DIYing - money saving or false economy

DIY...is it in my DNA?

Apparently as a Kiwi I have been born with the special DIY gene - but recently I've been doubting the message in the adverts I was raised on.
 

I grew up watching my mother hang wall paper, paint and generally give anything and everything a go.  She made it look so easy.  I remember the time Mum had almost finished wall-papering the kitchen.  She went out of for the day and my sisters and I thought we would surprise her by completing the task.  If I remember correctly, this involved hanging two small pieces above and down the side of a door.  A couple of rolls of wall-paper and half a tub of paste later, we gave up and bowed in awe to the woman who made the job look so flippin' easy. 

 

In the early days my DIYing was with my mother's help.  We wall-papered my childhood bedroom together.  She allowed me to help and that's when I discovered wall-papering was fun because it was instant gratification.  The "sanding of the window frame" job my father gave me?  Not so much.  I was never into the prep work. 

Mum and I painted the rooms of the first property I brought prior to me moving in.  It looked great and covered up the smell of stale cigarettes and grease that permeated the place - and again that instant gratification and sense of accomplishment meant I was bitten by the DIY bug.

The place I currently reside at had been previously inhabited by an elderly couple.  The wife was the first to pass away, then the husband a little time later.  Needless to say, that while clean, it was old, sad and tired.  The house was just waiting for the touch of my expert DIYing skills...so with great gusto I painted walls and ceilings, cupboards and wardrobes, doors and skirting boards and made the place a little more of my own.  It smelled fresh and it didn't look too bad...if you didn't look up or down...or anywhere!

 

One hot, long summer holiday, I finally had enough of the carpet in the bathroom and decided to rip it up.  What?  I hear you say.  How could one remove such a wonderful statement piece from one's home?  Quite easily I tell you.  So up it came.  Unfortunately underneath the carpet were the original tiles still glued to the wooden floor - which weren't so easy to lift...but I did.  Then I tried to remove the glue...and failed miserably in that endeavor.  Even with that small obstacle I didn't just stop with the bathroom.  Because next was the toilet lino (under which were more glued down tiles).  And I didn't stop with the toilet - because next was the hall, then the bedrooms, then the kitchen lino (under which were even more glued down tiles) and then the lounge...and then I stopped because there was nothing left to rip up, and I was pretty tired by then and had already taken three car loads of carpet and underlay to the dump!

That was some stubborn glue right there!

Who would cover this gorgeous floor in carpet?  Oh - someone living this far south!

 

Then I sat in the middle of the floor and tried not to cry, because some of the floor was a beautiful deep stained rimu, and some of the floor was glugged up in a glue that defeated a belt sander that I borrowed from a work colleague.  So a call to the professionals was in order because even I have to admit defeat sometimes.  But the end result was absolutely worth that moment of summer madness.  Then winter came, with freezing temperatures...and I missed my old, shabby carpet.

 

However this story isn't about my summer madness - this is about the time I decided to paint the outside of my house to save some serious money and not use a professional.  How hard can it be, I asked myself.  It's only summerhill stone - and a few windows, oh...and the guttering and surfeits, and the fascia boards...not too much work at all.  I'll be fine...

 

It's like the time I decided to paint my hallway - on a rare 30 degree plus day in Christchurch.  The paint was drying while I was applying it to the wall.  Did that stop me?  Oh no.  Let's thin the paint out and give it another crack.  I walk past that wall every day with identifiable brush strokes and roller marks permanently etched into the paint work, and it reminds me as to why I will never give up my job for a career as a Painter/Decorator.   

 

Fast forward to this Christmas, when I decided to do a bit of housework.  Wiping down the internal window sills, I noticed paint starting to lift on window.  No problem, I thought, I will sand it back then paint it.  Just a quick lick of paint, as I was planning on replacing these windows in the next couple of years with UPVC frames with double glazing.  I had already replaced windows/french doors down one side of the house...then the money ran out.

But nothing is ever that easy.  On closer inspection...damp wood!  I ventured outdoors, with some major trepidation to check the frame - and sure enough...rot, everywhere.  The pictures below don't do any justice to how bad the rot was, I just couldn't be bothered battling the rose in front of the window to get some better shots.

Inside - it had got progressively worse since I first discovered the damage - mostly through me starting to sand the sill then constantly picking at it
If you are wondering what that strip is at the bottom of the window, I already had some retrofitted magnetized double glazing which worked really well

The rose covering the damage was no excuse for me not noticing

Rot everywhere...including in the external brown window sill

Panic set in...how far had the rot gone?  Into the internal framing?  It appeared my plan to hold off with replacing my windows until after I renovate my kitchen had gone out the window (pun intended).  So I made a call to the window company to come and save the day.  Quote in hand, and order placed, I could only wait in dread for the day of reckoning - when the window (and its symmetrical counterpart) were replaced.  Tick tock tick tock...

 

Renno Day 

 

Thank goodness...all is right with the world...I've just been given a free pass, as the company who removed then replaced the window frames and glass gave me the good news - window rotten as heck...framing in wall miraculously spared! 

 

So this is the question I pose to you.  Is DIYing really a great way to cost-cut and save money?  This time around I've  been very lucky.  I am still asking myself...did I actually prep the window frame all those years ago when I painted it?  Did I use a primer?  Was this a false economy because, quite frankly, I did a rubbish job of the painting on the outside of my house?

 

Has this put me off DIYing?  Heck no.  I may just be a little more selective of the jobs I undertake these days, and save hard to pay a professional for the others.  It also means being patient with the cosmetic issues in my home, and concentrating on those things that keep my house water-proof, dry and safe.  So bye bye new kitchen...for a wee while.  I'll be here, waiting for you...longingly...sigh!


Follow my blog with Bloglovin