DIYZ is a DIY project app with a twist: Movie talk with a contractor if you get stuck, iMore
DIYZ is a DIY project app with a twist: Movie talk with a contractor if you get stuck!
By Mikah Sargent Tuesday, Jan 31, two thousand seventeen at 12:00 pm EST
DIYZ takes the anxiety out of DIY with its in-app movie talk service.
DIY projects can be amazingly rewarding, but they can also be stressfull. There’s nothing fairly as blood-pressure-raising as hitting a snag in a project that brings everything to a screeching halt. Unsnagging your project can involve anything from spending hours searching the internet for answers (have you ever looked at electrical wiring diagrams on the internet? They’re terribly confusing!), to calling in a costly professional to finish up where you left off. It’s infuriating and a little disheartening.
So you can imagine my giddy surprise when I happened across DIYZ (pronounced DEE – EYE – WISE), a DIY project app that lets you movie talk with a professional whilst you DIY away!
Navigating the DIYZ app
The DIYZ app features fountains of DIY tutorials that are jam-packed with photos, movies, and step-by-step guides. You simply scroll or search through the various projects and tap on one you’d like to finish. The folks at DIYZ told me they’re ramping up to release fresh projects regularly. Each of the How-Tos is cracked up into an overview, a step-by-step guide, and a list of supplies you’ll need.
The overview gives you a basic description of the project you’re looking to accomplish as well as a difficulty rating, the time it’ll take you to finish the project (with a comparison of how long it’d take a pro), and a relative estimate for how much it’ll cost you.
The step-by-step guide features photos, movies, and passages of text to walk you through the project — simply swipe inbetween steps as you finish them.
One of my beloved details of the app is the Shop tab, which gives you the option to buy the necessary implements and supplies for each specific project from within the app. Just tap Shop in the toolbar at the top of the project and peruse the list to find and purchase the instruments and supplies you need.
I’d like to phone a friend professional!
Hypothetical time! Let’s say you open the cabinet underneath your bathroom drown and you’re greeted by a large puddle of water. You check the necessary areas and determine you need to substitute the water supply line. You launch the DIYZ app and find the tutorial for substituting the water supply line — what a coincidence! You gather all your contraptions and supplies and say the necessary prayers, and have at it. Everything’s going fine until you attempt to fasten the supply line to the shut-off valve and detect it doesn’t seem to fit. You could call a plumber in to finish the job, but it’s going to cost you. You could also spend the rest of the day traipsing through internet forums looking for an response, but you’ll be stuck with a leaky submerge the entire time.
Pro-tip: Don’t do either of those things. Tap the little yellow hard-hat-wearing character at the bottom of the project page and tap Talk Now. You’ll be able to movie talk with a professional who can walk you through the process and get your project back on track!
Oh! And here’s the best part: While the app is still in its early days, movie calling is free. You can hold a live movie call with a trained, insurance-carrying professional (general contractor) and it won’t cost you a dime! DIYZ plans to roll out pricing in the future, so now’s the time to get in all those DIY projects you’ve been overlooking.
Also, get this: I had a chance to speak with some folks from DIYZ at CES two thousand seventeen and they told me you should feel free to movie call for any sort of home improvement/DIY project — even if it’s not a project listed in the app! I don’t know about you, but I’m going to be talking the ear off some of these professionals as I tackle random DIY projects around the house.
Let me know how it goes!
If you determine to check out DIYZ and get the chance to speak with a professional, I’d love to hear your story (and the deets of your home improvement project)! Shoot me a message over on Twitter or in the comments below.