My father kept my 1965 VW bug going long, long after it's shelf life via his infamous make-do fix-it style. When I finally traded it in on a new VW, the dealer was amazed at finding paperclip and rubber band fixes!

To be fair to my dad, he is quite the macgyver; that VW was about 11 years old when I bought it and I had it for 13 more. It was sometimes the only car in the family that would start on freezing, snowy mornings and never, ever left me stranded. A true testament to the power of old-fashioned ingenuity!

My brother has a lamp that can only be turned on with a pair of pliers, courtesy of his four-year-old turning the switch too hard.

I call in a pro if an amateur's repair attempts would result in more expensive damage, like plumbing, or more unsafe damage, like electrical work. I also call in a pro if amateur efforts would be against building code, like construction, or if the family member promising to do it procrastinates beyond my patience. I'm not handy. I respect those who are and am happy to pay them for good work.

Not creative, just tenacity. The wipers on my '79 Regal Buick frequently stop during mid-wiping and then I have to park the car on the shoulder and run out to jiggle the wires until the wipers work again. Then the driver side door wouldn't open from the outside so I have to enter through the passenger side. In spite of the failing body, the engine worked great which is why I kept the car way longer than I should have.

Years ago I owned a Datsun...remember them, anyone? These vehicles rusted very quickly. But...I needed car for another two years to take me quite a distance to and from the hospital where I was employed. The body of the car was basically disappearing beneath me and I could see the road under the accelerator peddle. My Father kept that bucket of bolts on the road for me for those two years by placing a metal cookie sheet on the floor and getting it to stay in place with self tapping screws and because the main frame of the car was also disappearing he put the car on a small hoist and placed 2 - two by fours ( you read correctly - WOOD) on each side underneath - again kept in place by self tapping screws.
Let's face it, we all want to have perfect repairs however it is the lack of money that causes us to look for a creative quick fix.

We are about to move into a loft with an open floor plan. We don't allow our cats in our bedroom and need a wall -- we're cutting corners and putting
this up for a few years until we are ready to loft it up and build a real wall with a door there.

I don't think I would touch a dead animal larger than a rat--I'll pay handsomely to have someone else deal with it, particularly if it's under the house. I'll retexture, prime, and paint inside, but I'll pay professionals to handle outside stucco and paint, the roof, plumbing, and electrical issues. I paid someone to refurbish the pool, but I maintain it myself. And I relandscaped my yard after paying someone to do the back. Apparently, much of this comes down to expertise (if I don't have enough, I'll pay for it to be done) and money (if I don't have enough, I'll try to do it myself). But the dead animals creep me out.

My dad is a professional electrician, and I'm certain he could fix just about anything from plumbing, furniture, windows, cars, etc (he built the family cottage from the ground up). My boyfriend, however, is less handy than me. I think I got spoiled growing up with a handy father, and now I've expected the men in my life to have certain skills.

Obviously I'd pay for electrical or plumbing, but I can do the simple stuff like patching walls or installing a new fixture. The car is a different story - I will pay for everything.

The kludge blog comes to mind, though I haven't seen it in a few years....

Ditto re handy dad... Mine is ticketed in various trades and is a marvel. I married someone whose talents lie elsewhere so I am still calling my dad for help (but making sure I am tactful about it in front of my sweet husband). and I'm learning how to do it myself from my father. His line to call a pro usually is dictated by extensive time required or professional equipment needed.

The light switch that controls all of our outdoor lights in located 12 inches from the floor . . . in our bedroom. It would require rerunning all the electrical on that wall, so instead of fixing it we use our feet to flip the switch. It actually works pretty well but it's embarrassing when other people notice it.

In my apartment in Turkey, the hasty remodel before we had moved in meant a full sized fridge (!!!) blocked the light switch. No amount of wiggling could get my hand in deep enough to flick the switch so we left a long serving spoon that we could wedge up and down til the light flipped.
We also couldn't run the oven and our TV, or our electric kettle and the TV at the same time, even though they were in two separate rooms, they were on the same circuit and it would trip at the drop of the hat.

My FIL fashioned a screwdriver with a specific head so he could use it to fix my son's Thomas toy that broke.

Both my husband and I grew up with handy fathers and we still tend to call them to lend a hand. We always make certain to have a project or two when my dad visits and my FIL lives in town. It works well since my husband has *zero* interest in that kind of stuff and while I don't mind doing it, hubby usually gets involved and then there is a discussion between us that usually involves raised voices.

I love that rubber mallet story!

my version of a "fancy fix" is asking my grandpa to do it. "just enough" fix is when i do it myself or ask my bf or dad ... cleaning is another story though, no matter how hard i try, i need a professional to "deep clean" my place a couple times a year!

@Zenezie; had the same wiper problem. Till I got a new motor for it I tied a string to the drivers side wiper and ran it into the car. Just a tug would get 'em started :)

I saw that episode of New Girl and loved it with all the stuff crashing down.

Here's my dividing line: will my house insurance fail to pay because I made a repair myself? Am I likely to fall off a ladder, because I'm notoriously bad on ladders when they're outside, and get hurt? If the answer's yes then I hire a pro. Otherwise I fix it on my own. My best fix was replacing the sacrificial rod in the hot water tank. The tank was solid, secure, and the rod will buy a little more use time before a complete replacement. When I'd called to find out how much it would cost, I was shocked by the prices, so I watched a YouTube video and borrowed a library book on plumbing to teach myself how to do it. Success!

My dad's a firm believer that duck-tape cane fix anything. Even in wart-removal.. He's always looked for cheap fixes, which never of course last.

rseven80, your Dad IS right about duct tape and wart removal... just leave it on like a bandaid for days. Replace it when it falls off. Take off dead skin with a pumice stone and re-cover til the warts are gone... cheap, painless, effective.

What a brilliant idea with the dimes to balance the table!

I think as long as your project is legal, you are able to find the time and do an aceeptable job, go for it! You really can't beat the feeling you get when you succesfully mend something yourself at a fraction of the cost of calling a pro.

Of course, you shouldn't be ashamed to call someone if the project is too big for you to handle - Took nearly three years for my dad to finish our living room because he went in half-cocked.

I call a pro if it involves electrical work or serious plumbing (meaning none of the obvious solutions -- tightening bolts or pouring Dran-o down the drain -- work).

Oh, and for hanging something heavy from the ceiling. Though that might not be the case if I knew how to locate the beams through a popcorn ceiling.

omg i can't tell u how many x we have had to call new 'contractors' to repair or finish previous 'contractors' work both in NC and in ME.

Many times we are called to a DIY self project gone wrong- It usually involves attempts to hang drapes but with no anchor or mounting a fixture in to the concrete ceiling. The end result is large chunks of drywall missing or re-plastering over all the cracks from hammering and drilling. What seems like a simple project can become frustrating and more costly with repairs added in.

Plus in NYC even the simplest part/tool/piece to get can take half a day to find.

My father has a saying: "There are things you do, and things you throw money at." I've applied that to a number of things in my life. Can I replace the headlights and hoses in a Subaru? Yes. Can I rewire anything? Hell no. In fact, I just tripped the breaker cutting wires over the weekend. Ooops.

I consider it a cost-benefit analysis, and I apply it on a daily basis. Spend $5 on a loaf of bread? Nope, I can make it for pennies. Make my own beer? No thanks, I live in Portland, OR, and I have the best beer aisles anywhere. But believe me, I certainly respect anyone who has skills that I don't!!

Velcro works great to keep a broken Mini Cooper glove box working.