As a female how good are you at DIY?

[chickenriceorspud]

I'm very impressed at all these fabulous woman that can do their own DIY. I need to learn more.

How handy are you?

I can do painting - I am rather proud of my cutting in - I can put together flat pack furniture if not too heavy , but I won't touch electrics , that's a "proper job" in our house even though DH thinks he can do it. I cannot forget DF putting up a picture for DM and he drilled through a cable - not interested.

I can put flat pack together but that's it. I'm crap with anything else. I'm afraid of the drill!

That's impressive to me. I think I've held a box of screws, that's been it lol

I love it, find it empowering
Grew up with a single mum, we didn't need a man for anything!
Flat pack genuinely makes me happy!

Unless. My late dad was excellent at everything and just did it for me.
I've never had time to learn how to do it since I've been a lone parent. I just pay a handyman every year or so.

Above average: I can do all basic DIY / car maintenance stuff and some intermediate stuff - so refitting a tap, small areas of plastering etc.

I couldn't install a set of stairs or retile a roof right now, but in saying that, there's probably something on YouTube.

I'm better at flat packs than DP who refuses to follow in instructions. If there's a video for something on you tube I can follow it, so can replace heating elements on electric ovens.... Terrified of plumbing though.

I'm useless! But so is DH.

I can do basic stuff. (Never ever gas). Had to learn out of financial necessity. There were lots of ‘year of gaffer tape’ and the memorable ‘year of cable ties’ type cock-ups/learning curves along the way.
Definitely research what you wan to do - very easy these days to do, measure twice if not three times and buy the right stuff first time. …‘ year of plumbers tape’

I do think it’s a shame that adult education classes no longer run for basic diy skills. They were fabulous.

I was very good, laying floors, decorating, put up a wall and made a doorway to split a room in my house, built a shed, plasterboarded many a room, changed light fittings etc (single parent and poor so learned everything). I have a disability now which means I can't do much, but my 15yo dd has taken over and is really handy now so she's my go to person. She has just totally redecorated her room and laid a carpet.

How good at DIY am i? Pretty good actually.

I've replaced our shower, bar the electric stuff which I decided a professional ought to do. I've replaced all the drainage pipes under our kitchen sink. Fitted new loo seats. Decorated our house. Removed a tiny dishwasher and built a new cupboard instead of it.

I don't touch the car except for tyre pressure, screen wash and fuel.

I'm rubbish because I don't want to do it. Just hate stuff like that. And it's not for lack of experience as I was forced into a lot of that sort of stuff when parents renovating houses when younger. Maybe why I hate it so much.
My mum is great at DIY so I have a good person to learn from too but also means I have someone to do it for me, as well as husband. I know I should really learn!!

I'm a fabulous painter, and I can tile, but I'm rubbish with a hammer or a saw, though years ago I did a load of moulding with a mitre saw. I'm not great with power tools to be honest, though I do the hedge-trimming I suppose. I can put up wallpaper, but really I think it's a two-person job anyway.

Me too for this list.
I've also laid tiles and repaired large holes in drywall, and cleared gutters of leaves (and a dead squirrel on one occasion).

I'm good at basic DIY because I have to be as I am a single parent. Even when I was with 6'4", 20 stone EXDP I had to do all the DIY as he was completely useless (in many ways!).

I am fucking awesome. I want to get better at plastering but the local college only does daytime courses.
Collins DIY manual is an amazing place to start, just have a go. Borrow decent tools until you are confident you need your own. I have now singlehandedly renovated 4 houses too to bottom, and built garden room from scratch.

I'm good at DIY and can do most things. I've even fitted a kitchen. As I've got older I find I have less strength though so increasingly make it someone else's problem as my time is more valuable to me.

While it is absolutely true that sex makes no difference to how good you are at this stuff (some exceptions notwithstanding), I'm not dismissive of anyone who is impressed by women who can do DIY. Truth is that we still live in a world where women and girl's just aren't as exposed to or encouraged to do DIY.

I am self taught out of necessity (couldn't afford to get someone to do it for me), first using books and manuals and more recently YouTube. Go for it!

Over the years I've learned to do all the basic painting and decorating type jobs, lay tiles, fit a pane of glass, built raised beds in the garden, I build a fine flat pack. Have upcycled old furniture too, that's very satisfying. I can fix pretty much anything that needs superglue or a needle. Grow fruit and veggies as well as flowers, make jam and chutney with any surplus I also taught DH so he's not bad either. We are getting on now and both have arthritis in our hands. Bought a new piece of furniture recently, paid an extra £39 to have it built and £40 to have the old one taken away, nearly broke our hearts. We called it our old farts tax

I'm no expert but have done the following before ...

Tiled kitchen/bathroom splash backs
Put together flat pack furniture
Built an ornamental wall
Tiled a cloakroom floor
Wallpapered
Put blinds/shelves up
Painted
Laid a click together laminate floor.

I should say I didn't do any of these perfectly, but it was all passable. I haven't done anything beyond painting for a few years now, I expect I'd be able to do a better job now after watching YouTube videos.

@Notthatcatagain our old farts tax is getting a roofer to fix two broken roof tiles and remove an aerial. Basically if it’s up there we will pay. You aren’t alone!

Pretty rubbish. I can paint, but no finesse. I can strip wood and garden.

My 72 year old DM on the other hand is brilliant.
She hangs wallpaper, Drills things, puts up shelves, has laid carpet, laid laminate, paints, changed light fittings. I think the only thing she doesn’t attempt is plumbing.

@Mumaway Plastering I think is real skill which has to be learned . Well also electrical stuff and plumbing.

I had a great great uncle who was known as "Sparky" . He lost a leg in the military and had a metal one. People were always fearful of him as he was an electrician by trade. 😂 This is many decades ago.

I can paint gloss and emulsion, tile and grout walls and floors, plaster a rough coat but always get a professional to do the final coat, little jobs like filling, culking and wall papering provided a basic pattern. DH can fit a kitchen, including using a jig to cut work surfaces, put in a new floor joist, lay a new floor both laminate and wood, tile a floor or walls, paint gloss and emulsion, fit shelves and TV brackets, and also do basic plumbing and put in new electrical sockets. We always get experts for gas and complex electrics. DH and I renovate houses together. We both have our areas of specialism.

Yes. These days it's really easy because you can watch two or three youtube videos by real experts that tell you not just what to do but give you expert tips including best tools to buy.

If anyone is ever tiling and applying silicone - highly recommend this chap - his siliconing advice is brilliant. I hope he gets lots of commission from people who buy the Cramer profiling kit because it is a fanastic tool and makes it really easy. I bought one on the back of this video but I'd never have known it existed if it werent for him.