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I’ve been chronicling our home improvement process in my own blog. Come check us out sometime!

I love DIY as much as the next person but safety should be your #1 concern

I think this problem actually could have waited until you got back. On the outside of your house should be a main water shutoff valve. My dad always had us turn this off any time we went somewhere for an extended period of time. Just imagine if a leak had occurred while you were gone, you could come home to a flooded house or a very large water bill!

This valve should be closed any time you are doing work on the plumbing too.

Also, when working with electricity, don’t forget that the circuit breakers provide the same kind of protection.

That said, try and at least have a cursory understanding of national, state and local codes. The last thing you want to do is save money yourself and end up doing it wrong. The previous “do it yourself” guy that owned our house seemed to think that ground wires were optional… on kitchen counter outlets. Ouch.

I draw the line at electrical. I’ll install a new ceiling fan or replace a thermostat, but, remember that electricity can be dangerous. I lost an uncle to a home repair electrical accident. To be fair, the electricity didn’t actually kill him; the fall from the ladder did, but my point is the same. Be careful!

But it was well worth it. If you figure hourly wage, it is probably pretty low for how much extra we will get in selling the house. But I figure it is cheap compared to a monthly gym membership or just rotting in front of a TV. We enjoy working on the house. I am currently sanding, pre-staining, staining, and putting on 4 coats of polyurethane on all the upper cabinets, doors, and drawer fronts while he finishes up making lots of cabinet doors and drawers.

In other words, if you work on your own house, you get to know it pretty well. You find all the weaknesses and strengths and can plan better if you want to renovate or expand. Yeah, you might ruin a few shirts and jeans but in the end it’s worth it.

We sometimes laugh about the people that say they are remodeling their house. That usually means they are hiring folks to remodel, not doing the work themselves.

What ever happened to pride of ownership? Getting your hands dirty? And what about learning and passing on life skills such as general carpentry?

I even tackled adding a recessed light over our shower a couple of weeks ago. Using the book I was able to determine what parts to buy and how to install the light safely and to code.

ME TOO!! Not once but twice. The first time it was a bad power cord. The second time it was a power cord that was not COMPLETELY, and I mean COMPLETELY plugged in. On my printer there is a little green light on the cord itself–if that light is not lit, the cord isn’t plugged in. And the computer won’t be able to locate theh printer. I didn’t spend any money, only valuable time.

Not only will it help you realize just how much you’re saving by purchasing parts and doing it yourself, but after not too long, you’ll have a nice sized fund to celebrate with (or pay for a real professional if a job gets too big).

The old man that lived here before us was beyond frugal. He was cheap. He did all of the work himself, no matter what it was, even if he didn’t know what he was doing. That’s one of the reason the house has so many problems. We’ll have contractors come over to work on things beyond our ken (like replacing the electrical panel), and they’re just in awe of how poorly things have been done.

Don’t be like that.

Even if you do things yourself, aim for quality work.

Next time we need a deck board replaced or a light fixture switched out through, we are all over it.

And don’t worry, I think most people in our generation missed that class. But at least a lot of people are smart enough to go back to school!

* When we moved into our current home, the electrical outlets downstairs were in bad shape. The old guy who owned the home before us had wired them himself, and had done a poor job. Many were not grounded. The polarity was reversed at one receptacle (death to computers). Instead of calling in an electrician, I enlisted the help of a friend who had done electrical work in the past. He taught me how to rewire the outlets correctly.

*For years at our old house, we lived with light fixtures we hated. We never bothered to anything about them, though, because we figured it would be too expensive to hire somebody to replace them. It probably would have been. But when it came time to sell the house, I suddenly found the inspiration to replace the fixtures myself. It was easy! Since moving to this house, I’ve replaced three fixtures, and will soon replace a fourth.

* After a heavy rain in January 2006, a windstorm blew one of our trees into the neighbor’s yard. Nothing was damaged, but there was the problem of the tree. I could have paid $200 for somebody to come remove the tree for me, but instead I opted to do it myself. When I realized that using my axe to do the job was going to take days, I purchased a chainsaw. For less money than it would have cost to hire somebody for the job, I was able to do the work myself and now have a chainsaw.

* A toilet in my brother’s house developed a problem: the water ran constantly at a very low level. He went to the phonebook to call a plumber, but before he could dial, he stopped. “Rather than pay somebody else to fix this, I wonder if I could do it myself,” he thought. He opened the tank and saw that a valve seal was loose, and that it was source of the problem. He found a part number for the valve seal, went to the hardware store, picked up a new one, and replaced the old one. This simple fix cost him just $1.69 and half an hour of time.

* At 7 p.m. on the night before we were scheduled to leave for vacation (in August 2004), the hot water faucet gave out on our bathroom sink. The water ran constantly. Obviously, this wasn’t something that could wait until we returned from vacation. I grabbed my trusty Readers Digest Do-It-Yourself Manual, removed the faucet assembly, and took it with me to the hardware store. An employee helped me find a replacement, gave me some advice, and sent me on my way. It took me several frustrating hours to complete the repair, but by midnight, the faucet was working again.

As I say, DIY stuff can give you a great sense of accomplishment even while it’s saving you money.