Doing it the DIY way - Kevin Page

Over the years the contents of Page's toolbox has been put to good use on a variety of projects. Photo / 123rf

Like most dads I’m sure, I like to help my kids when it comes to a bit of DIY work.

Over the years the contents of my toolbox – which is not inconsiderable I have to say – has been put to good use on a variety of projects.

And while in some instances it may very well be a case of “all the gear and no idea” we generally get there. One way or another.

Unfortunately, for geographical reasons, No 1 Daughter has not benefited as much from the many and varied DIY skills (and enthusiasm) of her father.

Until now that is. And it’s fair to say it has rubbed off to the extent I’m thinking of changing her name to DIY Dame.

That’s because she has well and truly got the bit between her teeth and leapt feet first into the fray.

So, let me explain.

As part of our travels we are in the same town as No 1 Daughter for the first time in ages. We’ll be here a while. And so, all those things she’s mentioned to me over the phone since she and hubby bought their old do-up I can now see in the flesh, as it were.

They’ve been going quite well it has to be said. At a slow and steady pace.

Now, as a responsible parent slash DIY Dad, I’m not about to tackle all and everything. Even if I have the tools to do the job.

I mean, there are some things you’ve just got to get someone in for.

But there are some fairly simple things I can do which are fun, relatively simple and a good opportunity to spend some time with No 1 Daughter.

Thus the other day I turned up to build a simple platform tower sturdy enough to hold a big water tank she had bought to provide an extra water source for her summer garden.

We were staying half an hour away and when I arrived I was greeted with a BP Wild Bean coffee – my favourite – and a neat stack of all the timber, screws, bolts etc I had asked her to organise prior to my arrival.

It appears she enjoyed the trip to Bunnings for the items quite a lot.

Hubby advised after purchasing all the stuff I needed for the tower to give me a head start, she’d been back just about every day of her two-week holiday just to have a look around.

I should have realised she’d succumbed to the DIY drug.

While I cut, drilled, measured, clamped, marked and fastened she kept up a steady barrage of questions.

Why did I do it like that? What was this for? How does that work? You name it, she asked it.

I recall her asking how I’d learned the skills I was employing. I wasn’t sure but muttered something about watching my dad. Then I said most “how to” things these days could be viewed online via YouTube.

Big mistake.

The platform finished, we sat back with another coffee and admired the result. Little did I know what was going through her head.

I discovered exactly next morning when I turned up again to find the tower, which had been perfectly acceptable the night before, was now being clad in some rather ornate timber.

Apparently she’d got up at sparrow fart and raced back to Bunnings – where she’s now on first name terms with the staff – and bought some.

Then she’d gone home. Flicked open her laptop and found a YouTube tutorial on how to attach it and had done just that.

It has to be said the appearance of the now completely changed tower was okay. Certainly passable for an initial DIY attempt.

But now the demon had been unleashed. She wanted more. Fast.

First up she wanted me to build a screen for her exterior heat pump fan.

With limited time on my hands I set about the project but could only get a third of the way through before I had to depart.

Again, after the mandatory BP Wild Bean coffee to start, she was right on my shoulder with questions.

And again, when I turned up two days later, I discovered she’d finished it herself.

It has to be said I was a little flushed with pride.

Hubby, on the other hand, was worried where this newfound bull-at-a-gate enthusiasm was going to stop.

No sooner had she finished the heat pump screen she’d moved inside where she’d decided her bedroom needed a feature wall.

Again taking YouTube online advice she’d worked out how to prepare the wall, mask the edges, work out the correct quantity of paint and then apply three coats.

Hubby was still somewhat befuddled when I turned up to have a look.

“Now she’s gone and bought a big heavy mirror and she wants to put that up,” he groaned.

Naturally, Dad was asked to put the mirror up first and, BP coffee bribe delivered, I accepted the challenge.

Now, I don’t know about you but one thing I’m not too good at is exactly this. I sometimes can’t find the hard stud to stick the appropriately strong fixing to.

I have one of those automated stud finders which makes a hideous noise when you hit the right spot on the wall but I’d left it elsewhere that particular day.

I had one go at tapping to hear for a different sound and, as expected, missed the stud. Luckily I had used only a small nail so the damage to the wall was minimal.

I explained to No 1 Daughter I’d come back later in the week to have another go.

Next morning, while I was still in bed, I get a text from No 1 Daughter.

It’s a picture of the mirror up on the wall exactly where she wanted it. She’d done it herself.

So this time as I went round – with the jobs all done – I was expecting to have a normal sit down and chat visit, not a DIY day.

How wrong I was.

Flushed with the success of the mirror job, she’d decided to put up a shelf on her freshly painted feature wall.

Unfortunately, she’d missed the timber studs with the fixings. As a result the shelf had crashed to the ground leaving two gaping holes in the plasterboard and a dent in the skirting.

Apparently she’d immediately gone online and investigated how to do repairs but Hubby was thinking the look on her face suggested the repairs required might have been a bit beyond her capabilities.

And so where was she now?

BP Wild Bean. She’d gone to get Dad a coffee.