Home DIY

I got into being a chippie by accident ~ 10years ago and haven't looked back.

I came from a sales-y office environment and hated it (laterly I was running my own business and when I'd had enough sold it). When I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do, to help keep me out of trouble, a mate of mine got me a job labouring on a site that he ran with a subby who owed him a favour, I quickly discovered that I had a natural aptitude and within 6 months was in charge of a team of steel fixers, shuttering chippies and concrete finishers. From there I have pushed myself to learn new skills and other aspects of the trade and am now self employed with a good enough reputation to be as busy as I want to be. This suits my wife and my self nicely as she is by far the main bread winner in our house and her job is VERY involved and leaves her with little spare time so when I need to be there for the kids in say school holidays I can scale back my workload.

There is a guy on youtube called Robin Clevett who is a very good, well respected and sort after carpenter and builder he has a regular thing he calls chippie chat where he sits down with a guy (the guy is older and has come into the trade from a career change) who works for him and talks about various aspects of the trade. It may be worth you looking at.

A lot of the pros of soing this are also cons depending on how you look at it on any particular day but as I see things:

Pros

1. No matter how bad your day is you will have made, or contributed to the making of a physical thing there is always something you can look at that and say "I did that". Coming from a sales background where a bad day/week/month meant you had nothing to show from it but a pile of burnt leads I cannot overstate how much I still love this.
   
2. Working outside. It can be fantastic.
   
3. Doing a physical job means that you sleep sooooooo much better. For the first 30 odd years of my life I was a terrible insomniac I now, mostly, sleep like a baby.
   
4. Every day is a school day. There is always a new way of doing things, new product or tool that you have to try and wrap your head around.
   
5. You work with many different people from many, many different backgrounds.
   
   

Cons

1. Working outside. It can be fucking horrible.
   
2. You work with many different people from many, many different backgrounds some of whom will have beleifs and political outlooks that you violently disagree with.
   
3. People will look down their nose at you. I love pointing out to clients who get snooty with me that was educated at public school and have a first class degree. It takes them down a peg or two.
   
   

It works well for me

There are plenty of after hours woodworking classes etc that you can take.

Alternatively I've taught myself fine woodworking and furniture makingfrom a variety of sources including youtube - it does help that i possess many of the required tools already as part of my day job.

You don't need to work towards formal qualifications to get good at something.

Thanks for taking the time to reply so fully.

I'm sure a large part of my concern is that it's been a demoralising year on the job front, so I'm lacking overall confidence and positivity.

The appeal of a course is structured learning - be it evening or a day a week. There are permanently a tonne of things on my TDL so I just don't believe I'd be able to carve out the time to self learn in a really constructive and efficient way.

Oak cushion moulding finally arrived so have starting cutting down to fit as trim around the fabri-hearth. Some more fettling to do and will get a coat of teak oil before affixing. But I'm happy with it so far.

Dehumidifier in situ to try and remove some of the new wool carpet smell.

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Ordered 45mm x 45mm L section to cut down to about 15mm x 30mm. The long rip cuts were pretty awkward but made easier with a Japanese pull saw. Straightened off with a small plane.

clients who get snooty with me

That sounds wack! What kind of snoot are we talking here?

Take a look at local adult learning colleges. One in Peckham does a wood working course. Not that I have had the time to check it out, but a friend enjoyed it.

Part of me wants a lathe...

Which part?

Metalwork or woodwork?

They pop up on FB marketplace often enough

Does anyone have an hour or so over the weekend, a 16mm Concrete Bit (don't have this) and a 8mm hex bit (I can't find mine), to help me install a fencepost onto concrete, hang 2.333 fence panels, and hang a trellis?
Its a job that sort of needs two people, and I realised this when I tried to do the bits I could do on my own earlier.
Also- and more pertinently- I could do with a skill boost to make the job look ok!

Friendly dog, coffee/tea/ beer, bike chat and a nice garden all provided.
My usual partner in DIY crime now lives in Cambridge, and is on nights.

Depending on where you are I'm more than happy to pop over and help, albeit I don't have the requested bits nor (I'd imagine) the skill to provide much of a boost. If you want someone to hold things, lift things, applaud your efforts I may be your man. I will do most things for a beer with a friendly dog. I am also planning to go to a DIY store so could potentially grab bits if you wanted to buy. I'm SE23. No worries at all if you have better options!

Where are you?

And thanks to the magic of the forum- sorted. Thanks both above.

This was a good read... I wonder if it's an option for me too...

Installed a tado heating controller. Impressed. Doesn't look anything flashy but works well, all it's parts feel quality, even the supplied snap connectors (insert proper term) are quality.
These things don't save anything if you use your heating as per a regular timer, they help out when you are unexpectedly away /can't be bothered changing the impossible to change without 20 mins of frantic button pressing timer program. Has a geofence for all users and the thermostat also has a bonus humidistat inside which I didn't know.
For us should help a lot as work schedules are all over the place and we are often away for days at a time with little notice, so ability to turn heating off/way down once already miles away is useful.

I'm a massive Tado fanboy. It's cool being able to chart the effects of whatever insulation method you are trying out. Requires the flashy radiator valves and temperature sensors though.

Interesting post- thanks for taking the time.

Seems you are saying that carpentry is something that you can learn, which is a radical and contested view for some on here.

give us garage doors update u coward

Lease documents inspected and approved, mortgage application is the next step. Removing current doors and fitting new ones is a Summer '22 project I think - as well as outfitting one of the garages as a workshop. In which I'll only do things that other people find non-threatening to their sense of self, obv's.

I like to think that I'm quite good at detecting the very subtlest hints of sarcasm, but even I'm struggling to find it in those posts.

Maybe diy, maybe not...

To replace a loft mounted bathroom extractor fan with a more powerful one with a humidity sensor would an electrician be the person to call? And if so how many hours?

Then the diy angle - could I easily diy given the current one is triggered by the lights? Or is this drifting into garage door territory?

Cheers.

(idk if it matters but there is already a fan off switch in the loft)

@stevo_com Massive thanks for today, that was even more of a chore than I was expecting!
Just put the trellis up and cleared up! I think the job at the back was chef's kiss

Looking forward to blow by blow accounts of your project. Believe me when I tell you I am still amused by how butt hurt you are over my comments and very much looking forward to you completing them.

I notice you've only said fitting though, surely you're not shelving plans to build them from scratch.

Nothing to stop me fitting this replacement switch unit to my own gas/electric oven is there?

Apart from incompetence.

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