While some of us might hope to get rich, have a house full of servants and hire people to do our work for us, it seems these days like more people want to be independently wealthy or retire so they can work on their house and tackle any number of DIY projects themselves.
If you’re building or renovating your home, chances are good you’ve also seen enough DIY television or talked to enough DIYers that you want to get your hands dirty, too.
This is both a smart economic decision and a rewarding option. Some things, however, are best left to professional renovation contractors, such as the following examples:
Anything that requires permits
Many local ordinances require permits for plumbing work, electrical repairs, furnace installations and many structural fixes, such as those related to foundations. This means you have to have a licensed practitioner do the work — and for good reasons! Even if you think you can do some of the wiring or pipe-fixing yourself, it’s best to leave this to the experts, folks who have thousands of hours of experience doing exactly this kind of work.
Working with the pros ensures you comply with local ordinances, and if something goes wrong — say an electrical fire occurs and there’s evidence that a non-licensed individual did the work — your homeowner’s insurance may not cover the damages.
If small mistakes and “good enough” won’t do
Sometime home renovation contractors just do a better job. With that in mind, you should stay away from work that doesn’t have a gentle learning curve, as the results of doing something wrong can range from obnoxious (kitchen cabinets that don’t close because you installed them at a slight angle) to dangerous, such as a gas leak from hooking up a gas stove on your own.
Roofing
If you go online and watch some videos about roofing, it looks pretty easy. You lay down some tar paper, get a nail gun, order some shingles and get to hang out on the roof with your friends all day. It’s just like being a kid again.
But please, don’t try to re-roof your house.
Experts always make things look easy, and if you’re not a roofing expert, the best-case scenario is that you’ll do a shoddy job and end up paying more for professionals to come in and fix it. In the worst-case scenario, you could get seriously injured.
If you’re going to sell
If you’re fixing up your home in order to sell it, you’ll have much less room for error. Those little mistakes you might make, the kinds that add a little personality to your home, are not going to look good to potential buyers. So, while there are still things you can tackle on your own, it’s best to leave the repairs to the expert home contractors when it comes time to sell.
For more advice on how to fix up your house or help you find a pro, talk to a Coldwell Banker Hedges Realtor® today. They know the market, (and the pros for those not so easy jobs), and can help you get top dollar for your home.
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