Let’s face it — owning a home is expensive. Beyond your monthly mortgage and utility bills, you have property taxes and other costs during the time of owning your home. As more and more homeowners spend more on home improvement projects, it’s important to determine whether or not you’ll be hiring a contractor or DIYing the projects yourself. While DIYing home improvement projects might appear to save you money, there’s still tremendous value in hiring a professional to handle it for you. Here’s why!
Professionals Are Knowledgeable
They’re called professionals for a reason. Professionals often train for years before tackling projects on their own. Many have apprenticed with other trained professionals for a while before starting their own businesses or receiving the title of “master.” Some professions even require certifications, such as electrical, plumbing and HVAC. For many of these professionals, the education they receive is what helps them do their job. DIYing the jobs they do says that you don’t think their job is difficult. Even if you buy the bathroom cabinets yourself, having a professional install them for you gives you the opportunity to show that you understand and respect all the training they’ve gone through.
Professionals Have a Network
One of the many benefits of hiring a contractor versus doing the renovations yourself is that you receive a network of professionals who are more than qualified to do the job for you. Plus, that network typically includes individuals who get great deals from manufacturers. Some companies provide discounts to professionals who are purchasing the items for your project, whereas you’d have to pay retail price (or even extra!) if you were buying all the items yourself. Of course, that doesn’t mean you don’t get to choose the items that are going into your space. In fact, you will typically get to go with your contractor to pick out different items! From flooring to paint to countertops, a good contractor will let you choose the options you want — all within your budget, of course!
Professionals Can Save You Money
Obviously, money is a huge part of every home renovation. They call it a budget for a reason! Hiring professionals for your renovations will ensure that you stick to your budget. They will tell you where you can easily make adjustments to your design plans to stick within your budget, or they will have the difficult conversation about needing to fix a structural issue before proceeding with any other tasks. The professionals typically also have partnerships or discount opportunities with manufacturers that can save you on costs, too, especially if you’ve run into a structural snag that significantly altered your overall budget. A good contractor will show you options that are within your budget, such as quality cabinets for your kitchen or bathroom! They know which manufacturers provide the items you’re most looking for, such as drywall, flooring or even decor! With their expertise, you will actually save on a variety of items, so your total costs would most likely even out compared to what you’d spend without a contractor and buying all the items yourself.
Professionals Mean Your Friends Will Stay Your Friends
Know the old adage, “Never mix business with pleasure”? Well, that’s true for everything — especially with home renovations. This is twofold. First, hiring your friends to do a job for you can turn sour quickly. Many people find that working with a friend makes for a difficult experience. Some friends aren’t as professional when they know who they’re working for, and others don’t work in the same way you do. Second, hiring your friends can end up costing you more money in the long run. Say you paid a friend to install new floors for you. But, they installed them incorrectly or didn’t finish the job. Then, you have to hire a professional to come in and lay your floors down, but the professional has to take up what your friend did and lay the flooring again. So, not only did you have to pay your friend and the professional, but you also had to pay the professional extra for redoing someone else’s work. By hiring a professional from the outset, you can save your friendships and instead invite them over to enjoy when it’s finished.
Professionals Have Standards
Not to say that you don’t have standards, but someone isn’t checking behind you and what work you’ve done (that is, until you go to sell your home). Because many professionals have to be certified in particular trades, that also means they have larger groups governing certain standards in their field. Whether it’s a local contracting board or a state level agency, professionals have certain standards they must meet with every project. Reviews and complaints are serious business, and too many complaints can cause a professional to lose their license, pay fines or even pay back clients for the work that has or hasn’t been done. Working with a professional rather than DIYing ensures that you will receive higher standards than if you did it yourself following a video tutorial.
Professionals Get the Job Done
No matter the circumstances, professionals will get the job done. No procrastination, no breaks to watch the football game — only in dire circumstances will contractors and their teams not show up and delay their work. Many contractors continue to work even when it’s raining! They simply close up open walls as much as possible (typically with tarp) and get to work. This is important because, as a homeowner, you need to have a team of people who will take your requests and timeline seriously. A good professional requires a contract, and that contract should outline different scenarios for inclement weather or alternative work schedules based on unforeseen circumstances. As a homeowner, you should see this as a great sign! It means your contractor is a quality professional who takes their work seriously. You’ll easily find that you much prefer having a professional around than doing all the work yourself.
