Age/DIY survey

Age 34. Do most work myself.

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 3:24 PM

Age 38
Attempt to do most work myself. And have for a while.

Its nothing more than my theory for most things is "How hard can it be?"

Pleas note, I have wasted a lot of time and money on this theory and will probably scale back because experience has shown me that I should look a little closer at the opportunity cost.

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 3:27 PM

I do as much of the work as I can myself. I'm 45 and somewhat of a masochist. Plus growing up my parents always used the free labor pool of their 5 children to do straighforward projects.

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 3:39 PM

My hubs and I do all our work -- we're both 34.

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 3:41 PM

My husband just turned 38; he did and continues to do lots of our DIY jobs. And he grew up on video games and still is glued to the damned X box, so that pretty much blows your theory. I guess....

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 4:04 PM

My husband and I are both 46 and can't do shit ourselves. When we try, we say we shoulda hired someone.

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 4:09 PM

Sounds a lot like you're overthinking this. I bet you find people making the same argument since the industrial revolution.

I'm 34. I make enough to hire out or buy a place that doesn't need the work. Hoever, I always say: I can a much better job on most jobs than anyone I could AFFORD to hire. That's to say, with a modest amount of skill, most people can do home improvement jobs within code at an aesthetic level equal to a mid-priced contractor -- if you have the time. I have a computer science related job. My wife wishes I didn't do all the work myself-- she likes the way it turns out, but it takes time, and it would be easier to hire out. Nevertheless, I continue to move us to places that need to be fixed up.

My grandfather always told me not to forget how to make things with my own hands. He was an engineer and owned apt buildings and did all the work himself. I took it to heart, and I do all the work myself, even the stuff I'm at first not qualified to do.

People who do the work themselves have a self reliant personality, probably appreciate not having to pay someone to do it, and probably had parents that raised them that way (whether or not they played videogames and participate in our modern technocracy)

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 4:23 PM

I agree it is often (not always)the family you grow up in. My parents were do-it-yourselfers - so I tend to be (49, female.) Helped them with stuff around the house growing up. Once I bought my place, I bought a few home repair books and follow along on how to do stuff I haven't done before. I google home repair info, too.

More kids now tend to grow up more upper middle class (my nieces and nephews) than many of us (my older siblings & me) did in the baby-boom, post-war years. Most people had a lot less money then, and a lot more time. And were closer to do-it-yourselfers growing up themselves (my parents were both born on farms and came of age in cities during the depression.)

Also, I notice that many who grow up in Manhattan apartments with supers never learn to do anything themselves growing up - if you grow up with staff around, you are used to hiring out.

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 5:19 PM

I helped some Indian guys move into an apartment once. They didn't even know how to put a dust ruffle on a bed (they placed one over the mattress). They had never painted anything in their life and helped me out with a project for free becuase it looked like something that might be fun to do and their parents had never let them. One also wasn't aware that you must periodically wash your sheets, less so the dust ruffle, contingent upon placement.

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 6:12 PM

31, make plenty of money, do most things myself, unless my LL does. Grew up in a series of construction projects, so I learned by watching.

I'll do most things myself the first time for the experience. If the experience is unpleasant, I'll let someone else do it the next time.

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 6:59 PM

I do everything myself. I think this division of labor nonsense is crap. I'd like to discuss this further, but it's time to put the cow in the barn and check how the slaughtered pigs in the smoke house are coming along.

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 7:09 PM

28, was 27 when we bought our place and have done as much as possible ourselves, mainly since the budget wasn't there to do it any other way: demolition, framing, sheetrock, plastering, tiling, handyman-ing, laying down salvaged flooring, sanding, sealing, painting, grouting, gardening. We have gotten help from plumbers and electricians as needed.

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 7:18 PM

36 - female. Do most stuff myself.

Grew up with parents who were very handy, incredibly hard working, took the time to do it right, had pride in the work and were very smart about where and when to spend the money. No video games. Had to borrow Donkey Kong from my friend.

Nature vs nuture....

Posted by: guest at February 29, 2008 9:46 PM

I suscribe to your theory.

I am 56, do almost all work myself, but always did, more or less since my teens.

I am currently a school board member fighting to get shop clesses back into our schools. these skill classes fell out of funding about 15 years ago when we started teaching to the test at the exclusion of all else in our schools.

Just as our country now outsources every manufacturing skill, it's just a matter of time before no one knows how to do anything.

JMHO

Posted by: guest at March 1, 2008 1:54 AM

I'm 38. Bought my first property (pretty crappy)at 17 with my brother with money that I had saved doing working on rich peoples gardens, pools, tennis courts etc. Had to do stuff myself because I couldn't afford to pay someone. Bought many houses since then and became an attorney. Now I own a few properties and pay people to work on them except for my brownstone where I do everything better faster and cheaper than a contractor.
If I wasn't doing property I would be doing something else. I'd rather be doing something for free than doing nothing at all.
Yes my parents did the same thing. They did not give me money if they had I guess I would be very different.

Posted by: guest at March 1, 2008 11:27 AM

You guys are all old.

Posted by: guest at March 1, 2008 3:21 PM

I'm 43. I started renovating my brownstone at the age of 35 and will be finished this spring.

Posted by: guest at March 2, 2008 9:12 AM

I'm 31, hubby is 32, we do just about everything ourselves even though most of the time, when we start, we have no idea what we're doing. We use this blog and other web resources to solve the initial mysteries (how hard is this? What tools do I need? How long is it going to take?) and then we dig in. Usually we only bring someone else in to help if we screw up miserably, which has only happened a coupla times.
So contrary to your theory, I believe the computer and tech revolution has put all sorts of information instantly at our fingertips, which gives people like us the confidence boost we need to try fixing/renovating things ourselves, even if our slothful, unhandy childhoods predisposed us to pick up the phone instead of a hammer.

Posted by: guest at March 2, 2008 9:42 AM

46, MFA degree, perfectionist/control freak.

Spent 10 years in my spare time/weekends gut renovating our house without help... until we saved enough to hire someone else. My father had me and my two brothers scrape and paint our old wood house every four years while growing up. I think TV shows like This Old House and super stores like Lowes and HD have done more to convince everyday Joes and Janes that they might try DIY.

Posted by: guest at March 2, 2008 11:09 PM

26, and do everything myself

Posted by: guest at June 27, 2008 1:10 AM