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Doom for DIY
I have been watching this web site along with many other DIY sources for
years now. I always detect an unexplained "Fear" by the DIY community that some huge monster will descend on them if their DIY project fails to meet some "unspecified" level of quality or fails to meet some obscure regulation that may be in a builders manual somewhere. Is it the "nanny state" mentality that generates this "Fear" or does it actually happen. I am on my 6th (and last) house reconstruction now and I could load you up with tales of seriously bad things I have repaired by DIY that was created by certified engineers. I am not a builder or anything but I have average ability and several well worn "Collins" manuals which have almost always answered the questions. When they did not answer my question, I got a certified engineer in to do it and that was not always successful. I would like to thank those like Andy, Ed, and the other serious professionals who give excellent advice here without berating the poor sod who has never heard of Part P or whatever. You guys don't know it but I read and remember your comments on problems that I haven't had yet. It will occur someday. As a final comment--I still have the "Fear" of whoever this great monster who devours DIY'ers. For future reference I would suggest a lot of your answers to the lesser qualified DIY'ers could be to go out and buy a good DIY Manual. Sorry for all the "waffle". You could also leave a few examples of cases where the monster has actually prosecuted a person for faulty DIY. |
Jimbo wrote:
I have been watching this web site along with many other DIY sources for years now. I always detect an unexplained "Fear" by the DIY community that some huge monster will descend on them if their DIY project fails to meet some "unspecified" level of quality or fails to meet some obscure regulation that may be in a builders manual somewhere. Is it the "nanny state" mentality that generates this "Fear" or does it actually happen. I am on my Interesting observation.... The amount of "nanny" legislation does seem to be increasing, particularly in recent years. Most of it is pointless since the people who would be best served by paying attention to it are also the ones least likely to be aware of it, or even care for that matter. When you are doing work that will be inspected by a BCO, then obviously the need to be aware of the fine detail of regulatory requirements is greater. The aforementioned nanny legislation seems to be pushing the BCOs into ever more areas. There is also a growing trend during the house conveyancing process for more verification that any modifications done were done in a competent and certified way. There seems to be many agenda at work here, mostly political, rarely anything to do with the stated aim. 6th (and last) house reconstruction now and I could load you up with tales of seriously bad things I have repaired by DIY that was created by certified engineers. I am not a builder or anything but I have average ability and several well worn "Collins" manuals which have almost always answered the questions. When they did not answer my question, I got a certified engineer in to do it and that was not always successful. I think many people associate "professional" with "higher quality" in some way. The reality is all it means is they get paid to do it, its not a guarantee of a good outcome. Things like the DIY manual, may well give you the knowledge that you need, but perhaps not the confidence and reassurance that you can gain from being able to communicate with people who have "been there and done that". I would like to thank those like Andy, Ed, and the other serious professionals who give excellent advice here without berating the poor sod who has never heard of Part P or whatever. You guys don't know it but I read Good point and well made! I would go along with that - thanks guys. and remember your comments on problems that I haven't had yet. It will occur someday. I wonder if there is such a thing as DIY hypochondria? As a final comment--I still have the "Fear" of whoever this great monster who devours DIY'ers. For future reference I would suggest a lot of your answers to the lesser qualified DIY'ers could be to go out and buy a good True you could, but see my point above about confidence and reassurance. One also wants to avoid the "Your Stupid, RTFM" response you get in many "techie" newsgroups. The strength of uk.d-i-y seems to be not only the wealth of knowledge, but also the relaxed attitude to most things that make it an easy place to come for information. DIY Manual. Sorry for all the "waffle". You could also leave a few examples of cases where the monster has actually prosecuted a person for faulty DIY. I don't think there are many cases where this does occur. A couple of high profile cases make the news from time to time, but compared to the amount of DIY going on, that is a drop in the ocean. I have no data to back this up, but I would expect that you will probably find the percentage of DIYers required to do rework at the behest of BCOs, is probably no worse than for professional builders etc. (My logic being that if it is not your full time job, and its your own home, you are more likely to ask questions first and not cut corners on the work since you need to live with the result) -- Cheers, John. /================================================== ===============\ | Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk | |-----------------------------------------------------------------| | John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk | \================================================= ================/ |
You could also leave a few examples
of cases where the monster has actually prosecuted a person for faulty DIY. Or maybe a few examples of where someone has been killed or injured by a botched DIY job where the perpetrator has failed to do his homework properly? |
On Wed, 13 Oct 2004 23:36:50 +0000 (UTC), "Jimbo"
(remove $ ) wrote: I have been watching this web site along with many other DIY sources for years now. I always detect an unexplained "Fear" by the DIY community that some huge monster will descend on them if their DIY project fails to meet some "unspecified" level of quality DIYers are afraid that if they do a botch job the wife will get Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen and the Changing Rooms team to redecorate! sPoNiX |
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In article ,
sPoNiX wrote: DIYers are afraid that if they do a botch job the wife will get Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen and the Changing Rooms team to redecorate! Frying pan and fire comes into mind... -- *If horrific means to make horrible, does terrific mean to make terrible? Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
Jimbo (remove $ ) wrote:
I have been watching this web site along with many other DIY sources for What "web site"? -- Chris Green |
"Jimbo" (remove $ ) wrote in message ... Is it the "nanny state" mentality that generates this "Fear" or does it actually happen. I don't know what the nanny sate is. I would like to thank those like Andy, Ed, and the other serious professionals Andy is a DIYer, not a professional. |
"IMM" wrote in message ... "Jimbo" (remove $ ) wrote in message ... Is it the "nanny state" mentality that generates this "Fear" or does it actually happen. I don't know what the nanny sate is. I would like to thank those like Andy, Ed, and the other serious professionals Andy is a DIYer, not a professional. Perhaps he is but he doesn't "snipe" at people like you do. |
In article ,
IMM wrote: I would like to thank those like Andy, Ed, and the other serious professionals Andy is a DIYer, not a professional. And like many skilled amateurs, not only knows more about that subject than some self styled professionals, but also knows how put that knowledge across to others. -- *Stable Relationships Are For Horses. Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article , IMM wrote: I would like to thank those like Andy, Ed, and the other serious professionals Andy is a DIYer, not a professional. And like many skilled amateurs, not only knows more about that subject than some self styled professionals, but also knows how put that knowledge across to others. What's the saying? Amateurs built the ark, professionals the Titanic. -- James... www.jameshart.co.uk |
In message , IMM writes
"Jimbo" (remove $ ) wrote in message ... Is it the "nanny state" mentality that generates this "Fear" or does it actually happen. I don't know what the nanny sate is. Bits of old women onna stick? What's your point I would like to thank those like Andy, Ed, and the other serious professionals Andy is a DIYer, not a professional. And you are? Quick ... rename the thread -- geoff |
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