Doing It Yourself Around the House

Doing It Yourself Around the House

Doing It Yourself Around the House

Once you move into a home it becomes one long maintenance project.e plumbing will leak, the gutters get clogged up, the lawn mower needs a filter are just a few of the things you run across. You can drop a lot of dollars hiring people to do everything you need to get done. I've hired plumbers, carpenter and contractors and handymen to do things I've found myself unable to do. The really important big projects like putting in gutting the kitchen and remodeling it, that kind of project I feel I need a professional to do. I know a lot of home owners who actually tackle these things, but I'm not confidante I can pull it off at this point. But I'm learning more about fixing things and my confidence is growing.

The best one was when I learned how to fix my toilet. It wasn't all that hard. I've gotten bolder the more I learn. I put together quite a tool box: hammers, and pliers, screwdrivers, socket sets, pliers, adjustable wrenches, mallets, levels, you know, things you need for fixing stuff. I've also have quite an assortment of power tools: sanders, reciprocating saw, jig saw, three circular saws of different sizes and a drill with every kind of attachment I could find. I've gradually gotten myself to tackle more and more of the harder to do task myself.

The biggest project I've done is replacing the flooring in the kitchen. I bought some second hand oak flooring that came out of a house about the same age as mine. The wood matched the flooring I had in the rest of the house. The linoleum in my kitchen was all scratched up and beginning to wear through to the black backing. I did the kitchen floor in oak to match all the oak floors in the rest of the house. Fortunately the friend who talked me into trying to do it sat over my shoulder and told how to do it. We did it in stages. I had some guys who helped me put the flooring in for a reward of pizza and beer. Then I rented a floor sander, sanded and sealed the floor and topped it off with polyurethane. It wasn't too hard to do really and I saved a pot of money.

The thing is, I started out small and gradually did things more difficult. I always prepared myself. I've researched fixing things on the internet, been tutored by friends, hit the library or bookstore on how-to books, and bought instructions from the big box store. Now I'm able to just think things through and figure out how to fix the problems I run into (that is sometimes). I didn't do this over night. I've been a home owner for 20 years. I recommend giving it a try. You can save yourself a lot of money by learning how to be a do-it-yourselfer. I hope you give it a try. Start out small then try something a little harder. I found myself able to do a lot, and enjoyed doing it. I hope you enjoy it too.

Elizabeth Vinje is the owner of Socket Sets and More an online store.

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