What can I fix/change myself vs. hiring someone to do it?

DH is not super handy, but we've done pretty well in changing things out, painting, installing a few things, etc. We're obviously not going to rewire the house ourselves but when it comes to minor things in the house (right now I'm looking to change out the very old chandelier in the kitchen and our very old thermostats) what do you change out and what do you hire people to do?

Re: What can I fix/change myself vs. hiring someone to do it?

DH does pretty much everything himself.
He gut renovated my guest bathroom last year and it is amazing.
He also gut renovated our master bath a few years ago
He cleans and services the oil burner, does minor electrical, fixes appliances, he does plumbing, built an outdoor kitchen, etc etc
We just recently hired someone to install wood floors throughout our main living spaces and someone else to redo our kitchen because those projects are really too time consuming and labor intensive for him to do himself... he could absolutely do it skill wise- but time wise, and having only one person versus a crew- it's just not doable. I can't be without a kitchen for several months, kwim?

But we are very fortunate because he can pretty much do anything in the house. He is ridiculously handy and I have to say, very talented with stuff like that

Message edited 8/23/2019 12:48:02 PM.

Re: What can I fix/change myself vs. hiring someone to do it?

We never mess with gas or electric work. Not worth burning the house down/blowing it up to save some cash.

Re: What can I fix/change myself vs. hiring someone to do it?

My DH is very handy, but whenever we want to do a project and are unsure of whether it's something we can successfully tackle we usually head to Home Depot or Lowes and talk to someone in that department to get a feel for what we might be getting ourselves into. They usually have suggestions, or else we realize it's something we need to hire out for.

At one point our boiler stopped working in the middle of winter. We called a few repair companies and their prices just to service it were exorbitant (if they were even willing to come - which most weren't). So DH went to a plumbing supply place and picked their brain and they gave him some really simple suggestions that helped him fix the problem for less than $100.

Also YouTube is DH's best friend. He literally youtubes everything.

And I've read through DIY home improvement blogs for lots of ideas that have worked out well. They usually provide step by step instructions, sometimes with videos.

ETA - DH is an electrician so he would just change out the light fixtures, but unless you are sure of what you're doing I probably wouldn't attempt that. But I'm pretty sure changing out the thermostat is doable. Check youtube!

Message edited 8/23/2019 3:27:25 PM.

Re: What can I fix/change myself vs. hiring someone to do it?

Re: What can I fix/change myself vs. hiring someone to do it?

My DH wasn’t very handy but is learning as we go. We hire for anything electrical, plumbing or heating. 2 of which can be life threatening if not done correctly. And with plumbing, between flood damage and mold- is rather hire someone who knows better then we do.

Recently, we did our kitchen and we actually hired someone to paint because honestly, we just didn’t want to lol. But normally, we do that ourselves.

Stuff like power wash the house, deck (then seal it), planting flowers, clean up the landscaping (bushes and trees trimmed, etc) we do as well

Message edited 8/24/2019 12:49:42 PM.

What can I fix/change myself vs. hiring someone to do it?

When it comes to the gas system and big things like the central air, we get them serviced through our contract. Only thing he won’t do himself is clean the tankless water system, I pay yearly to have it cleaned, other than that my DH is very handy