Should you do your home repair yourself?

Here are some tips and ideas to consider when deciding whether (or note)  to tackle a home repair job yourself or call in a professional.  Most of us completely misjudge the cost and time involved in carrying out any type of  home repair or maintenance around our home.

Basic home repair includes things like changing a tap washer, clearing a blocked vanity sink drain, clearing out the gutters, painting walls, fixing a garden hose, changing door handles, fixing a stuck door, installing a home irrigation system – all of which are not difficult, provided no complications arise.  Most of the above home repair tasks can be fixed by the average woman or man, if they know “how”.

Limits on Home Repair

In Australia there are some home repair and maintenance jobs that are illegal for homeowners to undertake. For example, in Australia only licensed electricians are permitted to carry out electrical work.  Having said that most of us change a light bulb on a regular basis.  The essential thing here is to make sure the power is turned off when doing so, keeping bodily parts (including fingers) well away from connectors, and using the correct globe for the light fitting installed.  If  in doubt, call your electrician.

When it comes to major home repair and renovation work, local council regulations and permits need to be secured before work can take place and are usually required to be completed by registered builders.

What’s your time worth?

Everyone’s time is valuable and you need to decide just how valuable your time is. Unless you are a professional every home repair job you undertake will probably take you longer than a tradesman, simply because you don’t have the same level of skill.

The way I decide whether to attempt a  home repair task myself is I look at the hourly rate I am paid in my full-time job, then estimate how long a given repair job will take, and if I am going to save myself money then I will do it myself.  It also depends how “ikey” I am feeling at the time too!

For example, if a leaking tap is caused by a worn tap washer, replacing the tap washer is not a difficult job and is one home repair job that most people should be able to do. In this instance it may take a novice around 30 minutes to replace the washer. Now weigh this up against the cost of getting your local plumber who may charge around $75+ per hour plus a call out fee, then it is worth giving it a go yourself first.

I have just had a major kitchen renovation completed. I was trying to decide whether I would tile the counter splash back myself, but when I received a quote of $350 from a professional tiler I came to the decision very quickly that based on my full-time job hourly rate it was not worth my time doing.  As it was, it took the tiler 5 hours from start to finish. Had I done the tiling it would have been an all day job. Therefore, evaluate how much you will save by doing it yourself and the time involved in doing that particular home repair.

Over the years, it has been a lack of cash that has forced me to learn how to do many of my own home repair jobs myself, such as changing tap washers, clearing blocked sink drains, tiling, painting, laying a block retaining wall, installing my own irrigation system, building a patio cover, etc.  and when you realize how simple many of these jobs are you certainly can save yourself a wad of cash by learning how to do it yourself.

You may be interested in checking out these articles:

Blocked Toilet Repair

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