To hire someone to do this?

[uncivil2]

I’m early 20s, live alone and am a DIY novice. I have friends and family nearby but none who could help with this.

I have furniture arriving soon, most needs to be assembled and all should be affixed to the walls.

• a tv console table


• a tv


• a large chest of drawers


• a clothing rail to be attached on top of the chest of drawers (IKEA Nordli)


• a large mirror


• a Hollywood mirror


• a desk

AIBU to hire someone to mount the furniture to the walls for me when I don’t have much money to spare? I could possibly buy a strong drill and do it myself but I’m scared of messing the walls up as I’ve never done this before

if I hire someone, what do you think a reasonable amount is to pay them for this?

I used a company ages ago called unflatpack and they were fucking brilliant. And so quick especially with IKEA stuff as they had done each thing so many times before. I'm sure there are lots of companies that do it and if you've got some money to put towards it, it's so worth it!

Ah they now have a minimum spend which is a shame, when I used them a few years ago I only had to spend £50 or so and they did loads!

In case you / others are interested and in their catchment area:

unflatpack.com/flatpack-assembly-services/flatpack-assembly

Types of furniture we assemble
We assemble and install all products designed for home or self assembly.
This includes furniture, wall fixable items – such as media centres, play equipment, office cabinetry, garden furniture, gym equipment, AV wall cabinet installation. We can also put up your curtains and blinds.
Furniture Brands we Assemble
Our furniture assembly services covers all flatpack brands. Here is a list of brands we work with:
Amazon, Argos, Asda, Aspace, Benson for Beds, B&Q, Dwell, Feather and Black, Dunelm, Futon Company, Habitat, Homebase, Ikea, John Lewis, Made, Mamas & Papas, Next, SCS, The Costwold Company, The Range, Tesco, Wayfair, Wickes and more.

Like anything though, not everyone will need to learn every skill there is.

Fixing plugs, changing locks, draining radiators etc.

All things most people can learn to do from video tutorials but that doesn't mean they should be required to or made to feel like they're being lazy / unreasonable if they don't fancy it!

Some people also can't learn certain things if their brains aren't wired that way. It wouldn't matter how many times someone explained certain maths principles to me, I just can't get my head around some.

But I have an English degree and write a ridiculous amount within my professional work. I can present in front of hundreds of people etc.

But long division evades me because my brain doesn't work that way. A bit like some people are dyslexic or have dyspraxia.

Not everyone can do everything

I'd be embarrassed to pay two men so little for travelling to me and doing an hour's work. I hope they weren't desperate, but then why else would they work so cheaply?

AIBU to hire someone to mount the furniture to the walls for me when I don’t have much money to spare? I could possibly buy a strong drill and do it myself but I’m scared of messing the walls up as I’ve never done this before

Key part of the post which I feel loads of posters are missing? It doesn't read like OP needs someone to build it, just attach it to the walls?

In which case I'd say you really don't need to. It all says you should because of the few extremely unfortunate cases of children climbing on open drawers and the thing tipping over but in reality there is very little need unless you have young children.

And even then I've had young children and never done it. Somehow managed fine by telling them not to climb on furniture.

I found someone from task rabbit a few years ago who now does all the “handy person” type jobs that I need. It’s brilliant. I’m really not good at this stuff and would ruin the furniture/ damage the house if I did it!

It wouldn't be hard for you to assemble your furniture because you don't have anything that's too big in my opinion. You need enough space to do it. Assemble each piece in the room where it's going. Allow for enough space so you move everything around without breaking stuff. Start by checking you have all the screws you'll need.
You need to get a wireless electric drill that doubles as a screwdriver though! Don't buy the cheapest one, go for the 2nd or 3rd cheapest (check the power and remember this will be useful in the future).
For the drilling you need to make sure:

1. the mains are turned off
2. you put in the right drill: are you drilling into cement, wood, etc; the size of the drill depends on the screws you're going to use. IKEA furniture should come with screws, you have to test the screwdriver to find the right size; does the TV wall mount come with screws? Typically they don't, if your doesn't buy some but check if you might need get drywall plugs and anchors (rule of thumb for me is it's not wood get them).
3. never drill vertically above sockets; do it about 20 cm to each side; the wires go up perpendicular to the floor in a straight line
4. drill 20 cm above the floor ( because of pipes) and not in the direction of things like loo, sink, etc as there might be a drain pipe running down. I've done enough drilling in my life (cue the jokes) so you might do the assembling yourself and leave the drilling to an expert. Assembling furniture can take forever so if you pay by the hour it might be cheaper just to get an electric screwdriver.

Thank you all very much!

Based on your feedback, I’m going to whittle down the handyman list to:

• mounting a tv to the wall


• hanging 2 mirrors & some Hollywood lights


• adding a rail to an assembled chest of drawers


• fixing desk legs to my desk top

The drill I have is this one and it overheated whilst I was trying to drill a hole so I couldn’t sort the desk myself 😓 it could double as an electric screwdriver though.

www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/fixa-screwdriver-drill-li-ion-00232905/

To save money I might borrow a friend’s drill to do these ikea hacks as seems straightforward? Going to build all the furniture myself with friends but don’t trust us to drill into the wall without issues!

The cheapest drill is usually only ok for drilling MDF or screwing things on (when the hole's already there), that's why I recommended the 2nd or 3rd cheapest.
I've never tried the IKEA one so I can't comment but if it overheated on (probably MDF?) wood I'd pass on it.
IKEA's wood is usually MDF which is very soft, so you shouldn't have much trouble drilling into it, (which usually requires more power than to screw things on). I've drilled into my IKEA wardrobe to add screws as it was bent and it was fine.
You might end up getting sth made of pine in the future (most people have stuff made of pine!) which is not a particularly hard wood but it the drill's too cheap (they're usually very small and look like they're the same size as a hot glue gun) it won't have enough power to add screws if need be. It'll always overheat so you should be careful if it's your friend's.
I think it's wise of you to hire sb just for drilling into the wall! Good luck OP!

Thank you @Oceanus ! Well desk top is actually an IKEA kitchen countertop, is that why the drill couldn't take it you think? it's this one, materials are particleboard, laminate, plastic edging and unbleached paper.
it’s this one, materials are particleboard, laminate, plastic edging and unbleached paper.

ingka.page.link/6nxJfom656qBsy449

the desk frame is this: ingka.page.link/FhcUp5pnkVHWKcte9

It's hard for me to tell from here, sorry! Usually the harder the material, the denser it'll feel, so it'll feel heavier than something similar in size made of pine or MDF (which feels super light weight by comparison).
Sometimes it's not about the power of the drill but the drill bit you use -whatever it's called! I've tried drilling into a wall with a drill for wood, got nowhere obviously, then changed into the right drill and it felt like butter.
You need to check the drill is right for the material you're drilling into and you can also use a smaller drill and then swap for a wider one to make it easier.
If you have a good drill but use the wrong drill bit, you might find yourself pressing the drill hard (the hand hurts) but feeling like it's not going anywhere.
How could I forget, usually drills have this round part that you can turn left or right. Depending on which way you turn it to you'll feel it has more/less force. So check that, turn it all the way left (drill sth) and then all the way to the right (drill again) to check what the best setting is.
When you're drilling and you feel like it's stalling, check the battery's fully charged and if it still stalls, turn that part left/right. If it still stalls, you should stop as you're likely drilling into sth too hard for your appliance's power. On a note, I would expect a kitchen counter to be a dense/hard material but I'm not sure...

I always forget sth, it can't be helped! When I added screws to my IKEA wardrobe I used the drill just make a tinsy little hole and then screwed the screws right into the wood- without further drilling. Try that before moving to the drill as you might end up with a hole too big.