“It may be one of the worst I’ve seen.” I’ve just put up my first ever shelf in a beginners DIY course in Greater Manchester, and my tutor for the day, Joanne Hughes, is cocking her head with a smile as she surveys the uneven shelf I’ve barely secured onto a piece of wood.
Luckily, it turns out the majority of the crookedness is because my big block of wood, placed on the floor, has nails accidentally left under one side. It’s only slightly off after all, so I’m taking it as a win.
I’m attending a five-hour DIY and home maintenance workshop to attempt to learn some basic skills. Like many young people, I have no experience. According to a study from Halfords last year, one in five younger adults don’t know what a spanner is, and seek help from a professional for even the most basic of household tasks. Nearly a quarter admitted they couldn’t change a ceiling light bulb and 20 per cent said that going up a ladder might be “too dangerous”. An era of convenience – and fear – now trumps putting in the effort to learn.
The most I’ve done is put together flat-pack IKEA drawers and, although that’s the rookie of home jobs, it took me five hours and one mental breakdown. I’ve never been a natural at DIY. As a child, my mum once asked me to help her build a slide in the garden, which ended up in an A&E trip when I got my finger caught between the metal. On a separate occasion, I dropped a paving slab on my foot when helping my dad in he garden. Yet another hospital trip.
But having just bought my first home and barely being able to use a screwdriver, I wanted to learn to take care of jobs myself. Handymen, I’ve learned, are hard to come by – especially when you’re asking them to put up a simple shelf and they look at you in disbelief. It’s also worth noting that my boyfriend – who I live with and was hoping would take on this role – is useless, too.
The course I’m attending is for complete beginners to learn to be independent and tackle pesky jobs in their home. Hughes, who runs them under her business The Boho Shed, put on her first DIY course four years ago after realising most of her friends, and women she came across, had no idea how to do simple home tasks. Hughes began her own DIY journey when she purchased her first home aged 22, over 30 years ago, and has since flipped rentals for decades.
Originally, the course was set up to “empower women” but Hughes, now 57, started to get requests from men to join, although they’re still in the minority. “I always ask men why they think males rarely come to these things and it’s usually the same answer, which is ego and being taught by a woman. I do feel sorry for men, because there’s a lot of pressure that they should know how to do these things, whereas women seem happier to admit they don’t know and ask for help.”
On my course, which is one of 20 Hughes will put on over the year in the North West, there are nine people, including me and my mother-in-law. Three are men, including one who has travelled from Glasgow and and one from Sheffield. Another, Mitesh, tells us he’s attending the course to be able to teach his son basic DIY, as he wasn’t taught it himself as a child. He’s been paying builders for years to do simple tasks like putting shelves up or replastering.
DIY courses are booming, with surveys showing one in five younger adults don’t know what a spanner is (Photo: Mark Waugh/Manchester Press Photography Ltd)The day is jam packed with information but, luckily for me, the basics were covered first. We each have our own small drill and hammer to use for the day, along with screws, nails, drill bits and multiple other tools. Hughes starts by explaining the differences between nails and screws and what jobs require wall plugs, how to choose the correct drill bit and how to actually work your way around a drill.
“The most prevalent comment that I get, and the main reason people attend, is that they are frightened of drills,” she says. “Many people have a tool kit that sits in their shed or garage that they keep looking at, not knowing what to do with it.”
I’m in the camp of letting tools gather dust. I don’t own many – a hammer is nowhere to be seen – but I do (surprisingly) have a drill that neither I nor my boyfriend have ever taken out of the box. Today, though, I was selecting drill bits to put holes into a block of wood within an hour. It turns out, it really isn’t that difficult.
I’m the youngest on the course today, everyone is around 40 or above, which Hughes says is common. Although she’s had people as young as 16 attend the course, a lot of the attendees are retired or working women with no help at home. I’ve come with my mother-in-law who lives alone and would like to learn the skills herself.
“I’ve received comments from some of the women attending that dads are often now too elderly to help, or that boyfriends and husbands are unable or unwilling to help. Some also say that tradespeople are also unwilling to do small jobs or they charge a high price,” says Hughes.
Joanne Hughes, from Wigan, taught herself DIY when she purchased her first home at the age of 22 (Photo: Mark Waugh/ Manchester Press Photography Ltd)After running through the drill and screws basics, we all put our own shelves up onto blocks of wood, mine being the worst but, hey, it stayed up. We then run through caulking and filling gaps on walls (but practising on wood), how to rewire a plug, change a fuse, rewire and change light fittings, how to bleed a radiator and re-pressure a boiler. We practise using pipe cutters to fix a leaky water pipe which, it turns out, I was very good at, having sliced through my pipe the quickest. Not that it’s a competition, but after the shelf fiasco, I’m feeling rather smug. It’s a pleasant feeling knowing you’ve done something with your own hands, and now don’t have to delve into your pocket to get a simple job done.
“The key is to get stuck in, practice and increase your confidence”, we’re told.
“The best thing you can do is give it a go, as long as you are safe, and make mistakes, they can always be fixed,” Hughes says as she hands around tea and cake
After the course, I do feel a new wave of confidence to attempt jobs in the house. I’m no expert, but I now have the basic knowledge to give it a go. The shelves that have been laying on the floor for weeks can now be put on the wall, although I’ll try to make them straight this time, and the drill can finally be unboxed.
Since the course, I’ve panelled my own wall; cutting down the wood, nailing to the wall and caulking the edges. They’re a little wonky, if you’re being meticulous about it, but I love them because I did it myself. Beforehand, I’d eye up a job and instantly feel overwhelmed, knowing it’s not my thing, but now I know that, really, it isn’t anyone’s until they actually give it a go.
I guess the only issue is that I’m now the resident DIY-er in the house, but I’m OK switching up the traditional gender roles if he takes on the cleaning.
Joanne Hughes’s list of basic tools for every household
Nails, screws, wall plugs, drill bits and Stanley knife Electrill drill, screwdriver, hammer Tape measure, pencil, spirit level, masking tape Nail punch, bradawl, radiator bleed key Filler gun, filler tube, tube cutter Spare plugs and fusesHughes’ courses can be booked at The Boho Shed, priced at £170 for five hours
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