To DIY or Not—When to Hire a Professional
So maybe you’re quite the handyman. Or maybe you’re curious about getting your hands dirty while possibly saving some money.
During the pandemic, many people had a plethora of time on their hands and were flocking to the YouTube home renovation tutorials & IKEA hacks. In turn, this created a surge of new and resurrected DIYers to surface.
This kept some industries alive, while creating avenues for new ones to flourish. It’s how we kept our minds proactive and emotions at bay during a very, scary time. But can’t some DIY be scary too?
Yes, not all home renovations are created equal. Here are 3 different scenarios, begging the question—to ‘DIY or not’.
Scenario #1 - The Indoor Pool You Never Wanted
Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to the sounds of rushing water. You are not at a campsite but at your home, and your downstairs is flooding with water spewing from the toilet. It’s been happening for some time and the water is rising and spreading to other areas of the house, and even starting to flow to the basement downstairs. I think we can all say this is a homeowners’ nightmare, one that we’d never wish on anybody. (FYI, this really happened to a friend of mine.)
Obviously, many late night (panicked) calls were made to insurance agents who then called an emergency water remediation company to immediately come over to remove the excess water and the damaged areas, and place huge blower fans everywhere to dry it out. Doing this would pave the way to restore what was lost.
So…is this a situation to DIY or not?
*With these extremely stressful circumstances, I think we (and the insurance agent) can all agree the obvious answer is to let the professionals handle it.*
Scenario #2 - Reframing Your Boundaries in the Basement
You have chosen to let the professionals handle your restorations from Scenario #1 while bringing your house to its previous glory—and hopefully a little better than before. However, their early starts, the dust, the sounds of hammering and voices bellowing deep within the disassembled bowels of what was your most private sanctuary, are really working your last nerve. You see these professionals so much you start to know their names, their daily routine, and even how they take their coffee! These subcontractors are spending more time in your home than you do! Maybe they should be included on your Holiday card list? (Haha!)
In this inevitably chaotic social invasion, you desperately yearn for your clean, quiet, and private spaces. This becomes your fuel and motivates you to do something about your almost finished basement (which isn’t part of the GC scope of work). You want to put up new walls and create small entertainment area, aka a man cave. You know how to swing a hammer, frame out walls, and hang dry wall. But you are squeamish about taking it further.
What to do? DIY or not?
*Well, in this case, it really depends on many different things.
Can you mud, sand, prime and paint walls to look level and seamless with the finesse of a professional? (Lol, ok) Are you great at learning from YouTube tutorials? Are you happy with experimenting and able to live with these experimentations? If so, then go for it! Take the plunge and DIY.
Also, if you hit a roadblock going down this path you could always ask the GC if he could do some side work to correct or finish your vision.*
Scenario #3 - The Vanity That Was Too Big For Its Britches
So the work from Scenario #1 is drawing to a close. Your GC needs you to put your ‘decorator hat’ on to choose paint colors, flooring, and all those larger bathroom items like the toilet, vanity, lighting and decor—you know, all the pretty things. However, your bathroom configuration includes a small alcove for the vanity, with an opening width of 35 ⅜”. (FYI, single freestanding vanities comes in standard widths of 24", 30", 36", 48”.) You shop for a prefab vanity in a store and find one that you love, but measures 36”. It obviously can’t fit between those walls, so move on right? Maybe we can we squeeze it in, lol! (eye roll).
Since the GC is at your house, you call and ask for advice. They advise you with a 2 different options:
#1 - The easiest option would be a 30” vanity. It’s easy to install, but it will leave you with 3” gaps on either side. That’s ok if you like that look.
#2 - To your surprise, a 36” vanity is not out of the question. They assure you that all ‘they' have to do is cut into the drywall to slide it in, and then patch & paint so that it appears to extend seamlessly from one wall to the other. However, this will cost you more time and money.
There is a 3rd option they didn’t mention, buy the 36” vanity, cut into the drywall, install, patch, and paint it ‘yourself’ to save money. But would you save time? And would it look good?
What to do? DIY or not?
*Unless you have loads of experience, this situation would intimidate most. The fear of installing & finishing without damaging the new vanity, walls or both is high.
This occasion is probably best left for the professionals*
Summary:
So in each of the 3 scenarios, were you also leaning the direction mentioned, the same direction my friend took? If so, you probably would save yourself a whole lot of headaches. DIY can be fun, rewarding, and money saving. But, there are clearly times when it’s crazy not to call the professionals. This is what they do, day in and day out. They can quickly see solutions that you cannot see, and can (generally) fix things in a much quicker timeframe.
Next time you are in a homeowner’s fix, ask yourself—to DIY or not? Is this something I am confident I can tackle with YouTube tutorials, could save me money, and can live with the results (whatever they may be). Or should I just throw in the towel, save some time, cut the headaches, and call the professionals?
