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About-the-House

You're alive. Remember?

Usually when a commercial airs on TV from a North American big box store they show how wonderful they are at helping. It’s all smiles and shiny packaging, and the goal is, of course, to sell you stuff. 

Heck, they will even tell you that if you do it, they will help. Problem is, the salesperson can’t leave the store and go with you to help. That’s why, just after water intrusion, the biggest enemy of all homes is the big box store.

North American DIY products usually take an ‘it does exactly what it says on the tin’ approach, which means that the product does what it claims to do without further explanation needed. For example, how fast and efficient a multi-tool 15-in-1 screwdriver is.

Having been on the tools, and having visited thousands of job sites to witness the aftermath of countless DIY projects, I can tell you that they all have one thing in common: Emotion. 

Emotion reigns supreme in DIY projects. Miscuts cause heartache. Hand injuries are painful. A trip back to the store for a forgotten part is dejecting. The pure joy of reaching 90% completion is cause for a celebratory beer, while reaching 100% completion months or years later goes by unnoticed.

Men build in straight lines. A lot is achieved this way. Straight lines, square angles, power tools, and a buddy can result in an apartment building over a weekend. 

As soon as an arch or a curve is added, productivity diminishes, head scratching starts, and resentment follows. Curves and arches in DIY projects is what krypton is to Superman. 

North American DIY home improvement commercials rarely bring out the emotion of the process. However, in Germany, home improvement chain Hornbach has managed to do just that in their latest video advertisement.

 

Watch the video and you’ll see a naked man plunge into a metaphoric DIY project, and experience the joys and pains and the victory of his DIY journey.

But most of all, you’ll see how his journey has made him feel alive again. 

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.

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About the Author

When you need advice or guidance with DIY home improvement and repairs, Hugh Cairns can help you with the answers.

Home improvements can be rewarding, turn your home into a nicer more comfortable place to live, and increase its value.

Whether you are renovating your kitchen, converting a loft, giving a room a lick of paint or making improvements to your home’s energy efficiency, this column is here to guide you with useful information and key things to remember.

Do you have a renovation question or concern? Please feel free to send Hugh your questions. Contact him through www.subject2homeinspections.com



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The views expressed are strictly those of the author and not necessarily those of Castanet. Castanet does not warrant the contents.

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