What skill has saved you the most money?

FreeBear

Just started doing a short course on basic plastering. First day, slapped a bit of plaster on a wall, smoothed it off, and achieved a not too shabby finish. On par with the crap job the last guy that did any plastering for me. By the end of the course, I should be in a much better position to tackle plastering the rest of the house.

onomatopoeia99

Rosa_Damascena said:

I am envious of those with DIY skills but not envious enough to pick up tools myself. For me it's more cost-effective to keep earning money doing what I'm actually good at and getting the professionals in.

I don't get paid overtime, so spending more time at work won't earn me any more money, making it more cost effective to do my contracted hours and use my free time to DIY.

Think my main skill is patience.  Most DIY jobs can be done by working at them methodicallly, in order without requiring any special skills, though some require tools.  I cleaned out and insulated the whole loft to current building regs standards, which was a lot of area as it's a L-shaped bungalow and must have saved me a fortune in labour charges given how long it took.  No tools and no skill at all need for that, literally any able-bodied person can do it (and some with disabilities, like me). 

Painting isn't difficult, nor is preparation, though plastering is a black art.  Tiling is another patience and preparation job more than anything.

LV_426

I can't say much about DIY skills, because I don't have any, but I can tell you the most useful tool I have is one that was left by a previous workman doing a job at my house. And that is a pair of plumbers pliers. I've lost count of the number of times I've used this tool, and it's saved me a lot of bother. 

FreeBear

onomatopoeia99 said: Painting isn't difficult, nor is preparation, though plastering is a black art.  Tiling is another patience and preparation job more than anything.

Check with your local Adult Education department - You may find them offering cheap/free basic courses for brick laying, carpentry, plastering, & tiling. I bagged the last place on a free course doing plastering, and there is no "black art" to it. Getting the right consistency, slapping it on the wall (and floor), then smoothing off if just technique and timing. It is easy. Confidence and getting a decent finish is down to practice.

victor2

FreeBear said:

onomatopoeia99 said: Painting isn't difficult, nor is preparation, though plastering is a black art.  Tiling is another patience and preparation job more than anything.

Check with your local Adult Education department - You may find them offering cheap/free basic courses for brick laying, carpentry, plastering, & tiling. I bagged the last place on a free course doing plastering, and there is no "black art" to it. Getting the right consistency, slapping it on the wall (and floor), then smoothing off if just technique and timing. It is easy. Confidence and getting a decent finish is down to practice.

I admire your desire to improve your skills, but I'm another in the "black art" department when it comes to plastering. I watched two guys plaster a large extension we had built several years ago. They did it in a matter of hours, obviously had a few tools for the job, but getting a consistent smooth finish like they did appeared totally impossible to me. I concluded they did it all day, every day, so were expert in something a DIYer could never hope to achieve. Will look at my local Adult Education offerings though.

I have tiled a splashback in our kitchen, which has "faults" I notice, but nobody else has commented on them - not even the "you missed a bit" OH!

stuart45

With the wet trades like bricklaying and plastering, a lot of it at the start is getting the feel of the tools. Although plastering isn't my trade, I've done a fair bit over the years. My work still isn't as good as a time served plasterer, although for a lot of people say not in the trade say they can't see the difference. If you run your fingers near the corners you can feel difference.
Modern plasters like multi finish give you a bit more time than siraphite, so speed isn't such an issue. If you DIY at home, there is always the option of going over the rough bits with a joint filler which can be easily sanded.
In the old days when the walls had 2 coats of sand/cement and then a siraphite skim, the foreman would stick a 6ft straight on the wall and if a post card went under it, they were down the road.

FreeBear

stuart45 said: Modern plasters like multi finish give you a bit more time than siraphite, so speed isn't such an issue.

And with gypsum, if you still need extra time, add a dose of retardant to the mix.

stuart45

I remember the labourers bunging a handful of gravel in the mixer to slow down the plasterers when doing the sand/cement coats.

Mistral001

stuart45 said:

With the wet trades like bricklaying and plastering, a lot of it at the start is getting the feel of the tools. Although plastering isn't my trade, I've done a fair bit over the years. My work still isn't as good as a time served plasterer, although for a lot of people say not in the trade say they can't see the difference. If you run your fingers near the corners you can feel difference.
Modern plasters like multi finish give you a bit more time than siraphite, so speed isn't such an issue. If you DIY at home, there is always the option of going over the rough bits with a joint filler which can be easily sanded.
In the old days when the walls had 2 coats of sand/cement and then a siraphite skim, the foreman would stick a 6ft straight on the wall and if a post card went under it, they were down the road.

That is the way a plasterer did my wall when I had some internal alterations made about 10 years ago.  I was wondering how is it done now?

FreeBear

Mistral001 said:

stuart45 said:

With the wet trades like bricklaying and plastering, a lot of it at the start is getting the feel of the tools. Although plastering isn't my trade, I've done a fair bit over the years. My work still isn't as good as a time served plasterer, although for a lot of people say not in the trade say they can't see the difference. If you run your fingers near the corners you can feel difference.
Modern plasters like multi finish give you a bit more time than siraphite, so speed isn't such an issue. If you DIY at home, there is always the option of going over the rough bits with a joint filler which can be easily sanded.
In the old days when the walls had 2 coats of sand/cement and then a siraphite skim, the foreman would stick a 6ft straight on the wall and if a post card went under it, they were down the road.

That is the way a plasterer did my wall when I had some internal alterations made about 10 years ago.  I was wondering how is it done now?

Dot'n'dab plasterboard (or fixed with expanding foam adhesive) and then a skim of drywall mud. Any trowel marks get sanded out once the stuff is dry.

Some plasterers will use Multifinsh, but drywall is being used a lot more.