The idea behind claiming repair expenses pertaining to your whole house is that the home office is a percentage of the whole house (3.76% for you). The home office is considered to be a 'business' space. Businesses are allowed to deduct repairs pertaining to their business. So, 3.76% of your house is a business space, therefore you can deduct 3.76% of the total cost of repairs that you made to the house during the year.
If there had been a specific repair or project (like painting the office, for example) that only pertained to the office area, then you would be able to deduct 100% of that expense.
All of the home office expense is reported on Form 8829, which then goes to Schedule C Business Income and Expenses. Schedule A is not involved with this at all, and in general, home repairs are not deductible. As explained above, you are only deducting the portion that is attributed to the business portion of your home.
That being said, there is nothing out of line or risky in deducting the 3.76% of home repairs, but you are not required to do so. You can certainly leave that off of your return.
Safe travels for you and healing thoughts for your dad.
@Varsuuk
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