We cook frequently at our homes, enjoying three meals a day and consuming plenty of coffee and tea, wine, beer. There’s always some activity in the kitchen, which makes the dishwasher a valuable asset. When necessary, we also wash dishes by hand (as mentioned, everything that can’t go into the dishwasher - common sense). I’m not certain whether dishwashers in the US are larger than those in the EU. Often, there are also smaller models (45 cm wide) available.
I agree, that’s what happens most of the time. Unless there’s some kind of negligence.
I think a combination of both is the best approach in these situations.
On the one hand, as a sitter, I don’t use things I don’t need or can do without, particularly if they look very expensive or I don’t know how to operate.
On the other hand, I think owners should be clear about restrictions or extra protection of things which, for whatever reason, are important to them, as they should also warn about faulty things and glitches. I have found, on three different occasions locks which didn’t work properly. Two, I could manage lo lock in the end but it took me ages. Fortunately, they were garden doors that I could manage not to use again. When informing the owners, both said they knew about it and were meaning to fix it. The third one, was a front door and I could not fix it. In that case, I had been warned and, fortunately, the next door neighbor was the handyman. The owner was very diligent arranging everything. I didn’t offer to pay, I was just unlucky that it broke down when I was there.
All those precautions taken, accidents still happen and I think it’s OK to talk to the owner openly and find the best solution.
@anon22438636, one thing is asking and a different thing would be informing, like “sorry, x accidentally broke. I’ll do my best to replace it with an exact version of it” I think then owners are free to say if it is worth replacing or not. I think most of us have things which would be glad to get rid off. I least I do, I tend to accumulate. 
Other than a broken glass or plate, my only experience with something breaking is not being able to turn on vacuum to clean up at the end of a sit. I explained why I swept and didn’t vacuum in my ‘welcome home’ note. Got 5* review and a few days later an email from the HO saying that the vacuum had given out - not blaming me - the on/off switch had stopped working.
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Once again I posted saw the date of the OP and tried to delete. Oh well. But here is a more recent coffee thread: Coffee brewing
I just found out that my sitter paid for a garage door repair person to come to my house when the door wouldn’t open. I didn’t know this until a few weeks after the sit ended.
If she had told me that there was a problem, I could have shown her how to fix it in a few minutes, just by pulling on the emergency entry cord. I don’t know why it stopped working properly, but it was a very easy fix. Lesson - ask the HO if something stops working. I appreciate that she tried to be self-sufficient, but it wasn’t necessary to pay for a repair.
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Exactly! Communication, always. Even if it means risking “self sufficiency” rating.
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Maybe the sitter did not want to bother you on your vacation. She showed initiative and had the garage door fixed in which you did not have to worry about getting fixed upon your return.
It sounds like the sitter did not ask for reimbursement?
While not necessary to pay for the repair, it sounds like the sitter was just trying to do a good deed and help you out.
I would be grateful and say thank you.
I know, that’s why I commended her self-sufficiency, but I doesn’t change my point. As a sitter, I would have Googled the problem to see if I could fix it before contacting a HO. In my situation, Google would have shown an easy fix, epecially since the emergency release cord is mentioned in my Welcome Guide.
The same problem recurred before I returned and it took me about 30 seconds to fix it.
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Moving forward, you may want to inform future sitters and show them how to fix it.
@Lassie - Thank you for your insight. I would have felt guilty and done the same as your sitter. You’ve given me something to think about for the future.
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The garage door would open only manually on one of my sits and my host and I went on video and I hopped on a ladder to troubleshoot the garage door opener, trying everything she normally did, but it still didn’t work. So we left it for her to tinker with on her return. (Or call a friend to repair, as she’d done previously.) Meanwhile, I opened the door manually, because I ran her Vespas for her, so the batteries wouldn’t run down while she was away. The door needed to be opened to avoid fumes building up.
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That makes sense. In my case, the sitter didn’t even need to open the garage door. She could have just used the front door. She didn’t have a car.
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I will, and also tell them that they shouldn’t enter and leave through the garage unless they are parking a car in the gaage. This sitter could have just used the house front door.
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Just generally, various homes, garages or appliances can have tricky or nonstandard ways of working that hosts have lived with and don’t think about, because they’ve gotten used to them. So if something doesn’t work during a sit, it’s better to ask the host first. Like I’ll say, I’ve tried X, Y or Z and the X isn’t working. Is there some trick to getting it going? … The couple of times I’ve had to do that, the thing wasn’t working as it should, and the hosts knew it, but hadn’t thought to mention it.
I would prefer to know if maintenance people are going to be at my house. I might have a preferred service provider or have someone that I definitely do NOT want to use.
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@Lassie - Such a good point! Thank you, again for your insights.
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We have just learned to not use people’s expensive coffee machines. Too much work anyway to clean, descale, and if something breaks…we don’t want to be at fault. Our tip, buy instant Vietnamese coffee from Amazon (wayy better than American coffee anyways!).
Combined member here.
Just wanted to post that I’m not sure what I did but I have discoloration on my black granite from something that was wet and I’ve tried and tried to remove it and the granite is sealed.
Just posting because stuff happens and now I have a white spot on my granite.
If I were a sitter, I’d be horrified but I also know I did nothing negligent.
Stuff happens and keeps you humble.
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Do you sit yourself for other pet parents? Which insurance compnany do you use that covers your own home and others where you sit I wonder?
I always travel with my own insurance for medical and I also have my own house insurance but the two aren’t the same. I use an Australian insurance company.
The cord I broke on sit was around than $30AU - not an insurance claim