Posted on 08/27/2010 3:53:37 AM PDT by Daisyjane69
More than half of young people lack the skills they need to maintain their homes, with many relying on their parents to carry out basic tasks, a survey suggested today. Around 50 per cent of people aged under 35 admitted they did not know how to rewire a plug, while 54 per cent did not know how to bleed a radiator and 63 per cent said they would not attempt to put up wallpaper, according to Halifax Home Insurance. Other basic jobs, such as putting up shelves, were beyond 45 per cent of those questioned, while 36 per cent said they would not even attempt to do gardening themselves.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Wallpaper? I’d hire someone.
Everything else ok.
My experience with UK folks is that they loath DIY projects.
Personally, I really enjoy home DIY projects but that’s because I sit at a desk all day. :(
They’ll learn or they’ll die.
That’s what a paint roller is for.
I did build my own house, back in the 70s.
It was fun, but would never try it again.
I'm with you on that one. I hate dealing with wallpaper. Everything else - trivial, but I'm closer to 70 than 60.
When I was 14, the family moved into a large old Victorian house. All that Summer, I scraped and painted it. We tore down walls and completely redid the place,along with plumbing and wiring, and it a few years it was something to be proud of.
All that time we kids cursed my father for making slaves out of us, when we really wanted to hang out downtown and make new friends.
After I bought my first house, I spent the rest of my life thanking him- Every time I pick up a tool. When he died, there was not very much left for the kids to inherit.
Other than millions of dollars in real savings.
I am a DIY dunce but I don’t mind trying. Yes, my house is filled with half-finished projects.
I could probably build some shelter but building it anywhere near code just isn’t among my skill set. I can do all the basic stuff on my vehicle like changing oil and brake pads etc. I can grow and can/freeze/dry my own veggies. I can fish hunt etc. I can do my own cooking/laundry etc. rewiring lamps and simple circuits is a snap.
One good thing is, in this age of the internet, there is no shortage of experts willing to demonstrate their areas of specialty in video form online.
From recipes, to furniture refinishing, to plumbing repairs, to painting and wallpapering, it’s all out there if you want to learn!
:)
One of the things that my wife says that she likes about me is that I can fix things and build stuff. It is a rare day when we have to pay someone to do something for us.
Nonsense my friend, it is in the top 5 national pastimes, behind Football, Cricket, Moaning and Talking about the weather!
I think I must have done just about everything there is in the way of DIY projects. I think the only thing I never went the DIY-way was surgery. It’s amazing what you can do if you tell yourself you can. TVs, tape recorders, snowblower engines, air conditioning, home carpentry and repairs, car repairs, etc. The one thing that does irritate me is having a professional do it (because a local ordinance says he has to) and then you find out that he did it wrong and you have to fix it afterwards.
Not the case, I assure you - witness the boom in DIY equipment superstores, which have been one of the big growth areas in British retailing over the last 30 years or so. What is true, however, as this article confirms, is that the generation now setting up their own homes is far less interested. They happen to be the generation which has grown up with a virtual reality world where solid objects of wood and metal are rather at the fringe of one's awareness - though I'm not going to argue cause and effect!
he did it wrong and you have to fix it afterwards
Amen to that. There is nothing worse than having to clean up the mess made by someone who THINKS they can do the job but in the end, you find out that they are just all mouth.
That’s because they are too busy working to pay off the debt and social transfer payments their lazy, short-sighted elders saddled them with.
Put up wallpaper?!
They better learn how to can and put up food!
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