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WHILE THE IDEA of taking on a bit of DIY sounds like a good idea, knowing where to get started can be a bit bewildering.
While some people will call in a plumber or electrician at the first sign of trouble, others will stubbornly persevere on their own.
To find out a bit more about what you should be attempting, and what should be left to professional, TheJournal.ie spoke to Gerry Fallon from Expert Hardware to find out more.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but DIY is for middle aged men who like spending time in sheds. How does someone not in this demographic get involved?
The first thing to do would be to look around the home and see the sort of jobs that you can do. Whether it be small or big, if it is a big job people might tend to sort of tear into it – which they shouldn’t really do.
The second thing to do is to make sure that you have the right tools for the job. You can gradually build up a very comprehensive tool box over a period of time, which will probably then do for 99% of the jobs around the house.
Tradesmen can be pretty expensive. Do you think people can be a bit hasty to call out reinforcements?
I do, people often rush to hire plumbers and electricians. Plumbers probably more so. A lot of plumbing jobs can be done at home. They are quite simple, but people are afraid to tackle them. A call out for a plumber can range from €100 to €120 – and that is just for a call out.
So is there anything that people definitely shouldn’t do at home?
Anything electrical. Wiring a plug isn’t a problem, but if you are tampering with the system itself, the workings of the electricals in the house, I would certainly leave to the experts.
So besides avoiding electrocution, DIY sounds pretty easy. Would fitting a kitchen would be easy enough as long as you followed the instructions?
It is possible, but you’d want to be very, very keen at DIY to attempt that. There are so many trades involved in it. The majority of people could find themselves quite handy at painting, but they might not be so good at plumbing or carpentery. Everybody sort of excels at different aspects of DIY.
Going back to tools, how much could a person expect to pay out?
Depends on how professional you want to be. You can get a very good range of toolboxes with a basic range of tools that would do around 80% to 90% of jobs in the house for less than €50.
We had a toolbox about two years ago and it was around the fifty to sixty mark. You will get cheaper ones – but if you’re going to the bother than it it better to really get quality tools.
And what sorts of things do the have-a-go handy men and women of Ireland get wrong?
I think they get into jobs before they realise how big they are. It is like taking a sledgehammer to a job that a hammer will do. You just have to stand back and look at it and know that you can do it before taking it on.
There is nothing worse than starting a job and then having to get in a professional to finish it off.
What are a few examples of the things that people can do around the home themselves?
Fixing a leaky tap. It’s not a big job but again it is quite daunting. People are afraid of water leaking around the house. It is a very, very simiple job to do. There is so many videos online that do help people do these things.
Insulating an attic. It sounds like a very big job, but it is very simple. All you are doing is rolling out insulation to cover the whole area.
Fixing a faulty lock. Calling out a locksmith, and again you’re paying call out charges, where changing a lock is a very, very simple process.
To get down to it, how dangerous is DIY?
Getting back to what I said – anything electrical is dangerous. People sometimes might also try and go up the side of a two storey house on a ladder. They might be cleaning a gutter or doing some painting. If you are not used to it, it can be very, very dangerous. Working from height can be dangerous.
You have to realise really your capabilities. Start small, work your way up, if you’re a first time DIYer.
Any clever things people can do now we’re getting into the summer?
Things like cleaning a deck, that is something that people are starting to do now. To clean it down and paint it up again for the summer.
Gerry Fallon’s top tips for getting started in DIY
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watch the package size shrink along with the rebranding
@DeWitt: that’s what she said disappointingly
But its rice… if it was a stereotype he’d be Asian
@thomas patrick: true
@thomas patrick: so get what you’re saying but this is more of an American history thing. Basically they are updating their very outdated brand
They’ll be coming for Chef’s Brown sauce next.
is today april 1st by any chance?
Yet the “Black Jack” sweets still survive after all these years.
@Gavin McKenna: Only because they were rebranded to drop the golliwog mascot many years ago.
@Kevin Collins:loyns tea
The world’s gone mad!
@Dominick Lodola: It’s the rebranding of a rice packet by a company concerned with their public image and profits. Hardly the world going mad. Calm yourself down.
@Dominick Lodola: if you think that’s “mad” just wait until November
What a load of ball ox
What’s wrong with Eskimo Pie ice cream? Do the Eskimos find it insulting?
@Gareth Keenan: “Do the Eskimos find it insulting?”
That’s not how this works. A bunch of white, middle class progressives will get offended on behalf of some ethnic group (without ever consulting said group) and it snowballs from there through social media and the usual bandwagon hoppers.
The family of the original Aunt Jemima were actually quite annoyed when Quaker Oats decided to remove their ancestor’s image from their products but they were not consulted on the matter.
@Gareth Keenan: Eskimo is a racial slur to Inuits. Yes, they do find it insulting.
@Gareth Keenan: it probably isn’t the pies, but its the term Eskimo, innuit.
:-)
I feel for the Man Eating Shark.
How will they deal with the name change?
I always knew their rice tasted kinda racist. It comes out of the box all white too
#BlackRiceMatters
Jesus Christ what next…..
I watched Blazing Saddles last night. Am I in trouble.
Madness.com
When I was a kid in the 70’s, there was an ice cream called a “Golly Bar”, complete with a stereotypical image of a black persons head with a big curly Afro. think HB made them. Obviously that bar is discontinued and rebranded. We need to move with the times and sensitivities of our age.
@Paul Whitehead: yep, I remember those.
They dropped the name in only 1992.
@Paul Whitehead: The Golly bar image was a cartoonish caricature and a racial stereotype and certainly had to go but the Uncle Ben’s logo is based on a real man named Frank Brown. The name ‘Uncle Ben’ came from an African American rice grower.
There’s a world of difference between the two logos.
@Will: Completely agree, rather than having a graduated approach which removes the tiny minority of clear racial prejudice in corporate branding, snowflakes seem to be offended by everything and corporations are searching for prejudice that doesn’t exist.
@Fintan Mac Giolla Pharic: what’s even more comical are the true “snowflakes” on here who are offended by a company making this change. Why does it upset you so much? It’s just a logo, it doesn’t actually mean anything. Is that why you guys are so angry all the time? Too much energy spent on being offended by everything?
@Paul Whitehead:
There’s a save the gollywog page on Facebook with 110k followers, all middle aged white brits unsurprisingly!
Be like the Black Board now it’s The White Board …. Insanity at its best !
Ara feck it, I’ll just have the noodles or chips thanks.
I’m getting worried of getting my nice tan every summer…. I’m afraid I’ll hurt anyone with my mediterranean stereotype….
For F!!!ks sake
Uncle Roger will be so angry with this that he’ll put his leg down from chair
@El Grogan: haiyaaaaaa
Next to go – Ginger Nuts
@Vincent Cahill: nah , seems it’s still ok to slag gingers! Poor Bs
Justice 4 gingers
On to the next movement now.
Please tell me the milky bar kid is safe?
ffs next thing they will remove the workd back from the dictionary
Is rice a black stereotype? Or was the problem that he was wearing a suit? I don’t really get the need for this change but hey, I guess it’s good free PR for the company
Aunt Jemima is next
It’s funny they seem to be removing all the ethnic characters and logos from Products. It doesn’t really bother me either way, but I can just imagine in a few years time there will be a clamour to introduce a more diverse image for these products. There was a meme going around last month about the Land o Lakes butter (I think that was the name of it) where they got rid of the Native American and kept the land.
No more Mr rice guy
Old news about name being changed. This tack was floated during the black lives matter campaign
If its white its all right!!!
What a load of nonsense .
If anything, Uncle Bens gave us a great moment on The Sopranos!!!!
The world is gone crazy
Simply ridiculous
I’d say the point is lost on the commentators.
sticks and stones will brake your bones but names will never hurt you.
Get a grip everyone.
have your say