The "Do No Harm" ethic of the professional handyman

 Many people have heard the phrase, "Do no harm," especially in relation to physicians.   But the professional handyman also keeps that ideal close to the chest as we go about our work as well.

Many of us find ourselves doing maintenance work and tasks related to other fields such as plumbing,  HVAC, and electrical systems.  While we ourselves are usually NOT a licensed professional of those fields, we often perform inspection and maintenance tasks of those kinds of systems and devices. 

So, we often are quite familiarized with at least the general concepts and basics of those fields so that while we perform the few tasks we are able to do related to them, we also don't break them or make them worse.  Do no harm.

Water heater draining, furnace filter changing, checking or changing light bulbs, switches, and receptacles, cleaning AC units.  These and many other tasks are projects the professional handyman find ourselves doing frequently.   It's in our own and our customers best interests to have a good understanding of at least the basics of these systems so as to do them correctly.

In fact, many handyman and maintenance training programs in community colleges and other such legitimate training programs require classroom education on at least the "101" level knowledge of these areas in order to graduate or obtain certification. 

Like I said, the point is to Do No Harm.  We want to maintain optimum functioning,  identify issues, and at the very least, don't make things worse.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Beware of YouTube DIY channels

 I am advising a lot more frequently that folks who are looking to do work in their home themselves try to avoid the YouTube "DIY" channels.   Not because DIY is bad or wrong or anything like that, but it seems more and more of the YouTubers are focusing on "hacks" and "tricks" to get things done and it cam end up really badly if we actually try some of that crap. Doing It Yourself, ESPECIALLY where electrical,  plumbing, and HVAC are concerned gets tricky.  Because in many places, building codes get a bit tricky.  In a lot of places, they want permits and licensed tradespeople to do specific tasks regardless of if it's a contracted or DIY project. Sure, we can just do it anyway and figure or hope no one will find out till we're dead or gone.  Happens a lot that way.  BUT... You owe it to yourself to do a project the right way.  Why?  Because you may want to sell that house someday and a mortgage inspection may show that work done and pu...
Read more

Im done with D.I.Y

 I'm not making any more "D.I.Y." content.  Instead, I'm just doing, "D.I" content instead. "D.I" being just "Do It", of course.   My point in saying so is that the algorithms on most platforms seem to have gotten stuck into niches of doing things like, "Woodworking", "DIY" (referring usually to derision or low capability things), and so-called "Pro" stuff which is usually selling something or trying to one-up someone else. Even general "How To" content gets broken into such sub categories for the most part.  Thank God we still have "This Old House", and Norm Abrams that don't patronize us. But that's kind of my point, the fact that there's not much more that has a general, "here's how to do this" than "This Old House" and "New Yankee Workshop" to point out, is disappointing to me. So, I've struggled over the past year or so to make videos ...
Read more

Non powered tools are important too

Image
Non-power tools are just as important to me as power tools.  Maybe even more sometimes. Using a drill or a saw or working on fasteners with anything from a hammer to glue gun, to a rivet gun all saves a lot of wear and tear on my body by reducing or eliminating repetitive work.  Having to do any of these things working on a floor, bent or hunched over kills your back and your knees.  Not only that but it often means your working with a reduced or partially blocked view of what you're working on. Sawhorses, tables, stands and other such tools bring the work off the ground or low area and puts it somewhere you can work better and see what you're doing better. Combine those things with clamps, braces, vises and other "third hand" types of tools and your work is improved by a lot. Sometimes you have to go where the work is, and that means on the floor, the ground, or in a low position that means you have to lean or hunch ove...
Read more