Home and Garden

Why You’ve Probably Got the Wrong Idea About DIY

For many people, DIY is seen as a cheap and effective method of repairing things in the home, adding new appliances or even constructing a loft conversion all on your own. While it’s great to be able to do your own home maintenance and renovations, the reality is that it’s not that simple. Actually, it could be argued that even with the cost of hiring a contractor, it’s more efficient and cheaper to hire someone to do your home maintenance and repairs.

There are obviously a few cases where DIY trumps paying money for a service (for instance, upcycling your waste or painting a shelf), but in this article we’ll be going through a few misconceptions about DIY and why you need to rethink your approach to it if you plan to make your own home renovations and improvements.

Why You’ve Probably Got the Wrong Idea About DIY

DIY Is More Expensive Than You Think

Many people just assume that DIY is cheaper since you don’t need to pay for someone’s services. While it sort of does make sense, here’s what you actually have to pay for if you don’t hire someone to do the job for you.

Expensive power tools that are often rented at high prices
Materials needed to carry out your renovation
Time off work, which means you could potentially lose money from your salary
Potential of damaging something that will need to be repaired
Hospital fees if you injure yourself
Time spent learning how to do your DIY project

It doesn’t sound like much without giving actual monetary values, but keep these six points in mind. The only real positive side of DIY is that you’re learning to do something on your own. Without that benefit, it’s almost always better to pay for a contractor to get your work done.

Why You’ve Probably Got the Wrong Idea About DIY

DIY Can Be Dangerous

Unless you’re a retired plumber, you should never attempt to fix things like burst pipes. Sure, with a bit of knowledge you can perform basic plumbing jobs, but without advanced knowledge, you could end up hurting yourself or damaging your home even more, to a point that you’ll have to hire someone to fix the mess you made. That’s why services like Texas Plumbing Diagnostics exist–you’re not paying just for their time, but also for the knowledge they’ve accumulated, the materials they use to fix your plumbing and also labour costs. In short, DIY is a dangerous game that shouldn’t be toyed around with, so if your DIY project involves dangerous parts of the home such as your boiler or gas appliances, leave it to the professionals.

Where DIY Shines

DIY is great for smaller projects because it gives you more control over your designs. DIY is also quite a lot of fun for those involved and even has some health benefits. For instance, painting can be considered therapeutic, so painting your walls or your garden fence can be good for your mental health. In short, only consider DIY for smaller tasks that you know you can handle. If you have to purchase or rent tools to do your DIY project, then it’s probably best left to the professionals!

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