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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

I have been waiting since Christmas. Aibu to get another man in while my husband is away?

30 replies

QuintessentialOldDear · 22/05/2013 18:47

I cannot look at the gaping holes above the window any longer. I dont like to get undressed in the evening thinking that neighbours (unlikely actually) could be able to see me.

The curtain pole fell down around Christmas, it is nearly the end of May now! And there is a blind to fit in ds1s room. There are other bits and pieces too.

Dh has said "I will do it" since January. I just dont believe him anymore...

So, tomorrow I have booked a man with power-tools....

OP posts:

complexnumber · 22/05/2013 18:50

errm, why can't you do it and then poke your dh in the eye with a nasty sock

McNewPants2013 · 22/05/2013 18:50

Yanbu, butcouldnt you learn how to do DIY jobs

CloudsAndTrees · 22/05/2013 18:52

Yanbu. I'd have done the same.

LittleprincessinGOLDrocks · 22/05/2013 18:58

YANBU - and if I had the money I would do the same.
I have been waiting a year for DH to fix the curtain pole in DS room, so I feel your pain. Also I have been waiting 9 years for him to finish the kitchen...
I wonder if I can get a handy man to work for tea and biscuits? lol

Original poster

QuintessentialOldDear · 22/05/2013 19:04

I am just not very good at it!
The last time I used the drill and power screwdriver to fit some shelves, they did not pass "the rolling marble test".

I am happy to paint and tile, truth be told, but not very good with drilling.
I can even lay a garden path. But not drill in plaster and brick. It is fine with wood. I can drill in wood. Just not with plastered brick walls.

OP posts:

Jan49 · 22/05/2013 23:07

I think it's fine to get someone in to do it. Just to point out, it need not be a man. I paid a company last year to put up a new curtain rail for me. It was a husband and wife team.

Original poster

QuintessentialOldDear · 22/05/2013 23:18

I know it need not be a man! I have had lady plumbers sorting my external mains water in the past!

It is just that I know just the man, he has been doing work at a neighbors, so I went and highjacked him, asking if I could borrow him tomorrow. I feel strangely excited!

OP posts:

TheChaoGoesMu · 22/05/2013 23:23

Oooh yes, I would do this. I got the living room replastered when dh was away. It would never have happened if I had left it to dh. Go for it.

Hopeforever · 22/05/2013 23:26

Could you give your man a time limit, say 2 weeks and if it is not fixed then pay someone?

Original poster

QuintessentialOldDear · 22/05/2013 23:28

hope, I did that, a month ago. Told him I would get somebody in if he did not get on to any of these tasks.

OP posts:

SquinkiesRule · 23/05/2013 02:49

Well done calling someone in. Serves your Dh right if his pride is hurt when he finds out. He should have got it sorted months ago.

Original poster

QuintessentialOldDear · 23/05/2013 10:00

He is here! The drill is NOISY! Hurra!

OP posts:

cozietoesie · 23/05/2013 10:57

I share your joy!

I first got 'a man' in when I'd saved up a list of smallish but necessary jobs. It was wonderful. He did what I wanted without argument, just moved from job to job, rough cleaned up after him. Oh boy. All I had to do was pay him - no niggling, no complaints, no diving off to do something else because that job suddenly looked more attractive necessary etc etc.

I haven't looked back since.

WilsonFrickett · 23/05/2013 11:00

Yep, a friend's mum uses a handyman, I'm always amazed they're not more common. She just saves up the jobs and in he pops for a day, does the lot, everyone's happy. I quite fancy setting DH up as one when he retires.

TantrumsAndBalloons · 23/05/2013 11:04

I had 3 curtain rails and a blind to go up, they all had to be cut to fit.
I waited 6 months for DH to do it.
Then I phoned a man and booked him. Told DH the man was coming at the weekend. The next day my curtain rails and blinds were up.

He couldn't bear the thought of someone doing "his" job.

Original poster

QuintessentialOldDear · 23/05/2013 11:39

My blind is up. Perfection. My old curtain pole "holes" are currently being filled in. There will be more drilling soon, I cant tell you how satisfactory this is!

Sadly dhs meeting today got postponed (he works from the shed garden office) and the look on his eyes when he popped in for tea and heard the sound of a power drill upstairs.

OP posts:

Goldrill · 23/05/2013 12:16

Ooh! "We" (DP) started stripping the wallpaper in our living room in November and it is still nowhere near redecorated! I would normally have it finished off in no time, but have small baby and toddler and have... no time! DP is a perfectionist and is insisting the walls must be sanded before they are painted . I have a friend who could come in and do the whole lot very quickly for not much money but I am just not brave enough to do it - I promised myself if it wasn't finished by my birthday (February) I would ask for that as my present - but it still didn't happen.

How offended/upset were the affected Dps/DHs??? I am nearing the end of my tether with it....

cozietoesie · 23/05/2013 12:38

Didn't appear to notice.

Although living room wallpaper might be harder to dismiss.

BlackeyedSusan · 23/05/2013 12:40

he was warned.

JackieTheFart · 23/05/2013 12:45

I do all the DIY in my house. Except when DH gets a bee in his bonnet about how it is 'his job'.

I wouldn't mind so much if I wasn't the one with a full-time job while he is a SAHD!

Primrose123 · 23/05/2013 12:53

We moved into our house eight years ago. I bought a toilet roll holder and towel ring for the shower room. I am still waiting for DH to put them up. I will try most things myself (I am the queen of flat pack furniture!) but don't like drilling into tiles. If I do, I am sure I will break the tile, and then that will remain unchanged for the next eight years.

I think I'll get someone in too. (Unless someone can tell me how to safely drill into tiles?)

cozietoesie · 23/05/2013 12:57

I do as much as I'm capable of (eg I'm a very good painter so I do all of that unless it's at height where I'm a bit wobbly) but, for example, I'm neither confident nor fast at electrics and woodwork. So by the time I've had a gin or two to gear up for it, those jobs are doomed.

I just believe in getting a job done by someone who can do it well and quickly. I know enough about what they're doing so that no-one ever tries to flim-flam me.

Nowadays, I'd rather not leave things to someone who thinks they ought to know how to do it but either hasn't really got a clue/real experience or leaves it for ever more.

SweetHoneyBeeeeee · 23/05/2013 12:57

Just DIY - get onto youtube and find a video...most of this stuff is easy when you have someone to show you how. I tiled my kitchen and bathroom myself using instructions from youtube and have had many complements on the quality of the workmanship, even a request for my tiler's number:

cozietoesie · 23/05/2013 12:57

And I'm hopeless at tiles!

Original poster

QuintessentialOldDear · 23/05/2013 14:00

Dh appears to be very pleased! He is currently eyeing hope for many an evening hard at the gym work, rather than doing diy!

Win win!
I dont get to nag him, he gets some leisure, and I can relax with a glass of wine or three while he is out, and ALL the stuff that has accumulated since Christmas is done and dealt with. Bliss.

OP posts:

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