Do U Practice What U Preach?

jtpro

I’m just curious as the title asks “Do You Practice What You Preach?”
Day in and day out in real life and on this forum when someone does something outside of their profession (whether licensing is required or not) we jump on them and call them hacks (and rightfully so). So how often do you use professionals?

A thread was started on changing out fuel injectors. Plenty of advice on how to do it yourself and where to look.(DIY manuals forums etc.) myself included. Not one person said you’re a hack for not taking it to a mechanic. Even people chiming in on not all licensed mechanics know their head from a hole in the ground.(same argument is made on licensed “professionals” in our trades) I will be having an argument with one of 2 shops that touched my GFs car(the first will just say the 2nd F’d it up) 2 shops 30 days “no clue” 3rd shop (a dealer) found the prob in less than 12 hours. $760 NOW to fix it but could have spent it 6 months ago and had a "new"ish running car.

Long and short and a bit OT. The second shop had worked on the car a year ago and F’d the installation which led to the overall prob. After I dinked with it AFTER both shops(fixing minor crap like installing the timing chain cover gaskets they left out) we took it in to a dealer (sitting in the driveway MAYBE traveling 5 miles a week wasn’t doing us any good).

So when it’s time to change oil, do you go to a pro? Sparkplugs? Shocks? Rotate tires? Etc.

How about home improvements/maintenance? Does someone plant your flowers, shrubs mow, weed eat and edge your lawn?

Time to paint the trim on your house..DIY our hire a pro. Tile the floor? Etc

This thread isn’t meant to be a heat getter and I’m not arguing the point that hiring a plumber to install a toilet is equal to swapping out spark plugs or that the licensing (or lack of) is the same between doing minor roof repairs vs. changing oil.

I’m not defending un licensed hacks or screaming for respect for certified mechanics. Just wondering what everyone does or doesn’t do.

I myself will do everything I feel is in my comfort zone. I do all my own lawn maintenance even though I have 2 neighbors who are yard guys. All maintenance on my home I do. Hired a plumber to switch me from septic to city water (A WHOLE other thread and won’t slam the plumber as that’s not the point of this thread) I replumbed for my ice maker(former “pro” or DIY F’d up) swap my own toilets faucets etc.

Vehicle maintenance is as much DIY as possible (only a few times have I messed up going outside my “scope”) I have before and will be on my current truck doing the oil, spark plugs, shocks, fuel filter flushing the coolant system and so on. I will pay a shop to rotate my tires so they can check balancing, brakes and other components. I plan on my own scanner so I can pre determine if a shop is needed or not.(at $70ish for an OK scanner I’d be stupid not to)

I have changed out intakes, carbeuraors, fuel pumps, headers and so on. The vortec I have now intimidates me so needless to say I will be doing very little under the hood(with clenched butt cheeks) changing out the plugs(as I'm staring at the F'n $$$$ coil packs) cleaning the MAF,K&N and checking replacing fluids will be about it. Under carriage rear suspension I'll do all the shocks bushings etc. front will be a 4X4 shop. Greasing zircs I can handle.

So…how about Ya’ll? What do you let a pro do?

Tom Struble

operate on me

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Tom

SLSTech

The only problem with that argument, is that a HO in most locations is allowed to do all that work themselves, so thus us working on our own places is legal - hiring an unlicensed hack to work on our places isn't

Their is no "license" for working on cars like their is in building - they have a certification but that is it --- That being said all my cars go to the dealer or certified mechanic --- I quit working on them when you could no longer see the engine block through the jungle

Painting, flowers - that's what my wife is for JK - she actually likes doing that & I am not an arborist or painter

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BCConstruction

Like you say JT if anyone on here trys their hand at something they dont do as a trade they get bashed down within seconds. If i didnt do stuff i didnt do as a trade i wouldnt have my own buisness doing what i do and making good money.

I have also had truck issues and I am a member of a large Ford forum and the guys on there are always working on their own trucks. I found out my self why. Took my just purchased 2009 F150 which i paid $52k for and it come back looking like this.











These are just a few of the problems i found with the truck after picking it up and i had to end up fixing all of them my self as the dealer tried but couldn't fix the issues. Now these guys are meant to be pro's and good at their job. So i wont be going back to the so called pro's anytime soon.

But back to the thread. I worked on my truck and fixed all the issues, Even the front side fender adjustment which their body shop said was not able to be fixed! If i had done something like that on this forum i would be called a hack because i didn't get a pro to do it. But on the Ford forum all the guys are there to help you. Even the Ford techs that are members on the forum help out. You don't hear any of them calling people who work on their own truck "Hacks" even though thats their trade.

I ain't got a problem with people doing work they ain't qualified to do as long as they can do it. But their is a limit. Would i rewire a socket or move it 2ft to the left or right? yes, but i for sure wouldn't rewire a whole house. Would i move a toilet to the left or right a foot and reroute some plumbing. Yep i sure would but i wouldn't re plumb a whole house.

The people that do the damage are the ones who bit of more than they can chew. But i do know qualified people over here who are worse hacks than people who are not qualified.

TimberTom

I think that is the gist of this conversation. We "hands on" guys have a tendancy to try to fix everything we think we are able to. The key word is think. I will still try to fix everything before hiring a "pro", but I have learned the hard way that trial and error plays a major role in everything I am not educated in.

Mike Finley

Personally, that fits right in with handyman crybaby hogwash.

There is a big difference between a professional tradesman who has demonstrated a history here of acting like so, and somebody showing up with 2 posts trying to get information on a task they painfully demonstrate through the questions they are asking that they don't even have the first clue.

The first example the person asking has enough sense to hire somebody if the clients best interests are served the 2nd person we all know will plow ahead no matter what and hack together some sh*t just to collect their low baller handyman wages no matter what, and at the same time will carry on for a hundred posts telling us how professional they are.

Understand:

CONSTRUCTION HAS A TRADITIONAL LEARNING CURVE BASE ON APPRENTICESHIP

(You work for somebody or work next to somebody day after day and learn by doing with supervision)

NOT BUYING A DIYER BOOK OR LEARNING OFF THE INTERNET, AND EXPERIMENTING.

The problem is some of us have forgotten that or never even known it.

Those who have will be in denial forever and recite example after example of how they got where they are as if that is justification.

You can work on your car or your house all you want, but the moment you start working on others it's a different ball game all together.

Doesn't play in my book.

Cole82

Um yes I do practice what I preach.
Just an example to what I hired out on my own home.

My roof and decking. I have roofed a lot of houses in my day, but did not want to do it for free on my own home.
New furnace and ducts. The whole nine yards top to bottum.
New electric in whole house rewired the whole thing. Panel, wire, outlets, fixtures, and conduit.



Mechanics on the other hand I would love to find a good one and pay what ever they wanted. I have search my small comunity high and low and just can't find some one. So I end up doing it myself, the garage even has a side hoist in it because of this. May be one day I can stop getting greasy as I do not enjoy it.

Mike Finley

Perfect example -

Absolutely clueless.

Gonna 'save' his parents money cause he will do it for $1000 when real men have quoted the job $2600.

Cdat

To a degree, I practice what I preach. I have never considered lawn maintenance a professional's job. It is like a maid or butler. A job that rich people use because they don't have the time. I'll most likely offend people saying that, but too bad. That is my belief. And it is true.

Same thing with oil changes and the like. Someone thought up a way to make money that lazy people don't want to do. That ain't professional in my book. That is LAZY.

Same with handymen and painters. The list goes on. I'm sure by now, I've offended most people here. Now, the REAL trades people, the electricians, plumbers and masons, I'll always pay the professional to do the job. ALL the other trades are not really trades in my book.

Let the bashing begin...

Tom Struble

it may just be away around the how much /how to do it post we see

if you say your ''helpin your parents out'' most guys on here would try to help

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Tom

SC sawdaddy

Oil changes, spark plugs, lawn maintenance, yeah, I'll do it myself. But only for myself. Rebuild the Tranny, pull the pistons, rebuild the carb. I'm calling a pro.

PA woodbutcher

I wondered if he could be that sneaky Not a tile man, so I couldn't answer one way or the other.

I stopped doing the maintenance on my vehicles when I figured out that I could go to work doing what I do instead of taking twice as long to do something. As long as my hourly rate meets or exceeds the mechanic I'm money ahead. Another plus is I'm not running around with dirty banged up knuckles

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DavidC

I remember being 18 yrs. old when I bought my first Chilton's motor manual and dared the car to break down. Seems like every repair I got into involved a couple of days without the car being usable. I developed a serious distaste for mechanic work. But then this week I changed the shocks on my PU truck to save a few bucks. Proof that there is no cure for stupid. Never again I claim, but we'll have to wait to see. I am sure it will be a long time again.

But for working on my house, I do everything I feel capable of. I have rewired and re-plumbed it entirely since moving in. I've installed an outdoor furnace and plumbed for baseboard heat. I'm thinking of playing with some radiant heat for our kitchen just because it sounds interesting. I also plan on playing with some solar water heaters at home.

For the customers, not so much. I have rewired a number of houses but gave it up because I don't keep up with the code changes. Found out about AFCI's during an inspection. But I still do an occasional service entrance when our workload is light and recommend our sub for the rest. Plumbers can have all of the plumbing work. I only do it at home because I'm cheap but I hate it. Except that our plumber won't come out for a lot of our small stuff so he just tells us what to do, checks it for us if we ask. Both of those trades I took courses at our local vocational school and had OTJT with some local pros. I will not touch a customers furnace other than to drain some water to temporarily remove a radiator.

Being a remodeler we get involved in all trades by osmosis. We are after all the most glorious of handymen.

Good Luck
Dave

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Warren

In the past 15 years, I have all but given up working on my vehicles. However, recently my 10 year old work van with 200k miles needed a complete brake job. Having been on/off work all year, I decided to do it myself. First brake job I have done in 20 years. Not much has changed. Turned out well (truck stops when brakes are pressed.) Month later needed a radiator. Took about 3 hours and saved couple hundred bucks. Eventually things will get busy again and I can leave these tasks to the pro's. Nice to know that in a pinch we are still capable of more than we think.

RayGoerdt

I'm human...........

jtpro

It is interesting at where we draw the line. To me there is no right or wrong answer just personal opinions.

I have yet to find any profession that isn't rattled with over chargers or hacks. By nature I don't trust anyone I haven't known for years and at that I've still gotten screwed. I have also yet to find a lot of professions such as construction remodeling that isn’t based off of other people’s laziness. Most non structural work can be done by yourself for yourself without years of training. Will it take longer? Most likely but it doesn’t always mean the “pro” will do a better job.

I agree about paying/not paying for painting, lawn care etc. Now there is a HUGE difference between a “blow and go” and a TRUE landscaper as is a guy who slaps paint on for a living and a master painter,designer etc.Knowing apllications surface prep etc.


As I said I wasn't trying to compare licensing just tasks. As pointed out you don't always need to be licensed to do things around your house. That doesn't mean you know what you are doing though. It's also been pointed out in threads that in certain areas less than $500(I believe) doesn't require you to be licensed on other peoples homes for certain tasks.

Same goes with mechanical work. I have done brakes in the past HATE drums un till I did them on my ’66. Now I feel I might do them again if need be. I have all wheel discs now and have no prob doing them my self when the need arises.

HOWEVER just because you don’t HAVE to be certified to do them you are putting yours and other’s lives at risk if you made one minor error.


One of my best friends is a mechanic (who moved to Kansas )and about crapped when I told him how much I was charged to replace a front bearing assembly. He said it was three bolts would have took me 30mins-45 max. I agree some things haven't changed as I've done that on older vehicles before.

Could and do mechanics F up ABSOLUTELY (BC I don’t know why you’re not in jail. If it had been me all the anger management I have worked on over the years would have been undone!! JSO wouldn’t have gotten there fast enough)


I bet certified mechanics look at forums and call people hacks too. I agree Apprenticeship is invaluable in ALL professions. Real world experience CAN’T be replaced with DIY books/shows, the internet or forums.


However I believe that forums and the net are helpful in getting a preliminary education on the task at hand and hopefully you can be lucky enough to compare with a “master” as to what applies and what doesn’t.

dakzaag

Local Goodyear store charges $80/ hr plus parts. I sometimes get a funny look when I charge half that for door to door service. That really steams me when I think what shop rate is for most vehicle and other repair places.

Most of us are hands on guys and we are going to tackle anything we think we can handle and lets face it, we think we can handle just about anything.

After a few trips to the woodshed, we slowly learn what we are good at and what we want no part of.

"Good judgement comes from experience which comes from a lot of bad judgement." Wil Rogers (I think)

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The maintenance schedule for brick
1. Stand back and say "man that looks nice!"
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neolitic

I think a lot of it depends on
how far removed from the farm you are.

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millhouse

I'll try anything if it is for myself or family. That's how you learn what your capabilities are.
That doesn't mean you can charge right in if your dealing with something new.
First you must research and learn as much as possible.

I have always liked this quote from Robert Heinlein:

A human being should be able to change a diaper,
plan an invasion, butcher a hog, design a building,
write a sonnet, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders,
give orders, solve equations, pitch manure, program a computer,
cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
Specialization is for insects.

Tinstaafl

--Lazurus Long.

My hero.