DIY or hire out, please share!

[Amys1st]

DH and I are bigtime DIYers, cook from scratch, mow your own lawn, take down, put back up, etc.

So it comes as a surprise to some, we hire out somethings.

While remodeling, after we put up drywall, we hire out a contractor to tape and spackle etc. They do a better job, faster smarter etc and we wont kill each other in the process. But if its a smaller job, such as a few feet, a small bathroom, we DIY.

When we had a black top driveway, it was $150 to have a service come and do it. They came, did it and were gone in an hour. Otherwise, DH would buy the stuff ($75), put on clothes he has to throw out, worry about getting the stuff on himself etc. Then spend the rest of the day doing the long driveway we used to have. We hired it out.

I have a produce and dairy delivery each and every week. Comes to the door then put in fridge.

So your turn, what do you hire out and why? Also what do you do yourself and why?

[ASusan]

Who does your dairy delivery? I'm jealous (and I think I'm less than an hour from you...)

We don't hire out yard work or cleaning (although I wish we did), but any level of handy-work beyond a screwdriver and hammer we would hire out.

We bought a new house because DH doesn't like to do that sort of thing.

[Alyantavid]

We don't hire out for much. We did recently have a plumber come and finally get the kitchen drain fixed for good. We'd both spent lots of time replacing things, cleaning things, etc and it still never worked right. At that point, it was well worth the $113 to get it actually fixed.

All appliance repairs dh does himself. We do most home improvements ourselves, yard work, cleaning, cooking, any other repairs, most car repairs/maintenance.

[HeatherAtHome]

We bought a fixer upper and have been here for 4 months now.

I've been putting up drywall, plastering, sanding, painting etc because I have the time to do it and we don't have the money to hire someone. I think we're doing everything ourselves on this house and it makes me so tired just thinking about it. We're researching siding to see if we're capable. My Dad and brother have both put up siding and they said they'd help. My BIL is an electrician so he did some wiring for us.

We put in a whole bathroom by ourselves (from scratch!) because we figured we could manage. And, surprisingly we did. DH had help from his brother putting in the ABS/drainage pipes but DH and I did the tub, toilet, sink... I converted a dresser from the thrift shop to use for vanity. We didn't feel confident doing tile work so went with linoleum flooring and solid white plastic tub surround. Tile would have been *way* to cold in this house anyways.

DH also ran completely new plumbing from where it enters the house to where it exits to septic, including new hot water heater (BIL hooked up electrical). He did a good job but we went without water for a long time. I almost would have preferred hiring someone to do it but DH wanted to do it and said we couldn't afford to hire someone.

In general, I love looking at our home and saying "Wow, we did this ourselves!!!" It's nice. But doing the research, trying to become an expert on *every* subject, wondering if you're doing it right, finding the time and energy to do it all.... God I'm so tired.

We don't touch the car at all because we both hate it.

General yard work and upkeep we'll do ourselves. I see it as a way to get to know your house and property and to really create a bond with your home. (I know, sounds corny)

[Ruthiegirl]

I change my own oil, spark plugs, battery, air filter, but don't have much experience beyond that. Timing belt? I paid someone to do that.

I can repair our old, plaster walls, remove wall paper, paint, do minor plumbing (replaced a sink and toilet recently), but need help with installing a shut-off valve to another sink. I'll pay someone to install the valve and then I can handle replacing the sink. Both of our bathrooms sinks have cracked in the past year.

And our roof needs to be replaced -- definitely a job to hire out.

I am the handy one in our house. Dh has very little desire or interest in home repair.

[EFmom]

We hire out almost nothing.

We had somebody put on a new roof and if the gas needs messing with, we pay somebody to do that. We lived down the street from a house that blew up after having a new gas hot water tank installed, and in that case you'd want somebody to sue.

Dh has put in two new bathrooms and completely renovated the kitchen. He paid a gas guy to move the line a couple of feet in the kitchen, but otherwise did it all himself. He's done new windows, siding, hardwood flooring, and plumbing.

Honestly, I wish I could talk him into hiring out a little more. He does beautiful work but he does it on a geologic time scale. He's a teacher and does some of it during the summers, but there are more projects that need doing than he'll ever have time for.

I think it's a masculinity thing for him, though. Not sure where that comes from because his father couldn't find the business end of a hammer. We have one more bathroom to renovate, and I'm trying to talk him into paying someone to put in a new tub and vanity, and having dh do the rest. That way, it would get done in less than a year.

[sweetcheeks]

We pretty much DIY almost everything. All the remodeling we've done on our house (and there's been a lot, with more to come!), we've done ourselves. We love doing those kind of things and I love being able to tell people who come to our house and compliment us on it, "Thanks! We did it ourselves!" The only things we hire out are major plumbing and some work on the van (DH does most routine maintenance and some smaller repairs himself).

We are hopefully redoing our basement this summer and I think we will go ahead and splurge to have an interior designer design the space for us. I'm confident in my decorating skills but to take a bare space and put in 2 bedrooms, a bath, utility room, family room and storage? I'll leave that to someone who does that for a living!

[honeybunmom]

We've been working on a complete gut/rehab. We've hired out electrical, plumbing, woodworking (arched windows, cabinets, staircases, bannisters and newel post and laying of hardwood floor) and having the granite counter tops installed. Dh and our handyman installed the spindles.

Dh has done some drywalling, laying hardwood floor in a small space, made a shelving unit for the coat closet, installed the gas stove after having someone else connect the gas line. He also does the painting and has been cutting and installing the trim. Looks very nice around the base of the island. He has hung all of the doors and facings on the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen. He put the finish on the new hardwood floor. We hired out sanding and finishing the original (100+ year old) flooring that we did not replace. We also hire out roof repair (there have been some leaks). Oh, he also did a fantastic job on putting a finish on the concrete floor in the laundry area.

Dh sometimes gets a friend with a van to haul garbage rather than purchasing a dumpster.

He wants to build the closet unit for the master bedroom. Well, I just got my bonus and have been dressing out of boxes since October. He is at home with the baby and pre-schooler . . . which is why his progress has slowed significantly. It's worth it to me to spend $1800 to have a closet I can function in before October 2010.

I should also add that dh found the house himself by knocking on doors. So, we didn't pay a realtor!

ETA: I did hire someone to help choose colors for the house. I'm no good at that.

[SunshineJ]

Our old house was a fixer-upper. Basically the litmus test for us was a comparison of time vs cost (with a consideration of skills as well!). For example, our old fridge burned out the thermostat. To have it replaced was estimated at around $150. Granted that's a LOT cheaper than a new fridge, but the part was under $5 online and it took DH about 30 min. On the otherhand, when the a/c stopped working, we knew NOTHING about that and would have probably replaced it to the tune of several thousand dollars we didn't have. Instead a service call, a replaced motor and $500 had it back up and running. When we were remodelling and had a TON of junk accumulated that needed to go to the dump we could have done it ourselves. We would have had to borrow a truck, it would have taken literally all day to load and reload and reload, and it would have cost us I think somewhere between $25 and $40 per load. Instead we hired it out, it was a flat fee of around $250, and it was done and not our problem in under 2 hrs! If it's something that a professional can knock out in a couple hours but will take us a couple weeks, we'll hire it out if it's financially feasible at all. The one thing we will NOT touch whatsoever is anything to do with natural gas. If you screw up on electric, you get sparks and a fire, if you mess up with gas it goes boom! (My personal bias on that one here! Natural gas scares me, always have - even though I worked for the gas company for 2 years!)

[Thalia]

We hire out much much more than we DIY. Both DH and I work out of the home full time, and he especially has a very challenging job that requires a lot of over-time. So our time together and with our daughter is very precious to us.

I'm a good cook and gardener, but neither of us learned much about car maintenance or home repair from our parents. There are a lot of projects we would both enjoy doing if we had more time to learn and practice, but when we have to squeeze it into a few hours here and there, and those hours are the ones we need to talk without any distractions, well, then it gets pretty stressful. Usually we decide that it's better to give someone else the income and dedicate that time to our family. We're very fortunate that our jobs pay well enough that we can do this without stressing our finances.

It think DIY is a great way to go and certainly the most frugal. It's just not something that works for us at the moment.

[JamieCatheryn]

What we do ourselves:
Mow the lawn, all yard stuff ourselves
Cook from scratch
Made baby shoes
Many of the kids' toys
Shop ourselves
Laundry
Make soap
My haircuts and DS's
I patch drywall myself
DH unclogs the drains himself with an auger
I paint the walls
Build any needed furniture we can
We fixed the gutters when they detached in a storm
We laid the flooring but I regret that
We ran wiring, replaced outlets, and installed new ceiling lights after having someone teach us
We're about to build a new driveway gate

Hired out/will hire out:
Roofing
Siding
Driveway replacement
Window replacement
Serious plumbing stuff
A/C and Heater stuff
Flooring next time
Oil changes and car repairs
DH's haircuts

[*bejeweled*]

We do most things ourselves and spend very little money.

However, we have a cleaning lady come each and every Friday. Her service is worth each and every penny.

[hillymum]

Dh doesn't have the patience to do DIY and I am learning. I've taught myself how to tile, regrout, paint and do small jobs involving the drill. I've pulled up carpet and done plaster work on drywalls. I can handle minor plumbing issues like putting a new wax seal on a toilet and replacing plug workings on a sink. Dh changes light fittings and does really minor electrical work.We have someone mow the lawn as it's so large. I do the rest of the garden work though. Everything else gets hired out.

[earthmama369]

Basic wiring, leaky pipes, painting, regrouting the shower tile, things like that we can handle. I'll change a bulb or a wiper blade on my car.

Burst pipes, a seriously broken washing machine, the furnace -- the big jobs we'll hire out for. We weigh our own knowledge base (including what we can teach ourselves on the spot), the cost of doing the repair ourselves vs. hiring out, and the time involved. Sometimes it would take us 5 hours to do something a professional could do in 1 hour, and that's time we both could be working and getting paid. In that case, unless it's a repair that's likely to come up with some frequency, it's probably cheaper to go with a professional.

I also take my van to the garage for basic maintenance. I know how to change my own oil, but I don't know enough about brake lines, transmissions, and all that good stuff to check it while I'm changing the oil. Since my van is 19 years old and still in good running shape, it's worth it to pay $18 every 3 months or so for a full check-up by a licensed mechanic.

[Shahbazin]

Before Kids, we usually did most stuff ourselves; that is, I did most of it, DH did stuff occasionally - we were both working full time then. He's capable, but hates doing things, wants his time off work to be "his time" & takes forever to get to things. DH is still the same, & I'm now a SAHM riding herd on a 2 1/2 yr old & a 3 1/2 year old - there is no way I can do anything with paint, plaster or power tools with them underfoot; so, while I would like to do more stuff ourselves, it's faster & less stress just hiring it out. We're currently in a "fixer upper", & having most of the roof replaced, & a new room added onto the house. The bathrooms have already been redone (major rot & leakage problems), & the kitchen floor repair/replacement is next on the agenda. DH does do the mowing & minor drain or faucet repairs, I do gardening (& managed to get him to watch the kids a few afternoons while I built a chicken pen), family haircuts, cooking, cleaning, laundry, & plan to do some painting on the new project (after the kids are asleep).

[ArtsyMomma]

DP and I both DIY everything, except car maintenance. We are both handy, and enjoy fixing things. We are considering buying a real fixer-upper right now. It helps that my dad owns a home construction business though! Anything I can't figure out/do on my own, my dad helps with! For example, this home would need a brand new kitchen and bathroom to be livable - he would do all of that work for me - well, I'd be expected to help of course.

[StrawberryFields]

We do almost everything ourselves except we hired out for the following:

When we purchased carpet we did the removal of the old and paid for them to install the new
When we purchased hardwood we removed the carpet and paid for them to install the wood
When we demolished and rebuilt our garage we paid for contractors to break out and replace the concrete slab

Other than that we have either done all our own renovations & car repairs, or asked a knowledgeable friend come and help. Like when we had a gas leak dh's cousin came over and they fixed it together.

We really try to do nearly everything ourselves first because we just don't have a lot of money to have someone else do it!

[Sarah W]

We just moved. We're planning on hiring out for:

Fence-We already hired out, waiting for it to be built
Hardwood flooring-Just one room and I don't want to mess with it. We will remove the carpet ourselves.
Cleaning person-We're waiting until we get moved in
Paint for the entire house-When we built it was a free option, plus we paid to have them do an accent wall and DD's room.

Still debating about:
Painting-Formal dining room
Sod in the back yard

We plan on finishing the garage ourselves

[Monarchgrrl]

It's not technically us hiring out, but we have a landscaping/lawn service come every week. It was included in the price of the house we rent. If it wasn't, we'd either have a completely dead yard/flower garden or we'd hire out for that. Neither of us do outside plants well.

All car maintenence.

I used to pay a laundry service to wash and fold my clothes before we lived somewhere that had a washer/dryer.

Sometimes we get grocery delivery if we feel like being super lazy one week. But it's been months since we did that.

The one thing I love about renting is that the landlords have to pay for fixing stuff, not us. DW did put up a kitchen/laundry room door by herself once.

I cut DW's hair myself.

[zinemama]

Gutter cleaning. It is well worth the $137 I just paid to have the gutter guys with their high ladders traipsing all over my roof - as opposed to me holding the ladder and calculating my widows Social Security benefits while dh does the job.