DIY Websites

DIY Home Improvements

Introduction:

On any given day Google will list approximately 9 million DIY websites and another 5 million home improvement websites. The DIY websites craze for DIY home improvements have become the darling of the internet in the past two decades with most of the growth in the last decade. One may ask just how this craze for DIY information and DIY home improvement information came into being. There are several reasons for this DIY website phenomenon.

In the olden days, the time before the internet and digital technology, (only one generation back) our culture, to include our life style and education system, provided for a different educational system whereby skills and competencies were an integral part of our learning. We learned how to maintain our bicycles, automobiles, tools, farm equipment, build homes, and just about everything else from our parents as they had learned from their parents. And to help us out there was self help and the Popular Mechanic magazine that nearly everyone read to stay current on just about everything.   

Then in the 1970’s along came the video home recorder and player, the VCR. It was the first big step in revolutionizing our education system and how we got information on just about everything. The VCR was not just an instrument for entertainment; it became the teacher aid in the classroom and a household informational and educational tool. VCR tapes were available on subjects such as exercising, home building projects, and just about any DIY project and DIY home repair project one could imagine. As digital technology further developed in the 1980’s, VCR’s became more popular for providing vast quantities of information for the DIY homeowner.

Homes that were built in the post world war two housing boom, tens of thousands of them, were nearing forty years old and in need of repairs and upgrades. At home improvement centers the DIY homeowner was able to find information on just about any home improvement project, from plumbing to wall papering. And there was a near endless supply of self help and DIY books covering nearly every home improvement project imaginable.

Then along came the internet which quickly filled the gap between unlearned skills and DIY magazines. By the mid 1990’s DIY and home improvement project websites came into being. Although limited and somewhat crude by today’s standards the internet provided information to anyone who seeks it on just about any DIY and home improvement subject imaginable.

These DIY websites became a magnet for vast numbers of the people that lacked the task skills that their parents and grandparents learned in their culture. The world had become more rushed and social orientated. Our culture and education systems were more centered on teaching social skills and cultural development, leaving little time to teach the practical skill sets needed to sustain life and survive in the real world. The internet now fills the gap between what is no longer taught and the information and skills needed on just about any subject imaginable.

A DIY home owner can find what he needs to know in detailed step by step information along with pictorial images and videos providing instructions on nearly any task. He / she doesn’t have to purchase a $50 DIY home improvement or self help book to find information on a single subject. He /she can get the information free on line and in many cases can purchase a detailed E-book on a particular subject for just a few dollars. 

In addition to the vast resources of the internet, most mainstream media outlets now have extensive DIY shows that focus on home improvement projects as extensions of their websites such as This Old House, Martha Stewart, and the DIY Network. The internet and its nearly 9 million do it yourself websites has been the homeowner salvation for obtaining information on how to perform home improvement tasks. It has also become the information and educational tool that fills the gap of the lost skills that are no longer taught in our culture. That is a brief synopsis of how DIY websites got here and thank you for them.

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