Is paying a handyman for simple household jobs now common practice?

[HumbleHun]

Has a anyone ever paid a handy man to change spotlight bulbs? All my friends pay this young chap to change bulbs, jet wash their drives, clean the oven etc but my DH does all this but apparently it is common practice in my village to pay for these services. I'm tempted in a keeping up with Jones sense but DH says it's ridiculous. Is this a common thing now?

Yes we do our own maintenance/DIY as much as possible. Our neighbours are the complete opposite. Similar age and physically fit just useless at practicable stuff. They put out a call on Facebook recently offering to pay someone £80 to re-install a fence panel that had popped out. DH offered to go around and between them put it back in in about 20sec. On another occasion similar thing with replacing a toilet seat.

But the OP asked if paying a handyman is common practice. Because people can no longer do basic home maintenance themselves.

In my case, no it’s not. My husband does everything. I could probably do stuff, but I’m bone idle. Our friends definitely would be paying for one, if they didn’t use my husband for free.

I decide what is worth my time and poor workmanship. Everything else is outsourced to someone more capable.
Bulb changing is within my capabilities at the moment. All of them just need a kitchen chair. I did used to roll my eyes at our tenants who use to message us with declarations of a hall spotlight out.

We have 3 men who advertise themselves as ‘handy’ in our local area. We have lots of elderly residents who appear to keep them busy, looking at the vans parked around.

The only person I know who gets a handyman in to do small jobs is my MIL - and she's 98, virtually blind but fiercely independent. I expect she'd change a lightbulb herself though - as long as she could find the right bulb to put in!
I am increasingly seeing requests on local Facebook pages for handyman to do small tasks such as picture hanging and assembling flat pack furniture - and not from old people!
We have never got anyone in to do those sorts of tasks - we'd do it ourselves. Pressure washing drives seems to be a modern day obsession. I think ours has been done once (by us) in the 34 years we've lived here - and that was to get rid of moss.

My dh does all this (I help with the jet washing) however he is very capable whereas I am not

if I didn’t have a capable DH OR he took too long to get round to doing stuff then I’d have the handyman round all the time

I’d quite like to be a handy(wo)man, it sounds fun. How much do they earn?

I pay for jet washing once a year but all of our ‘garden’ is concrete but has a largish foot print. It’s all fairly shaded but takes a couple of hours even with professional grade machines so it’s worth it for us.

alwa done my own, see also cleaning, gardening, decorating… people don’t have the skills these days or rather won’t develop them because they won’t give up leisure time

Op even if you have a bungalow be careful doing the gutters, you hear of so many people falling off ladders, horrible

sort of
we do most things ourselves but once a year get a handyperson in to touch up paint, unsqueak doors, tighten door handles put up shelves etc

Oven yes. Jet washing and windows no as my teenagers do it, but I do pay them in an effort to give them good work ethic. And, they do get paid by some neighbours to do jet washing and car washing for them - but generally I think that’s my neighbourhood supporting the DC.
Light bubls, we had ‘green’ spotlights fitted when the house was refurbished 13 years ago and not one of them has ever needed to be replaced. Amazing! Although DH does lamps, etc.

How many of generation Z does it take to change a light bulb? Two, one to call the electrician, while the other orders dinner from Uber Eats.

My 75yr old DD has just finished painting his whole house and climbed onto the garage roof to reach the chimney. He cleaned out all of the gutters. If he doesn't feel he can manage something he gets my DH in to do it.

I have become very lazy, but I can still do the basics, change a lightbulb, change a tyre, build flat pack furniture, I just never need to because DH and DD are quicker and better at it.

My DH is very capable so he does ours. He's not unpleasant to watch when he's up a ladder either! I'd love a PA to clear my cupboards and wardrobe though, someone who'd stick to the script instead of putting everything back because "I'll lose weight" or "it was expensive".

I can daydream as in reality I wouldn't even if the service existed.

I am making this posting on behalf of someone else, as they are too busy to do it themselves.
They are currently watching repeats of Bargain Hunt, but hope to be free later as they are expecting a delivery of disposable underwear.

I'll change my own bulbs for as long as I can feel stable enough on a step ladder (so for a few years yet I hope, though I hate ladders and won't go up more than a few rungs).

I'll always pay someone to come in and clean the oven though and have for years. It's a job DH and I both detested and we did do it sometimes. Best £80 - £100 ever spent.

I have to get someone to come and clear the guttering now as I won't go up to that height on a ladder.

I no longer have a DH to help around the house with things I need a step ladder for and he could simply reach as he died earlier this year.

It is for me as Im partially disabled and I cant lift and drill heavy shelving on my own any more.

We have a cleaner, window cleaner, man who cuts the hedges. It’s a tall house so get a man and a hoist to do the gutters. That’s expensive but I can’t find any bugger willing to go up a tall enough ladder.

I’ve also paid a man in the past to put up heavy pictures and curtain tracks. he’s a local handyman and also sorted our front gate and put up a heavy hose reel and wires for a new wisteria…stuff I could do myself but frankly he’s quicker…

There is definitely a decluttering and "sorting out" service in our area. Its called something better than sorting out though! And a lady who does a wardrobe edit.

I think i have a silly hang up about getting someone to do something because my parents never did and they had side hustles of cleaning/gardening for people they knew. I know my mum would have definitely considered it lazy to get someone to do something (eg cleaning) you could do yourself and thats kind of stuck with me!

Of course a lot depends on income/demographic, if you have less disposable income , you cant outsource as many tasks (whether you know how to do them or not) DH has put in a kitchen and bathroom in our house, at a time we couldnt afford to buy the stuff and the labour to fit it. But it took an absolute age, and the house was chaos for months. Last year we had a new bathroom and it felt like such a treat that the guy was very tidy, all the mess was confined to one room and it was done in a matter of weeks.

Task rabbit? I will google this. Wow! Thank you!

Cos HumbleHun said she does the traditional women’s jobs and cleaning out the gutters is not something traditionally a woman would do.

Yes we do. He's great and comes every couple of months. He replaces lightbulbs, does odd jobs that come up: refitting the trackers between rooms, where the cats scratch the carpet, replacing an occasional door handle, sorting a wonky bog seat, putting up a picture, etc.

Also sub-contract:
Cleaning and ironing
Gardening
Oven cleaning
Jet washing and gutters
Decorating
Window cleaning

We have spent 40 years working our socks off and DH is not practical. We are shortly retiring and I doubt anything will change, except I might do the ironing and DH might do more gardening.

If you or your husband have the time and ability to do the jobs yourself it seems silly to waste money on paying someone else. If people are short of time or can’t be bothered/ don’t have the skills to do a job then it makes sense to pay someone. I would just do what suits you rather than watch what anyone else is doing.
Likewise if a couple have a more traditional division of labour or if they do jobs that were traditionally done by the other sex what business is that of anyone else as long as they’re happy with the arrangement.

We've found that we do more and more ourselves these days. Back in the day, we'd get people in to do the mundane/simple/basic jobs, but finding reliable ones just gets harder, and by the time you've phoned around, got them for quotes, dealt with them not turning up, etc., we've decided it's just easier and quicker to do it ourselves. DH has a garage full of tools and equipment that we've accumulated over the years, including a small scaffolding tower so he can get up to clean the gutters etc, power washer, a full range of power tools. We spend a lot of time on YouTube learning how to change things like spotlights etc. He's currently working on learning how to plaster!!