Squinting his eyes and lying on his back, Richard Robles focused on tightening screws to piece a sink back together. He’s not a professional. But on this Wednesday evening at a classroom in downtown Brooklyn, Robles, 46, is a plumber and not an unemployed teacher and musician. Like others, he is taking home repair skills classes to learn how to do these jobs himself.

Robles took the same class this past spring. After three hours, he said, he was able to go home and fix his toilet and he was repeating class as a refresher, so he could re-adjust his shower plumbing. “We are in a recession. Money’s very tight so the more I can save the more I can do things on my own and do it correctly,” said Robles in his Bushwick home. “I will feel better because I will have more money saved up instead of wasting it on projects I probably could have done myself.”

Robles is one of a growing number of New York City residents who are finding their handy side as the economic downturn continues to crimp home budgets. These days, many homeowners are opting to do their own home improvement projects rather than pay for a contractor. A review of New York City Building Department records show that 13 homeowners received permits to do their own projects in August 2009, compared with the five permits issued to homeowners during the same month last year. But counting these types of licensed alterations doesn’t tell the whole story; some cosmetic tasks like painting, plastering, plumbing fixture repair and cabinet installation are small enough to go without permits, according to the building department’s explanation of permits.

Meanwhile, Instructables.com, a Web site with how-to videos on everything from building bookcases to installing porch swings, has seen a steady climb in pageviews: In October 2008, the site had just over 20 million monthly U.S. pageviews. This past October, it had roughly 27 million, according to Quantcast.com, a Web site monitoring Internet traffic for the site. And spokespeople for national retail hardware stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s say they’ve seen brisk sales of the sort of smaller-scale do-it-yourself home supplies like paints or replacement parts. A Home Depot spokeswoman said the company gained market share of paint sales in the past quarter and saw a rise in year-over-year sales in roofing, caulk and plumbing repair supplies.

One such customer was Virgilio Rojo, who lost his job as a pharmaceutical technician in May, and bought a cartful of supplies from a Home Depot in the South Bronx to help renovate the bathroom and kitchen inside his two-bedroom, one-bathroom Parkchester apartment. Rojo had received a quote of almost $12,000 for the kitchen renovation but spent just under $10,000 by doing some of the work himself. He received three quotes for the bathroom renovation, ranging from $4,500 to $5,000, but only paid $2,200 for labor and materials. With the help of his son, Will, Rojo saved money by purchasing the specific materials that the contractor was planning to use.

The Rojos made their own decisions on what to buy when it came to which materials would give the renovation a certain look; they took into consideration what the contractor suggested—sometimes going with another idea—and then looked for the best price, said Will. Rojo also hauled away the debris from the kitchen demolition and renovation. When it came to the bathroom, Rojo reduced his rebuilding costs by cutting and installing tile, shutting off the water lines and dismantling the toilet with the help of a friend who had previous contracting experience. Rojo’s son even designed the cabinetry using free modeling software from IKEA. The Rojos didn’t build the cabinets, but shopped around for the same design and finish, and found a contractor who could build them and do other work they needed. Except for the floor, the job is complete and Rojo said he plans to sell the apartment in the next three months.

“By the economy being down, he had the unfortunate opportunity to be able to do the work,” Will Rojo said of his father, “and at the same time in doing the work, we were able to save money.”

New York City community colleges have also seen increases in enrollment of people devoting nights and weekends to becoming handier. York College in Jamaica, Queens just started offering home improvement classes this year. Classes were expected to be capped at 15 people, said Cynthia Murphy, executive director of York College’s Adult Continuing Education program, but demand outpaced expectations. Nineteen people registered for a course on basic electrical work and 18 students registered for plumbing. The six-session courses cost $205. The college’s plastering and dry wall class and its wall and floor tiling class scheduled to begin in November were already filling up in early October.

Meanwhile, City Tech has seen a similar rise. Last fall, 88 students enrolled in the school’s home improvement skills class. This spring, 120 students registered for classes and even though final numbers are still not available, so far at least 80 students have signed up. Attendance at City Tech’s nine home repair workshops cost $40 per class or $105 for three classes.

City Tech’s instructor, Aleksander Myftarago, a Brooklyn-based general contractor, teaches a little of everything each week, from installing sheetrock to simple electrical work. He said there are always small things, like bleeding a radiator properly, that homeowners can do as regular maintenance to avoid paying for a contractor.

Debra Salomon, who oversees home improvement classes as a program developer in City Tech’s division of continuing education, said more homeowners have taken those steps over the past year. For example, she said, a woman called her recently seeking advice on the installation of toilets, not knowing the first thing about such a project. Salomon, also the principal of a firm that offers services like interior design and renovations for brownstones and smaller homes, said she’s been taking more of those types of calls lately. She said she can hear the anxiety in the callers’ voices when taking on tasks by themselves.

That’s often the case for do-it-yourselfers these days. “A lot are unemployed and saying, ‘Well, I’m not working. I might as well learn to do something that’s necessary,’” Salomon said. “It’s a little bit of occupational therapy and a money saving effort.”

Back at his Bushwick apartment, Robles snapped on his yellow rubber gloves and practiced using a flexible wire auger that plumbers call “a snake.” He first used the device months earlier to remove blockages from his toilet. He estimated that he would have spent at least $100 paying a professional to do the job.

“I use that money that I’m saving up to go take more classes with Alex so that I can save money in the long run,” said Robles. “That way I don’t have to shell out so much when I’m fixing something in the house.”

His upcoming projects include switching the sink’s hot- and cold-water pipes and giving a fresh coat of paint to the walls of his den, which he plans to one day turn into his music studio.