Homeowners of every age group continue to source DIY content for help to try to save money and boost their sense of accomplishment. But when should you avoid DIY and turn to a pro?

The Rising Popularity of DIY Home Repair and Improvement Content

According to available market research, there is significant (and growing) interest in do-it-yourself (DIY) home repair and improvement content. In fact, today there is so much more content – DIY videos, books, programming, and social media – that even building your own home from the ground up is made to appear “do-able” by DIY media personalities who make their money by creating and promoting their DIY content.

But is this a truly viable reality? Can a homeowner successfully DIY a home repair or remodel, let alone build an entire house by themselves?

It’s a fair question. Costs on everything are rising, especially homeownership. Consequently, many homeowners, especially Millennial and Gen X first-time homeowners, do want to try to tackle some home repairs and improvements to save money. But most things – including even basic flooring, drywall repair, and installing new lighting, all common DIY tasks – do require some level of special knowledge, tools, and expertise. Consequently, homeowners of every age group continue to source DIY content for help. And, they are doing this in the hopes of saving money as well as for a sense of accomplishment and remodeling inspiration.

So, yes, even a novice homeowner might come to acquire basic skills to repair a faucet leak or to paint a room. But would your skills and capabilities be good enough to look professional, or to pass a required building inspection?

Questions to Consider: How Much Money is My Time and Effort Worth?

Perhaps, before undertaking a DIY home project, ask yourself some basic questions. Rather than assume you can remodel your bathroom or repair your roof simply because a DIY video suggests you can, ask yourself what your time and effort are worth. If you could do such a job well, how long might it take you to do it in your spare time – and ask yourself if this is how you want to spend that precious time? If it takes more time than initially anticipated, what will it cost you if you need to skip work to complete the project? While you might save on labor costs doing the work yourself, what special tools might you need, how much do they cost, and how difficult might they be to master? And what happens if you encounter unforeseen construction challenges once you open up a wall, floor, or ceiling, or if you discover common problems such as dry rot, water, or pest intrusion?

If you knew you had a bad cavity, assuming you could acquire the necessary tools, would you choose to drill your own teeth to fill that cavity? Would you set your own broken bone or remove your own failing appendix? Would you try to repair your car’s engine or attempt to buff out a damaged fender? Perhaps you might try to tackle a car repair, but not something involving your health! But, if you could, would you dig your own well, run your own electrical line, or repair your home’s crumbling foundation? Where would you draw the line?

Most people would never think of doing any medical work on themselves. And yet, many homeowners are very willing to undertake a home construction project with the idea that they could do it well enough to make it worth their while. What is neglected are the serious considerations of potential injury, risks to personal safety, potential harm to structural integrity, and the considerable adverse impact to home value when not executed correctly.

And despite these many, quite serious concerns and considerations, there remains a growing emphasis on DIY. WHY?

The answer is easy enough to ascertain. Many homeowners eagerly want to believe that “vast amounts of money” can be saved by bypassing the construction professionals and attempting to do a home repair, improvement, or even a complete whole house remodel, all by themselves.

DIY Saves Money – Or Does It?

The question remains: would you actually “save” money with a DIY? It might be possible, provided the essential skills, professional tools, construction materials, speciality techniques, and all the modern building codes could be readily grasped, properly applied, and successfully executed to completion.

And THIS is the real world challenge – learning how to do it all, and then doing it right!

Even the very BEST of the DIY videos, courses, and books cannot help a novice – someone untrained, unskilled, and inexperienced – to swiftly acquire the necessary skills, talents, and practiced techniques of someone who is a journeyman-level construction professional and actively licensed in the construction trades.

The CSLB defines “journeyman level” experience as work performed by a fully qualified and experienced individual who can perform their trade without supervision, such as a graduate of an apprenticeship program or an experienced worker.

For contractor licensing, this experience must be in the specific classification for which the contractor is applying, meaning they must have completed 4 years of this level of work, in that particular trade, within the last 10 years. This experience must include the practical, hands-on tasks of the trade, not just administrative duties. As a homeowner, are you ready to undertake work that demands this level of expertise and hands-on experience?

Unless you hire a seasoned and actively licensed general contractor to tackle critical, demanding, or complex home repairs or improvement projects – someone who is appropriately trained, journeyman-level experienced, and fully capable of masterfully undertaking the project, executing it correctly in the shortest amount of time, and doing so within a defined budget – you will inevitably spend not just MORE money doing it yourself, but you’ll take far more time, and expend inordinate amounts of effort, attempting to do it right, and yet STILL miss the mark!

Permitted Construction Work – When Hiring A Professional Makes the Most Sense

Even the most highly capable, hardworking, and genuinely responsible homeowner who attempts to “DIY” a home construction project STILL falls well below the standards necessary to meet modern building codes for requisite approval by your local building inspector.

To complicate matters further, ANY and ALL kinds of home repairs and home improvements that involve alterations to your structure, or to your mechanical, electrical, or plumbing systems, WILL require a building permit. And acquiring a needed permit also involves the time and cost of drawing up plans for building department review and pre-approval prior to the start of your project. This is not inconsequential, and can prove daunting and highly cumbersome for most homeowners.

California homeowners who have tried to “DIY” home repairs and improvements without first going to their respective building department to submit plans and procure a building permit, DO suffer severe consequences! These DIY homeowners who thought they were going to “save some money” end up facing potential fines (which can be triple the original permit cost), mandatory removal or costly correction of the work, can incur insurance claim denials, invalidation of their homeowner’s warranty, and suffer reduced property value as well as considerable difficulty in selling their home.

Ultimately, any “DIY” homeowner is responsible for rectifying the “unpermitted” work, which could involve obtaining a retroactive permit, paying fines, or demolishing the completed DIY work in order to comply with local building code.

Homeowners can easily be spared money, time, effort, and legal ramifications, as well as avoid the unnecessary stress-load by skipping the DIY solution and, at minimum, making the time to consult a professional. Below is a downloadable list of when and why to seek a professional rather than DIY your home repair or improvement.

Free downloadable PDF

When DIY Won’t Be a “Go” – Call a Pro!

Before undertaking a DIY project in your home, call Ed Neir Construction at 707-999-5878 to set an appointment for a free consultation, or send a text for a quick response.

Ed Neir, General Contractor
License #: 928715