I think a lot of people today have too much money at their disposal.
Before you jump on that statement, remember necessity is the mother of
invention. If the pipes leaked and you couldn't afford a plumber,you
would probably find a way to repair the leak.
However some fools would rather drown.....

Gary

On 5 Aug 2006 07:27:58 -0700, "Too_Many_Tools"
wrote:

It has always concerned me when the young amoung us are not taugh basic
skills such as how to change a tire, how to use a saw, how to...well
you get the idea...there are basic skills that one needs to deal with
the world we live in. Well this article shows what that lack of
training, due to whatever reason, means as they get older.

When I drive through a neighborhood, it is a rare garage that has
anything like a workshop within it anymore....a reflection of the lack
of interest or knowledge of the homeowner to work with their hands?

Do your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, the generation who
is succeeding us, have the basic skills that are needed in the world
today?

TMT


Repair jobs challenge young homeowners By MARTHA IRVINE, AP National
Writer
Thu Aug 3

The staff at his neighborhood hardware store can spot John Carter from
a distance.

He's the slightly befuddled guy who often comes in declaring, "I have
no idea what I'm doing. Can you at least get me through tonight?"

The 26-year-old Chicagoan, who's been slowly rehabbing the condo he
bought last year, is part of a generation of young homeowners who admit
they often have no clue how to handle home projects.

For them, shop class was optional. It also was more common for their
parents to hire contractors, leaving fewer opportunities for them to
learn basic repair skills.

With low interest rates allowing more young adults to buy property in
recent years, many inexperienced homeowners are desperate for advice
when the furnace goes out, the roof leaks or when a home project that
seemed like a no-brainer goes terribly wrong.

"They know they've got to buy real estate; they know it's a good
investment. But that doesn't help you when you swing a hammer and hit a
pipe in the wall," says Lou Manfredini, a Chicago hardware store owner
who gives do-it-yourself advice on local radio and nationally online
and on TV. "Unfortunately, homes don't come with an instruction
manual."

Contractors say it's not unusual for them to get frantic calls from
young do-it-yourselfers who get in over their heads.

Sometimes, the mistakes are silly.

Michel Hanet, who owns a door replacement business called IDRC in
Scottsdale, Ariz., has arrived at homes to find doors hung upside down.
He's also discovered more than one sliding pocket door that won't open
because someone nailed a picture on the wall and into the door.

"The younger generation are more likely the ones that are getting into
trouble," Hanet says. "The baby boomers have the money to do it, so
they just call and say 'I don't like my doors; just come and replace
them.'"

Kirsten Pellicer, the 30-year-old vice president of Ace hardware stores
in Longmont and Boulder, Colo., sees many young customers looking to
tackle projects on their own, often to save money.

"We rarely get requests for 'Do you know a good handyman?' from the
younger set," she says.

For Carter, the young Chicagoan, it's all about being brave enough to
try - and sometimes fail.

With the help of a buddy who has rehabbing experience, he's put in
hardwood floors, knocked out a wall and completely remodeled his condo
kitchen.

In the process, he's also managed to nearly flood the kitchen after
forgetting to completely seal off a refrigerator water line; had a
sliding closet door he was installing shatter a light bulb over his
head and crash on top of him; and been fined by his condo association
for a couple of other mishaps.

"The one thing about home remodeling is that it is intimidating. But in
the end, you find it's definitely worthwhile," says Carter, whose day
job is at a large accounting firm where he secures computerized
financial data. "You just have to accept that you're going to screw
up."

Dave Payne, a 26-year-old condo owner in suburban Atlanta, knows what
he means.

Payne made the mistake of trying to spackle over wallpaper in his condo
bathroom, leaving uneven chunks where the wallpaper pulled away from
the wall.

"There were just times when I wanted to pull my hair out and hire
someone when I looked at my ruined walls," he says.

But after hours of "spackling, sanding, spackling again, sanding again,
then priming," he's hoping no one will notice.

Increasingly, hardware professionals and others are addressing the need
for know-how.

Some community colleges and stores such as Lowe's and Home Depot offer
classes in projects from changing a faucet to tiling and putting in a
dimmer switch.

"It gives them some exposure, so if they want to do it on their own,
they have a starting point," says Peter Marx, a remodeling contractor
who teaches home repair at North Seattle Community College.

Others find help online, including at the Ace site, where Manfredini
- the Chicago hardware store owner - answers questions.

Home-centered television networks, including HGTV, are also in vogue.
HGTV executives say shows such as "Design on a Dime" and "What's Your
Sign? Design" - a show that builds on the unlikely combination of
astrology and home decorating - have helped boost its recent ratings
among young adults.

While 27-year-old Amy Choate occasionally goes online or watches TV
shows to get home-improvement ideas, more often she uses a resource
closer to home: her mom.

Among other things, mom showed her how to fix wall cracks in her
Chicago condo.

But Choate has no intention of tackling an upcoming kitchen rehab.
She'll leave that to a professional.

"I'd probably do it wrong," she says, "and end up paying twice as
much."

___

On the Net:

Answers (at) Ace: http://www.acehardware.com

Home Depot clinics: http://www.homedepotclinics.com/

Lowe's clinics:
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...SchedProcessor