Service is expensive in France. Gone were the days when I used to call the family handyman to fix things in the house. Gone were the days when I would pay an affordable amount (even with my then measly salary), to paint, to assemble Ikea furniture, to get some minor plumbing or electricity job done. Over here, you 'get down' to it yourself!
When I was back home in Malaysia, I never did any work, except of course the work I have to do to earn money! I never did my own laundry, I didn't need to cook, I didn't need to make up my bed, I didn't need to iron clothes, do the dishes... nada! It helped that I was mostly living at my parents! Wati, our lovely maid, was my PA, butler and confidant! None of that here, mate. Unless you live-in the Elysée Palace or belong to the Rothchild family, no one really has a live in full-time helper. It would just cost too much for the average family, and plus, you would be entagled with strict employment laws left, right and centre! So, I say again, over here, you work your butt off for that job to be done or get things fixed.
Since I arrived here, I have done all of the above plus... steam off stubborn wall paper from walls; used a fancy sanding machine to sand numerous things including again, walls, dressed in workman overalls, complete with goggles and mask; layer walls with an umpteenth number of paint coating; assemble numerous Ikea furniture and objects (yes, I did the impossible... ); helped to install clip-on wood flooring, use cement and special tools to fill-up holes and recently, gardening. And I mean getting on all fours to get rid of weeds! This list, I assure you, will not be exhaustive!
For the most part though, it is my husband and his brico-savvy dad who does the more complex work, especially those requiring drilling. My father-in-law has paved tiles to the floor for his son at numerous location, he has changed door handles, fixed an old but trency-again toilet flushing system, and many other more difficult work requiring precision. My husband, on the other hand, has sawed-off doors, fixed our new locking system, the alarm system, changed water taps, install/remove big kitchen appliances, fix a malfunctioned washing machine and the list goes on...
As you can see above, my FIL, Jean, who is reaching 75, but still fit as a fiddle, is in the midst of fixing our new gutters.
This is the reason why DIY shops flourish alongside hypermarkets in France. In my considerably small region there are two giant names in DIY in France - Leroy Merlin and Mr. Bricolage, and I could name many many other shops found here which is related to DIY. Getting someone to do it is just too expensive. That's why the French don't have enormous shopping malls for people to kill time in! There are just so many things that have to be done yourself that will occupy your free time.
Laying wood floors and removing wall papers and painting, just for the living room, would have costed us over 6000 euros, excluding any materials needed to be purchased. We saved that amount simply by reading the instructions included and doing it ourselves... and of course broke our backs in its course ;).
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