I must confess I often have trouble with the word “handyman.”
I have two big issues. One is, all too often the label is thought to refer to someone who is neither highly skilled nor very professional. I often see electricians referring to a lousy job as a “handyman special.” (The word is often used to mean “amateur”). Another complaint I have is how there really are varying degrees of skill levels of “handymen.” Sometimes you will see a handyman with a truck who possesses a serious range of skills. Then there are those who claim to have skills they don’t . . . and then there’s me. I call myself a “low level handyman” to avoid people asking me to build a deck for them. Since there is such a dearth of people who can do much of anything I am constantly having to tell people what I don’t /can’t /won’t do.
That said, there is another issue that no one but me ever talks about. While doctors have very well defined areas of specialties, there is no such thing in the handyman realm. I will give you an example.
It has recently occurred to me that this work diverges into two distinct realms. One is what I call “mechanical fasteners” (meaning screws and nails) and the other is “chemical bonding,” which is about substances like caulk, cement, glue, epoxy, grout, and so on.
I often talk about “working in multimedia” where I’m referring to a job that has one task involving screws, and then another task on same day that involves concrete or a caulking gun or a light switch.
A screw can have challenges of its own, but chemical bonds are so very very different. A screw can usually be undone or redone, but cement, you get one shot and it had better be right the first time. And there is such a science in the concept of “curing.” My whole life I thought paint just dried, I had no idea that the paint actually cures, it reacts with the local oxygen, and temperature has a big effect. I did a paint job in a somewhat cold basement this past year and I was very bothered by the super slow dry (that is “cure” time of the paint, it made for all kinds of issues of dripping that I had never seen before. And brother you had better read that label on the oil paint can, because if you are working outside and the temp ever goes below 50 degrees for the first 24 hours, your whole project is ruined. And when you try to explain this to newer clients they suspect you of just being lazy.
And never mind spontaneous combustion.
And cement . . . It only takes 28 days to fully cure. more or less. what a concept. and the instructions really leave you on your own, with vague concepts like “looks like peanut butter.” In my experience, peanut butter has many different viscosities, so I find it worrisome to have such vague instructions. And did I mention the use of bonding adhesive and acrylic fortifier?? and you have to mix it just so, so you don;t get air bubbles. and never shake a can of polyurethane, that will also give you bubbles. There are entire youtube videos devoted to the avoidance of bubbles. And then there are the ultra vague instructions about how to add water to polymeric sand, printed in small font on the side of a 60 pound paper bag. The reality is, working with “goop” and all its many working times and dry times and cure times requires years and years of experience to have any real mastery. And just this past week I got a lesson in how pressure affects the sanding process of prepping wood you are about to stain. Who knew. It’s not on the can anywhere. You just have to pick it up over time.
I had so many concrete media projects this past year I really had to up my game in that realm . . . I actually had a lovely conversation (read: lesson) with the head guy at quikrete where I really had my eyes opened.
Possessing the needed skills, it’s a little like being a dermatologist and a proctologist. Both are doctors, but it’s two very different skill sets.
