Getting a man in to make wife happy

[MarillionFan]

I struggled putting my IT IKEA desk together, so I guess DIY is out of my league

If you put it together and it falls apart after a month, then you've done it right.

[MarillionFan]

Well - it's a bit of a saga...

About a year and a half ago, the seal round the bath taps started leaking. We ended up with a hole in the kitchen ceiling and couldn't use the shower. Mr k2p2 was going to fix it. I waited patiently. I nagged. I waited some more. After 18 months, I called a plumber. He came and had a look and said it was an easy job. But because the shower hadn't been used for so long he wanted to check it was all still working. It wasn't. The pump had packed up. So a new pump. Whilst he was at it, I got him to fix the toilet flush which had also been broken for over a month. £250 (a lot of that was the new pump).

So that all done, the shower still wouldn't work. It wouldn't dispense cold water, and only a few seconds of hot before the the safety cut out kicked in. He says its the cartridge, (which I found online for £117) but if he's replacing the cartridge, he should also do other bits and pieces (can't remember what he called it). Total £255. The u-bend under the bath is also leaking now - I assume it got knocked when he was doing the taps. I'm expecting him to sort that one for free.

Bit fed up with it all. Over £500 to get the shower sorted does seem a bit excessive.

To be fair, got the same problem on the spare shower. Plumber doing the bathroom seems to have broken a shower in a completely different room after draining the system. £110 for a new cartridge, but I'm going to fit it.

[mudskipper]

To be fair, got the same problem on the spare shower. Plumber doing the bathroom seems to have broken a shower in a completely different room after draining the system. £110 for a new cartridge, but I'm going to fit it.

Yep, I'm sure Mr k2p2 could do it, if I'm prepared to wait another decade or so for him to get round to it (it would require a weekend without any sport on telly). Perhaps £500 is a bargain after all.

[vetran]

K2P2 maybe you are doing it wrong - withhold favours until its done. only six months dry spell and after 20 years she takes her own cups downstairs - YAY!

Seriously did 2 bathrooms, 1 cloakroom, 3 bedrooms & 2 receptions (Gut, replace everything including actual floors in some cases) each room has the wow factor (well people go quiet and green when they walk in). Plus a front & rear garden landscape.

Wife wanted the kitchen done, didn't want me to do it (I take too long apparently) , she got a household name in. Guess which room is falling apart?

She did want someone to do the dining room but after the building inspector said her choice would be breaking the law she let me do it.

I enjoy it and I get to do it how I want that means back to the plaster or brick if needed, pipes hidden, cabling in the wall not on the skirting board.

I find it quite relaxing, when I'm doing it. It also makes me smile when I walk downstairs in the morning.

Cost wise I find it much cheaper, the labour, materials & extras add up.

I like being able to shop around and buy what I want without a tradesman insisting on sub standard , poor value stuff or expedient parts. (I buy a lot on eBay).

Every-time we have someone in, they don't quite do it right. Maybe I'm a bit picky (OK a lot picky).

I have cat5/6 flood wired, infrared/rf everything and we spent stuff all. £6-10k for everything except the kitchen.

[mudskipper]

K2P2 maybe you are doing it wrong - withhold favours until its done. only six months dry spell and after 20 years she takes her own cups downstairs - YAY!

Seriously did 2 bathrooms, 1 cloakroom, 3 bedrooms & 2 receptions (Gut, replace everything including actual floors in some cases) each room has the wow factor (well people go quiet and green when they walk in). Plus a front & rear garden landscape.

Wife wanted the kitchen done, didn't want me to do it (I take too long apparently) , she got a household name in. Guess which room is falling apart?

She did want someone to do the dining room but after the building inspector said her choice would be breaking the law she let me do it.

I enjoy it and I get to do it how I want that means back to the plaster or brick if needed, pipes hidden, cabling in the wall not on the skirting board.

I find it quite relaxing, when I'm doing it. It also makes me smile when I walk downstairs in the morning.

Cost wise I find it much cheaper, the labour, materials & extras add up.

I like being able to shop around and buy what I want without a tradesman insisting on sub standard , poor value stuff or expedient parts. (I buy a lot on eBay).

Every-time we have someone in, they don't quite do it right. Maybe I'm a bit picky (OK a lot picky).

I have cat5/6 flood wired, infrared/rf everything and we spent stuff all. £6-10k for everything except the kitchen.

I propose a new TV show - husband swap. Suggest pilot programme featuring vetran and Mr k2p2. A month should cover it.

[vetran]

Strange, that seems to be a common request.

Unfortunately the potential dry spell seems to kill the idea.

When I ask 'whats in it for me' both cheeks get slapped. It hurts

The wife can actually cook, (quite well but don't tell her - treat em mean) so that isn't much of a draw.

How is your sewing?

[russell]

I'm WFH today and the Mrs CS happens to be at home due to being a school teacher on her Easter break.
She wanted some odd jobs to be done, and last time I had a go at DIY I spent hours and days trying to do stuff that a professional would do in 1/10th of the time. That was bench time that I could have spent on a course improving my quals and skills.

This time we've got a man in to do some odd jobs - fitting curtain rail, putting a mirror up on the wall, fix leaky tap.... nothing big.
Its far cheaper for him to do it than me, but it really does make me feel like an empty shell of a man sometimes. Event worse when he gets all of the praise, and I feel utterly useless.
Thing is I just CBA to waste another saturday dropping things on my feet and hammering my thumbs into the wall.

Am I alone here?

Did you also get him to give your wife one as well?

[mudskipper]

Strange, that seems to be a common request.

Unfortunately the potential dry spell seems to kill the idea.

When I ask 'whats in it for me' both cheeks get slapped. It hurts

The wife can actually cook, (quite well but don't tell her - treat em mean) so that isn't much of a draw.

How is your sewing?

I can sew! And knit! (see username)
Got two ceilings need painting. How you fixed for this weekend?

[SantaClaus]

I honestly can't believe that some of you cannot do any of the following:

Change a washer
Wire up a light fitting
Put together self assembly furniture
Drill a hole in masonry or concrete.

You're all big girls blouses!

[mudskipper]

I honestly can't believe that some of you lot cannot do any of the following:

Change a washer
Wire up a light fitting
Put together self assembly furniture
Drill a hole in masonry or concrete.

Your all big girls blouses!

I honestly can't believe that some of you lot cannot work out where to place an apostrophe

You're