DIY Projects with Dad

A young boy learning how to be a man from his father is a rite of passage. Part of the learning is typically discovering how to take care of a home, and fix things that are broken, or even build things that would make life easier for everyone. Finding great DIY projects that dads can do with their sons are not only ways to improve your home, but for the parent and child to connect and bond and make memories that will last a lifetime.

There are a lot of projects that dads can do with their sons, you just have to make sure the tasks they are given are age appropriate. For instance, you wouldn’t want to hand a toddler an air powered nail gun or ask a teenager to just sit and hand you screws all day. Make sure that you find parts of the project that you can do with your go green’ , but also things that they can do on their own to learn as well as be part of the team.

Building a back yard porch or deck can be a great DIY project. Depending on how involved or complex you want your porch to be, it can be a weekend warrior kind of thing, or even a month long summer project. If you want to use wood, have your son help you decide if you want to go with a redwood, cedar, or a cypress. Or if you want to have a flat rock patio, let him help out in the design and general layout.

Another manly project is redoing the kitchen. Mom will love this because her kitchen can get a face lift, and doing simple but much needed projects like stripping, repainting or staining cabinet doors can help your home look and function better. You can also replace plumbing and hardware like sink faucets getting upgraded to a Moen Arbor chrome high arc pull-down faucet that will be sleeker in design and easier for cleaning dishes. Bathrooms can also use some upgrades like a cool pebble mosaic tile from Solistone, or DuPont Tuscan Stone Sand laminate for less than $3.50 a square foot. Even younger children can paint cupboards, and older boys will be able to lay tile, and help with the plumbing repairs and upgrades.

Taking some time to help your home ‘go green’ is a fantastic way to spend time with your son. You’re teaching them about being environmentally, and financially aware of their home as well as how to work with their hands and install these modernizations. Although solar panels can be cost effective as well as environmental, they tend to be difficult to install and usually would need a professional. But now Andalay Solar is offering a new panel that doesn’t have the difficult DC wiring or the inverter box that made it more do-it-yourself impossible before. LifeSource Water Systems is another environmental upgrade that allows for healthy water filtration throughout the whole house.

If your son is small and you don’t want to get into big projects, or things that require power tools, try working together on small home repairs. It is not too uncommon in a house to find hinges that need replaced or greased, a step that may need repaired, or even some electronics that may need installed.

*Guest Post by Becky W.