Helderberg Resident Starts DIY Project — Immediately Becomes Contractor
What began as replacing a leaking tap on a Tuesday afternoon has resulted in a local resident referring to himself as “effectively a contractor at this point” after consulting nine YouTube videos, purchasing a pipe bender he does not fully understand, acquiring a set of professional-grade fittings when the standard ones “didn’t feel right” and producing a detailed project timeline on a whiteboard in the garage which includes phases, dependencies and a contingency column.
“The tap was just the entry point,” he explained to his wife, who had not asked and who has lived with him long enough to recognise what she later described to a friend as “the look.” The look indicates that a small task has made contact with a larger vision and that there is no retrieving the situation until the vision is either completed or abandoned, either of which will take several months and generate a number of receipts.
By Wednesday he had consulted a plumber for a second opinion, purchased additional tools on the basis that “if I’m going to do this I should do it properly” and made several diagrams on the back of an envelope that he later transferred to the whiteboard. The whiteboard is now very detailed. It has colour coding.
The tap is still leaking. He considers this “phase one, pending materials.” His wife has placed a bucket under it and chosen not to comment further. The plumber he consulted has since quoted for the job, which the resident declined because “I’ve already started.”
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