On Fri, 15 Jan 2010 10:33:24 +0000, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
It has been highlighted elsewhere that there's a big divide around
about age 40-50, with very few people below that age being confident
in doing DIY, whilst many people above that age have always done DIY.
This age barrier is increasing as people age - it's not a case of
lots of people in middle-age suddenly learning how to do DIY, but
more a case (for whatever reason) that people suddenly stopped being
taught how to do it by their parents or at school some 20-30 years
ago.

I think that'll change. At the moment I think the skills aren't there in
the younger generation because they expect to be able to simply buy their
way out of any problems - but society seems to be moving slowly back
toward being a bit more frugal with the pennies, and folk are going to
want to do more and more stuff themselves as they can't afford to
pay for someone else to do it for them.

The only thing that might hinder that is if there are just too many rules
and regulations forbidding people from doing their own work within their
own homes...

There may be some mileage in finding out if there is any demand
from 20-30 year olds to learn what their parents/schools didn't teach
them, and to become DIY enthusiasts. Years ago, I recall some DIY
stores doing classes in using various power tools. That sort of thing
no longer goes on as far as I know.

It does this side of the Pond - I've seen things like tiling and plumbing
and carpet-laying workshops advertised in the big sheds. They keep doing
them, so they must be popular.

They do similar free workshops for the kiddies, too, letting them put
stuff together just using hand tools. Seems to be typically one day a
month.

cheers

Jules