Before you DIY…Beware! Home Improvement Can Cost You
3 Do-It-Yourself Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make!
Everyone loves that sense of achievement when you figure out how to do something on your own—especially something expensive. Popular TV shows are built around doing things yourself when you’re upgrading your home’s features. So why not save hundreds (or thousands) and DIY those fixes yourself?
The answers might surprise you.
Sometimes, the mistakes you make in the process of trying to do things yourself end up costing more than it would have if you’d hired a professional in the first place.
That’s why we wrote this post. We hear so many stories of DIY disasters, we want to help prevent as many people as we can from going through them.
Here are 3 Expensive Do-it-Yourself Mistakes Homeowners Make:
#1 Not Getting a Permit
While planning a home improvement, homeowners often focus on design options, materials, and increasing their property value. But a crucial factor is commonly missed in the renovation planning process—whether or not a building permit is needed for the upgrade to the home.
Why Do You Need a Building Permit?
The purpose of a building permit is to protect you and your family members (and future owners of your home) from work done improperly that could threaten your safety. By having specific requirements in place, building permits reduce the chance of dangerous home improvement mistakes that cause fires, structural collapses, flooding, and other hazards.
Because it’s often a hassle, and can impact the timeline of the project, many homeowners don’t get the proper permits—or any permits at all. In spite of this, permits are still usually required for homeowners doing their own repairs and renovations, just as they are for contractors.
Permits Are Crucial
Beware: not getting the proper permit for a home improvement project can actually make a homeowner ineligible for insurance coverage! That’s a high price to pay for wanting to DIY something quickly.
Not sure which projects you’ll need a permit for? Stay tuned for our upcoming posts on common home improvements that require permits.
#2 Not Putting Safety First
When you hire a professional contractor, they’re usually required by their company (for liability reasons) to use the proper tools and safety gear. Ignoring those company requirements could mean they end up getting injured or lose their job. When homeowners decide to upgrade their home, many don’t read up on possible hazards they could be exposing themselves to. It’s also common that they won’t protect themselves with safety equipment like goggles, masks, gloves, etc.
Homeowners often don’t have the skill and experience required to plan a project properly. They may, say, improperly secure a ladder against a home by mistake or realize the hard way that they didn’t understand how to navigate working on a roof or in the crawl space of a home.
Rather than saving money and time like they had planned, some homeowners attempting to DIY end up in urgent care—or worse, the hospital. Then, they have an incomplete project they started and can’t finish, on top of an injury to recover from, and the added expense of hiring a contractor to fix the damage they caused.
For this reason, we always recommend preparing for possible hazards, watching for them, and thoroughly planning the home improvement project ahead of time to prevent injuries. It’s also a good idea to talk to your independent insurance agent about a separate liability policy, especially if you plan to have others help you out with the project. Why? Because lawsuits for others’ injuries are another hazard for do-it-yourselfers!
#3 Attempting to DIY Something You Don’t Understand How to Fix
Sometimes, it’s best just to leave things to the pros—whether it’s plumbing, electrical, or carpentry work around your home. Not only are some home repairs and improvements hazardous, but many times homeowners attempt to fix something and end up making the problem worse. Like we mentioned above, this ends up costing the homeowner even more than it would have to have to just hire a professional in the beginning.
If you’re feeling a little over your head when you consider repairing something yourself or upgrading some areas of your home—it might be a good idea to hire a professional trained in that line of work to do the project. The work usually gets done faster this way too, and you’ll be enjoying the benefits of your home improvement much faster than if you’d tried to work it in on weekends or evenings after work.
Are you thinking of doing a home improvement project yourself?
Even if you’re sure you know what to do, it’s always a good idea to talk to a trusted local independent agent. We’ll answer your questions about when you’ll need a permit, which improvements are easiest and have the least risk, and which ones you may want to leave to professional contractors.
At Galezano Insurance, we’ll give you the peace of mind of knowing you’re protected when you’re planning to DIY a home renovation or repair.
Call a Galezano Insurance Agent Today at 239-202-0233