My mum and I have been living alone together for a couple of years. Neither of us have ever been DIY minded and previously, my step dad used to take care of any jobs that needed doing. My brother is an electrician and my brother in law is a joiner so we have always had someone at hand to do jobs around the house.
We try to be as self sufficient as possible when it comes to things that need doing now. It is the typically British way of not wanting to put someone else out.
Funnily, I remember the exact moment that I became more DIY minded. We had purchased a wrought iron table and chairs for our little balcony outside which needed assembling. I remember my mum saying to me "We had better get a man in to fix this up for us". Me, being the feminist, was incensed by this suggestion and spent the next few hours putting the pieces together myself.
I admit, there were quite a lot of swear words involved as I had never done anything like this before; particularly when I put a chair leg on backwards, three times. But I got there in the end and we like to sit on our balcony now with a glass of wine in the sunshine. (I confess very gingerly the first time just in case it all fell apart!) On a clear day you can see for miles and miles over the tops of the houses beyond.
I try to help around the house with jobs that need doing as much as possible. My mum, despite her earlier comment, is a very independent woman and will always try to do jobs that at her age, I would prefer that she did not do.
Safety has to be a priority with DIY and jobs around the house. Making sure that your rooms are well ventilated when you paint (especially if you have animals). Buying a sturdy step ladder that will not fall over if said animal decides to run into it when you are on the top step. Thinking about things like asbestos in older buildings when you are renovating which can lead to mesothelioma which I have talk about previously.
Slater and Gordon Personal Injury have commissioned a survey into the dos and don't of DIY and how you can be safer when carrying out your jobs. Click on the expansion box on the image below to take a look.
*Collaborative piece
