What new skills have you learnt to 'do it yourself?

Davesnave

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Plastering is something I would leave to professionals, unless I specifically wanted a rustic finish.

27col wrote: »

As someone who has built myself 2 houses I have tackled everything except serious plastering.....

phil24_7 wrote: »

Things that take a lot of time to perfect like plastering/rendering I will happily pay someone else to do.

Now I know why I always have to join a queue for the plasterer! :rotfl:

phil24_7

Davesnave wrote: »

Now I know why I always have to join a queue for the plasterer! :rotfl:

I will always happily queue for a decent plasterer.

Ebe_Scrooge

Finefoot wrote: »

Wow, you are a talented bunch! Keep it up!

The thing is, it only comes with experience. You start out doing very simple jobs - unblocking the kitchen sink, putting up a shelf, replacing the faceplate on a socket, whatever it may be. Learn the basics. Then you'll feel more confident to start tackling more complex jobs.


I was lucky in that my dad was a mechanical engineer by trade, and a keen woodworker as a hobbyist. So I learnt a lot from a very young age by watching and helping him, he did a lot of DIY. Watching and helping someone else is by far the best way to see how it all works, and you also come across the common problems and difficulties, and work out how to get round them. But if you don't have anyone to give you an "apprenticeship", then most colleges will offer night classes in basic DIY if you feel you'd like to learn more.

zoothornrollo_2

The skill of feeling good about paying a tradesman to come in and do the work: almost always money well spent in terms of a) my free time, b) getting a job done faster and usually better, and c) spreading a bit of cash around the economy, keeping people in employment etc etc.

breaking_free

Feeling quite chuffed reading this thread as plastering is the one professional job I decided I could tackle myself.

Took a week long plastering course last year and have been happily bonding and skimming my doer upper flat's walls and ceilings ever since.

I also used youtube to figure out how to put on new electrical face plates, bleed the radiators, strip off wallpaper, knock out built in wardrobes, heat blast gloss paint off door frames, etc. Not bad for a 99 lb stripling eh?

Davesnave

zoothornrollo wrote: »

The skill of feeling good about paying a tradesman to come in and do the work: almost always money well spent in terms of a) my free time, b) getting a job done faster and usually better, and c) spreading a bit of cash around the economy, keeping people in employment etc etc.

That's fine if you have plenty of money or low ambitions regarding property, but for many of us there is a sweet point somewhere that allows us to have more of what we want, yet still employ people for the jobs beyond our capabilities or free time.

It's not always true that a tradesperson will give you a better job either. As your time can stretch cost-effectively further than theirs, an equal, or even a better finish is possible. For example, finishing doors: three coats and rubbing down between each. Not especially skilled, but time consuming.

onomatopoeia99

Installed my kitchen, including slate floor and water UFH. Did all the plumbing and installation of the vertical radiator in case the UFH needed help (calcs suggested it wouldn't, but I didn't want to be retrofitting later).

painting (emulsion and gloss) and preparation. Installed new internal doors and decorative woodwork.

Added sockets and fused spurs to my ring main, lightswitches and new lights to the lighting ring etc. as allowed by part P , the calcs not being rocket science and the work not being neurosurgery.

I don't do plastering or gas, for different reasons - the first because I can't to an acceptable quality, the second because I don't have a manometer or the knowledge to use it.

Finefoot

Not sure whether making your own curtains count? But I have certainly done that, many times over.

Finefoot

Another hoover belt changed today! Will also be investing in a lawn mower to cut the grass in the back garden and a pressure washer to clean the the front drive.
Also some vitamin pills....

[Deleted User]

I am a bookworm with thousands of books. I can still remember as a student buying my first electric screwdriver (lasted me for years), patiently sanding down duff planks of wood that I didn't know enough to know were unusable really, with a sanding attachment on a drill. 6 x 2m planks.., took me quite a few days lol. It was a very wobbly bookcase but I still have it (always attach it to the wall).

I remember my first tiling attempt when putting in my first kitchen. Oh dear, I did it from DIY manuals, no YouTube then, it was almost diagonal. But I learned. My next lot of tiling was done properly. The kitchen cupboards followed me around 3 house moves, all reinstalled. Saved me thousands and got me the lots of storage I wanted.

I had to put in a bathroom in the private rental I lived in for four years. Friend of a friend did the plastering, ex did the plumbing (something I'm not good at) but I did the tiling.., to professional standards apparently. Reused the toilet, the sink vanity cupboard, bought a bath, tiles in a sale and had a bathroom that looked like it cost a couple of grand. It actually cost £350. Good job I did it too, discovered the shower water pipes were leaking into the wall, causing mould. The bathroom that was in there would have been unusable within months. Found a door hole that had been filled in with cardboard. Amazingly poor standard of work.

Even though I am an amateur, because its 'my' place, I care so much I make sure i do the job properly. In my experience, I've replaced inferior work. I've never left a place in a worse state than I found it.

lol I remember tiling a floor with no heating (with snow outside) when 8 months pregnant prior to moving into a council house. I had to do it at night because of childcare problems. Do remember the bump getting in the way and being freezing. But the floor passed inspection by professionals. I managed to get £400 of tiles for £80 when Topps tiles went out of business. I still miss them lol.

Its amazing what you can do when you have to. Determination is all. Nothing compares to knowing you've got something nice in a house for a fraction of the price. I'm the bargain queen so I source things cheaply or find cheaper way of achieving certain effects. Its got to look good quality though.