The Laguna Do It Yourselfers, Doin’ It Wrong

To The Rescue

Is that old saying, “You get what you pay for” really true? In the home remodeling field that can certainly be the case. And when it comes to doing home improvements yourself, folks find that they can quickly get in over their heads, both financially and skill-wise. It can be aggravating, time consuming and just all around costly for these “do-it-youselfers”.

Every time you turn on a television you see a new home improvement show. The cable channels feature such shows as Divine Design, Trading Spaces, This Old House and Sweat Equity that are geared towards helping to show homeowners how to achieve awesome and complex home improvements in just a weekend or two. The show will start with someone starting to pull up some discolored and ancient linoleum flooring, quickly cut to commercial, and a few short moments later a happy couple is admiring some bamboo floor that seemingly installed itself.

These shows tend not to show the mishaps and missteps that many homeowners make along the way. Such was the case with a young couple from Anaheim that we recently had the pleasure of working with. The bought a circa 1950s home that was in a great location (close to Disneyland), but needed a good deal of work to really be a truly enjoyable space. They started with the demolition piece, which they enjoyed a great deal as they made quite the mess. Unfortunately, if the demo is not done in a safe and methodical way then more damage can be caused to the property as this couple quickly found out.

Next these nice folks had real problems with countertop installation. To begin with they mis-measured the space and then they had the misfortune of buying low-cost cabinets from China that were really lacking in the craftsmanship department. This couple got into such a mess with their home improvements that they ended up calling us in desperation. There are some simple projects that the average homeowner can easily accomplish, but not in this case.
We were more than happy to come out and make right everything that had gone so wrong with this project. We do so at a reasonable rate that was pretty close to what it would have cost them should they have contacted us in the very beginning. And if they had done so, they would not have wasted countless weekends suffering through dust and lumber, when they could have been down the street having a churro with good old Mickey Mouse and his crew.

The key is to know what your level of skill is and stick to what you know. At the very least, work in conjunction with a trained home improvement specialist who will tackle the more difficult aspects of a project. And those cheap materials? Simply never a wise purchase.   For the skilled tradesperson, a do it yourself project could save money.  Repairs like replacing a toilet or painting a hall way are right for most people, but when you want peace of mind, interview several and hire a skilled professional.

Looking for a Bathroom Remodeling Project or new Kitchen Cabinets?

Call me, Fred the “OC Home Remodeler” at 714.289.2600