saxon51 Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 My kids used to watch me doing the odd DIY job when they were nippers. They are now fully proficient in the art of; Breaking finger with claw hammer. Slashing finger with Stanley knife. Kneeling on clout nail. Sawing through extention cable. Ruining kitchen knife whilst trying to tighten screw with it. Trapping fingers when folding stepladders. Leaving traces of blood at the scene of every job ..... without fail! All skills that will hold them - and the NHS - in good stead. A recent change in the calculation of the RPI showed a decline in the sale of step-ladders,a basic of diy.Is this because people now buy in skills rather than repair their own items? That's probably because we're taller now ........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Graham Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Its funny actually this thread made me change my way of thinking when my ps3 steering wheel broke. The wheel worked fine but the pedals didnt i tried 2 different games and nothing so i thought ok well ill take them to my partners dads house he maybe able to fix them But then i thought about this thread and thought in fact NO im going to have a go myself so i thought firstly to download the PDF user manual so i knew what went were if i needed to take it a part and rebuild it. I took the time to read through the user manual and it t urns out the wheel is not configured for most ps3 games correctly (which is abit daft) so you just need to manual reset it which was simply a case of holding down both pedals and releasing them simutansely. I did that and it worked fine now the reason i posted this was that when they first didnt work i had all but given up on them i was prepared to just bin them. So as the OP states if you just have a go you never know. Sometimes it is good to know your limitations though. Electrics and gas aren't to be messed with lightly. But on the PS3 theme I once had a controller button that was sticking. With a "never say die, never think things through, how hard can it be" attitude I took it to pieces. As soon as I opened it up bits flew out everywhere. I wasn't going to be beaten by it but it took 3 days of effing and blinding to get it back together and working. I was chuffed to little mint balls to succeed but it just wasn't worth it. Next time I'll just buy a new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The real me Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 A recent change in the calculation of the RPI showed a decline in the sale of step-ladders,a basic of diy.Is this because people now buy in skills rather than repair their own items? No its because people are getting taller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoGo_dancer Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 After buying an old house a few years ago and getting fed up of useless, unreliable workmen, we decided to just get stuck in and learn how to do our own DIY. It was a very steep learning curve but we can now do pretty much anything apart from plastering and gas work. We fitted a brand new kitchen the other year and this weekend we just finished fitting a new kitchen for the Mother in law. Can't say I enjoy lugging 3mtr lengths of kitchen worktop about but it certainly beats paying someone else to do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willman Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 My kids used to watch me doing the odd DIY job when they were nippers. They are now fully proficient in the art of; Breaking finger with claw hammer. Slashing finger with Stanley knife. Kneeling on clout nail. Sawing through extention cable. Ruining kitchen knife whilst trying to tighten screw with it. Trapping fingers when folding stepladders. Leaving traces of blood at the scene of every job ..... without fail! All skills that will hold them - and the NHS - in good stead. That's probably because we're taller now ........ I broke my shoulder falling from the roof of my conservatory as i was putting the finishing touches to the build. 12 months later i broke the same shoulder falling from the same roof as i washed it down - i hate climbing ladders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie9865 Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Hi there just a pretty random post really ,but i have seen over and over again that people are posting adverts for odd jobs they want doing around the house.....now nothing wrong with that and this isn't a post to get peoples backs up or anything like that, but some of the jobs wanted are so simple to do especially with the help of the internet ...why don't people have a go themselves (at least try)before paying someone else xxx amount of pounds for a five or ten minute job, you'd be pretty surprised at what you can achieve if you only try. I've learnt how to wallpaper,fit a bedroom carpet and underlay, plumb in the washing machine (which seems to be a favourite),use a drill ,trim and fit window blinds and just recently repaired my sons bike and yes i felt proud of myself and it saved me the cost of having to pay someone else to do it. Any way I guess all i want to say is at least try and if you think its too much then look to someone else to do it for you. I have a friend that is great at DIY actually first time we really talked she was cutting tiles down to put on fireplace. And other day she concreted, 8 fence posts in bless her. She really is great at things like that, and will try anything. I am happy to try anything to, I once took my stereo apart and fixed it. I put up wonky shelves, changed fuses and when I lived at shirecliff. Tried me hand at wall papering my son's room. I would rather get someone else to save damaging the things further. Me and electrics ect do not go, I can change a plug quiet happily me self. I leave the diy to my other half. I prefer to direct and be the coulor scheme/ Interior decider of the house. lol Why do it me self, when I have my very own bob the builder Saves hiring someone and wasting more money, hehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubble3082 Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Sometimes it is good to know your limitations though. Electrics and gas aren't to be messed with lightly. I second this. No matter how much you think you know about this stuff, this area is best left to the professionals who are certified to do the work. At the very least, it could invalidate your home insurance if something goes wrong. At the most.............well I'm sure you can imagine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
munster Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 My kids used to watch me doing the odd DIY job when they were nippers. They are now fully proficient in the art of; Breaking finger with claw hammer. Slashing finger with Stanley knife. Kneeling on clout nail. Sawing through extention cable. Ruining kitchen knife whilst trying to tighten screw with it. Trapping fingers when folding stepladders. Leaving traces of blood at the scene of every job ..... without fail! All skills that will hold them - and the NHS - in good stead. That's probably because we're taller now ........ that sounds just like me with the addition of drilling through gas pipe to add to my cv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saxon51 Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 that sounds just like me with the addition of drilling through gas pipe to add to my cvI've not done that one. Does it involve blood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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