Don't Be Afraid to Jump In, the Water's Fine

If you are a young professional like myself, then you might find the idea of completing a home repair on your own to be daunting. You might be able to get help from online sources such as Google and YouTube and combine it with conventional wisdom (such as measuring pieces of wood twice before cutting them). You might also be able to ask someone you know who is a handyman to complete the task for you. Fortunately, there is a solution that does not require paying large sums to a contractor or poring through lots and lots of instruction videos:

Manufacturers of home repair goods are helping buyers by not only providing them with in-store demonstrations, but also by selling products that appear to be directed towards novice users. Recently, I purchased a box of cabinet screws from Spax for use in indoor home repairs. I was replacing screws in my cabinet with them using a manual screwdriver and a power drill. This process turned out to be time-consuming, since I was trying to kludge the power drill's slot head bit into the screws' head, which consisted of a six-pointed star. As long as I could keep the ends of the drill bit in two "points" on the screw's head, things worked fine.

It is said that if your only tool is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail. Today, I discovered that the box of cabinet screws came with its own bit for driving the screws into the surface. This was similar to the box of Power Pro exterior wood screws that I had purchased earlier, which also came with a specialized drill bit. A frustrating experience due to the time and effort I had put in for the screws I had already replaced, it shows that there is reason for the inexperienced to be hopeful, even when it comes to home repair.