Replies

"This article seems like a lot of BS non-news. I don't think young homeowners today area any different than at any time in history. I came from the baby-boom generation and yes I took shop. I didn't learn a thing from shop about basic home maintenance tasks. Likewise I also worked with my father, a WWII vet who did teach me one of the most important home maintenance arts - how to swear like a sailor while you are banging your thumbs, strippping bolts and bending nails."

What has changed is that people have been drawn into doing projects they would not have tried in the past.

I've been a off and on contractor for 30 years, in the distant past people hired contractors for everything, it is only in recent years all this do it yourself stuff became common.

I think we are creating a tacky, creaky, leaky, home environment because of lousy work done by homeowners.

Now we walk into friends houses and see crappy tile work, and crappy new floors, etc.

A lot of the work I do is redoing poorly done jobs that are only 5 or 10 years old.

The article actually has it backwards, we are now in a period of wild DIY that previous generations could not have imagined.

As a contractor "for 30 years" I suspect you may have a little bias. Nonetheless, over the past thirty years I have done a real mix of my own work as well as hired contractors. Yeah, I've done some crappy work but then I've also had to pay for some crappy work to contactors who drive fancy new detailed F-350s. I suspect these contractors knew I didn't have the time or cash to chase them down with lawyers to get the job done right. Othertimes, of course, I've had excellent work done by excellent contractors. It's often a crapshoot and the guy who did a great job three years ago is frequently nowhere to be found when you want to do some more work. Many of these issues encourage people to DIY as well as a very healthy desire to learn something new.

I would suspect those with extensive computer skills would also prefer people call professionals rather than trying to upgrade their systems on their own, install some hacked security software, set up a home network or clean out those annoying cookies. I would say that when it comes to computers too we are in a period of DIY like never before. I think this too is a good thing.

On the other hand, when it comes to fixing automobiles, I have seen fewer and fewer Do It Yourselfers. Few people know what anything does under the hood these days as car engines have become so very complex.