handyman-ness

[Panjandrum]

Can someone give me an example of what they are talking about?

Just built a new fence around the back yard.  Spent a month stressing about what kind of fence to build.  Do I go with the premade sections, what type of matierial,etc.  Went with 6' cedar pickets and 8' treated posts.  Then do I cement each post or not?  I wanted it to last and look good and straight, so I used 2 bags of quick crete per post.  Once I got all the holes dug and got a corner framed up the rest was a cinch.

Edit: Never built a fence before this.  Have to say it looks dam good to. 

Did you get the posts under the frost line?

 

[SdK]

I think it can be learned. I worked construction for 4 years, started out with industrial electrical work, then worked on installing HVAC in new homes, and ended with siding. I am now a complete badass at all things construction or handyman.

I think this means it can be learned. Or maybe it means I was always good at it? My dad sucked at these things in retrospect, so I think it can be learned. Working 50+ hours a week on average building skills helped though. So maybe you can't learn to be a handyman by trying to fix things around the house, it may require a lot more time and effort.

Either way I started out in the biz making 8 dollars an hour, and ended making 18 dollars an hour with rent paid and 10% of the squares I hung siding.  myself. thank you  you too.

[Bloodfart]

Can someone give me an example of what they are talking about?

Just built a new fence around the back yard.  Spent a month stressing about what kind of fence to build.  Do I go with the premade sections, what type of matierial,etc.  Went with 6' cedar pickets and 8' treated posts.  Then do I cement each post or not?  I wanted it to last and look good and straight, so I used 2 bags of quick crete per post.  Once I got all the holes dug and got a corner framed up the rest was a cinch.

Edit: Never built a fence before this.  Have to say it looks dam good to. 

Did you get the posts under the frost line?

 

I think 2' was all the further I wanted to go.  If this is not below the frost line then screw it.  I tried a single person posthole auger.  It worked fine for the first foot then hit the diamond hard clay.    Had to do the second foot by hand.  :flexes arms:  Was a great upper body work out. 

[hemmy]

My dad owns lots of property which he often used me as slave labor to maintain/repair in-between tenants. So naturally, I am a great handyman.

 

That's not my job, if that is what you were implying

[ednksu]

Can someone give me an example of what they are talking about?

Just built a new fence around the back yard.  Spent a month stressing about what kind of fence to build.  Do I go with the premade sections, what type of matierial,etc.  Went with 6' cedar pickets and 8' treated posts.  Then do I cement each post or not?  I wanted it to last and look good and straight, so I used 2 bags of quick crete per post.  Once I got all the holes dug and got a corner framed up the rest was a cinch.

Edit: Never built a fence before this.  Have to say it looks dam good to. 

Did you get the posts under the frost line?

 

I think 2' was all the further I wanted to go.  If this is not below the frost line then screw it.  I tried a single person posthole auger.  It worked fine for the first foot then hit the diamond hard clay.    Had to do the second foot by hand.  :flexes arms:  Was a great upper body work out.

[Rams]

Can someone give me an example of what they are talking about?

Just built a new fence around the back yard.  Spent a month stressing about what kind of fence to build.  Do I go with the premade sections, what type of matierial,etc.  Went with 6' cedar pickets and 8' treated posts.  Then do I cement each post or not?  I wanted it to last and look good and straight, so I used 2 bags of quick crete per post.  Once I got all the holes dug and got a corner framed up the rest was a cinch.

Edit: Never built a fence before this.  Have to say it looks dam good to. 

Did you get the posts under the frost line?

 

I think 2' was all the further I wanted to go.  If this is not below the frost line then screw it.  I tried a single person posthole auger.  It worked fine for the first foot then hit the diamond hard clay.    Had to do the second foot by hand.  :flexes arms:  Was a great upper body work out.

On a side note, I love how the U.S. Department of Commerce Weather Bureau abbreviates Kansas "KA"   

[CNS]

Pro Tips:
1. everything is on youtube.  you can watch a pro fix pretty much anything on youtube, then go replicate it.
2. learn on someone else's house.  That way if you get frustrated, tired, or just really suck at something you can say whatevs and just leave. also you don't have to live with it if it is done poorly.

[_33]

Going to try to hang some blinds tonight.   

[CNS]

Going to try to hang some blinds tonight.   

Oh man, do you have any friends that need help hanging blinds first?

[felix rex]

My brother is a good example of learning. He just started knocking out walls and doing stuff himself in his first house a few years ago. When he moved into his current house he remodeled the whole thing. His inspiration was basically that he noticed how stupid most of the labor he was hiring was. He just figured it couldn't be that hard. His place looks great.

But he's also annoyingly meticulous/patient. He's like a literate version of Orr.

[Panjandrum]

My brother is a good example of learning. He just started knocking out walls and doing stuff himself in his first house a few years ago. When he moved into his current house he remodeled the whole thing. His inspiration was basically that he noticed how stupid most of the labor he was hiring was. He just figured it couldn't be that hard. His place looks great.

But he's also annoyingly meticulous/patient. He's like a literate version of Orr.

My dad is/was the same way.  He did a fantastic job doing stuff at his house and helping me finish my basement.  But we went pretty slow.

Honestly, if you really take your time and you have the right tools, you'll do better than most people you contract because you care about the end product more.  There is a major difference in our basement between what we did and what hired laborers did.  I think I spent more time/stress/energy dealing with contractors than actually doing the work myself.  I just simply didn't have the time to do it all, but if I did, I probably would have done the whole thing myself in retrospect.

[CNS]

My brother is a good example of learning. He just started knocking out walls and doing stuff himself in his first house a few years ago. When he moved into his current house he remodeled the whole thing. His inspiration was basically that he noticed how stupid most of the labor he was hiring was. He just figured it couldn't be that hard. His place looks great.

But he's also annoyingly meticulous/patient. He's like a literate version of Orr.

Yeah, very little of it is hard to understand.  However, some of it is simply being practiced enough to execute it well.

[_33]

My brother is a good example of learning. He just started knocking out walls and doing stuff himself in his first house a few years ago. When he moved into his current house he remodeled the whole thing. His inspiration was basically that he noticed how stupid most of the labor he was hiring was. He just figured it couldn't be that hard. His place looks great.

But he's also annoyingly meticulous/patient. He's like a literate version of Orr.

Yeah, very little of it is hard to understand.  However, some of it is simply being practiced enough to execute it well.

Wrong. It's all extremely hard to understand.

[Panjandrum]

My brother is a good example of learning. He just started knocking out walls and doing stuff himself in his first house a few years ago. When he moved into his current house he remodeled the whole thing. His inspiration was basically that he noticed how stupid most of the labor he was hiring was. He just figured it couldn't be that hard. His place looks great.

But he's also annoyingly meticulous/patient. He's like a literate version of Orr.

Yeah, very little of it is hard to understand.  However, some of it is simply being practiced enough to execute it well.

People can do some wicked stuff with drywall that I'm just not "artistic" enough to do.

However, I do want to buy a miter saw and go nuts with crown molding in my kitchen and upstairs bedrooms.

[Panjandrum]

Can someone give me an example of what they are talking about?

Just built a new fence around the back yard.  Spent a month stressing about what kind of fence to build.  Do I go with the premade sections, what type of matierial,etc.  Went with 6' cedar pickets and 8' treated posts.  Then do I cement each post or not?  I wanted it to last and look good and straight, so I used 2 bags of quick crete per post.  Once I got all the holes dug and got a corner framed up the rest was a cinch.

Edit: Never built a fence before this.  Have to say it looks dam good to. 

Did you get the posts under the frost line?

 

I think 2' was all the further I wanted to go.  If this is not below the frost line then screw it.  I tried a single person posthole auger.  It worked fine for the first foot then hit the diamond hard clay.    Had to do the second foot by hand.  :flexes arms:  Was a great upper body work out.

It took me 45 minutes to get my mailbox in because as soon as we got under the sod, it was all clay.

My wife wants me to do our fence, but for that reason, I'm thinking of hiring it out.  I just simply don't have the patience to deal with the clay.

[kso_FAN]

My brother is a good example of learning. He just started knocking out walls and doing stuff himself in his first house a few years ago. When he moved into his current house he remodeled the whole thing. His inspiration was basically that he noticed how stupid most of the labor he was hiring was. He just figured it couldn't be that hard. His place looks great.

But he's also annoyingly meticulous/patient. He's like a literate version of Orr.

Yeah, very little of it is hard to understand.  However, some of it is simply being practiced enough to execute it well.

People can do some wicked stuff with drywall that I'm just not "artistic" enough to do.

However, I do want to buy a miter saw and go nuts with crown molding in my kitchen and upstairs bedrooms.

I'm comfortable doing about anything handy man related, but I hate mudding and taping.

[CNS]

Get all your holes started to the point that you hit the clay.  Then take a rock bar, or some other item that can penetrate a few inches into the clay, and poke a few holes in the clay. then take a half bucket of water, or so, and dump it  in the hole.  Wait a little while, then the clay will be much easier to work with.

When I put in my fence we hit clay so hard and dry that it sheered off my auger bit from the bolt that pinned it on.  Sheared through 1/8" steel.  nasty stuff.

[Panjandrum]

My brother is a good example of learning. He just started knocking out walls and doing stuff himself in his first house a few years ago. When he moved into his current house he remodeled the whole thing. His inspiration was basically that he noticed how stupid most of the labor he was hiring was. He just figured it couldn't be that hard. His place looks great.

But he's also annoyingly meticulous/patient. He's like a literate version of Orr.

Yeah, very little of it is hard to understand.  However, some of it is simply being practiced enough to execute it well.

People can do some wicked stuff with drywall that I'm just not "artistic" enough to do.

However, I do want to buy a miter saw and go nuts with crown molding in my kitchen and upstairs bedrooms.

I'm comfortable doing about anything handy man related, but I hate mudding and taping.

See, that part doesn't seem that bad.  Considering how bad a job my contractors did, that was the part I wanted to do myself.

I had to call the owner of the company out, and they did additional mudding/taping/sanding for two more days.  I ended up doing additional sanding myself because, well, I'm crazy like that.

[Dugout DickStone]

i have completely remodeled 3 homes, including the one i'm living in now.

i have been around that sort of thing since i was young though, so i guess it was a "born with it" thing.

Quit buying crappy houses?

[Bloodfart]

Get all your holes started to the point that you hit the clay.  Then take a rock bar, or some other item that can penetrate a few inches into the clay, and poke a few holes in the clay. then take a half bucket of water, or so, and dump it  in the hole.  Wait a little while, then the clay will be much easier to work with.

When I put in my fence we hit clay so hard and dry that it sheered off my auger bit from the bolt that pinned it on.  Sheared through 1/8" steel.  nasty stuff.

This makes way too much sense.   I'd rather attack it with blind rage, then beat my chest victoriously (after my hands healed from all the blisters).

[kitten_mittons]

he noticed how stupid most of the labor he was hiring was.

This.  Same thing worth car repair.  If you go back to your hometown and see who is doing car repair or construction, they are the people who couldn't think in high school.

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[steve dave]

a smart person's time is better spent doing other crap than pounding nails and doing car stuff.  if your family members were so smart they would be able to pay people to do all that crap for them and not waste their own time. 

[ednksu]

I wish to take this thread in a new direction if you will join me.

List tools that a handyman should have:



I'm going with my XRP series.  Love them over regular home improvement lines.




upgraded with proper blades




(all stock photos)

[CNS]

a smart person's time is better spent doing other crap than pounding nails and doing car stuff.  if your family members were so smart they would be able to pay people to do all that crap for them and not waste their own time.

Have to get pretty drastic to apply this across the board.  I mean, like quit your job and start one up that allows you to actually benefit from working at your job on the weekends rather than your house.  In my biz, I need several other people to be available and at work for me to be productive at work.  Would be pretty useless for me to do my job on the weekends.

[j-dub]

My brother is a good example of learning. He just started knocking out walls and doing stuff himself in his first house a few years ago. When he moved into his current house he remodeled the whole thing. His inspiration was basically that he noticed how stupid most of the labor he was hiring was. He just figured it couldn't be that hard. His place looks great.

But he's also annoyingly meticulous/patient. He's like a literate version of Orr.

Yeah, very little of it is hard to understand.  However, some of it is simply being practiced enough to execute it well.

People can do some wicked stuff with drywall that I'm just not "artistic" enough to do.

However, I do want to buy a miter saw and go nuts with crown molding in my kitchen and upstairs bedrooms.

I'm comfortable doing about anything handy man related, but I hate mudding and taping.

i'm pretty dece at drywall. mostly the mudding/taping/sanding.. i hate hanging it. especially ceilings.