Unfortunately home remodeling is not as easy as it looks in those five minute clips and there really are some things just best left to the pros. Here are some common DIY mistakes that you should keep in mind before you decide to whether or not to go it alone on that next home remodeling or repair project:
Tool Troubles - Before you started out this morning you made sure that you had all the tools you needed to get the job done. Or at least you thought you did. Suddenly you find yourself trying to get a stubborn screw to go in by hitting it with a hammer because your screwdriver is not up to job or attempting to cut that piece of floorboard with a saw that has less teeth than your Grandad. Everything has to stop while you go to the store to try to find the right tools to get the job done. Suddenly the weekend is over, the work is only half done and you have spent a small fortune on tools you may never actually ever use again.
A Little Knowledge can Be a Dangerous Thing - You (or your significant other) really wants a new tiled kitchen floor. You read a great book on tile installation and you watched a couple of TV shows on the subject too. You have a little notebook filled with scribbles and the instructional video is on pause ready to be fired up whenever you need to refresh your memory of just how this job is done.
Cut to three hours later. You are sitting on the floor amid a mass of half laid tiles that all seem to be an inch (or three) too far to the left. Those that are not broken because that tile cutter thingy was harder to use than the guy with the bleach blond hair and shiny white teeth on the home show made it look.
You then realize the problem is that people on TV are well, just that, people on TV. In all likelihood they probably did very little of the work themselves, that was all the not so glamorous blokes in the back, the ones who actually do that kind of thing for a living. Like the ones you probably should have hired.
Super-person Syndrome - Some people like to think that they can do anything without help from anyone and that thinking can be particularly prevalent when it comes to DIY. Paint the whole exterior of the house in a weekend before the in laws arrive? Piece of cake. Until half way up a rickety ladder "superperson" remembers that they are actually not that keen on heights or that the couple of gallons of paint they bought has only managed to cover half the front of the house and the paint store is closed until Monday.
With all of this said there is nothing wrong with a bit of DIY. It can be a fun and rewarding way to spend a weekend. Just be reasonable and if you are not 100% sure that you can get the job done the right way do yourself (and your home) a favor and put down the hammer and pick up a phone and call in the pros instead.
By Breytan Menezes
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6068193
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