Fix It Mom! Who Does the Repairs in Your Home?

As a military wife if I had to wait for my husband to be home to fix things my house would be falling down around me. Thank goodness for my dad who had the forethought to teach me basic automotive and home repair skills just in case.

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ME!!! i have the tools my husband has none. but i have to laugh at friends when they come over and ask for a hammer. i simply ask them if they want my hammer or my husband's hammer. most say my husbands and change their mind when i bring out a little kids hammer!! i also pay the bills and am in charge of the house. but my husband is a very very good provider and works all hours so i can stay at home!!

Mostly me! My mom taught my sister and I to be handy very early on in life. My dad was never a "handy man" type, and she said we needed to learn in case we also married non-handy men. Low and behold, my husband is not! He is wonderful and helpful with SO many things (he loves to do laundry...AMAZING!), but if something needs to be fixed or put up, that's my domain. I hung all of our blinds in our house, fix the toilets when there is a problem, putty holes and paint, etc. For the most part, I like doing those things, and I feel confident while doing them, so why not?!?! :)

You sound pretty normal to me!! lol - I did all the more traditional sahm work as well as gardening, paying bills, taxes, repairs, reroofing the house, painting, errands, kid stuff, home business..... I loved knowing I could do all those things and whereas it was taxing at times, I have come to completely appreciate having the know-how to do so. I also loved the feeling of the sense of accomplishment. (hubby helped too but his at-work hours were long) I think it really comes to what works for you and life at home. I caution though, to be sure to check in along the way to reevaluate so you can keep things in balance for everyone.

Neither of us are very handy, and with the kids it is difficult to get enough time to work on project, so we have a handyman that helps us out with virtually anything that requires more than a hammer or an electric screwdriver.

I do 99% of the grocery shopping, unless hubby wants some red meat, then he has to come with me to make sure I get enough :)

I do the bill paying, but we discuss them beforehand. I don't have a green thumb, but I cut the grass (when it is not raining and both kids are actually napping at the same time, so right now our grass is almost a foot high.) We'll be seeking out a landscaping service this week, since it's getting out of hand.

I'm just like you. I do pretty much all the work around the house. I mow the lawn, cut the hedges (he helps me with this one), do small repairs, painted almost the entire interior of the house. I also take care of our finances, taxes, etc. I consider this to me part of my job. I'm a SAHM and taking care of the kids, the house, the garden and our finances is in my opinion my job. I also enjoy doing the repair work, painting and refinishing. I do all the work during the week and when the weekend comes around we truly have time for ourselves and the kids. I wouldn't want it any other way.

I am 99%! He will do a bit of the heavy lifting if that is required but I do everything around our house. I grew up with a single mother and started doing all that stuff very young. Which is lucky because my guy can't even figure out how to hookup the cable box by himself!
As far as everything else. I have been a sahm mom off and on in the last 4 1/2 years and have also been going to school. He is happy and willing to work consistantly of which I am very thankful. Other than that and taking out the garbage I also do everything else reguarding the house: clean, finances and bills, planning, shopping, and all care of the child.
It just works best this way. He does not like any of that stuff, nor is he very good at much of it lol, and I need to know how things are being done anyway, so it works well for us. Maybe not for everyone else?

You do what works. We both do some of each. I am more detailed, so I do the detail stuff... he does the work that requires more strength... he also grocery shops, does laundry, vaccuums, does dishes etc.. I cook, get oil changes, clean bathrooms... pretty even. You do what works for you! Interesting!

I do! With the fact that my husband drives a truck over the road is not home as much as either of us would like, I get to do just about everything around the house. He will help if he feels like it and feels like he knows what he is doing. For the most part it falls to me. The best way to put it is that he told me once that he wanted a surround sound stereo system, I told him that was ok and that he could get one. He looked at me and said "If you will install it, I will agree to get it." We now have a surround sound stereo system.
If it has to be done around here, I do it. That includes the maintence on the law equipment.
Glad to see that we are not alone!

My dad taught me to be handy, so when I was married I did most of the repairs around the house. (My husband was usually working, not unhelpful.) Now that I'm divorced, I do ALL the repairs. If I can't handle them I hire someone. I think it's great you're a Mrs. Fixit! I've taught both my daughters to rely on themselves to fix things. My older daughter installed a new shower head in her condo and fixed the toilet the first week she was there. It's good to be handy!

All of your list is my husbands work...I'm a sahm he doesn't expect me to do any of this I may mow when I want to or for the extra hands.I have my work with the kids, shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry he touches non of this stuff so when it comes to I guess with labor intensive back breaking work that is all my husands work he works countless hrs outside the home but he also "always" does work here at home...

I wish I was "handy", I am not...and neither is my hubby. He can do any and all computer work and electrical and we call my BIL for anything mechanical or that has to do with the cars...but for most things we hire a professional!

I'm typically the "fix it" person in our house. Not always, but I am more comfortable jumping into those kinds of things. I was never "taught" any of it, but my Dad was (and still is) pretty much the type that can figure stuff out or get a book and look up how to do something and then give it a go. I learned a lot of confidence from his letting me "help" when I was younger. My husband can do a lot of things, but prefers not to. As in, he would rather hire someone to come do a plumbing repair rather than spend his entire day off work elbow deep in a mess and then us frustrated with each other and tense all day wondering if we can get it put back together. lol.
I'm the one who: buys unfinished desks/bookshelves and sands and paints/stains them; Gets a plan for building a wall flat mounted coat rack and goes to Home Depot to buy materials/supplies and plans it all out, then does it (except when I couldn't get the drill to screw in the screws without stripping them, so hubby had to do it for me by hand); patches the limestone floors or grout lines; paints the rooms when things need updating; replaces the doorknobs when the inside mechanism breaks; hooks up the wiring for the electronics when we move or rearrange the furniture, etc. I also do the bill paying, budgeting, tax and financial planning prep work, keep the pool sparkly and not green, and keep track of all the kids' stuff (school, allergist appts, karate x 2, piano) and the dog (and her meds). And of course, keep the house running relatively smoothly (groceries, meals, laundry).

Hubby does help with laundry when I get behind, and he will grill the main dish for dinner or make a salad to go with dinner when things are hectic... and he takes care of the yard (grass care mostly: fertilizer, bug stuff, watering schedule, edging, etc). He also will occasionally give in and do something because I ask him, rather than calling a repairman first (when the washer wouldn't drain, I looked online and found what I thought might be the problem, and he agreed to remove the front panel and open it up to find the filter. It was AWESOME! We found so many things in there.... pencils, pocketknives, jewelry, coins, hahahah. Then he put it back together for me.) But he also has been known to take wet clothes to the laundry mat and dry them for me while I waited for the new dryer delivery after my old one died.

I think couples work to their strengths. I like to FIX things. I really do. I don't know why (barring pure muscle strength) I should hire someone to do something that I can watch over their shoulder and KNOW what they are about to do! Hubby works long hard hours at a stressful job, and often would prefer just to have the job TAKEN CARE OF. He makes a good salary, so generally it isn't a problem. But I didn't grow up in a family that called a repairman for much, so I tend to give it a shot on my own, and if it doesn't work... then I'll call someone.

I don't think I'm unusual. I think today's women tend to be a lot more self sufficient than previous generations are made out to have been. Granted, the previous generation were probably even MORE self sufficient in a lot of other ways that we don't realize, but I just don't know many women today who need a man to fix small things around the house. We just do what we see needs doing and get on with life.

I do all repairs, maintenance, remodel, cleaning, cooking, & errands *except*... my H mows the lawn & does evening dishes. He will sometimes join me in the remodel stuff. About 1 hour per 20 of mine

My husabnd can do and does a lot. However, he needs me to get on his case before he starts a project. He procratinates beyond belief. So, I would say I do 75-95% of home repairs and maintanance. I jus tlearne dhow ot fix a leaking faucet and patched a drywall hole in our garage this week.

If I nag my husband enough to fix something that I cannot, he eventually will fix it if he knows how. Yesterday, I painted my living room and foyer. My hubby did the ceiling. I'm a much better painter than he is, so I try to do most of the painting in the house, but I hate painting the ceiling, so he was kind enough to help me. I usually mow the lawn and hedge, and I tune up the lawn mower. I wish I were more mechanically inclined, but my talents are limited. So, when we have a project that neither of us can do, we call the pros. As far as the bill paying, laundry, cleaning, cooking, bathing the kids, budgeting, grocery shopping--it's all up to me. I CAN ask him for help, but he does a half/half job or procrastinates. Thank goodness he's the breadwinner though:)

I definitely do all of the repairs and assembly work in our house. The joke in our familly is that while we were dating I assembled one of those quick put together TV stands for his sister who was moving into a new apartment. The fact that I put it together myself (when everyone knew my husband couldn't have done it) made my father in law say "she's a keeper". My husband has come along way and now tries to do things once in awhile, but it's usually me.