D
dontbelieveawordofit
so your mates did it all and you made tea.
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What got you into DIY.
- Thread starter Mottie
- Start date
I think 50/50 convenience/money saving and getting exactly what I wanted.
My dad did a bit of DIY, but from what I remember he was hopeless at it, plus (post war) he lacked the tools and proper materials. I was determined to do much better, so bought tools and studied how everything worked and how things were done. I hate having to 'get a man in' for anything, so rarely do and rarely need to - a matter of personal pride. I find the technical stuff easier than the more artistic stuff, which requires much patience.
My dad did a bit of DIY, but from what I remember he was hopeless at it, plus (post war) he lacked the tools and proper materials. I was determined to do much better, so bought tools and studied how everything worked and how things were done. I hate having to 'get a man in' for anything, so rarely do and rarely need to - a matter of personal pride. I find the technical stuff easier than the more artistic stuff, which requires much patience.
No! But I did knock up cement and plaster, took up floors, run cables, chased out walls, comb chiselled a sooty wall when I removed a chimney breast, pulled down ceilings etc before my electrician and plasterer mates did the skilled stuff. Fitted my own kitchen, bathroom, floors, joists, doors and general painting and decorating. Oh, I did plumb in and fit a gas fire - only trouble was I used compression joints right through. Luckily, I had central heating fitted not long after and he soon found that the gas was leaking out everywhere so they did that properly for me!so your mates did it all and you made tea.
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A low cost route to home ownership with minimum if any mortgage
Reading about a DIY project by two school teachers that created a three bedroom bungalow for under £4000 in the 1970s ( they already owned the land )
Reading about a DIY project by two school teachers that created a three bedroom bungalow for under £4000 in the 1970s ( they already owned the land )
B
Bodd
I feel your pain, there are some really crap tradesmen and women out there, the others are really bad.
I've always been hands on and started repairing mine and my mates pushbikes when a youngster.
Bought a shell of a house as well 15 years ago and apart from windows and installing the boiler I've done all the rest.
I enjoy doing it to be fair, nice to stand back and appreciate your own hard graft.
Bought a shell of a house as well 15 years ago and apart from windows and installing the boiler I've done all the rest.
I enjoy doing it to be fair, nice to stand back and appreciate your own hard graft.
Dismantling bicycles as a kid. And sometimes getting them to fit back together again!
Dad was a spark , who could do most things , so I probably was a source of disappointment for him, until he was no more.
Did some stuff around home to help mom out - money was non-existent - keeping knackered stuff serviceable, packing door hinges with washers etc,
First house, most things barring structural and plumbing.
Money - saving, and it's quite satisfying when you "DIY".
What I have learned though is that, it's much easier with the right tools and materials ;I've spent hours and days (even weeks!) struggling to do jobs that, latterly, I have done with ease, purely by having the right gear.
Dad was a spark , who could do most things , so I probably was a source of disappointment for him, until he was no more.
Did some stuff around home to help mom out - money was non-existent - keeping knackered stuff serviceable, packing door hinges with washers etc,
First house, most things barring structural and plumbing.
Money - saving, and it's quite satisfying when you "DIY".
What I have learned though is that, it's much easier with the right tools and materials ;I've spent hours and days (even weeks!) struggling to do jobs that, latterly, I have done with ease, purely by having the right gear.
Yeah, recently I treated myself to a DeWalt multi-tool and an impact screwdriver. Bought them just because I wanted them but they both came in very handy when I boarded out my floors and laid some vinyl click-lock flooring and again when I replaced the covering on my workshop yard gates.
Sometimes though, you just don't have the money .
I remember one occasion , I'd booked a week off to do some stuff around the house and garden.
I've never used an overdraft, and didn't have a credit card back then.
Partway through the week, I had to stop work, because I didn't have the £3 or £4 for the bag of cement.
Sounds ridiculous nowadays but, that was the truth of it.
In our first house, our front bedroom was our living room for a whole year. Before we could use that, I replaced two flooring joists (rotten with woodworm) and the entire floor. I used 8’x2’ t&g flooring boards and screwed them down using a Yankee screwdriver a few days before we were married. I got married with the biggest blister you’ve ever seen on the palm of my right hand. You can imagine the comments I got!
Mottie you W4nker!!!
Andy
Andy
Shame Righboy91 is not here, him and Mottie could discuss blisters. They could even give each other a hand.
Andy
Andy