DIY Or Call In the Professionals? 5 Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Jump In

Given our previously confessed "all thumbs" nature, a combination of our inner clumsiness and our inner perfectionist, if we need to hammer in a nail,, we call our handyman. But not everyone's as chicken as we are. If you're the type who thinks, "Build my own home? No problem," we salute you. For the rest of you, who fall in that middle zone, here are some questions to ask yourself before you set off for Home Depot, your head full of plans...

Time vs. Money: Yes, you'll save a bundle in cold hard cash but your time is valuable too. Do you have the patience necessary to see this project through step by step and can you live with something that's pretty good if it turns out your skills are not quite up to the task?
Do you already own most of the tools necessary to get the job done? If you're thinking of purchasing a tile saw just for this job, considering bringing in the professionals.
Does your job require a permit? Once you hit legal territory, it might be time to call someone.
Do you have all of the basic skills required to complete the task or will you have to take a class? Remember the first question and factor time spent apprenticing as part of the total cost of the job.
How long will the job take? Double your estimate (even professionals often underestimate the amount of time a project will take) and consider if it still fits into your schedule

[Massless's Flickr with a Creative Commons License]

Comments (4)

Not that this is bad advice, as it is very solid, but I would like to point out that it is quite possible to rent tools for jobs. I tiled my bathroom floor last year by renting a wetsaw for two days, which was really cheap. If the only obstacle is not having the right tool, renting may be a good solution.

posted by elephony on October 1st 2008 at 2:38pm
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"Yes, you'll save a bundle"

not so fast! I know plenty of DIY projects that cost WAY more than alternatives. I built my own industrial 'simple' shelving and after 10 trips to home depot it ended up costing over $300 due to lack of planning and awareness of physics.

Note that if your DIY attempt goes wrong, you might have to spend double hiring someone to fix or redo it. Consequently I wouldn't recommend DIY when the materials are expensive and you've never done it before.

There might also be serious safety issues with DIY. Custom painting/refinishing can be very toxic and involve special environmental clean-up, saws are extremely dangerous, mounting heavy objects incorrectly is trouble in CA, etc. etc.

I was die-hard DIY in my teens but often found it to be more expensive/difficult/time-consuming than the alternative and am more realistic about what I can personally do.

But just getting a professional is not easy either - that's a whole other discussion!

posted by semolina on October 1st 2008 at 3:36pm
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The essential question for me is, "How much damage will I do if I screw this up?"

posted by confusednazgul on October 2nd 2008 at 5:22am
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LOL Good one, nazgul.

posted by whytephoenix on October 2nd 2008 at 5:34am
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