Won't do

[chyna]

Lynzee's kitchen and a guy at work got me thinking, what is one thing you would hire out to be done no matter what? This would be remodeling/addition/building.

For me it is sheetrock and the mudding. I hate mudding, my attention span is either too short or I just find the whole thing mindnumbing but spending the time to apply thin layer after thin layer frustrates me to no end and I end up just rushing thru it and you can tell. Most the walls in my bathroom need to be sanded and redone because I just didn't realize how much the seams would show with the paint (using semi-gloss doesn't help the matter either).

My dh and I hope to add onto the bonus room and laundry/pantry this year or next and we both agree that we will do as much to build and install but there is no way we're tackling sheetrock. I told the lady across the hall frm me that I'd live with visqueen stapled to the studs before I'd deal with sheetrock. :eek:

[shadylady]

Chyna, I will not remove wallpaper ever again!!!! We built the house that we are in now in 1990. We decided to downsize and so we spent several months updating. I scraped wallpaper out of 6 rooms....from small bathrooms to a very large kitchen. None of it came off easy. I tried every trick that people told me about. The cottage we bought on the lake has no wallpaper. Thank heavens!! My husband is pretty handy. He has already replaced all the water pipes in our cottage(It was built in 1940 and everything was iron) he is not too thrilled about digging up our septic tank. He thinks it is probably just cement blocks...things were pretty "do whatever" around this little lake because most places were weekenders and fishing cabins since the 1930s.

[rubyslippers]

Well, I can paint. I can install a dimmer. I can yank down wallpaper. I have even re-roofed. Personally, without my husband and my Dad, I would have to hire someone to do anything to heavy for me to lift on my own. That is just a brutal reality. The more I think about it Chyna, does cleaning count? I have never hired anyone to clean, but somedays I just really don't want to clean the bathtub. That seems like a cheesy answer, BUT it is SO true. :)

[Lynzee]

I'm with ShadyLady. No more stripping wallpaper. Ever!

:D

[Zuzu's Garden]

Won't do - climb an extension ladder to paint the gable trim. Will insist on scaffolding!
;)
Zu

[Lisa S]

I won't climb an extension ladder to paint eaves. I told my husband that I'd be happy to paint the front of the lake house and all of the insides, but there was no way I was painting the back. The house is on a slope and the back of the house is TALL!

[Breezy]

I'm with Zuzu and Lisa - I won't do the ladder thing. I tried to climb up to the roof last fall to sweep the leaves off that had gathered around the chimney and I got to the top and decided it best be done by hubby.;)

[chyna]

I'm ok with the ladder thing except when my cat decided to jump on the ladder then jumped off. I had to have lost at least 10yrs of my life in that moment! :eek:

[mac78]

It is not what I wont do, it is what I don't have a clue how to do....
I don't know how to do electrical things
I don't do plumbing...except for the plunger.lol
I'm sure there are a lot more....

What I can do:
Strip and hang wallpaper
Paint and primer
Cut trim and put up....took a couple cuts to get the miter right but I did it.
Put up the vinyl mop board trim in bathroom
Landscaping
Lay 12 inch vinyl squares flooring
Use the tiller....I tilled our whole side yard and replanted grass
When a kid, I helped my dad roof

I wish I could do a lot more. And I am with Rubyslippers...sometimes I hate to clean, especially the tub.

[ChapterTwo]

I'm with Mac78 - definitely won't touch electrical or plumbing. Too much damage can come from one "oopsy"!
:o

[yarborough house]

I always thought we'd just do painting etc..
But my husband has mastered electrical, plumbing, irrigation and drywall.
I do painting, sanding, gardening, cabinet refinishing, the shopping that needs to be done :) And have helped lay tile.

Contractors are so much money and rarely have done good work when we have hired them so we learn on our own. We paid a set of contractors to do our master bath - the plumber messed up twice which caused serious leaks and a 4x8 foot of drywall on the ceiling had to come down in two different areas because of leaks - and I mean big leaks that he did. He was so ashamed that he ran out of the house on the second leak and we never saw him again- no bill but and unfinished job. So, hubby decided time to learn plumbing himself. They did two baths - the hall one came out great but the master one - well needless to say they broke the tub upon installation and we didn't notice till we used it so we ended up gutting the whole thing ourselves AGAIN and redid it ourselves from floor to ceiling.

We may have to learn roofing here soon after the tree fell. Our garage has tongue and groove wood on the ceiling and then a metal roof. The contractor said he does not do tongue and groove only 1x4's. That is not acceptable so we may do it ourselves. We'll see.

Sometimes you just have to buckle down and do it yourself...no matter how crappy - at least not in our house. :)

[cheapdiva]

electricity scares me to death - no pun intended. I figure the worst that can happen with plumbing is I'll get wet!

My friend, Victoria and I took a break last Sunday to go to HD for a drywall lesson but when we got there they told us they didn't know anything about it. It was on the website for pete's sake. I want to be able to do most things by myself and if I had the time, I would take on the sheet rock.

Time and money - two things most of us never have enough of.

[shadylady]

What my problem seems to be is that my husband is very handy...which is a very good thing and he has saved us lots of money because of the things he is able to do BUT I would like to farm our some of the stuff he does because he takes probably 2 times longer to finish something than if we had hired someone to do it. When we get into the big renovation of the lake place I am going to have to figure out a nice way to get him to hire some help. We will never get in the place if he tries to do everything himself.

[chyna]

I guess I shouldn't say I won't do sheetrock because hanging it isn't a problem but mudding. Nope, count me out!:o

[Gigi]

Anything on the roof :eek::eek:! I am really NOT that handy for home projects---but luckily everyone in my family is---so I have the vision and they have the tools and know how to use them!

[mac78]

I'm with Mac78 - definitely won't touch electrical or plumbing. Too much damage can come from one "oopsy"!
:o

I have always wanted curly hair!:eek:

[yarborough house]

shady lady,

I agree. I finally had to have the talk with the hubby on the topic "I know you can do it but we need it done in 1/2 the time you take". I then explained to him that he always complains about all the projects and never having time to bike or do things he wants. So I said - well sometime you need to realize that your time is worth something so it is okay to pay others to do some of the work that takes a long time as they can do it quicker.

I agree - I am terrified to climb ladders. This November hubby is leaving for Afghanistan so no Christmas lights on the house as there is no way I am climbing up there :)

[cheapdiva]

Mac -

If you saw my hair, you'd think I was hit by a big jolt of electricity!!!:D

[Lisa S]

I've hung drywall before, but I've never mudded. It's pretty tricky, I think. That's why "texture" was invented!

[Zuzu's Garden]

Also haven't/won't do: We hired 2 contractors to help us with the Tiny House. An expert to spread the concrete, and an expert to do the sheet rock. We heard too many horror stories of DIY sheet rock mudding gone amuck. :eek:

[Lynzee]

We could be a team, Lisa. I can't hang it, but I can mud it. Oddly enough, it was something I learned doing set work as a theater major in college.

[Lisa S]

Come on, girl! I'll help you and you help me!

[chyna]

You two can come over and do my addition once we get it up and going. :)

[cheapdiva]

L & L - Can I send you plane tickets and YOU two can do my drywalling???

[Lynzee]

I'd be glad to help! While I'm mudding, y'all can design my kitchen because I just can't seem to do it on my own.

[Lisa S]

It's a deal ladies!

[chyna]

I volunteer to paint. :p