Yeah, I know...insert joke here. But in all seriousness, how many guys (and you ladies, for that matter) here consider themselves at least moderately handy with household repairs, tools, whatever. (Bill, you don't count...we've seen your workbench!! ) I bring this up because I had to replace the valve in a toilet today, and also the stem to the stopper on the bathroom sink drain. Nowadays, these are fairly easily done with no tools. No more copper soldering and all that. Just finger tighten some plastic washers/nuts and you're through. But some repairs get a little more involved. So how good are you with the deck building, plumbing, home repair or just some fix-it-up stuff? (And I was just kidding, Bill...you str8 restorers feel free to chime in here!)
I can manage some small repairs and maintenance on my own. I've certainly had opportunity to learn some important lessons about plumbing. Like; make sure you turn off the main water when trying to take out the bathtub faucet and such parts. Apartment maintenance guys get pissed when they find your bathroom flooding from water shooting out of the shower plumbing. Oh, well. Perhaps they fix those kind of problems within a day or two of getting calls about broken showers now. Instead of 4 days after the call. I certainly hope they learned their lesson.
I am capable of doing some basic things myself. Yes, I can restore razors be it straight or DE and I can put together a closet or something but when it comes to big things like putting kitchens and tiling bathrooms and stuff I always want a pro to do that because I can never do it as good a guy who makes his living with it and has had training on how to do it properly. Usually it goes like the smaller it gets (soldering together my own circuitry to do extremely weird stuff) the better I am with it. With a little training and experience (preferably alongside someone who actually knows what they are doing) anyone can become handy at some sort of maintenance. And for those who want to know what my first experiences consisted of: 1. always check for pipes before drilling a hole in the wall. 2. Never try crossing wires if you are not exactly sure what will happen to the central fusebox. 3. Always keep a fire extinguisher on standby 4. Don't hack, saw, cut or swing blunt objects on a trajectory that might hit any part of your body. 5. Don't touch anything to see or feel why it isn't working when it is on the power.
Handy? I think I am. I've been an Industrial Arts teacher for 37 years. I love working with my hands, build, tear apart, construct, figure it out. I know a little bit about a lotta things. Some say that makes me dangerous. I do however know my limitations and will not hesitate to call upon someone more skilled when I need to. "Handiness" is like shaving, you learn a little something new all the time. Education is a life long process.
I can do all basic home repairs, vehicle repairs(if it is bolted I can fix it or put a new part including brakes pads and drums and rotors). The issue is finding the time to do this things. Raf
I don't consider myself handy at all, though I do enjoy building furniture. As I put it, I like building things, but I don't like fixing things.
Three months ago, I would have told ya I didn't know anything. I bought my first house a couple months ago... It's amazing how quick ya learn to fix stuff when it's required.
With twins on the way, our old house (c. 1929) needs some work. The ceiling in the foyer is basically falling down, and needs to be sheetrocked. (These old plaster walls and ceilings are three layers of plaster over wooden strips, and those layers eventually start coming apart.) We need to replace the back steps with new ones that have a landing at the top so we can actually get inside the door with two infants. I'm just finishing building a radiator cover for the nursery, and today we'll install the shoe molding around the baseboards in there. Less urgent, but getting worse every day, is the linoleum in the kitchen that's starting to come undone, is ugly, and needs to be replaced. Oh yeah, the kitchen ceiling needs to be patched and painted to get rid of the damage from when the bathtub drain leaked above it. It's never ending. Are all houses like this, or just old ones like ours?
I'm not very good at fix-it household stuff. I can muddle through things most of the time. I do better when it calls for something creative and it does not need to look pretty.
No. Thats what I pay people for. I figure I save 1/2 of what the job would cost me to do it. 1: I would try to fix it. 2: I would screw it up 3: I would have to pay someone to come in and fix my damage as well as do the original job. Its cheaper for me to just hire someone in the first place.
