Home Repairs...

[sidekick]

I do much of my own work as I love to learn about new things along the way. The one place I draw the line is at painting. I will not paint. never, ever ...... I'd rather go to a knitting convention than paint. lol

 

[SatelliteGAL]

You know what surprises me. All the people that I work with that hire someone to paint the rooms in their houses. Hundreds of dollars to paint a room.

 

[gbjbany]

We tried one of those paint sprayers, bought it from home depot and oh boy what a waste of time and money. we had to cover every thing, all the door ways etc, that took an hour or so masking it all off. Then the thing wouldn't spray evenly, so we took it back, got out the brushes and painted a 30 by 15 room ( 3 coats) in one weekend. Waaaay cheaper than paying someone.

 

[dfergie]

The Dryer sounds like a brand new one as I lubed all the spots the Repairman told me to... too bad I forgot one of the elements was out but It only takes twice as long... Now time to reroof the house soon...

 

[sidekick]

Not for me !sadroll When I see a paint can, my Pavlovian instinct darts my right hand toward my wallet.

We tried one of those paint sprayers, bought it from home depot and oh boy what a waste of time and money. we had to cover every thing, all the door ways etc, that took an hour or so masking it all off. Then the thing wouldn't spray evenly, so we took it back, got out the brushes and painted a 30 by 15 room ( 3 coats) in one weekend. Waaaay cheaper than paying someone.

 

[SatelliteGAL]

The Dryer sounds like a brand new one as I lubed all the spots the Repairman told me to... too bad I forgot one of the elements was out but It only takes twice as long... Now time to reroof the house soon...

Ah now... that involves a ladder. We paid to have that done.

 

[Bob Haller]

I can do roof stuff but dont enjoy it. my bad knee hates ladder climbing....

 

[sikma]

We tried one of those paint sprayers, bought it from home depot and oh boy what a waste of time and money. we had to cover every thing, all the door ways etc, that took an hour or so masking it all off. Then the thing wouldn't spray evenly, so we took it back, got out the brushes and painted a 30 by 15 room ( 3 coats) in one weekend. Waaaay cheaper than paying someone.

After we were in our new house a couple of years, my wife finally decided on a color for our 'great room.' I had received some good feedback on those paint tubes (roller). At first I was skeptical, but after a few minutes of using it I was sold. The best tool for painting I've ever used!!!

 

[cdru]

I do them because it freaks out my neighbors. They call somebody for every little thing and here I am doing it all myself.

This has it's avantages. My best friend's next door neighbor is a lawsuit happy S.O.B. He sues anyone for any reason and is currently suing about a half-dozen city agenices as well as a few neighbors for a variety of baseless things. He left my friend off the lawsuit because he doesn't have any money.

How does he know my friend doesn't have any money? He replaced a window pane that was broken himself instead of having a window contractor come out and replace the whole thing. We also installed a length of privacy fence last summer last summer by ourselves instead of going with a fencing company. Apparently DIY means you are poor.

 

[DRGingras]

Around our house, most weekends are home-repair weekends - and I wouldn't have it any other way

My parents raised a family of 6 on a meager single income. Everything that came into our house was used, always needed repairs, and seemed to last forever. I got a well-rounded education in all things electrical and mechanical, and still get a kick out of fixing something instead of replacing it. I've fixed just about everything we own with moving parts at least once. Just finished replacing the lift system on the lawn tractor deck, tomorrow I plan on replacing some copper water lines that are undersized. I still have all my digits, haven't burned the house down, and have an ever-growing collection of hand and power tools! Since we bought our latest home in '98, some of my bigger DIY's have included:

New 2-level cedar deck
New shed
New EDO and steel garage door
New basement rec room
New wet bar for rec room
New workshop (for all those tools - will have to expand soon)
New vinyl siding &trim
Moved and rebuilt a lannonstone retaining wall
16" additional insulation in the attic
Replaced wrought iron rails and posts on front porch with cedar
Gutted & remodeled family room
Gutted & remodeled 1 bathroom (including moving a door from 1 wall to another)
Gutted & remodeled kitchen - added gas cooktop and built-in electric double oven
Cedar lining and organizers in all closets
All new paint inside and out
All new inside gas lines
Complete rewire of phone, coax, cat5 and A/V to a central network box
New water heater
New sump pump and backup system
New exhaust fans in both bathrooms
Complete 2-dish E* setup with 2 antennas on a rotator
All new outlets, light switches and several new circuits

This spring, the dining room gets gutted, this fall, going to install a fireplace. If the neighbors think I'm poor, they're wrong - just perpetually broke and loving it

But I do have my limits - paid contractors to do the roof, windows, new patio door (was a window on a brick wall), and concrete drive/garage floor. Also gave up on the 20+ year old washer and dryer that I've replaced numerous belts, bearings and controls on. Gave them to one of the kids, with instructions to NEVER call me when they break, and bought new ones. And I stopped doing car repairs years ago - still do oil and filter changes, though.

I love to fix and make things, and I don't really care what the better-off neighbors think. It's all about the satisfaction gained from either making something work or making something better. And my 75 year old dad still has a gleam in his eyes as he offers to help with each new project. Thanks, Dad - for everything!

 

[Bob Haller]

I like just ONE color of paint! Semi gloss WHITE

Prefer brown carpet, mud doesnt show. beyond that jen can decorate any way she wants.

its strange, I am 49 and thinking I may never have to do this long lived job again, I will either have moved to a warmer climate Or died

age changes how you view things

 

[Claude Greiner]

We tried one of those paint sprayers, bought it from home depot and oh boy what a waste of time and money. we had to cover every thing, all the door ways etc, that took an hour or so masking it all off. Then the thing wouldn't spray evenly, so we took it back, got out the brushes and painted a 30 by 15 room ( 3 coats) in one weekend. Waaaay cheaper than paying someone.

I actually use a paint sprayer when I have to paint at my office. If you use it right it does a good Job, but your right you got to mask off everything, or you get paint everywhere!

The only nice thing is that I had a really old tile ceiling that had years of dirt, and instead of trying to wash it, prime it and then apply 2 coats of paint I was able to get away with applying fresh paint directly to the tile. The white paint came out a little discolored, but it was a big improvement since the origional white tiles where a light brown from not being painted in 20 years.

 

[dragon002]

I like just ONE color of paint! Semi gloss WHITE

Prefer brown carpet, mud doesnt show. beyond that jen can decorate any way she wants.

its strange, I am 49 and thinking I may never have to do this long lived job again, I will either have moved to a warmer climate Or died

age changes how you view things

jeez bob,

im 48 so ive got like.....2 or 3 years left???????

 

[dfergie]

I'm 49 too... And in the last year it seems to be catching up... left elbow sore or stiff all the time, Right knee hurts occasionally but I am not ready to croak yet... can't do anything outside right now 28 degrees with 18 wind chill...

 

[Bob Haller]

Thinking more of getting a new roof, things that last a real long time.....

paint and carpet have short life expectancy.

helping my best friend et a new hot water tank, he is 74 and says I wouldnt have to do this again or will be so old it wouldnt matter.

his tank is a elderly 13 years old and flakey, getting new 12 year tank he will be 86 years old.

I have a bad knee, it never forgets a fall some 7 or 8 years ago

 

[navychop]

Never mind the HOME repairs- we could use a few repairs ourselves.

I stop & think what medical miracles our grandkids will see. But then, I guess our grandparents saw us receive some medical miracles.

 

[hdtvtechno]

his tank is a elderly 13 years old and flakey,

Our hot water tank was 25 years old, and we replaced it last year

 

[dfergie]

19 Year Old water Heater, 1 hour before work Friday evening I notice water around it... Turned off water and used camper for bathing and other water needs... bought one this morning (on way home from work) and already have old one out but need a few fittings, so it's back to town. Hopefully I can git-r-done by early this afternoon as I woke up at 2pm yesterday

 

[joedekock]

19 Year Old water Heater, 1 hour before work Friday evening I notice water around it... Turned off water and used camper for bathing and other water needs... bought one this morning (on way home from work) and already have old one out but need a few fittings, so it's back to town. Hopefully I can git-r-done by early this afternoon as I woke up at 2pm yesterday

Have you looked into the tankless water heaters. They save a lot of money... supposedly 25-40% of your gas bill (if you have a gas model water heater). They make them in electric too.

I do all my own home repairs. I also do all my own auto repairs. It saves a ton of money. I have also found that with my cars, because I do my own repairs and maintenance, I have far less problems than people who do not. I am meticulous too, so I nip stuff in the bud right away, I do not let them drag out until absolutely necessary, causing more damage. I have no problem buying vehicles with 75000 miles on them, because I know I can do some regular maintenance things to them that have not been done, and keep them up with very few issues to over 170000 miles.

I have re-done all the electrical and plumbing in my home since we moved in three years ago. I built and finished my theatre room off in my basement, (see link below). This year however, we have to re-shingle our roof, and put up new siding on the house. I am going to contract this out this time for the sake of time. We need both done very badly. I will be installing new windows and doors throughout the whole house though, so I will be busy. I also have a section of roof (10ft. X 28ft), that is flat, so I will be sloping that sometime this year too. Living in Michigan means I have from about April to October to get that all done.

I learned everything from my dad. He was a licensed electrician that had to re-wire a lot of older buildings and homes, so he had a lot of tricks of the trade that carried over into plumbing older homes as well. He was also a motor head in his younger years, so he carried that trade with him his whole life and passed it all down to me.

I am a Network Engineer so I work with a lot of geeks, and I see the amount of money they waste with paying handy men, or mechanics, and I thank God I know how to do that work myself!

 

[dfergie]

Too late to check into the tankless rigs, got-r-done... been under Pressure for almost an hour and heating for about 20 minutes... still have some clean-up to do, but... in 10 minutes I have been up 24 hours so break time