Save Money By DIY

When renovating a house I always like to try to save money wherever possible. If I can do a job myself to save I money, I'll give it a go (the end result may not look any good, but at least I saved money, right?). There are things that I won't try. Electrical or plumbing can cause some serious disruption if you get it wrong. It can also be illegal for schmucks to fiddle with (or you could die).

Things like painting walls anyone can do. Yes, you can make a mess of it and it can look terrible, but if you take just a little bit of time to learn and to prepare your surfaces. Then it's super easy. Although I would say it might not be the most satisfying job in the world, it can make the biggest bang for your buck. I've done plenty of painting over the years and cringe at some of my early work (I guess an artist needs time to mature).

We had to rip up some badly stained carpet. Underneath was these beautiful hardwood floors. We decided to polish or sand and polyurethane the floors. It would have costs thousands to get it professionally done because it was a large house. I decided to give it a go. It took a lot longer than anticipated because of large gaps between boards that needed to be filled. In the end, it was a wee bit rough, but it still looked okay and did the trick.

We had an area that we thought would be best to use ceramic tiles. I reluctantly decided to do it myself. In most cases my thoughts are, if it doesn't work I can always get a professional to do it. But if I can do it then I would have saved money, gained a skill and saved money (saving money is about twice as important as gaining a skill). The result was okay and they are still going strong over 13 years later.

Nowadays with the internet, it makes it so easy. You can just google the project you are doing and follow the instructions. It's easy to get a second opinion by finding another website or youtube video. When searching for installing some large doors, I came across a website that said that it was one of the hardest carpentry things someone could do. I was a little nervous but thought as I mentioned before, if it doesn't work I can get a professional to do it. I was so close to messing it all up. There was no wriggle room for error in the measurements I made and it just fit. If I had been out a little I would have had to pull down the framing I made and start again, but luckily it fit. It gave me the confidence to try again another time and I would be happy to do it again in the future.

I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment here. To look back on some work is to shudder and try to hide it. But with other work, I can look at puff out my chest and say to anyone around, that I did it myself. It is a nice feeling to look at something that is still standing and looking good after years of service.