Do It Yourself

[cschin4]

Personally, I am a bit tired of the "do it yourself" movement. There are some things I enjoy doing myself. But, frankly there are alot of things I can do but I really just don't want to do anymore. And, I have been in the homes of alot of DIYers and some of the work really isn't that good. We can't all be experts on everything. But, I do like to play with tools and don't mind doing some small jobs. However, I have no desire to change my own oil, do my own roofing, remodeling, etc. What things do you DIY and what are things you would rather pay for?

[SnoopyCool]

Regularly, we do our own lawn. We harvest some of our own fruits and vegetables, and put them up for winter consumption. We do our own housework. We do some of our own home improvements, but nothing extensive or complicated. Also true of vehicle maintenance (a Chilton book and a little mechanical knowledge will take you a long way!)

We don't change our own oil, but I'm thinking about starting to do that.

I, myself, feel like the more knowledge I have and the more things I can do, the better off I am. But I know my limits and am not crazy enough to take on jobs that just need to be done by someone else. I like being self-sufficient, but I'm not stranded on a desert island so I do solicit others for help.

[autoxer]

I do all my automotive maintenance. I've replaced axles, ball joints, brake parts, tie rod ends, wheel bearings, struts, springs, exhaust parts, all of the fluids, a window motor, suspension bushings, fixing a sagging headliner. I've even figured out how to do an alignment with a tape measure & some homemade jigs. The toughest job I did was the clutch, but I bribed a mechanic friend with a case of beer so he would hang out & show me how to do it.

I'm also learning woodworking & how to build furniture. I just got some solid mohagony, so I can build a shaker style coffee table.

These are my hobbies, I enjoy learning & doing it myself. I'm looking forward to when I own my first house, because I know that will keep me busy. These things definately take me longer then the professionals, but I'm not sacrificing quality. To get good quality, you just need to find the right teacher. For me, it's not a "do it yourself" movement, it's more of a lifestyle. That's why I choose an engineering career.

[lgslgs]

We paid to have someone take down the two 95 foot sycamore trees, an 90 foot oak, and a 70 foot oak that were right next to the house.

We did do the ten 90+ foot pine trees in backyard #3 by ourselves, though.

We also did all of the brush clean up and removal work for ourselves - which saved us a lot of money. It was a big job. It also helped burn off all of those calories from our Sam's Club cheese.

The payback on the job was great, though. Even one of the smaller sycamore branches would have been big enough to got through roof and ceiling if it split off in a wind storm and branches extended above the house. A tree top break or trunk section would have split the house all the way down to the foundation. Shame to get rid of big trees but these were damage and injury waiting to happen.

We did keep our pretty 100 foot front-yard oak. It's growth pattern and location makes it unlikely to ever do damage that we couldn't fix ourselves. But those sycamores - we figured we wouldn't be able to fix dead if we got crushed by one!

Lynda

[MonkeyMama]

This is big to me because my dad is a big DIYer. YEs, out of necessity they had to do everything themselves growing up, and even into young adulthood. But now he is a very successful professional who does quite well. But he will still do everything himself. My mom has begged him to a hire a contractor to do a better/quicker job, and he is just starting to come around on this. I personally see my dad wasting too much time doing a bad job at stuff. I think what really nailed in my attitude was when we redid all the tile in the house as a teenager, and shortly after it started cracking and had to be replaced anyway. What the hell do I know about laying tile?

I think I lay on the opposite extreme and my parents wonder where I Came from, but mostly I think it is a backlash to sitting back and wondering what the hell they were doing. I make a good wage and I REALLY value my time so I really don't do much myself.

Oh yeah, my dad always made me change my own oil too. While I value the learning experience, it can takes me a good hour by the time I go to the store, buy the filter and oil, blahblahblah, always ruin the clothes and have a spill. Then dispose of the oil. I will never get doing all that to save like $5. I mean seriously isn't that what Jiffy Lube charge for the labor? Plus it takes like 1/2 hour most round trip to drive there and get the oil changed.

I actually rather clean my own house, it's something I don't mind doing and have a thing about hiring someone. But that's about it. Small repairs around the house or with the car I will attempt first - I did get that from my dad and that can save a lot of money. Plumbing, broken ice maker, small car repairs. But for the most part, anything big and laborious I rather get some expertise honestly.

I know what you mean, I just see too many people penny-wise pound-foolish when it comes to DIY. But I think a lot of people have it figured out, or don't have a choice. I won't knock that either. I think for the most part it is just not my thing. I can not figure out anything mechanical for the life of me - I am more of an abstract person. So not enjoying any of that stuff (& being horrible at it) makes all the difference. So does having a good wage. IT is so easy to justify someone else doing the stuff I don't want to do and just working a little overtime at a job I enjoy to pay for it. I think that is mostly my thing. Would I rather work 2 overtime hours a week or spend every weekend in the yard? That one is easy to me because I hate yard work with a passion.

[disneysteve]

Personally, I am a bit tired of the "do it yourself" movement. There are some things I enjoy doing myself. But, frankly there are alot of things I can do but I really just don't want to do anymore.

What things do you DIY and what are things you would rather pay for?

For about 10 years, I mowed my own lawn. I really didn't like doing it and, honestly, didn't do it terribly well, but I figured I was saving $50/month for about 2 hours worth of work. Finally, when I finished repaying my student loans, as a treat to myself, I retired my mower and hired the local guys to do it. I'm much happier and the lawn looks much better.

[pearlieq]

I'm not much of a DIY-er. The spirit is willing, but the skills and interest are weak.

Our house is quite new, so while it doesn't need much in the way of mechanical repair it does need regular maintenance and decorating. I'm finding I like the white, though, so I'm not really in any rush to paint. And I don't really care too much about doo-dads, so while I guess I'm supposed to "decorate" I don't really feel much call there either.

DH still mows the lawn, put we pay a serivce to come out an fertilize/deal with weeds. Maybe in the next couple of years we'll hire someone to mow.

We also pay for housecleaning every other week. We'll probably give that up when I stop working, though.

[My English Castle]

stopped the cleaning service

We stopped our cleaning service and saved about $200/month.
I really don't like to clean, but it has made me more aware of all the clutter
we need to divest ourselves of. I'd get another cleaner tomorrow if they were any good, but all the "services" like Merry maids and other ones seem to do a pretty lousy job. And when I think about $200/month, and then the taxes and all that, it seems like a good idea.
But that said, I HATE plumbing jobs and we just had someone snake our sink after two very very messy attempts ourselves. And we're admittedly very bad at finishing things--which I think is the biggest drawback of DIY

[disneysteve]

I just see too many people penny-wise pound-foolish when it comes to DIY.

This is a good point. I think it is very easy to see what a job is costing when you pay someone else to do it, but it is harder to see the true cost when you are doing it yourself.

For example, when I mowed my own lawn, it was over an hour of my time on a beautiful sunny day when I could have been spending some of my limited free time with my family. How do you put a dollar value on that?

[Pupart]

I had a small solid wood coffee table that I wanted stripped so I could refinish it.
Just for the stipping, a pro was going to charge me more than what I wanted to pay.
I checked out some strippers that didn't have dire warnings on the label and bought some stripper I was comfortable using and went to work.
I finished that table and have found many solid wood furniture on Craigs. Some free, some at a very low cost, and I have finished more.

I wish I could do car work, but I need a pro for that and many other things, but if I can do it myself, I will.

[Fern]

I do as much as possible myself just to save money, but as a single female, most times I can't do it myself.

I can scrape, sand, prime and paint fairly well.
And I can wallpaper.
I also mow and maintain my own lawn, do the snow shoveling in winter. and i bring my own garbage to the dump rather than pay for it.

"Exercise" is the fringe benefit i get from the snow shoveling and lawn mowing, and it just would be too much $$ if i had to pay someone.

Beyond that kind of grunt work, I have to pick up the phone.

[cschin4]

My rule of thumb for DIY is that everything I plan to do will take at least 3X longer than I ever imagine it will. And, it seems you never quite have the right tool, can't find it, have to make multiple trips to the hardware store, etc. As I get older I find I am just not up for this kind of frustration.
I am amazed to hear what others do themselves. I hear people at work talking about building additions onto their homes, etc. And, I wonder how in the world they accomplish that while working a full time job. Last weekend my spouse and decided to put up a double bed for our oldest son. We had one in the basement. So, we had to remove his twin bed, take down the frame, bring up the double and put the new frame up. Should only take an hour right? Not! Of course what we thought would be quick ended up taking us at least a half day on the weekend by the time we got the beds out of the basement, found the right tools, etc. Even the simplest of jobs can take a LONG time.
So, those that spend so much time on DIY, how do they have time to do anything else? We have 3 kids and between taking care of the house, getting meals, going to sports events, and laundy, there is little time left for that sort of thing. And, when I do have free time, I am just plain TIRED and I want to just watch TV, read a book or play my guitar.

[FrugalIII]

When I was younger, in my 20s and 30s, I did everything from roofing, plumbing, electric, you name it by myself. Mostly because I enjoyed it but partly because my dad did his own work and it did save money. Now that I'm older, I have neither the time nor the inclination to do it. Maybe I still have the time but would rather spend it doing something else. But, mostly I quit doing it myself because I never did it to suit my wife. No matter what it was, I did it wrong. Now if the contractor does it wrong (according to her) she yells at him not me. She thinks I'm just lazy, but I call it self preservation. I get tired of her complaining.

[Ima saver]

My husband is so talented, he can do anything. He does all the plumbing, electrical, carpentry, etc. There is nothing he cannot build or fix, except electronics. He does all the yard work too. He even repainted my old vette and it looked brand new. He took the whole car apart and put it back together.

[MonkeyMama]

Hey, painting is something I Can do! Thought of one we usually DIY. Then again we paid someone to paint our rooms with high ceilings, and frankly, I wouldn't mind just hiring them either for other rooms. Again, they did a way better job than I could ever do.