YouTube is a great source of information for just about anything.
A couple of years ago, I had a car that the upper ball joint failed. And the car was old enough and inexpensive enough ($1,100) that I didn’t want to pay a garage to put in a new one ($250-$300). I was getting ready to scrap it when a couple of searches on YouTube motivated me to do it myself.
Press in ball joint, the part cost me $23. The big box auto parts stores will loan you the necessary tools with a “deposit” (you basically buy it, use it, and return it to get you get your money back).
All said and done, I spent $23, an hour of my time (45 minutes of that was trying to press the new ball joint in evenly), and learned about thermal expansion in the process (put the ball joint in the freezer, heat up the bracket with a torch, and it went in like a champ).
Similarly, I had to replace a broken area of drywall but the repair was nowhere near a stud. Watched a video of some guy cutting a square hole in the drywall (6” square), cutting an oversized piece of drywall (8” square) to replace it, and then removed 2 inches of the drywall from each side of the new piece, but left the backing attached to the new piece (if that makes sense). The new 6” piece fit into the wall cavity, and the attached paper gave it a more flush look once the mud was feathered on.
And that’s the (I think) real benefit to YouTube.
Sure, some of the official videos from a company pitching their product are pretty straightforward and don’t “cut corners”, but there’s always a few tips and tricks to pick up from a BillyJoeJimBob type that posts a video of him changing out or repairing his _____ and saves you time, hassle, and money.
A couple of years ago, I had a car that the upper ball joint failed. And the car was old enough and inexpensive enough ($1,100) that I didn’t want to pay a garage to put in a new one ($250-$300). I was getting ready to scrap it when a couple of searches on YouTube motivated me to do it myself.
Press in ball joint, the part cost me $23. The big box auto parts stores will loan you the necessary tools with a “deposit” (you basically buy it, use it, and return it to get you get your money back).
All said and done, I spent $23, an hour of my time (45 minutes of that was trying to press the new ball joint in evenly), and learned about thermal expansion in the process (put the ball joint in the freezer, heat up the bracket with a torch, and it went in like a champ).
Similarly, I had to replace a broken area of drywall but the repair was nowhere near a stud. Watched a video of some guy cutting a square hole in the drywall (6” square), cutting an oversized piece of drywall (8” square) to replace it, and then removed 2 inches of the drywall from each side of the new piece, but left the backing attached to the new piece (if that makes sense). The new 6” piece fit into the wall cavity, and the attached paper gave it a more flush look once the mud was feathered on.
And that’s the (I think) real benefit to YouTube.
Sure, some of the official videos from a company pitching their product are pretty straightforward and don’t “cut corners”, but there’s always a few tips and tricks to pick up from a BillyJoeJimBob type that posts a video of him changing out or repairing his _____ and saves you time, hassle, and money.