No, but I service all my bikes (and my brother services his own cars, motorcycles, boats and planes as he's a master mechanic, unfortunately lives too far away for me to benefit
). I know a few people that would call a CI, but not many. Do you have some stats on CI vs diy?
I'm not talking about master mechanics, I mean 'weekend warriors' and those who don't know which end of a screwdriver to pound on.
Think about the questions asked on AH and tell me the ones asking about something for the millionth time should be doing their own drilling, cutting, making electrical connections, etc.
Are consumers trained to do ANY of this stuff? Maybe, if they have done it in a job but generally, there's no guarantee they know much, if any, of the techniques needed. How many people ask questions that can easily be found in the manual? Most of the ones who ask basic questions.
How many end users know how a house might be constructed? It's not all 2x4s and drywall- Ihave worked in homes that had wooden framing, metal framing, stacked terra cotta blocks covered with plaster over mortar, stick frame with rigid insulation, metal screen and plaster, wooden paneling, boards, etc covering walls & ceilings. How would a novice deal with this stuff without damaging something that may not be replaceable because of its age or if it's an uncommon material?
Then, there are building and electrical code considerations- if someone drills or cuts out the bottom 1/3 of a floor/ceiling joist in order to run cables or install conduit, they have violated the building code because that can cause structural failure if the holes are near the middle of the span between points of support. How will they make their connections? Will they take it upon themselves to connect to the electrical wiring if they want another junction box?
Can you be more specific about the stats you're looking for?
AFAIK, there are no organizations that train DIYers to do this stuff and if people are using This Old House and the other DIY shows for info, I would suggest looking somewhere else- I saw an electrician bend an HDMI cable and yank on it to get it through a hole when he was hanging a TV and I can guarantee that the cable needed to be replaced at some point because it wasn't one of the skinny ones that could tolerate bending in that way. CI have CEDIA, which I'm not a huge fan of and for those who deal with more industrial/commercial/government low voltage work, BICSI is a far more advanced training organization that's very network-intensive.
I have never taken (wasted) the time to take photos of bad installations because I had work to do. In an extensive installation, how would a DIYer get cabling from a basement to a 3rd floor attic? How would they make openings in brick, concrete block, etc when special tools are needed? How many see push rods for feeding wire and say "Oh, wow- that's a good idea"?
