DIY: Doing it yourself, a very English activity

WRITTEN BY RAY PETERSON -

A man’s home is his castle,” goes the very old English saying, and it would appear that significant numbers of homeowners across the United Kingdom are currently keeping their castles in good repair, themselves.

Builders merchants, and DIY outlets such as Jewsons, Homebase, and B&Q, are reporting a return to the heady days of the turn of the century, when every weekend was a ‘festival’ of DIY enthusiasm, as Albert the accountant, Fred, the factory worker, Max the mechanic, and Tom the teacher, all strapped on their tool belts, hauled their toolbox out of the shed, flexed their tape measures, and sized up their next project.

A Jewsons manager, Steve, reveling in a quiet half-hour in his massive store in North Yorkshire, told me, “It looks like what’s happening is that the 30+ generation have re-discovered the joys of doing things for the’selves like (Steve says ‘like’ at the end of a lot of sentences). When they’re younger, they play football, go to the pubs and nightclubs, and have a good time, but life’s about more than that innit (isn’t it)?”

He went on, “We’ve had so many guys here, getting replacement parts for power tools, who say they haven’t used them for ‘yonks,’ (a long time), but now they want to get stuck in and build a nice dolls house for their daughter, a fort for their son, or a barbeque area for the ‘missus,’ (the wife that is). Now you and I know,” he smiled and winked, “that the barbeque area will be for him and his mates, but we don’t tell the missuses.”

He seemed to feel that most of their clientele had gotten the ‘lager-lout’ behavior, and footy fanaticism, out of their systems, and were ready for the next stage of their lives, concentrating on the home, family and kids. “That’s not to say they’ve given up on the ‘Toon,’ (Newcastle United), or their favorite team like, but they’ve sort of put the footy in its place, as more of an enthusiastic supporter now, and missing a home game isn’t the be-all, and end-all like it used to be, and the bairns (children) are like.”

At the Homebase, just a few hundred metres away, Sara said, “Oh, we get them all in here love (I think she calls everyone ‘love), from all walks of life, and they ask lots of questions, but still want to work out how things work for themselves. I think it’s proper funny, and they want all the new gadgets and tools too, and those are so cheap these days. It used to be that you couldn’t get a power drill for under a 100 quid (GBPounds) twenty years ago, now look, 15, 20, 30 quid, you don’t have to spend much at all, and you’ve got a choice of fifteen to twenty models, in six different brands.”

“Chainsaws, grinders, lawnmowers, trimmers, all the tools.” She stopped, pondering for a second, “maybe it’s because a lot of them are electric now, you know, cordless, and they can unleash the inner manliness with their big tools. Did I really say that?” She asked and then dissolved into fits of laughter. But laughter aside, Sara had made a good point, technology has evolved so much that these tools are all incredibly light, low maintenance, and easy to use today.

Unlike during most of the last fifty years when even a lawnmower had to be fueled up every 10-15 minutes, and the oil kept checked, or alternatively the correct oil and petrol mix used. The mowers were heavy, the blades got blunt easily, and they always gave problems starting with those pull-cord starters. Today, just ensure you have a long enough extension cord, or even better use the battery pack mower, electric, cordless, and you’re away, and it’s quiet!

B&Q was my last call, and we met a nice, older gentleman, with a twinkle in his eye, and a real spring in his step. We chatted for a while and conversation turned to him being happy in his work. “Oh well, I’m actually a retired builder,” he explained, “But these guys take on a lot of us because they say we like talkin’ to people, and as long as we’re talkin’ you’re buyin’, so that’s how it goes. But I genuinely love bein’ here each day, and it’s better than getting under the missus’ feet isn’t it.”

He explained that the company hires a lot of retirees, on reduced hours so they don’t get too tired, and they can still do ‘retirement things,’ and enjoy their ‘golden years,’ while utilizing all that knowledge of 40-50 years ‘in the business.’ I guess, if you want to hang a new door, build a brick wall, or gib-out a garage, who better to ask?

I did speak to a retail manager, who didn’t wish to be identified, but he said that the DIY industry “does appear to be recovering after some ‘ordinary’ results following the 1990-2010 boom years. There is no doubt the technologies, and mainly Chinese/Korean manufacturing, have driven down the price of many of our power products, and innovations in flooring particularly have made a lot of ‘builder’ jobs, attractive for the handyman. Similarly, PVC products have opened a whole new plumbing and drainage market. Throw in the new ranges of adhesives and tile options, there’s not much the DIY guy, can’t see himself doing.”

“There’s also not that many tradesmen around anymore,” he concluded, “and they tend to be quite expensive, so spending a few quid on tools, and doing the work yourself, even if it’s not perfect, is a practical solution, and gives an awful lot of satisfaction.”