DIY to save $$$ is it worth it

ember15 · **DIY to save $$$ is it worth it**

I keep asking myself this. We are putting in a new patio and have to remove a damaged retaining wall. Which means digging it out 2-3 feet allong the 50 feet of wall. We have been at it for a week now and are maybe half done. I just keep thinking how fast we would be done with it all to just rent a mini excavator. So it got me thinking. Do others do things the hard way by doing home projects themselves or do you break down and hire someone or rent tools to get things done faster?
I hate the fact that I can't be out there digging as much as I would like because I have to watch DD.

Jared&Maggie'smom · 05-04-2007, 11:47 AM

My Dh and I (ok, mainly dh and his dad) have redone 2 kitchens, 3 bathrooms, torn down walls, put new flooring in (wood laminate) and tile, torn down wallpaper, painted, finished our basement, made a shed (without blueprints)....um, I think that is it.....

Yes, it was all done ourselves to save money. It is harder now that we have the kids as dh would rather come home and be with all of us than have some project to work on.

Next on our list : New roof shingles, new patio or deck, new sliding door (doesn't seal well), tear/chop down a tree. The roof we will hire done. I am trying to convince dh to hire someone to cut down the tree as it only about 10 feet from the house and I would rather a professional deal with it. Other than that the rest will be dh.

MandaRenee · 05-04-2007, 11:54 AM

We do a lot of things ourselves as I enjoy it and its cheaper. We refinished the wood floors in our house but we rented a floor sander. I was not going to be on my hands and knees for weeks trying to do it. Sometimes renting the equipment is necessary and is still cheaper than hiring someone!

vioburn · 05-04-2007, 11:55 AM

DH and I are trying to figure out how we can save money building a house. I know we couldn't do all of the work, but we are trying to figure out what we could do and what skills our families have that they could help with, too. I'll leave pouring the foundation to the experts, but painting and tiling...I can do that. So far, with our skills, we've figured out at least a $40,000 savings. Hopefully we can bring that down even further.

But, we want to figure it all out before we buy the land and get the bank invovled with a loan and all that.

debellafunk · 05-04-2007, 01:06 PM

My dh and I have done a lot to our house also there are some things that we will just pay to have done tho. We have renovated the kitchen and did that all our selves, we will be re roofing this summer and that we are doing our selves. We bought a little bit of a fixer upper with the hopes of selling in 5-8 years to build. After the roof we want to up date both baths to make it a 2 bath insted of a 1 & 3/4 to also raise the vaule of the house. When we build we will also contract some out the building, pouring of foundations and even all the dry walling ( we could do this but just not as good as the pros and as fast) We have a project int he back yard to do a retaing wall and making a room in the basement ( 1/2 under ground lower level Not full depth basement) into a bedroom so we have to put in a window but we have it dig out that part of the back yard ( we will be renting a backhoe tho) there is no way we are doing it by hand there is way to much dirt and we have about 20 stumps that need to be removed so it will be doing that to .. WE are not hiring someone to do it just renting the equip. All in all what ever you can do your self saves big money.

deemom · 05-04-2007, 01:43 PM

You have to factor in what your time and sanity are worth as well when you do it yourself. We had our privacy fence put in my professionals, but dh put new ceramic tile in the kitchen and last year redid the bathroom floor.

Now I love to paint so I would never pay someone to do that. On the flip side you would have to threaten me with bodily harm before I ever wallpaper again, lol.

I've taken care of too many people who have fallen off roofs so I would rather pay professionals to do that as well.

Happymom · 05-04-2007, 02:19 PM

We diy everything except complex plumbing and electicals. We will do simple things like new faucets or installing new lights and such. Otherwise ours is a slow but steady task!!!