Do It Yourself?
Posted by John Draper | Filed under Life Lessons
I’m not big on DIY, I have to admit. I haven’t got clue one about how to change a faucet, change the oil in my car, or clean my eaves troughs (although that one seems pretty self-evident and it’s the ladder that I hate!) But I’m not a moron and when money is tight (and it’s sometimes tight for all sorts of reasons), I’m willing to try new stuff to save a buck or two.
I’ve painted rooms and I’ve had Alex and her girlfriend, Callie, paint my basement. They did a wonderful job. I know how to sew on a button, fix a hem, and stitch a seam. I’m totally amazed at the people who can’t sew in even a rudimentary way. I’ve even been primarily responsible for cutting my son’s hair, and most of the time I do a pretty decent job. When you swap your time for the money you’d have to spend to get someone else to do the job, the savings are significant, and so is the pride you can take in a job well done.
I’m also not above swapping something I do well for something someone else does well. My former across-the-street neighbour, Ron, can do anything in a house. When I needed something done, I’d ask him. In return, I’d make up a batch of crab-cakes – I do make really good crab-cakes, but don’t ask for the recipe because it’s a secret! –Ron looooves my crab-cakes.
I am saddened by the turns life has taken that has us hire out all the things we used to do for ourselves, or pay strangers, when we could ask friends and neighbours to help in exchange for a favour at a future date. Because it’s so easy just to “hire someone,” we’ve come less reliant on our community and less willing to share with our neighbours.
Imagine if four or five neighbours bought the lawnmower that you use once every couple of weeks, or the snowblower, or the ladder, the nail-gun, the steam carpet cleaner. First, we’d all have lot less stuff in our houses, and all that stuff would have to work harder for the good money we paid for it. Wouldn’t it be right neighbourly to offer to get someone a couple of things at the store because you were making the trip anyway? Just imagine if you built a community of people who didn’t just live on the same street, but lived in their own “village.” Wow! What a concept.
One of the things living in the country has taught me is that we do “need” our neighbours. We have to be able – and willing – to count on them for all sorts of reasons. When my horses used to escape, it was always a neighbour who would knock on the door to tell me and help get them back into the paddock. And if someone were going on vacation, we all knew to keep an eye on their place, driving by from time to time, to check and make sure everything we A-OK.
Now that I’ve moved to town and have even more neighbours, it’ll be interesting to see how willing they are to open up their lives to a brazen woman with a dirty mouth and her two children. And it’ll be interesting to see just how many DIY jobs I end up with because I only have myself to count on.
So what are the jobs you do yourself rather than pay for? And do you do any of those jobs for friends and family too?
Even if you have a funny story about something you tried to do yourself with not much success, let’s hear it. Sometimes it’s heartening to know that trying and failing isn’t really such a terrible thing, as long as a lesson is learned.
BTW: To all those who have sent best wishes for my move and life restyling, big hug. I’m doing fine. The kids are settling in and Alex is loving being where her friends can drop in. Her boys are coming on the weekend to move boxes and settle me in. Thomas hooked up my wireless router. And I’ve already praised Zac up the whazoo… so enough of that! People are dropping by for tea and I’m feeling very welcomed. And the garbage guys took all my moving crap… so I didn’t even have to do a run to the dump. Yah! I can’t thank you guys enough for the warm wishes. The whole time I felt I was encircled by so much love and positive energy that nothing could go wrong. And nothing did. You made me invincible!
December 12, 2008 at 7:16 am
Here’s my DIY list -
My Wedding (almost 21 yrs ago)
- made my own invitations
- wore a 1940s bridal dress that was on it’s way to the Goodwill which my mother-in-law took in for me
- my husband wore a 1940s tux that he found at the Goodwill
- our families prepared the meal themselves (with the help of 3 freezers)
Home Repairs
- I was one of the first girls who was allowed to take shop in junior high so my dowry was wood working tools. I use these tools to put up shelves, sand dry wall, etc.
- my husband and I buy old homes, live in them for about 15 yrs – make them energy efficient, renovate them, rewire them, etc. then sell them and move to the next project (this is my 3rd house + my hubby’s 2nd).
Clothes
- I buy good quality clothes on sale or at discount places like Winners and take them in myself
Hair-cutting
- got the ‘buzz cutting’ kit on sale and have been cutting my husband’s and son’s hair with – now the do it themselves
- learned to cut my own hair when my kids were little and then used the $ I was saving for the children’s RESP
Gym
- our family lived with fitness coaches for 4 months in Europe. I had to attend all their mom and tot fitness classes. I illustrated the moves, and when I returned to Toronto, taught my colleagues fitness for 5 months and now it is my own routine.
- I have a roll out mat, some weights – and now get up early and do my work out Monday through to Friday
Cooking
- bake in bulk and freeze
Gifts
- shop all year, yard sales, general sales
- sew my own cloth draw string gift bags and make my own tags with computer software programs
PS. Gail – so glad to hear you are settling in nicely to your new home.
December 12, 2008 at 7:17 am
I’m bad when it comes to paying other people. I have trust issues with myself in the end I worry so much that I’ve done “X” wrong that it hardly seems worth it to try. My husband is the opposite in that regard. He’ll at least give it a go. If he messes up and it costs a little more to fix, oh well, at least he tried to save us money.
A few months ago, his hairline retreating, he decided to start shaving his head. I said “let’s go to the hairdresser!” he said “I’m shaving my head, how hard can it be?” He shaved his head while I was at work and surprised the heck outta me when I got home.
It reminded me of a story my mom used to tell me when I was a kid, warning that I shouldn’t let my Great Aunt cut my bangs. Apparently my mom had let her do it as a kid because it was just a trim and money was tight and… Well… My Great Aunt wanted to do a good job. By the time she was done trying to straighten out the job my mom had about half an inch of bangs left!
December 12, 2008 at 7:32 am
My hubby is an electrician so luckily alot of DIY stuff he can do, and quite honestly, if it doesn’t involve electricity, I’ll give it a try.
I find living in the city it’s hard to rely on neighbours, they all want to keep to themselves.
When I lived in the country many moons ago, even in town, it was much easier. People would drop by, give a hand, with nothing expected in return except maybe a cup of coffee and a chat.
I’m very glad for you Gail, that things have gone so smoothly.
Oh and BTW I got the Organizer I ordered! It’s fantastic! Hubby isn’t so sure but I’m working on him!
Have a good day!
December 12, 2008 at 7:56 am
Thankfully my husband is one of those ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ kinda guys, so he’s been a dream to my family of ‘tryers and screwer uppers’! I think even if I wanted to get rid of him my siblings would stage a coup! That said, this week, for the FIRST time ever, I decided to try out the whole snowblowing experience, and outside of realizing after I’d dragged the damn thing up the laneway twice that there’s actually a REVERSE traction on it, I did an awesome job. I know, not exactly making curtains (which I have also done many moons ago for our other 2 homes), or plumbing my own bathroom or anything, but I was still quite impressed with my strength, ability, and just sheer doggedness to prove I could do it. I used to rely on my husband too much and end up second guessing my abilities to even put up a picture, but I’ve gotten over that again (especially now that I realize using the wall-putty hole-fixing stuff isn’t rocket science).
On the whole cutting of hair thing…I’m not allowed to do that anymore. Nowadays I stick to cutting gift wrap and other things that nobody cares if it’s crooked or not.
It’ll be interesting if us city dwellers reverse even further into our holes if we fall on hard times. I think we’re too proud sometimes to admit we need help (which may be a downfall when people need some financial help in the future maybe), so we keep on with doing it on our own, telling others we’re fine, only to realize the once freshly dug hole has turned into a trench around us. Please God if I find we’re in a tough situation in the future I’ll pull on my resources instead of continuing to dig. I hope others can continue to rely on me as well.
December 12, 2008 at 8:34 am
I thank my parents all the time for giving me a brother, who when he was small would deconstruct things and then put them back together…because that brother became a mechanic and is very handy around the house. This past winter was particularly hard on my car and he was able to fix many problems that would have cost me “an arm and a leg” if I had gone to a garage or automotive shop. Just in the past year, I’ve saved easily $3,000!!
In turn, I’ll watch his family’s pets when they go up to the cottage or away on vacation.
We all need to start “bartering” our services … I say “bring back the Bartering”!!…
BTW Gail, I wanted to save money on buy the JARS, so I’ve opted for the “ENVELOPES” … works the same and my receipts are not all crumpled up. I actually write on the envelope the amount I’m starting off with and subtract the amount spent as I go…:)
Take care,
E.
December 12, 2008 at 8:36 am
I have a story of DIY disaster!
k, well not so much disaster but when you mentioned wireless router, I just had to laugh. My boyfriend and I moved into an apartment Dec 1, and we both *thought* we knew how to setup a wireless router – how hard could it be, right?
Well, we each took a stab at it, to the point where my boyfriend managed to disable my networking capabilities! I finally figured out how to re-enable everything, and asked a coworker if he could come over after work to assist me.
He logged in remotely to my computer and had the wireless configured and up and running in no time! It was seriously 5 minutes of his time.
In return, I baked him a batch of chocolate chip cookies and brought them into the office the next day!
I can’t think of anything off the top of my head for specific DIY examples though.
December 12, 2008 at 8:55 am
MY last DYI disaster was with paint. My house is painted with oil based paints. ( there’s only 4 layers of paint in this 40 year old house! The previous owners painted over top every surface with latex paint with out priming first. The result: peeling paint every where,including watching the seemingly dry bathroom paint roll back onto the roller the first time I painted it. I sanded and primed it, bought more paint and redid it. Now most areas are done properly, but the hallway has large pieces missing( bigger than dinner plates) where its down to the drywall. I’m not touching this until the bathroom gets renovated as plan is to change the location the existing bedroom room to another area. I’ve had other disasters but none so funny as bathroom. My most successful so far: tearing up the carpet and replacing it with the thinnest floor boards you can buy. For less than 300.00 I’ve got new floors in the hallway and living room that look like birch. ( I want bamboo but will wait until I have the money to do the entire main floor)
December 12, 2008 at 9:05 am
Your article made me think of how my life was last year with my husband working in another province on contract. It is amazing what you can do when you have to figure it out yourself – and I have to admit funny when someone shows you how to do some things properly – generally less labour intensive than how you have done it.
I even rearranged some of the furniture by myself to prepare for an open house – when my husband asked how I had managed it – I replied that I moved it a foot at time. Like everything – it all begins with a small step.
December 12, 2008 at 9:09 am
As a new homeowner I realize I don’t know how to do many basic DIY stuff. I mean I can hang a picture and am decent at painting, but our fathers never taught myself or the spouse how to do basic stuff like change a light fixture, fix a clog in the sink, etc… perhaps being two women they thought we would have husbands for that (Ha!).
I am a firm believer in being self-reliant when you can be. So that is why 2 months ago found me on a ladder changing a light fixture by myself for the first time… I read up on it and read the instructions. I panicked a little bit but got it changed and the house is still standing.
Getting back to my point, we have a house that’s in good shape but needs some things fixed here and there – luckily we have a friend who is a fantastic cabinetmaker and handywoman… as her housewarming gift she came over to help fix little things and show me some stuff. She checked my light fixture (it was good!) and showed me how to take apart the trap in the sink, install a dimmer switch, etc. I feel much better in being able to do these simple things. Now I won’t pay through the nose for silly stuff and save my money for bigger jobs.
But neighbors are very valuable too. It is funny to go from apartment living to house living – there is a bigger stake I think in wanting to help neighbors since they will be there for a while. Our next door neighbors have already offered some clippings from their plants next year and have provided some valuable information on the area. A month ago during our big storm, we shoveled the sidewalk for the same elderly couple (Halifax municipality has a by-law that homeowners are responsible for sidewalks) while another neighbor used the snowblower for their driveway. Janet the next-door neighbor was quick to bring over home made cookies as a thank you – not necessary but we appreciated the gesture! I just know that they would help us out so we want to pay it forward.
December 12, 2008 at 9:35 am
I loved this post! My husband and I just finished re-facing our kitchen… the only thing that we had someone else do was remove and re-place the countertop… we both suprised ourselves on how much we could accomplish together. Having NEVER laid a ceramic floor on new scratch coat and mesh (seriously 5000 staples went down! We were so sore after that!) I was nervous. But we followed the home depot book and got a lot of tips from friends.. we also stained all the wood in the kitchen a darker brown and put in a new backplash, hoodfan, sink and taps. I am really proud of my husband and I for learning how to do this ourselves. The cost was less than $2500.00 (which was already saved for so no debt) and now we have a brand new looking kitchen!! It’s amazing what you can do when you just try. Next we’re gonna tackle the bathroom…
December 12, 2008 at 10:21 am
DIY has been my motto for many years, in fact former husband used my resourcefulness as one of his excuses for leaving – I didn’t need him!?! Whatever, lol. Dad was a carpenter/farmer, so we all learned early on how to do just about anything. I can sew your wedding dress, or butcher your chickens, sometimes on the same day! My best/worst project was installing laminate flooring in my kitchen/pantry/porch and main floor bathroom. Everything looked great, but I had to lift the toilet up, and replace the gunk ring. Unfortunately, that was not something I did very well, cuz the toilet leaked under the floor, and caused more work to fix/repair. I also installed ceramic tile counter tops and back splash, which still amazes me. I learned how to use a wet saw! Cutting and perming the hair of almost all my family members was the norm. Son #1 thought he was too old for a mom haircut as a teen, so went for a store-bought haircut. With that shocker, he went out and bought electric clippers, and at 32, still cuts his own hair more often than not, and does a good job! Most of these posts touch on the same subject – we cannot burrow into our nests and pretend the economy isn’t affecting everyone. Coming together as a community is how this great country was born, and generally still stands for. Canada is great for lending aid wherever it is needed worldwide – how about our own backyard?
December 12, 2008 at 10:29 am
I always feel like I am imposing if I ask for help from my neighbour.
I am a single female who became a homeowner 10 years ago. I had no choice but to learn to do some things myself. I have installed new light fixtures, new bathroom taps, a programmable thermostat and done a lot of painting. I left new floor tiles and hardwood to those who know much more than I.
One bit of home improvement that didn’t go so smoothly was when I was changing the door knob on my bedroom door. I unscrewed the knob from the outside of the door and then went into my room, shut the door and proceeded to unscrew the knob from the inside. Well, as soon as it came loose the knob fell off on both sides and I was left locked in my room with no way to open the door as the latch was still inside the door frame and there was no way to turn it. I was panicking trying to figure out how to get out of my second story bedroom.
I then had to put my fingers under the door and get as good of a grip I could and then yank as hard as I could to get the door off the hinges. I pulled so hard that I fell backward and the door came crashing in on top of me.
I learned my lesson.
December 12, 2008 at 11:06 am
Yes, it’s funny the things that happen to you as you learn. When I met my future wife ten years ago I wasn’t much good at DIY, being a computer geek. Since then that’s changed, mostly due to her excessive frugality. Living in a log cabin built in 1875 on a 100 acre farm, I’ve had to become an electrician (new 200 amp service panel), plumber, carpenter (barn repairs, new chicken coop), tractor mechanic and farrier and who knows what all else. She constantly worries that I’ll electrocute myself or cut my leg off with the chainsaw, but not enough to pay someone else to do the job.
This year my challenges include putting up a new verandah on the house, putting in her upstairs bathroom, building a pond house and finding time to watch a few TDDUP episodes.
December 12, 2008 at 11:36 am
the first thing i think off the top of my head is that we cut our son’s hair too. he is 3 years old now. for his first hair cut we took him to the hair dressers. it took 4 minutes to cut his hair and then they charged us 9 bucks! i decided that was lame and we now cut his hair ourselves. my grandma had a hair cutting set that she has given up so now we even have a shaver and the plastic poncho!
i am also very lucky to have a father who is a handyman (does drywall, painting, electrical, installing–essentially everything!) for a living. he has been in the process of redoing our kitchen and helping to fix things around the house.
December 12, 2008 at 11:36 am
Awesome post Gail.. these days we have to work harder to build community in our neighbourhoods but the effort is worthwhile.
I’ve heard of neighbourhoods having a “listserv” which allows people to communicate with one another. Someone posts that they’d like to go splits on a snowblower, another neighbour posts that she is getting rid of a bunch of flowerpots if anyone would like them. I think that’s a really awesome idea… it would be easy to set up as all kinds of free listservs are available on-line..
December 12, 2008 at 11:45 am
I’ve never been afraid to try something new. I had 2 former boyfriends that were very handy and I learned a lot from them. I never sat back and let them do all the work. I’m interested in how things work and how to do things. With the the wonderful internet – you can learn to do anything!
I can repair drywall. Hang wall paper. Paint pretty good, though I’m not very good at cutting in. I will now tackle changing a light fixture or taps. DH & I laid peel & stick tile in the bathroom. We’ve changed the seal on the toilet too.
I’m good at finishing/re-finishing furniture. Assembling things too. I clean my own carpets.
Dh is fairly handy and we learn from each other. I got to teach him how the breaker panel works and how to repair the drywall. Thankfully my dad & FIL are handy too. They help me out a lot. Dh works shift work and what is on the top of my “to do list” isn’t always on his so I’ll ask the dads when I need to.
Last week I bought a new washer & dryer. My dad came to help me hook them up – it’s so much more simple than I expected. I could have done it all myself if the washing machine wasn’t so heavy to get into place.
This coming spring I plan to paint my kitchen cupboards & put on new hardware, install new flooring, counters & tile back-splash. I’m going to try to do as much as I can. My uncle is an electrician and thankfully he will wire things for me when he has time. He will install the stove hood for me.
This year I turned a spare bedroom into a workout room. I riped up the carpet and painted the walls. My friend came and installed laminate wood flooring for me in exchange for a nice home cooked meal. That saved me a fortune and I now know how to tackle that myself.
I can sew basics but my mom is a professional. I ask her when I need something more complicated. I’ll make something for her as a thank you such as some hordourves for the holidays that she can have ready in the freezer.
Here’s a few sites that I like:
http://www.hometips.com
http://www.ehow.com
http://www.wikihow.com
http://joneakes.com
My next job – the gutters! I hate ladders too!
December 12, 2008 at 12:08 pm
This is such a funny post – Arthur J, you have a way with words! Too funny!
Bartering and DIY is something I’ve blogged about too. I love the idea of sharing and relying on neighbours but as someone who is shy, I have a hard time getting up the courage to make the first move, even though I crave that kind of “village” support network. Recently I was making scones and had to leave to buy a rolling pin. What I really wanted to do was ask to borrow one from our elderly next door neighbours and then come by afterwards with a plate of scones for them. But we have never even been introduced, and I was too shy! However, I have been known to give out coupons and free advice to fellow shoppers in the grocery store!When we move into our condo in a smaller town (Guelph) in January, I hope that we can promote this kind of sharing and bartering with our neighbours.
Thankfully my partner is a programmer and was my 24hour tech support in grad school and now is my tech support for my blog! Having him around really comes in handy for all things computer-related. I also got my mom to give me hair cuts when possible and I try to do my own mending, although I don’t have a sewing machine, so I’m limited in what I can do – I thinking mending clothes is a big money saver so I do outsource what I cannot do myself. I would love to learn to do this myself.
Love the listserv idea, Julie!
December 12, 2008 at 12:43 pm
How bad is it that I’m currently in a stage of moving to an apartment, and I haven’t asked for any help from friends? So far I’ve moved about 22 boxes on my own, in my own car. I’ve moved boxes through an underground door that locks if you don’t prop it open, an elevator that doesn’t exactly stay open on it’s own (I should have booked off the elevator so it could in a service setting), get it out of that elevator and lug the boxes to my new place…on the 18th floor…maybe I’m just a typical guy afterall. Haha.
December 12, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Sorry,
This is not about todays blog, just me venting. I’ve been very serious about getting our debts under control. In the past my husband has stessed how we need to stop spending and get our finances in line. We have two kids we help out with in unversity
Well after 3 months of a balance budget, my husband just caused us to go into the red. I said we need to watch our spending this week do to Christmas and such. Everything was carefully accounted for including his weekly spending money, and today he goes and takes out more money then we had. I then had to transfer money from our savings so that we weren’t in our overdraft.
I am so mad right now!!!! We had money for food, gas ect. now I am minus money from my savings. Why won’t he get on the same page as me? He knew how much money we had left to last us till next week. We would have been fine. I feel very defeated right now.
December 12, 2008 at 1:18 pm
We do everything we can ourselves and we swap services for other things. My brother in law is a plumber so we get plumbing and he gets his tax returns prepared by my husband. I also am going to swap my bookkeeping services for hair cuts with my hairdresser. We have become close with our neighbours and share ladders, tools etc. and go to each other to borrow a cup of this or that. We are even sharing a fence with them. Instead of fencing our small city lots we fenced the outside of the two yards and left the inside open. We both have a larger yard now and we shared on expenses for machinery rentals and helped each other to make the task faster.
December 12, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Catherine42, sounds like you have everything under control regarding controlled spending, budgeting, etc. So feel good that you’ve managed to get organized over the last 3 months. That’s a great accomplishment! Because as we all now, instant gratification can be so overwhelming. But keep up the great work!
Old habits are hard to kill off right away. Smokers, dieters, and others like that will have a temptation to cheat once in a while. The key is to not let it throw off your long term plan. That’s what seems to happen. Someone on a diet feels so bad about having a slice of cheesecake that they’ll throw the whole goal out the window. Stop! It’s a one-time slip up, and people make mistakes. If you let the guilt or shame or whatever feeling get in the way of your plan, the plan will likely fail. In order to succeed, you will just need to look at it as a slip-up that doesn’t exactly help you at the moment, but is easy to recover from. In the long run, it won’t even matter. Just talk to your husband, and try to understand what happened from his perspective, his feelings, and talk through it. Once you understand his position fully, talk about your position and how you feel. Make your perspective clear as possible. Good communication is so vital, especially when there is a collective goal. This is not a time to blame or make each other feel worse. It’s important to know the root cause and find a solution. It’s so easy to play the blame game.
You’re doing great Catherine! Keep the game plan going!
December 12, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I’m not so good at the DIY around the house, either. I do like to sew and knit for my kids, but with clothing being so cheap that’s rarely a money-saver. I also prefer to cook from scratch when I can, which is way cheaper and tastier.
And I find that the swapping ethic is alive and well amongst young moms. I’ve traded my sewing, canning and child-minding for homemade bread, handspun yarn, baked beans, and child-minding. Sometimes I’m sad that I’m not close with my neighbours, but I’m glad to have this community of mamas and kids to turn to in its stead.
December 12, 2008 at 1:28 pm
C42,
“I feel very defeated right now.” I actually hear this myself from time to time, so if it’s any small solace you’re not the only one with a nitwit partner who has the page upside down on occasion. She Who Must Be Obeyed likes to console herself by thinking that my mother must have drunk too much when she was pregnant. For myself, all I can say is that sometimes, if it’s shiny or really powerful , it’s “ooooohhhhhhh….’.
I should probably put this on the Excuses post.
December 12, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Wow. These posts make me appriciate my DIY husdand. He hates to pay someone for something he can do himself & in his opinion better ( although, not always better in MY opinion!). Neverthe less, throughout the years he has gone from adding on to his house trailer ( 1st marriage) to renovating countless fixer-uppers, to building his first house from ground up. All this he learned through trail & error. ( He’s not good at drywall taping!!) He even buys cars at auctions that have been in an accident, fixes them & drives them for a year or so & sells them. Always VW’s & always newer ones with low mileage & lot’s of bells & whistles. When we sell the car usually it is at a profit & that’s tax free income. The downside to a DIY’er is all this has to be done after a full work day- so most times it’s slow going.{ We’ve learned sometimes it is best to pay someone to save our sanity.. not to mention marriage :p } I hate bothering people, so I’m one to pay someone to do it.My husbands parents immigrated from Germany & spoke very little English, so as a family they learned they had to do it yourself. When my husband was 14, he installed the new toilet & plumbing in his house.His father agreed to buy the material, but couldn’t afford to pay someone & not having to use the outhouse was the incentive to figure it out.( how many kids would do that today??!)
ps. is my husdand the only one who comes back from the dump with more than when he left?!! he says it’s amazing what some people throw away.But, I now go with him & ‘oversee’ what he is alowed to bring home.
December 12, 2008 at 1:41 pm
My husband is very skilled with computers and cars. He’s like a one man Geek Squad and mechanic!
He would rather do it himself not only to save money but to know that the job has been done right. My brother is very handy around the house. He’s not a contractor but he’s watched enough “Holmes on Homes” to get by on basics. As for me, I’m generally their lovely assistant.
When I was single, I took a course called Automotive Mechanics for Women. So I learned the basics of car care like charging a dead battery, changing a flat, checking your fluid levels, and things like that. It was so awesome using pneumatic tools! I totally get why guys love power tools! And it was very empowering to learn that knowledge. I can look under the hood and not be mystified by all those engine parts.
I know how to play piano and I’ve played at friends’ weddings. I know how to sew though I don’t do it very often. I’ve just recently learned how to crochet so everyone is getting hats and scarves this Christmas. I know a bit of how to cook and how to bake. As much as I can, I try to make my baby’s food rather than buy it in jars. It doesn’t always end up cheaper since I buy organic vegetables and fruits. But at least I know what’s going into my daughter’s body.
December 12, 2008 at 2:04 pm
When I graduated from university and got a job in my hometown I couldn’t find a place to rent. The vacancy rate was 0. My parents co-signed and helped me buy a mobile home (trailer, whatever you want to call it). It needed repairs badly but it was all my husband and I could afford.
Thank goodness he is handy with a lot of things. The place needed a new roof, windows, siding, etc. The next summer we put a new roof on it since the original tin one was still there. It took us 4 months and A LOT of research but we managed to do it ourselves, saving about $10 000. The next summer we replaced the windows and the siding. We fixed it into our beautiful little first home. We still own it but my husbands parents are living there.
About little over a year ago the area of town that the trailer is in had a devastating hail storm. The trailer had $16 000 worth of damage to it. My in-laws car was written off in the storm (as well as many other people’s vehicles). There was estimated to be millions of dollars of damage total in the area. Of course, because of this, the insurance companies were VERY picky about what they would cover and what they wouldn’t. The insurance company sent an adjustor and a contractor out to check the place out. The contractor said that it would cost $16 000 to repair all the damages (windows, siding, roof). The insurance company would only pay us $4000 because they felt that some of the repairs were not necessary (Who needs a roof without holes?). Well rather than pay the extra $8000, my hubby decided to do the repairs himself. The insurance company sent us a cheque for $4000 and he went and bought the materials and did the repairs himself. We did the work when we bought the place so why not this time!
December 12, 2008 at 5:21 pm
I am all for DIY but please remember that electricians, plumbers, etc go to school for a reason!!! If you want to do it yourself at least get it professionally inspected! Having your toilet leak and ruin your floor is pretty minor compared to burning down your house and losing family members because you did wiring in your house and didn’t know what you were doing.
December 12, 2008 at 6:24 pm
My hubby and I try to do as much as we can. He’s pretty handy with years of watching and learning from his father and mine do things around the house (we hire in for plumbing, electrical, etc. as ‘I’ think that’s scarey!) He’s an AWESOME painter – and is so very careful. Hope I don’t sound like I’m bragging, but, I’m a good baker and cook. I make ‘almost’ everything from scratch…..tomato sauce takes too much stirring time ;o) when I have better things to do. I don’t eat sugar and my hubby isn’t in to sweets, and I LOVE to bake – so he takes it to work, or I do. I’ve cut way back on that budget since November 1st and his co-workers are whining about it LOL.
I live in a small village and there are many people I know I could count on and have and vice versa. ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ and that is so true. We have all watched out for each others kids (we’ve lived here 32 years) and my hubby taught most of them.
Catherine42,(nice name by the way…is it from Wuthering Heights like mine?) hang in there. We all mess up sometimes. Deep breaths! He’ll come around sooner rather than later.
SaverQueen, hope you enjoy Guelph – that was ‘our first marital home’ while hubby attended U. of G.
December 12, 2008 at 6:34 pm
A man who can fix things is worth his weight in gold! Both my father and my husband are great at fixing things around the house and have saved our families thousands of dollars over the years. Husband is also a computer science major and is the resident hi-tech fix-it man. My mom and I also do each other’s hair and nails.
December 13, 2008 at 12:09 pm
There is no substitute for a handy partner. Unfortunately, I’m not the handy one in the relationship, I’m better at making messes and breaking things than anything else, but I make up for it by making the money for when we can’t DIY.
December 13, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Thanks to all that commented on my post. Today he actually looked at what I’ve been doing the last few months. He seemed impressed. Looks like with better communication things will run more smoothly.
December 13, 2008 at 9:29 pm
All this DYI talk reminds me of my visit to home depot when I moved into my new apt in 2005 and decided to get custom blinds made in the colours I wanted. The lady in the dept asked: “Did your husband take the measurements?” Being a handy woman I snorted back, “NO, I measured them myself.” Needless to say the lady was stunned. Why I wonder, I can read a tape measure, it’s not rocket science.
I do most DYI projects myself. I repainted my mother’s brown coffee table and storage end tables one summer white. Those turned out great. I’ve fixed facuets, light switches, changed lightbulbs, and even replaced the screen in our screendoor. The painting, I live to the pros, since I live in an apt, I don’t pay extra for them to do that work.
December 14, 2008 at 11:12 am
I’m also handy and actually like to get into painting, building and fixing stuff (not electrical or plumbing though). I simply can’t imagine paying someone to do stuff that I can do with a bit of time set aside. I come from a family with this mentality though.
to Cynthia – I love it! Your story made me smile over my morning coffee.
December 14, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Wow Cynthia – I can’t believe you got asked that question at Home Depot! They seem better than that – a lot of their staff are women! Crazy.
December 14, 2008 at 5:56 pm
I fall into “can’t sew in even a rudimentary way” category, Gail. But we’ve all got our strengths and weaknesses, right?
I can’t sew, but I can perform basic maintenance tasks on computers, create Powerpoint presentations and set up home theater equipment. I consider all these things rudimentary, but I’ve been paid to do them, just as I’ve paid people to hem my pants. I also consider basic punctuation and grammar skills rudimentary, yet I’ve been paid to assist people with those too. And I’ve traded these kinds of skills (especially the computer-related ones) with family members too.
January 30, 2010 at 11:20 am
With the internet (epecially youtube) you can research how to do almost anything before you decide whether to tackle it yourself or not.