What kinds of things do you DIY

Hubby and I are slowly learning about house stuff. This is our first house, so neither of us has had the opportunity to learn anything about DIY, since we've always rented. Neither of our parents ever did anything DIY, so we are starting from scratch to learn this stuff on our own. We don't really have anyone to learn from regarding DIY, besides online videos, which have been really helpful!

While the idea of DIY is appealing, I'm not sure what level of project we can handle. To start off, we bought new toilet paper holders and door knobs from Home Depot and plan to install these ourselves. This seems like a good level of DIY to start. DH wants to paint the garage--that also seems manageable, though we've never painted anything before.

Both of us are really interested in DIY, and we've been doing lots of research online about these topics.

I'm interested to hear what kinds of things you DIY instead of looking for a professional.

[moonlight]

Painting isn't all that hard! We painted (for the first time) our baby's room a few weeks ago. The tricky thing is to tape the trim so that everything looks nice. We wanted to do three colors on her walls. Top half of the room was light pink, then a 4 inch dark brown horizontal line around the room, then dark pink on the bottom. That darn brown line just about drove me NUTS. We were using blue tape (like they do on TV). The brown paint kept seeping under the tape and made a real mess. Come to find out we needed to use the GREEN tape to make a straight line.

Painting isn't all that hard! We painted (for the first time) our baby's room a few weeks ago. The tricky thing is to tape the trim so that everything looks nice. We wanted to do three colors on her walls. Top half of the room was light pink, then a 4 inch dark brown horizontal line around the room, then dark pink on the bottom. That darn brown line just about drove me NUTS. We were using blue tape (like they do on TV). The brown paint kept seeping under the tape and made a real mess. Come to find out we needed to use the GREEN tape to make a straight line.

Is there a certain name for the green tape? Wow, this sounds quite complicated! DH just wants to paint the garage and that seems a little daunting!

[SoonerTexan]

Haha, just don't over do it. My parents are still DIY-aholics, especially when they built a house in Mississippi. And when I say built, I mean BUILT. They painted the entire house, inside and out, scored and stained the concrete floors, painted the cabinetry and trim, installed most of the bathroom tile, and my dad wired the house for electric, DSL cable, and a central vacuum system. And who knows what else. Yours truly got to caulk all the holes in all the siding outside and paint a couple bedrooms at 12 years old. It was so bad, that we when moved to Dallas a few years later, my siblings and I got visibly upset when they put in an offer on a house that needed a lot of work.

That being said, it is kind of fun. I painted my bedroom walls a green and white plaid a few years ago (loads of that stupid blue tape), and I just finished painting 6 pieces of furniture. It's a money saver...up to a point. I think painting is almost always doable and probably a good place to start--if you screw up, you can just redo it! The staff at Home Depot tend to be pretty knowledgeable and helpful--it's a good place to start if you have questions about a project.

[ladymoreta]

SoonerTexan - my parents built their house, too, and I always have to explain it that way, too! No, they didn't *have* it built, *they* built it! Like sheetrock, electrical, plumbing, etc! Unfortunately, I was too young at the time for them to let me help, so I didn't get to learn how to do a lot of things I wish I had.

I agree - painting is a great way to start, especially in a room like a garage that won't be as big of a deal if it's not perfect. I believe Lowes (and maybe Home Depot) has classes for various home improvement projects. I've found that the Home Depot employees tend to be more knowledgeable than Lowes employees. Not sure if that's everywhere or just around here.

[SuzySunshine]

My parents built their own house too - how funny! I learned how to wire things, that has come in handy when I had to install new fire detectors

We paint, replace light fixtures, door knobs, that level of stuff. But we also tore up all of our linoleum and tiled but we had my dad help us. We did remodel one bathroom - repainted the vanity, put in a new countertop, tiled the shower and painted.

Start small and work up your confidence.

[GrayMatterWife]

I'm interested to hear what kinds of things you DIY instead of looking for a professional.

What do I do myself? I dial the phone to call the handyman. Does that count as DIY?

We live in a condo. There is not very much DIY stuff outside, obviously. And the building is a Pre-War, so you have to call in plumbers (you are not allowed to tinker with the plumbing). Electrical stuff--I don't know how to do it safely and DH is not really home enough. There is a great handyman that almost everyone in the building calls.

Little household stuff (fixing the jammed garbage disposal--last weekend, etc.) I do myself.

[Pollyanna]

What do I do myself? I dial the phone to call the handyman. Does that count as DIY?

We live in a condo. There is not very much DIY stuff outside, obviously. And the building is a Pre-War, so you have to call in plumbers (you are not allowed to tinker with the plumbing). Electrical stuff--I don't know how to do it safely and DH is not really home enough. There is a great handyman that almost everyone in the building calls.

Little household stuff (fixing the jammed garbage disposal--last weekend, etc.) I do myself.

This is us too.

[MarissaNicole]

Other than painting I refer to ourselves as a demolition team rather than any type of remodelers. We ripped up the carpet, tile, and lynoleum to save some money but paid for the installation of the hard wood floors and carpet. We may do some changing of vanities ourselves but when it comes to plumbing or electricity we'll hire someone to do it.

[oceanchild]

I'm in the call other people to do it camp. I paint, a little bit. And I retiled an 8"x36" section of tile in our bathtub surround, but I'm not sure I'd even do that again. DH does some landscaping (but we paid to have a sprinkler system put in). We tried to get a house that required minimal work, but we're still finding plenty of work to be done - currently the front door won't shut without the deadbolt.

[scrub-jay]

Is there a certain name for the green tape? Wow, this sounds quite complicated! DH just wants to paint the garage and that seems a little daunting!

I think the green tape is called "Frog tape" or something similar. I agree though, the classic blue painters tape bled a bunch for me too.

[ides]

What kinds of things do you DIY

I've done no diy really but dream to one day when we are no longer renters. My dad is an architect & has done a lot of building & remodeling so I'm sure I'll be asking him for advice or help when the time comes. His father built a number of homes himself - three or four I think.

Regarding painting lines with tape I saw a tip on HGTV (I love that channel) to just brush very lightly with a small amount of paint over the tape line. Let it dry then paint properly. Supposedly the initial light paint seals the tape edge so it won't seep or bleed.

Painting for me has been the easiest DIY so far. I have also patched drywall (that the pup keeps eating them), and did some wood putty stuff to more areas the dog has "tasted" lol. Installing shelves and handles is a good place for me, because you need to be able to find the boards or know how to anchor into the drywall, and such. I think I could do more, but since we don't own this place, it's not worth investing too much. More just maintenance stuff for me. I am ready when we move permanently to get my hands more wet!

As for the painting and tape. As my father tells me, painting is 90% prep and 10% painting. The more time you take to prep your walls and tape accurately, you will enjoy the results more. I did a few different colors on the loft, and the taping was the hardest work lol. Let me know how your projects go! I'm sure you'll be DIY experts before you know it!

We were pretty proud of ourselves for changing a light bulb yesterday without calling the landlord.

One day in the distant future when we own a home, I dream about painting and landscaping.

As my father tells me, painting is 90% prep and 10% painting. The more time you take to prep your walls and tape accurately, you will enjoy the results more.

Agreed. We just use masking tape, and when we get to those edges, we make sure the paintbrush has as little paint on it as we can get, to reduce seeping.

If it were up to me, I'd hire out EVERYTHING. DH does some outdoor landscaping, including building decks, barns, exterior paint. Anything beyond that, it depends how much we can get our parents to help. DH's parents *built* their home, too. His mom can do tile work, furniture recovering & refinishing, and all kinds of other things. My mom loves painting & interior linens (like window treatments). My dad does carpentry as a hobby, but his job keeps him too busy to help with anything except some trim projects. He also can do electrical fixes.

Out here, away from our parents, we call someone else in to do a lot of the work. I hate asking our parents to help us, when we're in our mid-30s. I suppose it takes time to learn how to do these things. Maybe we'll get it figured out in time to help our kids with their first houses.