DIY is a great way to save a little (or often a lot) of money on your home repairs and renovations when you get it right.
But if it goes wrong it could end up costing you a fortune. In some cases may even put your family’s safety at risk. With that in mind, here are some home projects that you probably shouldn’t DIY.
Plumbing and Boilers
Although you should be absolutely fine to do basic pipe and boiler-related tasks such as unclogging blocked pipes and releasing the pressure in your boiler – something you should always consult the manual when doing – you should probably hire a plumber. Hire someone to replace pipes and fitting and carry out any more serious repair jobs like fitting a new boiler condensate pump. Poor plumbing can result in floods and leaks and both plumbing work and badly-done boiler work can cause fires to break out. It’s not really worth the risk to save a few dollars.
Sanding Hardwood Floors
This is more of a think carefully than a definitely don’t try it yourself kind of thing, but unless you have prior experience, you probably shouldn’t try sanding your own hardwood floors. On the face of it, sanding floors doesn’t seem like such a difficult task. But you can almost always tell the difference between a professional sanding job and an amateur one, which often looks far more even, and can result in damage. Hardwood floors add value to your property, so it really is worth letting a professional maintain them.
Knocking Down Walls
Again, it is possible to knock down the walls in your home without any professional help. However, this is something you should only do if you are absolutely certain that the wall is not load-bearing and for this, you might want to hire a contractor for peace of mind and the safety of you all. Should you take a sledgehammer to a load-bearing wall, you could hurt yourself, your ceiling could collapse or beams could become unsafe.
(Almost) Anything Electrical
When it comes to your home’s electrics it’s better to be overcautious than under. The risk of electric shocks and fire are so high if jobs are not completed safely and correctly. That being said, there are some simple things such as wiring in light fittings, which can be DIY’ed. If you do choose to do any electrical work yourself, please make sure that you switch off the electricity before you do anything!
Roof Repair
Okay, so you’ll probably be fine replacing the occasional tile. But if you have a bigger job on your hands you’re going to want to hire a professional roofer. Roofing is complicated and if you don’t really know what you’re doing you can end up wasting a lot of materials by not doing the repair in the most efficient way. Not only that but, of course, conditions on the roof can be pretty dangerous at the best of times.
Enjoy your DIY, but choose your projects carefully!
