Pay For Professionals Or D-I-Y?
Posted on November 16, 2007 by Melissa
Filed Under Budgeting, Housing
This week we are getting bids on work that we want done for the new house before we move in. After receiving a handful of quotes (many of which are higher than expected) we are starting to run into a dilemma.
Do we pay someone to do the work or do we try to do it ourselves?
We are finding that the answer to this question is that it “depends”. Most of the stuff we are doing to the home is somewhat specialized. Although we would love to leave it to the professionals we are finding that the money we saved up by test-driving the new mortgage might not be enough to cover all these things unless we cut back. So do we save the time or do we save the money?
This is how we are breaking down some of our labor needs:
Professionals Only
- Alarm System -This is a job best left to the professionals. The home is already pre-wired, we just need keypads, maybe a few options, and activation. We are considering Alarm.com.
- Garage Door Opener - Eric and I don’t know anything about installing garage door openers. We are thinking of having Sears install it although we will contact other places as well for a quote.
- Blinds - We have gotten a few bids for blinds and all of them seem quite high. We need specialized blinds that don’t have strings (the cats have destroyed all the blinds in our current home) so that upped the price. I know we could attempt to measure and install the blinds ourselves but I’m a tad nervous about that. I would consider measuring and buying them at Home Depot but I’d still want them professionally installed.
- Sprinkler System - Do it ourselves? Yeah, right. We will leave this to the people who know what they are doing. Plumbing is far from our strong point.
- Storm Door Installation - This should be something we can do but Eric is not the handiest of men (but put a computer in front of him and he can do anything). We are thinking of having this professionally installed so it is done right. We have yet to find out how much installation is though.
Do It Ourselves
- Grout Sealant - The bids we have been getting to seal the grout are $1400+. Sealing grout isn’t difficult; it’s just tedious and takes time. A friend of mine suggested I bribe a few friends to come over for a few hours two nights in a row to help so we make quick work of it. I think this may be worth a shot. $1400 is a lot of money to save on something that doesn’t require skilled labor.
Still Not Sure
- Bug Treatment - I’m not sure if we should pay to have this done but I really hate bugs and want to start off in the home on the right foot. Construction stirs up all sort of creepy crawlys so I know I want something done to help eliminate those extra tenants. At this point I don’t know if it is worth it to pay for a one time bug treatment or just spray ourselves.
- Landscaping - Eric and I know nothing about landscaping but I’m having a tough time justifying the cost. The new home comes with some bushes, sod, and two trees in the front. The backyard has dirt but nothing else. I know that if I don’t put down sod in the back the dirt will wash away and I’m just not sure if we should tackle it ourselves or bring in a professional.
- Ceiling Fan Installations - I know Eric would prefer to get a handyman to install fans if we can get a good deal but I have heard fans are pretty simple to do. This could be an area where we could save money. Unless we screw up, that is.
If money gets too tight we may just drop out landscaping until later, but most of the other things we are pretty set on. If you have any suggestions or install know-how please speak up and let us know ways to save money! We could certainly use the help!
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I agree it’s a good idea to do the labour intensive jobs yourself.
My suggestion for things like landscaping which may not have a lot of skill but could be a lot (too much?) labour is to hire some labour to help you. Students, day labourers, whoever - it makes it a lot easier and is still a lot cheaper than contracting the whole task out.
Mike
I’m totally not handy, and I have installed ceiling fans. There are literally two wires to twist together (three if it has lights) and it’s all color coded so you just match up the wires and twist. You can do it!
[...] Blues’s first victim: A Penny Closer who ponders which jobs her family should do themselves and which should be outsourced to professionals. Not DIYing your sprinkler system? [...]
You may want to check http://www.budgetblinds.com. My DH works for them in PA and has stories of where they’ve been 1/2 the cost of H.D. and Low*s.
I’ve installed ceiling fans and it’s not hard, but I hope to not have to do it again. You can put your own sod down in the back, but depending on where you live, you might not get it in there and rooting before a hard freeze. Talk to some garden centers about how to handle that at this time of year. You can also do a storm door yourself BUT I have RARELY seen anyone who did it themselves who did a good job. I’m sure some people have, but it seems like there’s always a small gap or something, which pretty much negates the utility of the storm door.
We moved this last year into a house where the husband thought he was a great handyman and when you look at things, he was. Once we moved in, we found that vanities and pedestal sinks were loose, molding wasn’t nailed down, wires in the wall trailed everywhere, etc. None of it’s unsafe; it’s just not professional. I didn’t have the time, skill, or knowledge to do certain things at our old house before we moved and hired a company called Handyman Matters. They have locations throughout the US and while they aren’t cheap, for me they are licensed and bonded, show up when they said they would will, can do 1,162 different services (according to their advertising - I had them do about 15 different things), cleaned up after themselves, were effecient and didn’t laze around on the job to make more money, etc. I’ll be hiring them again this spring for some work at our current house.
I would like to hear more about how you end up sealing your grout.
Ceiling fans are easy on paper but in real life, they are heavy! If one of you can just hold the thing up while the other person connects the wires, it will be a lot easier. (I am the holding-the-fan-up person in my household even though I am scrawny and weak. It’s not that hard when you get to use both hands.)
I once hired someone to install an exterior light because I couldn’t find the third wire. The person I hired just shoved the extra wire out of the way. Grr. I have an old house, though (built 1955).
I’ve had friends and relatives install garage door openers. You might want to ask around and see if you have any friends you can learn more from or who could come help (for free lunch or something).
I ain’t to handy but I was able to install sprinkers and lawn/landscaping in my backyard. Could save you quite a bit of money if you at least dig your own sprinkler line before hiring someone to put it together. Depending on how hard,rocky your soil is. If it is really full of rocks or clay it could be a hard to do yourself.
Bug treatment - Do you live in FL or someplace that’s warm year round? If so, hire a professional. If you live someplace where the seasons aren’t hot, hotter, school bus season and road construction season, I would probably do this myself; maybe something like setting off bug bombs throughout the house before move in. Also, is your yard out back flat or hilly? Are you wanting to put it all in grass to water so you can mow it or are you thinking about something like xeroscaping, ground covers or naturalizing part of it? Depending on what you want to do with it, you can probably do a lot on your own. Unless you have an electrician among family and friends, I’d hire a handyman. Handymen are amazing people. They can do a heck of a lot and don’t charge as much as the professionals. Ask around your new neighborhood, as well as friends and family for handyman recommendations.
Since I’m an avid reader of your excellent blog (first-time caller, however), I would like to help you out if possible. I have, to various extents, done landscaping (including taking a bare patch of dirt and making it look pretty cool), sprinklers, and ceiling fan installation professionally, so if you have questions about those things, don’t be shy.
A note on ceiling fans - yes, installation is pretty straightfoward - IF you have a load-bearing receptacle. You can’t just take a light out and put a ceiling fan on it; if the fan is not properly secured it could very well come down on your head. If you don’t know how to tell, I’d strongly recommend talking to an electrician who can install at least the receptacle for you, if not the fan. It’s worth it to know your fan will stay put!
Also, for the exterminator - if you are moving to an area which is vulnerable to termite infestation, get a treatment and bond set up. If it’s just creepy crawlies of the more benign sort, there are several products on the market which create a lasting barrier once applied around the perimeter of the house; we’ve had pretty good luck with them controlling ants.
Good luck!
Melissa,
The grout sealing job is definitely a way to cut costs. In fact, if the quote covered only one trip, one coat, you’re better off doing it yourself no matter what the cost.
You didn’t specify where the grout is (showers, kitchen, floors) but you want to make sure you get the job done right. I’ve mentioned in a past comment that we had two bathrooms remodeled. I sealed the grout on both jobs. Make sure the grout is thoroughly cured before you seal it. Also, don’t cut corners in regard to how many coats you apply. You need to keep sealing and resealing until the grout will not absorb any more sealant. Sometimes it takes 3, 4, or more applications. And make sure you use a high-quality sealant.
And if you get your friends to help, make sure you trust them to do a good job — sealant should not be allowed to dry on non-pourous surfaces and can be very difficult to get off if it’s allowed to dry. Sealing the grout in a shower, for example, can be tricky to keep the sealant off the tiles.
As for the ceiling fans, if you and/or Eric are handy, installing these can be quite easy — if you work well together as a team ;-)
Landscaping is a great way to build “sweat equity” in a home. I haven’t run sprinklers myself but I’ve looked into it. It does seem like a reasonable DIY task though — if the connections exist already.
Have fun and good luck.
@FourPillars - I think maybe finding some unskilled labor might work out fine with the landscaping. Thanks for the tip!
@Rete - I had no idea it was that simple! OK, I think we’ll be doing the ceiling fans ourselves! Thanks for the comment!
@Judy - We checked out Budget Blinds and they look pretty good. I think we’ll include them in our comparison. Thanks for the information!
@Mar - Thankfully we don’t get too much of a hard freeze down here. Our lows rarely get below 30 (maybe a day or two in the high 20s). Thanks for the information on Handyman Matters!
@Debbie - My brother read the post and said he’d help me with some of it. Eric can help but isn’t as comfortable with some of the tasks. We’ll let you know how the sealing goes. I think it’s going to be several hours of us on our hands and knees sealing the grout. Thanks for the advice!
@Kyle - Eric says we have a ton of rock in the ground where we are. He thinks it’s going to be tough to trench the yard for the sprinkler system. We have some time to think about it. Thanks for the advice though! If we can trench it, I think you’re right in that it would probably save us a lot of money. We’ll see!
@Nancy - Yes, we are in Texas and it’s warm year round. To save money, we started doing our own pest control in this house and it was our worst year yet for bugs! We have considered Xeriscaping and we still may do that. We haven’t decided yet. We’d really like to build a nice garden back there to grow some of our vegetables and fruits. We still need to figure out exactly what we want so we’re putting the landscaping on the back burner for now.
@Caldwell - Thank you so much for the offer! Don’t be surprised if you see an email from me when we start looking at the landscaping again! Thanks again for the comment and the offer!
@Jen - because it’s so hot here, we had them put a block in each room for a fan. To save money, we tend to use our fans more than the air conditioning. So I think we’re good there. I think Eric and I will try our hand at one of the ceiling fans at least. If it’s easy enough, we’ll do them all. We don’t have too much trouble with termites here, although I have heard of some folks that have had them. Our exterior has very little wood thankfully. It’s almost all stone and hardyboard. The ants is our big thing so I think we’re going to look into the barrier system you mentioned. Thanks for the suggestion!
@Elizabeth - Thanks for the advice on sealing! We have areas shower and tub areas, as well as a lot of floor that has tile. We will make sure that we are putting in enough sealent. 3 or 4 applications might be rough, but it’s better to get it sealed right! Eric is starting to lean more toward doing the landscaping on his own (but probably not the sprinklers because of all the rock in the ground). The ceiling fans we are definitely going to do at least the first one ourselves. If it’s as easy as everyone says, we’ll do them all ourselves! Thanks for the advice!
[...] a week ago, Melissa wrote about how we were considering doing much of the work on the new house ourselves in order to save money. We’ve chosen to do quite a bit ourselves and save the money we would have spent otherwise. [...]