The idea of saving hundreds, or maybe even thousands, of dollars when making home repairs is enticing. Surely you can repair those cracks in the wall, right? Or caulk around the bathtub. Or install a new toilet. Or change a light fixture. Or, emboldened by the seeming ease of repairs on home renovation TV shows, tear down a wall in your house.
Maybe you can handle all these do-it-yourself projects – but, then again, maybe you can’t.
“The road to the hardware store is paved with good intentions,” says David Pekel, president of Pekel Construction in Milwaukee and a master certified remodeler. He is often greeted at his office on Monday by frantic calls from homeowners who failed in their DIY weekend projects.
Many projects can be accomplished by virtually any homeowner, but others should be left to those with experience. Either way, it’s important to plan and understand a project before you launch into it.
Just know this: “It takes twice as long as you think it’s going to and generally costs twice as much,” Pekel says.
Maybe you can handle all these do-it-yourself projects – but, then again, maybe you can’t.
“The road to the hardware store is paved with good intentions,” says David Pekel, president of Pekel Construction in Milwaukee and a master certified remodeler. He is often greeted at his office on Monday by frantic calls from homeowners who failed in their DIY weekend projects.
Many projects can be accomplished by virtually any homeowner, but others should be left to those with experience. Either way, it’s important to plan and understand a project before you launch into it.
Just know this: “It takes twice as long as you think it’s going to and generally costs twice as much,” Pekel says.
Kelly Whalen and her husband thought that redoing the carpet, painting the paneling and ripping out some built-ins in the outdated family room of their 1970s home near Philadelphia would be an easy project.
But once they got started, they discovered asbestos tile under the carpet, which required removing the tile. That, in turn, damaged the paneling and an unknown layer of paneling underneath. They ended up gutting the room, adding new insulation, putting up new drywall and adding some wiring. A project that looked simple at first glance ended up taking six months to finish.
“The moral of the story is never think paint and new flooring will fix a room in an aging house,” says Whalen, who shared the details of her project in several posts on The Centsible Life. “Be prepared for a full gut job.”
Even professionals run into unexpected problems once they open walls, including ductwork or plumbing they didn’t realize was there and substandard work done by previous renovators. If you’ve ever watched HGTV home improvement shows, you’ll know that project can run into snags that mean extra costs and more time. And those are teams of professionals doing the work.
And repairs can be tricky – especially when it comes to plumbing. Andy Prescott, who publishes the blog Art of Being Cheap, does whatever repairs he can on his rental house and his own house. Doing his own plumbing does not save money, and he learned this the hard way.
Read Full Article Here: 11 Tips to Avoid DIY Home Repair Disasters
