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Not wood working, but I remodeled almost my entire last house. 1 kitchen, 1 bathroom, 2 bedrooms, a hallway and minor work to the dining room and family room. T

Not wood working, but I remodeled almost my entire last house. 1 kitchen, 1 bathroom, 2 bedrooms, a hallway and minor work to the dining room and family room. These were complete guts down to the studs with new windows, doors, electrical, plumbing, insulation. Expense wise, you need quite a few tools and obviously materials. Doors I always went with solid core doors (vs hollow) and double pane windows. We used fiber glass insulation and drywall was appropriate to the room (water proof drywall in the kitchen / bathroom, regular in the rooms) always at least a half inch. Demolition was fun if not exhausting (plaster and lath walls). Neighbors took the original doors to match existing builds. Took time to get good at mudding the joints to get them smooth. I did the electrical; sub contracted out for plumbing. I don't mind electrocuting myself lol, but a leak in plumbing and you can throw all of your work out. Dad (who has experience) helped and I learned a lot from him (especially on cutting trim and tile). Otherwise watching a ton of home improvement shows; youtube videos; etc... All of it is totally doable; just need to take your time, measure 20 times, cut once, etc... My favorite work was masonry - I built a brick pizza oven 1 year; then a concrete block planting wall with a fireplace in it the following year. Can't say I want to do it again; took all 8 years before we divorced and she kept it to get everything but 1 bedroom done; but if I have to when I buy my next house, I know I can and how.

heelix 6y ago
We did our bathrooms, and learning the plumbing aspect was probably the most interesting still addition for me. My father in-law taught me how to do copper pipe soldering, and stupervised the upstairs plumbing. Feeling emboldened, I ordered a shower kit off of Amazon. Ye gods... the 4 head unit came with a tin template and a 'good luck'. Ended up putting together a 4 head double loop with pressure equalization.... after many, many attempts. After those projects, I'm reasonably OK with it. Will be using coper piping when the zen 3 threadrippers finally hit the store.
ErrantX 6y ago
Agree with all of this. People act really shocked at the level of DIY I get up to, but really the main secret is having a go. You can definitely get as close to as good a finish as a pro, it just takes longer and is more fun for you! The current project is a home office from scratch; which basically meant learning how to build a wood frame building. YouTube is a wonderful resource! (First fit is done, plastering next)
- lsiunsuex 6y ago
  Best lesson learned on plastering - thin it out a bit with water and add a little dish soap - helps keep bubbles out. Google it (where I got it from lol) Ceilings are the hardest part :( So much reaching :( Eventually I got good at corners but that took effort.
  - ErrantX 6y ago
    Ah good tip thanks! I did some external plastering with cement once and it was horrible! So I'm steeling myself to have a go :)
robocat 6y ago
In NZ the majority of modern plumbing is done using https://www.buteline.com/nz/nz/buteline https://www.buteline.com/nz/nz/buteline or similar. The tool and connectors are relatively expensive, but it is super simple to do your own plumbing reliably. I have done a few odd home plumbing jobs, and it doesn’t take a lot of skill to do something as reliably as a plumber would do. I’m not sure I would trust the similar push-on connector systems. I think the search keywords is “pex fittings”, but just go to your hardware store and see what they stock.
dr_orpheus 6y ago
> Took time to get good at mudding the joints to get them smooth I can attest that drywall work and mudding is definitely an acquired skill. No matter how many youtube videos you watch it takes practice.

heelix 6y ago

We did our bathrooms, and learning the plumbing aspect was probably the most interesting still addition for me. My father in-law taught me how to do copper pipe soldering, and stupervised the upstairs plumbing. Feeling emboldened, I ordered a shower kit off of Amazon. Ye gods... the 4 head unit came with a tin template and a 'good luck'. Ended up putting together a 4 head double loop with pressure equalization.... after many, many attempts. After those projects, I'm reasonably OK with it. Will be using coper piping when the zen 3 threadrippers finally hit the store.

ErrantX 6y ago

Agree with all of this. People act really shocked at the level of DIY I get up to, but really the main secret is having a go. You can definitely get as close to as good a finish as a pro, it just takes longer and is more fun for you! The current project is a home office from scratch; which basically meant learning how to build a wood frame building. YouTube is a wonderful resource! (First fit is done, plastering next)

lsiunsuex 6y ago
Best lesson learned on plastering - thin it out a bit with water and add a little dish soap - helps keep bubbles out. Google it (where I got it from lol) Ceilings are the hardest part :( So much reaching :( Eventually I got good at corners but that took effort.
- ErrantX 6y ago
  Ah good tip thanks! I did some external plastering with cement once and it was horrible! So I'm steeling myself to have a go :)

robocat 6y ago

In NZ the majority of modern plumbing is done using https://www.buteline.com/nz/nz/buteline https://www.buteline.com/nz/nz/buteline or similar. The tool and connectors are relatively expensive, but it is super simple to do your own plumbing reliably. I have done a few odd home plumbing jobs, and it doesn’t take a lot of skill to do something as reliably as a plumber would do. I’m not sure I would trust the similar push-on connector systems. I think the search keywords is “pex fittings”, but just go to your hardware store and see what they stock.

dr_orpheus 6y ago

> Took time to get good at mudding the joints to get them smooth I can attest that drywall work and mudding is definitely an acquired skill. No matter how many youtube videos you watch it takes practice.