Home Improvements

[hot_pastrami]

If you know someone who knows how to do one of the difficult tasks, enlist their help at first. Provide them dinner in exchange for their knowledge. Once you've done a little bit of the work under their guidance, you can finish it up without them. That makes it inexpensive, you still get the do-it-yourself feel, you're less likely to make mistakes, and you have some useful company while you work.

One problem with just using the book as guidance is when you run into the exceptional situation... when some specific circumstance comes up which the book doesn't cover, it becomes a significant obstacle. If it's carpeting or wallpapering, that's no big deal, you can let it sit while you figure it out. But if it's electrical or plumbing, a small mistake could mean major damage.

Also, compare the savings in labor to the cost in tools and materials... you may not have to pay someone to lay your carpet, but you will need to buy the stretching tools, tackboard, padding, etc. That's in addition to your time.

In my experience, installing a toilet is cake. Installing a standard tub is a pain, but doable. Installing a jetted tub is best left to the pros unless you want to spend a lot of time and have a lot of aggravation. Carpetting is tricky until you get the knack of it, it helps if you've watched somebody do it before. Plumbing is obnoxious, running electrical is just a pain, but not terribly hard. Ceiling fans, light fixtures, etc. are easy.