[Misc] What do your DIY skills stretch to ?

[Perkino]

I'd love to one day buy a plot of land and build my own house

 

[Live by the sea]

I can just about change a lightbulb but nothing else .

 

[Live by the sea]

Not sure about here but back in NYC all the kids that did well at school went on to university to study and became doctors , dentists, surveyors etc and the kids who didn’t do as well at school and didn’t go to university learnt a trade like plastering, plumbing etc

What’s changed in the last 50 years is the money good & busy tradesmen can earn . There used to be a considerable earnings gap between professional careers ( by that I meant you have to have at least a degree ) and tradesmen however skilled . Nowdays there doesn’t appear to be much if any of a gap .

So it seems that studying for often 5-7 years is not rewarded as much as it was .

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

Not sure about here but back in NYC all the kids that did well at school went on to university to study and became doctors , dentists, surveyors etc and the kids who didn’t do as well at school and didn’t go to university learnt a trade like plastering, plumbing etc

What’s changed in the last 50 years is the money good & busy tradesmen can earn . There used to be a considerable earnings gap between professional careers ( by that I meant you have to have at least a degree ) and tradesmen however skilled . Nowdays there doesn’t appear to be much if any of a gap .

So it seems that studying for often 5-7 years is not rewarded as much as it was .

Your forgetting the training the tradesman have to do.

I know my apprenticeship was specialist engineering in aircraft but it was a 5 year apprenticeship followed years studying to become licensed then to get approval ratings on aircraft types. Far more qualified than many that trot off to uni.

Skilled tradesman are rightfully paid well. This country has always looked down on people that use their practical skills. This rush to get kids to go to uni has caused a massive issue as they all believe they should be well paid because they studied media at a second rate ex poly.

 

[BN9 BHA]

Not sure about here but back in NYC all the kids that did well at school went on to university to study and became doctors , dentists, surveyors etc and the kids who didn’t do as well at school and didn’t go to university learnt a trade like plastering, plumbing etc

What’s changed in the last 50 years is the money good & busy tradesmen can earn . There used to be a considerable earnings gap between professional careers ( by that I meant you have to have at least a degree ) and tradesmen however skilled . Nowdays there doesn’t appear to be much if any of a gap .

So it seems that studying for often 5-7 years is not rewarded as much as it was .

I would say 40 + years ago many trades were employed or were regular sub contractors. There used to be various size building companies employing trades.
Local councils also employed many different trades.
Brighton and Hove had several large plumbing and heating companies employing many in the 80s.
These days many trades are also small business owners (like myself) I think that’s why some people think we are high earners.

Last year I was offered a job as an employee, it did sound good, it was local and I wouldn’t have had to worry about doing estimates, paperwork, emails, ordering materials in the evenings and weekends. It was go to work and come home at 5 and not think about work until the next day.
I turned down the offer because the wages were very low for a skilled and experienced plumber.
I did look at other vacancies to compare the wages and they were still quite low.

 

[Justice]

Fair play to your electrician for helping on a Sunday by talking you through it.

I’ve had people ring me up when they have had a go at basic plumbing jobs and come unstuck, not that I mind during a work day but not in the evening or on a weekend. I don’t like it when they get annoyed because I won’t come out on a Saturday afternoon

Especially at 3pm

 

[BN9 BHA]

Especially at 3pm

Especially then
My phone wouldn’t ring on a Saturday until I got into the pub or the Amex.

 

[Justice]

I'd love to one day buy a plot of land and build my own house

Especially then
My phone wouldn’t ring on a Saturday until I got into the pub or the Amex.

My phone barely works at the Amex

 

[mikeyjh]

Fair play to your electrician for helping on a Sunday by talking you through it.

I’ve had people ring me up when they have had a go at basic plumbing jobs and come unstuck, not that I mind during a work day but not in the evening or on a weekend. I don’t like it when they get annoyed because I won’t come out on a Saturday afternoon.

Yeah, it's a bit of a different world up here (North Wales, our 46 square mile community has a population of 600) , so people certainly look after eachother. That said, it must drive you nuts that amateurs (like myself) want bailing out on the cheap...

 

[BN9 BHA]

Yeah, it's a bit of a different world up here (North Wales, our 46 square mile community has a population of 600) , so people certainly look after eachother. That said, it must drive you nuts that amateurs (like myself) want bailing out on the cheap...

I don’t think it’s bailing people out on the cheap, i don’t mind giving out advice on here or if anyone asked advice on the phone during working hours.

What bothers me is when someone decides to take their kitchen sink waste traps apart on a Saturday / Sunday afternoon and then rings up expecting me to come out because they can’t fit it back together.
I don’t advertise to do emergency call outs and also like a weekend not on a kitchen floor with my head in a cupboard
Late Friday afternoon also seems a popular time for someone to attempt DIY plumbing

 

[mikeyjh]

I don’t think it’s bailing people out on the cheap, i don’t mind giving out advice on here or if anyone asked advice on the phone during working hours.

What bothers me is when someone decides to take their kitchen sink waste traps apart on a Saturday / Sunday afternoon and then rings up expecting me to come out because they can’t fit it back together.
I don’t advertise to do emergency call outs and also like a weekend not on a kitchen floor with my head in a cupboard
Late Friday afternoon also seems a popular time for someone to attempt DIY plumbing

Must be quite tempting to tell people to F off?

I think if you can't put your sink waste trap back together, you really should be doing, well, any DIY.

 

[Live by the sea]

Your forgetting the training the tradesman have to do.

I know my apprenticeship was specialist engineering in aircraft but it was a 5 year apprenticeship followed years studying to become licensed then to get approval ratings on aircraft types. Far more qualified than many that trot off to uni.

Skilled tradesman are rightfully paid well. This country has always looked down on people that use their practical skills. This rush to get kids to go to uni has caused a massive issue as they all believe they should be well paid because they studied media at a second rate ex poly.

Good point

 

[Seagull on the Hill]

I earn my living as a bricklayer ( now semi retired) and I can turn my hand to most types of building work ( even basic plumbing), but I don't touch anything electrical , I leave that to those who know what they are doing!

 

[Wardy's twin]

I am ok at painting, tiling , DIY and building walls etc. Won't touch gas or electric. I once did suggest to my Mrs that I would build an extension , got the look which said 'over your dead body' rationalised by fact that I was so slow (thorough) the need will have gone by the time it was finished. She was right of course.

 

[smudge]

No I don't. I'm just obviously a very poor judge of people.
I'm not actually from Lancing originally so don't know anyone in the area that can advise me of anyone decent either.

Out of interest do you tend to hire the cheapest quote? I’m interested as my clients often tell me you weren’t the cheapest by quite a margin. I’ve been living off recommendations for years now best form of advertising.

 

[lasvegan]

I'd love to one day buy a plot of land and build my own house

Been there, done that. It was so nice and big I just couldn’t afford to live there. Don’t dream too high…

 

[CAPTAIN GREALISH]

I don’t think it’s bailing people out on the cheap, i don’t mind giving out advice on here or if anyone asked advice on the phone during working hours.

What bothers me is when someone decides to take their kitchen sink waste traps apart on a Saturday / Sunday afternoon and then rings up expecting me to come out because they can’t fit it back together.
I don’t advertise to do emergency call outs and also like a weekend not on a kitchen floor with my head in a cupboard
Late Friday afternoon also seems a popular time for someone to attempt DIY plumbing

 

[Stat Brother]

Some advise please, I think I've got it, I'm just in need of reassurance as I don't want to be arsing about with a newly plastered surface.


Yesterday I bought a new light for the lounge.
As opposed to a conventional screw in light rose the connection for the new one is hung on a hook (the casing then goes around that).

The ceiling is newly plastered.

The floorboards in the room above are north/south.

The current light fitting is a approx 230cm from the front window.
On the floorboards upstairs there's a line of nails approx 230cm from the front window.

So from that can I reasonably assume the current light fitting is already attached to the joist, that runs east/west?

The joist in which I'd need to screw the hook required to hold the new light.

 

[Biscuit Barrel]

I have just cleaned the car. About the height of my DIY skills.

 

[trueblue]

Some advise please, I think I've got it, I'm just in need of reassurance as I don't want to be arsing about with a newly plastered surface.


Yesterday I bought a new light for the lounge.
As opposed to a conventional screw in light rose the connection for the new one is hung on a hook (the casing then goes around that).

The ceiling is newly plastered.

The floorboards in the room above are north/south.

The current light fitting is a approx 230cm from the front window.
On the floorboards upstairs there's a line of nails approx 230cm from the front window.

So from that can I reasonably assume the current light fitting is already attached to the joist, that runs east/west?

The joist in which I'd need to screw the hook required to hold the new light.

I believe the best way to tackle this is to cut away the floorboards and ceiling with a circular saw to an area of about 16 square feet. This will expose the joist so you can see what's going on. Then, using a chainsaw cut out a section of the joist about a foot long. Pop this on to the floor where it will be easier to attach the new light fitting. Then, cover each end of the joist with some good quality glue. Pritt stick probably isn't up to it but Evo-Stik might be alright. Slide this back into the gap in the joist and leave it for about 24 hours. You might need to hammer in some really long nails at an angle just to make it a bit more secure, then hammer the sticky out bits flat so they're not in the way.

Not sure from there how you replace the ceiling as that's not my speciality unfortunately.