Doing-it-Yourself

Have you been working on your own remodel project? Have you been saving money, but not time? This is usually the problem that most homeowner's run into when they start tearing their house apart trying to save money and thinking they have plenty of time.......believe me, I have tried it several times myself. Usually, you run out of time or the wife starts getting really upset about the house becoming a permanent construction zone. When you come home from work everyday, there it is, the project that never ends!! In the end, you finally call some names in the phonebook and hope that you landed a trustworthy contractor or contractors that will finish the project for you. After the project is finished in a few short days or couple of weeks, you start wondering why you never got a remodeling contractor in the first place. I have a few suggestions of why. Many homeowners go into shock when they see the cost of a well put together estimate. Then they might get another estimate from a contractor that is two-thirds the cost, but upon meeting the contractor they have no faith in his ability or honesty. At this point, many people say "Honey, grab the hammer, we are going to do it ourselves! It can't be that hard!"

Do-it-yourselfers also think in the beginning that it will be fast and easy. The demo sure goes quick! But after the initial burst of energy wears off and the first onslaught of unforeseen problems arise, homeowners realize they are not going to make very much progress with pecking at the project for an hour here or an hour there. They realize that if they want to complete the project, they just dedicated the next year of weekends to trying to put their house back together. In that period of time, the house/construction area can become quite a depressing place to come home too.

The reality of remodeling is that it is not as easy and quick as if looks. Even seasoned contractor's have to scratch their head for a little bit on many projects to find the best solution for a new problem. Most homeowners think that the "big" stuff takes the longest to build and yet, in most cases, it is exactly the opposite. Most things that people look past as being easy and fast, take the longest to complete. My suggestion to most homeowners who are thinking of being one of the Do-it-Yourselfers, be ready to spend months on your project and lots of frustration or get a good reference for a remodeling contractor you feel you can trust and leave the headaches and scheduling to him. After all, you wanted a beautiful house to live in and not a permanent domestic construction site, right?