Loose Ends: Can anybody spare a stud finder?

Talk about it

All the ads say it’s fall home improvement time. I’ve got a honey-do list but no honey.

I’m slowly learning a bit about the basics, but I’ll admit right now to being the original unhandy woman. While I’m not proud of it, I haven’t done much to hone my do-it-yourself skills either.

Electric saws, power drills, ratchet somethings, caulking guns, all the different kinds of screwdrivers and hammers: Those are mysteries to me.

Mysteries I happily left to those who know more than me — but living alone has shown me the error of my ways.

When it comes to home repair I must run to my brother, ask my son, call my daughter (who seems to have a handyperson’s genes in her, thank goodness), and make a pest of myself at work with dimwitted questions.

At my house just pounding a nail in a wall to hang a mirror causes worry and consternation. Which nail or screw will work best? How to tell? Will I hit wiring or water mains? Will there be flames or flooding?

Ladies, if there’s a handyperson in your family, pay attention to how things get fixed rather than fixing their favorite meals.

It’ll be better in the long run, believe me. Anyone can fry a hamburger, but sheet rocking…now that’s a skill I can envy.

There are far too many objects in a house and car that fall down, break down or slow down — and always on the coldest wintry nights or the hottest, stickiest days of summer.

They happen, like life happens, never at convenient times.

There’s a broken doorknob on a bathroom door that needs replacing, a trellis that needs to be cut in half, and a mirror that needs to be hung. Not huge projects, but irritating that I can’t seem to figure out how to do them properly.

They can be done, just not well done. Yet.

I’ve begun to haunt the hardware part of hardware stores, rather than just the gardening areas. The folks at Lund’s Hardware downtown have been particularly helpful. Fred and Yvonne Benson and their crew are the first people I go to with paint and hardware questions.

Last year I decided to buy an electric drill. They knew which one would work best for my skill level and budget, though I have yet to actually drill holes in the walls of my house.

What I need, according to those in the know, is a “stud finder.” Yep, a stud finder. I can’t even think it, much less say it, without laughing. Perhaps I’ll write it down and slip it to Yvonne one of these days.

I wish there was an adult “shop class” in town for us DIY-challenged folks. Home repair classes offered in the Twin Cities at community colleges are hugely popular and I’ll bet they would be here too.

But I will find a way to join the ranks of the fearless. I will pick up my tools, go forward with confidence and, darn it, I will learn how to fix my own stuff.

Tags: opinion, riverfalls, hunter, stud_finder