Seeking electrical help for first time homeowner

[Bht1725]

I am a first time homeowner trying to give my house a few updates on the mostly original 1984 aesthetic. One of the first things I started was replacing old yellow toggle switches with bright white rocker switches. I came across a double switch in the kitchen/dining room area that had some DIY work done in the past and now seems to be causing problems.

In the photo the left side switch controls kitchen over head lights and the right powers a fan above the dining room controlled by remote. It seems there is also power spliced from this that leads to the garage to control a wall light.

The problem I'm having is that when I connect the bottom (further from ground screw) wire to the right switch there is no function for the left switch and the garage light. When I disconnect it, the kitchen and garage work fine.

Also when I pulled the switches out of the box a twist and a loose wire came out as well. Not sure if that lose wire was some sort of bridge between the two.

I'm not sure what the issue here is or what to do. Any advice is appreciated as I am trying to solve myself but if neccessary I am willing to call a pro.

 

[Bht1725]

I think I found a solution late last night. I clipped the short wire coming from the left switch and used half to connect the right switch, left switch, and the loose black wire with a wire cap. Seemed to fix what problem I had.

 

[brianmoooore]

The more I see of USA wiring on here, the more I understand why it's only 110 volts.