"Schneider's glasses"

Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4

DIY stores: favorite haunt of many a DIY enthusiast.(Bild: P. Huber)

Order craftsmen and wait forever or do it yourself and then live with the mess? Author Robert Schneider recently had to ask himself this question. 

You can no longer afford good craftsmen, let alone see them at all in this lifetime. That's what the man in the street says. There's certainly some truth in that. When I wanted to have a roof window installed, I had to reckon with a waiting time of eight months. That made me, who had always been a handyman, simply do a lot of things myself. But learning is learning, and many DIY enthusiasts underestimate that. Me too. It's still a botched job.

My wife has wanted a walk-in closet for many years. I promised her one, consulted a drywall builder and got an estimate. "Do you want Q1, Q2, Q3 or Q4?" he asked me, not taking his cigarillo out of his mouth. I didn't know what he was talking about and asked for clarification. The "Q" referred to the quality of the plasterboard filling. "Q4" is priceless. Neither is "Q3", and "Q2" is starting to really hurt. So I told the cigarillo that I still had to think about it, but I was already determined to do the work myself and even try a "Q4" filling.

Of course, I had to read up on YouTube first. There are endless tutorials on drywall construction. What I like best are the comments when experienced tradesmen moan that "trade secrets" are being revealed and drywall construction is going down the drain.

So, I went to the DIY store, got everything I needed for the drywall system and went back to sleep watching tutorials about tradespeople telling each other what to do. That was at the beginning of January. Simple thing, I thought. I've now reached "Q1". "Q2" will be difficult. I'm not talking about the other "Q's", but I've got time.