Home Repairs: When to DIY and When to Call the Pros

Hello World!  Welcome Friends!  One of the best things is having a place to call home. However, this comes with its fair share of challenges, like doing home repairs in case of damages.

Home repairs can be costly and time-consuming. The amount you spend on these two factors depends on whether you do the repairs as a do-it-yourself (DIY) or call an expert. Calling an expert minimizes the time while increasing the money you’ll spend. On the other hand, DIY will likely decrease your expense money-wise, but you’ll require more time to complete the repair.

Some home repairs may include fixing leaking pipes, painting walls and cabinets, replacing a faucet, replacing doors, and many more. Besides money and time, there are other factors that determine whether to DIY or hire a professional. They include necessary skills, tools and equipment, your safety, and many other things.

For example, the days of digging up broken pipes to repair them are long gone. Today experts have developed a technology known as pipe lining, which repairs your plumbing problem from the inside without digging up the pipe. Therefore, if you have plumbing problems, hiring experts instead of DIY would be best.

This article provides home repairs that need a pro and those that you DIY. It also explains in detail the factors that determine which of the two options you’ll use. Keep reading to learn more.

Factors That Determine Whether to DIY or Hire an Expert 

Here are some factors to consider when deciding whether to do a DIY or hire an expert.

1. The Size of Your Project

The size of your home repair project will depend on the amount of work needed, the level of expertise, and the tools required. If the workload isn’t much, you can learn by reading books or watching how-to videos.

However, for a project like how to install a door in our newly built home, you may lack the necessary skills and tools to execute it. In this case, hiring a handyman is the best solution.

2. Your Patience Level

Trying something for the first time involves making errors and consuming a lot of time before you get things right.  DIYs are time-consuming, so if you’re not a patient person, they may not be the best option for you. For instance, if you didn’t get the correct measurements the first time, you may need to return to the store to get enough materials.  This means your home repair project will take longer to be executed.

3. Whether You’re a Perfectionist 

People have different preferences for how they want things done. Being a perfectionist means that you expect everything to be done perfectly. Home repairs may not turn out perfect if you DIY as you don’t have the skills and experiences of a pro. Therefore, if you aren’t satisfied with the results, it’s best to bring in an expert.

4. Reason For the Home Repair

Concrete foundation crumbling refers to the deterioration or disintegration of a concrete foundation. It typically manifests as the breaking apart or crumbling of the concrete surface, resulting in a weakened and unstable foundation. Several factors can contribute to concrete foundation crumbling, including water damage, poor construction practices, age-related deterioration, or exposure to harsh environmental conditions.

You may have home repairs as maintenance to improve your home’s value so that it sells faster. If that’s the case, it would be best to hire an expert who’ll do a great job modernizing your home and improving its value.

5. Consequences In Case of a Mistake 

‘To err is human.’ However, there are home repair projects in which you can’t afford to make mistakes. This is because these mistakes could cause more damage than the existing damage. As a result, you’ll spend more money and time than you would have if you were fixing the initial damage. To avoid these, you should consider hiring a professional if you aren’t sure what to do.

Besides further property damage, you must consider your health. Will you be endangering your life by doing home repairs? If it’s safe to handle the project, you can proceed with doing the home repairs yourself.

Types of Home Repairs and How to Fix Them

Below are various types of home repairs and decisions about whether to fix them through DIYs or experts.

• Plumbing

Water is essential in your home. It’s required for cleaning, cooking, drinking, and much more. However, if water isn’t channeled properly, it can cause a mess in your home. One of the things that could cause water problems is a problem with your piping.

Piping problems are caused by:

• Cold Temperatures

When the temperature drops, water tends to freeze, hence, turning to ice. Water expands as it solidifies to ice, causing the pipes to burst and leak. This issue can be solved by insulating your pipes to ensure the weather doesn’t affect the pipes.

• Aging and Corrosion 

Pipes’ quality decreases over time, and together with corrosion, they can burst anytime. Old pipes start by leaking water in drops before bursting and leaking water all over. The best way of dealing with this problem is to check the condition of your pipes once in a while and replace the damaged ones with new ones.

• Clogging

At times, various substances, such as hair, food waste, dirt, soap, minerals, and many more, accumulate in pipes and block water flow. When this happens, the water pressure increases. Too much pressure could burst your pipes. To avoid clogging, you can minimize disposing of the said substances in your sinks, shower, and toilet. However, if you suspect that your pipes are clogged, you can have them opened to remove the substances.

The solutions offered all the required skills to avoid further damage. For instance, improperly replacing your pipes can lead to more leakage, damaging your home and the property. Therefore, you need to call an expert when making plumbing repairs.

• Fixing Doors

Doors are one of the most frequently used components in a home. Every time you enter a room, you must open and close a door behind you. For this reason, you have to often do maintenance on them. If you abandon them, they may start squeaking and sticking, which can be irritating. For instance, wooden doors tend to expand in highly humid conditions. If there isn’t enough room for expansion between the door and the frame, the doors end up swelling.

If you’re experiencing such issues, you can start by trying to DIY. When dealing with sticking doors,  check the hinge screws first as they may be loose. If this is the case, you can use a spanner to tighten the hinges. Also, if your doors are making a squeaky sound, this may be because of friction, and you can repair it by lubricating them.

On the other hand, if your doors swell during rainy periods, you may need to plane them. Unlike tightening hinge screws, planning doors need experts. This is because if you DIY, you may cut a bigger piece of wood than required, causing more damage. Therefore, if the best solution is to plane your doors, call a pro.

• Painting

One of the things that elevates a room’s appearance is the paint. No matter how old your home might be, it’ll look good if the paint is done properly. Apart from appearance, paint can also increase your home’s value, especially when planning to sell it. However, you must ensure the painting is done well to increase the value and improve the appearance.

Painting is one of the home repairs that you can DIY. If you decide to DIY, you should first learn about painting techniques and the proper brushes. This will keep roller marks, sloppy trim paint, and spatters off the wall. After a while, the mistakes mentioned caused the paint to come off.

If this is your first time painting, you can take steps to ensure your result looks good. Doing so will save you the money for hiring a painter.

The following are the steps that can guide you:

• First, remove any obstacle that may interfere with your painting. For instance, you can remove curtain rods, door hinges, and other things. Also, you can cover sockets to avoid getting paint on them.
• Clean your walls using a dry cloth or a wet sponge. This step is essential as it removes dirt that causes streaks.
• Next, prime any sanded parts. However, if you don’t have a primer, you can use paint that has primer in the next step.
• Finally, paint your room in your desired color.

 

• Fixing Electrical Issues

In today’s world, almost everything relies on electricity for its functioning. Many appliances are electric. Moreover, there are car models that use electricity in place of fuel. The increased reliance on electricity comes along with some electrical issues. For instance, without a backup source, some activities such as washing clothes using a washing machine can’t happen during a blackout.

Apart from blackouts, other events may interfere with the flow of electricity into your home. They include:

• Overloading

This happens when you use an item that consumes more power than the one from the source. If not realized early, it can lead to sparks, which can cause an electric fire.

• Electrical Surges

Surges occur when there’s poor wiring, lightning, downed power lines, or faulty appliances. If not fixed as soon as possible, surges may damage your appliances by reducing their life span.

• Dysfunctional Light Switches

This issue is mainly caused by the use of electrical products of poor quality.

• Dips and Sags

This issue is caused by using many appliances that consume a lot of power.

• Aluminum Wire

When wiring your home, you may prefer using more affordable materials. For instance, aluminum is more affordable than copper. However, aluminum corrodes when it touches copper, resulting in arching and fires.

These issues require an expert to confirm the real cause before finding the best repair solution. Since you may not be very well informed about electricity, it’s best to call a pro to handle your electricity issues.

Additionally, electrical repairs pose a risk of electrocution that may lead to death. That’s why experts recommend leaving your electrical repairs to professionals who are well-versed in taking the necessary safety measures.

• Repairing Roofs

Roofs are among the most abandoned parts of a house. In most cases, you’ll realize your roof needs repairs after it has started leaking. By this time, the situation is severe, and only experts can right it.

Furthermore, repairing your roof through DIY puts you at risk of accidents like sliding and falling off the roof. This emphasizes the need for an expert. Besides, fixing and repairing roofs requires high levels of expertise. Doing it badly could lead to even greater damage to your property.

The best you can do as DIY is to clean your roof to remove debris like branches that may clog drainage in your roof, leading to leakages. Other causes of roof damage include

• Critters

These are animals such as bats, birds, and squirrels that spend time on your roof. They mess up the wood that supports your roof by pecking.

• Branches

During the cold season, strong winds and ice may lead to tree branches falling on your roof. The impact of these falls may be great, damaging your roof.

• Flashing Damage

Due to how harsh weather conditions affect your roofing, it’s good to protect them from such conditions. Roof flashing is a thin material that’s used to weatherproof your roof.

• Re-grouting Tiles

After a while, you may start noticing that your tiles no longer look good. This is because, with time, the grout around tiles loosens, discolors, and may come off. The best way of dealing with such a condition is by re-grouting. Re-grouting involves replacing the old grout with a new one.

Re-grouting is among the home repairs that you can DIY by following the steps below:

• Choosing the right type of grout. It can be acrylic latex, sanded, unsanded, or epoxy. The space between tiles determines the grout type to use. If the space is more than 1/8 inch, you should consider using sanded grout; if it’s smaller, you can use the other types.
• Next, remove the damaged grout using a grout saw.
• Wet the joints by using a rag or sponge.
• Use the manufacturer’s instructions to mix your grout well and then apply the mixture to the spaces between your tiles.
• If you apply excessively, you can use a sponge to eliminate the extra grout.
• Lastly, let the grout settle and use a wet rag to clean your tiles.

Besides making your floor look good, re-grouting has other benefits such as:

• Removes mildew and mold that may have formed around the old grout
• It minimizes the need for too much energy together with harsh cleaning products to make the floor look clean
• It saves you money that could have been used to replace tiles instead.

Wrapping It Up!

Damage to your home can occur at any time. They can cause further damage if not fixed on time. For instance, not fixing electrical issues can damage your appliances or, worse, fire. There are two options for doing home repairs: DIYs and calling a pro. This article explains which home repairs you can DIY and which ones need a professional. Therefore, you can use it to categorize home repairs on this basis and understand how DIY home repairs are done.

Click the links below for any posts you have missed:

Advantages of Using a Stone Mason For Brick Pointing and Masonry

Tips on Clearing a House After Someone Has Passed Away

Seven Devices That All Smart Homes Need

Traveling in 2022: What Are the Most Important Tips?

4 Reasons For Your Home Energy Drain

Why Is Exterior Reparation Important For Your Home

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