DIY - where do you draw the line?

I've been over our new house every day since we closed last Friday. Monday and yesterday, I was taping and spackling and it struck me... this is a really nice way to get to "know" our new house. I think it will make that transition from it being a house to a home easier.

The only other thing we've done is clean and install a new door handle/deadbolt. Tomorrow and Friday are painting days. And maybe Sat and Sun too, depending on how it goes. But I could totally get into this DIY thing.

We're not handy and clueless, really. I know the results won't be as professional as if we hire it out. But we're ok with that.

We draw the line at electric and plumbing though. Two things that we don't feel comfortable getting involved in.

What about you, where do you and your spouse draw the line?

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

Rich doesn't draw the line at all, granted he's not really a DIYer since he's skilled. However just once I'd like the "luxury" of paying someone to come, do it, clean up & leave

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

I also draw the line at electric and plumbing.

DH has no interest at all in it and avoids all home repair. So I guess he draws his line at the door.

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

I've installed a dishwasher, including running the plumbing, electrical, and built a cabinet and butcher block top for it. I installed a whole-house water softener, and rerouted the plumbing for that. Installed some light switches, and ran the electrical for that. Installed the satellite dish and ran everything for that. Tiled the bathroom.

I do draw the line, but I have a hard time seeing the line most of the time....

I did hire people to extend our other bathroom, since they had to bump out the exterior wall, and I'm hiring people to build an extension on the house. I guess opening huge holes in the side of the house is where I draw the line.....

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

There is NO line with my DH..he did it all..electric, pumbing, custom work cabinets, tiling, deck, siding and roofing!
Yea, hes nuts but talented.

I feel there are just some things to need to be paid for.

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

no plumbing for us.

My DH will change outlets and light switches but nothing more as far as electrical goes

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

Posted by GoldenRod

I've installed a dishwasher, including running the plumbing, electrical, and built a cabinet and butcher block top for it. I installed a whole-house water softener, and rerouted the plumbing for that. Installed some light switches, and ran the electrical for that. Installed the satellite dish and ran everything for that. Tiled the bathroom.

I do draw the line, but I have a hard time seeing the line most of the time....

I did hire people to extend our other bathroom, since they had to bump out the exterior wall, and I'm hiring people to build an extension on the house. I guess opening huge holes in the side of the house is where I draw the line.....

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

Posted by KellyFG
However just once I'd like the "luxury" of paying someone to come, do it, clean up & leave

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

We just bought a house that needs a complete over haul and we are doing most of the work ourselves. Within one week of closing every wall in the house was ripped down! We are slowly getting things done but it is a process. My DH and father are doing the electric themselves but plumbing is going to get done by a professional.

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

Line? What line? The only thing I farmed out was the refinishing of the hardwood floors.

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

With DH I drwa the line at changing a light bulb. - I kid you not!

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

I would have to say we really don't have a line.
We renovated our house pretty much all on our own. The only thing we hired someone to do was tape and spackle because we wanted it to get done quickly, and because spackling really is an art, and has to be done well to have nice, smooth walls.
Everything else we did ourselves. Next year we plan on building a garage and will do that ourselves. We also plan on replacing our windows, but we will have someone install them because with that 1) it will go much faster with people who know what they are doing and 2) I don't want DH trying to install windows on the second floor of the house, too dangerous

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

We definitely draw the line at electrical work--neither DH nor I have a clue, and that could be dangerous to do incorrectly. DH can do some plumbing, though anything really complicated would require a plumber.

Painting and small repairs, lock changes, etc. we can do ourselves. Other projects, it depends. We had our floors refinished by a company, while we probably could have figured it out, it would have taken us much longer, and we were concerned about messing up our wood floors. There is a beam that needs to be replaced or reinforced, and we plan to hire someone to do that also, since we don't want to mess up our house's suport system.

So it really depends on the project and the time we have available. Sometimes, it's completely worth it to us to hire someone to do the work so we can focus on other things. We'll probably hire someone to clean our gutters soon, and yes we could do that ourselves, but we're very busy right now, so it's worth the money to have a little extra time.

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

my DH is not handy and doesn't have the time

so we have no line- I would hire someont to do everything

unless someone is talented and knows what they are doing- it's a waste of money to me- if he does it wrong and then I have to call someone to come and fix it

I would rather call the from the begining

I look at some of these homes on Property Ladder - when they don't hire contractors and

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

my DH has no line either- LOL it drives me nuts sometimes! but, hes an engineer and really is handy and knows what hes doing. he also grew up helping his dad do things around the house because he dad always DIYd, so DH learned a lot that way.
just once though i would like to have the luxury of paying somebody to do it.... DH works a full time job and understandably doens't feel like working on projects when he gets home, so they end up taking waayy longer than they should.
just this weekend, we had 2 days without water in the bathroom because he and his dad were redoing the second bathroom and having trouble with the plumbing. if he would just let me pay somebody, it would have gotten done while we were both at work, and wouldn't have been such an inconvienience. lol hes too stubborn, though!

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

my fh is very handy, he is great with fixing things but big jobs and all the the stuff we are doing to our house we have professionals doing

the only thing he is doing is installing the smart home system and doing all the low voltage wiring. and the central vac system.

But painting we are hiring someone, and we hired an interior designer as well to plan out our house each step of the way and also decorate it when its finished

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

DH knows how to do some electric & plumbing and more it would be a professional. Otherwise we are learning to spackle, not an easy job, but we are learning. We painted our whole house (inside) ourselves and plan on painting the outside of our shed next year. We ripped up out gross glued down carpet in part of the house. We had pros come in to do the floors upstairs and down though. We are pretty handy I think and where we aren't we ask someone else to show us or we hire the pros then. But saving money is a very good thing in my book. I can't wait to decorate my home.

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

I was thinking, I do have another line I won't cross... we have gas heat and stove. I won't tap into the gas lines. With a bad plumbing job, I get water leaking in the house. Bad electric, I get shocked (technically, I could start a fire, but I'm not that careless). Bad gas line, house goes BOOM!... not something I want to risk....

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

I draw the line at things any more complicated than ripping out old carpet, changing hardware, and changing switchplates.

We just don't have the time to do anything more in depth ourselves. We work long hours and we have so many obligations outside of work. Hiring workmen was one of the best things we ever did.

I admire people with the skill and patience to DIY. My DH is very handy, but between his job, PT MBA program, and everyting else going on in our lives, he just doesn't have the time!

Message edited 11/14/2007 1:13:41 PM.

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

Line? DH is not familiar with that term.

We're going to need a new furnace soon, DH's response "i'll buy one and call my brothers over to have some beers and we'll hook the new one up"

ummm, yes sure. I see myself without heat at some point this winter...

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

DH knows no line.

He does practically every project: demo, plumbing, electrical, audio/visual, framing, moulding, landscaping (regrading, tree work like pruning and cutting down trees)

He will only hire someone when his time is limited and the job needs to be done ASAP. Otherwise he loves to learn news things and gets great satisfication from his labor (he also doesn't want to toss money down the drain. )


We hired a GC/builder (our neighbor) for our latest project(s) and they're always asking DH for tools. Although we hired someone to to the time intensive things, DH has been doing everything else that's involved, especially the detail work (we're both anal retentive about it.)

Message edited 11/14/2007 2:33:48 PM.

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

Posted by Chatham-Chick

Otherwise he loves to learn news things and gets great satisfication from his labor (he also doesn't want to toss money down the drain. )

Re: DIY - where do you draw the line?

DH's line is drawn when the need for a licensed professional is needed, ie: electrical (though he changes sockets, etc) and plumbing. We also hired someone to change the 8' window in the front of our house b/c the header needed to be changed as well.

His line is also drawn when he doesn't have the time to do it himself and needs to get it done. We have someone cut our lawn...but DH does everything else - fertilizing, landscaping, etc.