My father was a farm-boy from WV who got a chance to get a college degree when he served in the Navy in WWII. When I was growing up, he went out of his way to make sure that I (and my siblings) learned how to fix or do everything possible…electrical wiring, auto mechanics, painting, carpentry, small appliance repair, etc. When I was in college, I was the go-to guy for fixing things. In fact, I was the only one in my dorm with a toolbox. As I got older, I did just about everything you can imagine around the house and involving my cars. I built decks, installed hot tubs, repaired drywall, installed plumbing and water softeners, and so forth. I owned a couple muscle cars and did all my own work, including replacing clutches and reprogramming automatic transmissions. I have an electrical contractor’s license and did lots of wiring for myself and friends, including data cabling and network management.
Now I don’t even clean my own gutters or mow my own lawn. And I haven’t for over ten years, so it’s not my age or physical condition. It just reached the point where I knew HOW to do these things and I knew I COULD do these things, but they don’t interest me. They either don’t get done or I pay somebody else to do them. Oh, I occasionally replace a faucet or rewire outlets, but I don’t take the pride or get the satisfaction I used to. Still got plenty of tools and test equipment around, though.
Much the same. I used to maintain my own car when I was a starving student, and do my own house repairs as a young married fellow in our first house.
But while I still have the tools and the knowledge, I don’t want to contort myself under the sink to wrestle with wrenches on the plumbing. Of course, we are lucky enough to have enough money to pay for repairs. It does help to have the experience so you can tell when a tradesperson is trying to snow you into stuff they can overcharge you for, though.
You put your finger on the EXACT job I hate most…working under a sink. I’m 6’ 2” and 200+ pounds. I don’t fit under a sink now and I never did. Plus, that three or four inches difference between the floor and the bottom of a kitchen cabinet hits me right at the worst part of my spine. Last time I replaced the kitchen faucet, I just took my Dremel tool and a cut-off disc and cut through all the hardware and nuts, including the lines to the old mixer. Never even tried to get a wrench on the old fixtures.
@xtenkfarpl: I’m pretty much you too. Net of having gotten rid of most of my tools.
My current proficiency at any household DIY task is nearly zero. I remember what I’m trying to do, but small obstacles loom very large and some blood sacrifice is virtually assured.
I’m small as men go and fitting under a sink was never difficult. But the contortions are harder now, and seeing small stuff up close in dim light is real hard. And I’m not even infirm. Yet.
I turned 50 this year and I remember when I first started driving at 16 all of my classmates would have 10+ year old cars from the late 70s-early 80s doing most of the repair work ourselves.
Modern cars I find a pain in the a** to work on with all the electronics and I rather leave it to a repair shop.