Monthly Archives: December 2012

DIY: Are You Sure You Should?

It seems no matter the channel we turn on the television these days, DIY(Do-It-Yourself) is being showcased.  Whether it is a total home renovation, kitchens, bathrooms, garages, man caves, converting basements into income properties, or how to handle the massive “smalls” list around your home.  These projects are simply gorgeous transformations, and are done neatly and efficiently, under budget, and done in 30 or 60 minutes.  As we sit and watch the work and transformations happen, we begin to run through the “lists” in our mind.  Inevitably, we believe, we can accomplish the same.

No question, DIY, or being your own handyman can be effective, if you are prepared.  Any job big or small, requires several elements.  Let’s run through those together:

Tools.  No, not the “all in one” box of tools you can buy at the local store, but tools of the trade.  Tools and equipment can be the make it or break it to any project.  Even with the smallest of jobs or tasks, without having the proper equipment it can turn a 30 minute job, into an easy 3 or 4 trips to the store and several hours of frustration.

“Know How.”  Now, watching HGTV or a video on YouTube does not prepare us for projects that lay ahead.  Doing does.  Experience does.  According to Amazon, in a worldwide book selection, there are over 13,188 DIY titles!  That is a lot of opinions, on a job big or small.  Of course, that would also require a large library to house such a collection.  “Know How” comes with experience, experience comes with time.

Time.  Third would be time.  Time is also the most precious commodity we have as people.  Unfortunately there is no way around it, every job will require time.  Time, patience, plus additional time as the project unfolds.  Too often I see homeowners and commercial property owners, simply run out of time, and projects are left for days, weeks, months, and yes in some cases, years!

Cost.  Lastly would be the cost of being wrong!  We have all been there.  Started a project, seemed simple enough, and out of nowhere, problems, big problems that you didn’t see in the book, TV, or video have arisen.  What do we do then?  Do we leave our personal or commercial property in a state of incomplete?  Have we made the situation worse?  What will be the cost, of fixing a much larger problem?  So the natural question at this point, what is the solution to care for the necessary fixes and our “wants” around the home?  Simple…

Why not employ a professional handyman to carry out the work for you, saving you time and the inevitable extra costs for trying to tackle a project that may need a little bit more knowledge and skill that you think.

Health and Safety

Are we a bit too health and safety conscious in the UK?
When I’m on holiday I take pictures for my own amusement of things that would be frowned upon in this country.
Here’s a couple of pics with wooden scaffolding in Istanbul and a sparky’s nightmare in Thailand.

Istanbul scaffolding

Would you climb this?

Thailand sparky
I wonder if these guys also work when it’s raining!

 

Privacy options that keep you ‘Engaged’

Locking the bathroom or toilet door is pretty much a necessity because no matter how exhibitionist YOU might be, there are always your guests who might not be so brazen.

A simple bolt inside the door might sound like a good idea but the bolt rarely lines up with the hole—especially if the door drops or the frame/architrave shifts.

A normal cheap two-lever mortice lock with the key kept permanently in the keyhole on the inside could be more reliable.

However, both the above options would allow a child to become locked in or possibly an elderly relative inside left unable to be reached after having suffered a faint or say a heart attack. Hence a better option is use a similar mortice lock (called a bathroom lock) that has been designed with the key replaced with by a simple spindle that can be turned to throw the bolt and lock the door. This type of lock allows the other end of the spindle to be turned to release the door from the outside using a coin or screwdriver in an emergency.

A variation on this is to have locking handle set but these often don’t function very well. The idea behind these handle sets is that a similar spindle engages a small cam that stops the door handle from being depressed. The door is not actually locked only latched, but since you can’t work the handle you can’t get in and privacy is assured …or it would be if these handles were not so unreliable and easily broken by ham-fisted users who think the handle is stiff when it is actually that someone in the loo has tried to lock it.

There is one final option that requires no handyman skills at all and that is to sing loudly when you are inside the bathroom or toilet.