundry cycle, there’s no need to let it dampen your spirit. Still, it can be daunting to deal with a technician if you’re not sure how much it should cost for dryer repair – after all, not knowing what you’re getting yourself into can make your head spin.

Whether you like to prepare gourmet food in your kitchen or you’re more of a frozen pizza kind of chef, you rely on your oven to heat your meals consistently and evenly so that you can count on a delicious dinner each and every time you use it. But when your food is cold in the middle and burnt on top, or your oven isn’t even heating at all, it’s time to look into what’s going on.

If you're like most people, the time you allot to household chores is limited. Just imagine trying to throw a load of laundry in before heading off to work and finding that your washing machine won't start—major frustration, right?

Luckily, your washing machine doesn't break down every day. Unfortunately, when it does, you may be left scurrying to find a reputable company that can repair it quickly without costing you a fortune.

No one is under the illusion that a washing machine will last forever, but a broken one always brings up the eternal question: should it stay or should it go? In this era of so many single-use products, we’ve become pretty accustomed to just replacing our appliances when they break down, so we don’t have to deal with figuring out what’s wrong with it or coughing up the repair expenses.

Having a broken dryer can be a real wet blanket (yes, pun intended) – but if you’re of a DIY mindset, it can take a load off if you’re able to figure out what’s wrong with your dryer on your own. Fortunately, we’re here to help you isolate and solve many common problems with our dryer troubleshooting guide, so you’re not left feeling high and dry.

It’s hard to imagine what life used to look like without the convenience of appliances until one of yours breaks down and temporarily throws your routine for a loop. When the dryer breaks down it can be especially frustrating, as it’s easily one of the most-used appliances in our whole arsenal.

With washing machine prices rising this year – USA Today says prices likely went up by 10% in 2018, bumping the average washing machine price from $900 to almost $1,000 – it would almost seem like a no-brainer to fix a broken washing machine, rather than replace it altogether.

If you opened your dryer after the heat cycle and discovered that your clothes were still wet, your first reaction was probably panic. Why is your dryer not heating? Can I fix it myself or will it be a major repair expense? Am I going to have to buy a new one?

If your washing machine isn’t cleaning clothes the way it used to, you don’t have to walk around with stains on your shirt or drop piles of cash on a dry cleaning service.