Sick of DIY

[Over The Hill]

Oh yeah - plastic push fit all the way. It works out cheaper than copper now and you do the same job in half the time.

I still stick with copper but am tempted. My biggest worry is mice eating through the plastic. We get them in the house occasionally and they have eaten all sorts of things, once chewing right through a phone cable. In the shed they ate all the plastic bits off my lawn mower. Anyone know if the pipe and fittings are mouse proof or if they put something in the plastic to put them off.

 

[Over The Hill]

I end up looking after my house, my three renters and my mother-in-laws house. It is a bit of a pain doing stuff on top of a normal days work. I try to give myself a bit of a reward for the money I have saved. A bottle of Brandy or a night out.

 

[User6179]

I still stick with copper but am tempted. My biggest worry is mice eating through the plastic. We get them in the house occasionally and they have eaten all sorts of things, once chewing right through a phone cable. In the shed they ate all the plastic bits off my lawn mower. Anyone know if the pipe and fittings are mouse proof or if they put something in the plastic to put them off.

No not mouse or rat proof , they say rats will sniff the water and chew through the plastic pipes to get to it , I managed to do the 4 rads downstairs without going under the floorboards and with all pipes still concealed mostly behind kitchen units .

 

[User6179]

May have to if I get some more leaks. Currently hoping the dining room ceiling will dry without staining otherwise that will be another DIY job - and I hate painting ceilings....

British gas did my neighbours house and that sprung a leak , marked the ceilings and walls quite badly just after they had decorated , think the inhibitor in the water causes the damage , you may get away with it if it was just water .

 

[Dave the Smeghead]

As an update all rads on, no leaks anywhere, house is sweltering as I have had the heating on bleeding the system but it has taken me almost 4 hours to get the air out of the system including a real b*stard of an air lock.

Still hate DIY probably as when I bought this house I pretty much gutted it, built an extention from the footings up. The only things I didn't do myself was the roof trusses and the plastering (I end up with more plaster on the floor than on the wall or ceiling). Built my garage and the studio, including plumbing and electrics in each (including a flushing toilet in the the studio and its not on a macerator) and then laid my drive and patio in concrete setts which is 30 mtrs x 4 mtrs widening to 8 mtrs.

To be frank I have worked bloody hard on the place and just sick of working on it. However, there is always something else to do as I am now fitting it out with loads of additional storage to make it better for us and not having an eye on the resale value as I don't think I am ever going to buy another house unless I win the lottery or something.

I also work very hard (as do most working people) and for long hours too. This week to get things moving I have taken the week off work and I am frustrated that the DIY has taken so long as I am not getting to do anything I want to do on my week "off work", including riding my bike.

I do know people that rent so that they don't have to spend lots of time doing DIY other than a bit of painting and decorating. Sometimes I wonder if they have it right and I haven't somewhere.

Blimey that turned into a bit of a diatribe. Sorry about that.

 

[postman]

I have just got sooo bored with retirement i applied for a handyman position.
I failed the interview,i knew nothing about electrics,plumbing,decorating,joinery and bricklaying.I was asked why had i applied,well i only live round the corner,that's handy for me.

NO i am not bored with retirement,

 

[nickyboy]

Is it an age thing ?..getting fed up of DIY ?
In my 20s and 30s, maybe my 40s, I'd finish work on a friday night (not every one obviously) then decorate a room, which may include stripping walls, decorating, laying carpet etc etc...and I would work till 3 or 4am till it was finished.
Nowadays, its all I can do to think about decorating or DIY. I am 57 and work hard all week plus every 3rd weekend mornings, I must admit to losing interest in DIY...if I wasnt such a tightwad, id pay someone else to do it even though im more than capable.

There is an age effect, but not the one you mention. As you get to a certain age you start to wonder if you've got enough years left in you to enjoy your DIY results. Eventually you decide the effort just isn't worth it, ask @rich p

 

[Dave the Smeghead]

There is an age effect, but not the one you mention. As you get to a certain age you start to wonder if you've got enough years left in you to enjoy your DIY results. Eventually you decide the effort just isn't worth it, ask @rich p

That is so zen

 

[fossyant]

I have a long list of jobs...

The big one is put up a summer house. Simple...? First was to chainsaw out about 20 mature laurel bushes. Done. Next is to level out the ground and move the good soil for raised beds... part way through. Then it's put 2.4m X 8m of decking down. Then paint said summer house then put it up.

Then my son has started decorating his room but it needs me to put in a wall to wall worktop for Nasa's computer systems

And then sort out a garden gate.

Then put raised beds in front garden

AND more

 

[Dave the Smeghead]

I have a long list of jobs...

The big one is put up a summer house. Simple...? First was to chainsaw out about 20 mature laurel bushes. Done. Next is to level out the ground and move the good soil for raised beds... part way through. Then it's put 2.4m X 8m of decking down. Then paint said summer house then put it up.

Then my son has started decorating his room but it needs me to put in a wall to wall worktop for Nasa's computer systems

And then sort out a garden gate.

Then put raised beds in front garden

AND more

I know the feeling only too well

I just dread that my list might be slightly longer........

 

[slowmotion]

Umm, thirty two years in the trade and not something I've done, or will be doing !

How about this one then? Rising main buried 150mm down in screen next to steel gas pipe. No chance of draining it reliably. It's the lowest point of the cold water system. Sure you can stuff on a temporary PushFit, as I did. The problem is that you can't bury them , and I couldn't get a spanner on a compression fitting in this confined space. I don't think that compression joints are allowed in screeds anyway. The only way to get a kosher joint in such a confined space is end feed. The water will weep while you make it.

Bread looks good to me. It'll be blasted out of the kitchen tap when "normal service" is resumed I'll report back.

EDIT: Here's a piccie

 

[cyberknight]

I get told to stop doing jobs and have a rest .

 

[Dave the Smeghead]

I get told to stop doing jobs and have a rest .

How the hell do you manage that?
Please - tips for all the other sick and tired DIY 'ers on here

 

[cyberknight]

How the hell do you manage that?
Please - tips for all the other sick and tired DIY 'ers on here

Do so much that im knackered .

 

[slowmotion]

I get told to stop doing jobs and have a rest .

We had a minor gas leak from where a corroded steel pipe exited the floor screed, Transco came and said that they would have to cap off the meter. We were advised to get a competent gas plumber to fix it. A GasSafe plumber in London costs about £85+VAT per hour. I thought I would make his life easy ( and lure him away from his villa in the Cayman islands) by excavating the screed to expose the steel gas pipe. He was delighted with the suggestion. All went well until I winged the copper rising main that ran slap bang next door to the gas pipe at the bottom of the screed. Fortunately, there's a quarter turn stop valve within a couple of feet. The SDS drill and its operator still got a powerful cold shower though. It would all be a lot simpler if I had a bulging wallet.