There is no dispute that opting for DIY when it comes to your home improvement projects has tremendous benefits. It’s however worth noting that if you do it wrong, it can end up being disastrous for you.
In this article, we are going to highlight the 3 main cons of DIY when it comes to home improvement projects especially if they involve a lot of construction work.
1 It’s likely to be more expensive in the long run
The belief or rather assumption that engaging in DIY for your home improvement projects is a very good cost cutting measure will only hold true if things go well, and in most occasions, they seldom do. The main reason professional contractors don’t come cheap is because they invested time, money and sweat in building their skills therefore they will charge you a premium for it. Assuming that you can simply go online, look at a tutorial and become a master in construction is a fallacy especially if you have no background in construction. What this means in summary is that you may opt for DIY but end up making a mess of the work and this will force you to bring in a professional to repair your errors and do the job how it was meant to be done in the first place, and this will ultimately cost you more.
2 It’s a very time consuming venture
Considering the fact that you have very little or no experience in the task you are about to engage in, you will need to set aside time to learn the skill itself as well as about the tools and material you will need for the job. This, plus the time it will take you to do the job itself factoring in all the errors before you finally get it right will take you triple or even quadruple the time it would have taken a professional to get it done. Therefore DIY is only practical if your project is not time sensitive.
3 The work will be of low standards
The reality is that as long as you haven’t had sufficient experience which has to be gained over time, the quality of work you are likely to produce will be nowhere close to the quality of work a professional will produce. In fact, you should be content with work that is of low standards during the period you are still a DIY novice.
Before you make the decision on whether to engage in a DIY project, it’s a good idea to weigh the pros and cons first. A word of advice would be for you to first start with smaller construction projects around your home as you slowly hone your skills before you take up larger home improvement projects.
It’s no secret that home improvement projects can at times get expensive especially if you factor in the costs of bringing a professional contractor on board. This is when most people realize the value of DIY. Being able to do the improvement work yourself especially if it doesn’t require any major construction work can be very beneficial to you.
In this article, we are going to highlight the 4main benefits of DIY when you are engaged in your home improvement project.
1 It will tremendously bring down your costs
The costs of getting a professional contractor can be very high considering that they will bring in other sub-contractors and most of their costs will be factored in the bill they finally give you. In addition, different contractors have preferences on the material they use and most will often go for the high end material which will cost you more. However, if you decide to opt to DIY, you will tremendously cut down of these high labor costs and you also have the freedom to research on cheaper material that still provides the same utility value as the expensive material.
2 You will end up acquiring new skills
The beauty about the internet is that through it you can access many tutorials on how to DIY. Therefore the more you practice and the more you engage in such projects at home, you get better and better at it and this essentially means that you have acquired new skills which no doubt will come in handy at some point down the road.
3 You can acquire income generating skills
As we mentioned in our earlier point, the more you engage in DIY projects the more you become good at it and perfect your skills. You may end up being so good at it that you can use your newly acquired skills to earn an income by either working on other people’s home improvement projects or training them on how to do it.
4 You can get a good opportunity to network
Often when you are doing DIY projects during your home improvement, you will often have to handle everything from going to the hardware store to purchase the material and equipment, to visiting online forums as you seek to get more knowledge and ideas on how to execute your project. Such tasks will increase the number of people you interact with and this will help grow your network of both friends and professional acquaintances.
With such benefits, why would you need a professional contractor? The main area to be cautious on however, will be whether the amount of improvement work you are about to engage in requires a permit from your local authority.
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Home owners will often be put off from engaging in home improvement projects because it most of the time is a very expensive and cumbersome task. What if we told you that it doesn’t have to be so? You can actually be able to comfortably engage in your home improvement project with a very minimal budget.
In this article, we will share with you 3 simple ideas on how to maximize on your small home improvement budget.
1 Start by first knowing what needs fixing
Before you engage in any home improvement activity in your home be it a large scale construction job or just some subtle improvements, you must be able to determine whether the task at hand is for utility or aesthetic value. As a rule of thumb, aesthetics must never come before utility. Therefore, you have to first thoroughly inspect your home so that you can ascertain what needs fixing. If you can focus on these, first, you are likely to stay on budget.
2 It doesn’t hurt to consult a professional
There are many creative ways you can get a professional to advise you on what needs improving in your home without having to spend much. For instance, with just about $100, it’s possible to get a realtor to give your home a quick look and later give you some ideas on things you can do to improve your home within the budget you have in place.
3 Invest in a good paint job
As far as home improvement is concerned, nothing gives a home a new and fresh appeal like a fresh coat of paint. As long as you don’t have major underlying repairs that are needed, home improvement can be as simple as a good paint job and you are good to go.
All in all, when it comes to your home, the best way to keep your improvement costs down is always doing repairs the moment there’s a need and not waiting for the situation to get worse. It’s much cheaper to repair a 3 inch crack than it is to repair a 3 meter crack.
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