What is your biggest D.I.Y. challenge?

[Jason]

Workshop community members are a talented and creative bunch, and generous in sharing their knowledge and experience. Everybody has to start from somewhere, and everybody struggles with some tasks or finds them intimidating. So it's fantastic that Workshop can help connect people and solve their most difficult D.I.Y. problems. 

To make sure we are helping as many Workshop members as possible, I'm keen to hear what are your biggest home improvement challenges. 

What D.I.Y. tasks do you find the most difficult? 

What jobs around the house and garden do you find consume the most time?

What problems do you find are the hardest to fix at your place?

Let us know about your biggest challenges by replying below. Thanks for joining in the discussion.

Jason

[Darren]

I can sum up my biggest challenge in one word - finishing. I find that I'm always more excited to start a new project than finish an old one. It explains why our skirting boards are sanded but not painted (job started 2015), the water tank doesn't have a base (job started 2016) and my eldest daughter doesn't have a bedroom door (job started January 2018).

[JoshRaf]

Sticking to a budget! I always start out with a simple and affordable idea which seems to always grow into something I cant afford after I do some research and find heaps of cool things I can add into the project.

[maknilsin]

Expectations vs Reality - I always have a finished product in my mind whenever I start a project. My biggest challenge is letting go of that image when the project is completed in reality and appreciating the actual finalized project.

And gardening - I am in no way a green thumb so finding simple and easily manageable solutions for my front and back are at the forefront of my mind.

[royq]

My biggest mental challenge with DIY is getting started, I buy all the gear and plan it all out but just can't get the motivation to get started because by then I've worked out how much work it's going to be. In terms of difficulty, electrical always stumps me, no probs with framing, drywall, painting, plumbing, roofing, bricklaying, I can even do auto electrical without too much hassle, but home electrical just doesn't make sense to me.

Roy

[aly]

I'm with @JoshRaf - budget!

We always have ideas for improvement projects around the house and tend to underestimate time and budget the most. Trying to get into a habit of planning more and cost up materials before committing to a job.

[Wendy_S]

I am with Darren. We tend to start projects and be fully motivated. Then we hit a couple of unexpected things and the project starts to look less like what we envisioned the more we progress and this is when we usually hit an all time low in terms of motivation to finish the project.
The second challenge....painting the outdoors. The wood, window frames etc...it's always a "let's tackle that next year, it will be good for another while" approach.....
I tend to like short term projects a little better like painting a wall in the house

[jamesm_]

Living in a small apartment, it's difficult to find ways to create the additional storage space I desperately need. Perhaps once the new rental reforms come into effect this year I'll be able to make a few minor changes like shelving etc. which will help a lot!

[Trying]

My biggest challenge is being able to reach the areas that I want to work on; then have the upper arm strength to do what needs doing. Any repairs or maintenance above my head height is difficult now that ladders are a no go for me. Old age ain't no place for sissies ! (apologies to Bette Davis ) Cheers.

[Prof]

I always start a new project with interest and enthusiasm and take care to get everything right...particularly with timber projects and make sure everything looks nice and fits together properly...
If the project is over several days, I start to get a bit slack and start to make errors..I start rushing through things and don't take as much care as I did when I first started..
In the end I just want to get it finished so I can start using it...and of course the errors start creeping in..Timber gets cut to the wrong size and the finish is not quite what I had in mind in the beginning.!