Images of items I have purchased (except trainers [no feet pics])

IvanDobskey said:
That really isn't true. I do all my own tiling to a similar standard to any professional. It does take me considerably longer though :)

It really isn't that difficult if you use the right tools and take your time.
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I think that’s why no one should take up trades like tiling, painting, decorating etc any more. With the rise of YouTube (instructions) and diy shops, everyone wants to do it themselves and no one wants to part with any cash. It’s not like the old days, we don’t look after each other any more.

The trades to take up really are gas and electrics, as they are strictly no diy.
 
robfosters said:
It’s just a bee in my bonnet I’ve always had about DIY. I think some people try too much and do shoddy jobs, while tradesmen are losing out on a potential wage.
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I try to do most of the work on my house nowadays. I've found that tradesman are far too expensive, often don't turn up, and their quality is often poor. I usually have to tidy up poor finishing so I would rather do it myself and save money.

I do pay people to do it if it's something skilled such as plastering, or if I don't have the time myself. But over the years I've largely found tradesman's work to be sub standard. It's to be expected really. I love my house and want it done right. A tradesman just wants to get the job done, get the money and go home.

I've had tiling done by 'professionals' in the past. Sometimes it is good and other times it has been so poor I had to rip it off the wall and get someone else to do it (I refused to pay him as it was terrible).
 
robfosters said:
I think that’s why no one should take up trades like tiling, painting, decorating etc any more. With the rise of YouTube (instructions) and diy shops, everyone wants to do it themselves and no one wants to part with any cash. It’s not like the old days, we don’t look after each other any more.

The trades to take up really are gas and electrics, as they are strictly no diy.
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I look at what a tiler charges, then consider I can do a similar job myself and it's a no brainer ;)
 
robfosters said:
Isn’t it part of how an economy works though? People paying money to others for their skilled services. I mean, if everyone thought, “nah, restaurants are too expensive, I’m gonna cook at home every night”. It wouldn’t make your life too prosperous would it? All your hard work would be for nothing, and you’d be on here bemoaning why no one is using your restaurant.
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Yeah but Wez also isn't sat in the La Cuisine forum telling everyone who cooks at home that they're ruining his livlihood!
 
A few posters in there live in NZ though :p

End of the day i think everyone is entitled to do whatever work they want. Most skilled trades can be learnt by someone willing.

I'm an accountant but i accept that with some effort pretty much anyone could do their own accounts/bookkeeping. Just like i can learn to do basic electrics and other work around the house.

Skilled workers (whether trade or professional) will always have work because not everyone is inclined to learn to do things themselves or simply just don't have the time or desire.

I absolutely hate painting, and would love to get someone in to do it. But i just can't justify paying someone £1500 to come in and paint my whole house when i can do it myself (to maybe 70% of the standard) and use that money on something else.
 
Marvt74 said:
A few posters in there live in NZ though :p

End of the day i think everyone is entitled to do whatever work they want. Most skilled trades can be learnt by someone willing.

I'm an accountant but i accept that with some effort pretty much anyone could do their own accounts/bookkeeping. Just like i can learn to do basic electrics and other work around the house.

Skilled workers (whether trade or professional) will always have work because not everyone is inclined to learn to do things themselves or simply just don't have the time or desire.
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Apparently brits spend over £30billion a year paying tradesmen to put DIY disasters right lol. I suppose as long as people keep mucking things up it won’t hurt the industry too bad.
 
robfosters said:
I think that’s why no one should take up trades like tiling, painting, decorating etc any more. With the rise of YouTube (instructions) and diy shops, everyone wants to do it themselves and no one wants to part with any cash. It’s not like the old days, we don’t look after each other any more.

The trades to take up really are gas and electrics, as they are strictly no diy.
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I can tile to an excellent standard. I'm an accomplished plasterer as well. I can also do all my own car repairs, including rebuilding engines.

However, I'd rather pay someone else to do all three as I'd rather use that time to do something else.
 
IvanDobskey said:
That really isn't true. I do all my own tiling to a similar standard to any professional. It does take me considerably longer though :)

It really isn't that difficult if you use the right tools and take your time.

Not everyone has the time or inclination for DIY though.
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Agreed. If you have some skills and are prepared to learn then most things can be done to a similar standard, albeit just longer

I needed to get a new bathroom plumbed in and contacted 7 plumber companies for quotes. Only 5 turned up to look at the job and only 2 then sent quotes.

One was for £1400 and the other was for £2300. I priced up all the pipe and fittings myself and that came to £400.

I figured a decent plumber could do it in a day and a half tops so I was been asked to pay between £666 and £1266 per day in labour.

So I did it myself. It took me a full week because I'm slow and wanted to make sure I got it right and also wasted some materials with pipe bends going wrong etc so spent an extra £100 there but was still worth it to do it myself. No way was I going to pay a plumber that much per day
 
The fact is that a lot of DIY jobs are not that difficult. You might need some tools that you've then got for next time, that are nowadays not too expensive if it's only for a one off job. Sure, practice and experience will make a tradesman do it faster, but everyone's got stories about tradesmen messing them about, not turning up, charging rip-off money and then doing a poor or average job.

Reading up on what you need to do or looking at youtube will get you most of the way there, and then it's just a case of taking your time and doing it carefully, and you're likely to do a better job than a tradesman that is just going to do a quick job and move on to the next cash-cow. Most just seem to do as little as they can get away with, rather than having any pride in doing a good job, despite the high prices they are charging.
 
Greebo said:
Agreed. If you have some skills and are prepared to learn then most things can be done to a similar standard, albeit just longer

I needed to get a new bathroom plumbed in and contacted 7 plumber companies for quotes. Only 5 turned up to look at the job and only 2 then sent quotes.

One was for £1400 and the other was for £2300. I priced up all the pipe and fittings myself and that came to £400.

I figured a decent plumber could do it in a day and a half tops so I was been asked to pay between £666 and £1266 per day in labour.

So I did it myself. It took me a full week because I'm slow and wanted to make sure I got it right and also wasted some materials with pipe bends going wrong etc so spent an extra £100 there but was still worth it to do it myself. No way was I going to pay a plumber that much per day
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Out of interest, what would have been an acceptable quote for you?
 
robfosters said:
I think that’s why no one should take up trades like tiling, painting, decorating etc any more. With the rise of YouTube (instructions) and diy shops, everyone wants to do it themselves and no one wants to part with any cash. It’s not like the old days, we don’t look after each other any more.

The trades to take up really are gas and electrics, as they are strictly no diy.
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My gf is a painter and decorator and has been for 4 years now, getting busier and busier rather than slowing down.

No matter how many videos and cheap supplies become, lots of people just want it done without the hassle of doing it themselves.
 
Raymond Lin said:
What have I started? All I want to do is learn to do some DIY.
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Give it a go. In the past 11 months I've learned (with various degrees of success, I will admit) to plaster, paint, lay wood floor, basic electrics, very basic plumbing amongst other things. One thing I haven't needed to do is tiling but it can't be harder than plastering and frankly I did an alright job.
 
Skillmister said:
Give it a go. In the past 11 months I've learned (with various degrees of success, I will admit) to plaster, paint, lay wood floor, basic electrics, very basic plumbing amongst other things. One thing I haven't needed to do is tiling but it can't be harder than plastering and frankly I did an alright job.
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One would say you're a meister of skill.
 
Jan-Dec next year sorted :D
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