5 Home Repairs You Should Do Yourself & When To Hire A Pro

Owning a house is a dream for countless people. Once you own one, however, the practicalities of it set in. You’ll need to do a lot of maintenance and actually take care of your home. You can do many of these home repairs yourself, saving you a lot of money.

On the other hand, you’ll need to hire a professional for quite a few things. Figuring out which home repairs you should DIY and which ones you shouldn’t can be confusing. There are more than a few that can be easily categorized into one or the other.

While nobody wants any issues to come up, it’s best to be prepared in case they do. As a homeowner, it’s your responsibility. It doesn’t need to be stressful to figure this out, however.

When You Should Hire A Professional

Many home repairs start off as DIY projects if you catch them early enough. It’s often after not being addressed early or being fixed poorly that they turn into something you need to hire a professional for. That’s why it’s often recommended you address any issues as early as possible.

The longer you leave it, the larger it’ll be. Once that happens, you’ll have no option but to hire a professional. The same can be said for any home repairs outside of your skillset. If you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s best to hire a professional. You could end up making the problem worse if you do it yourself.

Knowing which ones you should hire a professional for is vital, with there being more than a few home repairs to hire a professional for, including:

• AC Repair
• Kitchen Remodeling
• Electrical Work
• Plumbing Issues
• Foundation Repairs

Hiring a professional to carry out any work shouldn’t be too difficult. It could be as simple as Googling ‘water heater repair near me’ and narrowing down options based on customer reviews. After that, you can rest assured the work will be done well.

Knowing which repairs you can DIY is vital to this, as it could mean dealing with the issue before it gets out of hand. There are more than a few of these you can do.

Home Repairs You Should Do Yourself: 5 Top Options

1. Unclogging A Toilet

No matter what you do, it’s likely you’ll need to fix a clogged toilet at some point or another. This can be stressful because of the urgency involved in it. Fixing this isn’t too difficult, however, as it could be as simple as something backing everything up.

If that’s the case, you could simply need to flush the item out. A plunger is useful with this. Alternatively, you can wait until the water pressure gets to the point where it forces the item through your pipes.

2. Dealing With Doors

Doors receive surprisingly little attention considering how many of them you’ll have around your home. You mightn’t pay attention to them unless they break or there’s something wrong with the locks. They’ll need more maintenance than you’d think, however.

The hinges and similar areas put up with a lot of wear and tear every day since you’ll be opening and closing them constantly. Then there are your external doors, which will have to put up with the elements.

If you see any splits, cracks, or similar issues, you could need to plane your door. As long as you have the right tools, this is easy. Replacing hinges and similar elements also doesn’t take much time.

You should also pay particular attention to the locks of your door, as the locks protect your home. There will be unfortunate instances where your keys might get stuck or you forget them somewhere, leaving you stranded outside.

One option you have is to call a professional locksmith to come and fix the broken lock or door knob, but that would take up a lot of time. That is even if a locksmith is available to help you. If you ever find yourself in this situation, it’s always better to have lockpicking tools on hand so that you can just fix the problem yourself.

3. Repairing Water Faucets

Your water faucets can be less durable than you’d think. These wear down much faster than you’d think from typical wear and tear, making them in need of maintenance. One of the more notable home repairs you can DIY is repairing a leaky faucet, which could involve surprisingly little work.

Replacing the seal on the faucet may be all you’d need to do, which should only take a few minutes. If you’re sick and tired of a dripping faucet, then it’s worth getting this out of the way early. All you’ll need to do is visit the store and replace the seal.

4. Prepping For Paint

Everyone knows that painting your home is an easy home improvement to do. That’ll only be the case if the walls are flat and undamaged, which isn’t always the case. You could find holes and dents in the walls around your home.

Fixing these is much easier than you’d think, especially if it’s drywall. Spending a few minutes patching these up is an effective way of preparing for your new paint job. Remember to leave this dry for a while before you start paying.

A little sanding down may be needed, but the whole process shouldn’t take too long to get done. You’ll transform your room’s appearance in no time.

5. Applying Caulk

Caulk is the stuff found between your tiles and the bathtub, sink, toilet, and similar items. It creates a barrier that protects floors and walls from water and moisture damage. Since it glues itself into place, it’s an easy and effective way of protecting your home.

It comes apart over time, however, leaving your walls and floors increasingly less protected. Removing the caulk that’s breaking down and applying another layer is recommended every so often. How often you’ll need to do this depends on your particular home.

Make sure to check the caulk regularly. Once it starts breaking down, apply some new caulk. Doing this is easy and shouldn’t take longer than an afternoon.

Home Repairs You Should Do Yourself: Wrapping Up

While there are many home repairs you can do yourself, countless others need to be handled by a professional. Doing so makes sure the work is carried out safely and to a high standard. With how complicated – and potentially life-threatening – certain repairs can be, you’ll need to know what’s what.

As a responsible homeowner, there’s no reason not to know the difference between home repairs you can and can’t do yourself. Remember to focus on safety, regardless of what you do.