The fix was in for those visiting the Repair Café at the Barrie Public Library’s downtown branch Saturday.
Everything from mixers to clothing irons to bicycles were evaluated, taken apart and put back together, hopefully in working order.
Brian McGillis is part of BRIX Makerspace, a local community of people who fix and repair items, and one of the chief fixers at the Repair Café.
“I think the vast majority of people, if they thought it was an option, they would get things fixed,” he said of appliances or machinery or any technology that stops working.
But McGillis said they don’t know where to take it, how much it will cost to repair, and how long it will take to repair.
“So, they default to getting a new one,” he said. “People always want to save money. If you told them they could get it fixed at half the price of buying a new one …”
One of his tasks Saturday was to try to figure out why a woman’s Sharp clothing iron wasn’t working anymore.
When McGillis determined, after taking the iron apart by removing a half-dozen small screws and prying it apart with a screwdriver, that its cord needed replacing, the woman was no longer interested in its repair.
McGillis nonetheless put it back together and bagged it for repair another time.
“It’s fun,” he said when asked why.
Dave Wood, of Barrie, brought his KitchenAid mixer to the Repair Café, looking for a fix.
Fixer Josh Lebreton, of Barrie, took up the challenge.
“It was making this weird noise. Now it won’t work at all, so I am trying to fix it,” he said while looking online to see how to open the mixer and take a look inside.
“In general, I fix things at home. I don’t have the money to always buy a new one and I don’t like to throw things away,” he said. “It’s not good for the environment.”
Wood said times have changed in the appliance repair game.
“Because of the way things are built, it’s cheaper to buy a new one,” he said. “The life expectancy on some of these appliances is 10 years, and you used to be able to get them repaired, too.”
He said he had to put in a special order just to get a second bowl for the mixer.
“But at least you knew who to contact to get parts,” he said of KitchenAid, a well-known brand.
It wasn’t just items needing to be plugged in that were being fixed at the Repair Café.
“We take used bicycles and fix them, or teach people how to fix their own bikes,” said Nick Flinn, of Firebird Community Cycle, a registered not-for-profit organization that repairs and recycles bikes.
“I think people end up taking (their bicycles) somewhere because there’s just a knowledge gap, they’re not knowing how to fix them, but it can be very expensive. You go to a shop, you’re usually in $50 to $100 no matter what the problem is,” he said.
“You come and see us, we have a selection of used parts, tools ... a pay-what-you-can shop. Everything we do, everything we help you learn, is all donation-based.”
The Repair Café was also sponsored by Living Green Barrie.
