Home Repairs MB - Counselor Supervision is Impractical

[Billiken]

The requirements for Home Repairs MB state that the scout is repair/fix/paint etc. various items from various categories all:

"....under the supervision of the merit badge counselor."

In reality, I find this quite impractical.
Certian things can be shown (e.g. here's how I fixed the cord on a lamp).

However, I doubt if the counselor is going to sit at our house for a few hours while our scout son paints a wall or installs more insulation in our attic.

Has anybody else found a way to address this time/logistic problem while still maintaining the integrity of the requirements???????

Thanks

[Mad Dog]

We are working on this MB right now. You are right it is impractical to have the MB counselor sitting at your home while your son does the work. Here is how we are working around that. For the electrical requirements we have a lamp and an electrical out with a wall switch setup. The boys took turns changing the switch and sockets. My son just clean a sink trap at home, I took a few pictures that he can give to the MBC. Also for the paint and insulation parts we are looking to paint a few rooms for our sponsoring organization. Hope these suggestions help.

[DadScout]

We did it as a troop function last year, much the same way mad dog states it. There was about 5 things they did as a group and were left with a host of choices for the rest to be done at home. The parents attested to it being done. I got some cheap labor out of it - 1 wall painted, yard tools cleaned for the season and stored, cement work on a wall, yard clean up, ect. The only way I'll get more work outta my son is when he finally starts family life MB.

[Mad Dog]

I think they should revise the requirements. I don't know many homes that have sash weights any longer and I don't think you can even get the kits to replace the cords in blinds. But I have noticed some cracks that need repairing in my asphalt driveway.

[Mrw]

My son has probably done half of it just around the house so he would know how when he owns a house. The other things are stuff our house is too new to need.

I grew up in a neighborhood where all the houses had sash weights and most still do. The thing is, people are slowly replacing with insulated glass rather than repair the weights when the cords break.

The only boy in our troop who earned this did it with his Dad as the counselor and they were completely renovating the house next door to theirs as a rental. And there was no issues for anyone that Dad was the counselor. We know he expected things done correctly as it was his real estate investment!

[Eagle74]

You're right that this is not always an easy one for a counselor.

For many of the options I have the items in my shed or workshop just for scouts working on the merit badge. Items like an old window (they love it when they get to break a glass pane out), a screen frame (same screen can be reused multiple times), wires to solder, a small frame wall mock-up for installing electric switches or outlets and for mounting a curtain rod, an old faucet for replacing washers, an old section of hose for replacing connections (connections can be reused), a 4' x 4' piece of plywood with half floor tile/half linoleum for replacing sections (local flooring store supplies scraps), some old picture frames, old broken vases/plates, etc.

For other items I have them do items at their home - if needed or practical - and have someone take photos or video of them doing it.

Sometimes I have a neighbor or an elderly person that I do home repairs for let me have the scout do the repair under my supervision. It's humorous sometimes to get a call at home with "do you have any scouts working on their merit badge that need to fix XXXXX?"

[evmori]

My son has probably done half of it just around the house so he would know how when he owns a house. The other things are stuff our house is too new to need.

I grew up in a neighborhood where all the houses had sash weights and most still do. The thing is, people are slowly replacing with insulated glass rather than repair the weights when the cords break.

The only boy in our troop who earned this did it with his Dad as the counselor and they were completely renovating the house next door to theirs as a rental. And there was no issues for anyone that Dad was the counselor. We know he expected things done correctly as it was his real estate investment!

You can still get sash weights & repair kits. I don't think Home Depot carries them. A god local hardware store should.

[Lynda J]

I am a counselor for this badge. I have boy take pictures of things they do. Depending on what they do on the wiring bring the item they wired. Like a lamp of such.
I also do painting and have the boys bring me pictures of before, during and after their painting is done.

[Quailman]

New wording in the 2010 requirements!

Either a parent or the merit badge counselor may supervise the Scout's work on any Home Repairs requirements.

I suspect that's what a lot of MBCs have been allowing anyway. Now it's official.

[alex gregory]

A long overdue change that officially approves what was happening anyway. The other way around the old language was to have every interested scout's parent be a Home Repair MBC. Now Dad and Junior can work on a merit badge when the work on the honey-do list!

[SoCal76]

When I got this merit badge, back when the dinosaurs walked the earth, the parents were allowed to be the counselor. The bad news was that my father was a cabinet maker by profession. I couldn't skate through this one.

[topshot]

New wording in the 2010 requirements!

Either a parent or the merit badge counselor may supervise the Scout's work on any Home Repairs requirements.

Maybe I'll add that next year. I decided to avoid counseling this one since it said I had to supervise basically everything.