補牆的故事 A Tale of Wall Repair
二樓浴室爆水管，水喉師傅須鑽開樓下牆壁和天花的木板，才更換得到水管，結果牆上留下一個大洞。要維修的話，問過裝修師傅取報價，要900英鎊加VAT，好貴！於是決定捲起衣袖自己做，鋸了幾塊舊木板，用wood glue、幾口釘穩定好木板，再用wood filler填補罅隙，髹上底油、面油，一個週末完工，省下900英鎊！
完成這項小工程後，心裏真心感謝父母。自小在家常常見到爸媽自己動手搞裝修，故此對DIY並不感到陌生。猶記得當年客廳的木製長椅，會給吊到睡房天花，被老豆改裝成一個吊櫃。又試過從外回家，看見老媽子在髹窗框，全屋窗框換了新裝。自小耳濡目染，我一直都覺得DIY是自然不過的事情，也很喜歡自己動手髹油、做木工，累積了經驗和基本手藝，現來到英國，大派用場，因為在英國DIY的需要大很多！
雖有簡單裝修經驗，但今次這種補牆工程卻頗感陌生，因為香港的房子都用石屎牆，從未試過因換喉管而鋸走一截牆！對着這個牆洞，最初有點摸不着頭腦，但邊做邊摸索下，最後效果非常滿意。一位朋友向我說：「根本看不出這裏曾經有一個洞啊！」
A pipe burst in the bathroom on the upper floor. To repair the pipe, the plumber had to remove part of the wooden panels on the walls and ceiling on the ground floor, leaving behind a big hole. We asked for a quotation from the decorators for mending the wall, and it was £900 plus VAT! I decided to save that money by rolling up my sleeves and doing it myself. I cut a few pieces of old wood boards, secured them in place with wood glue and a few nails, then filled the gaps on the wall with wood filler. Then I applied some primer and paint. The project was completed over a weekend, and it cost way below £900!
Completing the project made me feel genuinely grateful to my parents. I grew up seeing them doing DIY renovations at home, so I am not unfamiliar with the concept of DIY. I still remember how Dad transformed a wooden bench in the living room into a hanging cabinet in the bedroom and how Mom gave all our windows a new look by repainting the window frames. These experiences made me think that DIY is a natural thing to do since I was very young. As a result, I have always enjoyed doing small woodworking projects. The experiences and skills accumulated became very useful after I migrated from Hong Kong to the UK, where there is a much higher need for doing things oneself.
Although I have some experience with simple renovations, this wall repair project was quite unfamiliar to me. In Hong Kong, apartments typically have concrete walls. I had never tried mending a wooden wall. Initially I was a bit uncertain but learning through experimentation, I gradually got a better sense of what I was doing. The final result made me really proud – as a friend commented, ‘It looks like there had never been a hole there before!'”
