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Trade carpenter here. IMO biggest problem for folks who banzai DIY home construction projects with no prior experience is the financials behind YouTube content

Trade carpenter here. IMO biggest problem for folks who banzai DIY home construction projects with no prior experience is the financials behind YouTube content producers. Their need to make engaging content unfortunately necessarily means dead simple tasks end up being presented as significantly more complex than they are in practice. I do agree that DIY construction is poorly suited for the lone individual though. Having a group of friends/family get together to bang out a construction project is a much better strategy. Houses are routinely constructed in the "flat pack" style you reference. Modular homes have been a thing since at least the 50s (we see you over there Lustron). Weirdly "manufactured housing" performs poorly when compared to traditional stick built construction methods. There is this impression in the market that manufactured housing is in some way inferior. Based on my experience in the industry I'd personally take a modular over anything stick built any day of the week. Modules are built truck enough to shrug off getting hauled OTR for hundreds of miles and then get hoisted into position with a crane. No way in hell stick built anything is going to take that level of abuse and remain intact. I deeply question the idea that it's reasonable for an adult human in the world to have no curiosity about, or experience with, how their home is constructed. While I have certainly paid my bills off the backs of folks who simply could not come to grips with whatever project was at hand I much prefer to see folks able to do for themselves and thereby avoid my markup.

phil21 4y ago
> While I have certainly paid my bills off the backs of folks who simply could not come to grips with whatever project was at hand I much prefer to see folks able to do for themselves and thereby avoid my markup I've long thought (and would pay for) a skilled tradesman offering to do a job at double their usual hourly rate - with the condition I (the homeowner) works as their assistant being taught on the job would be a nice niche business for someone with the skills and network. I'd have paid handsomely for a plumber to come teach me how to sweat pipes in a day or two and all the weird little gotchyas vs. me figuring it out by trial and error. There are other projects I'd love to start but get cold feet about the last 20% so I don't quite ever get there. I would rate myself as near the top of my network in terms of "handy" skills, but still lacking in direct experience. I know how much of a PITA the average homeowner is, but man I'd love to be able to apprentice next to skilled pros doing work on my own home. Having someone to both teach and act as a safetynet if the project starts going sideways would be highly compelling to me.
- mvdwoord 4y ago
  Love this idea!
- forgetfreeman 4y ago
  I've done a variation on this a couple times. I don't like doing business with friends so when one of mine has a large scale project I'll volunteer to help them with the work and keep them out of the weeds but refuse to take point on anything. Walked a friend with no construction experience through tearing a gas log surround off his house and rebuilding it from the studs out. I recon he saved himself 8 grand on that one. Next weekend I've volunteered to foreman a deck teardown and rebuild at another friend's place, he's got a bunch of his buddies coming over so I'll be keeping them productive and safe.
danans 4y ago
> I deeply question the idea that it's reasonable for an adult human in the world to have no curiosity about, or experience with, how their home is constructed. Why isn't it reasonable? Plenty of people have no curiosity or experience with how medications are manufactured or how sewage systems work, and those are no less fundamental to our modern lives than how a house is built. > I much prefer to see folks able to do for themselves and thereby avoid my markup. If they are hiring you to do it, doesn't that indicate that they prefer your mark-up over learning how to do it themselves?
- forgetfreeman 4y ago
  The major difference being home construction, remodeling, and repair are routinely performed by untrained laborers who are high out of their mind. Some folks weren't raised to work and are apparently very comfortable with a level of helplessness that I can't fathom. Good business for someone I guess.
  - danans 4y ago
    > The major difference being home construction, remodeling, and repair are routinely performed by untrained laborers who are high out of their mind. One would have to be out of their mind to hire someone who is untrained and high out of their mind to build a house (or anything else for that matter). For starters, you wouldn't let them anywhere near power tools because they are a bad accident just waiting to happen. Secondly the quality of the work would tend to be horrendous. > Some folks weren't raised to work and are apparently very comfortable with a level of helplessness that I can't fathom. I'm a big advocate of trade schools as an alternative to college, and think we should take steps to bring societal recognition and pride to the trades as found in places like Northern Europe. And certainly a basic set of mechanical skills is very helpful to anyone and should be encouraged. That said, if you pick the right set of filters to look through, anyone can look helpless in a way that is unfathomable to someone else, so to judge anyone on such a basis is at the least misinformed.
    - forgetfreeman 4y ago

phil21 4y ago

> While I have certainly paid my bills off the backs of folks who simply could not come to grips with whatever project was at hand I much prefer to see folks able to do for themselves and thereby avoid my markup I've long thought (and would pay for) a skilled tradesman offering to do a job at double their usual hourly rate - with the condition I (the homeowner) works as their assistant being taught on the job would be a nice niche business for someone with the skills and network. I'd have paid handsomely for a plumber to come teach me how to sweat pipes in a day or two and all the weird little gotchyas vs. me figuring it out by trial and error. There are other projects I'd love to start but get cold feet about the last 20% so I don't quite ever get there. I would rate myself as near the top of my network in terms of "handy" skills, but still lacking in direct experience. I know how much of a PITA the average homeowner is, but man I'd love to be able to apprentice next to skilled pros doing work on my own home. Having someone to both teach and act as a safetynet if the project starts going sideways would be highly compelling to me.

mvdwoord 4y ago
Love this idea!
forgetfreeman 4y ago
I've done a variation on this a couple times. I don't like doing business with friends so when one of mine has a large scale project I'll volunteer to help them with the work and keep them out of the weeds but refuse to take point on anything. Walked a friend with no construction experience through tearing a gas log surround off his house and rebuilding it from the studs out. I recon he saved himself 8 grand on that one. Next weekend I've volunteered to foreman a deck teardown and rebuild at another friend's place, he's got a bunch of his buddies coming over so I'll be keeping them productive and safe.

danans 4y ago

> I deeply question the idea that it's reasonable for an adult human in the world to have no curiosity about, or experience with, how their home is constructed. Why isn't it reasonable? Plenty of people have no curiosity or experience with how medications are manufactured or how sewage systems work, and those are no less fundamental to our modern lives than how a house is built. > I much prefer to see folks able to do for themselves and thereby avoid my markup. If they are hiring you to do it, doesn't that indicate that they prefer your mark-up over learning how to do it themselves?

forgetfreeman 4y ago
The major difference being home construction, remodeling, and repair are routinely performed by untrained laborers who are high out of their mind. Some folks weren't raised to work and are apparently very comfortable with a level of helplessness that I can't fathom. Good business for someone I guess.
- danans 4y ago
  > The major difference being home construction, remodeling, and repair are routinely performed by untrained laborers who are high out of their mind. One would have to be out of their mind to hire someone who is untrained and high out of their mind to build a house (or anything else for that matter). For starters, you wouldn't let them anywhere near power tools because they are a bad accident just waiting to happen. Secondly the quality of the work would tend to be horrendous. > Some folks weren't raised to work and are apparently very comfortable with a level of helplessness that I can't fathom. I'm a big advocate of trade schools as an alternative to college, and think we should take steps to bring societal recognition and pride to the trades as found in places like Northern Europe. And certainly a basic set of mechanical skills is very helpful to anyone and should be encouraged. That said, if you pick the right set of filters to look through, anyone can look helpless in a way that is unfathomable to someone else, so to judge anyone on such a basis is at the least misinformed.
  - forgetfreeman 4y ago