DIY or Don’t? Three Renovation Jobs You Should Leave To Experts

When you’ve just bought a new house for a lowered price – or when you’ve been living in the same one for some time and it’s starting to show its age – the idea of renovation will not be far from your mind. Taking the potential that exists in the house that you have, and turning it into something real, tangible and good is a worthwhile endeavour, and it can do wonders for the value of your home. There is, of course, always a catch, and the catch here is that … surprise, surprise, renovating a home is not easy.

Now, “not easy” in and of itself is a term which has a wide sweep of meanings. There’s the “not easy” that refers to getting wallpaper to line up properly, or getting the same thickness of paint in all parts of a wall. That’s “not easy, but with time and effort, you can get it done”. Then there are the parts of a renovation that are so not easy that you need to consider whether you should be DIYing them – and if they need to be done, whether you need to hire in specialist help. Below, we’ll look at three such jobs, and at what point “not easy” becomes “call somebody!”.

1. Anything electrical

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If the electrics in a house are in need of an overhaul, then you need to ask yourself one question: “Am I an electrician?”. If, as in most cases, the answer is “no”, then you’re going to need to call in the likes of Mountain City Electric to take care of the work. Put simply, electrical work is something that can’t be played around with: it is dangerous to you personally to try and work with it, and if it is done imperfectly it will be dangerous to anybody else who goes near it. Hiring an electrician may cost some money, but it will save a lot of stress and keep everyone safe.

2. Structural amendments

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It is possible to find guides online which will show you how to remove or install a beam, to tell which walls are load-bearing and which are not, and to make a wealth of other structural changes in your home. That’s fine, and many people will find them useful, but unless you are 100% certain you can do this work, it’s best left to building contractors with experience. This is the kind of work that you can’t get halfway into doing and then decide you need to farm it out to someone; call them in immediately, because getting it wrong can cause much bigger problems.

3. Plumbing (above a certain level)
   
   

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The last example of a renovation job that needs to be outsourced comes with some caveats. If you’re skilled with DIY, there are certain plumbing jobs you can do yourself – including some quite complicated stuff. Installing a dishwasher or washing machine, fixing a dripping tap, and replacing an outflow pipe are all things that you can do by following a video guide such as the below: 

However, if there is extensive plumbing to do, particularly if it also involves complex electrics (such as installing a new shower), or if it necessitates specialist tools, then call an expert. Research what it takes to do the job beforehand and, if you don’t have the equipment, realize that it’s more sensible financially to hire someone who does, and won’t need to learn how to use it.

DIY can be enjoyable, and it is always worth adding to your skills, but knowing when to do it and when to outsource will make your renovation faster, cheaper and almost certainly better, too!