Doing it yourself: basic skills that will make you look like Superman

[GratefulEd]

This wildly off-topic post is for younger guys on the board who might be looking for an edge up in their personal and even professional lives. You don't have "mad skillz" until you can do the things I'm about to describe.

A few days ago I saw on Facebook where a retired friend of mine had two leaking faucets in her house and was hoping someone could recommend a plumber who wouldn't rip her off. I got in touch with her and told her I'd take care of it, went out to my shop and rounded up the tools I thought I'd need, and drove down to see her. Sure enough, one faucet needed new washers and the other had a broken cold-water valve. A quick trip back to the hardware store for parts, and I had her faucets fixed in a half-hour. No charge. She was ecstatic.

I tell you this story because there are certain basic mechanical skills that getting a handle on when you're young will enrich your life in immeasurable ways. Not just later on, either, but right away. Even today. And trust me, if you can do these things you're going to look like Superman to a lot of people.

Here's my list. It's not exhaustive; I'm sure other people here can add to it. I'm not going to explain how to perform each job, but YouTube sure as hell can, and failing YouTube, there's always eHow and even Google.

-Learn to replace the washers in a leaking faucet. Three bucks worth of parts and a phillips head screwdriver.

-Learn to change your car's oil, air filter, and fuel filter. All twenty-minute jobs you can do with basic tools, that would cost you anywhere from $30 to $100 and take from a half-hour to a day at a garage.

-For help with your car jobs, go to Autozone and ask for your car's "shop manual." It's a part-by-part, job-by-job guide to every part and system of your car, and it even includes a troubleshooting guide.

-While you're at Autozone get a $30 scan tool so you can read/erase the "check engine" light. Very often it's nothing you need to worry about, but when it is something you need to worry about, you need to worry FAST.

-Learn basic appliance repair. In many cases dishwashers, washer/dryer machines, microwaves, etc. are almost bewilderingly easy to fix. I noticed this a few years ago because one particular appliance repair guy the Maytag people kept sending to my house was an idiot, and I reasoned that if he could fix my dishwasher, then so could I. I haven't paid for a service call since. The first time you replace a burnt motor in a washing machine you'll smack yourself in the forehead and wonder: "Why doesn't everyone do this?" Many major household appliances are metal boxes with a few components inside. To fix: troubleshoot by Googling symptoms, order the appropriate component(s), open the box, replace the bad component(s). It's often that simple.

-Small appliances can be easy to repair, too. You can find parts for appliances large and small all over the internet. Note that televisions do NOT fit into this category -- there are components in TVs that can shock you even when the set is unplugged.

-Learn to change a burnt-out hot water heater element. A monkey could do this, and it'll save you big bucks on a service call or a replacement water heater.

-Learn to use wire nuts, wire strippers, electrical tape, etc. to do basic rewiring jobs like changing out a light fixture or replacing a bad outlet or switch. Warning: Doing this REQUIRES that you know how to turn breakers off and remove fuses. Don't go electrocuting yourself from ignorance and then suing me.

-On that subject: learn to install a ceiling fan. Wow, this is an easy one, and it'll make any room you do it in more comfortable.

-Find out where your house's water and gas service come into the house. Specifically, find the shutoff valves and observe how they operate. Do you have the right tools to shut them off in a hurry if you need to? If not, get those tools. Shutting off your house's water when a pipe bursts can save thousands and thousands of dollars and major amount of pain the ass.

-While you're at it, find all your toilet, sink, and other water cutoff valves in your house, and figure out how they operate.

-Learn to install a toilet rebuild kit. When you hear the toilet cutting on and off a lot between uses no matter how much you jiggle the handle, it's time to either pony up twenty bucks to the hardware store or a hundred and twenty to the plumber.

-Speaking of plumbing, a monkey could also learn to install PVC pipe. Remember making crafts with wooden popsicle sticks and glue when you were a kid? Kind of the same principle.

-Spend some time learning your way around your local big-box hardware store. Lowe's or the Home Depot or whatever. They have a floor map at the front and while not every employee is highly skilled, in my experience most of them are at least more skilled then I am. If you have a question about a job and the web can't get you there, ask somebody with a nametag.

-Learn to repair holes in drywall (and who here hasn't punched out drywall at one time or another?) Very easy to tape, patch, fill, paint over, etc.

-Oh yeah, while we're on drywall: learn to do your own painting. Tedious but not rocket surgery.

-You can have a brilliantly green lawn with just a few hours of work a year if you're willing to be consistent. Your state university system will have an "agricultural extension service," which is one-stop shopping for information about domestic plants in your area, including lawn care. Check out their website for a publication on lawn maintenance.

-Learn to replace your damn smoke detector batteries. So many people just rip the detector off the wall and throw it in a kitchen drawer when it starts beeping. What good is it in there?

-I won't even get into computer repair. Suffice it to say that the "Geek Squad" is more interested in your money than they are in your computer. If they can replace a hard drive, you can.

-Basic carpentry is just that: basic. Learn to hammer a nail straight, drive a screw without stripping it, etc.

-There's a book called something like "The Complete Illustrated Guide to Everything Sold in Hardware Stores." Very good bathroom reading.

That's it for now -- my fingers are getting tired and I'm out of coffee. I'll add to this list as I see it, and I hope other people will too. I can already tell that I need to add a list of tools I consider essential.

[Skipper]

I would add basic cementing abilities

[GratefulEd]

Originally Posted by Skipper

I would add basic cementing abilities

Absolutely. A plastic bucket, a bag of Quickcrete, a garden hose, and a shovel, and you can at least temporarily repair quite a bit of stuff.

[XPirate]

I second this. Learning how to do things yourself is very valuable. I just bought a 1981 Yamaha motorcycle. The guy told me all it needed was a new battery to run. It needed a lot more. I would have never learned so much trying to fix it if I just dumped it at a shop. I now have both manuals and understand a lot more about motorcycles.

If your interested, the big problem was a starter gear design flaw. I have yet to repair the bike for lack of money or time, but on the list of to-dos is cleaning the carburetors, changing the starter gear, replace breaklines, coat the inside of the gas, etc.

[RoadBlock]

Pretty good list.

[Jaredmh16]

I think negotiating skills should be a must. Not enough people know how to negotiate the price of anything.

[Bluedog]

I think this post should be more directed to dads, as encouragement to teach their sons, or their daughters, these things.

But who knows, maybe i just got a bad dad lol

[GratefulEd]

Originally Posted by Bluedog

I think this post should be more directed to dads, as encouragement to teach their sons, or their daughters, these things.

But who knows, maybe i just got a bad dad lol

One reason I put this up was because I know a bunch of guys didn't have dads around to teach them this stuff when they were young. Insert rant here.

[Bluedog]

No rant. I am grateful for this so thank you. At least it gives me something to do

[disciple X]

excellent advice...

i have learned sooo much from doing stuff i had no clue how to do. if its not a huge deal if you mess up, just give it a go. if you mess up, you can hire someone to fix it, but almost always, if you take your time and do your homework, you can do it.

i bought a house last year and have been fixing it up. my latest blind endeavor was refinishing the old hardwood floors. i had no clue hiw this was done, but i asked around, found out the basics, and gave it a whirl. they turned out looking pretty nice! i had a quote to have it done professionally for $2500... i probably spent $400... i also now know why they wanted to charge so much. its a pain. lol. but shes done now.

cliff notes: dont be scarred, give it a go... you may be surprised how simple some things are. and you'll learn a lot along the way.