Investing in Your Rented Space

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Oh, what did you watch a YouTube video and then try it yourself? And you said, Actually, I did. That kind of gives me a purpose personally to be able to fix these things for our home. So I opened up the front of the dryer and I used my hair dryer on it and a week later it broke down . I love a home improvement video . Like, you decided to install an entire IKEA kitchen by yourself. And we're having a deal with two hundred and ten packages, and we have to put it all together ourself. You bought an abandoned house and now you're renovating it. There are holes in the ceilings. This is not the only one, but you know, I have faith that I can fix this place up. You're building a tunnel under your home. I cut a hole in my sub basement wall and started cutting into the rock under my house. That ambition is super impressive to me because I will absolutely call in reinforcements to change a light bulb . But it seems like the internet is telling me if you've got a screwdri ver and a dream, you can get some real work done. I'm John Winhill. This is Explained to Me from Vox, and today we're getting handy . But first, I need a little advice from an actual expert. Pam Pybus , host of Fix It one hundred and one on NPB Think Radio here in Jackson, Mississippi. I have gotten phone calls from Korea. Oh , they must be listening online. I don't understand all the technology. I just show up and they broadcast the show. Okay, so how did you get into home improvement? Oh, girl, I grew up in it. Yeah, my daddy was a contractor . So we grew up renovating homes and building houses. I grew up in the day where women definitely weren't doing this kind of thing . So getting into the industry was a bit of a challenge for me . I actually started doing home inspections because I was unemployed. Oh wow. Yeah. And my mother saw an article in the paper and she's like, Pami, you could do that because you grew up with that. So I went and took the test and I went to the class and took the test and came back and I thought, well, why don't I build a business around that? Yeah, I'm curious, you know, you have all these people calling to the show , you work with people in real life , you're a contractor and a home inspector. You see a lot of people and projects up close. Are people rolling up their sleeves more and trying to do it themselves these days? Or are people trying to like leave it to the professionals I think the people in my generation and and I am I was born in nineteen sixty two, so you do the math . I'll just go ahead and tell you I'm sixty four. I think folks in my gener ation, we're kind of used to hiring somebody to come fix it. The problem has been sometimes who's the competent person to hire and we have problems getting competent people to come in. But younger people roll up their sleeves and do it themselves. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. Why do you think that is? I think because they're seeing that they have permission to do that . Because when I started with my house, I've been in my home thirty years . I went out and bought a book to try to learn all the things about my house. Now you just Google it or you go on YouTube. Like the other day I was having problems with my toilet , so I just went online and figured out what the problem was and fixed it myself . Young people are more apt to ask those questions and go to social media to try to figure out how to fix something themselves. And then they get if they paint themselves in a corner and they can't get it fixed, then they can call in nine hundred eleven and get somebody to come over there and help them out with it . My experience has been the younger people. They ask more questions, they're more inquisitive. And now these are the home buyers that I work with that are buying these little cabbage patch houses. And I think some of that's economics '.s exp Itensive to hire somebody to come in and if you're barely getting into a house , you want to learn how to take care of that house for one thing and that's I'm real big on education. Let's teach them how to use the air conditioner . Let's teach them how to take care of the water heater. Let's teach 'em how to change the filters and to check under your counters to make sure that there's no water underneath there. And you end up with a problem that cost you a lot of money when if you just maintained it a little bit at a time, you wouldn't have all those expenses. So I think some of it is more exposure from the internet and some of it is just economics. They just can't they can barely afford to get in the house so they can't really call somebody in to fix the rotten wood. They're going to have to figure out how to do that themselves . Yeah, what do you think of people going on YouTu be or TikTok or whatever app it is and learning to do home improvement stuff from there? I do it . And I've, I mean, I've been a licensed contractor for twenty two years . My dad was a contractor. The beautiful thing about social media is that there are a lot of ways to do the same thing . So why not take advantage of that and learn ? And even if it's the wrong way, I'm still gonna learn something . As an inspector , are you finding more people sort of like doing unpermitted thing? Like is it getting dangerous? Or are people good at staying on the safe side of things? Yeah, a little bit of both. You know, I've gone into houses and I'm like, Oh, pawpaw and a beer has been here today . They have done some things . And a lot of times, to be honest, a homeowner will do a better job than a contractor because they're going slower in taking their time . Some safety things to keep in mind , if you're going to build a deck , get somebody there who knows how to build the structure because deck failures are a big deal . And those are a lot of DIY projects I draw the line on structure . If you're going to do anything structural that's holding people and things up that you love , you need a professional . And then you could come in after that, maybe and put the pretty on it. But those things can be dangerous. Another thing is electrical. Be very, very careful with your electrical stuff because you can do some damage to yourself . I was changing out an outlet in a bedroom and it started smoking and the wires did not look so good. So I stopped, stepped away from it , and hired an electrician to come in to do that for me because wiring behind a wall that is old , is susceptible to damage and can burn your house down . So those types of things , those safety issues , I would really suggest that we not be doing those types of things. If we want to close the skill set gap that we see with people trying to take on more DIY home projects . I'm curious where you think we should start. Look for workshops. I know some of these big box stores will have those . If you can do something hands on and I will tell you this , I have people asking me all the time , teach me how to use a power tool . So I will invite them over . A couple of years ago we built a deck with twenty five women , just women. And I taught them how to use a miter saw and I taught them how to use a drill . Find people maybe in your life and ask them to show you how to do things . And specifically when it comes to power tools , there are so many things that you can do if you know how the proper way to use specific tools . Get a group of people together, ask a contractor to do a workshop with you. It sounds like there's real community in this. Yes . Yes. I believe home maintenance is a community project that there's a way and I love doing projects with people. If somebody wants to paint their house and they call me up, I'm like, I'm in. I'd love to come over because a pizza and a Coke or something and laughing. I did that when I moved into my house , I invited a bunch of people over and I said, I will feed you if you help me paint my house . And it was awesome. We had so much fun . Coming up How to Be Your Own Handy Man It's true that some things change as we get older. But if you're a woman over forty and you're dealing with insomnia, brain fog, moodiness, and weight gain, you don't have to accept it as just another part of aging. And with MIDI health, you can get help and st op pushing through it alone. The experts at MIDI understand that all these symptoms can be connected to the hormonal changes that happen around menopause, and MIDI can help you feel more like yourself again. 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Sign up for your one dollar per month trial today at Shopify. com slash vox business. Go to Shopify dot com slash vox business. That's shopify dot com slash voxbus. I'm Jon Klin and this is Explain It to me Vladimir Serdok knows his way around an apartment. As a handyman in New York City, he estimates he's seen as many as eighteen thousand of them. It would be anything from installing a television to to fixing up dishwashers, fixing doors, hanging doors, adjusting cabinets , replacing doorknobs , fixing up holes, hanging curtains, picture hanging . And it was one such picture hanging job that almost broke them. There was a lady that asked me to hang about forty seven different photos on one wall. Forty seven . Forty seven. And she had a specific pattern of how she wanted this done and I spent almost a whole day measuring and hanging and she came and she was just like , Oh, you're about like two inch off this way . And I had to take everything off . So that led to being like, I can't be moving forty seven pictures every day . So that was kind of the moment. That was about maybe three, four years ago I started thinking about the class . He calls his class back to basics and you need literally zero skills to sign up. We start out with a task right off the bat just to kind of see what everybody can do. The task is always screwing on a piece of sheet rock onto a two foot by two foot metal wall that I built, right? And then we go into just trying to hang all sorts of different things that are there like toilet paper holder, a handicap bar, a TV bracket. What you could do is you could turn the wall around so you could see how the anchors work on the inside . Just see why use a different anchor on a different aspect or a different molly or toggle or so forth. That's our first task. So if you could hang one thing , then you could do your curtains, you could do your television, and you could put shelves up. Everybody wants to learn how to put up a TV . If you could put a TV up, you could put everything else up. Oh yeah, the idea of mounting my own TV , that's like, oh my gosh, 'cause that's definitely something I would call the professionals for. You can do that so easily . Really? Oh my gosh. It's a matter of just simple practice and having someone there to make you comfortable. How did you initially learn the trades? Did you come from a handy family ? So I grew up in what was former Yugoslavia . So everybody's just handy, right? So we grew up on a farm was. Theren't there wasn't any like TV time. You just help. You know, like, no matter how old you are, you if you can hold something for your father or your uncle or neighbor, you hold on, you just watch and you slowly , the older you get, they give you more responsibility. Does it feel like very different from sort of how people approach it here in the US? Everybody around the world's handy except here. Ooh , it's true it's true. You go to secondary or third world nations, everybody has to figure out ways, right? Here we have the luxury of paying someone in a trade for the most part . So there is a big difference. And also technical schools are much more popular there as opposed to here. Say there's someone who doesn't know a hammer from a screwdriver and they're like, okay, I need to put together my first toolbox . What are the essentials? What are some things every person should have at home? A really decent screwdriver. A screwdriver that can be a Phillips, could be a flathead . You need, I would say at least two pairs of they're called channel locks, just pair of pliers . Everybody should have what's called a five in one . A five in one is a little painter's tool, right? So it's got five different options of things that you could do. You could scrape the wall a little bit, you could clean your brush with it, you can clean the roller with it, and everybody needs a drill. You need a drill, and not an electric one, a battery operated one because electric drills are too strong and people end up you can break your wrist on an electric one. Oh, wow, okay . What are some of the basic repairs that a tenant should know if they're in an apartment? I'll give you some of the experiences that I've had . I've had people call me that their curtains have fallen off in middle of the night . If I could come and help them put up the curtains, I feel like that's something everybody should be able to do. It's a matter of putting in four screws into a wall to be able to have curtains and not bother your super for such a simple, simple concept . I think clogged sinks. Everybody needs a plunger. Everybody should own a plunger in their life , learning how to shut off your own valves, right? So God forbid there is a flood in your apartment just to know how to shut off like your toilet is overflowing. If you just shut the water off to it, your toilet stops overflowing. So you're not putting anybody in a panic because water does a tremendous amount of damage. How do you do that? How do you turn the water off? I realize that Berkley seems like a very basic question, but where do you go to do that? So if you look at your toilet, right ? Look either to the bottom left of your toilet or the bottom right of it, there's going to be a pipe and a little braided hose that goes up towards your tank. Oh it's just a little round valve . Lefty loose,y right,y tidy,, right? So if you want to turn water off, you turn it to the right. If you want to turn the water on, you turn it to the left. Okay . And then for the sink, say I have a clogged sink, what is my first step? Do I pull out the draino ? Do I get out a plunger? I assume I have a special sink plunger versus a toilet plunger. You could depends on your hygiene preference, I guess . But to eliminate any of those calls, just get a decent sink strainer. Sink strainers help a lot. They catch hair. So like, for instance, like a kitchen sink would need an inch and a half sink strainer . A bathroom sink needs an inch and a quarter. It just uses different sized plumbing and tubs use like a two inch. Those help a lot. Okay , let's say that my microwave is acting weird. It's on the older side, five years old. Do I call someone about it or do I just need to like fold and get a new microwave? You fold? How do you know when to fold them? So a microwave's either going to work or it's not going to work . When a microwave burns out, it just doesn't work anymore. It would cost more money to have someone come look at it than it would to buy a new one. Oh yeah, any appliances that's over seven years old and you think it's acting up, just don't get it repaired unless it's like a sub zero refrigerator . So let's say I want to install a dimmer switch for my lights. You know, I want to create some ambiance , but I am not an electrician. Is that something I need to call a handy man for or is it okay for me to do it myself? Can I tackle it myself? So electricity is nothing but black and white. That's literally the two wires that are inside the wall. You'll see a green wire, which is the ground , you should definitely be able to put a dimmer in yourself. All you have to do is if you have a little tester, right? A tester is a ten dollar battery operated thing that you take, you turn it on, you touch a wire with it and it will beep. If it beeps, it's live. Now it's not going to tell you what's there for voltage, but it's going to tell you something is or isn't energized. So it tests the voltage from the outside. That says it's hot. And it also will test out anle, butt again, you gotta make sure you're in the hot side of the outlet. If you want to do your own dimmer, go to your panel, your circuit breakers , have someone hold that tester next to the switch that you currently have, and keep switching it off. When it stops beeping, you can take it apart and you'll notice that on a switch there's nothing but a black and white wire and you just have to connect the dimmer wires to those wires. It's really simple . I know I say it's really simple, but like when someone sees it the first time they're like that's it. What's it like seeing someone seeing that light bulb go off for someone? Seeing them be like, Oh, wait, I can do this myself. It's rewarding. It's extremely reward ing to know that someone can do this on their own. I think it also bridges the gap between people that are of blue collar and people of white collar, right? Sometimes you walk into a house or an apartment and people are like, well, why is it so much money for you to do this? And I think showing people that don't work in a trade certain difficulties of why something takes a certain length could also bridge a gap of understanding each other. So bridging that gap a little bit also puts people at ease a little bit when someone walks into your house and is saying like, well, this is this, this, this and this. And you're like, I don't know if that's true . So how do you go from knowing your way around a drill to full on DIY expert? That's next. Trying to locate news sources that reliably separate fact from fiction can, seem like looking for a a needle in haystack. That's why the Guardian is launching Stateside with Kywright and Carter Sherman, a conversation with experts who slow down the news and wrestle with the questions we all have about what's actually happening in the world ? Three times a week, hosts Kai and Carter utilize all the reporting resources the Guardian has to discuss the news, international affairs, climate, culture, sports, lifestyle, fashion, and wellness . And the Guardian is not billionaire owned, meaning they're free to report the whole picture without interference. Go to the guardian dot com slash stateside to learn more. And listen wherever you get your podcasts or watch on YouT ube. That's the guardian dot com slash stateside . We all have to drink water , and staying hydrated is one of the simplest ways to feel your best . But come on , how is your relationship with water really ? Are you getting enough from it? Is it satisfying you? Or is drinking it becoming a chore ? Here's a tip to spice things up . Hint water with delectable flavors like watermelon, Georgia peach, even lemon zest freeze, hint is water that will make you desire . No sugar, no sweeteners, no calories . It just goes to show . Sometimes the right hydration partner changes everything . Try hint , available at drinkhint. com and in stores nationwide . JQ back with more explain it to me. Have you ever seen someone's apartment and thought wow, you really made this your home ? That's the vibe you get when you see Emani Kill's DC apartment . She's got gorgeous wallpaper, incredible shelving , intricate light fixtures, and mirrors that are placed just so . What's even more impressive is that she did almost all of it herself . So I built an entertainment system in my living room out of literally I took it from about five or six sheets of plywood to a beautiful I love you so much piece, that is like the anchor of my space . I did this wallpaper right here. This is about a thirty foot hallway and I wallpapered the entire thing . I have painted every room, I installed new like pale and stick floor tiles in the kitchen for most of the things in here, if it is required to be built , I built it. I do everything . This isn't just Ymani's home, it's also how she makes a living . She posts about her RINOs on social media. I have started working on the final room in my apartment, which is the living room. Real live, quick and dirty update on my kitchen. I'm starting to put that together today That kitchen is my favorite. It's the kind of space where you would love to serve your friends a meal. She installed the cabinets herself and painted them this super rich red color . That kitchen was so ugly when I got here . Basically what happened was there was a mouse and you know when there was one mouse there's mice and there was a colony of mice living in the wall behind my kitchen and because there was a little teeny tiny hole , they were able to come through there and play hop scotch in my kitchen and I wasn't having that anymore . So my best friend and I one day we may or may not allegedly took a Dremel and carved out where we thought they were coming from and then pulled all the cabinets off of the wall to then confirm where they were coming from and then eventually ripped out the entire kitchen. How is your landlord cool with this? They weren't cool with that. Let me be very clear. They weren't . But if there is a significant mice problem and you are not addressing it, I am going to make it so that now we can't go back, we have to go forward . So it became a situation where they were like, okay, we'll give you a credit to fix the problem and then you can fix it yourself. And I said, fine. And they rebuilt the floors and rebuilt the wall. And then I came in and purchased the cabinetry , painted it, purchased the fridge, put everything on the wall, and made it look how it looks today. You've invested a good amount of your own money into your apartment. How much? Ooh , I haven't calculated this yet because I'm embarrassed . Over three years and a lot of this is stuff that I will take with me . Maybe thirty, thirty five . Okay, some people are gonna hear that and be just shook . What do you say to them why you're pouring so much investment into a thing you don't own technically. Number one, I live here and I think that I deserve to have a beautiful space to live in. I'm not going to sit in something that's ugly just because other people would be upset about how I spend my money . Number two, I was able to turn this into a career . So I have made significantly more money by doing all of these things than I have spent on the apartment. And number three, it's like some people have hobbies where they will go out and tinker with a car. Some people want to go to a run club, some people want to play pickleball. I want to learn how to use a circular saw and build furniture in my apartment . I want to run around the entirety of the East Coast and buy furniture off of Facebook marketplace and re upholster the cushions and make it look pretty. This is my hobby. What's the hardest task you've done? Plumbing. Ooh, what about plumbing? All of it. Water is scary. Water sometimes does not act the way you think it's gonna act or something doesn't work the way you think it's gonna work. And the potential for damage that can come from water to me is a lot greater than other things. You know, years ago when I was doing a DIY project not at my house but at my mother's house, I accidentally turned the stop valve and the water just was shooting . Oh , and it was dripping down the chandelier in her living room onto the floor . Oh my gosh. Place all the hardwood floor. Oh my gosh. So like, yeah, with that, you know, 'cause I could hear someone saying hearing this and being like, ooh, this is intimidating . Like, yeah, it is . I think I know my limits, you know, I can replace a vanity change out like a bathroom sink . But say for example, my sink in my kitchen, the copper pipes needed to be replaced, and I recognized that that was something that was too much for me because I'm not going to come in here with the blow torch and get it hot and solder and put the copper pipes the cop I'm not doing it . I called a very nice man to handle that . You know, you pour all this time and money into an apartment but But on the way out, you're going to have to undo so much of it. How do you think of that? How does that feel? Feels fine . Because we all know people who get so excited about buying a house, then they buy the house and the house is hideous. They keep the same teeny tiny IKEA couch. They never get a bigger rug, they never move in . And it always feels like, oh, well , you know, when the next person is here when I move for the resell value . And I'm like, even after spending all of this money, you're still not living in your home to the fullest so that you can make sure that your home will be nice for the person that you might sell it to in twenty five years . I have every intention of living the life that I was granted to the fullest , I am going to do everything that I want, everything that is within my means and is possible for me to have a good life . And if that means that I have to spend a couple of days after I don't know five years of enjoying the same apartment, taking the wallpaper down like okay , sure, whatever. A lot of things that I put up in here can very easily be taken apart. Like I built this entertainment system, but I built it in five pieces that can easily be taken apart and walked out of this apartment and then moved into wherever I moved next And that's it for this week. We're working on an episode about handwriting. We want to know. Do you still write actual notes ? And are we losing something when we give that up to emails and text? Call us at one eight hundred six six one eight five four five or email us at ask vox at vox dot com Sorry, you can't write us a note for this one . If you're already a Vox member, thank you so much . If you're not and you're getting FOMO about all those ad free episodes, head over to Vox dot com slash members to learn more.