Non-clicky: home improvements tolerance

[niq]

What is your/your H's level of willingness to do some home improvements/repairs yourselves instead of paying someone?

W and i got into a bit of a tiff about painting the fence this weekend. Part of it is because i sort of sprung it on her and it ended up taking way too much time. But i think also she doesn't think we're cut out for this stuff. Even if i am bad at it this is the kind of thing i feel like we should learn how to do now that we're homeowners.

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[InBetweenDays]

We do a lot of DIY. Or I should say we did pre-kids. We still do some and just finished our basement, doing most of the work ourselves. Once we were done with that we were burned out and decided we were going to hire out most other big projects.

I can understand her being upset if it took up a good portion of your time this weekend. But I also think it is VERY valuable to know how to do some maintenance and projects on your own.

[amandasw]

well, technically H and I differ on this - he would rather pay someone to do it - but I think once we have a house, I'm hoping he'll enjoy taking ownership of it and working on it ourselves. I am very pro-DIY, partly for the money, but partly for the fun I guess. H is not really a handy-man, but my mom said my dad wasn't either and learned how to do everything to finish their basement (re-wiring, plumbing etc), so I'm hopeful H can be swayed

[emyinpink]

we used to be much more into DIY. we are now fully into the pay people to do shit camp.

[amandasw]

also, I have to add that painting is definitely on my list of things that is not a big deal to do yourself. Yeah, it's time consuming, but fences and rooms aren't *that* bad (I've done both). Painting the exterior of a house is a totally different thing, but otherwise it's fairly straight forward.

[Deleted]

I'm not good at it and he's good at it, but hates that it eats up his free time, so we pay people.

[Deleted]

We're in the middle. Since, um, we still haven't finished that bathshower enclosure repair we started President's day and whenever we do get it done, it won't look great...I'm drifting away. I *WANT* to be a DIYer and learn to do all that stuff ourselves. My dad is super handy (but his health isn't allowing him to come help us/teach us like had been planned) and we have friends who are redoing their entire house themselves except for the parts their loan required a licensed professional to do. So...I'm drifting toward the paying someone for the more moderate stuff now.

However painting anything other than house exterior walls = DIY. Yes, it does take long and the quicker you learn that whatever you're going to do is GOING TO TAKE 3X as long and just live/deal with it, it's fine. Painting a fence is easy, if time consuming.

When it's time to get our kitchen repaired/updated (an actual venting fan that goes outside rather than just spitting out the top of the microwave), I want to pay someone. Otherwise, we'll be without a usable kitchen for 6 months and it still won't look good

[sarack]

h would probably want to pay people.. i wanna do it myself.

[macpanda]

H would rather pay someone. I would rather save the money and learn to do it ourselves. I always want H to take charge of this sort of stuff since I handle most of everything else for our household. But because I want him to handle it but don't want to pay a lot of money stuff usually just doesn't get done.

We did paint inside. He built a fence with his dad for us but more at the urging of his dad. He did the staining of the fence on his own though. Now I want him to clean the gutters and wash the outside windows but he wants to pay someone.

[karebear219]

We are pretty practicle about it. If we can do it we both agree to do it ourselves, except if there is a deadline involved and time is a factor. If we have no idea how to do it and not the time to learn we'll pay someone.

[niq]

Jul 23, 2012 13:49:57 GMT -5 macpanda said:

Now I want him to clean the gutters and wash the outside windows but he wants to pay someone.

The people who make the Roomba make a robot to help clean the gutters. It's remote control instead of automatic but it makes the whole process way easier.

iRobot Looj

It's cheaper than the Roomba too. Maybe that could be a compromise .

[jennlin]

the only thing we've paid for so far is to have skylights installed. he would be crazy if he thought i let him cut a hole into our roof.

h wants to do everything, i want to pay for things that would be worth it, safetey-wise.

[niq]

Our handiwork from this weekend is in my sig. We didn't dilute the paint for the first few panels, and it was coming out too dark. If anyone is trying to convince their H to DIY less and pay for more things, just send them this photo.

Well, at least it's on the back side, so we'll be more or less the only ones who see it.

[Deleted]

You didn't test on a scrap first? next time, test At this point, I would just paint that other panel with another coat of diluted paint to make it match the rest. I'd rather it be too dark than mismatched, but I'm OCD that way. And is that paint or stain?

[dana86]

We do just about all projects ourselves. A couple summers ago DH had to replace a full side of our fence after someone drove through it. He is just getting done with re-doing our whole master bathroom ( all new tiled shower, floor) and is already starting in our the other bathroom but only because of a leak.

[jennlin]

ditto IK! you should test it out! i would continue with the same color, even if you don't like it. *then* go over it later, so at least it's uniform.

[larzhope]

we are mixed. Here are the projects we've done so far and which ones we've hired out. Typically we discuss which projects are outside our expertise and hire those out, especially if they are more expensive:

fence installation: hired out
painting fence: did ourselves
retaining wall: hired out
filling in hole from retaining wall: did ourselves
back yard landscaping: did ourselves
painting inside: did ourselves
new granite countertops: hired out
new bathroom mirrors/light fixtures: did ourselves
paver patio installation: hired out