Check Yourself Before You Wreck Your House

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home tools hanging on shelf

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We all love a project. It is our chance to feel useful and take control of a situation and, let’s not kid ourselves too much, it is our chance to save some dollar bills too. It doesn’t matter what your reasons for undertaking a project are – whether it is trying to increase the value of your home, make it more eco-friendly or more suited to your needs – we all get caught by the home improvement bug at some stage or another.

Most of the time this is because we’ve watched too many episodes of home makeover shows, or been staring at Pinterest for too many hours or because we’ve been bed bound with the flu for a week and need to feel like we are still able to do something when we feel better.

Whatever it is, though, before you get too carried away it is always important to check yourself first. Seriously. You gotta check yourself before you wreck your house. The reason for this is simple: most home improvements end up costing you more money than if you were to get a professional in to do it. What’s more, those who botch their home improvement projects actually end up decreasing the value of their home, which is because most buyers start to panic that you’ve maybe botched other things too, more important things, like the foundations.

Then there is the matter of building permits, insurance coverage, complex processes and confusing methods for those that haven’t been properly initiated into the convoluted world of building. Basically, DIY projects aren’t as easy or as helpful as you may have once imagined them to be #sorry.

Don’t get us wrong, there are some things you can do, beginner projects like painting the walls and sanding the floorboards, but there are other things that are distinctly no go areas, things that only experienced and qualified professionals should do.

home electrical wires on wal;l

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Electric Avenue

As a golden rule, anything that is even remotely electrical should be left alone. Wires, cables, circuit boards, voltages; anything like that needs to be left to an electrician; a proper electrician. This isn’t just because wires and stuff like that are immensely complicated things to understand for those who haven’t been trained but also because they are immensely dangerous. It’s hard to stress this point enough. Best case scenario is you fry the appliance or make a connection faulty or stop that socket from working. That is the best case. The worst case scenario leans more toward fatality because electrical shocks and electrical fires are not to be taken lightly. Over 4000 injuries are reported on this front every year, don’t be one of them. Yeah, it may be tempting to fix your ceiling fan yourself, but don’t. It may be tempting to remove that socket from the wall and see what the problem is yourself but don’t. It just isn’t worth it. Trust us.

home sky light window open

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Raise The Roof

Oh, this is a seriously popular Do It Yourself project for all homeowners that want to save themselves a little bit of ye olde cash. Replacing a few tiles, looking at the guttering, trying to locate a leak; all of these are too tempting for some to resist. But when you’re working on a roof, there is the potential for it to get very badly. One slippery tile and your problems just got a lot worse. Don’t believe us? What about if we told you that 35% of all construction related deaths are due to builders falling off roofs. Exactly. It isn’t worth it. Especially when it is so simple to call a professional in. As the professionals at https://wildwoodroof.com/residential-roof-repair/ explain, running the risk of personal injury isn’t the only thing you should worry about either because a shoddy job will look terrible. Let’s say you do go it alone, though, and then try and sell your home. This is what is going to happen; a buyer is going to pull up outside, get out of their car and the first thing is going to see is your uneven tiling. Then they are going to get back into their car and wheelspin their way out of there pronto.

water valve and wheel adjustments

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Down The Drain

This one is kind of similar to the whole electrical argument, except any harm was done will be done to your home and not to you. Don’t get us wrong, you can go ahead and unblock a drain on your own, tighten a tap or fix a leaking faucet; they’re fine and harmless. Anything more, though, and it’s exactly as http://epservicesdfw.com/why-you-shouldnt-try-and-fix-a-plumbing-problem-yourself/ says, you really need to call the Ghostbusters (read: plumbers). Sewage tanks, heaters, toilets, baths, showers, piping of any kind; if it isn’t done properly then you’re running the risk of having a very costly problem on your hand. Why? Well, the thing with plumbing and pipes is, it tends to insinuate water, and water can cause pretty big problems to a person’s life #flooding. So for the sake of $100 bucks, doesn’t it just make sense that you save yourself thousands. That was rhetorical.

homes apartments in sky

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Structure Is No Go

This could have easily been put at the top of the list because anything involving structural changes could bring down the house, literally. So if you are thinking about home improvements or renovations where the structure is on the cards, you need to bring in a licensed contractor. It doesn’t matter what it is, you need a professional. Knocking out a wall without having a support to take the weight could see your house start to cave in. It could see tens of thousands of bucks worth of damage start to accumulate and it will see you curse to the high heavens that you didn’t listen to us. On the other hand, if you’re thinking that you can get away with building a decked garden house outside, or a gazebo of some sort, because, well, you have no structural worries to consider, it is important o note you could still land a hefty fine. It is just so much easier to call a professional in. So much easier.

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