Knowing When to Hire a Professional for Home Repairs
As a homeowner, you probably often take on the role of Mr. or Mrs. Fixit. There are a lot of projects we take on as homeowners with the thought ‘why pay someone else the work I can do for free?’ While this holds true for some projects, others times doing it yourself is just a bad idea. You may even find yourself spending more time and money than you would have if you’d just hired a professional.
One home repair you shouldn’t do on your own is plumbing. If you’ve ever looked at a leaky pipe and thought, ‘how hard can it be?’ you may have already discovered it can be nearly impossible if you don’t know what you’re doing. When it comes to plumbing, anything more than replacing a shower head or plunging the toilet is often better let to the pros. One tiny plumbing mistake can cause leaks, resulting in mold and rot. Save yourself the time, headache and the flooding mess and hire a professional.
Unless you are an electrician, electrical repairs are something you should never try to do on your own. There are a lot of dangers associated with electricity. A mistake with the electrical in your home could be deadly and could create a fire hazard. Worse yet is if your home burns down because of electrical work you did on your own, your insurance might not pay for it if the work was not done to code.
You should also avoid trying to get rid of any mold or asbestos on your own. These chemicals can be extremely dangerous to you and anyone else in your home. If it is not treated properly it can continue to be a problem in your home and could even get worse. Trying to take care of these problems on your own can also be really bad for the environment, if not disposed of properly. While these repairs can be costly, the risks involved with trying to do it yourself are not worth it.
Another project you shouldn’t try to do on your own is replace your windows. You can definitely wash windows on your own, maybe even replace wood sills but anything more should be left to a professional. Windows that are not installed properly can be a huge expense on your energy bill. If your windows are not installed properly, it can let moisture into your home causing mold and rot, which as seen above, can lead to having to hire another professional to take care of the damage.
There are some home projects where do-it-yourself is just not worth it. It can be tough to swing the costs of hiring a professional to do your home repairs, but other times it can be a lot more costly to try to do it on your own. Save your sanity and your safety and hire a professional to take care of these projects for you.