10 do it yourself tips
Many home do it yourselves will tell you that it cost them a lot more money then they planned on and at least three times longer then they thought. This is mainly due to the mistakes a do it yourself usually faces so here are my top 10 tips on how to not make some costly mistakes.
1.Make sure to get your permits- some insurance companies in most cases will not insure a home improvement if the proper permits where not required, sometimes its hard to know if you need a permit, but if your do it yourself job is bigger then just painting a room then you may need a permit. You can always call your local building office to find out if you’ll need permits.
2.Make sure you have all the tools and material needed- Starting a project with out the right materials and tools can cost you in the long run.It will also cause the job to take longer then expected because you’ll be hunting around for the things you need.
3.Make sure the job site is ready for deliveries-You’ll want to make sure when the supplies arrive you can direct the suppliers to the area where the materials are needed and try to keep them out of the weather. Having materials outside can cause them to get ruin or stoeln and cost you more then expected.
4.Don’t be cheap on materials- By using cheaper materials you may save money right now but down the road you may regret doing so. Using ¼ plywood on floors to save money causes the floors to be weaker so I suggest spending the extra money to use ¾ inch and make sure your floors are strong.
Same go’s with dry wall, don’t use ¼ inch to save a few dollars when you could use ¾ inch to have more insulation to help cut back on heating and cooling cost during the change in seasons. Using plaster over joint compound on outer walls can save you more money in the long run, ½ inch of plaster is almost equal to 4 inches of insulation.
5.Prepare the walls for painting- Make sure to get the walls ready long before your ready to paint, Simply patching holes sanding the walls and primiring over oil based paint can save you money along with time.
6.Use the right paints and stain- For ceilings use a flat paint, for interior walls use a egg shell or sating finish that way you can clean them easier, For out door items that require staining make sure to use a linseed oil based stain that way it can get deep into the wood and preserve it.
7.Safety while working-By keeping safe while working will reduce the chance of an accident that could delay the project along with bringing serious harm to yourself.They make things like hard hats and safety goggles for a reason so use them.
8.Measure twice and cut once- This is something all contractors do, it helps insures that you cut back on mistakes, nothing is worst then cutting a sheet of dry wall to short and then having to re cut it, and waste the whole first sheet you cut. This alone can save you tons of money and time.
9.Buy slightly more then what you need-Buy adding a cushion of 10% extra supplies to your order you ensure if mistakes do happen you’ll have the extra material to compensate for it. This may cost you extra money but if you do make a mistake you wont have to reorder extra supplies, lets face it everyone makes mistakes at some point.
10.Know what you can and can not do- Do not take on projects you don’t know what to do, do not start by learning things during your project. If you can’t do it don’t attempt it on your own home.
This can cost you a lot of time and money and may end up resulting in a bigger problem then you started with, and have you on the phone with a contractor who thinks they can mark up the price by saying things like “well since you started this project I will have to charge more to fix the problems you caused just to be able to get the job done”.
If you follow these tips your sure to get your do it yourself projects done on time and around the cost you expected.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
