re: How handy are you with small jobs?

i am a consumate DIYer. Try to do everything. Been burned one too many times by incompetence. I've figured out that in my neck of the woods, competent and reliable handymen are diamonds in the rough.

Plus with the internet at my fingertips and a half dozen videos and articles on literally any home or auto work to be done, there's no reason not to diy these days.

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Handy enough to fix a cheap arse stove

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Trying to make a jab at me for starting a thread about my igniters on my stove? This is my exact point. I've never worked on a stove, but I do know most appliances are pretty easy to work on (other than fridges and microwave). I started that thread to get an idea of what I was getting into. I'll be starting that project Thursday.

I only call an AC man if I need one and like you he's my best friend and rarely charges me.

Paint, Plumbing, Electrical, Carpentry, Mechanical.... I do all they myself.

Depends on scope of project.

I can do some plumbing..change out/re-seat toilet, garbage disposal, dish washer and other plumbing fixtures. I can't re-pipe the house.

Electrical - I can change out appliances and fixtures; I've even added lights with switches to an attic. But I kill all breakers in the house before I start because I'm not an electrician.

Sheetrock - I can hang and "float" sheetrock to an extent. It's good enough to get by with but not professional by any means.

Paint - I tape everything off which adds alot of time that true painters don't need but it looks good when finished.

Flooring - Very limited experience and typically hire it out.

Carpentry - While my mind says I can do it, it doesn't translate to my hands to be able to do it. Plus I don't have the work shop and tools required to be any good.

HVAC - I can change a filter.

Overall - I think I'm fairly handy with small typical tasks required to keep a household going but definitely need help for specific jobs. Not sure the scale but I give myself a solid B-.

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I suspect what this means is lost on most people. That phrase means so much

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My dad was a workaholic. He worked 8 hours a day at a chemical plant and worked on cars evenings and weekends. He started simple, fixing cars of co-workers, neighbors, etc, until he would have to turn down work because co-workers and neighbors told friends, and they told friends, etc.
he didn't do simple jobs like oil changes and brakes, that's what my brother and I did, he would do major jobs for half the cost of any garage. Every once in a while, some one would say, "Why so much, I can get it done at ABC garage for less than that!" He'd simply say, go there and get it done, won't hurt my feelings.

My first car was a 1976 Dodge Colt. I paid $45 for it. Some one brought it in because the clutch went out. My dad wanted $300 or so to fix it, the guy said screw it and gave it to my dad. He gave it to me and the clutch assembly was $45. Changed it myself.

Things I've done recently:

- Replaced springs, seats, and cam on Delta faucet, which is probably the most satisfying easy thing one can do. I'm still marveling at how easy it is to turn it off without it dripping.

- Replaced broken part on icemaker

- Replaced two infinite switches on stove, because turning from medium high heat to low heat sometimes resulted in red hot element

- On car, replaced brake pedal stop (little plastic thing that keeps your brake lights from being on all the time), gas cap (check engine light), fan transistor (AC stopped blowing), cabin air filter, which is all trivial but would have cost hundreds in service fees based on Honda charging $40 to replace that stupid filter.

Probably more than that. Everything's breaking down.

One thing I did not even research doing myself was replacing the garage door springs.

I’m pretty terrible, honestly

I usually do odd jobs around the house while hubby is at Harbor Freight saving 25% and getting a free flashlight on 4th of July.

I do all my own home repairs from carpentry, sheetrock, taping/floating/finishing and painting walls, ceilings, trim.

I've rebuilt stairs, installed porches, refurbished my kitchen with new cabinet faces including building my own drawers, face frames and raised panel doors.

I've also tiled many of the floors in my upstairs residence with 18 x18 ceramic tiles.

Just this spring I tore half my storage shed down due to old termite damage and framed in 2 walls, a new ceiling and roof and installed new siding and metal roofing to close it in.

Last year I painted my whole house's exterior. It's a 2 story 20 ft. tall 75 ft. long and 26 ft. wide with exposed overhang, 31 wood windows, half of them with working shutters, 2 large porches one front and one rear.

All this from a 65 yr. old baby boomer. Won't see many millennials or Genx'ers taking that shite on.

I learned long ago how to work with my hands, and the value of it when compared to when a so-called expert does the work and hands you that bill when they are done.

It is called "sweat equity" and far too many folks don't have a clue how to go about earning it.

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simple jobs around the house

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I built the house.