What is she is doing for herself that’s giving her a better life and saving them thousands?

But blood, sweat and a peppering of cuss words later, the young couple eventually nails every task as they DIY their way through renos on the brick semi they bought for $750,000 in 2020.

While Lamy had a background in trades and auto mechanics, Kiu had “zero skills.” But as a digital content creator, she’s been sharing their adventures making over the two-storey GTA house, in show-and-tell videos on YouTube. 

Documenting everything from bloopers and budgeting to exhausting races against quick-drying mortar, she reveals it’s a rare project that unfolds without a hitch.

“Oh no! Noooooo. Oh noooo!” Kiu frets as she discovers the cabinet she wants to get rid in a bathroom facelift is recessed into the wall, meaning a big hole will have to be patched.

She easily admits that “chaos and disaster” have become the couple’s long-term roommates in their three-bedroom home.

But, make no mistake, Kiu is having all kinds of fun.

“It’s so fulfilling and such an incredible feeling to work with your hands and make things with your hands,” she tells the Star.

So much so that she took a 10-week woodworking course and is now enrolled in a one-year college program in carpentry and renovation “to learn how to do things properly.”

The homeowners have already learned a lot from the School of Hard Knocks. They were — literally — shocked to find sketchy wiring around the house. And redoing the outdated kitchen had its ups and downs.

Before installing a new tile floor, Kiu and Lamy realized they hadn’t used enough screws to secure the subfloor properly. So rather than rip up the waterproofing membrane they’d already put over the top, they drilled hundreds more screws through the membrane, hoping its integrity wouldn’t be affected.

Two years after the “guinea-pig” solution, the tile floor “looks and works great,” says a proud Kiu.

“It’s definitely very scary to tile, especially for the first time ever,” she tells the 135,000 subscribers to her YouTube channel. “Learn from our mistakes … there were a lotttttt of them …”

Case in point: the light grey backsplash where they inexpertly applied professional-grade red grout, calling for a major cleanup when it dried.

“The process of it was terrifying (with) red smeared all over the walls … but it turned out great,” Kiu says.

Now, the redesigned kitchen with repainted cabinets and floating shelves is her favourite space.

“It just makes me very happy to look at it,” says Kiu, who posts shorter progress reports on TikTok. 

Altogether they spent about $8,600 on materials, supplies and tools for the kitchen update. Hiring professionals would have cost between $25,000 and $40,000, Kiu estimates. (On-site supervision by their 11-year-old Boston terrier Reid comes free.)

“It’s the labour that will always get you,” she says, noting quotes for painting the cabinets ranged from $5,000 to $10,000 but doing it themselves cost just $700.

As newbies to the reno world, she and Lamy were disorganized, inefficient and careless, she notes. The first time they ripped out baseboards they were too damaged to reuse. And they had to scale back some “big ideas” to stay on budget.

But countering online naysayers — usually subcontractors — Kiu maintains that “we always put in more and highest quality (materials) in our home and I take a lot of pride in it.”

She’s encountered “blatant sexism,” often in dumb comments about her videos such as: “Why is she wearing a dress to Home Depot?” And she gets “the looks” at school where she’s one of five women honing their skills in a class of 60.

While she doesn’t offer instructions in her videos, Kiu hopes others will be inspired by her example.

“Being a woman of colour, I never expected this of myself,” she says, explaining that a woman doing skilled trades is unusual in her Asian culture.

“I really hope more people can see how much fun it is. It’s really not that scary.”

Kiu advises beginners that you don’t have to tear down walls or do heavy-duty renovations.

“Don’t underestimate how much a bit of paint and changing certain features can upgrade a home.”

Just brace yourself for the odd blunder.