DIY or get someone else to change a bulb?

I got to 40 on that list knowing I can do all of them. I am 25. Pretty sure it's just the stupid few giving the rest of us a bad name. Although I did have an ex girlfriend who didn't know how to put a stamp on an envelope. Relationship ended very soon after...
 
Kenai said:
You could probably make an equivalent point in the opposite direction too, thinking about it. I spend a lot of time helping elder people do simple things that I take for granted but they seem to struggle with.
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This. I find lot of people seem to struggle with just doing things. Everyday stuff like going shopping, parking in one of the many parking spaces, etc., and just 'dither' through their day.

Thankfully I don't know anyone stupid enough to not be able to change a lightbulb, but there wouldn't be many that can do more practical stuff.

From that list, i'd confidently say 75% is no bother for me. :cool:
 
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I learned how to fit a plug in school and changing a light bulb is nothing. My dad taught me basic diy, not everyone had that luxury, he had a garage with all the tools and used to sand down things and use the vice to glue things together. I also did wood work at school and was taught basic electronics at school as well.
 
reminds me of the time I taught two b&q employees how to lay laminate. Did it on a busy saturday afternoon and had quite an audience at the end lol

I wired in all our spotlights in the kitchen, and a powerful double oven. Not electrocuted myself yet.
 
Much of this is basic intelligence, you look at a problem and work out how to do it.

I can't remember the last time I didn't know how to do something practical.
 
Monkeynut said:
I don't have a clue how to bleed a radiator and I'm 21. My heating is all electric though so it would also be useless information.
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By the age of 10 I was helping my father take radiators off the well for decorating purposes and wall paper/painting , filling and sanding and knew how to wire plugs and basic electrical appliances.

Having said he is a very practical person and very big on DIY and quite good at it so he naturally taught me. I find a lot of people my age (almost 30) haven't got a clue how to do most of the above and will happily pay someone to do it for them.
 
HybridX said:
By the age of 10 I was helping my father take radiators off the well for decorating purposes and wall paper/painting , filling and sanding and knew how to wire plugs and basic electrical appliances.

Having said he is a very practical person and very big on DIY and quite good at it so he naturally taught me. I find a lot of people my age (almost 30) haven't got a clue how to do most of the above and will happily pay someone to do it for them.
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I think there's nothing wrong with not knowing as long as you're willing to learn should you need to know it, tbh.
 
Richie said:
Not really... You dont need to own/rent a house to learn or know DIY. I knew how to wire a plug at 13 and I didn't have my own house then.
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It is helpful for some of the other stuff though. I don't own a house but I've learnt a lot helping out people who do, including a massive overhaul on a shed of a house my mate got last year which needed a lot of work - drainage, boarding ceilings, dot-and-dab etc. Learnt a lot very quickly.

The only thing I would get someone else to do is probably plastering, because that's an artform and no matter how well I managed it would probably not be as nice a job as someone else could manage, and I would waste a lot of materials getting it right.
 
I can't believe that 10% of young UK adults cannot (or won't) change a lightbulb! Bulbs are usually Edison or Bayonet fit. Find out which, then buy a replacement. If it's neither, then Google it e.g. spot lights have diameters in mm.

I can sew on a button no probs. Most of my trousers will lose the top button at some point, so a bit of practise and job's a good 'un.

I'm not very good with tools though e.g. for wood or metal work, and I was crap at CDT in school anyway, so I hire my carpenter friend to do decorations at my house at mate's rates, and he also stripped out my old bathroom and installed a new 3-piece suite, painted, tiled, floored, all the plumbing etc.
 
Richie said:
Not really... You dont need to own/rent a house to learn or know DIY. I knew how to wire a plug at 13 and I didn't have my own house then.
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Changing a light bulb is barely DIY. You arent going to start stripping the wallpaper down or putting up a new shed in rented accomodation are you. I'm sure being able to wire a plug has come in real useful for you.
 
Well despite growing up as a man-child in mollycoddled modern society I can still;

Wire a plug
Plaster a wall
Wallpaper or paint
Tile
Replace electrical cables from the rcd
Install shelves without using a store bought kit
Build a table
Repair woodwork
Repair sofits
Remove and replace guttering
Re wire a plug
Re wire a plug socket
Change a light fitting
Replace a burst (OK punctured...) pipe
Replace a bathroom suite
Etc etc etc

And sure, none of that is to a necessarily professional level (not that I've been particularly impressed with some of the professionals we've used when considering their prices!) but it's all thanks to YouTube.

I'd put it down to not being able to own a home, I knew almost none of that before we bought. I didn't need to as if anything went wrong you'd just ring the lettings agency to send someone to sort it.
 
mattyg said:
I have a mate who thinks the same. I keep asking him "How do you make time?" I thought it was a constant.

In my world there are 24hrs in each day and even though I've tried to make more "time" I keep failing.

If you mean stop doing one thing to start doing another then you are correct "priorities".

However it just doesn't make sense for me to stop earning £200 so I can do a job that would only cost me £50 to get someone in to do.

There are also a large number of workers out there who work away from home during the week so only have 2 days off at the weekend. Who probably lose one of those days unpacking/cleaning and packing/preparing for the next week.
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I work away Monday - Friday, sometimes over weekends on 10 day stints. Makes it even harder to get someone else in to do stuff as I'm not there to let them in. Same applies to the earning x amount when it costs y amount to get someone in. I'd still lose the income to be off to let someone in my house (perhaps I'm untrusting but I don't like the idea of people in my house without me, close friends and family aside) so I might as well do it myself.

Edit - I'm a spark by trade so I guess its a little easier for me
 
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Kamerad said:
Since most of the younger generation have been priced out of the housing market it's not really surprising that they aren't learning DIY.
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I wouldn't attribute this to not knowing DIY, hell most of us here, I would hazard a confident guess, spent their early years taking stuff apart just to see how they work and then put them back together again. then later on actually building stuff whether it was electrical, plastic or wooden!

Although yeah, what you say does make people more lazier and "CBA" :p
 
I fully understand DIY the pleasure you get from doing it all yourself, I regularly do it (fnarr) I consider myself competent at most things/house maintenance.

Dishwasher: guy asked £120 quid to replace a solenoid valve... Find it yourself online for £20 quid.. do it yourself.. Whatever... Its easy if you don't mind tinkering and are confident.

BUT I PROMISE YOU 100%

IF i earned ~£200 quid an hour (whatever it cost to pay someone else to work for me ) I wouldn't hesitate in paying a professional, that will do a better job than me, to redecorate, re-plaster, re-sow my lawn, re ANYTHING my anything. Its very simple economics.

Cant change a light bulb?? That's sensationalist BS headlining. Everyone can do it, they have just never had to do it.
 
glen8 said:
.............

I wired in all our spotlights in the kitchen, and a powerful double oven. Not electrocuted myself yet.
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Firstly pffft amateur. Electrocuted myself twice now and counting :D

Also,

Ten per cent of Brits between the ages of 18 and 35 have called out a repairman to change a lightbulb
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what a load of bs as is the article.
 
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