Men and home repairs.........

**WV_mom_of2** · 03-10-2010, 11:45 AM

ok not men really, my dh! I love this man to pieces. He is my soul mate. He's a wonderful husband and father, works hard for the family, etc. So why can't he take a little time and pride in home repairs? Why does he feel that he has to do it as fast and easy as possible and to hell with it if it looks like crap? Paint a room, sure why not? But don't just paint the walls. Oh no, leave drops of paint on the floor, the sink, whatever.

I asked him to put new caulking around the two bathtubs and around the sink in the kid's bathroom. Did an ok job on the tubs. Doesn't really matter as we never have overnight company and I have shower curtains that cover it up. But the sink? It's in the guest bathroom. We are having a huge graduation/18th birthday party for dd in May and I wanted it done so that it looks nice. Didn't get it LOL. I went in there this morning and what a mess. It's on the sink, it's on the wall. It's wide in some spots, narrow in others.

Now I'm left with the decision of asking him to re-do it or waiting until a day when he's not home and just doing it myself. Like I don't have enough to do to get ready for this party with going back to work in three weeks, etc.

**Greebo** · 03-10-2010, 11:56 AM

Man Rule #3: If you don't want to do it, but have no choice, do a crappy job, so you won't be made to do it again.

**Russ** · 03-10-2010, 12:17 PM

What he said.

although I do like to paint and hate the clean up, so I would do a good job.

**frugalwarrior2** · 03-10-2010, 12:25 PM

When i got married I told my DH I would never fix anything or assemble anything. I do everything else because he travels. He never shops.cook,plates his dinner,pays bill or cleans.

So,I learned long ago this technique. If my DH stalls or won't do a repair correctly I say. "That's ok honey I know you tried your best. Some guys computer geeks (which he loves to be called) and some guys are ggod w/ their hands. I will call (said repair party) and get an estimate. It's worth it not to waste your time but we unfortunaltely aren't going to be able to afford ...(something he wanted like a magazine sub. or club dues at the shooting range) because it's true. I have actually had to get someone on the phone but he always does it or redoes it.
One thing I know is he's cheap (squeaky as he says)
Your backing down and doing it yourself,therefore allowing him an out.

**WV_mom_of2** · 03-10-2010, 12:58 PM

Ok so I'll make him do it again. He is very stubborn so it will most likely just end up as bad as it is now or worse. But I'll make him do it.

**frugalwarrior2** · 03-10-2010, 01:03 PM

make him make him by picking up that phone.

**McD** · 03-10-2010, 01:24 PM

I waited for a month for hubby to fix the toilet. He kept telling me he would fix it, never got around to it. Leaky toilets make your water bill increase tremendously.

So I gave him one more week, printed out a list of leaky toilet fixes, went into the bathroom in some shorty shorts, bent very far over (in his line of sight) and started making lots of ruckus and noise while doing very minimal work. (I.e. lifting the lid from the tank of the toilet while splashing water. Few minutes later he came in and fixed the toilet.

Later that month when he suggested we go to dinner and a movie, told him sorry but we had to spend extra on the water bill this month and I just didn't think we could swing it.

He is much faster at getting things done now.

**Russ** · 03-10-2010, 01:26 PM

Such a subtle woman.

**Greebo** · 03-10-2010, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by MrsMcDowell

Later that month when he suggested we go to dinner and a movie, told him sorry but we had to spend extra on the water bill this month and I just didn't think we could swing it.

He is much faster at getting things done now.

Never talk to my wife.

Ever.

**McD** · 03-10-2010, 01:31 PM

Originally Posted by Russ

Such a subtle woman.

It works for us. Hubby needs (ahem) visual reminders to get the job done sometimes.

ETA: RUSS! That picture is my profile pic on FB. I love that movie so much.

**WV_mom_of2** · 03-10-2010, 01:42 PM

But you know, here's the thing..........

He never has to ask me to.......

cook his meals
do his laundry
clean the house
go to the grocery store
fill the car up with gas
pay the bills
be quiet during the day so he can sleep
give up my summers to work to help us pay off bills
pack his lunch, etc. etc etc etc etc

It's one thing to ask him to do it once. It's entirely another to have to ask him to re-do something he should have done right the first darned time!

and the calling someone to do it thing wouldn't work here. My dh doesn't ask for things so there is nothing to bribe him with. And if he calls my bluff there is no money to hire someone to do it anyway.

And if I went in there and started pretending to fix it he'd go outside until he figured I was done LOL.

**WV_mom_of2** · 03-10-2010, 04:07 PM

Ok here's our conversation this evening......

Me- Do you really think you did the very best job you could on that bathroom sink?

Him - (big sigh) no, probably not

Me- I'm sorry but I think it looks like crap. I thought the point of home improvements was to make the place look better and that just does NOT look better. That's the guest bathroom, you know, the one people will be using during dd's graduation party.

Him - well I'm not done yet. I'm going to take my knife and scrape it off the sink, etc. after it dries.

Me- Fine, but if I still don't like the way it looks do you promise to totally redo it?

Him- Yes

Why do I feel like I have another child??????

**McD** · 03-10-2010, 04:23 PM

Originally Posted by WV_mom_of2

He never has to ask me to.......

cook his meals
do his laundry
clean the house
go to the grocery store
fill the car up with gas
pay the bills
be quiet during the day so he can sleep
give up my summers to work to help us pay off bills
pack his lunch, etc. etc etc etc etc

I have been fighting this battle with hubby for months. We had just go done discussing the whole "I am not your mother I should not have to tell you what needs done" to which he replied "I'm not psychic, I don't know what needs done" when he asked me where his cleans pants were.

I used my 'psychic abilities' to tell him that since all of his pants were dirty on the floor of our bedroom, they never made it to the laundry room where I would have 'pscychicly' known to wash them.

**MomToTwoBoys** · 03-10-2010, 04:29 PM

You guys are lucky. I can't get the hubby to do anything! The last thing he did do was swipe my hose clamp from my rain barrel and use it to fix the thumping in the kitchen sprayer.

I keep asking him if he wants to do anything, but his complaint is that he works his butt off during the week and has no energy for anything on the weekend. I understand that, which is why I'm at the helm of the home renovations.

I asked him to fix the hole in the drywall behind the bathroom door. It's still there. I ask him to hang the prehung doors. They aren't done. He's like 'Well, we'll wait for my dad to come and help us.' and I go 'I have this Home Depot book in my hand that tells me how to do it, so let's do it.' I think he's really afraid of messing up. Me? I'm not.

DH watches Holmes on Homes and so do I, so he knows that if he messes up then I'm gonna call him on it.

**JerryG** · 03-10-2010, 04:32 PM

MrsMcDowell - You are TOOO funny! Thanks for the laugh!

When I was married - I didn't argue. I'd ask once and if it didn't get done, I'd do it myself. Hence, I'm no longer married.