E2Learn

This category starts with a comment by philosopher Alan Watts (from the "Houseboat Summit" panel discussion in a 1967 edition of the San Francisco Oracle) reflecting a growing sentiment of that time:

Our educational system, in its entirety, does nothing to give us any kind of material competence. In other words, we don't learn how to cook, how to make clothes, how to build houses, how to make love, or to do any of the absolutely fundamental things of life. The whole education that we get for our children in school is entirely in terms of abstractions. It trains you to be an insurance salesman or a bureaucrat, or some kind of cerebral character.

This sadly rings true of society in these times also, and that relativlely simple D.I.Y. task may end up costing you an awful lot in labour costs. The art of maintaning wealth, is not just measured in how much you can earn, but, it is also measured in how much you can save (and we do not mean cutting corners).

In this category you will find a number of guides that are designed to develop skills whether you are thinking of a taking up a career in the construction industry or simply looking to improve your D.I.Y. skills. The category has been developed to cover nearly every aspect of construction training. We will not include any units that involve working on gas appliances, as some things are best left to the professionals.

Everybody is looking to make some home improvements at some time or another even if that’s only to do a bit of decorating whilst many DIY enthusiasts will tackle far more complex projects. Whether you are looking for a career change or looking to improve your own DIY skills, the units in this section have been developed by specific trade professionals and are designed to give you the ability and confidence to carry out your chosen skill.

Trades include:- Bricklayer, Carpet layer, Painter & Decorator, Carpenter, Electrician, Concrete finisher, Fencer, Plasterer, Plumber, Tiler, Roofer, Flagger, etc. Trades people who work in areas such as plastering, plumbing, etc. are getting more and more expensive and what about all those rogue traders, who can you trust?

More and more people are finding that it’s cheaper in the long run to incur the expense of buying a few tools and doing it themselves. In addition, whilst most people will usually have planned for a specific DIY-related job and budgeted for it whether doing it themselves or getting a professional in, what about the emergencies, what if you suddenly get a burst water pipe in your house or your toilet suddenly starts to leak? And you don’t have the skills or knowledge? The fact is that it’s very useful to be able to call upon some basic DIY skills to minimise the cost of calling in the professionals.