soapdragon Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 When OH says 'oh, that's only a 5 minute job' I know I am going to have to take the boys out for a few hours so that they don't learn any interesting new words! Last week the d/s loo overflowed and soaked the carpet as the valve thingy that fills it didn't stop, once full. OH got another one - managed to mangle that one, drove off to DIY shop (40 min round trip) bodged that one up and generally took over 3 hours to do a job that would have taken a capable chap 20 mins with much language etc (ES has Aspergers so does not pick up on non verbal communication so whilst I had TOLD him to let Da get on with it, he insisted on HELPING and just didn't understand that OH was simmering and then got shouted at so I then shouted at OH as in 'he's only trying to help' etc!) Upshot was that I put my foot down and said that, tho finances are very limited, should anything go wrong in the future, then we would GET A MAN IN! I took ES to his swimming lesson yesterday and got home to find that the watch battery that I had ordered had arrived. OH had tried to fit it but had been unable to get the relevant bit off the back of the watch and, rather than admit it and give up, had buckled (ie; knackerd) it thus rendering the watch useless - OK it was only a Swatch but still over £70.00 to replace In our last house the element in the hot water tank gave up and, in trying to get it out (even with the right equipment) he buckled the tank and we had to have a complete new one - insurance quote etc. So sorry, everyone, but just had to vent! Is this grounds for divorce! Why can't people accept their limitations? Theres no way on God's green earth that I'd try and tile the bathroom, lay a laminate floor, service my car, run a Scout camp, though I think I might be quite successful at organising a whatnot in a brewery! Off to lie down in a darkened room Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Deep breaths my dear, how frustrating. I think you need a new tactic - rather than reporting a fault to OH, get someone in first before he notices My ex never did any DIY - I did it all. Phil is very good, and knows his limitations, but is only around for 24 hours at weekends Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted November 3, 2013 Share Posted November 3, 2013 Oh dear, that's quite a catalogue of disasters . My OH is completely clueless at all DIY - but thankfully, knows it! So if I can't fix it, I get a man in . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikipins Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 My hubby is ok at DIY but has no inclination to do any so jobs wait for ever to be done. I really struggle to find someone willing to take on small DIY jobs most workman I contact simply aren't interested so consequently the house is always in a state of semi-construction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 My OH is quite practical and can mend things, he tends to draw a line at plumbing though. He is however a but of a bodger at times, therefore we are arguing about our new bathroom at the moment, he quite fancies doing the tiling, but I am not keen , he has done tiling before and it hasn't been very neat, so. I want the whole job done by a professional. There have been many times when I have wished that he would get a man in, and on some of those occasions we have had to get a man in to sort out his mess, like when he drilled though and electric cable whilst putting up some conduit for a doorbell extension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eggasperated Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 You have my sympathies soapdragon, everything my OH does is done to the tune of swear words and general crashing about. Thankfully he is probably a bit more capable than your OH sounds . The problem I have is that when I do convince him to get someone in he constantly criticises what they have done and says its been done wrong, consequently very few tradesmen ever come back again . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 My OH is pretty good at most things, especially electrical and electronic, but he does tend to take a while to do them (why spend ten minutes doing something when you can spend half a day, with a couple of trips to the diy stores included), not always understanding that in a busy house with four kids, the luxury of taking a whole day off to do one job is not usually an option... he does tend to know his limitations too, though he's become more careless in the recent years... not sure why... we've had not one, but two instances of him insisting on drilling (he does LOVE his power tools) into wall/floor with me standing there saying 'shouldn't we use that little device you have to check for wires or pipes first?', to hear him say 'no, no, there is nothing there' and then the sound of the drill and then the gurgle of water and the swearing rushing around trying to remember how to turn the water off... last time we had to call someone in to fix the leak, and they had to take a couple of floor boards off, and it was quite a palaver... especially as the next day we couldn't find one of the cats, but could hear her call, and we had to take the floor boards off again to free her! My dad, on the other hand, used to be terrible!! Fair enough money was extremely tight, and he knew how to do some things, but his jobs were definitely very much on the amateurish level, and would involve strings of constant swearing punctuated with frequent yelps and calls for the first aid kit... whenever he would fix a leaking tap, we ended with a tap that would make Hercules struggle to close it, and he'd lecture my mum, my sister and I that the tap was just fine, it's just the problem was with us cause we didn't know how to close a tap, then he would proceed to demonstrate said skill by closing the tap, having to put all his strength on it for a considerable amount of time... Haaa... memories Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Liz, one thing to bear in mind about things like tiling is that if you ever wanted to sell the house, a poor/less professional job would take value off the house... not to mention how much it would grate on your nerves each time you looked at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadietoo Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 I am lucky (I think) to be married to an extremely practical man, who makes a good job of everything he does....it's just that it takes him an absolute age to get round to doing it! The difficulty then that I have, is that when we have a "man" in to do anything, he goes around checking and complains about the standard of the finish. When we had the extension built on our current house, he was a nightmare, and I threatened to confiscate his spirit level (although he did point out that the guys doing the ground works had put the padstone in the wrong place ) He fell out with a lot of builders, and I hope our conservatory doesn't fall down in a gale, because the people who put that up will probably never take another order from us! This means that if I want something doing I have to wait for DH to get round to doing it....and wait....and wait.....and wait.....we've been here over ten years now....I'm still waiting for the ensuite to be finished!.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted November 4, 2013 Share Posted November 4, 2013 Is your husband called Frank? (spencer) - I have to say I feel your pain - I am lucky that OH knows his limits - electrics and water are a no go and I want the tiles in the bathroom expertly done so have banned him from there Often its finances isnt it - last night I darent put the heat on so had a shower in a cold room but when ES complained of being cold OH was "is the heating on - why not blah blah" and hes the one bemoaning the fact that utilities hve gone up. Put your foot down - on his fingers or hide his tools. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted November 4, 2013 Author Share Posted November 4, 2013 You all obviously share my pain - thanks for the sympathy Yesterday OH turned the oven on to heat for lunchtime's bread and there was a funny noise and all the power went off. Turns out it was the element on the fan option for the oven. Straight away OH was onto the Zannusi website to price up elements but I resolutely told him HE WAS NOT TO EVEN THINK ABOUT DIY -ING IT! Luckilly Mr Wiggall, who lives just round the corner, advertises in the Parish mag as mending cooker, hoovers, washers etch so he is coming round tomorrow to take a look I do like a man who knows his limitations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 If you need a new fan element for your oven, they are substantially cheaper on ebay and just as long lasting. We find that ours lasts between 6 and 9 months if we are doing a lot of bread making and we bought several expensive ones before we discovered thus. They also just plug into place in most ovens, you just need to remove the back liner and the element is held in place by two screws, remove these and it pulls out. Don't blame you for getting a man in though, you do have to be careful with electrical items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 Not strictly DIY, but I have had to have a word with my builders I am having the utility room 'improved'; it could really do with re-building, but that isn't going to happen. We ripped out all the rubbish in there and they are skimming, and installing a couple of cheap units, re-using old ones and putting the appliances back in... not a demanding job, but it hasn't really gone to plan, through no fault of their own My sparky was prompt and efficient as usual, builders came in on time but one of them was taken ill and they found a replacement, the work is now going to take 2 weeks instead of one and there are appliances and crates of stuff all over the house and I'm getting sick of it all TBH. That room is a thoroughfare for the back door, so it's essential that I can get in and out during the day. ...........and breathe..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted November 5, 2013 Author Share Posted November 5, 2013 Its had to see beyond all the clutter, isn't it C? Esp when you have to squeeze past things that should be in place already! Hope things get a trot on; try the mantra 'It will be fab when finished'! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charly1979 Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 Felling your pain ! I m lucky my hubby is practical etc however it just takes him forever to finally do anything and I am the one who does a lot of our DIY having said that I have been 8 years without a working hot tap in our bath (We use the shower with head removed to fill the bath !) Hubby can do this repair as it is a washer that has gone, my dad is a plumber so could do it but I save the jobs for him to be bigger ones (a new kitchen extension etc etc !) plus we do hope to get a new bathroom in the no so distant future (another 10 yrs or so I expect ) so not worth repairing it would seem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 My OH uses muggins here as his "go-fur" last week in the wet I was holding a ladder whilst he cleaned the guttering and I am not a good tempered go-fur as I always have stuff I want to do which is more pressing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted November 5, 2013 Author Share Posted November 5, 2013 I am giving up and painting the d/s loo tomorrow having waited 16 years Sugar soaped today ready to kick off after the school run. No doubt it will be the wrong colour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 I spent an afternoon this year painting ours. A few weeks ago OH surveyed it and said "this needs doing soon" I was incandescent (theres no smiley thing for giving OH a smack) - admittedly as a downstairs loo its gets a lot of traffic, worst thing with 2 boys they wash their mucky mits and splash water on the walls. I really despair - hope colour meets with OH's approval. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted November 5, 2013 Author Share Posted November 5, 2013 Agreed - its a high traffic area so am using Kitchens and Bathrooms in the hope it will be a bit more hardwearing - will give the more 'used' walls and round the basin and door 3 coats, I think . I chose the Homebase own make as its about £5.00 per tin cheaper than Dulux and Crown but a friend has since said that her OH HATES the cheaper paints as they don't go on so well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 Ali, I think this is what you're looking for....? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted November 5, 2013 Author Share Posted November 5, 2013 OOOOOOhhh, that IS nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 5, 2013 Share Posted November 5, 2013 there are a few good ones on the lurcher forum This chap is rather good too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Oh yes yes - thats it exactly Clare - quick tap when he annoys me. I'm not a violent woman just - undervalued, used, unappreciated blah blah blah except when the guttering needs fixing or a ladder needs holding. I have been so tempted to accidently put the ladder away many a time and leave my beloved up there - up on the roof (I feel a song coming on ) mwah mwah. I love him to bits its just sometimes ... well he annoys me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 In conclusion i feel a thread coming on for the undervalued female Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted November 8, 2013 Author Share Posted November 8, 2013 Well, after the two coats of paint over 3 days, having sugar soaped, filled etc 1st .... no reaction apart from 'doesn't look much different' in spite of the fact that it about 10 shades lighter The thing that OH really noticed was the gouge out of the wall that he had made whilst taking the coat pegs down I have to say that the Homebase paint was fine....1st coat patchy but then I was going much lighter. 2nd coat looked horrendously patchy but dried perfectly flat. Their colour range is more limited than Dulux or Crown (unsurprisingly) but I'd def use it again given that its about £5 cheaper per tin! Got totally carried away and painted the over loo wooden shelves in the same colour - well, there was lots of paint left over! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
