DIY approach

boogieman

Rocker said:

Gas and electricity are dangerous and best left to those specialists who know about these things.  

You never could work on gas without having a Corgi/Gas Safe ticket in the UK, never mind it being "best left to a specialist".

DIY electrical work is very limited to what you can do these days but you are allowed to do simple jobs like changing out existing sockets and switches. Obviously you need to take the proper precautions before you start. Having a good idea what you're doing is probably helpful too   but changing sockets and switches is a straightforward job. You'd need to get a qualified sparks in to do anything beyond that of course. 

WezV

boogieman said:

Rocker said:

Gas and electricity are dangerous and best left to those specialists who know about these things.  

You never could work on gas without having a Corgi/Gas Safe ticket in the UK, never mind it being "best left to a specialist".

DIY electrical work is very limited to what you can do these days but you are allowed to do simple jobs like changing out existing sockets and switches. Obviously you need to take the proper precautions before you start. Having a good idea what you're doing is probably helpful too   but changing sockets and switches is a straightforward job. You'd need to get a qualified sparks in to do anything beyond that of course. 

The difference between could and should

i added quite a few extra sockets in my old house, but I do leave it to others these days.  

strtdv

I have a fair stab at most DIY. This week I changed the pressure switch assembly in the power shower as it was leaking, and redid the sealant around the bath. I've previously fitted a utility area to the garage (built up the units and did the plumbing for the sink including putting in a drain, and put a vent in for the tumble drier, as well as fitting security lighting to the garage on a separate circuit.

It's fine to work away at something as long as you've done the basic stuff to avoid disaster (ie isolated the circuit from the mains electric/turned off the mains water etc.)

Despite the fact that I'm now a suburban living professional, my background is much more rural and agricultural, and consequently I can change the clutch on an MF135.

fields5069

I'll have a very modest stab, and youtube has been my friend on more than one occasion, for example when changing a water inlet assembly in a toilet.

I've stopped short of other plumbing tasks though, like cutting a new end on a pipe for a valve, that sort of thing. I'm not averse to having a go but some stuff just seems a bit too specialist.

I stop short of what Walt was doing in Breaking Bad though - getting under the house to cut out and replace wood, drill shit etc.

breakstuff

fields5069 said:

I stop short of what Walt was doing in Breaking Bad though 

Awww,once you've dissolved one body in acid you can do the next one with your eyes shut.

Easy peasy.

snakemanStoo

breakstuff said:

fields5069 said:

I stop short of what Walt was doing in Breaking Bad though 

Awww,once you've dissolved one body in acid you can do the next one with your eyes shut.

Easy peasy.

Just reminded me of a story Mrs Stoo once told me.

She had connections within the police force so she and a friend got to go and ride on some police horses when she was younger.  They had great fun until they spotted a bath in the field.  They asked what was the story with it.  They were told it was used by someone to dissolve people in acid, and after the trial they'd washed it out, and now it was used as a drinking trough for the horses.

Friend turned green and wanted to go home.

boogieman

WezV said:

boogieman said:

Rocker said:

Gas and electricity are dangerous and best left to those specialists who know about these things.  

You never could work on gas without having a Corgi/Gas Safe ticket in the UK, never mind it being "best left to a specialist".

DIY electrical work is very limited to what you can do these days but you are allowed to do simple jobs like changing out existing sockets and switches. Obviously you need to take the proper precautions before you start. Having a good idea what you're doing is probably helpful too   but changing sockets and switches is a straightforward job. You'd need to get a qualified sparks in to do anything beyond that of course. 

The difference between could and should

i added quite a few extra sockets in my old house, but I do leave it to others these days.  

Oh I'm sure people have had a crack at doing their own gas jobs. I used to have a Corgi ticket through work (just because we sometimes had to relight the pilot lights on the gas calorifiers in BT exchanges, basically large water heaters). I even put in my own central heating system from scratch at my old house. Thing is, if you get it wrong, the results don't bear thinking about.