Mr. Fixit
When repairing something around the house, I wonder what the average number of trips the American male makes to the local big box home improvement store is? I’m guessing between 3 and 7. I’m up to four repairing a sink drain. And I’ll probably wind up calling a plumber. Feh.
May 23rd, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Looks like that is about par for that course. I usually get a couple, more or less, of what you’re seeing, depending on what I am fixing. I live about 30 miles from the nearist and maybe 25 from an ace type store. I have gotten to where I store some plumbing supplies of different items I am likely to need here at the Manor House (me ‘casa grandee).
May 23rd, 2009 at 4:11 pm
My version of the Average American Male (who may be just a little autobiographical) has a hard time admitting he went into a task unprepared and, following one trip to Lowes at most, WILL find a way to “accomplish” his task with whatever he happens to have lying around rather than acknowledge that his foresight is as imperfect as everybody’s and he still doesn’t have everything he needs.
This will require a special way of looking at what qualifies as “accomplished” or “fixed” or “unlikely to result in a cataclysmic chain reaction”. Luckily, achieving this unique viewpoint really IS a skill at which he excels.
May 23rd, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Hanging a TV on the wall, with the mount kit already in hand: 3.
May 23rd, 2009 at 10:12 pm
Four trips so far this weekend to wreck out the old fence between our place and the neighbors’, and put up the new one.
I stress “so far”. I think there’ll be at least one more because we’re short a few pickets.
May 23rd, 2009 at 10:43 pm
You people need more storage space, and stop throwing stuff out. My pack-rat tendencies have my average down to 1.5 because I have 1 of *almost* everything gathering dust in the shop.
May 23rd, 2009 at 11:58 pm
One. Except once, two. When I put in the new water heater the new unit was shorter than the old one, and the replacement hoses I bought the first trip were short by 1/4″.
I am *completely* anal about figuring out what I need, calculating material requirements, and usually having a plan B in place ready to go should Murphy step in. Then again, plan B is rare enough that there’s a little corner of my basement that’s beginning to look like a hardware store’s clearance bin… which is why, once, there was a zero trip repair 😀
May 24th, 2009 at 12:03 am
My attempt at hanging some crown molding today (only crown molding!!!!) Was looking like a single trip to Lowes and 2 trips to the local hardware store. Then I screwed up a measurement and need to head back to Lowes for another piece of moulding.
And then I get to the good stuff – hanging some doors. That’ll be a few trips too.
May 24th, 2009 at 12:07 am
As far as the plumbing goes, we had bathfitter in to redo part of the basement bathroom. I did the floor, toilet, and vanities, they did the tub, and things associated with it.
It took them one trip to sell the product, 1 trip to measure, and friday was supposed to be the installation. But the guy left something at the shop, and so he had to leave for an hour to head back and pick it up. And it didn’t work (he was trying to get the old drain out of the tub) and so he ran off to get something else. And then finally, alls being installed and he’s putting tub in and . . . . They mismeasured and will need to reorder the tub.
Which is frustrating, but put a smile on my face that even pros screw up.
May 24th, 2009 at 12:34 am
I need to change the faucet set behind my wall at the bathtub in the master bath. Nothing available on the market today will allow R&R. Ergo, I have already told my family to get lost for a day or two, because I know without a doubt, no matter how careful I am I will always need something else requiring more trips to the store as I dismantle the old to discover how it is dimensionally and design different from what is there.
Then, I have to replace sheetrock, splashboard and tile in this irregular access hole in the wall. So, Uncle any misfortune you wish to share with us will be greatly appreciated as it would certainly make me feel better knowing I was not alone in frustration.
May 24th, 2009 at 12:35 am
different from what I can acquire to replace it. See? Already got me confused.
May 24th, 2009 at 11:49 am
I had to come back to this post because yesterday I installed a ceiling fan and already had all the tools I needed.
Makes me proud to be an American, I tellyawhut.
May 24th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
I generally plan on 2 trips per project. Unless of course the project takes several days to complete, then I figure on one per day.
One per is my personal best, with a single day project requiring 6 trips as my worst.
Mr Fixit
May 24th, 2009 at 8:54 pm
I have been finishing a staircase to our sleep loft that my friend built for the last two weekends. Between the polyurethaning, spackling, sanding, priming and painting I’ve made an average of two trips a day to Home Depot.
May 24th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
The correct formula is: once you have made your last trip and have everything you need, you will need to make two more.
May 26th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
It all depends on your familiarity with the project.
For me, woodworking will require, maybe, one extra trip.
Plumbing: three, possibly four.
Electrical: one.
Irrigation: no telling — five, six, whatever.
Tiling: one.
Painting: one (if by me, none if The Mrs.)
Gunsmithing: zero.