Do It Yourself

[PrincessPerky]

speaking of lawns I need to go mow ours...

But as to what I can do and what I would pay for, if I had the loot I would so pay for lawn care..I can mow fine (and might still when I get rich) but I can't get grass to grow to save my life!

On another note, I would gladly pay someone to come vacuum, clean the bathroom, dust and mop, I could so use that hour to be with the kids...but I don't have the loot, so I will go mow my own (dead) lawn, and then mop my own floor.

But I wouldn't pay someone to make my or my kids bed...cause you gotta have some responsibility to take care of yourself. Same with general kitchen clean up, I might hire a cook if I were rich, but I wouldn't let him/her do all the work, leaving my kids or myself to think I can just up and walk away from any meal like it was a restaurant. (though once a month heading to a restaurant for that kind of treatment is a well loved treat)

Anyway on big stuff...a screw or nail we can do, a bit of paint, eh not too much work, remodeling...not without my FIL....and he seems to think being older and retired means he would rather hire someone

Decorate? you mean hanging the kids artwork doesn't count?

[Aleta]

My husband also can do all carpentry, some electrical, etc. There are some jobs that he won't do because it just isn't worth it if you're not sure of yourself and it is dangerous.

Recently, someone that he was working for told him to get rid of an old beautiful 3 drawer bombe type chest. He just couldn't throw it away. It has become a project for me because I have always wanted to learn to refinish furnishings. I just couldn't see throwing it away. It is from a very good company and is all wood. All of the dresser pulls are made of brass, but you couldn't tell. My husband and I removed all of the hardware and I have sanded it down. I'm now cleaning the hardware and it's looking amazing. The drawer pulls even have numbers on them.

I found a good cleaner for the brass. I used worstershire sauce. It's amazing. I put the hardware in it and used a wire brush. I just hate to see a perfectly good piece be thrown in the land piles that we have. I will redo it and then sell it. I'm getting my husband's help with his expertise and I'm learning something new and will probably make money out of it.

[mom-from-missouri]

We do all our own lawn work, house work, cooking, canning, baking gardening, most of the farming (except for the hay-we go shares on it and let the other guy do the work). We can butcher ourselves, but for the cattle and bigs, we do take them to the butcher shop. We do the poltry ourselves.
We have been working on our basement, to finish it out. We are doing the sheetrock on the walls, but will have DD#1 boyfriend do the ceiling. We don't have the supports that it takes to do the ceiling and he does. He also does it for a living and will be quicker at it.
DH used to be a mechanic and does most of the auto work himself, unless we get a good coupon in the mail. Sometimes we get an oil change coupon for less than he can buy the oil and filter for, so we take it in to them.
He doesn't do electrical, so we hire that to be done. He does some plumbing (repairs) but not new installs.

[sakigt]

I do my own car repairs, but not only to save money. Its because people do such crappy work you cant tell if they did it right!

I can KNOW my oil was changed with Mobil 1 only when I do it. :shrug:

[zetta]

Before we became parents, we painted all the rooms in our house and laid wood floors. Fun projects that saved a lot of $$, but it would be impossible to do now with a toddler underfoot.

We hired contractors for kitchen and bathroom remodelling, but did the demolition of the old stuff ourselves. DH did some plumbing in one bathroom, and has also installed ceiling fans and wired some lights.

We do our own yardwork, but hire someone for housecleaning.

[txex86]

I enjoy doing DIY projects around the house. I've laid wood floors, tiled the kitchen, breakfast nook and two bathrooms, faux finished the walls in several rooms, as well as performing regular maintenance like lawn care, house cleaning, etc. I get a huge amount of personal satifaction after completing these large projects.