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What's stopping you from doing DIY projects?
Marc Thoma
Posts: 77 ✭✭
Like you, I seem to have so many ideas swirling around it can be difficult to pick one and get it completed. I try to have a long term idea for what would suit us but things change and I find myself off in another direction.
Comments
Do you have any seconds yards or online sale options? Here in Australia we have a website called 'Gumtree' where people advertise all sorts of items. I've found it very helpful in finding everything from water tanks and other building materials to rare chicken breeds.
We also have salvage yards, but I find they can be more costly than online public sale sites. I once found someone advertising a house demolition sale and was able to get a whole host of free items beyond the materials I planned on purchasing.
Course life gets in the way and I might go two months without doing a project. But I’m really working on breaking it down into simple goals and following through.
I like the sound of Sketchup, Marc. Thanks for that tip.
I designed my greenhouse with Sketchup and the layout of my garden raised beds among other things.
Sometimes on our local online classified ad websites I see some people selling cedar for better prices that the lumberyard. But often they are out of town and it is a bit of a drive out. Doubt I would save that much money considering the travel expenses.
What keeps me from projects ... The Honey Do-List. Just when you think it's nearly done, the bottom gets more added.
I don't have that big of a honey-do list - but I do have a 5 year old daughter that wants my attention and there always is something on the weekend that we have to go to or do. I take a week off here and there from work and then I finally get some of the to-dos off my list.
There is a general principle I love to refer back to all the time...
Start small and move forward from a controlled front.
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.
If you notice the weekend projects I am posting they are all super short. That bug trap took less than 5 minutes - really.
Oh, you know one cool thing about posting your projects in the forums? It is a place where you can look back through time and see all that you've done. Plus you get the community to help.
My children are demanding time on the weekends, the to do list of my family is also a point.
I am planning on installing the rain catchment system on our shed in the garden since at least a year but not yet successful. the plan is completely sketched in the internal drawing pad system including the list of parts needed.
Last DIY I accomplished was the building of the beekeeper box I had envisioned for my beekeeping. Works a treat now.
I do project management in my day job and so one of the skills I have is being able to break up a large project into manageable steps that I can assign to various different staff. I'm doing the same right now with my mom's deck reno project. Looking at what I need to do next and focussing just on that. It's getting a bit harder now that I am starting to put new deck boards on as that requires a bit of advance planning to accommodate for some strange anomalies the original deck builder did with the framing.
And yes, small accomplishments do make a difference and give you confidence that you can tackle the larger projects. Maybe it is only one project a month or even a year, but then perhaps you choose the projects you do based on which ones have the greatest impact.
Especially getting small woodwork projects done is great for the children when they can use my tools and see the accomplishments.
Like many of you, the lack of time and money hinders my progress on DIY projects.
Does anyone else have cool pictures of their projects? Some inspiration might help us all!
I've also this summer setup a solar panel and fans that help to move air and cool the greenhouse when the sun is shining. It works quite well to keep the temperatures more reasonable as the greenhouse faces west and gets the hot afternoon sun.
I have some articles on my blog about the project - just do a search for "greenhouse". Eventually I hope to write an eBook on how to design, build, use, maintain, and accessorize greenhouses.
But this winter I will try and involve her in other projects - I have some woodworking projects I plan to work on for my new blog that I'm launching and so she can watch and help me with those. She loves to glue things together or hand me screws like she did when we built her cedar planter box last fall!
What about having a chat about what makes her uncomfortable in the garden and finding ways to help her overcome them. That may be as simple as doing some internet research on the bugs or other nasties she's trying to avoid.
Asking her what she'd like to see growing in the garden and where maybe. If she suggests something for the wrong spot then it's really just an opportunity to have a chat about gardening. Helping to pick out seeds at the store or online may also help her get involved.
Just a few thoughts.
My daughter has been putting on bug cream and that seems to help. But there still is anxiety when a wasp comes near her. I'm not a big fan of them either as I got stung on my lip in July when a wasp went into my root beer bottle as I was sitting on the deck.
She has helped me pick out seeds - she loves the seed catalogue we get every year in the mail in December/January!
@AndreaDennin
re Overwhelm, I can so relate. - The neighbors have become used to the fact that I have no less 8 Garden projects going year-round, - But the 1 job that stops me dead in my tracks is DIGGING... at least 40+ holes for all the FRUIT bushes & trees waiting to be planted. - I worked consistently diligently my entire life, but those two foot deep holes are beyond me, if for no other reason that this (was told) used to be a river-Bed so for every cup of ground there await over ten rocks. I really did try to regard this as another DIY project. But for these holes I need to find some Boyscouts to help us out.