Women and DIY

[GB]

I still feel bad about not fitting the dolly carrier to the back of my daughter's bike quickly enough. Bit late now, as she's just turned 25.

[GB]

How much do you charge for fitting a wireless doorbell, then?

[robgraham]

Come and have a look at my house - 200 yrs old; no foundation and walls of stones vaguely piled on top of one another with soft lime mortar to fill in the gaps. What's the difference?

Rob

[stuart noble]

For some reason I imagine Michael Palin telling that story

[Tim Streater]

Or the house we used to live in, similar vintage. Made of claybat - blocks about the size of modern cinder blocks, but made of clay, stones, horsehair, any old shit that was kicking around.

[Dave Liquorice]

You have lime mortar, which for random stone built house is much better than cement morter as it will move. Our house is similar but doesn't need foundations as the bed rock is only just below the surface.

[Dave Liquorice]

That's the problem.

And it's not so much common sense as practise and skill at using basic tools. It takes a little bit of practise and knowledge before one can hammer a nail in without worrying about hitting your fingers...

Most people who can fix/make/do things probably had parents who could fix/make/do things and the skills and knowledge passed down by helping or being given simple tasks to do.

[dennis]

Is the wall 4" thick? Yours has mortar too. It probably goes well below ground level too.

[News]

Yours is still standing :-)

[jgh]

A lady I know was was only stumped by a new electric cooker that arrived with no supply cable and no instructions on how to get into the damn crappy little terminal box, and my Grandma would happily do anything other than fixed electics and plumbing.

JGH

[whisky-dave]

yes I remmeber helping my dad, well, I knew who my dad was/is ;-)

[Nightjar]

Ahh yes - being sent off the top of a 30ft ladder to walk up the roof and inspect the flashing around the chimney, because I was light enough that I probably wouldn't (and didn't) crack the slates - carrying loads of slates up to the rather lower back roof, when my father was replacing that - being given a large quantity of Formica offcuts, to turn into small, equal sized pieces, so that my father could create a mosaic covering the entire lavatory wall - learning to mix concrete and operate the concrete brick making tool, to be followed by casting paving slabs for the back yard - I recall the simple jobs of childhood.

Colin Bignell

[Andrew Gabriel]

If you've got it, you don't need to. If you haven't got it, you don't realise what you're missing. It's the old classic - there's no market for selling common sense...

I also get the impression it's a lot less common than it used to be...

[Owain]

You're *not* Adam's former neighbour, are you :-0

Owain

[SteveW]

Well if they'd let us have the time to get on with it instead of asking us to drive them to various shops, make the kids something to eat 'cos they're tired and want a lie-in, take the kids to swimming lessons, do the gardening, etc. .....

SteveW

[PeterC]

around your waste and tie it to a ladder or something ;-)

Well, PTFE tape can be used on wastes.

[Nightjar]

Goodness no. My father had me cast the slabs in a chequerboard pattern of pink and grey - much more tasteful.

Colin Bignell

[ARWadsworth]

Why should we assume that the lack of the possession of a penis means you cannot do DIY?

They can DIY but why should they bother with all that hard graft when they can get some silly bugger to do it all for them with the promise of a blow job?

[The Medway Handyman]

Depends on how much cable I use :-)

[Tim Watts]

Bet you £20 if you ever built an extension, the BCO would make you did down

1m

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