Do basic home repairs at 16: ready to do it alone
At 16, most children can do basic home repairs on their own: about 30 minutes, as needed, alone around 16.
Do basic home repairs at 16, at a glance
- Stage
- On their own
- What they do
- doing the whole job without being shown, to a decent standard for the age
- How you check
- spot-check now and then, and hand over the job for good
- Time it takes
- about 30 minutes
- How often
- As needed
- Points
- 15 (5 for a small job, 10 for a bigger one)
- Starts with help
- around 13
- Alone
- around 16
⚠️ Safety: Nothing involving mains wiring, gas or roofs. Show them where the water shut-off and the breaker box are.
Other life skills jobs at 16
- Shop from a grocery list (alone)
- Manage their own weekly budget (alone)
- Change a light bulb (alone)
- Look after a younger sibling for a while (alone)
- Book their own appointments (with help)
- Pay a bill or a subscription (with help)
A day of jobs at 16
- Daily jobs
- a fair share of the household
- Weekly jobs
- whole areas they own, like their laundry and one family dinner
- Time
- what an adult housemate would do
In TaskFamily, "Do basic home repairs" becomes a job on your 16-year-old's own screen. The Trust Ladder moves each job from "check every time" to spot checks to full trust as they prove they can do it.
Free for one household. Premium is $5.99 a month or $49 a year for the whole family, never per child.
Keep reading
Ages and times are typical, not rules: children develop at different speeds, and you know yours best. The chore library is TaskFamily's own. The guide text is drafted with AI from these numbers and checked automatically before it is published.