Lifestyle

Beyond Basic DIY: Step Your Repair Skills Up A Notch

If you’re looking to save money, DIY is one of the first places you should look. From cooking your own meals to mending your own clothes, the possibilities on how you can cut costs are endless. But doing DIY comes with its own set of risks. Firstly, if you don’t have the skills – how can you do them? Secondly, what if it all goes wrong, and you end up in a worse place than before? And thirdly, isn’t it expensive to teach yourself new tricks?

Luckily these issues don’t have to be as serious as you might think. Yes, your DIY projects will, on occasion, go wrong. But if you’ve got the right set up – like we wrote about here – and you’ve learned the craft well, you can minimize the chances of this happening.

So, here’s some awesome new skills to learn, to help step your DIY repairs up a notch! But just a warning: if you’ve never tried DIY before, ease yourself in gently. This lifehacker.com article has some great projects to start with.

Learn to mend your clothes

If you’ve got kids or pets, you’ll understand how quickly clothes wear out. From your toes poking through the end of socks, to the knees wearing out on trousers, replacing items constantly can be a huge drain on your finances. So, learn to darn, sew and patch up! If you can do this, you’ll get so much more wear out of your clothes – and if you can patch properly, you’ll be able to customize your look at the same time. This dummies.com article is a fab guide for any sewing beginners.

Learn to fix water leaks

Now, depending on the severity, a water leak can often be a problem that needs specialist help. But if a leak springs during the evenings, holidays or weekend, that can mean a costly out of hours call-out fee. So, if you can learn how to patch one up, you might be able to hold on until normal working hours and fees apply. The internet is often your best friend in situations like this: there are plenty of YouTube tutorials and forum answers to guide you through any difficulties. Try this article from diynetwork.com to start with.

Learn to fix your car

Now, car issues range from the simple to the extreme. You might just need to change your oil or replace a tyre, in which case you’ll be able to find useful guides either online or in your car’s manual. However, sometimes it gets more complicated. If you’ve got a crack in the metal, the bodywork is coming apart, or two parts are breaking off from each other, you need to get a bit more serious with your repairs. The answer might be welding – which is a skill that few people have. Looking for tricks on welding for beginners? pickwelder.com has the answer, in the form of a thorough guide for anyone who needs to weld, but isn’t sure where to start.

Learn how to teach yourself

The most important point raised in all the above examples is teaching yourself. If you can learn how to learn, then you’ll always be able to fall back on your skills. The trick is turning to the internet, to articles, or to videos, and taking the time to teach yourself. Of course there’s the option of going to evening classes too – and this might be more useful if you’re learning a complex or challenging skill.

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