You started 2021 with the purchase of an 1885 stately home, Invisible, with a vision to restore it to its former glory. For about two years, I renovated three of the many rooms and did a few small projects myself.
Do-it-yourself home improvement can save you a lot of money, but that's not the only reason to do it. According to NerdWallet's latest home improvement report, one in four homeowners have completed a DIY home improvement project in the past two years. I count myself among them. The joy of this work was instilled in me from a young age by my father, a former art (shop) teacher turned school principal and amateur carpenter. He joked that I was the only kid he had ever known who built a Barbie house. It was a blue one bedroom farmhouse.
Between my current home and the home I lived in (also about 100 years ago), the only jobs I paid pro for were urgent and monumental: a new roof, demolition of buildings, a new heating and cooling system, and a time when the oak floor outside my bedroom had deteriorated so much that it opened up into a miserable space (virtual nightmare). On the other hand, the list of DIY projects is extensive and includes jobs such as removing wallpaper, carpets and coffered ceilings; Wall and ceiling covering. finishing floors, repairing and replacing the coating; Replacement of original pressure switches and lamp wiring; Removal of the original mantle and its restoration.
I spend most of my time planning these projects as I do them, and the first step is deciding if it makes sense to do them myself. I tend to say, "Yeah, sure, yeah" every time. But deciding to do it yourself when a professional is smarter can cost you peace of mind, a lot of time, and a lot more money than you could save on the job.
Note: It's very tempting to compare the approximate cost of a DIY kitchen renovation with a professional cost using an online tool. It's a good idea to use these tools to get a general idea, but not to determine how much you'll actually spend or save. Typical project costs derived from various surveys, including those from the US Census Bureau, are independent of project specifications. Yes, homemakers save money, but it's also possible to choose cheaper materials and generally do smaller projects. Furthermore, these estimates are rarely tied to geographic location, and costs vary greatly from country to country.
Carefully consider these three factors before putting on your safety glasses and going to work.
CAPACITy
Whether I have the ability or skills to participate in a project depends on what I already know and what I can learn. Yes, you can learn almost anything on YouTube these days, but what you're really looking for is something you can learn well with the least chance of failure.
Talk to someone who has done this before. If you don't have a friend with a DIY resume, ask a contractor or two for an estimate and use those visits as an opportunity to gather information. Ask them how the project is progressing, what permits might be required, what might go wrong, and how many people will be involved. This visit can serve many purposes, from helping you understand the skill level of a project to determining how long a professional will take and how much it will cost.
Don't rely solely on online strangers and fashion sites for this information unless you have no other choice. And if so, gather multiple sources to reach consensus. Although the website lists the difficulty as 3 hammers out of 4, these step-by-step instructions and well-edited photos don't capture the amount of swearing and mess that can go into the final product, not to mention the cost of mistakes. Fix it.
time
It may take the contractor longer to start the project, but it will certainly take longer than that to complete the actual work. It can be difficult to estimate exactly how long it will take. Instead of setting a deadline, choose a target date range to save frustration. Home improvement projects often — well, usually — take longer than you'd like. Trying to rush things can lead to slow work.
Break the project into manageable steps and be generous with time estimates for each step.
Now is the time to think about how this time will affect your daily life. For example, the inconvenience of a four to six week project in your single bathroom is reason to turn to a professional for a quick schedule.
I live alone in a large house, so the time it took to renovate the extra bedroom didn't affect my day-to-day life much. If my grandson is at a baseball tournament, I can take time off without disrupting my schedule. When I started renovating my home office, I didn't have that flexibility: I wanted to be back in the office as soon as possible, not at my lunch table for Zoom meetings.
In a few years I plan to completely renovate the kitchen - for this I will hire specialists, precisely because of lack of time. Will pay extra to limit microwave time for dinner at laundry.
outlay
The potential labor cost savings may encourage people to do their own work—15% of homeowners who took on a DIY project in the past two years said they did so because they couldn't afford to hire a professional, according to a Home Improvement Report survey. But failing to properly balance the previous two factors—skill and time—could end up making your DIY project more expensive than hiring skilled labor. And doing it yourself just because it will be cheaper can make it disgusting.
We determine the cost of the basic project
Here we are talking about materials and tools. Make a list and collect trophies. Depending on the scope of the project, your tools can be as simple as a few brushes and rollers, but if you dive into more than just paint, equipment costs can add up quickly. (And paint is expensive these days, too.)
If you need a tool that you don't already own, rent one. Even though I have quite a large collection, there are times when I feel the need for something that I don't have. If it was a tool I would use over and over again, I might buy it right away. However, if it's something very specialized, I'll borrow it from a family member or pick it up at a hardware store. Yes, you can rent almost any power tool from a hardware store.
Knowing that I had a full house of work ahead of me, in my first year in this house I spent a considerable amount of money on power tools and bought them as needed. But now that I have the tools, the cost of the project is pretty much just materials, and I see significant savings compared to hiring a professional.
Add the provisional budget
There's a good chance that your costs will exceed the original estimate - you forget something, prices go up, or you accidentally open a hole in the wall behind you with a sledgehammer during aggressive demolition. Give yourself a 20% older buffer.
Define your financial plans
If your project is small, you can probably pay cash for it. According to a NerdWallet survey, 42% of homeowners who have undertaken home improvement and renovation projects in the past two years can easily pay for most of them without spending their savings, going into debt or making sacrifices. others. But if your project is more expensive, think carefully about your home improvement financing options and their costs.
Focus on the total estimated amount of the project and the time it will take you to pay for it:
- Using an existing credit card can be a good option if you need a lump sum down payment. It's smart to pay off your balance quickly to save interest and protect your credit score from the negative impact of a heavy lien.
- Opening a new credit card with an interest-free introductory period can give you extra time to pay for a small additional cost.
- A personal loan often provides quick funding and extended repayment periods.
- Using equity to obtain a line of credit in the form of a home equity loan or HELOC can result in lower interest rates, but the financing takes longer. So it's better for larger projects and scraps that will take some time to complete.
Make an "Oh my God" plan.
If you choose your project carefully, based in part on your ability to do it, the chances of you paying someone to fix your mistakes are slim, but it can happen. Having a plan will allow you to act quickly if dirt gets into the fan. Have an idea of who to contact and how you will be charged if things go wrong.
I am currently doing a small renovation in my downstairs bathroom including paint, new plumbing and ceiling upgrades. After pulling out the 1980s rig to replace it with something more suitable, I found a few issues that I knew would require cutting out the grout and possibly updating the wiring. These tasks will increase the risk factor of the very high-stakes project when the party guests are just around the corner. Can I watch enough YouTube to find out? Likely. But I'd rather pay for a few hours of someone else's skilled work.
DIY Home Improvement Projects The Nerd Approach originally appeared on NerdWallet.
