Keeping up with home maintenance by yourself is incredibly satisfying. It saves money while heightening your sense of self-sufficiency. Now, more than ever, is the time to crack open the old toolbox. Do-it-yourself television shows, hardware store seminars, and blogs make reliable information about home improvement accessible to anyone.
When, however, a complicated project or home emergency threatens the integrity of your house or the health of your family, it’s best to hand over the tools to a home maintenance professional. DIY is great, but it’s not always the most sensible option. This quick guide distinguishes between those situations you can handle solo and those situations you really should hire help for.
Plumbing Problems
Unclogging a drain, stopping an overflowing toilet, and installing a new shower head yourself will save the money and wait of hiring a plumber. Emergencies like leaks and breaks, however, can cause serious damage to your house if not handled by a professional. Here’s a detailed breakdown:
DIY
DIY: Fix a clogged drain by plunging it with a rubber plunger. If this doesn’t work, use chemical drain cleaner. If that doesn’t work, try manually emptying the trap pipe below the sink.
DIY: Fix a leaky faucet by, first, cutting the water supply by turning off the valve. Then unscrew and remove the handles and replace the (likely) worn out rubber seat washers in each.
Professional
Professional: Leaky pipes are caused by corrosion (not a quick fix). To prevent flooding and mold, turn off the water valve connected to the leaking pipe yourself, but you’ll probably want to hire a professional to replace the pipe.
Professional: If you have a burst pipe, call a professional. Once again, turn off the main water supply (along with all faucets and connected appliances) as soon as you detect the burst.
If you know nothing else about the plumbing in your home, know how to shut off your water supply. Regardless of whether you solve the issue yourself or end up calling in a professional, shutting off the water during a major leak or break can save your house.
Haywire Appliances
You don’t need a handyman to replace a faulty refrigerator thermostat or a burnt out microwave light bulb. You can do that yourself, but avoid tinkering with any appliances that could cause a gas leak or electrocution.
DIY
DIY: Replace worn out water line hoses in your refrigerator and dishwasher yourself. Broken water line hoses are common and installing new ones is inexpensive and relatively easy.
Professional
Professional: Likewise, only an electrician should replace fuses in appliances that must be disassembled to do so, replace electrical cords, or rewire appliances completely.
Professional: Bring in an expert to fix a loose or leaky gas line on your dryer or stove. Toxic fumes from gas lines can cause illness or even death.
Painting Projects
House painting can be an accessible and immediately gratifying way to spruce up your home. Interior and exterior painting is popular with do-it-yourselfers, since it doesn’t require a lot of experience to do an acceptable job.
Note that painting does require a significant initial investment in equipment. For interior jobs, this includes purchasing drop cloths, ladders, scrapers, hole filler, sandpaper, paintbrushes, rollers, extension poles, trays, and caulk. For exterior jobs, this includes purchasing or renting a paint sprayer, sander, and pressure washer.
DIY
DIY: If painting is part of your regular home maintenance routine, investing in the equipment to do the jobs yourself makes a lot of sense.
Professional
Professional: If you rarely undertake painting projects, consider hiring a painter who will do a better, faster job than you. This will save you the cost of buying or renting your own equipment.
Gardening
Unlike house painting, gardening is actually an enjoyable DIY project. Some even call it a hobby. If you’re landscaping your property for the first time, a professional can lend helpful legal and environmental advice. For the most part, however, gardening is a forgiving and incredibly rewarding activity.
DIY
DIY: Anyone with the space can make a garden. There are four basic steps to beautiful flowers, scrumptious vegetable, or savory herbs: construct a frame or fence (if needed), loosen and work the soil, plant seeds, water them.
DIY: Building a wooden trellis, pergola, or gazebo in your garden requires only a basic knowledge of construction.
Professional
Professional: If what you want to do requires permits, a landscaper, architect, or designer knows the local code and will acquire the permits for you.
Professional: A landscaper knows how to prevent run-off in yards susceptible to erosion.
Pool Maintenance
It’s difficult to install a pool if you don’t know what you’re doing. Even installing an above ground pool may require a permit and approval from a technician. Once the pool is installed, however, homeowners can perform much of the maintenance themselves.
DIY
DIY: Check the filter pressure gauge every few days. When water pressure is above 5 pounds, clean the pool cartridges or backwash the pool filter. If water pressure is low, empty the pump basket.
DIY: Homeowners can also perform a weekly chemical test without a professional. Home kits test the hardness, alkalinity and cyanuric acid levels of the water.
Professional
Professional: Only a professional should install a pool.
Pest Predicaments
Pests are potentially very dangerous. Not only do pest infestations cause sickness and allergies, persistent infestation can cause permanent damage to your house. Like other major home repair and maintenance issues, there is a time for handling pest control yourself and a time for calling in a professional.
Because pest control chemicals can be unsafe if used improperly, it’s important to approach DIY pest control with caution. You can solve some pest control issues, like minor ants or mice, without an exterminator. Only an exterminator, however, is equipped to resolve severe infestations like bed bugs or termites.
DIY
DIY: The occasional ant, spider, termite, or roach visitor usually accesses your home from outside. If you can locate the pest’s point of entry, spraying off-the-shelf pesticides should get rid of your insect problem.
DIY: If you have one or two mice in your home, use a live trap to humanely remove them if you can.
Professional
Professional: If the infestation is overwhelming, or carpenter ants, termites, or rats are threatening the structural integrity of your home, hire a professional.
Professional: Bed bugs are insidious. They multiply quickly and are virtually impossible to remove without a full extermination. At the first sign of bed bugs – rusty stains on sheets, small black dots, tiny yellow eggs, live bugs – call in a professional.
Exterminators use high-tech equipment and chemicals that leave your home pest free long-term. If you find yourself continuously treating a persistent infestation, call in a professional instead. It’ll leave you time to pursue more rewarding DIY projects instead.
