House in Progress Diary

Good post. I too feel so much better with every piece of renovation knowledge I pick up as it is that much more control over any situation that a house throws at me.

Made me raise my fist in solidarity. Viva la independence!

Where did you learn to fix things? We are learning by a mix of parents, books, and trial-by-fire.

Great post. It's interesting; I recently reread the Little House books, and was struck by the connection between troubled times and self-reliance in those books. Even though life is really hard in the earlier books, the family is always able to pick up and move on, or solve the problem, because they are completely self-reliant. They grow and hunt the food to get through the winter, and gather enough wood to last. Their houses are built from free logs that Pa cuts down. They don't have any debt. Later, once they start borrowing money (to build a plank house) or relying on the train to bring in fuel and food, their problems become much more severe.

My husband and I have talked a lot about that, and self-reliance, and how screwed we are when it comes to things like what you've mentioned--we have to trust an electrician or plumber because we don't know how to do things ourselves. I think it's time to learn!

Good post.

My wife's grandmother mentioned this once a couple of years ago. She said that when she was growning up in a poor family of share-croppers, that every man was expect to know some basic tinkering skills when it came to homes, cars, or farm equipment. Of course, vehicles were simpler then, but everyone knew a little because you needed to know how to do it yourself to make it through day to day life. And, they were too poor to hire someone to do it for them.

I'm not sure what changed, but I suspect that modern life became more complicated (tiny electronics are the devil), professions changed, and people have gotten to busy to do much of anything besides eat, work, and occassionally sleep.

Jeannie, what a lovely post! Yes, the realization that you CAN do something for yourself is empowering. I don't pretend to have your abilities, but I felt great when I could patch a hole in my friend's wall and when I could teach my college-age son how to change his flat tire. No wonder women seldom bought their own property in the not-so-distant past.

Loved your post. Whether you know it or not, you are an amazing woman. Your daughter will learn so many womderful things from you. There is nothing like the feeling of independence when you can do it yourself!

99% of my home construction and repair skills come from volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. That's what gave me enough confidence / made me crazy enough to design and build the addition to our house myself.

I learned a very little from one of my grandfathers, but my dad isn't particularly handy with house or car stuff.

I am learning to be handy. I have always been interested in doing things myself. If something is wrong my husband wants to hire someone and I want to do it myself. Although that could be the Scot in me coming out and not wanting to pay for things I could do myself. I learned from my mother, who was the fixer in our house. I bet Grace will be excellent at fixing things due to your excellent example.

I just happened upon your blog and I love it! I am renovating a 1929 bungalow in Texas and it's been 6 LONG months so far, and I'm living with my inlaws! I also started a blog for family and friends: www.pimpmybungalow.blogspot.com

This weekend I single handedly installed a brand new kitchen faucet. It was my first really successful home improvement effort. All of my previous attempts ended with calls to tradespersons and having to pay a "tried to do it themselves" repair premium. I'm pretty darn proud of myself. Look out drippy bathroom faucet. I'm coming for you.

Your daughter does not have to learn HOW to do these things from you, but she will learn that she can do them by herself.

I truly believe that my willingness to tackle anything in the house comes from a childhood where repairmen and outside help were unheard of in our home.

Dryer broken? Fix it. Water broken? Fix it. Furnace? Roof? New Kitchen? Car? Fix it.

It never occurred to me that there were people who couldn't/wouldn't do those things themselves.

Amen.

The lesson isn't in how to fix things, it's in knowing that they can be fixed, and that it's okay to try.

Once you've got the attitude, the learning creeps in over time.

not to be redundant but.. Amen,

self reliance seems to be the driving force behind the american craftsman movement... I guess now we know why.

Sears Roebuck wouldn't have popped up in every little prairie town without a lot do-it-yourselfers. That's what I call a learning curve.

Thanks for the good post

Wow. Just...wow. I didn't realize that this post would get such a positive response. Thanks to all. I'm posting the "where I learned my mad skillz (not!)" on the blog today. Little House on the Prairie is one of my biggest inspirations.

And Mike is right...the attitude came first but it came from watching others who were successful and who were willing to coach me.

If we are heading into a recession (and I'm old enough to remember the last one--ugh), Corey and Bonnie are right. I do it because I want to be able to control stressful situations and feel empowered instead of defeated. If I can't afford to hire someone, I want to know that everything will be okay.

Or just not worse. Hopefully.

I came from a family with a slew of repairmen on speed dial and while my MIL was the handy gal in my husband's family, she didn't pass the knowledge down to him. My rebellion from my family was an interest in all things handy--repair, crafts, etc--and while my efforts are not always perfect, they get better over time.

After a few years of relying on handymen--moving, babies, toddlers, etc--I've recently gotten back into a do-it-myself spirit. When the bathroom sink started leaking a week ago, I was able to diagnose the problem, create a temporary solution, get to the hardware store, and solve the problem--all for $10. Yeah, I was pretty proud of myself.

Thanks for being such an inspiration. As the mother of two young girls myself, I hope to pass on to them not only the love of doing it yourself, but the knowledge as well.