Is it ok to be a DIY incompetant?

I once spent forever trying to drill into a brick wall.  With beads of sweat forming after 45mins with very little indent I discovered the drill was in reverse! G

Some are practical others are academic,rarely do they both meet within the same person. 

I fix aircraft every working day. I've fixed Buccaneers, Hunters, Tornados and Apaches. But I avoid DIY like the plague.  I don't know why, I just do. 

Don't worry about it. 

Tony

I can change a light bulb but anything more complicated and I have to get a man in - partly this is due to not having the right tools or even having any tools at all, in fact, I can honestly say that the only tool in my house (other than me) is a philips screwdriver. I have a neighbour who has a whole garage stuffed with every type of tool imaginable but rarely has a need to use any of them. Very strange. 

Very funny. I did the same thing once. I felt like an idiot for the rest of the day.

Knowing the difference between Philips and PoziDrive can also be very helpful

Being a medical consultant some would say I'm reasonably academic with 4 degrees but, I am also very practical and have renovated houses and used to renovate motorbikes. This was mostly to save money when I was younger.

The most important thing about DIY is to know your limitations or otherwise your best efforts may not be cost effective and may even be downright dangerous. As I have become more financially secure I don't do large projects but will still decorate if needed and do any necessary maintenance around the house. More and more though I am more likely to follow the principle of GALMI (get a little man in).

ATB

Steve

No, it is not OK. I cut my fingers a couple of times!

It's completely OK to be incompetent at DIY/mechanics etc.  I am good at the day job and leave most other things to other people

Though I did attempt to build/assemble a Caterham 7 back in 1999 - now I come to think about it, I did that to save money to pay for the 102/180/napsc that I bought at the time.  Anyhoo, when I had to pay a garage to finish the work I worked out that I hadn't saved the £2k I was planning on but somewhere nearer £400 (though that also got me a reasonable set of tools).  Though I did learn quite a lot - main point being never to attempt to assemble a car ever again...

I think for me the issue is that I can do a reasonable DIY job but I am personally unable to do it to the high standard that I want it to be done.  the frustration then comes from work-persons being similarly unable to achieve that standard...

I come from the other side of DIY incompetence.

Being of an age where “getting a man in” is becoming more & more prudent, but having retired from a job where I was the top boss for of all things technical & training & had to show half the world how it was done,  plus a home maker with DIY of all sorts being one of my more serious hobbies,  I can tell you that the need for getting a man in is a hard realisation of mortality.

I had a new knee installed & during the recuperation time had some house building work done, nothing special, just some bricks & wood stuff. Man arrived & a secret inspection of his tool kit was carried out (a tool kit tells all about a man’s work standards) Don’t like this I told ‘erself.   Work started & more don’t likes followed.  The work was finished & it all looked fine, more so when painted – by myself or course.   But I still look at that work, knowing the way it was done & the junk tool kit, I just wish that I had done it. 

Next in the great plan is a drop ceiling, recessed lighting & new stair banisters. Men will be required & for the sake of my sanity I will probably leave ‘erself in charge go out, watch birds or drown some worms.

Be happy with your acceptance of “can’t do it” – some poor sad souls are welded to an addiction called Compulsive DIY

As you suggest, yes I am from the opposite side. Yes I can cringe with the best o them over work not carried out to a descent standard - we had a bathroom fitted by a reputable if distant company. It seems that the distance put all the descent workmen off and so we were left with the fool who made a pigs ear of it. However most of the time I love watching tradesmen at work - in most cases they do a beautiful job and make it look easy. I've been most impressed by plasterers - it's like art! I'm sure that they hate me watching because they think I'm keeping an eye on them when it's completely the opposite.

Well I've had one small success in that one of the two brackets is now attached to the wall with four of the wall bolts out of the hoped for six looking kind of ok. Now I just have the stress of starting the second bracket. Do I dare jump straight to what worked on the first bracket and break the recommendations for the wall bolts, namely to use a number 9 drill rather than the number 8. It all comes out of not having a clue. Arghhh!!

Robert

Robert

if you're using a hammer to mount a turntable wall shelf, you definitely need to get someone to help.

Hope you're still enjoying the 72.

Mick

Haha - yes I agree. I promise you though that a hammer stayed well away from the shelf. I only used it to 'persuade' some plastic wall plugs into their holes. I was mounting pieces of wood to give a stable mounting plate for the shelf and the plugs were a b****r to get into the holes.

But... the shelf is up, level and feels pretty tight and sturdy. Ok, it didn't go totally to plan but I made it in the end. Unfortunately the shelf came with the wrong ill-fitting piece of mdf so I'm looking into a sheet of toughened glass 10mm thick - latest quote is twenty eight quid (+vat I guess).

And yes Mick, I'm loving my 72 just trying to figure out how to afford a 250 unless you are selling your 135's cheap??

All the best,

Robert

I have tried to put a roller blind up in a spare room and it turned into a nightmare.It only needed 4 holes but the brickwork did'nt seem to like the rawlplugs.I then thought i would get a batton of wood.Glue it to the wall with nail glue,which is supposed to be strong.And attach the fixing bits to the batton and hang the blind that way.

That did'nt work either.That was 2 years ago.I gave up and the blind is on the floor in its packaging.

Must have another go in a couple of years time.

We have gutted and remodeled half a dozen older homes over the last three decades, and I have always refused to pay a contractor for something I thought I could learn to do myself.  Saving money was the primary goal, but over time, I came to enjoy the process, and learning the various trades became a hobby. 

In fact, I wasn't really happy if I didn't have a project or two going on at all times.  But now, as I've aged and also hit some health problems, this has changed a lot.  I have finally learned what most guys learn at a much younger age -- the most powerful tool in the toolbox...is a checkbook.

Hook