DIY and your other half ?

niamhx

My other half has a week off, we both do, I had an op on my leg on Friday. Asked him If he could sort out the cables around the tv, talk about a danger zone !! Xbox, sky, DVD, popcorn hour, wii you name it there's cables everywhere !!!

Anyway.....he's been in there an hour, he's 100 miles of cables all over the house, he's talking to himself and the language is unreal !! You'd think he was building a rocket ship lol

What's your other half like when he's asked to do DIY ? I've a press door on the kitchen floor a week waiting for him to put it back up ! He did fix the front door and five years of sticking !

cdaly_

niamhx wrote: »

What's your other half like when he's asked to do DIY ?

Too focussed. I'll start on a job and all other considerations will go out the window. Sure the kids will forage for food, I'm too busy to stop and feed them. Eventually, 11.30 at night I'll be finished and will start thinking about food and stuff...

MissFlitworth

We're an equal opportunities DIY household, anything I can reach to fix without standing on a chair I'd fix myself. The only thing I'd ever really ask him to do would be drilling/sanding stuff because I cannot stand the noise

niamhx

MissFlitworth wrote: »

We're an equal opportunities DIY household, anything I can reach to fix without standing on a chair I'd fix myself. The only thing I'd ever really ask him to do would be drilling/sanding stuff because I cannot stand the noise

Oh listen, I do the painting, wallpapering, gardening. Cables, drilling and screwing is his dept

Dravokivich

niamhx wrote: »

Oh listen, I do the painting, wallpapering, gardening. Cables, drilling and screwing is his dept

Note to self Drav: You're not in AH. :pac:

RedXIV

I've pretty much surrendered my man card in the name of DIY, herself does everything. The only things I'm usually asked to fix are electronics and stuff too heavy for her to move.

I really should be more ashamed but its hard not being at little proud and amused at the same time

rain on

I do it while he makes the dinner, that way we both get to do the stuff we like, and I get fed

Bubblefett

This is how it works in my house:

I break it, dismantle it trying to fix it/being curious how it works, get annoyed trying to put it back together, give up.

He comes in, sees what I've done wrong, fixes it, all is good.


I like to try fix things and he tolerates fixing the mistakes I make, the perfect balance to a relationship

borderlinemeath

Equal opportunities household for DIY. I've always been handy with the drill and we're going to purchase a chainsaw this week. He is afraid of heights so I get the high jobs like refix the fascia:D

One thing I let him do is electrical work, he's no problem wiring a whole house top to bottom whereas I would end up with a few shocks.

NewFrockTuesday

Im the DIYer in my house. Ive never been with a bloke who is less than useless with it. Mostly to do with laziness rather than lack of skill. With all the tutorials available now, if you want to turn your hand to something theres no excuse. I got so into it I work ion different bits of furniture - either restoring or painting.

Still wary of the chainsaw thingy for the hedge though. Not strictly diy, but def the scariest implement Ive used so far.

borderlinemeath

NewFrockTuesday wrote: »

Im the DIYer in my house. Ive never been with a bloke who is less than useless with it. Mostly to do with laziness rather than lack of skill. With all the tutorials available now, if you want to turn your hand to something theres no excuse. I got so into it I work ion different bits of furniture - either restoring or painting.

Still wary of the chainsaw thingy for the hedge though. Not strictly diy, but def the scariest implement Ive used so far.

You use a chainsaw on your hedge? Do you mean a hedgetrimmer or a proper chainsaw? The hedgetrimmer has a much longer handle to it. Chainsaws are actually a bit easier to manage as they're closer to you:D We're getting a one for cutting logs for the stove.

NewFrockTuesday

Youre right - its the hedge trimmer. I wouldnt go near a chainsaw. Ive already cut the cord twice. My neighbour says he cant watch when Im out with it in the garden

borderlinemeath

NewFrockTuesday wrote: »

Youre right - its the hedge trimmer. I wouldnt go near a chainsaw. Ive already cut the cord twice. My neighbour says he cant watch when Im out with it in the garden

Petrol all the way. No cords to worry about.:D Our hedgetrimmer/grass strimmer is petrol too.

One tool I can't master is the jigsaw. I don't have enough strength to keep it on the line I need to cut so it ends up all jagged.

pampootie

I really wish I was more practical! I should be really... My dad was the main diyer at home but my mum was no stranger to it either. But I'm rubbish, i leave nearly everything to my boyfriend. Apart from painting, i love that. My boyfriend fortunately is very handy and can fix anything, so i leave him off and bake him stuff in thanks.

cdaly_

NewFrockTuesday wrote: »

Youre right - its the hedge trimmer. I wouldnt go near a chainsaw. Ive already cut the cord twice. My neighbour says he cant watch when Im out with it in the garden

I usually drape the cord over my shoulder so it ends up trailing behind me. That, along with a good swing in movement generally keeps it out of the way.

bubblefett wrote: »

I break it, dismantle it trying to fix it/being curious how it works, get annoyed trying to put it back together, give up.

That's how I learned most of my DIY skills. Working on passing that curiosity on to my kids now though they're mostly happy to yell 'Dad! Can you fix this for me?'...

borderlinemeath wrote: »

One tool I can't master is the jigsaw. I don't have enough strength to keep it on the line I need to cut so it ends up all jagged.

Jigsaws are hard 'cos the blade is too small. I prefer to use a circular saw for straight cuts and leave the jigsaw for small cutouts and wavy stuff.

KittyeeTrix

My mom gave me a lovely french style coffee table similar to the one in the picture below



I came home one day to find that the hubby had sawn off the 4 legs and had then set the table onto red bricks i.e 5 in each corner of the table where the legs had been. He then put our big fish aquarium on it....

When asked why he had decided to cut the legs off the table, his reply was that the tables thin legs would not support the weight of the aquarium......

I just stood there like this....:eek:

Neyite

fluffyorganic1 wrote: »

My mom gave me a lovely french style coffee table similar to the one in the picture below



I came home one day to find that the hubby had sawn off the 4 legs and had then set the table onto red bricks i.e 5 in each corner of the table where the legs had been. He then put our big fish aquarium on it....

When asked why he had decided to cut the legs off the table, his reply was that the tables thin legs would not support the weight of the aquarium......

I just stood there like this....:eek:

...and how long was he sleeping in the shed after this?

Silverfish

fluffyorganic1 wrote: »

My mom gave me a lovely french style coffee table similar to the one in the picture below



I came home one day to find that the hubby had sawn off the 4 legs and had then set the table onto red bricks i.e 5 in each corner of the table where the legs had been. He then put our big fish aquarium on it....

When asked why he had decided to cut the legs off the table, his reply was that the tables thin legs would not support the weight of the aquarium......

I just stood there like this....:eek:

Hmm, he'd want to be sure that the aquarium doesn't overhang / underhang the coffee table too much, it can put pressure on the glass if it overhangs, and if its shorter, it will put pressure on the table ....... :pac:


I can do most DIY stuff myself, apart from our lightbulbs which are up too high. He does all the cooking because i'm a woeful cook, we share (?) the cleaning (I do most of it!)

johnr1

Jigsaws are hard 'cos the blade is too small. I prefer to use a circular saw for straight cuts and leave the jigsaw for small cutouts and wavy stuff.[/QUOTE]

Ok, but a gentle word of warning, a jigsaw can give you a nasty cut at worst, Circular saws are properly dangerous in unskilled hands, they can remove fingers in a half a second. The only serious injury I ever had happen on a site I was running was from one, - leg opened up badly.
I'd be peppering watching apprentices using them.

Being a current/ex tradesman means I do most DIY in any relationship, it's more efficient, and I love efficiency

niamhx

LOL at dracovich.....pun was intended

Pmsl at the comments on the hedge trimmer.....when I was a teenager we had hedges running around the house.I don't think I ever managed to cut them without cutting through the wire ! Funnily enough they never stopped me having a go lol

He's been on a roll today, press door back up after 5 yrs of it half hanging off.
Cables all sorted, he even polished the unit and found the dogs twin underneath it, yuk !!
I'm painting our bedside lockers, he filled them and took off the old handles, carried them downstairs for me.
Broke up a bookcase.
Now he's having a well deserved bud. I did buy him a nice coffee, scone with cream and jam:)

Das Kitty

I'm the DIYer. In fact I have impeded any progress he might have made by taking over all tasks. I learnt everything from my mother growing up.

I'm a horrible foreman too, really impatient.

Storminateacup

I can paint, clean windows, cut the grass, basically anything fool proof.
Thing is, I'm easily bored and will abandon the job 10 minutes in.

My fiancée is okay at fixing things, and doing things about the house and he LOVES cars, they're his thing.

My father is fantastic at building things, garden things, cutting up things.

My bro is a lunatic lol he's fantastic at pretty much anything DIY but has no patience. Example of this, he was replacing glass that was in the French door, and measured it before buying it. However, upon bringing it home he realised it didn't fit and brought it Back to get the pane cut again. So he brought it home the 2nd time and it's still a little big, so he starts peeling away at the door, shaving a bit off it. Tried it again, still didn't fit. He's losing his temper at this stage, and says to my dad "I know what'll sort that" and heads off to the garage. Comes back with the chainsaw "I'll just give it a tap". HA

Posy

fluffyorganic1 wrote: »

I came home one day to find that the hubby had sawn off the 4 legs and had then set the table onto red bricks i.e 5 in each corner of the table where the legs had been. He then put our big fish aquarium on it....

Good God man, just buy an aquarium stand! :eek:

I generally do DIY in my house, can drill into walls, put up shelves, assemble needlessly complicated flat pack furniture. I'm not great with electrics or plumbing though.. I'd be too wary of mucking it up!
The only thing I can't do is handle GU10 bulbs- they're just so fiddly.. if one goes it will take months for me to get around replacing it, just can't get the damn things out of the ceiling! :mad:

However, I do find it a good trait in a man to be good with DIY. A man who can't even change the fuse in a plug would be a bit of a turn off.
Unfortunately if said man was looking for a woman who could cook* he would be equally disappointed in me!!





*Unless he only eats toast

iguana

I do most of the DIY my husband does most of the cooking. It's not like neither of us can't do the other, I'm a reasonably good cook and pretty good baker and my husband has a good steady hand for complicated/fine DIY but on the whole I prefer/have more of a knack for DIY and he is an utterly fantastic cook.

Babybuff

This week I are...stripping wallpaper, sanding mouldings and repainting the spare room. Also took carpet up to lay floor and as I'm a loner I have no choice but to do it by myself but I did ask a friend to give me a hand with the carpet. I had the job half done so all he had to do was rip up the last piece. He managed to do it while taking half the original flooring underneath away with it (which now needs to be replaced as the floor is uneven)..then standing all proudly with his chest puffed up he took a swing to the left, carpet over shoulder and knocked my favourite lamp I was using to light the room to the floor. It was miraculously still working just bent out of shape..until he went and picked it up and then he somehow managed to shatter the bulb and break the neck off completely when trying to fix it.
I prefer doing things by myself.

Kash

We definitely share the DIY, but it depends on how important it is to get it done. He often needs a push to get started, whereas I often start when i really shouldn't

I'm more experimental, and will give his 'not worth the effort' tasks a go.
For example, I took a chest of drawers, used the jisgsaw to cut out space for the pipes, adjusted the depths of the drawers and so on, so that it would fit perfectly under the bathroom sink. We were both delighted with it, and it genuinely looks like it was built to be there.

He on the other hand is way faster than me at doing most things - painting in particular (mainly because he's so tall he doesn't need a ladder!)

I assemble the flat pack furniture, but he does the heavy lifting.

The only job that I leave for him to do is drilling into our walls (after I've measured and marked), because for some reason, I can't seem to do it. Drilling into wood is no bother...

Azureus

My dad was a builder and I was always his mini apprentice when I was a kid (everything from jigsaws to chopping wood with axes, to carving, building sheds and pools to painting) so I really enjoy DIY, My mam is also the most independant person I've ever met and its definately rubbed off on me-if there's DIY to be done at home I'll make it my project and get stuck into it. If I don't know how to do it, I get the boyfriend in (tradesman) and watch everything he's doing so I'll know how to do it the next time it needs doin.
That said, the one thing I hate doing is putting up curtain poles because the walls kept falling apart-plaster everywhere and profanities from the OH must have reached Australia. Never. Again :L

dearg lady

fair play to yis ladies, plenty of DIY-ers in here!!
I'm not great myself, I do tend to leave most of the DIY stuff to a man, but I will do bits. I suppose we keep slightly more 'traditional' roles, he panics in the kitchen

SligoLady

I do ALL the DIY in our house.. painting, changing carpet, basic electrics, picture hanging, bulb changing.. I also do the cooking, baking and majority of the cleaning.. He does the outside of the house, ie. cutting the grass..which hasn't had to be done since October................ He's got it sussed huh!:(

Malari

I do nothing! Well, I probably could make an attempt but my boyfriend is so much better and faster and has a gazillion tools so I happily let him do it all. He lets me me do all the cooking because I love it and he sees food as fuel only. Traditional roles :-D

Moonbeam

My house is a diy nightmare!!

He wants to do the painting and diy himself and is always working, Disaster.

I am going to start getting small jobs done and see if he notices:)

Stheno

For my second anniversary with the Oh I asked for and got a drill set

I do most of the diy, sorting electrics, light bulbs, building sheds, putting new stereos in cars, changing headlights hand some plumbing

He does other plumbing bits, so we share that.

It can be split in that I do anything car/electric/carpentry/building related, he helps with plumbing

Tbh it's a split what we know and are comfortable with rather than anything else, if something needs doing and one of us can it gets done, otherwise we get the professionals in

However he is banned from my toolkits.

cynder

I do most of the diy and gardening and take out the rubbish bins. My husband is a tech head, not a common sense man ' he who threw water on a chip-pan fire' . ive painted the whole of the inside of the house, i've fitted up tvs, dvd players, cameras, games consoles. Ive put together too many flat pack, the 12 foot trampoline, swings, toys(self assemble toys like tractors and bikes), cot, buggys, and so on all by myself. The trampoline was a killer (pulling the metal springs into place) but had it done in under 2 hours. I do the lawn mowing, plant trimming, weeding, and varnishing of the shed.


Ive fixed the washing machine and diswasher. My arms got bruised the last time i cleaned out the bottom of the washing machine (the sump area where all the cr$p clogs up the water drainage) the washing machine wont go onto its next cycle.

Ill give him this though, he has jumped the cars when the battery has died. i dont know how to use the jump leads

jano6

We've a mixed marriage, hubby does all the hard work, skirting, architrave, lifting, hanging, anything that involves power tools really, I do all the finishing work, painting, decorating etc. I quite enjoy painting, bopping around to a few tunes on the radio. He much prefers to be outside at the end of a saw.