Hire a Professional or Not?

[missmanors]

Making the decision to hire a professional to renovate, or tackling the job yourself depends largely on the renovation itself. If there are not structural changes that need to be made, you may be able to make it a do-it-youself project. If walls need to be torn out, or if other structural changes may have to be made, you may want to hire a professional, or at least get some advice before beginning the project.

If you're going to build a house from scratch, chances are that you're going to use an architect to draw up the plans. But what about for a minor remodel? A new porch, for instance? A converted attic space? "It's a complicated question, and it can vary from homeowner to homeowner and project to project," says Bruce Wentworth, owner of Chevy Chase architectural firm Wentworth Inc.

By Denise DiFulco

Money is always a consideration when contemplating renovations. (at least for those of us who aren't millionaires or billionaires, lol) Don't bite off more than you can chew, by trying to do without professionals. Trying to do major renovations on your own could end up costing you much more in the end. It pays to at least get some advice on the project before beginning.

Hire a Professional or Not?

[flip_it_fast]

Hiring a professional can be quite costly. If it is a small project and you have the ability to do it yourself, do it. Make sure you do some research first. There are plenty of do-it-yourself sites on the web that you could learn from before starting your project. If it is a bigger renovation and you are not positively sure how to go about doing it. Shop around for a contractor, it may well be worth it in the end.

[JaredfromIndiana]

Are we talking about your own personal residence or your rehab/flip? I have a contractor I use for most of my work on both my personal and rehabs. I have time now to do some of the work in the rehab we just picked up but if I didn't I wouldn't hesitate to hire everything out.

As my business grows and I have multiple rehabs going at once then I won't have the time to be in there painting and whatnot. In order to pay contractors to do the work I REALLY have to focus on buying the property right so I can fit it in my budget.

Here is a list of the things that my contractor is doing right now on the project we are working on:

Power wash/paint exterior of the house
Build railing on the front porch
Drywall a bedroom approximately 10 X 16 feet
Replace a tub surround
Rebuild the chimney just from the roof up
Repair some drywall in garage
Replace two windows
Clean all carpets
Put down ceramic tile in a 8 X 8 utility room
Remove old fallen tree in the driveway

I think there are a few other things but I can't remember right now. I am getting all that for $2,400. It's going to take 2 of them just over 2 weeks to finish this. If I was to do it myself I would probably be talking about at least a month, plus with the painting and stuff that I am doing right now while they do that list above I would be looking at close to 2 months for a rehab.

So my point is... does it make sense to hire a contractor? Yes, sometimes.

Whew... that was a long one...

[flip_it_fast]

Wow, it seems like you are getting one heck of a deal on all of those renovations only costing you $2,400! I don't know of any deals such as this to be found in my area. It would cost that much just for the tree removal, not to mention all of the other things. Thats a lot of work to be completed in two weeks too. You must have some awesome workers! Way to go!

[JaredfromIndiana]

Originally Posted by flip_it_fast

Wow, it seems like you are getting one heck of a deal on all of those renovations only costing you $2,400! I don't know of any deals such as this to be found in my area. It would cost that much just for the tree removal, not to mention all of the other things. Thats a lot of work to be completed in two weeks too. You must have some awesome workers! Way to go!

Thanks! Here's the deal on that too. My contractor for this house is also an employee of mine with another business that I own, so he cuts me good deals. My company BSH buys and sells houses, etc, and my other company Summity City Home Repairs does just that, home repairs. Dan is my employee for Summit City and I hire him as a contractor for my BSH biz. Damn, I just confused myself. hahhahahhahha!!!!!!!!!

[missmanors]

Jared, it's great that your friend and you work together this way. I'm sure it saves both of you a lot of hassle, since you aren't always trying to find a good honest contractor and he gets the work without having to do so much advertising probably.

The point I was trying to make in my original post is that we need to be sure to get some professional help when doing major renovations. It's not good to try to do some work ourselves, in that we can actually do more harm than good and end up costing ourselves a whole lot more money in the end.

[JaredfromIndiana]

Originally Posted by missmanors

Jared, it's great that your friend and you work together this way. I'm sure it saves both of you a lot of hassle, since you aren't always trying to find a good honest contractor and he gets the work without having to do so much advertising probably.

The point I was trying to make in my original post is that we need to be sure to get some professional help when doing major renovations. It's not good to try to do some work ourselves, in that we can actually do more harm than good and end up costing ourselves a whole lot more money in the end.

Gotcha... I have caused more harm trying to do things myself.. LOL.

[missmanors]

LOL, that's the reason I posted this. A friend of ours decided he wanted to open up his living room, by taking out a wall between it and the dining room. This turned out to be a lot more than he bargained for, and he ended up paying out lots of cash before it was over. The experience taught him a lesson, he won't soon forget. (Now that the contractor is finished, his house looks great though!)