To think that I should try harder to save myself the money and improve my skill set??

[stopthelights1]

This may be outing...but anyway.

So I called round to a friend/neighbour yesterday and upon arrival I was invited into the kitchen...you know, big, clean,new extension with great interior (just to set the scene!) and on the table she has a toolbox and plugs and fuses etc and the kettle. I said "ooh is your dh doing some work here" and she said..."no I am" the kettle wouldn't work and so she was changing the fuse but then decided while she was at it she would shorten the wire and re plug it! My mind was blown...I have no idea how to do those kinds of things!!I didn't even know you could 🙈🙈 I have thrown out so many kettles and other appliances because they had stopped working!!😬

THEN...we went out to the garden for a sit in the sun and dh was out there painting a gorgeous wooden kids playhouse! I said "oh wow, it's fab where did you buy it? Answer- " Dh Made it!! It's nearly finished now!" Again...I am flabbergasted (I mean it was GORGEOUS and really professional looking) On questioning him he said he obviously knows basics and has a lot of tools himself from diy and that he watched some YouTube videos and looked on Pinterest for ideas? 😮

I went home and said to dh that we are so stupid for not trying to do things ourselves and just last year the amount of money we wasted by buying or hiring people to do things is sickening! I totted it up and between painters, electricians, buying new appliances, BUYING the DC's playhouse and mud kitchen etc etc we have spent up to 3k! Why could we not at least try or learn to do those things!! AIBU to think we can do those things too!!

My friend is a nurse and her dh works in Insurance so they are not exactly builders or tradespeople! 😫 I just feel like I have wasted a lot of money that I could have saved and improved my skill set!! AIBU to think I can do it?? Is it hard??

OP - I wouldn't rely on YouTube to teach you DIY skills, especially things like electrics, where getting it wrong can have really serious consequences.

If you have time and spare cash, you could look at some short DIY courses available at adult education centres? I'm in the UK and my local council offers heavily discounted short courses for residents. There are also lots of private adult education suppliers, though they would probably be more expensive. Alternatively, check some manuals out of the library (whenever they open again!) and, as another poster suggested, start with something small. As you build up confidence, you may find you want to do more, or that there are some things you'd prefer to pay someone else to do.

Have fun learning a new skill. It's empowering to be able to do things for yourself, and equally so to know when it's time to call in a real expert.

www.youtube.com/channel/UCNepEAWZH0TBu7dkxIbluDw He’s quite good 😊

My late father could turn his hand to anything. If he mended something, it ended up better than it was to start with!

I have a good general knowledge of so much DIY but my DH doesn't and I could very easily come to blows over the stupid things he does. After 30 years together he still thinks I am 'getting' at him if I suggest a different way of doing something - although he does admit my knowledge is better.
It drives me mad.

We bought a house from an enthusiastic but inept DIY-er. Shelves with rough edges, sloppy painting, tiling that just isn't quite right...

Its easy enough to patch stuff up and do it yourself, its quite hard to do some of these things well. Sometimes, the cost of the tools for a job or two can cost more than getting someone to do it for you.

If you have an interest and want to do stuff, that's great, but be realistic about what is and isn't possible and what you actually want.

Why are you assuming I'm in the U.K.??

UK or Ireland, because no where else uses fuses in plugs!

This is me and my Dh, we try to do the majority of everything ourselves, mainly because we hate spending money on things that and we never have any

My Dh has built me all sorts, a log store, all the planters in the garden, repaired the garden furniture, built me a garden chair thing. Normally we looked on Pinterest and get ideas and off he goes.

This morning he’s been looking at what wood he needs to build a garden tidy for the bins and how to build a pergola. Within the next couple of weeks I will have both.

It’s just the way we are and Dh is very very good at things like this, we do all our own decorating, I’m ace at wallpapering and painting. He’d make a fortune if he did this things and sold them.

I was very proud of myself fixing a puncture in DS's bike this week. Now I know how easy it is I feel daft for ever taking it to the repair shop.
OP I think you should give these things a go. If you've got time what's to lose?
Its certainly more sustainable to fix rather than throw away.

UK or Ireland, because no where else uses fuses in plugs

Do they not? So are fuses pointless and we've been diddled by the fuse people, or is everyone else in the world having their appliances damaged by electricity surges?

I have a go at most DIY jobs, eg have changed a switch plate and light fitting this week and do all my own decorating. I dont do plumbing at all - never been shown and it seems a bit daunting as I have no basic understanding of it all, whereas plugs, fuses etc. I learned at Brownies in the 80s.

OP, you're not alone, I wasn't aware you can just rewire a plug...... I knew about the fuse due to dh but not about rewiring.. I find I try to do a lot of diy stuff myself with the help of YouTube but often end up with shoddy results.

Btw if I had the money, I would totally pay people to do these things. It’s slow and frustrating and I have RSI as a result of endless drilling and hammering.

YouTube is great, I worked out how to fix an electric radiator rather than replace it saving me £50 for a new one. I also managed to change the fan on an ageing PC which would have cost a fortune.

I bought the tools to try and get the back off my washing machine when it said I could flick a switch on the drier but that one went badly.

I'm not a particularly practical person but some jobs are easy.

I learned how to wire a plug at school but now appliances have the plugs welded on to the flex so wouldn't be easy now. Changing a fuse is very easy though and worth trying before you ditch a non working appliance.

I grew up in a house where my df hired someone to fix a hinge on a kitchen cupboard, paint a room or trim some bushes.

My dh is so handy and we've lived in five houses and done each one up ourselves and moved on. Each time we've saved tens of thousands. When I look back at the money my df frittered away on the simplest of tasks it shocks me now. Dh has taught himself mostly everything, plumbing, electrics, removing and building walls, installing kitchens, bathrooms, central heating systems, tiling, laying floor, building decking and outbuildings, I can't even list the things. I have to say our first house was quite rough around the edges and took a lot of trial and error to the point I was begging to get a professional tradesman in. But now the finish is nearly professional and we get loads of compliments.

What I will say is I never would have got to this stage. He has an amazing amount of patience and will try again and again until it's perfect. I would try again a few times and then get someone in if I'm honest. It does depend on your motivation, aptitude and determination imo. Give it a go and see how you get on.

The trick may be to specialise. I am rubbish at DIY but can follow instructions (DH is very competent) but I can sew to a respectable standard. So where I saved money when we move in was making non-standard size blackout blinds. I wouldn’t have bothered for a standard size window because it would have been as cheap to just buy it...

OP - Are you Dominic Cummings?

Aside from time and money...I think it depends on a few things... If you have the motivation to learn a new skill set and think you will find it satisfying aswell as natural aptetude.

My mum and her husband are extremely handy.. Like you described, build play areas outside, knocking down walls in their house and doing huge renovations etc.

I am hopeless at this stuff. I find it hard to assemble basic flat pack. It makes me really really tense. I always keep trying but honestly I'm just crap.

But on the other hand... I'm good at computer stuff, creative, I can build websites and I run two successful businesses. They don't understand how I know how to do this stuff but it's just how my brain works.

We are all different

Do they not? So are fuses pointless and we've been diddled by the fuse people, or is everyone else in the world having their appliances damaged by electricity surges?

I think that question starts bar fights at electrical engineers’ conventions The family electrical engineers definitely think the U.K. design is safer.

I grew up with a dad who did everything before he would pay and I’m the complete opposite as a result. I mean some things like the plug I’d do, but not for me is the botched job that takes four times as long and never looks quite right.

The fuse is easy- my kids were doing it in juniors. Watch a YouTube video right now and see how easy it is. Next time you'll be able to do it yourself.

My ex could watch a YouTube video and immediately do complicated stuff. He watched a YouTube video on how to plaster then bought the stuff and plastered the whole house (even ceilings ) I will never be that good but I always google before getting a tradesman in just in case it's very easy to do. If it's not I'll feel better about forking out.

When we need something doing I tend to have a look on you tube and see how difficult it is. Lots of sites give advice. Then I decide if it's something I can have a go at, or whether it's worth getting a professional.

I'm generally happy to do plumbing but I don't touch electrics (beyond changing fuses or plugs).

We'll get a professional in to lay our wooden floor (after lockdown) because the wood was expensive so I don't want to mess it up.

My DH is extremely handy. Good at repairing things, has built the kids a playhouse, done lots of DIY in our house. His dad is the same so he taught him, and DH is already teaching our DC by having them help him with getting screws and things. He has a lot of tools, which are pretty expensive, but I’m sure it’s been worth the money in what we’ve saved on tradespeople

However there are definitely jobs he won’t do. He didn’t want to retile our kitchen because he didn’t want to do a crappy job. It was worth the money to have a professional do it. Also he has a full time job and 2 small children. I don’t want our entire weekend taken up with him doing a project and I get no break from the kids and he gets no down time. I’m sure his dad who is retired does a lot more work himself as he has so much time available

The basics of DIY isn't necessarily hard to learn;
Ask people you know how to tackle basic jobs.
Do your research - read up on jobs you want to tackle, watch you tube videos.

A recent example - one of our kitchen cupboard doors fell off and the hole left in the unit and it was now too big for the original screws. I discovered on google that you can buy brackets to solve this problem, so we fixed the cupboard for under £4.

With regards to the mud kitchen, did you buy it? Or make it?

Why are you assuming I'm in the UK??

UK or Ireland, because no where else uses fuses in plugs!

😂Best Answer EVER!