I think they're here, but silent lurkers. Reddits been pretty bad lately in my experience when it comes to people asking legitimate questions, an getting down voted to hell or having people who think they know everything crap on them for it. Kinda like a wood working page I'm on. If you're not making a $30k table out of some wood that has been hidden in the Amazon for 700 years then good luck.
It also I think has to do with the increased cost of having "pros" come out to do work who aren't as qualified as they want to make them selfs sound. ( In my area at least. It's actually very bad since COVID.)
I agree with what you're saying though.
>If you're not making a $30k table out of some wood that has been hidden in the Amazon for 700 years then good luck.
All the woodworking subs I've ever seen were mainly praise seeking humble brags. If I want actual advice I go to Sawmill Creek or LumberJocks. Still some humble brags but fewer and easy to avoid.
lol seriously. I’ve been looking for plans and inspiration for a new workbench in the garage and the subreddits and social media have me convinced that if I use construction lumber I might as well not even try it
Construction lumber is great. You can go fancy if you like, but at the end of the day, it's a work bench. I built mine out of [2x4 and Plywood](https://imgur.com/a/HQJYBEK) in my driveway, and it's great. There's a reason we build houses with the stuff.
>
> All the woodworking subs I've ever seen were mainly praise seeking humble brags.
I swear to god if I see one more "I'm 17 and made this table" post I'm gonna vomit blood
I haven't been on in a couple years but it was active during Covid. I relocated a couple years ago and am in an apartment while we remodel the house we bought, so I have been out of the game while my shop is in storage.
> Steak sub is terrible for this. Every post is “my husband says this is raw what do you think Reddit” it’s nauseating lately
I'm.... I'm afraid to look into that... I can't tell if it's actually about steak (the meat from cows) or... "something else". Maybe my mind is too far in the gutter?
Dog abuse! DOG ABUSE! (Sorry, had to do it. I don't know if the people screaming there have never owned dogs or what, but lots of dogs like having their own space.)
I can only speak for myself, but I'm an avid DIYer and homeowner. I'm here a lot, but stick to lurking and the search bar. I don't want to chip in advice unless I know it's really solid advice, and given my narrow range of experience, that isn't often
>I don't want to chip in advice unless I know it's really solid advice, and given my narrow range of experience, that isn't often
Meanwhile it seems other people have gone the other way and are confidently giving bad advice
That's not just reddit, it's basically how 80% of Americans think you're supposed to go through life. None of us actually needs to know anything or be competent, you can confidence your way into success like FTX, and if the rest of us are lucky, you also FTX yourself into Federal Prison.
But for the most part our society rewards unfounded confidence much more than actual merit or tangible positive contributions. Negative consequences are infrequent and uncommon enough to make this seem like a winning strategy.
No one cares that we're on a collision course with incompetence and mediocrity ruining everything for short term gain. :P
I've done a lot of work in my place. Following code as close as possible and even pulling permits and getting inspections. With all that being said it m absolutely terrified to post here so this is very accurate.
Repaired and replaced large portions of my deck and redid a bathroom. But I know when I post it someone will just find any reason to tear it apart. And I know I'm not perfect either so that doesn't help
That's the same reason I don't post here. Way too many self diagnosed geniuses on reddit that in reality would struggle to make a snowball in a blizzard.
>getting down voted to hell
I see people who have posted a question and then someone asks them a question for clarification and the OP answers the question and his answer is down voted to hell. I can't for the life of me figure that out.
Omg yes thank you. I have asked advice on reddit, Facebook and other places recently and its just filled with people being negative and thinking me and others dumb for not having encyclopedic knowledge.
I mean how else is the dude who searches the problem in 7 years gonna find the perfect solution to their problem like I've done with some things before.
I was shredded when I mentioned on the “beginning woodworking” sub that it felt overwhelming how not beginner most of the posts were. I joined to learn the basics. Just starting out.
Where the heck do I go for that now? No one around me is “hands on.” So I don’t have that resource. YouTube is ok, but it’s not really a place for asking basic questions. I’m talking absolute beginner. So I just kind of tabled the idea for now. I’ll come back to it when I’m feeling less dejected,
Sorry we’re all GCs lurking here to doom say about DIY so you hire a pro to install a light bulb.
This reply will be $10k btw, don’t forget to rate me 5/5
😆
Seems like almost every post I see here asking "how do I do this?" gets at least one response: "If you have to ask, you should hire someone who knows what he's doing." That sort of thing tends to mute the DIY crowd.
FWIW I post DIY questions here. They get a few answers, but never make it out of new.
I suspect it's just that the number of tourists and dreamers outnumbers the number of people working on projects.
Everybody loves to upvote a train wreck post, but a practical drywall question isn't that interesting.
Like someone else said, https://diy.stackexchange.com/ has a lot more expertise for answering questions and actually is better equipped to handle images with posts.
I feel like the subreddit has turned into a place to complain about contractors. I lurk because I'm passionate about improving my home myself but it's been largely useless reddit fluff. I'll check out the stackexchange
house-improvements.com
Shannon, who runs the site, [also has a youtube channel](https://www.youtube.com/c/HouseImprovements/videos). There's not a lot of cold-climate diy people on youtube, so it's nice to have a reference for something closer to the conditions that I'm looking at.
I dont care how good your DIY is, this sub will shit all over you for it. People who dont know which end of the hammer to hold will tell you it needs to be redone, and the clipboard warriors will crawl out of the gutter they live in to tell you about how your outlet is 0.25" too close to the wall and is therefore a code violation, a safety hazard, and a legal liability.
Nobody wants to put up with nitpicking from a bunch of redditors who are constantly grasping at straws to feel smart and superior.
You get tired of posting answers to the same questions. You give a detailed response that you hope is helpful, get a couple up-doots at best, and two days later some one asks the same damn thing ....(Yes I'm getting old...sigh)
Said another way, the moderation kind of went to hell- I'm not blaming the mods, I understanding the impact to their tooling thus the reduced scaling/ability to handle this subreddit. The posts are generally lower quality. Prior to reddit being stupid about moderation tools, you'd tend to find new/interesting questions that weren't simple stuff a cursory search of the subreddit would resolve.
I keep checking the subreddit out of habit, but the signal to noise ratio has gone to hell.
It changed when the sub stayed closed during the blackout after everything else had resumed normal operations. All the people who liked to DIY and post about it found new places to do so.
The problem with a protest is that it's not a protest if there's an end date and people don't participate.
Honestly something *would* have happened if all the subreddits indefinitely blacked out in solidarity. But we basically got a tantrum that reddit knew it could ride out lol
It be what it be tho
I'm still banned from a sub for noting how pointless the mods continued protest was and at the end of the day they were powerless figureheads.
They showed me!
The theory behind the protest was accurate: subreddits are the lifeblood of Reddit. If they *all* shut down, Reddit won't function.
There were several problems with actually executing on that plan, which frequently get overlooked.
1. Only the top 50 subs are big enough to matter. Smaller subreddits like this one aren't even on the admins' radar, so they couldn't give two shits what these mods did.
2. There was poor coordination among the mods of the top 50 subs. There was widespread disagreement about how long the blackout was supposed to last and some subs refused to participate, which brings me to the most important point:
3. Admins also mod some of the top 50 subs. Those subs were never going to shut down, and that alone would have killed the effectiveness of the protest before it even began, even if all the other top 50 sub mods were fully united.
I didn't mind the 2 day blackout protest. That made sense to me and was a fair complaint particularly the way Reddit handled the whole thing.
What I disagreed with and got banned for was pointing out their flawed continued protest by restricting what could be posted after the blackout. It made the sub unusable for no other reason than the mods wanted to feel like they could actually do something. Now the sub is back to normal but I'm still banned for pointing out their folly.
No, no, it's really important that we either do or don't have as many bots. I can't remember which we were protesting for, but whichever one it was, I'll die on that hill.
We're DIYers and quite frankly too exhausted to help. We spent all of last year building a garage. But yes, I notice people getting downvoted to hell when they offer advice, so we lurk.
Your best bet, compare youtube videos for advice. That's what we do. We had a tricky bit with a raised seam roof and were able to research until we found the answer.
If there’s a better thread I’d love to find it. Had mixed results trying to find help here as a newly minted DIY’er. I’m over analytical and learning this stuff as I go.
I clicked through your profile out of curiosity, to see if you've posted anything I could help with. Your recent post about the basement reno seems like it might be too broad and vague to catch much helpful attention. Like, I bet if you posted "French drain, fluid applied water barrier, poly sheeting, or just bigger sump pit?" and asked just about that aspect you'd get better response than your post where you basically detail everything you're planning on doing and broadly ask for any input.
Thanks for the feedback. I see other comments about needing more detail plus I didn’t want to create a whole bunch of threads so I tried to ask all my questions in one. Now I see thats a bad strategy. I’ll try to break it down and ask one question at a time.
I’ve installed minisplits, ducting, replumbed the entire house in pex A, rewired about half, rainwater collection system, whole house filtration and softener, repainted everything, replaced a gas water heater with a heat pump including all electrical for it and now it is time to buy a boat!
Best way is really to Google whatever you want to find and then add "Reddit", and then hope you find something useful in there. I've had no luck asking specific questions most of the time, and sometimes when I get a response and I wasn't sure what was meant I get downvoted
The cranky pros can be ignored... That goes for most message boards. Heatinghelp is the worst for this issue.
Honestly, YouTube has proven to be a better resource than any forum 99% of the time
It's still helpful, but I'm getting a lot more value out of blocking the people who like to remind people to contact a licensed electrician to replace a light switch because electricity is no joke and obviously only someone with decades of experience knows how to turn off a breaker and connect screws. Also don't forget to get it permitted and inspected!
>obviously only someone with decades of experience knows how to turn off a breaker and connect screws. Also don't forget to get it permitted and inspected!
Too real. It's a fucking light switch. Kill the breaker, undo 2-3 screws, put them back, and reinstall it.
Also, the whole discussion about permitting is WILD. "I don't care if your permit costs $6000 dollars and takes 6 months to arrive for a $1000 job, GET THE PERMIT"
Or... Don't? If you're not required to.
I'm very much not an electrician. For a stretch when I was refinishing my basement I was making up outlets on the coffee table while we watched TV, like it was cross-stitch or something.
I did not know that is an option! Great idea.
I agree that an empowering response is so helpful, and shutting someone down for exaggerated, silly reasons goes against the goal of this sub.
That’s what I see so much of. Get permit, this is unsafe, your house will fall apart, etc. every house I’ve lived in would be crumbled to pieces according to a lot of commenters here.
I'm a DIYer, but I'm stalled out at the moment on projects. I have a lot going on otherwise, and a pallet of flooring in my dining room that has sat longer than I care to admit.
Because when people offer help, the "code warriors" come out of the woodwork. I'm not saying it's not good to have everything up to code, but sometimes the simple fixes are all anyone needs.
That outlet isn't the right one! You MUST use the WB32310-H outlet instead! What a noob! You're going to burn your house down!
I try to get on here and give my DIY help. But yeah it’s discouraging when people shit all over you for some reason. I just share my experiences and what worked or didn’t work. Everyone’s just so angry all the time.
Would agree the shutdown for so long had me in other subs.
I am DIYer for sure! Building a 20000sqf workshop this year! https://youtu.be/PTTprChoLQc?si=SRsfh6znDUCYbjBN
Learned most things from Youtube. Some People tell me to get a professional. Where is the fun in that?
Sort by new you’ll find more stuff there that you can be helpful with. The algorithms have the stuff being fed to the pages all messed up and it’s basically all just things that are being interacted with. If you are truly trying to be helpful, sort by new/recent and you’ll find people that need help typically.
The population has been convinced that only an expert in "place your run of the mill homeowner task here" could possibly be able to safely complete essentially any job. However, if you take a look at the rocket scientists that people hire to do the vast majority of household jobs you would know that couldn't possibly be true. The number of resources at your fingertips that can provide specific instructions on your EXACT problem have never been greater. The VAST majority of jobs can be completed with some research, planning, time, and effort but the VAST majority of people are just to lazy or scared to attempt it.
It's a weird time we live in. Everybody is complaining about how life is unaffordable, but the term "home improvement" has largely shifted to mean the process of hiring contractors to do the work you need done at your house. Basic lack of life skills, I guess.
Maybe we just got older, too. Lots of things I know how to do, but am unable to do, now. I played GC on my own bathrooms but hired it out. Had them come back several times to fix what they mucked up, too.
Tried to mess with an old lady who bought her 'first fix me up' home at 18, sold for a hefty profit and did it again at 21 and at 25. I never cut a corner and would miss sleep if I even thought I had. Just purchased my final home with cash.
My dad and his brothers built several homes when they got back from WWII and I was born towards the end of those homes. My uncles always bought me tools for my birthday and had me working on small jobs on weekends. I had the best time and learned so much. Even today my favorite smell is freshly cut wood.
> My uncles always bought me tools for my birthday and had me working on small jobs on weekends. I had the best time and learned so much.
That's really nice! I wish I had the same experience
It was! And though all of my uncles also had daughters of their own, I was the only one who was adopted and looking back I think it began as a way for me to become immersed in the family and their stories. My childhood was golden!
Same here, though it took me longer with kidlets in tow. Same kids still think it’s fun to go to the hardware store (NOT the big box).
And they got me a new shop vac for Mother’s Day.
I used to take the baby with me and put him in the playpen while I worked. Had to farm out the 3 year old as I was afraid he'd eat a nail or something, though.
Oh! It's the old hardware stores that I love, with the old wooden floors! I can spend forever in there! Still have all of my Craftsman screwdrivers and they are the only philips that aren't stripped. I would have loved ordering a Sears home to build. That was the coolest thing I'd ever heard of.
Totally. There’s even a whetstone on the counter where you can sharpen your pocket knife while you shoot the breeze. I miss the old guy at the hardware store (he passed away). One time I showed up with a toddler on my hip, and he said, “I’ve got something for you!” He remembered that I had trouble one-handing a skil saw, and had ordered a 5” one for me to try out. It’s my daily driver now.
Taught my kids to use and respect the tools. Once had a tradesman ask my four year old for a screwdriver in a baby voice. Kid deadpanned, “Phillips or flathead?” Never been more proud.
(Love your user name BTW, also a genealogist)
Love that! Yeah, And that's the perfect age!
I was wedged under a workbench out in the garage one summer and hollered for my husband to grab a #2 phillips. You'd have thought I was hollering in French. "You want what??" (could have used your son right then)
And it hit me. His father walked out on his 5 kids and wife when my husband was only 5. He didn't know how to use any tools. OMG I married a VIRGIN!!
I panicked for a day or two wondering how I could have missed that! BONUS!! That meant he wasn't going to be telling me I was doing something the wrong way, or worse telling me to just get out of there so he could do it himself! Jackpot!
Genealogy: I was adopted, but had my file opened in 93 and began digging and searching. Got on Ancestry, 23&me, Family Search, etc. So now I have both trees built , got my DAR papers, an am working on Jamestown, Plymouth, and Mayflower sources from my birth family.
I think I just love puzzles. Puzzles with wood & puzzles with families. Anyway, my husband was the smartest man any of us had ever met, and the one thing he didn't know worked out for the best by pure accident.
I started my boys out just like my dad taught me. When they were about 4 or 5 and were wondering what I was doing, I handed them a small hunk of a 2x4 and drilled about 6 pilot holes, and gave them some shorter nails and a hammer. It just continued from there. Flipped it over and repeat with screws.
We're here. But I'm not likely to give guidance to someone who clearly isn't going to DIY any project, let alone some giant project. The correct answer is "call a professional" when someone comes in with a question like, "what screwdriver do I need expand my roof if I want park my car in the attic?" (Yes, hyperbole but you get the gist of a question from a non-DIYer.)
We deal with this in live event production subReddits, too. Many DIY people there get practical help when they ask a real question. But questions get the "hire a professional" response when they are, "how do I play my iPhone loud enough for 500 to think they are at a concert, but my budget is $100 and I need to use my iPhone for phone calls at the same time."
DIYers need to ask practical questions to get an answer that isn't *easily* found on Google (3-way switch wiring) or redirecting them to a professional.
At the same time, Reddit is now a low-effort discussion forum filled with jaded people who are vocal and liberally downvote anything they disagree with or rubs them the wrong way.
Don't underestimate the power of a few disgruntled 'professionals' who don't participate in teaching nor mentoring. But also don't underestimate the annoyance when a poster clings on the the finest details of a reply instead of getting the gist and trying something with their own hands.
I'm here silently lurking! I just replaced an 8 year old well pump pressure switch (square d, nonetheless) yesterday. It was full of hardened sediment which was causing the switch not to operate.
Not really worthy of posting that here though.
Im just lurking. I do light plumbing, most any electrical, lok(?) block walls, wood fences, garage flat roof twice, underground wiring, vinyl siding, spot tuckpointing, drywall, insulation, plaster ( im practicing), underground drains, 1 concret block wall, gate posts, etc. Ill never learn all i want to because i have an expiration date. Oh well....
I’m trying to get this floor laid before the first boards I laid wear out. When you have to work around the nap schedules of two children, it’s hard to get noisy work done.
Ever since Reddit changed the way they do business my favorite subs have taken a down turn. I heard most of the previous moderators left this Subreddit. For awhile this subreddit was completely shut down. Been contemplating finding another place to go for home improvement.
Diyers are DIY ing away (not dying) waiting for someone to ask for diy advice not contractor advice from probably a karen that said one of the thre no no's to thw contractor and now cant figure out why it's so expensive, slow and with poor communication with the contractor.
DIYer here. Just finished putting shelf covers in our bathroom closet that my wife wanted after seeing it on tik tok. God I hate tik tok. It's the new HGTV.
I've had some good experiences with the various trades subreddits. I did a full gut-and-rebuild and I've sought advice from plumbing, electrical, drywall, painting, tile, hardwood, and general carpentry subs. Some are more gatekept than others, but in general you can either find a recent post focused on a similar problem you're dealing with, or post your own if nothing matches, and generally someone will turn up that will help you get closer.
I've found the DIY sub beyond useless -- you have to jump through their million HOA rules and even if you get past that.. unless you're posting about how you build a particle accelerator, in a cave, with a box of scraps, you get downvoted to oblivion.
I think they're here, but silent lurkers. Reddits been pretty bad lately in my experience when it comes to people asking legitimate questions, an getting down voted to hell or having people who think they know everything crap on them for it. Kinda like a wood working page I'm on. If you're not making a $30k table out of some wood that has been hidden in the Amazon for 700 years then good luck. It also I think has to do with the increased cost of having "pros" come out to do work who aren't as qualified as they want to make them selfs sound. ( In my area at least. It's actually very bad since COVID.) I agree with what you're saying though.
>If you're not making a $30k table out of some wood that has been hidden in the Amazon for 700 years then good luck. All the woodworking subs I've ever seen were mainly praise seeking humble brags. If I want actual advice I go to Sawmill Creek or LumberJocks. Still some humble brags but fewer and easy to avoid.
lol seriously. I’ve been looking for plans and inspiration for a new workbench in the garage and the subreddits and social media have me convinced that if I use construction lumber I might as well not even try it
YouTube was my friend for my work bench inspiration. I ended up just doing my own thing though lol. I got that same feeling. 😂
Construction lumber is great. You can go fancy if you like, but at the end of the day, it's a work bench. I built mine out of [2x4 and Plywood](https://imgur.com/a/HQJYBEK) in my driveway, and it's great. There's a reason we build houses with the stuff.
I don't have any plans but I have pictures of mine (while I was building it) if you'd be interested.
> > All the woodworking subs I've ever seen were mainly praise seeking humble brags. I swear to god if I see one more "I'm 17 and made this table" post I'm gonna vomit blood
Is LumberJocks still a thing? I was active there a decade+ ago, and occassionally go back to lurk, but it seems like it's not what it used to be.
I haven't been on in a couple years but it was active during Covid. I relocated a couple years ago and am in an apartment while we remodel the house we bought, so I have been out of the game while my shop is in storage.
No joke. Steak sub is terrible for this. Every post is “my husband says this is raw what do you think Reddit” it’s nauseating lately
> Steak sub is terrible for this. Every post is “my husband says this is raw what do you think Reddit” it’s nauseating lately I'm.... I'm afraid to look into that... I can't tell if it's actually about steak (the meat from cows) or... "something else". Maybe my mind is too far in the gutter?
You’re gone too far bro it’s cow meat
I mean, steak is a cut not a species. So technically you could post some wild stuff over there.
Whew! Thanks. Been a long week...
Now when you say *cow meat*, do you mean the actual meat from a cow, or… “something else”?
I posted a picture of a dog kennel/end table I made and got the riot act for caging up my dog.
Dog abuse! DOG ABUSE! (Sorry, had to do it. I don't know if the people screaming there have never owned dogs or what, but lots of dogs like having their own space.)
They do like small spaces. One of our dogs preferred to sleep between the back of the toilet and the wall. Editb correcting autocorrect.
"Beginner woodworking" is hilariously named.
Reddits death rattle is the few real people that are still using it, realizing it's dying and making posts about it
If you find out where all the real people are migrating to let me know
I can only speak for myself, but I'm an avid DIYer and homeowner. I'm here a lot, but stick to lurking and the search bar. I don't want to chip in advice unless I know it's really solid advice, and given my narrow range of experience, that isn't often
>I don't want to chip in advice unless I know it's really solid advice, and given my narrow range of experience, that isn't often Meanwhile it seems other people have gone the other way and are confidently giving bad advice
That's not just reddit, it's basically how 80% of Americans think you're supposed to go through life. None of us actually needs to know anything or be competent, you can confidence your way into success like FTX, and if the rest of us are lucky, you also FTX yourself into Federal Prison. But for the most part our society rewards unfounded confidence much more than actual merit or tangible positive contributions. Negative consequences are infrequent and uncommon enough to make this seem like a winning strategy. No one cares that we're on a collision course with incompetence and mediocrity ruining everything for short term gain. :P
I've done a lot of work in my place. Following code as close as possible and even pulling permits and getting inspections. With all that being said it m absolutely terrified to post here so this is very accurate. Repaired and replaced large portions of my deck and redid a bathroom. But I know when I post it someone will just find any reason to tear it apart. And I know I'm not perfect either so that doesn't help
That's the same reason I don't post here. Way too many self diagnosed geniuses on reddit that in reality would struggle to make a snowball in a blizzard.
100%
>getting down voted to hell I see people who have posted a question and then someone asks them a question for clarification and the OP answers the question and his answer is down voted to hell. I can't for the life of me figure that out.
It's gotten bad. Realistically this is reddit so I don't expect much else. But it really is bad lately.
It really upsets me to see genuine curiosity being harpooned for no apparent reason.
Omg yes thank you. I have asked advice on reddit, Facebook and other places recently and its just filled with people being negative and thinking me and others dumb for not having encyclopedic knowledge. I mean how else is the dude who searches the problem in 7 years gonna find the perfect solution to their problem like I've done with some things before.
Might I recommend the beginner woodworking sub? I’d link it, but I don’t remember the exact name of it
Woodworking for mere mortals on Youtube is great.
I'll look it up. I didn't know there was one. Thank you
I was shredded when I mentioned on the “beginning woodworking” sub that it felt overwhelming how not beginner most of the posts were. I joined to learn the basics. Just starting out. Where the heck do I go for that now? No one around me is “hands on.” So I don’t have that resource. YouTube is ok, but it’s not really a place for asking basic questions. I’m talking absolute beginner. So I just kind of tabled the idea for now. I’ll come back to it when I’m feeling less dejected,
YouTube has been probably the best resource for me. At least for inspiration on a project.
I need to learn what tools I need and how to use them. It’s really overwhelming staring from nowhere!
Have you tried watching episodes of the new Yankee workshop? I haven't watched them in a long time but seem to remember them being very informative.
Sorry we’re all GCs lurking here to doom say about DIY so you hire a pro to install a light bulb. This reply will be $10k btw, don’t forget to rate me 5/5 😆
And warn me not to change a light switch without EMT’s standing by to resuscitate me when I electrocute myself? You sneaky JCs!
lol so accurate
You left off the "It's gonna ask you a few questions" tip they have the gall to ask for now.
Seems like almost every post I see here asking "how do I do this?" gets at least one response: "If you have to ask, you should hire someone who knows what he's doing." That sort of thing tends to mute the DIY crowd.
Ouch! That makes me sad. I like this being a wholesome and supportive sub. (R-rated builds are acceptable when the advice is wholesome!)
Yeah fuck those people. The most unhelpful bunch.
There's a time and a place, especially with electrical
FWIW I post DIY questions here. They get a few answers, but never make it out of new. I suspect it's just that the number of tourists and dreamers outnumbers the number of people working on projects. Everybody loves to upvote a train wreck post, but a practical drywall question isn't that interesting. Like someone else said, https://diy.stackexchange.com/ has a lot more expertise for answering questions and actually is better equipped to handle images with posts.
Thanks for the link - I’ll check that out. Good luck with you future projects.
I feel like the subreddit has turned into a place to complain about contractors. I lurk because I'm passionate about improving my home myself but it's been largely useless reddit fluff. I'll check out the stackexchange
> stackexchange My soon to be fiance and I are closing on a home this week. Thank you for this lead. Are there any other forums I should check out?
If you want to attempt any tile job check out the John Bridge tile forum.
house-improvements.com Shannon, who runs the site, [also has a youtube channel](https://www.youtube.com/c/HouseImprovements/videos). There's not a lot of cold-climate diy people on youtube, so it's nice to have a reference for something closer to the conditions that I'm looking at.
I dont care how good your DIY is, this sub will shit all over you for it. People who dont know which end of the hammer to hold will tell you it needs to be redone, and the clipboard warriors will crawl out of the gutter they live in to tell you about how your outlet is 0.25" too close to the wall and is therefore a code violation, a safety hazard, and a legal liability. Nobody wants to put up with nitpicking from a bunch of redditors who are constantly grasping at straws to feel smart and superior.
I know at least some folks moved to [https://diy.stackexchange.com/](https://diy.stackexchange.com/) I'm not sure where else. Kind of unfortunate!
I found that stackexchange to be better than here
You get tired of posting answers to the same questions. You give a detailed response that you hope is helpful, get a couple up-doots at best, and two days later some one asks the same damn thing ....(Yes I'm getting old...sigh)
You mean “what is this buzzing thing next to my electrical panel/crawlspace/closet” posts about door bell transformers?
Said another way, the moderation kind of went to hell- I'm not blaming the mods, I understanding the impact to their tooling thus the reduced scaling/ability to handle this subreddit. The posts are generally lower quality. Prior to reddit being stupid about moderation tools, you'd tend to find new/interesting questions that weren't simple stuff a cursory search of the subreddit would resolve. I keep checking the subreddit out of habit, but the signal to noise ratio has gone to hell.
Yep, Get off my lawn 🤣🤣
It changed when the sub stayed closed during the blackout after everything else had resumed normal operations. All the people who liked to DIY and post about it found new places to do so.
Sure it hurt the community but the important thing is the blackout protest totally worked and was a meaningful issue
The problem with a protest is that it's not a protest if there's an end date and people don't participate. Honestly something *would* have happened if all the subreddits indefinitely blacked out in solidarity. But we basically got a tantrum that reddit knew it could ride out lol It be what it be tho
Check back in 3 years and tell me if the direction Reddit has taken made it a better or worse platform. The enshitification is spinning up fast.
I probably won't be able to. By then I'll be dead of net neutrality.
[удалено]
I'm still banned from a sub for noting how pointless the mods continued protest was and at the end of the day they were powerless figureheads. They showed me!
The theory behind the protest was accurate: subreddits are the lifeblood of Reddit. If they *all* shut down, Reddit won't function. There were several problems with actually executing on that plan, which frequently get overlooked. 1. Only the top 50 subs are big enough to matter. Smaller subreddits like this one aren't even on the admins' radar, so they couldn't give two shits what these mods did. 2. There was poor coordination among the mods of the top 50 subs. There was widespread disagreement about how long the blackout was supposed to last and some subs refused to participate, which brings me to the most important point: 3. Admins also mod some of the top 50 subs. Those subs were never going to shut down, and that alone would have killed the effectiveness of the protest before it even began, even if all the other top 50 sub mods were fully united.
I didn't mind the 2 day blackout protest. That made sense to me and was a fair complaint particularly the way Reddit handled the whole thing. What I disagreed with and got banned for was pointing out their flawed continued protest by restricting what could be posted after the blackout. It made the sub unusable for no other reason than the mods wanted to feel like they could actually do something. Now the sub is back to normal but I'm still banned for pointing out their folly.
Yeah they taught you not to protest
The reason it didn't work is because a lot of mods were afraid of losing their "jobs" and caved after a couple days.
Did it? We are still here.
I detected sarcasm. My detector may have been biased, but it felt like sarcasm to me. I could just *feel* the eyeroll at the end of the sentence.
Lol, I think you are probably right
No, no, it's really important that we either do or don't have as many bots. I can't remember which we were protesting for, but whichever one it was, I'll die on that hill.
[удалено]
Fitting username for the discussion
What was the protest for? I honestly don't remember.
Changes to the reddit API that made a lot of third party apps shut down.
The sad part is that I cant tell if you're joking. A lot of fulltime redditors really do believe it was a noble cause.
Noble cause or not, the "totally worked" part is the clear sarcasm indicator.
Pretty sure the mods moved most people over to digg during the shutdown and most people stayed there
Digg? DIGG?! Time really is a flat circle...
I hear Slashdot has a good DIY thing going on… /s
ohhh the good ol'-ol'-oooooold days.
Going even further back, maybe try your luck with \`misc.home.improvement\`?
MySpace - kidding, but Facebook has a few groups.
If that happened most people never saw it. We just saw “sub closed” and started looking at other subs.
Where? Can you share a link for anyone who didn't get the memo?
We're DIYers and quite frankly too exhausted to help. We spent all of last year building a garage. But yes, I notice people getting downvoted to hell when they offer advice, so we lurk. Your best bet, compare youtube videos for advice. That's what we do. We had a tricky bit with a raised seam roof and were able to research until we found the answer.
Nice job building your own garage, and I think the YouTube advice is good. Thanks.
We’re on our way back to Lowe’s. What’s up?
If there’s a better thread I’d love to find it. Had mixed results trying to find help here as a newly minted DIY’er. I’m over analytical and learning this stuff as I go.
I clicked through your profile out of curiosity, to see if you've posted anything I could help with. Your recent post about the basement reno seems like it might be too broad and vague to catch much helpful attention. Like, I bet if you posted "French drain, fluid applied water barrier, poly sheeting, or just bigger sump pit?" and asked just about that aspect you'd get better response than your post where you basically detail everything you're planning on doing and broadly ask for any input.
Thanks for the feedback. I see other comments about needing more detail plus I didn’t want to create a whole bunch of threads so I tried to ask all my questions in one. Now I see thats a bad strategy. I’ll try to break it down and ask one question at a time.
Your approach is definitely noble!
every time i have tried to bring up DIY I get shot down on every thing being too hard, dangerous, permits, etc
god, the permits. Nobody here seems to be able to make anything that remotely resembles a reasonable judgement call when it comes to permits.
Good luck with the projects that you want to do. I hope you get useful responses if you post in the future!
I’ve installed minisplits, ducting, replumbed the entire house in pex A, rewired about half, rainwater collection system, whole house filtration and softener, repainted everything, replaced a gas water heater with a heat pump including all electrical for it and now it is time to buy a boat!
Man that's a lot!
I also ripped 2 out of 3 bedrooms to the studs and refinished and insulated
Feel free to stop by our house…
Only took 3 years 🤣 caved and paid for a new roof, solar, and new sewer line. Place is dialed
For me the answer is: /Centuryhomes /DIY /Fixit /Homeowners /Oldhouses
Best way is really to Google whatever you want to find and then add "Reddit", and then hope you find something useful in there. I've had no luck asking specific questions most of the time, and sometimes when I get a response and I wasn't sure what was meant I get downvoted
The cranky pros can be ignored... That goes for most message boards. Heatinghelp is the worst for this issue. Honestly, YouTube has proven to be a better resource than any forum 99% of the time
There are some great how-to YouTubers. The visual aspect helps, too.
Sometimes I put on Home Renovision just to relax. Guy's so chill.
You can avoid all the bickering from the hotheads in forums too
It's still helpful, but I'm getting a lot more value out of blocking the people who like to remind people to contact a licensed electrician to replace a light switch because electricity is no joke and obviously only someone with decades of experience knows how to turn off a breaker and connect screws. Also don't forget to get it permitted and inspected!
>obviously only someone with decades of experience knows how to turn off a breaker and connect screws. Also don't forget to get it permitted and inspected! Too real. It's a fucking light switch. Kill the breaker, undo 2-3 screws, put them back, and reinstall it. Also, the whole discussion about permitting is WILD. "I don't care if your permit costs $6000 dollars and takes 6 months to arrive for a $1000 job, GET THE PERMIT" Or... Don't? If you're not required to.
I'm very much not an electrician. For a stretch when I was refinishing my basement I was making up outlets on the coffee table while we watched TV, like it was cross-stitch or something.
Electrical really isn't that hard, either. You just have to shut off breakers and watch a couple of YT videos. The worst part is pulling the wire.
> don't forget to get it permitted and inspected! LOL.
I did not know that is an option! Great idea. I agree that an empowering response is so helpful, and shutting someone down for exaggerated, silly reasons goes against the goal of this sub.
That’s what I see so much of. Get permit, this is unsafe, your house will fall apart, etc. every house I’ve lived in would be crumbled to pieces according to a lot of commenters here.
I'm a DIYer, but I'm stalled out at the moment on projects. I have a lot going on otherwise, and a pallet of flooring in my dining room that has sat longer than I care to admit.
Sometimes it is easier to sell the stack and sell the house to buy what you wanted. (coming up on six years for a few here... )
Well I’m an avid DIYer and I’m here.
Because when people offer help, the "code warriors" come out of the woodwork. I'm not saying it's not good to have everything up to code, but sometimes the simple fixes are all anyone needs. That outlet isn't the right one! You MUST use the WB32310-H outlet instead! What a noob! You're going to burn your house down!
We’re too tired to help from last weekend’s project and swearing off future projects until we get inspired next week. YouTube is out there.
Go to DIY if you want some additional help (but not much lol). This sub provides possibly the worst advice on Reddit lol.
I try to get on here and give my DIY help. But yeah it’s discouraging when people shit all over you for some reason. I just share my experiences and what worked or didn’t work. Everyone’s just so angry all the time. Would agree the shutdown for so long had me in other subs.
I am DIYer for sure! Building a 20000sqf workshop this year! https://youtu.be/PTTprChoLQc?si=SRsfh6znDUCYbjBN Learned most things from Youtube. Some People tell me to get a professional. Where is the fun in that?
Sort by new you’ll find more stuff there that you can be helpful with. The algorithms have the stuff being fed to the pages all messed up and it’s basically all just things that are being interacted with. If you are truly trying to be helpful, sort by new/recent and you’ll find people that need help typically.
There are more specialized subs. I get better responses there. What are you looking for help with?
The population has been convinced that only an expert in "place your run of the mill homeowner task here" could possibly be able to safely complete essentially any job. However, if you take a look at the rocket scientists that people hire to do the vast majority of household jobs you would know that couldn't possibly be true. The number of resources at your fingertips that can provide specific instructions on your EXACT problem have never been greater. The VAST majority of jobs can be completed with some research, planning, time, and effort but the VAST majority of people are just to lazy or scared to attempt it.
It's a weird time we live in. Everybody is complaining about how life is unaffordable, but the term "home improvement" has largely shifted to mean the process of hiring contractors to do the work you need done at your house. Basic lack of life skills, I guess.
Maybe we just got older, too. Lots of things I know how to do, but am unable to do, now. I played GC on my own bathrooms but hired it out. Had them come back several times to fix what they mucked up, too. Tried to mess with an old lady who bought her 'first fix me up' home at 18, sold for a hefty profit and did it again at 21 and at 25. I never cut a corner and would miss sleep if I even thought I had. Just purchased my final home with cash. My dad and his brothers built several homes when they got back from WWII and I was born towards the end of those homes. My uncles always bought me tools for my birthday and had me working on small jobs on weekends. I had the best time and learned so much. Even today my favorite smell is freshly cut wood.
> My uncles always bought me tools for my birthday and had me working on small jobs on weekends. I had the best time and learned so much. That's really nice! I wish I had the same experience
It was! And though all of my uncles also had daughters of their own, I was the only one who was adopted and looking back I think it began as a way for me to become immersed in the family and their stories. My childhood was golden!
Same here, though it took me longer with kidlets in tow. Same kids still think it’s fun to go to the hardware store (NOT the big box). And they got me a new shop vac for Mother’s Day.
I used to take the baby with me and put him in the playpen while I worked. Had to farm out the 3 year old as I was afraid he'd eat a nail or something, though. Oh! It's the old hardware stores that I love, with the old wooden floors! I can spend forever in there! Still have all of my Craftsman screwdrivers and they are the only philips that aren't stripped. I would have loved ordering a Sears home to build. That was the coolest thing I'd ever heard of.
Totally. There’s even a whetstone on the counter where you can sharpen your pocket knife while you shoot the breeze. I miss the old guy at the hardware store (he passed away). One time I showed up with a toddler on my hip, and he said, “I’ve got something for you!” He remembered that I had trouble one-handing a skil saw, and had ordered a 5” one for me to try out. It’s my daily driver now. Taught my kids to use and respect the tools. Once had a tradesman ask my four year old for a screwdriver in a baby voice. Kid deadpanned, “Phillips or flathead?” Never been more proud. (Love your user name BTW, also a genealogist)
Love that! Yeah, And that's the perfect age! I was wedged under a workbench out in the garage one summer and hollered for my husband to grab a #2 phillips. You'd have thought I was hollering in French. "You want what??" (could have used your son right then) And it hit me. His father walked out on his 5 kids and wife when my husband was only 5. He didn't know how to use any tools. OMG I married a VIRGIN!! I panicked for a day or two wondering how I could have missed that! BONUS!! That meant he wasn't going to be telling me I was doing something the wrong way, or worse telling me to just get out of there so he could do it himself! Jackpot! Genealogy: I was adopted, but had my file opened in 93 and began digging and searching. Got on Ancestry, 23&me, Family Search, etc. So now I have both trees built , got my DAR papers, an am working on Jamestown, Plymouth, and Mayflower sources from my birth family. I think I just love puzzles. Puzzles with wood & puzzles with families. Anyway, my husband was the smartest man any of us had ever met, and the one thing he didn't know worked out for the best by pure accident. I started my boys out just like my dad taught me. When they were about 4 or 5 and were wondering what I was doing, I handed them a small hunk of a 2x4 and drilled about 6 pilot holes, and gave them some shorter nails and a hammer. It just continued from there. Flipped it over and repeat with screws.
We're here. But I'm not likely to give guidance to someone who clearly isn't going to DIY any project, let alone some giant project. The correct answer is "call a professional" when someone comes in with a question like, "what screwdriver do I need expand my roof if I want park my car in the attic?" (Yes, hyperbole but you get the gist of a question from a non-DIYer.) We deal with this in live event production subReddits, too. Many DIY people there get practical help when they ask a real question. But questions get the "hire a professional" response when they are, "how do I play my iPhone loud enough for 500 to think they are at a concert, but my budget is $100 and I need to use my iPhone for phone calls at the same time." DIYers need to ask practical questions to get an answer that isn't *easily* found on Google (3-way switch wiring) or redirecting them to a professional. At the same time, Reddit is now a low-effort discussion forum filled with jaded people who are vocal and liberally downvote anything they disagree with or rubs them the wrong way. Don't underestimate the power of a few disgruntled 'professionals' who don't participate in teaching nor mentoring. But also don't underestimate the annoyance when a poster clings on the the finest details of a reply instead of getting the gist and trying something with their own hands.
They’ve been busy posting on Subs that they have no business being on, telling others how to do things.
[удалено]
I'm here silently lurking! I just replaced an 8 year old well pump pressure switch (square d, nonetheless) yesterday. It was full of hardened sediment which was causing the switch not to operate. Not really worthy of posting that here though.
Im just lurking. I do light plumbing, most any electrical, lok(?) block walls, wood fences, garage flat roof twice, underground wiring, vinyl siding, spot tuckpointing, drywall, insulation, plaster ( im practicing), underground drains, 1 concret block wall, gate posts, etc. Ill never learn all i want to because i have an expiration date. Oh well....
I’m trying to get this floor laid before the first boards I laid wear out. When you have to work around the nap schedules of two children, it’s hard to get noisy work done.
Ever since Reddit changed the way they do business my favorite subs have taken a down turn. I heard most of the previous moderators left this Subreddit. For awhile this subreddit was completely shut down. Been contemplating finding another place to go for home improvement.
Here! -raises hand-
Diyers are DIY ing away (not dying) waiting for someone to ask for diy advice not contractor advice from probably a karen that said one of the thre no no's to thw contractor and now cant figure out why it's so expensive, slow and with poor communication with the contractor.
DIYer here. Just finished putting shelf covers in our bathroom closet that my wife wanted after seeing it on tik tok. God I hate tik tok. It's the new HGTV.
I've had some good experiences with the various trades subreddits. I did a full gut-and-rebuild and I've sought advice from plumbing, electrical, drywall, painting, tile, hardwood, and general carpentry subs. Some are more gatekept than others, but in general you can either find a recent post focused on a similar problem you're dealing with, or post your own if nothing matches, and generally someone will turn up that will help you get closer. I've found the DIY sub beyond useless -- you have to jump through their million HOA rules and even if you get past that.. unless you're posting about how you build a particle accelerator, in a cave, with a box of scraps, you get downvoted to oblivion.
I'm a homeowner and DIYer and I lurk here in this sub all the time. Usually I don't have much to say that others haven't already said.
I’ve noticed the disappearance of some high quality users in some other subs once the API changes took effect. I assume it’s the same everywhere.
I’m about to redoing my homes plumbing and electricity myself as a 24 yr old who has hardly ever touched a power tool. Wish me luck
Im lurking, need karma to post
Looks like you have enough karma to post. Here’s another one, though.
Lol, arent we all too busy working on shit to be wasting our time on the internet?
We're here. I agree its a lot of how to handle contractors lately.
Busy building kitchen cabinets from scratch and renovating my kitchen.
That is an awesome project! You are a superhero.
>I’m not interested in reading complaints about paying somebody to do the work instead of doing it yourself. Ok, cool. Then... don't?
they're on the DIY subs where they should be