How do you choose whether to Do It Yourself or hire a professional? There are so many projects in a new home, that you're bound to DIY some and hire out for others. For us, it comes down to:
1. Can we do the project safely ourselves?
2. How long will the project take?
3. How much will a professional charge and how much money will we save doing it ourselves?
4. How long would it take to get a professional to the house to do the job?
5. Are we excited to try to do the project ourselves?
Example 1: Removing Asbestos Tile that Covers the Entire Basement Floor
1. Can we do the project safely ourselves? Definitely not. This requires a licensed professional who knows how to rip up asbestos tile without breathing in the dangerous fumes and without spreading the fumes around the house.
2. How long will the project take? Two days.
3. How much will a professional charge and how much money will we save doing it ourselves? $4200 to remove the entire basement floor and mastic underneath it, plus getting an expert to measure the air quality at the end of the two-day job to make sure it's safe to move into the house afterward.
4. How long would it take to get a professional to the house to do the job? We found a company called Air Services that is very responsive.
5. Are we excited to try to do the project ourselves? Not at all. Leave this to the pros.
Example 2: Unplugging and Removing the Water Heater from the Basement
(We needed to remove the water heater so the asbestos tile underneath could be ripped up.)
1. Can we do the project safely ourselves? No, we needed a licensed, professional plumber for this one.
2. How long will the project take? An hour or two by a professional plumber.
3. How much will a professional charge and how much money will we save doing it ourselves? The plumber charged us $200 to unplug and remove the water heater.
4. How long would it take to get a professional to the house to do the job? The plumber was able to come in a day or two.
5. Are we excited to try to do the project ourselves? No, we wanted a professional to do this right.
DIY or Hire a Professional: Hired and happy with the results. The plumber unplugged and moved the water heater so the asbestos removal company could get to work on the floor.
Example 3: GFI Outlets
1. Can we do the project safely ourselves? Electrical work should be done by a licensed, professional plumber.
2. How long will the project take? Not long.
3. How much will a professional charge and how much money will we save doing it ourselves? Not very expensive. $49 to install each GFI outlet, and we bought the outlets ourselves at Home Depot for about $20 per outlet.
4. How long would it take to get a professional to the house to do the job? We found an electrician who came to the house when we wanted, two days after we called.
5. Are we excited to try to do the project ourselves? Nope! Not unless we're working with an electrician to show us how to do it.
DIY or Hire a Professional: Turns out we did both. We hired an electrician to install the GFI outlets. Hubby let him into the house and watched him install the first few outlets. The electrician then offered to show hubby how to safely install the outlets himself, saving us a good deal of $. We paid the electrician for his work on three outlets, then hubby did the rest himself. He really enjoyed it, it didn't take him much time, and he only got one (small) shock.
Example 4: Ripping out Wallpaper
1. Can we do the project safely ourselves? Yes!
2. How long will the project take? Depends on our patience and skill with a steamer, but we hope we can do a small bathroom in one afternoon and the dining room in a few hours.
3. How much will a professional charge and how much money will we save doing it ourselves? Didn't ask. We can do this!
4. How long would it take to get a professional to the house to do the job? Don't need
'em.
5. Are we excited to try to do the project ourselves? Heck yeah. Let's rip up that 1970s wallpaper ASAP. It's time for an update.
DIY or Hire a Professional: DIY. (Maybe this weekend.)
1. Can we do the project safely ourselves?
2. How long will the project take?
3. How much will a professional charge and how much money will we save doing it ourselves?
4. How long would it take to get a professional to the house to do the job?
5. Are we excited to try to do the project ourselves?
Example 1: Removing Asbestos Tile that Covers the Entire Basement Floor
1. Can we do the project safely ourselves? Definitely not. This requires a licensed professional who knows how to rip up asbestos tile without breathing in the dangerous fumes and without spreading the fumes around the house.
2. How long will the project take? Two days.
3. How much will a professional charge and how much money will we save doing it ourselves? $4200 to remove the entire basement floor and mastic underneath it, plus getting an expert to measure the air quality at the end of the two-day job to make sure it's safe to move into the house afterward.
4. How long would it take to get a professional to the house to do the job? We found a company called Air Services that is very responsive.
5. Are we excited to try to do the project ourselves? Not at all. Leave this to the pros.
Example 2: Unplugging and Removing the Water Heater from the Basement
(We needed to remove the water heater so the asbestos tile underneath could be ripped up.)
1. Can we do the project safely ourselves? No, we needed a licensed, professional plumber for this one.
2. How long will the project take? An hour or two by a professional plumber.
3. How much will a professional charge and how much money will we save doing it ourselves? The plumber charged us $200 to unplug and remove the water heater.
4. How long would it take to get a professional to the house to do the job? The plumber was able to come in a day or two.
5. Are we excited to try to do the project ourselves? No, we wanted a professional to do this right.
DIY or Hire a Professional: Hired and happy with the results. The plumber unplugged and moved the water heater so the asbestos removal company could get to work on the floor.
Example 3: GFI Outlets
1. Can we do the project safely ourselves? Electrical work should be done by a licensed, professional plumber.
2. How long will the project take? Not long.
3. How much will a professional charge and how much money will we save doing it ourselves? Not very expensive. $49 to install each GFI outlet, and we bought the outlets ourselves at Home Depot for about $20 per outlet.
4. How long would it take to get a professional to the house to do the job? We found an electrician who came to the house when we wanted, two days after we called.
5. Are we excited to try to do the project ourselves? Nope! Not unless we're working with an electrician to show us how to do it.
DIY or Hire a Professional: Turns out we did both. We hired an electrician to install the GFI outlets. Hubby let him into the house and watched him install the first few outlets. The electrician then offered to show hubby how to safely install the outlets himself, saving us a good deal of $. We paid the electrician for his work on three outlets, then hubby did the rest himself. He really enjoyed it, it didn't take him much time, and he only got one (small) shock.
Example 4: Ripping out Wallpaper
1. Can we do the project safely ourselves? Yes!
2. How long will the project take? Depends on our patience and skill with a steamer, but we hope we can do a small bathroom in one afternoon and the dining room in a few hours.
3. How much will a professional charge and how much money will we save doing it ourselves? Didn't ask. We can do this!
4. How long would it take to get a professional to the house to do the job? Don't need
'em.
5. Are we excited to try to do the project ourselves? Heck yeah. Let's rip up that 1970s wallpaper ASAP. It's time for an update.
DIY or Hire a Professional: DIY. (Maybe this weekend.)
well explained.. thanks for sharing your thoughts..
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