DIY

wingwalker, Dec 28, 5:36pm
How do you get your Husband to finsh work he has started and not finished.
Sick of living in a building site.
pettal, Dec 28, 5:38pm
start doing it yourself, or threaten to pay someone else .
wingwalker, Dec 28, 5:50pm
Tried that doesn't work. I think I might have just been to patient for to long, or living in false hope he will finsh something.
wingwalker, Dec 28, 6:13pm
When he starts something there is no sitting down and talking about it, you come home from work and find he's taken the roof of the carage and started to build a another bedroom and study. So I now have a two story unfinished mess.
trade4us2, Dec 28, 6:38pm
Perhaps make a list of all the rooms and the percentage finished.
The kitchen and bathroom and lounge should come first.
Perhaps he could start in one corner of a room and work his way around.
If there's anything you can do e.g.tidying up or painting then do it.
Many people would like a free handyman but I appreciate what it's like living in a building site.
kp11, Dec 28, 7:26pm
Give him a deadline for project first or your calling in the professionals.Then rip the 'builders' listing out of your local phone book & stick it on the fridge.
When thats done set the deadline for the next project.
Ya have to help motivate mere males sometimes :)
trade4us2, Dec 28, 9:33pm
Deadlines might be OK in theory, but only if agreed to by the person doing the work. A deadline set by a non-expert is no good. Things are always more complicated with repairs - you never know what else might be found after the wall or roof is off. Maybe the roof suddenly leaks, and that takes high priority.
But certainly set major priorities, e.g.finish the kitchen first.
You only have to read some of the stories in the MB about tradesmen who charge $500 for a job that's still not working.

Methods that help me are:
Try to break a job up into what can be achieved in one day or one hour etc.
Rather than try to do the whole house at once, completely finish one wall etc.

I do odd jobs for an elderly friend. He always gets tools ready and puts them away and cleans up. That helps a lot.
amasser, Dec 28, 10:34pm
Don't threaten, promise. That means that you actually follow through. He has called your bluff and won - so far.
Did he get council consent for extensions! Invite inspector around.
trade4us2, Dec 28, 10:53pm
Depends if the OP wants to live alone and pay tradesmen for ever. Ones that do a bad job and charge a lot and never come around at the arranged time.
wingwalker, Dec 29, 1:33am
Yes he's has got permits etc but just never finishes anything. Ripped the coal range out in March to put in new wood fire still not finished, pulled the main bed room and on suit to bits said it would be finshed November still living in amess with stuff everywhere. Boxes and clothes all over the place.
This has been going on for over 40 years my patients is at an end.
bugin, Dec 29, 1:40am
Have an affair with a builder that does good work ,if you know what I mean.
kandjaja, Dec 29, 1:55am
Start witholding humpy bumpy.!
wingwalker, Dec 29, 2:19am
It would be much easier to move out and start collecting cats. Kitchen is about 80% done one bed room is okay, the one we are in at the moment need the ceiling redone as some work he did on the roofleaked and plaster is all bowed. Front bedroom he never finshed from the late 70s. The sitting room has hole in the ceiling from a small incident involving his foot.
trade4us2, Dec 29, 3:00am
Well, houses are expensive and old ones need maintenance. Rich people with high-powered jobs just pay someone to do everything.
If he's actively working on the house perhaps suggest your priorities e.g. kitchen and bedroom. If he's getting a bit old for house renovation then pay professionals or sell the house.
Are there any friends or organisations that could help with renovations!
mustu, Dec 29, 3:34am
You poor woman! You deserve a medal for lasting 40 years!
krames, Dec 29, 4:21am
you say he has permits!there is time limits on them so get them done otherwise when they runout and you reapply you cant do them yourself but need a LBP to do them if they are to be signed off.
wingwalker, Dec 29, 4:53am
You will be right about the permits running out.the downstairs bathroom should be fine he started that in 69 the same time as the wash house hasn't finsh them yet, but I don't think they had permits then for renovations. The upstairs bathroom he's taken the bath out and half put in a shower would you need a permit for that.
trade4us2, Dec 29, 5:20am
I looked that up for Auckland and an owner can do any work as long as they admit they did it when they sell the house.
krames, Dec 29, 5:25am
sweet as.but any work that requires a consent needs to be done by a LBP.
trade4us2, Dec 29, 7:29am
I don't think that is the case. I was prepared to have a huge political stir if they got nasty to homeowners repairing their homes.How many handymen are there that will vote against a party that stops them doing their own work! Trust me, the authorities will not DARE to target handymen. I will help to make it political suicide if they do. I have saved the details on another computer. Let us not forget that the leaky homes were almost entirely built by professional builders and inspected by incompetent council inspectors.
krames, Dec 30, 1:07am
yea i think you can do basic things that dont need consent at home but any structural,weatherproofing,ect-
(consent work) must be done by LBPers
trade4us2, Dec 30, 4:27am
No that's not true. A homeowner can fix weather boards and roofing.
I went to a lot of trouble to find that decision.
tillsbury, Dec 30, 5:09am
You need to apply for an exemption if you're intending to do usually LBP based work on your own house, this is recorded on your LIM.You can't just go ahead and do it.

You can replace a small number of weatherboards (or parts of a roof) like-for-like without LBP, but for a complete re-clad or re-roof you need an LBP to do it.If you are not replacing like-for-like you also need consent, as cladding and roofing are part of the weathertightness system.
pgta, Jan 5, 6:52pm
The work still won't get done but at least you will have a smile on your face.