Lock-Down Drives Desire to DIY
It will come as no surprise to anyone that DIY retailer B&Q has reported a whopping £12.3bn in sales and a 44% in pre-tax profits in the year to 31 January.
What is the reason for this phenomenal boost we wonder? Apparently a new generation of “young DIY-ers” who are no doubt being driven to DIY distraction after a year of lock-down and working from home. No one wants to zoom without a set of floating shelves against a perfect Farrow & Ball painted alcove now do they?
This probably also explains why, despite The Goodlife Centre being closed for a large part of the past year, demand for our beginner DIY courses has continued to soar. So much so, that we added online DIY classes to our website during the second lock-down (or the third, it’s hard to tell) so that we could help people learn DIY from the covid-safe environment of their own homes and home-offices.
Britain’s Love Affair with DIY
It’s not just lock-down that has fueled our fascination with DIY. After the second world war, many ordinary building requisites were hard to get hold of due to the shortage of production and redirection of supplies to rebuilding the country by able bodied men who were therefore unavailable to a local ‘handyman’.
The onus on unskilled householders to work on their own property was further spurred on by the inspiring and colourful ‘Festival of Britain’ (1951) which showcased brightly decorated homes.
Publishing companies fed this desire to change with cheerful advertising from eager manufacturers who were converting their product lines after helping the war effort.
New products, such as ‘Asbestolux’ panels and ‘Marvo’ washable distemper urged the reader to’ Do it Yourself.’
Then the advent of colour printing transformed previous suggestions from the wallpaper factories to ‘Go to your local paint shop and see these stunning designs in colour’ to ‘Just look at these ideas for your new look – they became the original lifestyle influencers long before Instagram was on the scene.
Do it Yourself or Get Someone in?
We’ve come a long way both in DIY abilities, tools and home interiors since the fifties. These days there is something rather luxurious about ‘getting someone in’ to get a project done at home and knowing it will be done to a professional standard. For renovating your living room and installing that gorgeous new fireplace and surround you’ve been lusting after in Homes & Gardens, that’s definitely worth the investment. But for smaller jobs it’s not always practical or desirable to get a professional in.
Professional trades people are highly skilled and understandably demand a pretty penny for the lifetime of learning and skill they bring to a job, but honestly they are not often that interested in fixing a leaky pipe under your sink or putting a few hooks up on your wall. You’ll need to pay a hefty call-out fee for these small but really important jobs. Yet leaving taps leaking, shelves and pictures on the floor, bare bulbs hanging from the ceiling is just frustrating and a miserable way to live especially during a global pandemic.
You can and should learn key DIY skills to tackle these important tasks yourself and over time build up a basic toolkit of your own. With knowledge, practice and the right tools you can conquer almost any small DIY job at home thus saving your pounds for a big project that requires calling in the professionals.
7 DIY Courses for Beginners
Are you ready to broaden your skillset and be the master of your own toolkit? Here are our top DIY courses for beginners that we teach from our central London studios in Bankside. You need no prior knowledge to attend any of these beginner DIY classes and we will supply you with a range of hand and power tools to use and practice on throughout each workshop. It’s empowering stuff!
1. DIY in Day – Drills
If you have just bought your home and have realised it didn’t include a landlord to fix stuff, or just don’t want to rely on someone else, this ‘hands-on’ one-day DIY drills workshop is for you. There is plenty of time to practice on several exercises over the day.
You will pick up the skills to hang curtains, blinds and simple shelves on any wall. Learn to drill into wood, brick, tiles or hollow walls with confidence. We will show you how to judge what is behind the walls before you drill.
Learn how to select the correct drill bit, wall fixing and screw to secure things confidently.
The workshop also covers hanging pictures and heavier objects like mirrors, cupboards and flat screen TVs. You will learn how to hang a hook, fix a baton and then a pair of level shelf brackets.
Finish off the day learning how to fit shelves into awkward alcoves – a handy skill you can use to fit work surfaces too.
2. DIY in a Day – Plumbing
Plumbing = water in and water out. In this one-day beginners plumbing workshop there will be plenty of time to learn how to isolate water supply, fix a leaky tap, rescue something from a U-bend and unclog a blocked sink. All the basic essentials that you need to be able to do yourself without the expense of calling someone in.
Learn the principles of replacing a washer and a tap. Get the know-how of how to fit a washing machine and a dishwasher and then over to the ‘loo’, where you will learn how to replace any non-working part in your cistern.
Warm up your knowledge of your heating system – how it works and how and when to bleed a radiator or adjust the pressure on your boiler.
You will also practice how to remove and replace silicone sealant around the bath and shower. So you can go home and give your bathroom a mini-makeover, without spending a fortune.
3. Prep & Paint
What’s the secret to decorating success? Preparation and practice.
Our Prepare & Paint one-day beginners DIY workshop is a very practical class. From clearing the space to cleaning up brushes, we will take you methodically through the whole process from A to B.
Learn the importance and process of preparation: How to fill gaps and blemishes to make the surfaces smooth and ready for paint. Practice using different tools and materials, experiment with different qualities of brushes and finally learn how to apply paint to where you want and not all over yourself.
Delight in painting without drips or masking tape like a professional decorator. We will even show you how to clean a brush and a roller so that they will give you years of service like the eco warrior you are.
4. Basic Electrics
Learn the first principles of electrics in the home in this short beginners DIY electrics class, which covers the most common requests that homeowners, landlords and tenants want to know more about in their homes.
You’ll learn how to use inexpensive hand tools to wire a simple lighting circuit safely and how to fit an inline switch.
See how to test and avoid faulty wiring when performing simple repairs at home. Look at your consumer unit (Fuse box) and understand what it’s connected to and how to turn the supply off and on.
Practice changing switches to dimmers, look behind socket plates and understand how to change ceiling pendants.
Stay safe in your home by finding out what you can and can’t do yourself without certification. We will also offer tips on ways to reduce your electricity bill.
5. Basic Drill Skills
In this short beginners DIY drills workshop we share the ‘essentials’ of a corded and cordless drill. We’ll show you why the power tool is your friend.
During this mini class, you can learn how to select the correct combination of drill bit, wall fixing and screw to ensure that your shelves can hold your heavy items and curtains and blinds stay up. Practice drilling into tile and brick without fearing the worst.
Leave with the skills and know-how to go home and hang those pictures and shelves that have sat on your floor for months, waiting to reach their full potential.
6. Basic Plumbing
Learn how to tackle some basic plumbing tasks around the home in this short practical, hands-on plumbing workshop for beginners.
Learn how to isolate water supply, fix a leaky tap, rescue something from a U-bend and unclog a blocked sink. All the basic essentials that you need to be able to do yourself without the expense of calling in a plumber.
You will also practice how to remove and replace silicone sealant around the bath and shower. So you can go home and give your bathroom a mini-makeover, without spending a fortune.
7. Basic Tiling
If the thought of tackling a tiling project yourself is terrifying, yet you yearn for the skills to have a go, then this short beginners tiling workshop is just for you.
Learn to tile your bathroom or kitchen with our DIY experts. In this hands-on practical tiling workshop, an experienced tiler will guide you through choosing appropriate tiles for the job, sizing up, planning out and preparing the surface.
You will use the correct adhesive to tile a small area and learn how to grout in between the tiles to ensure a watertight finish.
You will also drill into tile and practice cutting straight lines and curves. Come and break our tiles instead of yours while you practice.
Online DIY Classes
If you live outside of Central London or prefer to learn at a slower pace with the option to repeat the class, then you may enjoy our online on-demand DIY workshops which are also suitable for beginners.
