Are you handy?

[peggy]

I've been pestering H to install our kitchen shutters, rehang the toilet paper holder that fell off the wall (needs drywall anchors) and put the heater grate back up in our bathroom.

Today I said fuck it and decided I would do it myself. So far shutters are hung and it's fantastic. They're functional and level and I did it all by myself.

[meltoine]

Yes, much more so than MH. He grew up in the city in s building with a super, so he never even changed light bulbs as a kid. I, on the other hand, grew up in the never-ending construction project that was my parents' fixer-upper of a house. My dad worked full time M-F and then we spent every Saturday and Sunday at the hardware store and renovating pretty much every bit of the house for about 8 straight years.

[Deleted]

I'm moderately handy, and often out of necessity because H is a major procrastinator.

[bcarp30]

Surprisingly, yes. I have my own drill and install stuff with pilot holes and anchors often. I'm also the one that builds our stuff from ikea for the most part. I didn't do the Karlstad couch though, that was too heavy for me. It's a good feeling! I'm hoping DD will be as handy, if not more so.

[ssmjlm]

Yes. But DH is even more so. He's taught me a lot too.

[nextbigthing]

I'm not great at it, but DS is TERRIBLE so I usually get my mom (who is super handy) to help me

[zarapipe]

I think I am. I don't really like power tools though. I installed the gate on the stairs that I had to drill in but it took forever bc I couldn't get my hand steady.

Dh is a very skilled carpenter and contractor by trade so he usually does it all and is far more anal about the result than I am.

[cincodemayo]

I don't think I am. Neither DH and I do much of the handy man stuff around our house.

[VillainV]

I think I'm handier than H, but I grew up helping my dad with that kind of stuff so I have a good feeling for what tools I need and how to do stuff like that. He's definitely getting handier with interior stuff (he's always been better than me at exterior stuff).

[water*drop]

Yes, I am, but DH is very handy, has more time, and is more particular about things than I am, so he usually does that stuff.

[hbomdiggity]

Yes. DH more so, but we have both done a lot of work on the house ourselves.

[biogirl21]

I like to think so. I like putting together things like IKEA furniture and whatnot. I prefer to have MH do things with the drill since I don't want to be the one to mess something up. We are both equally lazy though, so stuff gets put off a lot, lol.

[cinco]

I'm fairly terrible. I give it a try, but DH usually fixes things after me.

[rootbeerfloat]

Neither of us is very handy, and we outsource most things. But I can assemble IKEA furniture (and toys).

[Jalapeñomel]

Yes. My DH is not. At.all.

[JRo]

More so than my H is, yes.

[humpforfree]

Yeah, pretty handy. My dad is a carpenter so I grew up on job sites and then was his "assistant" for summers in high school. I used to be more handy than even H, but he jumped into renovations and taught himself stuff, then basically built our whole house.

[glitzy07]

Not even a little bit.

But H is super handy, so that's awesome.

[shamrockshake]

Yes, very

[anna7602]

Neither DH nor I are very handy, but we muddle through what we can and hire help for what we can't. Our time is worth something, so it absolutely makes sense for us to hire out things like installing a ceiling fan v. Spending hours trying to figure out how to do it.

[Marmee]

Yes, I am. My H is but he doesn't really want to do DIY anymore.

[bananapancakes]

Apr 16, 2016 20:16:18 GMT -5 humpforfree said:

Yeah, pretty handy. My dad is a carpenter so I grew up on job sites and then was his "assistant" for summers in high school. I used to be more handy than even H, but he jumped into renovations and taught himself stuff, then basically built our whole house.

You two are like the handiest couple I know. You should have your own HGTV show!

[bananapancakes]

We are decidedly unhandy. I've lowered L's crib, hung pictures, and assembled some IKEA stuff on my own but that's pretty much it. H don't handy either and has no attention to detail. When he does things around the house, it is always, "good enough". It drives me crazy. Luckily my FIL is very handy. He's also retired and doesn't live too far away so he often comes over to help with house stuff.

[starburst604]

I'm mildly handy and so is DH. I was impressed when we replaced our garbage disposal. I read the directions and found a how-to on YouTube, and he did the dirty work with my direction. I end up putting together most baby stuff, his eyesight is too bad to read the tiny directions. We also recently installed a kind of complicated baby gate and am pretty impressed by our work.

My dad is the handiest person I know, and when I lived alone he helped me with everything. I miss having that in my life!

[turtlegirl]

Yes. We both are. We pretty much do all our home renovations ourselves. I've painted the whole inside of the house myself. We installed board and batten in dd's nursery. Wainscoting in DS1's old nursery, etc. DH subscribes to Handyman magazine, lol.

DH is also a mechanic, so he's very used to working with his hands and diagnosing problems and figuring out how to fix something that doesn't work. He's saved us thousands of dollars on car repairs over the years, it's great!

[pooh8402]

Yea I like to think I'm somewhat handy. I redid our hall bath 2 years ago myself. Stripped wallpaper, added texture, primed and painted. I took off they old light fixture and installed a new one. Installed new faucets and a new toilet paper holder and a new toilet handle.

I also tiled the backsplash in my kitchen and painted all the main living areas the same summer.

[bugandbibs]

Yes, extremely handy. I have my own tools and I don't like MH to use them because he gets everything dirty or lost. I do most of the projects around the house.

MH is handy too, but not a go-getter.

[h]

Kind of? I hang artwork and mirrors myself, refinish furniture on occasion, can assemble Ikea furniture without issue, etc. I do things like paint or change light switch plates or cabinet hardware. I have installed curtain rods before, but usually I will wait for H to help me for projects like that.

DH is somewhat handy. He will install light fixtures or ceiling fans, wall mount a TV, etc. and is great at assembling stuff. But neither of us does actual carpentry, plumbing, or electrical work--just stuff that might qualify as minor handyman type projects.

[Deleted]

Yes, I DIY many things like most of our kitchen remodel in our old house, I am getting ready to tile our kitchen, bath and foyer, I hang pictures, assemble furniture, I have removed rooms of carpet, painted, stained decks, restored furniture..........

[yellowbrkrd]

Moderately. Lately we've been hiring out quite a bit because we just don't have the desire to spend our time on projects like we did pre-kids.