Ever regret going DIY?

[Retired To Win]

I spent yesterday curled up in an armchair feeling beat to shit.  I did absolutely nothing except doze while DVD movies ran in the background.  It took me all day to recover from pulled chest and shoulder muscles as well as general exhaustion from taking it upon myself the previous day to clear my yard of large limbs from a cut tree -- instead of paying $25 an hour to have it done.

I saved $100 but lost a whole day.  And felt awful at least part of the time.  Next tree, no way.

Anything similar happen to you?

[James]

Absolutely.

Years ago I removed shingles and put new shingles on our house. My knees have always been bad, but doing that for a week just killed both me and my knees, and I had back pain for a long time since I wasn't conditioned for that kind of work. I don't have the discipline to not kill myself or over do it, so I did things that were bad for my body when I was in the middle of the project. My family suffered, I suffered, and I didn't work at my job that week which cost me about the same as the labor for the roof would have cost. Just working and having it done was the better move, but I was too cheap to pay to have it done.

Right now we are doing a whole house remodel, and I am having almost all the work done. I work full time, so any time spent on it would have been time away from my family and enjoying life. I make a lot more at my job than what I am paying to have it done, so financially it is better than taking time off to do it.

Having said all that, I would like to get to the point where I am only working half time, and can just take my time on projects and get them done slowly. I can enjoy the physical work, without feeling rushed or hurting my joints in the process. I can do the work, and still have time for myself and my family. I think that is the more mustachian way eventually, but for now working my job and having the work done for me makes the most sense.

So in answer to your day of feeling like shit, could you have done the work in a way that would have been enjoyable and not left you feeling like shit? Could you have broken it up over a week, spending a couple hours a day enjoying the hard work and doing it yourself without it killing you? There is satisfaction that comes from hard work and getting things done yourself, so you don't want to rob yourself of that satisfaction. Even "feeling like shit" can sometimes be enjoyable to me, I feel that way after visiting my friend to mountain bike in Colorado for a week. But it is a GOOD "feel like shit" feeling and worth it... :D

[Thegoblinchief]

I spent yesterday curled up in an armchair feeling beat to shit.  I did absolutely nothing except doze while DVD movies ran in the background.  It took me all day to recover from pulled chest and shoulder muscles as well as general exhaustion from taking it upon myself the previous day to clear my yard of large limbs from a cut tree -- instead of paying $25 an hour to have it done.

I saved $100 but lost a whole day.  And felt awful at least part of the time.  Next tree, no way.

Anything similar happen to you?

Next time don't be stupid and overdo it. Work on it an hour or two at a time. Posture breaks are critical when doing activities outside of the norm.

You still save the money, you spread the "lost" time out, and it gets done in a week instead of a single day. Big whoop.

I've never regretted DIY for injury reasons, but I've definitely regretted a few car repairs that ended up failing, and I had to resort to a professional anyways, so I was out extra $$ in the end because I had to buy the parts again in addition to the labor.

[Candace]

I think this is an excellent question and an excellent thread.

My boyfriend are going to rent a power washer and do the house, shed, and deck ourselves. I feel good about saving the money, but it will probably take a large part of our weekend to do it between picking up the rental on Friday, doing the task on Saturday, and returning it Monday. We only have two days off a week. I do wonder whether it's worth it for the free time lost. Hopefully doing it ourselves will be fun.

In general, I think DIY regret is caused by three things: 1) time spent that would otherwise be free time, 2) injuring oneself doing something we're not used to, and 3) doing something to screw up the job due to inexperience, lack of skill, lack of tools or other reasons.

I enjoyed painting three of the rooms in my house after I bought it and had more time, before I started working at an office job again. Now, I refuse to pay to have it done, and it will probably wait until I FIRE because I want to do it myself. It's too awkward and inefficient to do it during evenings and weekends, and I only have fifteen days of vacation/sick leave. I didn't like the colors in my house when I bought it (e.g. a bright lime green master bedroom), and the existing paint jobs look like they were done while high. Seriously, they are sloppy.

The painting not getting done is not a case of DIY regret-- more of a case of lamenting the delay. So sort of related to the subject of the thread.

[Dicey]

DH and I are flipping our first house. We are doing a combination of DIY and hiring out. The exterior needs to be re-shingled, and the house is on a slope, so we purchased the materials, are obtaining the permit and a contractor is doing the labor. When we pulled out the kitchen ceiling, we found a ton of extra wiring for a now-obsolete home monitoring system. Rather than spend a lot of time messing with it, we are using an electrician. For about $800, it will be sorted out in a single day. Just because we could do the work doesn't mean it's cost-effective to do so. Hopefully, we will hit on just the right combination of DIY and sub-contracting. Time will tell.

[waffle]

I grew up on a farm so I've always been a bit of a DIYer, but only recently got into it full bore with my first house. I have had a few sore days and a little bit of rework as I learned new skills, but I definitely don't regret it.

[GuitarStv]

I don't really have any regrets from many DIY projects undertaken.

My approach:
- Learn how to do what you need to do beforehand.
- Take breaks if you're not using to doing physical work and start getting tired.
- Get help if it seems to be too much for you to handle on your own, or if you fuck it up.
- Try to pick tasks that can wait if you are short of time, or things take longer than expected.  Rather than paint the whole house, go room by room.  Rather than clear all the branches, clear for a few hours.

[Sibley]

I'm careful to evaluate whether I really can do the project. Painting a room or two, sure. I did that last fall - over 2 weekends, and the rooms didn't have really high ceilings. If I had to paint the stairway, no. It's too high, I don't have the ladders or tolerance for heights.

[Capsu78]

I don't do electrical, plumbing or painting...and the rest I hire out!

[Bob W]

I've done so much DYI that I just can't stand it anymore.  But I still do it.   Seems I can't rationalize paying someone $600 to paint a bedroom when I can do it for $50.

There are some thing I absolutely will not do and leave up to the pros.    I cut down with my new chain saw several trees last year.  That is some scary shit.  The next tree (the dead one near the houses)  is going to a pro with insurance and a nice truck. 

[Samsam]

Painting.  I am a terrible painter and am counting down the days until I'm allowed to hire a painter and redo the downstairs.

[iwasjustwondering]

One word: carrot cake.  ;)

For my mom's birthday last year, I told her I would make her cake from scratch, anything she wanted.  I was thinking lemon, chocolate, spice.  She chose carrot cake.  Holy smokes, carrot cake takes a long time to make.  You have to shred about a thousand carrots, for one thing.  I spent hours making the damned thing on a Sunday late morning before heading over to her house.  It was a beautiful day.  We could have gone for a hike.  It was a good cake, but nothing to write home about. 

I also regret my shrub choices.  I planted tiny shrubs in my front garden, expecting them to grow.  Three years later, I don't think they have grown at all.  I sort of needed them to fill in a certain spot that looks weird and stark and empty.  So, while I am OK with my decision to DIM, I wish I had spent more to get shrubs that were a little larger (i.e., had a proven track record of growth). 

[Thegoblinchief]

One word: carrot cake.  ;)

For my mom's birthday last year, I told her I would make her cake from scratch, anything she wanted.  I was thinking lemon, chocolate, spice.  She chose carrot cake.  Holy smokes, carrot cake takes a long time to make.  You have to shred about a thousand carrots, for one thing.  I spent hours making the damned thing on a Sunday late morning before heading over to her house.  It was a beautiful day.  We could have gone for a hike.  It was a good cake, but nothing to write home about. 

I also regret my shrub choices.  I planted tiny shrubs in my front garden, expecting them to grow.  Three years later, I don't think they have grown at all.  I sort of needed them to fill in a certain spot that looks weird and stark and empty.  So, while I am OK with my decision to DIM, I wish I had spent more to get shrubs that were a little larger (i.e., had a proven track record of growth).

What type of shrub? By the description I'm guessing boxwoods. Those take forever to grow, that's why they are so small at the nursery.

[Retired To Win]

... Next time don't be stupid and overdo it...

The thing is, you don't know you're overdoing it while you're doing it.  That realization only comes later.

[Thegoblinchief]

... Next time don't be stupid and overdo it...

The thing is, you don't know you're overdoing it while you're doing it.  That realization only comes later.

No, I've gotten to know my body well enough that I know when a break is needed.

[TheInsuranceMan]

As of right now, I can't think of a DIY project that I or my wife have regretted.  Now, our parents, who have helped, might have regretted us DIYing it as both my wife's dad, and my dad, helped us with the work.  Whether it was cutting down 20+ dead pine trees, digging the stumps, leveling the ground, reseeding, or updating our entire house in the two and a halfish years that we've owned it, including finishing the previously unfinished basement. 

The work that we've hired out was some plumbing, not much though, as PEX makes plumbing a breeze, and having duct work ran to the new rooms in the basement.  Too much math goes into getting the correct duct work to insure proper airflow all over the house.

We have pulled up flooring, took down walls, moved headers, cut walls out of a shed for an overhead door, dug ground, cut concrete, and installed an egress window - laid carpet, laid laminate, laid vinyl - put on new countertops, took out the old tub, replaced it with shower and tub, moving the shower head up so I could fit under it - did our backsplash....

Eh, we've done a lot...and it was a LOT cheaper than hiring it done.

[TheOldestYoungMan]

Me and my dad tiled his whole house.  It ruined his knees and mine have taken years to get to a manageable point.  I still can't tolerate being on my knees more than a few minutes.

It makes the list of the things I wished I paid someone else to do.  The tile also doesn't look that great.  It's OK, but the gaps are a little irregular, and the grout towards the end of the project we didn't mix well enough so it is all crumbling out.

The project ended up taking alot longer too.  A professional crew could have gotten it done in a long weekend, it took us close to two months of nights and weekends.  That's a really long time to not be able to use significant areas of the house.

I did learn an important lesson about personal protective equipment.  If you're working and something is hurting, stop and go figure out a better way.  Not everything heals.

[iwasjustwondering]

... Next time don't be stupid and overdo it...

The thing is, you don't know you're overdoing it while you're doing it.  That realization only comes later.

Yup, boxwoods.  I have roses and salvia in the front row, with some sort of red pricker bush in the second row, and the baby boxwoods in the third row.  The idea of the boxwoods was supposed to be to provide some sort of green (neutral, in a garden) background for the bright colors, so it's not just a jumble of colors against the house.  But the boxwoods are not even visible at this point.  So I am thinking about relocating them and buying something more substantial that will improve the look now, rather than 10 years from now. 

[Guses]

I don't do electrical, plumbing or painting...and the rest I hire out!

Pshhh, real bosses have an agent to hire those services for them!


 I don't regret any of the DIY jobs that I have made so far. I have grown alot form all that DIY and I can do almost anything now.

I do regret some of the work that I did not do myself and that I know I could have done better and cheaper had I known it then.

[sisto]

I've done so much DYI that I just can't stand it anymore.  But I still do it.   Seems I can't rationalize paying someone $600 to paint a bedroom when I can do it for $50.

There are some thing I absolutely will not do and leave up to the pros.    I cut down with my new chain saw several trees last year.  That is some scary shit.  The next tree (the dead one near the houses)  is going to a pro with insurance and a nice truck.

I can totally relate to this. The other issue seems to be that every time I do actually hire out work I am always disappointed and know that I could have done it better myself. So then I feel extra bad about having spent the money on it. So now I hire out very few things and thankfully I can do almost anything myself.

[brooklynguy]

Cathy (who is not a surgeon) recently mentioned that she would perform major surgery on herself if the nature of the operation rendered it possible to do so.  That's the kind of DIY project you may not live to regret (because you may not live through it at all).  Personally, I would draw the line of what is DIY-able somewhere short of that.

[Cathy]

Cathy (who is not a surgeon) recently mentioned that she would perform major surgery on herself if the nature of the operation rendered it possible to do so.  That's the kind of DIY project you may not live to regret (because you may not live through it at all).  Personally, I would draw the line of what is DIY-able somewhere short of that.

I have yet to attempt a major surgery, but I do have a related story that is definitely not appropriate for squeamish readers.

A couple years ago, during a period when I was not going outside much, I started experiencing a problem where I couldn't stop crying in my left eye for several days. During the first day, I assumed it was a minor issue, but after several days of crying, it had become quite painful and unpleasant and was consuming my thoughts and interfering with my ability to sleep. I decided that I would have to do something about it because it was not resolving itself.

Using some basic household mirrors and a magnifying instrument, I was able to determine that there was a hair lodged behind my eyelid, and I could just barely see one end of it poking out beneath the eyelid. I think what happened is that a hair fell off of my eyelash and somehow got jammed behind the eyelid. It had never occurred to me before that this could happen, nor how unpleasant it could be.

I decided I would use one hand to push the eye up as far as I could, while using the other hand to use a pair of tweezers to reach into the eye socket and pull out the hair. I couldn't wear glasses while doing this (obviously), and I'm pretty much blind without my glasses, so I had to do this entirely based on my mental model of the spatial relation of these objects -- since I certainly couldn't see what I was doing in a mirror.

If I had messed up this tweezer procedure I might have done some serious damage to that eye, perhaps rendering myself blind, or otherwise inflicting nontrivial injury. Fortunately, the procedure was a complete success: I was able to grab hold of the end of the hair poking out from under the eye, and pull it out from behind my eyelid and out of the eye. Almost immediately I was able to stop crying. However, I did cut myself slightly to the side of the eye socket, and it was painful, but it didn't bleed and it healed within a few weeks.

[AJ]

I can totally relate to this. The other issue seems to be that every time I do actually hire out work I am always disappointed and know that I could have done it better myself. So then I feel extra bad about having spent the money on it. So now I hire out very few things and thankfully I can do almost anything myself.

This is *exactly* how I feel. If I do a project myself and it turns out poorly, at least I saved money and learned a lesson. But if I paid full price and it turns out anything less than perfect, it irks me.

We have had MANY failed DIY projects, at least half of which ended up costing more than if we just hired it out. We are just not naturally good with our hands, even after years of house renovations. That being said, we get better every time, and we learn new things. I just can't stomach paying someone else, and I feel like I'm robbed of the sense of accomplishment that comes from finishing something difficult. Especially if it is something I will look at every day, it would kill me to think "I can't believe I paid for that" rather than, "Look what awesome thing I did!" every time I see it.

[jba302]

I regret almost every DIY project about 2/3rd's of the way in. Sometimes that goes away before the project is done, usually not until several weeks after. I also have inattentive type ADD so I suspect a strong causal connection there.

[ketchup]

I can't think of a particular time I regretted going DIY on something, which is most of the time.

The one thing that I am absolutely 100% glad I outsourced the most though was rodent removal under the bathroom of my rental house.  Sure, it cost me over $500, but I didn't have to wrestle with 2 groundhogs and 3 skunks.  Worth it.

[Guses]

I can totally relate to this. The other issue seems to be that every time I do actually hire out work I am always disappointed and know that I could have done it better myself. So then I feel extra bad about having spent the money on it. So now I hire out very few things and thankfully I can do almost anything myself.

This is *exactly* how I feel. If I do a project myself and it turns out poorly, at least I saved money and learned a lesson. But if I paid full price and it turns out anything less than perfect, it irks me.

We have had MANY failed DIY projects, at least half of which ended up costing more than if we just hired it out. We are just not naturally good with our hands, even after years of house renovations. That being said, we get better every time, and we learn new things. I just can't stomach paying someone else, and I feel like I'm robbed of the sense of accomplishment that comes from finishing something difficult. Especially if it is something I will look at every day, it would kill me to think "I can't believe I paid for that" rather than, "Look what awesome thing I did!" every time I see it.

How do they end up costing you more? Unless it is some type of low labor cost, high material cost job, I can't really see how you would screw up so badly that it would cost you MORE than hiring it up.

Most reno type DYI projects are actually low material and high labor costs so they make perfect sense to DIY.

[NoraLenderbee]

I didn't regret it, but the experience made me decide I wouldn't do it again. My husband and I moved house twice, renting a truck and doing everything ourselves. The first time was bearable. The second time, it was extremely hot; we had a lot more stuff; we dropped and damaged a nice bookcase; my husband threw out his back; it was just stressful, exhausting, and totally unpleasant. The third time we moved (to our current place, in 2004), we spent about 10 seconds discussing whether we should hire movers--we were each ready to beg the other one to do so.

I'm pretty cautious about thinking through home DIY stuff and assessing beforehand whether I can live with amateurish results, so I haven't regretted (yet) any projects we decided to DIY. We also avoid stuff where we could get badly hurt--taking down large trees, major roof repair, standing on tall ladders, etc.

[brooklynguy]

I have yet to attempt a major surgery, but I do have a related story that is definitely not appropriate for squeamish readers.

Thanks for sharing that story, which I enjoyed reading (but I wonder if I'm the only one who did?).  And I'm glad it worked out well for you; based on the introductory disclaimer, I was expecting a much more gruesome ending.

[Retired To Win]

... I cut down with my new chain saw several trees last year.  That is some scary shit.  The next tree (the dead one near the houses)  is going to a pro with insurance and a nice truck.

Your reply prompts me to tell you the "back story" on that tree whose limbs I wore myself out picking up.

My handyman/carpenter was here doing a job, looked at the tree and how it was leaning towards the house and declared that it had to go.  Tell me something I don't already know; I had just been putting off getting the quotes and all the rest to get the job done.  But my carpenter said he could do it, once he brought over his "saddle" and his spike shoes. Then he took another look at the tree and told me that all he needed was a chainsaw and did I have one?  What about the saddle and stuff, I asked.  He said nothing was needed because this was a "good" tree that he could climb up as if it were a ladder.

And so he did. At least 70 or 80 feet up.  With my little 16-inch chain saw, lopping the branches as he climbed up, and then sawing the trunk down in hunks as he climbed back down. SCARY shit (to me).  But he just did it.  Brought that whole tree down in about 2 hours.  I paid him $50 for his time plus $50 as what I called "hazard pay."  And I'm still amazed.

[hamildub]

My wife wishes I would hire people, I wish I  had a bank vault like scrooge mcduck to pay them with or more likely the skills to do it.
I think she is slowly growing to appreciate that it's very important for me to learn to do this stuff.

That being said I hate doing drywall with a passion and wouldn't hesitate to hire competent laborers to install/mud &  tape.

Wifey also wants a move in ready house at the cost of a fixer upper. I'm not sure how that math works...

[Chester Allen Arthur]

Yeah, once did something unfortunate to a heating system that resulted in several gallons of water spilling in to my basement.  Thankfully there was no damage, just half an hour mopping up.

When the handyman showed up, I watched him work and he was nice enough to tell me what he was doing.  The next time I had the same issue I fixed it in 15 minutes.

[Capsu78]

I don't do electrical, plumbing or painting...and the rest I hire out!

Pshhh, real bosses have an agent to hire those services for them!

Actually not as bad as it sounds!  I "have a guy" for each.  Electrical guy also does carpentry, fixit stuff, weird stuff I come up with etc. and I buy him by the hour.  I purchase everything he needs so no mark up on that at least and I act as his gofer/ helper and I do clean up myself, usually as we work. He also has access to a "grunt" who happily does heavy lifting when the 2 older guys are pooped.

"Painter dude" is real bare bones self operator who "puts paint on the walls/trim" etc- he wants nothing to do with color selection- so he gives me his account number to go to the paint store using his discounts and again no mark up as I am buying...he has all the gear, floodlights etc.  He just wants $X for his day, so he has no problem with me pulling up old paint from previous jobs as asking him to touch up colors all over the house at the end of his job.  He just flat out moves with no taping, just tarps...the kind of painter who isn't covered in paint at the end of the day.

The plumber is kind of a prick- charges me full list, pretty persnickety about using his own stuff- but I hold him to a higher standard and he cleans everything up etc.  I continued to have a problem and he came over and fixed it gratis...

I also have known 2 of the 3 for a decade now, and feel good about bringing in the electrical guy as he is beyond retirement age, a vet but still always looking for work- I consider him a friend.
Painter is very mustachian and very successful- has a number of multi family rental units he owns and manages, been working since he was 12 and knows the value of a buck... pretty sure his net worth is higher than mine, maybe by a lot.

   

[Greystache]

When I was working, I would kill myself trying to get a job done at night or on the weekend. Retirement is great. I can work as much or as little as I want. if I don't finish it today, I can do it tomorrow.  You just have to understand your limitations and pace yourself.

[Outlier]

I've never regretted anything I've built. It takes longer than you want and you always hurt more than you should the next day. The end of the project is what makes it worth it. I go into rooms I gutted to the studs and think yup I built that. I like to know that everything works because I made it work. It's a damn lot of work though. You won't like it but if that makes you satisfied to build stuff.

I build stuff and it works right because I understand how it's built and I put it together.

[PawPrint53]

Just this week, we removed an old wall air conditioner from one of our rentals and took it to the recycling center. Wow, that thing was heavy. My back is still recovering. At another rental, I'd hired a gardener to trim shrubs because we were out of state. She never showed and since we were selling the house, I came back to mess with the yard. I ended up slicing my finger with the electric trimmers, needing a bunch of stitches. Two years and my finger still feels weird.

[FIRE me]

I spent yesterday curled up in an armchair feeling beat to shit.  I did absolutely nothing except doze while DVD movies ran in the background.  It took me all day to recover from pulled chest and shoulder muscles as well as general exhaustion from taking it upon myself the previous day to clear my yard of large limbs from a cut tree -- instead of paying $25 an hour to have it done.

I saved $100 but lost a whole day.  And felt awful at least part of the time.  Next tree, no way.

Anything similar happen to you?

No doubt about it, heavy tree trimming and full tree removal is dangerous work.

So far though, I have not personally regretted any DIY. My jobs often turn out better than professional in that I am in it to do it right, while the “pro” is in it to get the job done quick, get paid, and move on to the next job.

[Retired To Win]

When I was working, I would kill myself trying to get a job done at night or on the weekend. Retirement is great. I can work as much or as little as I want. if I don't finish it today, I can do it tomorrow.  You just have to understand your limitations and pace yourself.

Understanding my limitations is something I seem to learn mostly by trial and error.  My original post dealt with one such.

(Since then, I've cleared twice as much tree debris without any physical or exhaustion issues.  At least, I do learn!)

[paddedhat]

As a custom home builder I have a bad habit of building the family homestead and getting it about 95% done. On the last two houses, it's been little jobs like a rear deck, or never getting to the tile on the fireplace surround. In the past it was much more serious, no floor coverings, interior doors missing etc....  The wife put a full stop to that maneuver, however,  and now I can't reserve the U-Haul until the new one is at least livable to her standards. Once I get the itch to move on, I do what I have been doing for the last five weeks. I run around like an idiot, working 70-80 hours a week to get the place polished up and looking like a model home. As you might imagine, this clearly qualifies as a regrettable DIY experience, since it irritates the dear wife, endlessly. Hopefully we will both live a long time, and if we do, I fully expect to be sitting in the nursing home and listening to her tell the other old biddies about what an SOB I was for never letting her live in a finished house for more than a few weeks, LOL

[Le Poisson]

I have no DIY's that I really regret. I do have a few that I won't do again (Like tile. My DIY tile does not look professional)

I have gotten into a DIY and decided it was more than I ought to have done, but I never regretted the work.

Case in point, the summer before last I redid our pool and backyard. It involved removing a poured concrete deck, placing 100 linear feet of retaining wall, removing a pool liner, placing a new one, replumbing the pool, planting all new landscaping wiring in lighting, etc. A lot of work. http://frosthaus.blogspot.ca/2013/05/digging-down-building-up.html

I started off by building the wall and roughing in wiring and plumbing for the pool. Once it was done, I cut up the pool deck and started concrete demolition. Work was slow and hard, but I felt pumped. After 2 months though, I started to realize that this project would never see completion at my rate of work.

So I called in a pool shop to do the liner and a landscaper to complete the concrete demolition and put in a new deck of pavers. Then the family and I went to the cottage for a week. When we got back, everything was done except the new plants - and that's a job we like, so we did it ourselves. Now when I look back there, I feel good about the yard. Its still not all done. I need to build a railing across the one garden, and I have to cap the posts, but it looks way better than it did. The work th econtractors did hit about the 80% grade for me. There are some stones to be reset and some drainage issues to resolve, but its all stuff I can work with. I just need to get excited enough about it to set to work.  http://frosthaus.blogspot.ca/2014/06/the-backyard-update.html

[TomTX]

I almost regretted diy dishwasher repair, but finally got it all fixed.

I do not regret hiring out floor tiling.  They did an awesome job at a cheap price. ($0.99 per square foot)

I do not regret hiring out roof replacement.  I did some roofing in college. No desire to do more.

[ngakara]

I live with no regrets as a personal motto, but what I learn may have me choosing different outcomes if faced with the same challenge again.

One thing that I have found invaluable with DIY is to ask a pro to come round and talk me through in great detail what the job entails. I take notes and draw up plans as they tell me what needs to be done.  I also ask them to allow me to help if they are to do any jobs.  I always offer to pay them for their time  either with cash or something to trade(often they refuse) but then I can call and ask questions without feeling that I am pushing for too much.

Just yesterday I had a plumber to show me how to rip out the bathroom vanity.  It was as simple as I thought, but I didn't have the strength to actually turn off the water toby, and he was able to point put a couple of things that I need to attend to as I do what needs to be done.  He got some muffins from me, and I have the written plan for each step I need to take to put my bathroom back together (it all started with just one loose tile and now  only toilet and bath remain).

If I got him to do it start to finish it will only take a day.  With my lack of expertise and experience it will take several days/weeks.  but it will have a very tiny cost and a great wealth of knowledge will be gained.  plus my bathroom will be much less ugly and more functional than what I have been living with.  win win win :)

[Paul der Krake]

I have injured myself building and repairing things before, but the regret has always been of not being more careful, not of taking on the task. Unless it's truly a once in a lifetime thing, by not outsourcing you always learn, even if what you are learning is that this makes more sense to outsource.

Flipping the question, I have regretted not going DIY, when realizing that something wasn't as much an emergency that it appeared.

[weston]

I've posted about my experience before in response to another question a few months ago. I almost always regret going the DIY route for anything that requires any amount of mechanical or construction skills. I have wasted more money at Home Depot than any other store over the past few years.

I spend time, money and effort on DIY projects. It almost never ends up with the quality I want and expect so I end up writing off the time, money and effort I have sunk into the project and then go out and hire someone properly trained, motivated and equipped to do the job.

[jba302]

Understanding my limitations is something I seem to learn mostly by trial and error.  My original post dealt with one such.

(Since then, I've cleared twice as much tree debris without any physical or exhaustion issues.  At least, I do learn!)

Knowledge comes from experience. Experience comes from lack of knowledge.

-Can't remember who said that

[Retired To Win]

... I almost always regret going the DIY route for anything that requires any amount of mechanical or construction skills. I have wasted more money at Home Depot than any other store over the past few years.

I spend time, money and effort on DIY projects. It almost never ends up with the quality I want and expect so I end up writing off the time, money and effort I have sunk into the project and then go out and hire someone properly trained, motivated and equipped to do the job.

Most of the time, my experience has been the exact opposite of yours.  Working entirely by myself, I have taken on many projects I had never done before and lived to not only tell about it but have good outcomes.  I've beadboard paneled entire rooms.  Rehung hanging ceilings.  Plank paneled the exterior of added rooms.  Insulated walls and ceilings.  Converted a deck into an enclosed room.  Framed in new windows.  Laid in laminate floors and parquet wood floors.  Refinished oak floors.  Hung doors.   ALL kinds of stuff. (Except painting!)

My "secrets" to success have been: (1) not being in a hurry, (2) getting reliable how-to instructions, (3) not working past the point of being tired or too frustrated, (4) buying/renting the right tools, and (5) MOST IMPORTANTLY, working to the rhythm of blasting happy music.  Seriously.

[weston]

... I almost always regret going the DIY route for anything that requires any amount of mechanical or construction skills. I have wasted more money at Home Depot than any other store over the past few years.

I spend time, money and effort on DIY projects. It almost never ends up with the quality I want and expect so I end up writing off the time, money and effort I have sunk into the project and then go out and hire someone properly trained, motivated and equipped to do the job.

Most of the time, my experience has been the exact opposite of yours.  Working entirely by myself, I have taken on many projects I had never done before and lived to not only tell about it but have good outcomes.  I've beadboard paneled entire rooms.  Rehung hanging ceilings.  Plank paneled the exterior of added rooms.  Insulated walls and ceilings.  Converted a deck into an enclosed room.  Framed in new windows.  Laid in laminate floors and parquet wood floors.  Refinished oak floors.  Hung doors.   ALL kinds of stuff. (Except painting!)

My "secrets" to success have been: (1) not being in a hurry, (2) getting reliable how-to instructions, (3) not working past the point of being tired or too frustrated, (4) buying/renting the right tools, and (5) MOST IMPORTANTLY, working to the rhythm of blasting happy music.  Seriously.

Tried all those secrets on my own and still ended up with frustration and wasted money. Maybe I'm just picking the wrong music.

[Le Poisson]

... I almost always regret going the DIY route for anything that requires any amount of mechanical or construction skills. I have wasted more money at Home Depot than any other store over the past few years.

I spend time, money and effort on DIY projects. It almost never ends up with the quality I want and expect so I end up writing off the time, money and effort I have sunk into the project and then go out and hire someone properly trained, motivated and equipped to do the job.

Most of the time, my experience has been the exact opposite of yours.  Working entirely by myself, I have taken on many projects I had never done before and lived to not only tell about it but have good outcomes.  I've beadboard paneled entire rooms.  Rehung hanging ceilings.  Plank paneled the exterior of added rooms.  Insulated walls and ceilings.  Converted a deck into an enclosed room.  Framed in new windows.  Laid in laminate floors and parquet wood floors.  Refinished oak floors.  Hung doors.   ALL kinds of stuff. (Except painting!)

My "secrets" to success have been: (1) not being in a hurry, (2) getting reliable how-to instructions, (3) not working past the point of being tired or too frustrated, (4) buying/renting the right tools, and (5) MOST IMPORTANTLY, working to the rhythm of blasting happy music.  Seriously.

Tried all those secrets on my own and still ended up with frustration and wasted money. Maybe I'm just picking the wrong music.

...or the wrong beer.

[Retired To Win]

... Flipping the question, I have regretted not going DIY, when realizing that something wasn't as much an emergency that it appeared.

Yup, I've had that happen too.  Especially when I see a repairman putz around for 10 minutes and then hand me a $100 bill.

[Ricky]

The trick is to own (or rent) as small of a space as comfortably possible so that whether you hire someone or do it yourself, it won't really matter.

[Bob W]

Just finished removing and replacing the top of a 240 sq ft deck.  (I had successfully put it off for 4 years but the wood was all rot at this point)

In this case I don't regret it.  The physical labor felt good,  wood smelled good,  weather was nice,  wasn't rushed,  did it with son,  did a quality job.

 So I saved maybe $1,200 in labor.   

This is one DIY project I do not regret.

I anticipate using a very high quality stain sealer once the wood is 12% and resealing every 2 years.   Hopefully the deck will last 30 years and this is the last go round.  (google deck stain reviews -- I was impressed that Behr was rated sooo bad and that only one brand of stain sealer is rated as a wood preservative by the EPA)