does everyone do it theirselves

[boris]

after renovating your dream property and probably spending a substantial amount of money you decide to do the most important bit yourself ie the decoration some do an excellent job some not so good, is it because you've run out of money ? or do you enjoy spending your hollidays working?or is it that your builder wont quote you for it,just curious,i am time served and registered but only 20% of the work i get is decorating .the decorator makes good on every other trades mistakes (we all make mistakes)and can make a good renovation/conversion look like a great one.

[Weedon]

Its my view that it all started about 30 to 40 years ago when people started to do a lot of the jobs themselves that were traditionally carried out by tradesmen.

Decorating was the first trade taken over by DIYers as it was seen by many as the easiest thing to do.  I suppose the worst you can do is to slap a bit of the wrong paint on over the top of an unsuitable base, but at least it won't bring the house crashing down.  I am sure you could argue very well that a skilled decorator is capable of doing a much better job than many DIYers and I wouldn't argue against that.

Since the early days of DIY many more trades have been taken on by amateurs many of whom can do very skilled tasks to a high degree of competance and many think they can but can't.  I bet a lot of us have had a postman or a fireman do odd jobs for us over the years at half the cost of a real tradesman.  The upshot of this is that some people look down upon a time served chap as a an inferior species who is only out to screw you for a job badly done when he kindly accepts to do you a favour by turning up.

What used to happen before all of this DIY business was that you did your work and earned money and you paid other people to do their work for you and vice versa, that's how the world went around.   Nowadays a lot of people resent paying out for someone else to do a job that they are sure they could do themselves "if only they weren't so busy".

Here in France if you ask a local artisan to come and quote for a job, first of all you will have to call him at least 3 times (they never ever ring back) before they come 3 or 4 months later.  After accepting the devis you will then have to wait at least a year for him to turn up to start the work (have a look at renovations "Its been done")

Since we retired here 4 years ago we have done a lot of work ourselves and have had locals (French and English) do other works that we are not capable of.  So we have had some frustating episodes and some very pleasant ones and have made new friends from most of them.  Decorating is one of the jobs we will always do ourselves as it is not our intention to have our place featured in any glossy magazines and we can look back with some satisfaction on our efforts  plus what else do we do with our time.

Gone on a bit haven't I but it is Sunday and I don't work on the Sabbath and I have finished decorating for the moment as well!!

weedon