We've done oodles of our own home repairs and we've contracted out certain home repairs. We weigh it out carefully, asking questions of ourselves first, such as: How important is this to us? Why? What ELSE has to be done before or after this task/project? Are we prepared for those other tasks/projects? What are the skills required for this/these project(s)? Do we have these skills? Can we learn them on-the-job without compromising our health or the overall project or our house? If not, do we know someone who does? If yes, is that person willing to consult with us before or during the work? What tools or equipment is required? Do we have it? Can we borrow it? How much does it cost to buy it used or new? What substitutions are acceptable? How long will it take us versus a professional? Is it worth the price difference? And so on....
In most cases, we figure out how to do it on our own utilizing resources we have access to such as friends and family and neighbors. We contract out certain parts of jobs when the skill or equipment or risk is greater than we have or want. For example, we hired someone to scrape our popcorn ceilings due to the risk to my health (asthma) and time. That person also re-textured our ceilings by hand (we did not posses this skill and did not wish to learn it). He did the scraping in one day and the re-texturing in a second day. He came back for 1-2 hours for some closets on a third day. He charged $1/sq ft of ceiling ($1200) and it was worth every single penny! He did a great job and was professional and thorough. (We had a recommendation from a very "picky" neighbor and had talked to many other homeowners in our neighborhood.) It would have taken us a LOT longer to do the job and we didn't posses the texturing skill, so we would have had to rent a hopper and that was not the look we wanted. We also have a two-story ceiling in one area. He had the right ladder for the job. We do not. Anyway, we then did the caulking and painting of all our ceilings. WHEW! That was a lot of work, but it did not require any special equipment. We borrowed or purchased (low cost) whatever we needed. I knew how to paint already and DH learned on-the-job. Flat white ceiling paint is fairly easy. Caulking had it's trial and error moments. LOL We managed with our young child. We tried borrowing a taller ladder for the two-story ceiling, but no one had one so we left it un-caulked and unpainted for the time being.
A year or two later, we had to vacate our home due to termite damage and tenting (it was beyond non-fumigation remedies) beyond our control. (We live in a HOA.) I didn't feel comfortable with the customary 3-day return timeframe. In my research on ways to keep us out of the house for longer, I hit upon getting the whole house painted. We had to move a lot of stuff out anyway for the tenting (I moved all soft goods and pictures and artwork after researching in addition to the regular stuff), so it would only be a proportionately small additional amount more to move. We were staying with my dad who lives in the same HOA. His place had been done three months prior. I got quotes from three places (all recommended by neighbors) and chose the middle price. The lowest price guy just didn't feel right and the timing wasn't working as well as I wanted. When I got the quotes, I asked for three scenarios: 1) Just the two-story ceiling (one space we couldn't reach from the above project) and rooms affected by that high ceiling (walls lead into each other); 2) The entire downstairs (includes the two-story zones plus all public spaces to give me a headstart on the overall project); and 3) The whole house (at first, just for comparison purposes). When all was said and done, it was more efficient and cost-effective to have professionals paint the entire house (all doors, trim, banister, bathroom cabinets, the one ceiling, and all walls) because they charged so much more for those challenging areas than the easy work. Plus, they have all the equipment and supplies already. We would have to rent special equipment due to the staircase and walls in our two-story foyer and living room. Also, I did not have health insurance at the time (was un-insurable; not from lack of trying but rather stupid insurance rules), so DH would have been doing the ladder work and, frankly, I am the more skilled painter by leaps and bounds. I advised the painters of the tenting and we reached a great painting schedule arrangement. I chose all the paint (mid-grade from reputable paint store; not big box) and it was included, so I got all the leftovers which have come in mighty handy!!! The painters did an excellent job and were courteous and professional and the cost surprised us. It was far lower than we expected for our entire house (except 90% of the ceilings) and not one penny more was expected at any point. That is probably the only project that has been exactly as advertised! LOL I have used them again to repaint our powder room because the color I chose was just not right and we were having houseguests and a major party (timing is everything). It is a tiny room and cost $40 and that was so incredibly worth it! (It has a custom archway we put in with a light color on one side and a deep color on the other side combined with heavily textured walls equals a royal pita to paint under stress.) Yet, after a major flood two years ago, I painted the living room ceiling all by myself -- twice! And I have touched up every room and painted outside areas (HOA territory, technically, but easier to just do it myself), so it really depends.