I started 2021 by buying an unseen house from 1885 with the vision of restoring it to its former grandeur. In almost two years, I restored three of the many rooms myself and tackled several smaller projects.
DIY home improvement can save you a lot of money, but that’s not the only reason to dive into it. One in 4 homeowners have taken on their own projects in the past two years because they enjoy doing the work themselves. to the recent NerdWallet Home Improvement Report. (This nationally representative survey asked 1,404 homeowners about their home improvement activities and sentiments and was conducted online by The Harris Poll from September 27-29, 2022.)
I count myself among them. The joy of this work was instilled in me at a young age by my dad, a former shop class teacher turned school administrator and hobby carpenter. I even built my own barbie house, a blue one bedroom ranch house.
Between my current house and my previous one (also about 100 years old), the only jobs I paid professionals to do were urgent or massive: new roof and outbuilding demolition, for example. The list of DIY projects, on the other hand, is extensive and includes removing wallpaper, carpet, and a popcorn ceiling; trowel coating of walls and ceilings; floor repairs; restoration and replacement of lining works; rewiring light pushbutton switches and original light fixtures; and stripping and restoring the original shell.
In most cases, I spend as much time planning projects as implementing them, and the first step is deciding whether it makes sense to do it myself. I’m leaning towards “yes, of course I do”. But choosing to do it yourself when a professional would be smarter can cost you peace of mind, a lot of time, and a lot more money than you could save on the labor.
Consider these three variables carefully.
Whether I have the ability or skills for a project has as much to do with what I already know as what I am capable of learning. Yes, you can learn almost anything on YouTube these days, but what you’re really looking for is what you can learn to do well with the least chance of getting it wrong.
Talk to someone who has done this kind of work. If you don’t have a friend with a DIY resume, ask a contractor or two to give you estimates and use these visits as an opportunity to gather information. Ask them how the project would develop, what permits might be needed, what might go wrong, and how many people would be involved. This visit can serve multiple purposes – it will help you understand the skill level of the project, as well as determine how long a professional would take and what the cost would be.
The contractor may take longer to start the project, but there is no doubt that it will take longer than them to do the actual work. It may be difficult to estimate exactly how much longer. Use a target time period instead of a deadline to save yourself disappointment. Break the project down into manageable steps and be generous in estimating the time to complete each one.
Now is also a good time to think about how this time will affect everyday life. For example, the inconvenience of a four- to six-week project in your single bathroom is probably reason to pay a professional for an expedited timeline.
I live alone in a large house, so the time spent renovating the extra bedroom didn’t affect my daily life much. In a few years I plan to completely renovate the kitchen — I will hire professionals for that, just because of the time constraints. I will pay to limit how long I cook dinner in the microwave laundry room.
The potential for labor savings may entice people to DIY, but if you don’t properly weigh the previous two factors—skills and time—your DIY project could end up costing more than hiring skilled labor. And doing it yourself just because it will be cheaper could be ugly.
CALCULATE BASIC PROJECT COSTS: We’re talking about materials and tools here. Make a list and get prizes. Depending on the project, your tools can be as simple as a few brushes and rollers, but if you dive into more than just painting, equipment costs can add up quickly. (And even paint ain’t cheap these days.)
If you need a tool that you don’t already own, consider borrowing it. Even though I have quite an extensive collection, there are still times when I need something that I don’t have. If it’s a tool I’ll use over and over again, I might buy it. However, if it’s something very specialized, I’ll borrow it from a family member or rent it from a hardware store. Yes, you can rent virtually any power tool you need at the hardware store.
ADD A BUDGET EQUALIZER: There’s a good chance your costs will exceed the original estimate—you’ll forget something, prices will go up, or you’ll accidentally put a hole in the wall behind you when you have a sledgehammer to demolish. Give yourself a buffer; I recommend 20%.
CONSIDER YOUR FINANCING PLANS: If your project is small, you can probably pay cash, but if your project is more expensive, carefully consider your home improvement financing options and costs.
Let yourself be guided by the estimated total number of the project and the time you will need to pay it off:
— Using an existing credit card can be a good option if you need total financing upfront. It’s wise to pay off your balance quickly, save on interest, and protect your credit score from the negative impact of high utilization.
— Opening a new credit card with an introductory interest-free period can give you extra time to pay, at little additional cost.
— A personal loan can often provide quick financing and extended repayment terms.
— Using your own home equity for a loan in the form of a loan or home equity loan may have lower interest rates, but will take longer to fund. So it’s better for larger projects and balances you’ll want to pay off.
DEVELOP AN “OH CRUD” PLAN: If you’ve carefully selected your project based in part on what you’re capable of, the likelihood of having to pay someone to fix your bugs is pretty slim, but it can happen. . Having a plan in place will allow you to move quickly if the crud hits the fan. You have some idea of who to call and how you’ll pay if things go south.
I am currently renovating the bathroom on the main floor. When I took out the 80’s light fixture to replace it with something more appropriate, I discovered some issues that I knew would require cutting into the drywall and possibly some wiring updates. These tasks would increase the oh-crud risk factor on a fairly high-profile project at a time when vacation guests were just around the corner. Could I watch enough YouTube to figure this out? Probably. But I’d rather pay a few hours of foreign skilled labor on this.
This article originally appeared on the personal finance site NerdWallet. Elizabeth Renter is a writer and data analyst at NerdWallet. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @elizabethrenter.
This survey was conducted online in the US by The Harris Poll on behalf of NerdWallet from September 27-29, 2022, among 2,047 US adults aged 18 and older, including 1,404 homeowners. The sampling precision of online Harris polls is measured using the Bayesian confidence interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within +/- 2.8 percentage points using a 95% confidence level.
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