Now you have all seen the Mitre 10 advertisement on TV. First there is the blokey put up a fence, build a deck DIY manly man. This is contrasted with the sad looking "pay someone else to do it type". The advertisement then concludes by stating "You don't wanna be this type."
Actually, I am this guy, and more to the point, I aspire to be this type. You see, I work all week decoding complex legislation, drafting weighty legal opinions and dealing with other irritating bureaucrats,so I can come pay someone "qualified" to do my building stuff. So in the weekends, I can be the sit back, have a beer, play with the kids and read the paper type. Excellent.
The key word in that last paragraph is "qualified". My mate Nigel the Builder breathes an enormous sigh of relief every time I tell him my local builder mate, Dave the Builder, is doing something to our old house. As Nigel the Builder will tell you, builders spend an enormous amount of their time fixing inept home handyman's errors. Builders by nature are grumpy. Builders are down right terrifying when they discover a botched job.
If you consider the Mitre 10's advertisement closely, it is quite brilliant. It encourages unqualified slobs to undertake DIY that looks good for a short while. Then it leaks, breaks, jams and/or buckles and the wife is forced to call the builder. This keeps surly builders in business, and Mitre 10 wins both times.
Overall, undertaking DIY when you are clearly incompetent is much like shagging your mate's sister. It seems like a good idea at the time, but never is.
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