Q: I live with my hubby and two young daughters in a small apartment in upper Manhattan. I've recently caught the home improvement bug, and don't want to have to rely on a handyman every time I need to hang a shelf or fix chipped plaster on the wall. Is there someplace in New York City that offers a basic home improvement course for people like me who didn't grow up watching their dads being handy around the house?
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Check Home Depot. They usually have courses.
CUNY City Tech in Brooklyn has home repair, basic plumbing, basic electricity and some home design classes. They are offered by the Dept. of Continuing Studies. Each is stand-alone. I took a tiling class and it was hands-on (and messy!). Here is the department's homepage: <http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/academics/continuinged/spotlight.aspx>. Here is a link to the current catalog: <http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/academics/continuinged/pdf/Current_CSC.pdf>.
@funstraw - i think that is last year's schedule. i found this online:
http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/academics/continuinged/courses.aspx
Click on "house and home"
NHS, Neighborhood Housing Services in Brooklyn has a great 8 week course that covers the basics.
I have started to dip my toe into home repair now that I own my apartment. With no prior experience, I have
Removed ceiling fan and replaces with new light
Fixed the popup plug thing in bathroom sink
Fixed blockage in same sink
Replaced my lock with one of those "highsecurity" ones
I found all the info on the web, watched youTube videos and spiketo the guys at my local hardware store.
I won't lie, all of these things took much longer than a professional would have taken, but my only cost was my time, which I wasn't being paid for anyway.
I did call the guy over as I has trouble with my lock. He only charged me $10 as he said I had it all done but for one tiny thing. He was impressed as he said it's a difficult installation.
I hired people for more serious plumbing stuff and to replace some water damaged floor boards once I realized that the subfloor needed work too.
Almost all home repair is simple, it's just time consuming. It's worth picking up basic skills, especially in NYC where it's almost impossible to find people for small jobs and most dont work over weekends.
Check out Brooklyn Brainery: http://brooklynbrainery.com/
They have classes on seemingly everything.
Also - Third Ward - http://www.3rdward.com/
I got a late start to DIY, and I can assure you it's not too late. Just about anything you want to do has already been done by someone and put on YouTube. If not there, someone wrote about it on a forum somewhere. Scour the Internet, and you'll find just about anything you need. We renovated an entire 1910 house, and I had virtually zero experience. But with just a little determination and willingness to experiment (and screw up sometimes), I ended up doing quite a bit of work that I never dreamed I could do: drywall, carpentry, electrical (careful with this one), plumbing. And the confidence grew with each completed project. I wish I'd started earlier. So much fun. And rewarding, too. Jump in!
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