In the maintenance and upkeep of your home, there will come a time for certain repairs and renovations. These renovations will not only improve your living environment and overall quality of life but it will also improve your home’s resale value. But in your home maintenance efforts, one of the hardest decisions to make is knowing when to DIY and when to hire professionals. 

renovation2.JPG

Whichever one you go with, there will always be a trade-off between time, money, and finished results. Some home renovations can be extremely expensive and doing it yourself can be the financial solution you need to reduce some of those costs. And despite the unlimited resources, tutorials, and guides on how to do certain projects on your own, the real question is,

Should you?

The general rule of thumb is to only take on projects you feel most comfortable with and have the knowledge and skillset in to actually get the project complete with results you’re happy with. But projects that can result in bodily harm, if done incorrectly, are the ones you want to hire a professional for.

Safety is a major deciding factor but all too often, homeowners tend to misjudge their capabilities and end up taking on projects that they can’t handle, causing severe injuries and even death. According to the World Health Organization, falls are the second leading cause of accidental or unintentional injury deaths worldwide… traffic accidents are the leading cause of unintentional deaths.

So before you go and pull out your ladder, power drill, and hammer, take the time out to assess your skill level, the potential dangers and safety hazards, and desired results. But in the event you feel like you can take on a certain home renovation project, first make sure it’s not one of these… Take a look at some of the most dangerous home renovation projects that you should hire professionals for.
Home Renovation Projects to Hire the Pros For
 
renovation3.JPG


Removing Walls
Removing walls are typically done to open up spaces and create open floor plans or extend rooms. But before you go to town with a sledgehammer, you want to first have the wall you want to tear down, inspected. There are all kinds of things hidden behind a wall like wiring and pipes, plus you want to make sure the wall isn’t load-bearing. Knocking down a load-bearing wall can result in your ceiling caving in, not only damaging your home but also causing bodily damage.

Light Installations
Installing new light fixtures isn’t the same as changing a light bulb by far. Sure, you can buy new floor or table lamps to make your room look classy, but when installing a light fixture, despite how simple it may seem, you’re dabbling in the electrical sector and lots of things can go very wrong. Everything from wiring issues to not turning off the main source of power can lead to shock, electrocution, and sparks in outlets, which can then cause house fires. Electricians aren’t electricians for nothing… they’re certified and licensed to work on electrical jobs.

Roof Work
Maybe there’s a small ceiling leak in one of your bedrooms or your roof suffered minor damages from the last hail storm… no big deal… you can repair those small damages yourself; so you think. Any type of damages to your home that involves the word roof, you need to call a professional.

If your roof is leaking, you’re going to have to find out where the leak source is and replace those shingles all while not causing any further roof damage. The same applies to damage from hail… you’ll have to hire a professional that does roof hail damage repair.

Sure, this type of work may not be as friendly to your pockets as it would if you did it yourself but one wrong move or misstep can cost you more than dollars… it can cost you your life, and your life is worth way more. Hire a professional for all roof work.

Plumbing
Maybe Drano normally works for your bathroom sink but this particular time, the Drano is just standing in the sink. In your mind, if you can just dismantle the pipe under the sink, you can unclog the pipe and get back to using your sink as you normally would… Wrong. Unless you know exactly where the problem, is and more importantly, if you know how to reassemble it, then hey, go for it! 

But if you’re only operating under assumption and a good YouTube video, you need to call a professional plumber… pipes can be very tricky and cause further damage to your home if not done correctly.