Home & Garden Are you a DIY person?

[Quivorir]

Did ya get it out TurtleBots

 

[BotsMaster]

I think this is a DIY job

 

[edgie]

DIY most things, anything car related anyway. I've spent more on tools than I've probably saved on not having to pay people to do stuff for me.

That's the catch I find with being DIY. Good quality tools for the jobs don't come cheap.

Sent from mTalk

 

[ShanDog]

I wasn't afforded the luxury of having handy people teach me how to do things as a young kid. I'd say I'm pretty good at doing most things (especially with access to YouTube and the internet these days) but anything that requires a high skill level and practise such as fitting cornices smoothly is still a struggle. I wish I'd been more interested in hands-on work as a young boy and sought opportunity to learn.

 

[Frank Bunn]

There's nearly always a Youtube video that will help you.

My fridge was making a racket and was leaking at the bottom of the door. The quote for a replacement fridge was about $800. Got a new door seal off Ebay for $50. It took about an hour to take the door off and wrangle the new seal on. Good as new.

My mower would start but then stop again after a few seconds. The air filter twisted off easily but looked clean. Took the spark plug out - it looked like a spark plug so I put it back . There was one nut to take off the carburetor bowl. The gaskets were shot so I ordered new ones, expected in a couple of weeks. In the meantime I sprayed the injector with carb cleaner spray and put it back together. Runs like a dream!

I changed the fuel pump on my son's car. Rolled back some carpet, undid a few nuts and screws, lift out the pump and swap in the new one. About a 1 hour job. Turns out that didn't fix the problem of the car stalling. Next on the list of ideas on the internet forums was the camshaft sensor. $60 part from Repco and took 5 minutes to swap it. Problem gone. Mazda wanted $450 to change the crankshaft sensor, which wouldn't have fixed it.

 

[Admiral Byng]

Yeah, I like to do a bit of DIY. Takes a while to build up the tool collection. I love doing woodwork type stuff, I have made quite a bit of furniture type stuff.

but working on cars - can't stand it. Hate it with a passion and always get my car service and repaired by a proper mechanic.

 

[Hawk Dork]

Ive got lots of tools and lots of skillz, Ive just watched and learnt over my lifetime and then do it myself.
I dont like to pay tradesmen to do anything

 

[The Dice Man]

My job has forced me to become more handy than I ever had been before. My wife commented the other day how far I'd come... She said to herself 8 years ago when I was trying to hang some art that 'he isnt that handy(her step dad owns a carpentry company). Though she acknowledges I've come a long way. I do plenty of sanding, painting, art-hanging, fence-fixing, replacing fountain pumps, electricity running for outdoor lights and modifying halogen to LEDs and dealing with transformers.. inside and out. Servicing Ic Machines and cleaning out hot water cookers.. Then we get to cars, I look after 6 cars, 2 golf buggies, a tractor and the cars I leave alone.. They're all recent model Mercs and BMWs and we service them each year.. But I cant change a tyre, though I can change a wheel. Big difference that has been skipped over early in this thread.

Domotic systems, Hot water pumps, internet cabling, gate motors, intercom systems, TV and satellite systems and how to get them outside the footprint and many more... I'm constantly learning.

 

[Golden_6]

Where would people recommend starting for someone who wants to become handy?

I've just bought my first place and no doubt things will constantly pop up needing to be fixed or improved. I'm beyond hopeless with my hands and my career will be in front of a computer.

It's odd because my dad is a fitter and turner and seems to be able to do just about everything but I just never seemed to gain those skills.

 

[Scotland]

I would say start with YouTube and then if you feel like it go to one of those Bunnings in-store DIY things.

YouTube is a pretty amazing resource. I didn't know how a mixer tap was plumbed having always lived in houses with the standard hot and cold taps, so had a look on YouTube. Now I know it's basically just a bolt to hold the tap assembly in place and two flexible hoses with screw connections it's an easy job to replace one. A plumber would charge $100+ for that and be there 5 minutes.

You can search for pretty much anything under the banner of DIY and there will be a video from some Ron Swanson figure all about it.

 

[Admiral Byng]

I would say start with YouTube and then if you feel like it go to one of those Bunnings in-store DIY things.

YouTube is a pretty amazing resource. I didn't know how a mixer tap was plumbed having always lived in houses with the standard hot and cold taps, so had a look on YouTube. Now I know it's basically just a bolt to hold the tap assembly in place and two flexible hoses with screw connections it's an easy job to replace one. A plumber would charge $100+ for that and be there 5 minutes.

You can search for pretty much anything under the banner of DIY and there will be a video from some Ron Swanson figure all about it.

Yeah. Youtube is great for those tasks that you only do once in a while but are not familiar with. Often you can get a few handy tips that might take you ages to figure out on your own.

 

[Frank Bunn]

Where would people recommend starting for someone who wants to become handy?

I've just bought my first place and no doubt things will constantly pop up needing to be fixed or improved. I'm beyond hopeless with my hands and my career will be in front of a computer.

It's odd because my dad is a fitter and turner and seems to be able to do just about everything but I just never seemed to gain those skills.

Start with the simplest things and build up. Things like fitting light shades, installing a washing machine or dishwasher, fixing a toilet cistern - you probably won't need any tools. Clearing out your gutters you will need a ladder and pair of gloves. A sprinkler system for the garden is pretty easy. Plenty of videos to show you how and it's cheap to do. You would probably need a spade, a drill, a hammer, a pair of pliers, shears. Putting up roller blinds is another easy one. They come in a kit and you just need a tape measure, a pencil to mark it, a drill to make the holes for the screws and a screwdriver. Remember the old saying - measure twice, drill (or cut) once.

As you do a few jobs you will find that you grow a collection of tools that you can reuse for other jobs that crop up.

 

[edgie]

Where would people recommend starting for someone who wants to become handy?

I've just bought my first place and no doubt things will constantly pop up needing to be fixed or improved. I'm beyond hopeless with my hands and my career will be in front of a computer.

It's odd because my dad is a fitter and turner and seems to be able to do just about everything but I just never seemed to gain those skills.

It depends on what interests you the most out of these things you aren't that interested in.

You'll start where you need too but there's variety. There's raw materials building sorta stuff with wood and metal, there's electrical, there's plumbing, there's painting and decorating.

Even just starting with some flatpack furniture, it's all experience.

My old man sits in a chair watching flashing lights (pretty much Homer Simpson) for a job but there's not much he doesn't know about being handy. With building, with appliances, with vehicles, with landscaping...


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[PoppedCorn]

Id start wirh asking your dad
You said he was fairly handy