How do you repair problems with your house?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Do you call a repairman or do you do it yourself?

I do almost all the repair work at my 55 year old house. When we got a leak around the window that ruined the drywall (because a professional did a poor job with the siding), I tore out the wall and rebuilt it. When a facet drips or the gutters sag or a pothole forms in the back yard my first instinct is to go to the hardware store, get some stuff and fix the problem.

The thing is though, I have very little experience with each new problem in our old home. I think I do a good job but can’t shake the feeling that this job or that might have been done better by a professional. There are some things I don’t mess with of course, like rewiring or installing a new furnace. When I look at the huge McMansions around here I wonder who does the inevitable repairs on such a place. The owners, or do they call in a repairman every time one of their 6 bathrooms develops a leak?

The few times I’ve called in a pro for things I think I could have fixed the price has made me go back to doing it myself. I once had a leak under the sink. I tore out the wall and traced the problem to an old pipe that needed replacing. Unfortuately, my in-laws were showing up the next day for a two week visit and we needed water so I called a pro. $500 for 10 feet of PVC and less than 2 hours work. Maybe that is atypical but I haven’t called a plumber since.

So, what is the dividing line between “that’s easy, I’ll do it myself” and “better get a repairman in here?” Am I spending a lot of my own time and effort to save pennies?

2

I used to do all my own work. Including adding a two story addition to the house. It has infloor heat and the bottom level is our new utility room. So I had to move a LOT of plumbling.

I completely redid the upstairs bathroom including adding a loft in our bedroom.

But. We just did a huge remodel. Completely gutted the kitchen and downstairs bath, had to cut drain lines up out the concrete floor. For that, I got a contractor. I did not want to be with out a kitchen for as long as it would take me to do it. I do have a life and a day job.

I’ll be getting a steel roof this summer. Never messed with the stuff and am getting a contractor.

So, I’ll do all the minor stuff my self (just replaced the blower on the heater for the infloor heat), but for the big stuff, I’m starting to hire it out. I’m 51 years old If it matters.

3

Previous house, it was me 100% of the time. I owned the joint.

I’m renting now, so I do it 80% of the time, and the landlord does it the others. So far, the repairs they’ve done are related to the oil furnace and heat pump, of which I have no experience. I’ve done plumbing, carpentry, and electrical for them, and I only sent them a bill to reimburse once.

Most home repairs, in my experience, don’t cost a lot of money for the materials. They can be a monumental pain in the ass and the sweat cost can be considerable.

The biggest job I did in the old place was replacing a poorly installed and leaky toilet, with replacement of the floor beneath. It cost me about $175 for john, mounting flange, and plywood for the floor. I’m not counting the floor tile, because this was a sidebar in the middle of a pre-planned bathroom remodel. That’s not a lot of money, but the job took me about 6 hours. Those hours, at maybe $75-100 per, would have been a budget killer.

Bottom line: If you’re comfortable doing the task, go for it. If it’s out of your comfort zone, or you have time/safety issues, hire it out <wink to Enipla>

4

My husband does 95% of the repairs. There are a few things, like air conditioner problems, that we will call someone for. He seems to be a competent plumber, electrician, drywall guy, etc. though.

We did a big remodel three years ago (well, it began three years ago…) that involved gutting the kitchen and bathrooms and putting on a new roof and installing hardwood floors. For that we did the demo, then hired people for everything else. It was just too much work to get done on weekends. We weren’t particularly satisfied with the quality of work and think we would have done better ourselves, but it would have taken years. Oh well.

5

I do it all.

My dad was a good teacher.

6

I am 68 and have owned this house ince 1977. I don’t remember hiring out much at all, except for part of the furnace/AC replacement and the seamless gutters.

I grit my teeth over losing control over how things are done as age and cancer slow me.

Note, same for the car.

7

I subscribe to Angie’s List and I love hiring pros to come out and do stuff for me. With the reviews, I never feel like I’m getting ripped off. My dad never did plumbing or electrical so I always need someone for that because neither of us will/can do it. I have a friend that is a painter and gives me rock-bottom pricing so he always does my painting.

I’m a 33 yo single woman and my dad, while previously capable, has enough health problems that he’s pretty much out of the game now. I’m no shrinking violet but I’d rather pay to have shit done right than get in over my head and end up with sub-par work.

I do fix plenty of stuff. I just installed a toilet at my brother’s house. I’ve replaced my toilet innards plenty of times. I did all of the initial painting here and at my bro’s. I clean my furnace heat sensor every year.

Everything else that needs done, I hire a pro.

8

Repairs, remodels, modifications - most of that we do ourselves. Building a deck or adding a closet - no biggie. Plumbing, wiring, carpentry, installing cabinets - we’ve done it all and more.

However, for some jobs, the best tool is the checkbook. For example, my husband has done roofing before, and I know how it’s done, but there’s no way on earth we could strip the roof and redo it as quickly as the pros. We had a crew in that did it all, including cleaning up the mess, in about 8 hours. Even if we’d been able to work on it full time and even if I wasn’t a wuss about heights and even if we’d had the physical strength haul the felt and shingles and nails and whatnot, it still would have taken days.

Other things we had done: replacement windows (all in one day instead of 1 or 2 per weekend,) siding (don’t own scaffolding,) gutters (don’t have the continuous gutter-making machine,) HVAC (definitely not a DIY, IMHO) and just this week, a new well. But the new kitchen, 3 new bathrooms, laundry room, workshop, studio, ceiling fans, new exterior lights - easy-peasy. Plus I do all the painting.

My husband used to do all his car work, but it’s not fun for him any longer, and we’ve got a couple of great mechanics, so the most we do is replace wiper blades and burnt out lights.

We’re in our mid-50s, so that has changed what we’re willing to tackle. When some trees had to come down, even tho we both can handle a chain saw, it was nice to have a crew with all the right equipment come in, remove the trees and stumps, and haul the debris away.

9

It depends upon the scope of the repair.

I live in a 1935 Craftsman style two story that was built before there was electric service up this road. It is also the house that I grew up in so I am familiar with previous repairs that my dad did.

Big jobs like ripping off 3 layers of roofing and re-sheeting with plywood and new roof, I paid for. Gutted the living area and sheet rocked and carpeted, I paid for. I will also not do foundation work.

Install new shower and redo the bathroom, I did. New siding on the outside, I did. Sinks, dishwasher, lights, windows, wood work I do all. Painting I hate, but will do.

I try to research and ask friends until I think I know what I’m doing before I try anything I am unfamiliar with. But I still jump in and usually succeed.

There are many surprises working on an old house, like opening up a wall to find that it was built with real 2x4’s, actually 2 inches by 4 full inches, not the 1 3/4 by whatever you get now. It really throws all the other measurements off.

We have a running joke that any repair will NOT be done just like Dad did it. He was a blue collar guy with 4 kids and a shoestring budget, so I can’t fault him for trying. But once I had an outlet that was getting hot so I pulled it and thought I would run new wire.

What I found was that the last 4 feet to the outlet had been spliced with the 2 strand woven wire like you would cut off the plug in of a can opener or other appliance!! :eek:
I then checked and replaced most wiring.

If the job is difficult and could be expensive to fix right, I pay to have it fixed right the first time. If the consequences of failure are not too great, I do it myself.

Codes? What the hell are you talking about? :wink:

10

I do most of my own work, but it’s always about 10-20% less than perfect. I’m getting pickier as I get older and the irritation of looking at stuff that’s not quite right is getting worse and worse. I’ll probably hire more and more out. We recently replaced the entire kitchen and all I did was the demo.

11

Anything electrical, plumbing related (unless really simple, like replace the flapper thingy in the tank), or outside on the second floor, I call in a contractor. Most everything else, I just do myself. I do not work on the HVAC system (filed under "electrical), and I don’t touch anything connected to the gas lines (stove, water heater), except to use them. For example, when I replaced my dishwasher, that involved both electrical and plumbing and lugging a big heavy object in my house = called my handyman. When the upstairs shower needed regrouting, I learned how to grout. When the dog chewed a hole in the drywall, I mastered the art of using joint compound. I don’t have the skills to do any kind of major renovations, not that there’s a need nor a plan to do so.

12

For the house I own, I hire professionals 100% of the time. Only thing I do is painting ( and got such a good deal last time hired someone to do that as well).

Yes, I could do many things myself if I chose to. But my time is valuable. I’d rather hire someone and get it done quickly.

I use Angie’s list a lot. For major remodels (and i’ve done a kitchen and 3 bathrooms) I know a guy (friend of a friend) who works cheap and does a good job.

13

I do almost everything. I called an electrician to put in a new panel, but did all the rest of the wiring. I had a plumber reroute the drains to a new septic system, but did all the water piping, faucets, shower, garbage disposal myself. I do all the woodwork myself, tiling, flooring, windows, doors, etc., myself. And when I used to own a stick and drywall house, did all that stuff too. I’ll probably get someone to do the roof for me because I’m getting old and that’s a tough and dangerous job, and needs to be done relatively quickly. I just like doing that kind of stuff. I’m pretty good at most of it, and passable on the rest.

My dad liked to do all that kind of stuff, but usually backed off after the most basic stuff. He grew up in tenement apartments though, and didn’t really have any experience to start with. But he introduced me to the concept, and I’ve just extended from beyond the basic skills. I probably annoy a lot of tradesmen and construction guys by peppering them with questions, but it’s the best source of information. The DIY books and websites tend to oversimplify things. It’s a good idea to know about all the ways something can go wrong from someone with the experience. I didn’t think my kids really cared about this stuff until recently. One son is now rehabbing a church parsonage, and my other one told me he thought he could own his own house now because he helped me put in the new furnace and it wasn’t all that hard.

I really can’t say exactly what it is, but I think the idea of self sufficiency drives me. It isn’t really self sufficiency, I’m buying all the parts and supplies, but still, I do a lot of the work myself, and it’s satisfiying.

14

Codes are important when it comes to sell the house. Anything that didn’t meet code when it was installed, can be brought up to the current code at the sellers expense. May as well do it now yourself before they expand the code. Perhaps I should have pushed more when I first bought this house.

I might be more inclined to pay somebody if much of the repairs I have made over the years wasn’t due to poor original work by those taking money for it.

Right now I am thinking of building a new garage door. Professional quote for nice insulated 16’ door, $1300+. A cheap, single layer steel door, $300. Both prices include all new hardware. I don’t see why I need to replace all the hardware, maybe 5-10 rollers, but most of the stuff is doing fine with the heavy old wood and Masonite door, 2 layers of 1/4’’ Masonite with honeycomb cardboard between.

For about $200 I can buy enough wood grain coil stock, urea foam board, and 1/4’’ OSB and build up a sturdy, lightweight sandwich and reuse the old hardware. If it is substancially lighter than the old door I may have to replace the springs to get the balance right.

15

i do the painting, replace toilet innards, some drywall patching if it isn’t too big, a faucet or two over the years, but that’s pretty much it. from there, i call in the pros - or call the divemaster, who is an electronic engineer. i’m utterly terrified of electricity thanks to a 220 line jolt as a child and wouldn’t know a capacitor from a resistor and don’t really care.

16

Money.

Hubster developed seizure disorder in 2005 and Parkinson’s Disease in 2007. NO WAY am I gonna let him get up on a ladder!

We bought a BOTTOM of the line repo mobile home to put on our land out in the middle of nowhere in NE AZ. Seriously, this is the model that prospective customers were shown, and a below-average salesman could steer them towards improvements by saying, “Now, for a LITTLE BIT more money, you can have…”

We got new windows and exterior doors, and a steel roof. The old roof was in such crappy condition, many of the trusses had to be replaced. BUT, with a steel roof, I figure we’ll never have to worry about the roof again.

SOME day, I hope to get a new kitchen. The layout is what seduced me into buying the place, but the construction is abysmal.
~VOW

17

We do everything on our century-plus home and the surrounding property ourselves. My husband does the complicated stuff like wiring and plumbing and falling off the roof. (After that last adventure we decided we’re done doing our own roofing, but we have a 40-year roof and shouldn’t have to replace it again.) I can do simpler jobs like painting and putting in flooring and rudimentary carpentry, but my main role is as my husband’s voice of reason. “Why don’t you try turning it the other way around? Maybe you could cut it with that thing? No, I think the metal piece goes in before the plastic piece. No, swearing at it won’t make it fit.”

18

I do about 98% myself. I don’t always like it, but its gotta be done. I have more time than money to pay someone else, so it falls on me. Also, the whole deluded, “Pride of Ownership” thing. :rolleyes: Of course, it doesn’t help that I’ve been screwed everytime previously I’ve hired/attempted to hire anyone. The only time I had to hire someone lately (last 7 years) was for serious trenching for a new septic leach-field. The ground around here is like concrete.

[Early Cuyler]* Anything Septic we WON’T do!*[/Early Cuyler]