How did you get into DIY?

JP_

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For me, it seems that I am being forced into it, due to not being able to find reliable builders to do it for me! What happened to the days of people charging by the day? I know there are still some out there, as my physio has used them, but not round here ....

Quotes back from jobs that require limited materials and should take no more than 3-5 days keep coming in at £2-4.5K!

It's all got a bit silly.
 
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I bought my first house at 19 so didn't have much cash. Did some DIY and enjoyed it so always think 'could I do it myself?' Before ringinganyone.
 
Even that's a bit late, Ian.

I have always liked taking things apart to see how they work and then putting them back together. Maybe it was just me.


Someone recently commented that there seems to be no curiosity and thirst for knowledge these days.
Even that was countered by someone else saying it could be dangerous to fiddle; oh well.
 
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one time of day every house hold had a tool kit and bits and pieces to do some diy work around the house

u go to some of these younger generation house holds now and they have nothing , i doubt if some of em could change a light bulb :) they are that useless

mind u the A & E dept at the local NHS hospitals should be thankful :) people like B & poo who encourage some of these t*ts (way har ***) to do DIY should make a contribution to the NHS :)
 
I got into it because of the idiotic prices builders, electricians, plumbers, gas installers etc charge. That is, of course, assuming that you can actually get hold of one of these tradesmen to do any work.
 
I got into it because of the idiotic prices builders, electricians, plumbers, gas installers etc charge. That is, of course, assuming that you can actually get hold of one of these tradesmen to do any work.

Said the solicitor... or accountant! :)
 
I left it very late. 43, just getting started. Today's tasks ..... fake marble shelf ,and kitchen extractor fan. Need a bigger duck.

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and yeah,. I know its a temporary fix while we wait for the new kitchen to get planned and built!
 
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I got into it through necessity. We bought a house, got married and moved in. It had to have practically everything done - downstairs floors and joists were rotten/damp and needed replacing as all airbricks had been covered up, damp proofing and plastering all round downstairs, upstairs flooring and a few joists needed replacing because of woodworm, new kitchen, new bathroom, central heating fitted, chimney breast removed right the way through, rewiring, replumbing, new doors, new skirting, new windows, a couple of new ceilings plus a ton of other stuff. Dunno how we got a mortgage on it. We had to live upstairs for a whole year by converting the front bedroom into a living room and a back bedroom as a kitchenette. Bathroom was a basic downstairs extension - quite a trip if you needed to go to the loo in the night as you had to pick your way through a building site. Probably the only things we had specialists in to do was install the heating and do the dampproof injection, everything else was done by myself with the help of a few friends in return for car repairs to their vehicles! Apart from our bed and cooking utensils, everything - carpets, curtains, cooker, three piece suite, table, chairs, you name it were second or third hand. Nowdays, newlyweds after having their £30K wedding and luxurious honeymoon won’t accept anything less than brand new. We had it tough............reminds me of that Monty Python sketch.......
 
I got into it through necessity. downstairs floors and joists were rotten/damp and needed replacing as all airbricks had been covered up, plastering all round downstairs,........ new kitchen, ........new bathroom, ........ chimney breast removed right the way through,........ ........ new ceilings
........

Ditto!

Why do people block up airbricks? My airbricks last weekend.
 
I was brought up in the post-war years when money was tight and things were on ration or simply unavailable. It was a matter of 'make do and mend', DIY, or go without.
 
I got into it because of the idiotic prices builders, electricians, plumbers, gas installers etc charge.
That's the point, isn't it?

If your job pays around the same as a plumber or builder, then you may as well have a week off and do it yourself - if you can do the work.
Only if you earn a lot more than a tradesman is it profitable for you to pay them to do it.

Unfortunately the other way round, you cannot do much about it.
That is, paying a solicitor one of your week's wages for two or three hours of his so-called work.
 
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