Which best describes your involvement with home building?
- General contractor
- Carpenter
- Plumber
- Electrician
- Serious do-it-yourselfer
- Weekend warrior
- Like houses, but leave heavy lifting to pros
You will not be able to change your vote.
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
Dangerous electrical work and widespread misconceptions cause fires, deaths, and $1.5 billion in property damage annually.
Featured Video
Highlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Fine Homebuilding Magazine
Fine Home Building
Follow
-
Fine Homebuilding
Dig into cutting-edge approaches and decades of proven solutions with total access to our experts and tradespeople.
Start Free Trial Now -
GBA Prime
Get instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.
Start Free Trial Now
Replies
Don't wanna cover the design or engineering side?
As I hit the "Post" button, I thought I should have included "Other building professional." Probably should have included Architect/designer as well.
As always, apologies for omissions/commissions. If your specialty isn't one of the choices, just post a message (as you have done). Ruth DobsevageTaunton New Media
Maker and installer of quite nice kitchen cabinets
John
Upper-Middle Management
Remoder
Do we have to be serious? No comedic DIY's? ;-)
-- J.S.
Now that's a great title for me! A joke of a DIY'er.
However, I got the best tool of them all for these neverending projects - the wife's checkbook.
No comedic DIY's?
Hmm, what did they teach in school? It's comedy if the hero lives, and tragedy if he doesn't . . .
Or is that just for Shakespeare?Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Probably should have included Architect/designer as well.
And people wonder why AIA has to advertise on the radio . . . <g>
Good thing that DBs & archies have thick skins . . .
(comes in handy while living on day-old bread & beans)
Ok, and some in the trade have over-thicknesses in the cranial regions, too . . . (like some gc/subs I know <g>)Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Home inspector (aka "building consultant")
Tool Donations Sought
I'm matching tool donors to a church mission to Haiti - we're shipping a bus converted to a medical facility in (now it looks like) April and can fill it with clothes, tools and all sorts of stuff needed in that poorest of all countries. A few hand tools or power tools can provide a livelihood for an otherwise destitute family. Please email me if you have tools to donate.
Thanks to Jeff and David and Jim and Rich and Steven and Mark and Jason and Shep and Jen and Mike and Joe and Bill and Ken for their offers!
Several donations have arrived! Thanks and God bless!
Architectural Intern here. I love to build too - probably fall in the "serious D.I.Y." crowd there.
Kevin Halliburton
"Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men." - Solomon
to me ..
General Contractor ...
and
Remodeling Contractor ...
are 2 different things.
as a Remodeling Contractor ... I do much smaller jobs that most GC's would look at ....
But I also take the very same larger jobs they like ....
So .. count me as a Remodeling Contractor ...
And for the next poll ...
I'm hands on ....
as opposed to Dockers and a clipboard.
Jeff
Buck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
dockers ?.... damn .. i nu i was missing somethingMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
where's my catagory? - <hack>"there's enough for everyone"
Renaissance man. Ruth DobsevageTaunton New Media
come on mike, those are dress clothes. I know you do that once in a while.Remodeling Contractor just outside the Glass City.
Quittin' Time
yeah ...
but at least U grab a hammer when the camera's around ...
you'll have to make up your own catagory ....
I'll combine them for ya ...
Hands on GC.
and Fest Hoster .....
JeffBuck Construction Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
It is Doc......ers where it erts
Chalk up a mark for "Design Consultant"
Chalk up a mark for " Licensed Home Inspector"
Chalk up a mark for "SERIOUS DIY"
Chalk up a mark for an ex-business man.
Chalk up a mark........lots more in my almost 60 years!
....Maybe a solicitation for probable "Categories" would have been more productive!
You do know what it is to ####UME ........makes an #### out of U & Me!
;o) .....................Iron Helix
Now you're going to have to start a thread defining exactly what a
"Serious DIYr" IS!
Edited 3/17/2004 1:34 pm ET by johnnyd
It's only natural that any DYI is going to consider themselves serious. Especially if they are at Breaktime researching their projects or offering advice on others.
Oh, you could catagorize with things like:
Hours per week spent on projects that require inspection.
Hours per week spent on projects that are normally subbed out by a casual DIY:
Drywall hanging and taping
Plumbing
Electrical
HVAC
As opposed to more common DIY tasks like:
painting
Tiling
Installing fixtures
But you're right...if a DIY considers him/herself "serious" then they are serious.
I'm primarily a supplier.
Although I guess I would also fall under the category of "serious DIY".
Few women admit their age, few men act it.
How about a professional handyman. We do it all.
Tom's Complete Home Repair
Where's design and engineering? Why not a blank for do-it all?
This another poll to solicit information so it can be minipulated for / to the needs of those who is requesting it and not really have it cover the real world...
You guys gonna dumb down some more???
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming....
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Edited 3/17/2004 2:29 pm ET by IMERC
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ruth, and you thought the cooks gave you grief over polls!But, but, it's SUPPOSED to taste like that!
We who is requesting it are just trying to keep our head above water in the riptide of indignation... Ruth DobsevageTaunton New Media
Cooks? Cooks are a model of decorum. Ruth DobsevageTaunton New Media
Cooks are a model of decorum
Not in the commercial kitchens I was in . . .
Ok, that's 'cause cooks can spell "decorum."
Or, perhpas, because they are not building decor (¿constructio decora?) <g>Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Seemed more it was done as a political poll....
Be selective...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming.... WOW!!! What a Ride!
Marty, when did you become such a cynic?!?!? :) Still got cabin fever?
Spring is sprung
The grass is ris'
I wonder where
the birdies is?
I'm well into my 3rd month of not being able to get up to the house. so it ain't cabin fever and having 5 females in this house can be trying...
This poll struck me as a selective / tailored question type. About the same as the others. A statistics class in college taught me that if want the information gained to fit the needs ask the right questions or tailor them whether or not it fits the true circumstances or reality.
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming.... WOW!!! What a Ride!
Does it count if you're a GC for one house? Probably not if I'm not getting paid right
At a dollar an hour I'd be a millionaire.
I was going by Stephen Prunier Home Improvement Contractor BUT most customers found the title confussing and I felt it was to long! So I changed my business name to Stephen Prunier Carpentry. I have also narrowed what servises I offer. I focus mostly on carpentry now and say no to jobs I can do but don't make any$ on. I work alone so it made it difficult.
I use to offer Painting, tile work, flooring etc. But if you don't do it all the time it's hard to be fast enough to make $ without over charging the customer. Time will tell if it's a smart move. I do know I enjoy it more!
Why not post a questions on this site as to what the cataglories should be before the poll is posted???
Might get some good input from these guys/gals and make a poll with some good results
To level the playing field some what...
I would venture to say that I am all of the above..in some fashion I HAVE been, and continue to be all of the above..
I wish I was able to "Best Describe" my involvement..for once I cannot convey my "involvement" to a catagory..all bases are covered.
Might we not explore..how one is approaching the "involvement" currently? Or, how one achieves the assessment of his/her place on the register?
Maybe I should ask...why do ya want to know, and can ya be more specific?..
My vote was carpenter, I do not define myself as a carpenter, nor a cabinetmaker/furniture maker..Architectural Woodworker allows freedom..away from the stereotype "carpenter"..But that was the option I was given, and no affront to you, I do do that work.
I apologize if this sounds like an attack on your question..it just so happepens that I am asked a type of this question far too often..and I am clueless as to how to respond with out prefacing my answer with what I think the questioning party wants to hear..maybe I ought to just say ...HomoSapien with tools..
best of luck on your survey..
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
hey, wadda I know?..I push the rope..all in for the fun for all type of living..
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
kinda hard to narrow it down! I build cabinets and furniture for the pure delight of it. I build houses when the economy is booming. I do custom res remodeling when no one can afford to move. Occasionally I build dog houses and sheds because work is scarse.
I have built a school in France, a library in Mail, West Africa, a challenge course in El Salvador, a Parsonage in Alaska, a Conference center in Michigan all of these as a service to folks who needed help.
I do the first paragraph so that I can afford to do the second paragraph. Not sure what that makes me!?
Miami
I've tried repeadly to vote, but all I get are hanging chads ;)
Hi, Ruth. How do I code for cabinet maker? Finish carpenter maybe, but not rough carpenter, for sure (we use different pencil lead thicknessesl...) I'm good at the former but not the latter, so I stay in my own sandbox.
It seems that the board regulars are getting off work, since the percent of Professionals is now greater than DIY'ers (jokers and serious alike). I guess a gaggle of DIY lurkers took the poll early....that's not a mistake, it's rustic
i tried to vote for more than one and it wouldn't let me, so i didn't vote.
i have worked in several different trades in a production capacity as a conscious decision to master more than one craft. i take this very seriously, i have paid my dues and the price was not cheap!
i am not talking about side jobs either, as a carpenter i quit to apprentice as a plumber, as a plumber i quit to work heavy class "A" construction (structural concrete forming, and structural steel on bridges and skyscrapers) and there are more.
countless hours attending trade schools after becoming journeyman, over 400 hours in school in 1994 alone while working full time all year as a journeyman bridge builder.
The bar graph in the results is confusing.
The relative size of the bars does not correspond at all to the number of votes cast.
I bet Ross Perot could fix this problem!
All the above, and. . . .uh. . . . none of the above.
Sorry, not enough choices.
SamT
What a funny bar graph! They are not drawn even remotely close to scale.
Someone not reading the numbers under each bar would think that there are half as many weekend warriors as serious DIYs, when there are really only a seventh as many. Or is it just my browser? Anyone else see this too?
I guess that I fall in the all of the above category. I have built a log cabin from scratch using a saw mill that I designed. In the hvac category I have done everything from installing a small gas furnace in my fishhouse to installing a 400 ton cooling tower at my pervious job, that was fun. I work as a mechanical engineer 40-50 hours a week and turn myself loose the rest of the time. About the only job that I don't do on a regular basis is tape rock or install carpet. I am trying to get away from being the general contractor for friends though, I rather start putting more emphasis of building cabinets and furniture in my spare time.
In the next couple of years I would like to build a new house so I am probably going to start buy building the cabinets in advance, making and finishing the trim & doors, stockpiling windows and other building supplies. It's amazing the discounts that you can get for a couple of hours of engineering time.
Hey, you aren't accusing me of taking part in a survey now are ya? I mean I admit I have a goodly amount of Polish blood coursing thru my veins but that's about as close as I get to a poll. ;o)
Walker For Prez in 2004
Edited 3/22/2004 2:29 pm ET by rez
I fall in the line of a combination of, "glutton for punishment", and psychiatrist".
Be forever building sumpin or other
andy
"My life is my practice"
He;y, I c;hecked every one except the first and the last, is this another conservative conspiracy based report????