Doing your own building work. Success or Disaster?

by Clam 10 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Clam

  I've recently had a burst water pipe in my house, which now gives me the chance (courtesy of the Insurance cheque) to put a plush new kitchen in.

  I'm lucky to have a good friend who's a carpenter so he'll be doing the complicated stuff, but while I'm happy to have a go at general DIY, I'm always stressed about screwing up, rather than just getting on with it and enjoying it.

  Do you do your own DIY, plumbing, wiring etc. at home, or do you get tradesmen in?

  I'm keen to hear from anyone who has dived in at the deep end on a building project and have surprised themselves at their competence. Or was it a disaster?

  Clam
• 

  jeeprube

  I recently remodeled my kitchen, bear in mind that I'm a licensed electrician who also used to frame houses and work on Quick Builds. I thought I'd knock my kitchen out in a couple of weeks and have a grand old time. Wrong! A kitchen remodel is the biggest undertaking a DIY can face. Just be prepared, it's a lot more work than you may expect.
• 

  GoingGoingGone

  I've never done actual construction on a home, but my husband and I have remodeled several houses. Torn out old kitchens, installed new ones (we had someone do the countertop though), laid tile floors, laid laminate wood floors, sanded down and refinished old wood floors, laid brick pavers, etc.

  Any electrical work we leave to an electrician, and actual construction is left to people who know what they're doing too. I'd hate to have the roof fall in on someone...

  We both enjoy it, and we're both perfectionists... And yes, I think we were impressed over how good our work turned out!!

  GGG
• 

  compound complex

  Hey Clam (er, Tuco?),

  Why not spend this special moment in a distant galaxy, far, far away with the one who brought to my attention the new status - the moment I hit "submit"! Thank you very much indeed!
  I had to have a family member help me install a new faucet in the kitchen where I rented [came off the rental fee]. The wiring below the sink was different from what the new contrivance would permit. Took 5 hours. He is expert, yet it was a major to-do. The plumbing for the lights I managed.
  The real di$a$ter was a total remodel of the kitchen in "our" family home. Great expen$e and effort - done beautifully by a JW friend. I got to use it for about a few months [I cooked the majority of the meals for me and the kids' mum.] when it was determined I should go - permanently. That was the disaster. The loss of a gourmet kitchen and the one for whom I so gladly and willingly cooked. Peter, Peter, pumpkin eater............
  Will your kitchen, Clam, be all singing and dancing?

  Coco of-the-new-status-as-soon-as-he-hits "submit" - here goes!!!!!!!!!
• 

  jaguarbass

  Do you do your own DIY, plumbing, wiring etc. at home, or do you get tradesmen in?

  In the past, I have always done my own home maintenance. I spent a year as a carpenter building houses back in my JW days when I was about 21. They said that would be a good line of work after armeggedon. Having been raised as a jw, and forgoing formal education, I never ended up having enough money to afford a tradesman.

  I don't know about any future repairs, I guess if my wife nags me enough, I will get them done.
• 

  Gregor

  I've tackled some pretty involved projects. Some I enjoyed and some were nightmares. Are permits required? I was surprised to learn that some work, elec. & plumbing need to pass an inspection and you may have a problem when you go to sell if you can't show permits. Do you have the tools you will need? I ended up buying a lot of tools I will probably never use again. Even if you rent certain tools do you know how to use them with no experience? For me, if the money was available, I would have a contractor do the kitchen.
• 

  Clam

  Will your kitchen, Clam, be all singing and dancing?

  Coco yes it will my Jedi colleague. It will be Sammy Davis Jr. reincarnated as a kitchen.

  Thank you everyone else too. I'm really trying to get an angle on whether confidence can fill in the missing skill gaps. I think they can you see, but I've known so many people have a go and make such a bad job of it. Maybe it's down to whether you're a perfectionist too? In effect I don't always hire myself as I'm not particularly impressed with the standard of my work.

  I'm certainly not keen on tackling gas and electricity, but roll on the luxury kitchen where I'll be doing a Gordon Ramsay.

  Clam
• 

  onlycurious

  There will always be things that are unexpected bloopers. It will be okay. Just plan well and take it one day at a time.

  We are planning on building our dream home. To date, my husband has installed the septic, done all the dirt work, installed the water, power, cable and phone, put in a serpentine retaining wall around the circular drive and is currently working on a 6ft retaining wall on the other side of the property to hold back the beach dune. This whole thing has cost us close to 50k because we bought the excavator, tons of rock, the PUD is a rip off and the . And we haven't even STARTED to build yet and we did the work ourselves.

  You should take before and after pics for all of us to see. A new kitchen is awesome!
• 

  Clam

  Gregor you're right. I am making sure I have stuff done to building regulations and I'm also getting the kitchen re-wired as it had previously been done by cowboys (not sure if you say that in the US?).

  Also you're right about the tools. That's also why I gave up being my own mechanic. I just couldn't keep up with specialist tools. By the time you buy them you might as well pay someone to use theirs. Although tool hire can sometimes be a boon.

  Clam
• 

  uwishufish

  Remodeled my kitchen. It took longer than expected. Some times the locating of a tradesman, that is reliable, is a task in itself. The tradesman I used was the person who laid the porcilan floor tile. I also hired a helper for myself. Certain tasks can take days such as the sheetrock work.