I wonder if anyone saw a program on telly the other nite. Not sure if it was Today Tonite or where it was. Anyways the crux of the story was about encouraging women to take up trades such as carpentry etc. One woman aged about 45 had built her home single handedly. It was truly inspirational. The house at Yepoon was wonderful. She even did the drafting. She called the house Rome cos of course it wasnt built in a day.
Now I have done framing, put up walls, gyprocking, tiling., hanging doors etc. (actually my father jokes telling me I'd make someone a fine husband one day) I'm self taught and tho it's all functional and sturdy it lacks the finishing touches that make it look professional. Now I'm 43 I dont want a 3 yr apprenticeship even if there was the slightest chance someone would take me on. Nor do I want to spend a year learning the difference between a phillips and a flathead. But gees I wish there were some DIY carpentry courses that take on a bit more than a coffee table. I'd also like to learn more about electrics. sheesh there are so electricians out there it cant be rocket science.
Are there other handy women out there? I'm finding that more and more women are taking on these traditional male jobs firstly because they suddenly find themselves without a man and secondly because we have found out that these jobs give a hellova lot more satisfaction than sorting out the laundry
milly
Hi Milly,
Yes it all sounds good when they put it together in a 5 minute story!
There are some parts of the building process that need to be left to the professionals, especially electricals! You cannot finish off a building without certiain certificates anyway and also not sure how council or insurance would cover you.
You can still become an owner builder and do part of the work, but organise qualified tradesman for the necessary parts. I found this really enjoyable when we extended our house and I designed the extension and organised plumbers, carpenters etc…. but i still got to install a flat pack kitchen myself and do all of the painting etc. Also, hubby is an electrician so saved heaps of money there $6K!
I guess it depends on your strategy…if it is only to make money then you may be worse off doing it all yourself as it could take 10 times as long to build! If you are doing it for the experience, then start small at first.
There are some TAFE courses that you can do like Building design etc… that dont involve as much time as a trade. Im currently looking into those at the moment.
Good luck with it..
Tracy
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. If you don't have an account, you can register here.
