The journey to DIY is a universal one: Something in your home breaks. You go to Target to buy a tool to fix it. You get back home to learn you bought the wrong tool. You go to Lowe’s to buy another tool. Possibly repeat steps three and four until you ultimately cave and ask your friend who has way more experience with this kind of thing.

That is, unless you belong to a makerspace. Also called “hackerspaces,” these gathering spots offer tools, equipment, space and a wealth of friendly knowledge to get your DIY journey started right.

On this new [Indi]android, we take a trip to Bloominglabs, our own local makerspace, to get to know some of the builders, hackers and tinkerers who call it their home base.

“The hacker ethos is something that we encourage,” said Bloominglabs President Daniel Halsey. “In hardware hacking, that means being able to take apart the things that you own, repair them or improve them, and make sure that you own them.”