IMPO, I'd say most of the article was right on, my exception would be the backyard fence...the least invasive of them all.
I was surprised to see cutting down a tree. I see many folly clips posted here where they are unsafe, cool they mentioned hiring a professional.
Absolutely on the tree work...and before that learning to use a saw could be a bit trick for some folks that don't get out much but are 'cool' thinking they know what to do after watching a few youtube videos.
Sadly that list is pretty true for most folks these days. Actually, it probably should be a lot longer. I've seen some downright scary ways people have jacked up their car to work under them, or made "scaffolding" to paint with, and don't get me started on home electrical work! I've been saying for years that soon it won't be the college grads that make the good money. It'll be skilled laborers that build and fix things. They'll be able to charge whatever they want because the average person won't know how to do anything themselves.
It's that way already. My wife has a friend that's getting a new kitchen. She said that her and her husband couldn't figure out how to shut off the water supply to the fridge, I said, "seriously?". She hired one contractor to do everything. So instead of hiring plumbers, electricians, drywallers and the rest herself, she has to pay extra for the contractor's cut. On the first day of tear out, she said the workers really earned their pay. They removed 3 whole layers of linoleum. I said,"seriously?" I removed 3 layers of vinyl tile with a layer of ceramic tile and the plywood subfloor and it only took me a few hours. It was work, but not really that difficult. Their kitchen has got to be costing them at least $50K. That's just one example of what I see or hear about all the time. There are a lot of men out there that couldn't hammer a nail in straight to save their life. What were once simple jobs are now considered technical skills.
While reading this it also made me think of a fellow who has never burned wood before. But, he got a deal on an old stove. Spent a couple hours on the Internet and was suddenly bragging about all he knew about wood burning........ You can guess the results, but, he is improving some finally.
I told a girlfriend with a lazy husband I would help her hang new rods for her new curtains. I asked "where are his tools". He did not own any.
I've done a number of things on that list, but would never try to redo my floors or mess with lead paint.
"I know I can't swim, so i keep my black azz out the pool" -Donny Astricky , Gone in 60 seconds I've ruined enough things to know that if i hire a professional, it would probably be cheaper than me half-assing it, and then hiring a professional to fix it. lol
IMPO, I would agree with list, however I am trying to figure out who this Bowser is, they seem to be causing most of the problems.
You should always drive a nail slightly angled, it increase the pull out strength.......IP runs and hides.
I can get mine straight or any other angle you want. I can even shoot them through my thumb. With my framing nailer!! I'm pretty handy for my age but lost track of hand placement and nailed myself to my chicken coop last year.
I have or will have completed 4/8 of these between December '14 and May '15. I wouldn't do lead based paint removal on a large scale, but the rest of them don't seem that hard to me.
I've done most of them too. The thing I take most pride in though, is my 110 ft retaining wall. It looks the same as when I built it. Even after withstanding this freak downpour back in 2011.
Hmmm... Im 50/50 on these... Sure for the average homeowner today who doesn't know the difference between a flat head and a phillips they should avoid these. But for many of us here? Lets see... Resurfacing Hardwood Floors Yea, doing an entire house of contemporary hardwood it probably makes sense to hire a crew with the right tools... but for the 200 year old pine floors in my house I would rather do it myself with hand tools - a flooring crew with a power sander would destroy them. Cutting Down a Tree Yes, most homeowners dont have a clue and shouldnt. Putting a Cap on Your Chimney Yea maybe best left to a pro if you are not comfortable on a roof. I wouldn't do it myself. Replacing Your Garage Door Springs I wouldn't be too afraid of it so long as you get the door up and supported first to take the load of the spring. But then again I once rented an automotive spring compressor to change the McPhersons on a car I had and that is a lot scarier to me than door springs. Removing Lead-Based Paint This issue is so overblown. Its well known that the safest thing to do with lead paint in good condition is to leave it alone and just paint over it. I live in a 200 year old house with lots of it and both my kids lead blood tests come back every year at ZERO. Why? because I'm smart and keep the paint well maintained and dont let the kids chew on walls. They are right that humanity used lead paint for thousands of years, and guess what? people did not get sick in droves. The real dangers of lead where exposed from uses that actually cause dangerous exposure - water in lead pipes, eating food off leaded utensils (pewter) and breathing exhaust from leaded gasoline. If you do need to remove small areas of lead paint there are safe ways to do it so long as you dont make dust and cover everything - using a paint steamer works well, and there are chemical paint strippers with a lead neutralizing agent in them (Franmar Lead Out) Building a Retaining Wall Id go 50/50 on this.... for a small simple one I might do it myself but for a big project its better to hire a landscape contractor with the right power equipment and expertise. Installing a Natural Gas Fireplace This i would agree - I wont touch gas pipes. It illegal here and even if not too much liability... Erecting a Backyard Fence building a simple chain link fence is not exactly rocket science. I did hire out when we had our fence done but only because the crew could get it done in a fraction of hte time, not because I felt it was too difficult.
