The Boss’s Daughter

When & Why to Avoid DIY Renovations:

 

I have no shame in letting the world know that I am obsessed with Pinterest! I remember about five years ago when my friend first introduced me to the site, I stayed up until 3:00 am that morning just pinning away. Now of the 100,000 pins I have, I may have attempted like 10 of them- and I would say that about 7 out of those 10 were Pinterest Fails! As much as I love DIY projects, I know my limits.

There are hundreds of articles out there teaching you how to re-grout your tile or how to hang a door. These articles give you the confidence to preform your own smaller home renovations.

 

When it comes to home renovation projects, some might seem easy enough for you to do yourself and some are--- and some aren’t. Unfortunately it does not take much for a project to go wrong, unforeseen problems can present themselves and make even the simplest project difficult and expensive.

 

What you need to take into account is that we are trained professionals who deal with a magnitude of problems that arise when least expected and can easily navigate through these problems because we have been trained to do so. You also need to understand that what might take us an hour to do with the correct materials, could easily take you three hours to do and the cost of having to double buy the materials because of a costly mistake.

 

Some Common Mistakes:

 

Accidentally hitting a pipe-- is an expensive mistake.

 

Electrical issues-- can cause a potential fire down the road.

 

Wrong Measurement-- even by 1/8” can ruin your project and force you to buy your materials all over again.

 

 

Why to Avoid DIY Renovations?

 

Over time it has become more and more difficult for the average Joe to successfully complete their own home renovations because technology has advanced so much over time and safety codes have been put in place to protect the home and family. Luckily with the new technology advancements our homes are more efficient and safer than ever before. However with that, the new products that are out on the market today are trickier to install for those who aren’t trained. What use to be simple now has very specific procedures and guidelines to follow. Then there is the permit process. This was put in place to make your home safe for you family, however the codes can be very complex, this is something that our professionals deal daily. You might not be aware that the project you want to complete needs a permit and inspection done.

 

It is less expensive to do the job right the first time around, than having to pay to do it twice.

Professional Installation Can Save You Money

Many people think that they can save time and money by doing their own home repairs. It is a common thought among people but more often than not that is not the case.

 

Professional Installers can get materials at a lower cost, even with a mark-up on the material it can still be more cost effective to go through a professional.

 

Time can be costly; do you want to take time of your own job to perform a renovation? What if you injure yourself and need time to recover?

The same project most likely will take you longer to complete than it will a professional.

 

The Home Depot Effect—Home Depot is full of people who thought that they could complete a home renovation project themselves. They start out at Home Depot buying the materials for the project go home do their best attempt and realize that they might be in over their heads. Now they have to spend even more money to hire a professional to go in and re-do the project correctly and up to code.

 

Projects to Avoid:

Window installation

Laying flooring

Anything that involves plumbing or electrical

 

Projects to Take On:

Re-grout your shower

Install trim and crown molding

 

DIY Projects are fun and give you a feeling of accomplishment, just know your limits. Don’t try to take on a project bigger than yourself.