Home and Garden

Hire a Professional or DIY? Here’s How to Decide

When you’re doing work around the house, it’s always nice to save a bit of money. Let’s face it, getting the professionals in can be expensive, and you may find it disruptive to have people around the house all the time. But it’s always difficult to know whether you should hire a professional or have a go at it yourself. Here are some things to bear in mind.

Professionals will give you the best finish

No matter how great you are at DIY, unless you’ve had professional training, it won’t quite be the same! Of course, if you’re doing something like general decorating, you might not find that a problem. However, if you’re fitting Clearshield door or window screens, and want to get the best fit, then it’s worth investing in professional installation. Ideally, fittings need to be professional, whereas decorative things don’t necessarily need to be.

Time is another factor

We’d all love to spend time doing up our homes and making them perfect, but if you work full-time, have hobbies, plus maybe kids and pets taking up your hours, then doing DIY gets very difficult. A job that may take you an entire weekend, meaning you don’t get a break, could take a professional just a few hours. For example, finding a professional painter makes life much easier, as you aren’t living in a house with things half done, so can just get on with your day while they work.

Tradies have the proper tools

While it may seem cheaper to do a DIY job, it really depends on whether you need to splash out on new tools. If you’re going to end up paying hundreds for tools that you’ll use just once, then you may as well just bring in a professional who’ll have all the gear already.

DIY may not bring your house up to code

Some areas may have restrictions on who can do certain jobs. This is because safety is an issue, and if you do a DIY job, your home may not meet local or government building codes, which can be tricky when it comes time to sell.

Electrician at Work on the Job Hire a Professional or DIY

Some jobs that may require professionals to complete them include:

  • Anything electrical – you aren’t guaranteed safety if you do these jobs yourself
  • Plumbing – especially anything to do with your connection to city supplies
  • Structural work – as this can be dangerous to the structure of your home
  • Gas – any kind of gas work, from boilers to appliances, all needs to be done by registered people

Basically, if you feel that any DIY job could put you at risk, or potentially damage your home, then it’s much better to pay a little more for a professional to help ensure safety all round. If you get this kind of work done, make sure you use an approved and licensed tradesperson and also make sure they give you a certificate to prove it has been done to the required standard.

To DIY or not to DIY? It really depends on the level of patience and time you have, so consider the above before you pick up a paintbrush and dive in.

 

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