There is so much useful knowledge out there on the internet for homeowners. With the Do-It-Yourself movement having grown so much in the past decade, it seems like everything is more cheaply done at home. While most of the time that sentiment holds true, there are some exceptions.
When it comes to DIY, there are many projects that may be too unreliable when made by a novice. Expert skill can make certain things work that normally wouldn’t, and not everybody has that level of skill. Just the same, some home projects require more advanced tools that you may not have lying around. This leads to a substantial investment on things that may lay useless most of the time. For these, and many other reasons, these 3 things are what we would call “expensive DIY”.
Beer
Home brewing is a wonderful hobby, and it is full of learning experiences. While it makes for a fun and exciting new activity, beer is much cheaper to buy at the store. With all of the tools, equipment, and ingredients you will need to purchase, it isn’t common for beer to become a “frugal” DIY project.
Big corporate breweries and microbreweries both benefit from the scale at which they are able to produce beer. You don’t have this benefit, and so your ingredient costs will be much higher compared to the product you return. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t brew beer– I think you should try it if you want! This is just saying that if you expect it to save you money, you may be unpleasantly surprised.
Select “Scratch” Foods
Making things like bread, pasta noodles, pasta sauce, and nut butters from scratch is a pretty expensive endeavor. Especially considering these items tend not to cost very much, making them on your own isn’t a good idea if the goal is to cut costs. Just like with the above reference, expensive DIY isn’t always bad, just don’t expect it to save you money.
Structural Housing Repair
When it comes to keeping your home safe, repairs like these are best left to the experts. If you’re a contractor, or have another source of expertise, this one may be negotiable. For the rest of us, however, trying to take care of structural issues ourselves can lead to an entirely different mess.
First, let’s talk the finances. If you do these things incorrectly, and nothing goes wrong until you sell, you could end up in a sticky situation during inspections. Having a buyer of your home find out that the property isn’t up to code can lead to them being able to pull out– and take their deposit with them! This can waste vital time and money when it matters most. In addition, if the buyer does stick around, you are stuck in a pretty tough negotiating position. They may try to shoehorn you into lowering their price, leveraging your time and their deposit against you. Even if they are kind, you still may have to pay more for emergency repairs to make sure you make your closing deadline.
Then there is the safety question. You wouldn’t buy a house built by a novice, so you shouldn’t be okay living in a house repaired by one. There are a few things that you never want to risk to save a buck, and safety is one of them. Your family, houseguests, and beloved pets will all be happier and better protected in an expertly repaired home. Expensive DIY is not the move here.
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