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1. 

   Gulmira on April 16, 2012 at 8:46 am

   Hello John,In answer to your qiuotesn, the answer is a definite yes. Everyone has to start somewhere, and providing you want to learn, there is nothing from stoping you.I am a self employed contractor, all of my family is totally useless at home improvements and remodeling, so it was not something that I inherited from any of my family. I just had this burning desire to fix things and make improvements upon my house when I was about 21 years of age, I bought a few basic books that pointed me in the right direction, and through having enough determination and approaching things in a very logical way, I was able to go from strength to strength.You may get some contractors who will tell you no way etc, that is because they do not want you to fix your house, when they can charge you $70 per hour for just basic common sense stuff.This is my own personal recommendation to you, what ever project you decide that you would like to tackle, ensure that you take you time, do not rush anything just to get it done, think about the end result looking really good, instead of nearly good.Most home improvements and remodeling projects require the same basic skills and talents. Here is just an example, lets say you wish to cut a piece of wood three feet long, measure the length and make a pencil mark at three feet, then use a square to draw a straight line across the wood, place the wood on your miter saw and bring the blade down to rest on the right hand side of the pencil line, DO NOT START THE SAW AT THIS POINT, slide the wood along until you ensure the blade is on the right hand side of the pencil line, when you start the saw, you know that by leaving the line on the wood, the exact finished measurement with be three feet.If you cut on the wrong side of the line, the wood will be shorter than you wanted. This basic tip can be used upon anything you are cutting, whether it be wood, tiles, gutters etc, it does not matter, if you stick to the same process each and every time.I am not here to spout off, because I was like you once, I knew nothing about home improvements; I had no teacher and no support from my family. I just started doing basic things, and as time went on, I learned more and more, and as you learn more, you also find ways to pick up speed and still get excellent results every time. Many people have a fear of messing things up, so they call in a contractor, but the first thing, is not to be worried or have fear, tell yourself you can and will do it, and believe me you will. Just to give you some further encouragement, when I was 21 years of age, I tiled my kitchen and bathroom, okay it took me about five times longer than a professional would have taken, but hey I learned and saved myself a lot of money, the projects turned out great, and before I knew it, my family and friends were asking me to tile their bathrooms and kitchens to. Before I started my own project, I went to our local tile store and got some tips and helpful advice. Believe or not, less than a year later I started my own wall and floor tiling business and was earning lots of money. As with anything, we all have the ability to learn, even to this day I am still learning, and have been in business for over 27 years.Once you become proficient at one project, your confidence will grow, and you find yourself getting more and more ambitious if you have that type of personality, I went from very humble beginnings to getting involved with many other things, I had my own window and door business and employed 17 people, and yes I did go out every day and install windows and doors. Once you have learned to do one project very well, the rest comes easy, and the main key is just very basic stuff, measure mark and cut.Do not let anyone tell you that it’s impossible to do remodeling or home improvements without experience, think about any trade, when a carpenter first started, he may have had a complete set of tools, but he would not be classed as a carpenter. You start doing small stuff, look on line, there are many good things out there, from free videos, hundreds of sites with informational products, Home Depot and Lowes have work project days and teach the public how to tackle things.Home improvements and remodeling work are so rewarding, although I am a contractor, and do earn a very good living from my efforts, there is a lot to be said for gaining sheer satisfaction from seeing the end result. I realize that when I first started it was 27 years ago, but things have not changed, in fact many projects are made so much easier these days due to the advance of great power tools and many companies now supply quick fix materials.Too many people sit in front of a computer for a living, and if you gave them a hammer, they would search for the instructions on how to use it. I personally admire anyone who is willing to at least try and tackle things. I am not suggesting that you are now a fully qualified plumber, but just by having a go at things, is a large step forward to leaning and gaining experience.I had actually typed out a lot more information than what you are reading now, but unfortunately Yahoo answers was down for a while, and has cut a lot of my reply to you.If you would like any information, totally free on home improvements, please contact me, I shall be more than happy to assist.Paul MessageSelf employed contractor for the last 27 years

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