Daily Deals from a Nerd Mom

A homeowner’s work is never finished. It’s just that sometimes the work involves picking up the phone to call a professional; at others, it means digging out the toolbox and doing things on your own.

Some homeowners shy away from DIY work, believing it to be complex, risky, and dangerous. In practice, those descriptions only apply to some jobs. They’re the jobs that you should never try to do yourself. However, there are also plenty of other jobs that you should take on yourself. In doing so, you’ll pick up a new skill and save yourself some money. Plus, there’s a lot of pride that can be derived from looking at a job and saying “I fixed that.”

In this post, we’ll run through the jobs that you should attempt to do yourself, and the jobs that you shouldn’t. If in doubt, follow the rule that if it’s a purely cosmetic change that can be inexpensively fixed later on, then look up a YouTube tutorial and give it a go. If completing the work incorrectly will impact the quality of your home and may be dangerous, then call a professional. 

OK, let’s dive in.

Fix: Painting the Walls

Do your walls look a little past their best? It can be tempting to call a professional painter to spruce up your walls, but this is one of those things where it’s worthwhile attempting it yourself. So long as you’ve put enough protective sheets down to protect the other areas of your home from paint, then there’s not much to lose — if it doesn’t work out, then the professional painter will be just a phone call away. This page offers some handy tips on how to paint your walls like a pro.

Don’t Fix: Electrical Matters

Nobody wants to be without electricity, but if the lights are off, this is a situation where you’ll need to be patient and wait for a professional electrician to arrive. Trying to tackle these jobs yourself is not recommended for many reasons, the main one being that there’s a big safety risk. 

Even if you did somehow manage to make it through the task unscathed, there’s a chance that the incorrect wiring poses a fire risk that could strike later down the line. 

Fix: Changing Fixtures

When we say fixtures, we don’t mean all fixtures — if it’s connected to gas lines or electrical wires, then leave it alone. With that said, there are plenty of fixtures that you can — and should — attempt to fix on your own. 

For instance, there aren’t too many things that can go wrong by attempting to replace cabinet handles, door handles, and toilet seats. If in doubt, follow along with a YouTube tutorial — even though the job can be a little fiddly from time to time, it’s one of those that’s worthwhile trying to complete. A bit of frustration will eventually give way to a job well done!

Don’t Fix: Plumbing Jobs

You can see why some homeowners think that it’s OK to attempt to fix plumbing issues themselves. After all, it’s only water — or so they think. The problem with plumbing issues is that they can quickly become big problems. Even a minor leak can turn into a cascade of water in inexperienced hands, and that can cause issues that can be expensive and complicated to fix. Given the complexity of plumbing jobs, it’ll be best to contact a licensed plumber to do the job on your behalf. They’ll have the training required to identify the cause of the problem and the skills to come up with an effective solution. 

Fix: Putting Up Shelves

Shelves, in our view, are a little underrated. They’re great for providing a bit of extra storage and can even elevate the decor of the space if you add some aesthetic touches. And what’s more, you’ll likely find that you can put a shelf up without any problem simply with household DIY tools. It’s a satisfying, easy home DIY project that can make a big difference to your property’s functionality — the only issue is that you might be so impressed by yourself that you decide to add shelves to all corners of the house!

Don’t Fix: Roof Jobs

Getting up onto the roof to repair a minor issue can sound simple enough. In practice? It’s not worth it, for a couple of reasons.

For one thing, the sheer height of the roof means that you’ll be in inherent danger. Even if the height of your room seems manageable, you might discover that it’s a lot higher than you originally thought once you’re up there. One slip could lead to serious injury, or perhaps even death. It’s so dangerous that professional roofing is considered one of the most dangerous jobs in the US.

Secondly, even if you’re fine, the roof isn’t exactly the place for experimentation. You’ll need to know that the job has been completed to the highest of standards — and if you’re not a trained roofer, then you simply can’t have that guarantee. 

Fix: Remove Grout

Grout can look a little unpleasant, and it does play an important role in helping to preserve the quality of your bathroom, but still, it’s one of those things that you can attempt to tackle yourself. It’s a low-risk DIY job that’ll be easy to fix if you get things a little wrong. You’ll need one item of specialist equipment (a grout removal tool, which isn’t necessary but makes the job easier — and they’re inexpensive), but other than that, it’s just about applying new grout. Easy! 

The Bottom Line On What You Should and Shouldn’t Fix

As we said above, there’s a lot of pride that can come from performing DIY tasks yourself, so as long as the job is safe to do and won’t cause any expensive-to-repair damage if you mess it up, then it’s worth giving it a try. Start small, build your DIY confidence, and then see where things take you. After a while, you might just be doing all the DIY jobs in your house, except for the ones that you should never do.

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