Seeking contractor/handyman that will let me shadow
I am becoming a first-time homeowner next month and realize that I have a lot to learn about home repair and renovation. We have a number of renovation projects that call for a handyman or contractor. Time availability and cost are key criteria for choosing the contractor, but we’re also thinking it would be a…
I am becoming a first-time homeowner next month and realize that I have a lot to learn about home repair and renovation. We have a number of renovation projects that call for a handyman or contractor. Time availability and cost are key criteria for choosing the contractor, but we’re also thinking it would be a great learning experience to find someone who wouldn’t mind me and my husband “shadowing” him/her for part of the work (preferably on weekends, since we both work full-time).
Do any of you know of companies or individuals that are good with this sort of request? Perhaps there are even people who actively promote this sort of shadowing/apprenticing opportunity.
You can probably hire a handyman/woman to tutor you in home repair just as you would hire a graduate student to teach you a foreign language or statistics. You could ask a recommended handyman if he’d be willing to tutor, or you could place an ad on Craigslist.
We’ve learned a lot from the handypeople we’ve hired and we understood that it would take longer and cost more if we wanted them to show us how.
Good luck and best wishes!
I’ve bought Home Depot-type books, and subscribed to home improvement magazines, but I’m one who learns best by doing. I realize that many people wouldn’t want me shadowing, which is why I asked the question — I’d like to find that “special someone” who doesn’t mind, and like 11:50 said, actually enjoys teaching. Finding a contractor is easy; finding one that meets this specific need isn’t so simple.
Check with NHS – Neighborhood Housing Services. They also give a home repair course, which teaches all kinds of useful things from measuring and figuring out material yields, to using power tools, painting, tiling, simple plumbing and electric work, and even putting up stud walls. I believe the next beginner’s course may be in the fall, but check their website to be sure.
I think the general books out there give a lot of valuable info, but there is nothing better than hands on. Maybe you could do some small repairs in the apt/house you are in now, or even lend yourself out to friends or relatives just to pick up some basic DIY skills.
Good luck!
When I bought my first home, I had a sort of “co-operative” going with a few other first time homebuyers. We would take turns helping each other work on our houses. You might want to start something like this, but think about what you can bring to the table. After a while, we stopped doing it because it didn’t seem fair that some of us did more work than others.
I manage buildings and have learned a lot over the years by watching people fix things. Most small jobs, like toilet flapper replacements, I do myself because they’re so easy to do.
If I were you I’d buy one of those Home Depot how-to repair books. They’re pretty good.
Ignore the jerks who only insult people on this website. I don’t think it’s too far-fetched for you to follow around a contractor, but I think you’d learn a hell of a lot more actually working for one on Saturdays until you feel like you know enough. Tell him you’ll work free if you can’t get paid. How could he turn you down?
You may start out doing mostly manual labor, like rubbish removal, but it’s good exercise and you’ll absorb a lot, especially seeing a project go from start to finish.
I’ve done it before, but I know it’s not common. Personally, I think many handymen or contractors wouldn’t want you to see how easy some things can be. Once you see a toiled can be installed in about 20 minutes, you’d feel ripped off to pay $120 for it (is that what Lowes contractors charge?)
The posters above may not believe it, but some people actually enjoy teaching other people. Especially if they are being fairly compensated for it!
What type of projects are you considering?
This is the most absurd request I’ve ever heard!
It sounds like you need to learn but this is not anything that is going to work. Nobody will want you following them on a job site. There are enough problems. Trust me. Check out courses that the Department of Housing and Preservation holds courses for Home Owners. There are things that are held at the NY College of Technology School of continuing education even courses at Home Depot and Lowes that are free.