Had a DIY disaster? I have seen plenty and even some professional disasters.
The funny thing is most tasks in carpentry or building work are actually quite simple to do if you know how. Even the most complicated things are actually child’s play, if broken down into small achievable steps. I have trained three apprentices over the years and they always look surprised when they can execute fine work with relative ease. I teach them to rely on the process and technique, and not talent or luck, as that will normally fail you. Almost anyone can cut a perfect dovetail with 10 minutes proper tuition, so doing other home DIY jobs like fitting a door lock or hanging a shelf should be simple enough for the Kiwi weekend warrior.
With a family to feed of course I would advocate employing professionals like The Smithery to work for you, and we would happily take care of any home building work. But if you are going to “do it yourself” here is the “good oil” on getting professional results and making it look easy:
1. Take a minute to think about what are you trying to achieve? Keep it simple.
2. Slow down. We always overestimate what we can do in a short period and usually underestimate what we can achieve over the long haul. Good work will stand the test of time. Slowing down for a moment will put you in the right mind-set to do quality work and avoid any simple errors. When I am about to start working on something tricky, I often sharpen a tool as a pre-start ritual, just to slow down from what I have been doing and get into gear for the job at hand. You may also like to get out all the tools ready that you will need to get organised or tidy your work space.
3. Break things down into small steps. I mean really small…. sharpen a pencil … move the furniture out of the way. It’s good to have some success and progress on the easy bits before you get stuck in to the project.
4. Concentrate on one step at a time giving each task as much care as you can, especially marking out or measuring which is almost always the most important part. Don’t let your mind wander off thinking about 2 or 3 steps ahead because that is where you will mess up. Just work one step at a time.
5. Make life easy for yourself. Whatever you can do to make your work more comfortable will improve the quality of your work. If you can’t see clearly? Use a light. In a difficult position? Use a stool or a clamp. Having trouble cutting square? Mark all 4 sides of the board. I can cut quite square without even thinking about it, but when it matters I always mark 4 sides (and with a knife).
6. Keep your work area tidy. Good work almost never comes out of a mess and others that follow will do better work if they are in tidy conditions. If it all gets a bit hard, sweep up for a minute. You will be surprised how much easier things look after a tidy up .
In the video I am installing a striker plate into a door frame, a place where a mistake cannot be made. I use painter’s tape to do a nice clear layout, then apply more to keep my work clean from finger prints or marring from my No. 71 router plane. All basic stuff. But it’s these small preliminary details that will make things so much easier and they are an essential part of delivering fine work, first time and without any stress.
Happy DIY