When Kansas City homeowner Jack Mitchell bought his early 1930s house a few years back, he knew it needed work.
Like many homeowners, Mitchell, a former construction worker, decided to tackle much of it himself. Fortunately he had the construction background and friends in the building trade who were willing to help.
Since moving in four years ago, Mitchell has refurbished nearly every room in the two-story house. He has torn out and replaced pipes, floors, cabinets, ceilings, walls and windows; upgraded the electrical system; torn down and rebuilt the front porch; and had a new roof put on. Mitchell’s next project is redoing the upstairs bathroom.
Jason and Megan McNally have been busy scraping paint, priming for painting and replacing wood framing on the outside of their Kansas City home.
They’ve already torn out their old gutters and replaced their garage door. They’ll do their own exterior painting and replace some storm windows and a storm door, but they’re making one allowance to hire a professional to redo the gutters.
Mitchell and the McNallys are part of the do-it-yourself craze. They’re motivated by the prospect of saving money and putting their creative talents to use.
“I couldn’t afford to hire it all done,” Mitchell said. “But I was able to do things the way I wanted. And I enjoy this kind of work.”
It’s also hard to find professionals to come out and do some of the smaller home-improvement jobs, said Brian Patchan, executive director of the Remodelers Council of the National Association of Home Builders, in Washington.
According to the Home Improvement Research Institute, in Lincolnshire, Ill., and McGraw Hill Inc., consumers this year are taking on home-improvement projects estimated to ring up $101.1 billion in product purchases. That compares with $41.4 billion in purchases by the professionals.
The consumer spending number is expected to climb to $121.2 billion by the year 2001 and the professional spending number to $46.1 billion.
Good planning, product research and skills are necessary for successfully taking on such projects. Nothing is more satisfying than completing a home-improvement job successfully.
Even experienced do-it-yourselfers have mishaps. When Mitchell and his cousin, Dennis O’Neill, tore out the downstairs bathroom at Mitchell’s house, a water pipe was hit accidentally with a sledgehammer. Water sprayed everywhere. Fortunately, Mitchell said, the pipe was going to be replaced anyway, and no real harm was done.
Jerry Meinert, owner and president of Mid-Western Builders in Kansas City, recalled rescuing a customer who was fixing a shower base and found that the wallboard behind the wall tile and part of the floor had rotted. The homeowner was unable to make all the repairs himself.
Before you jump into a project on your own, consider some of the educational options available to help get the job done.
Libraries and bookstores offer detailed home-improvement manuals and encyclopedias on a variety of projects, and there are television programs and videos that walk you through projects.
Some building-materials retailers who cater to the do-it-yourselfers even offer classes and seminars.
As gung-ho as you are to take on your own project, be aware that many professional remodelers won’t take projects that were started by an amateur, notes the National Association of the Remodeling Industry in Alexandria, Va.
They find it too difficult to fix the problem and too many liabilities involved in taking the work.
That’s why it’s best to decide ahead of time which jobs are right for your skills and which ones are not.
The remodeling industry association offered these tips:
– Painting usually is a good do-it-yourself job. In fact, it’s the most popular project among homeowners. If you mess up, you can start over. Local paint companies can offer advice for the best finish. And some homeowners, such as Jason McNally, have had enough experience in painting to know which kinds of paint hold up best against Kansas City’s weather.
– Cleaning gutters and checking the roof are other good do-it-yourself tasks. Replacing a roof should be left to a professional, experts say. It is essential that your roof prevent moisture from entering your home. A poorly placed shingle could mean leaks and water damage throughout your home.
Mitchell hired a professional to replace all of his roof except the part over the front porch. Mitchell and O’Neill took care of that when they tore down and replaced the porch.
Mitchell now says he wishes he had hired a professional to refinish his floors too, instead of doing it himself.
“My time could have been better spent elsewhere,” he said.
– If you are patient and detail-oriented, you might be suited to tasks such as building a patio deck or replacing faucets in your home. Larger projects can get unwieldy.
Be certain you have the skills for the job.
Mitchell, for example, helped his father and uncle fix up investment properties. Although Mitchell worked as a pipe insulator when he was in construction, he gained a lot of building skills helping his father and uncle.
– If the job involves installation of a product–a sink or counter, for example–call the manufacturer before you purchase the item and ask for the installation instructions. This will show you what is needed to do the job and allow you to decide whether you have the tools and the abilities to successfully handle the installation.
– If the job involves electricity, call a professional. Many jurisdictions require a professional to meet local building codes.
A friend who helped Mitchell rewire his house is a licensed electrician. He replaced the fuse box with circuit breakers and added a subpanel upstairs. This increased electrical service to the house to 200 amps.
– Unless you’re an architect or a structural engineer, it is best to leave structural jobs to the professionals. Not only could a mistake be dangerous, it could keep your home from meeting the local building code, which would make it impossible to sell your house without corrective measures.
The National Association of the Remodeling Industry offers a free copy of its Master Plan for Professional Home Remodeling magazine, which includes a do-it-yourself checklist. Call (800) 440-6274.
Do-it-yourselfer Mitchell advises that you plan your projects well. Write out the details of the projects as well as cost projections, including any parts you might hire out.
And be warned: “Having more than one project going at a time can be overwhelming,” Mitchell said.
