Should You DIY or Hire Out?

If you've been on the fence about whether to put in some sweat equity and tackle a Do-It-Yourself approach to renovating (or acting as your own contractor) because you might save some money, or hiring out because you're really kind of busy and don't know what you're doing, then read on or watch the video below.

Hey, House Friends.

How's it going? This is Mona with Kickstart House.

Today, we're going to get to the bottom of the question: "Should you DIY, or should you hire out?"

We're going to clear up all that confusion and give you some clarity so that you can make the best decision for you.

This topic here is one of a 3-part series on Do-It-Yourself versus Hiring Out on my homeowner empowerment YouTube channel. So you definitely don't want to miss other two videos and posts that go in companion with this topic here.

Understand What’s Influencing You

If you are a fan of HGTV shows or you are a first time home owner or the owner of a fixer upper, then the question of whether to improve your home by doing something, yourself, or hiring out to a professional or a vendor has probably come up in your mind, if not once, but many times over the course of your occupation of your home.

In today's landscape of social media and home improvement reality shows, we get a lot of messages.

Some messages tell us that it's really easy to DIY. We see these 30-second clips off of TikTok, Instagram that show us how easy it is to do home projects. And at the same time, we're also seeing these spaces that completely get transformed homes that get redone in just a 30 minute television show.

On the other hand-- I know you're smart and I know, you know, reality-- and real projects don't happen just like that.

So what's the truth? And how much can you really handle today?

Let’s dive into a little bit about the appeal of each of them. And give you some clarity so that you can make the decision that's best for you.

Could you use some more clarity on the renovation process? Download my Renovation Roadmap.

Why DIY Seems So Easy and Tempting

First, let's talk about the appeal of Do-It-Yourself.

Do-It-Yourself, or "DIY", is something that has been around in the home improvement space for quite a long time.

Will DIY Be Fun and Rewarding, or Are You Just Fooling Yourself?

And if you've never tackled a home project before, and you're excited about the prospect of improving your home, it may actually seem really, really fun. That's not a surprise because TV shows and content are designed to make things look fun.

All Things Considered, Will DIY Save You Money?

It's also tempting to DIY something because you want to save money. Perhaps you're on a budget or you used all your savings to purchase a house. So you want to get to those improvements, but you don't have that many funds remaining to get the work done.

This is when DIY is especially appealing. Because in exchange for the money that you would pay somebody else, you put in your own sweat equity to get the work done, and you also feel like you're a weekend warrior.

In today's world of quick sound bites and video clips, DIY can seem really easy.

If some random YouTuber or an Instagramer can transform their home through a few, Do-It-Yourself hacks. Why can't you, right?

All of this goes back to why Do-It-Yourself is so tempting.

But as we know, nothing is as simple as it seems.

Don’t Fall For The Myth of A DIY Approach

Because when you think about it, your property and your home is likely to be the biggest asset or investment that you have. You spent a lot of money on this property.

And the thing about DIY projects for the home, especially, is that if you do it wrong, you could cause a lot more damage.

And a few dollars or hundreds of dollars that you may have saved by doing it yourself, you could end up paying exponentially multiple folds for, afterwards, in repairs.

You could end up paying many times the initial savings to repair or remedy a poorly executed DIY home remodel if it is not done correctly.

There's obviously a risk factor involved.

That's why we also want to look at what it means to Hire Out.

Get Honest About Your Abilities and Strengths

Hiring out your project to a handyman, a builder or contractor or other design pro to complete the work is really, really tempting. Especially if you're not handy.

If you're normally not a handy person, you don't just see a project and go, "Ah! Of course I could do that!" Then you may very well be someone who is drawn to hiring out.

Hiring Out is going to cost more money than Do-It-Yourself.

But as the saying goes, time is money.

Consider Your Time and Energy

If you got a busy life already, or work is very consuming and there are other things that you need to be doing with your life instead of, say, fixing your house, then hiring out makes a lot of sense.

You can make a lot more progress a lot quicker since you're working with a crew who can get a lot of things done instead of what you could do individually as a weekend warrior.

So, what do you do with all this information? If you already know what DIY entails and what hiring out entails, but you still can't decide what's right for you?

Step 1: Clear The Noise

Well, the first tip I would give you is you've got to clear the noise.

You've got to clear the noise and the messages that are coming from OUTSIDE of you. Those external messages that come from TV shows, Instagram reels, TikTokkers, Pinterest, home improvement shows, HGTV, magazines... all those little sound bites that we get in our regular contemporary life that tell us we can do our own major home projects.

Understand that that content is created for storytelling. Understand that those examples are shown because people want to see a good story. They're trying to get viewership for a show, or to their account, or to sell magazines.

Step 2: Focus On You

So what you need to refocus on, is to shed those external messages and really look inside yourself. Look at your internal goals, your internal values and how you want to spend your money.

Because if you look at what your INTERNAL values are, then you can actually align your decisions with the right one that's going to move you forward and that's best for the project that you're working.

Look at your own skillset.

Are you familiar with construction? Have you done any projects in the past? What's the scale of project that you worked on before? Have you only done cosmetic fixes... Things that involve more painting and decorative stuff? Or have you ever gotten into the bones and nitty gritty of a house... its waterproofing, its plumbing, its electrical? Those things where, if you mess up, it could really be expensive to fix.

Step 3: Make An Informed Decision

Refocus from those external messages to your own internal constraints.

And then you can come back to this question of, should you DIY, or should you hire out?

Hopefully that gives you a lot more clarity.

This video is part of a three part series and the next video we're going to look specifically at Do-It-Yourself (DIY).

And in the third video of the series, we're going to look more at the Hiring Out portion of it.

So be sure to stay tuned for the next part.

In the meantime, if you've listened to yourself and you already know that you are not going down that DIY path anymore, and you really need to hire out, but haven't figured out what to do yet, I have a free checklist for you.

It's a checklist for homeowners to make sure that you're fully prepared to bring a construction crew into your house before you sign a contract and commit to a remodel, renovation, or major house build that you may not be ready for.

No one wants a horrible construction experience and we all want you to be able to save your time, save your money and save your sanity.

And in the meantime, you can always reach me via my website here or social links below for any comments and questions.

Happy building!

 

Ready to make serious progress on your reno?

Hi, I’m Mona. An architect and renovation coach who’s on a mission to help everyday homeowners feel empowered in their build journeys.

Grab my free Renovation Roadmap to navigate any build project with confidence and clarity.

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