Home Projects: Do you pay to get them done or does your DH/SO do them?

[Kitty 34]

This is the biggest disagreement my DH and I ever get into.........he would rather do all home projects on his own......I would rather PAY some else to do them.

DH is very good at fixing certain little things but when it comes to "major" home repairs I would so rather have a pro come in and do it. I know it costs extra but I think it would save a lot of headaches in our relationship.......especially when he gets frustrated and accidently wrecks other things in the process of fixing others!

Thanks for letting me vent ! My DH has been trying to glue up paneling in our kicthen for the last week........bracing it for 24 hours is a killer!!!

 

[KarenC]

My DH is completely qualified to handle most home repair projects we require, but for the most part we hire someone to do them. I keep saying to him, honey, why do you think I married an engineer? But he contends that free time is worth something!

 

[HollyJoy]

It depends on what it is. Just recently we redid our powder room and foyer. We've replaced the floor in both areas, put in a new toilet and sink, and took down all the wallpaper and painted. ! We did it all ourselves!

 

[meeshi]

DH is extremely handy. He retiled the kitchen floor, put in new countertops and backsplash, turned a large walk-in closet into a bathroom, resided the house, added a deck to the back of the house. He's very "frugal" (ok, cheap) also, so there's no way he would pay someone to do something he could do himself.

 

[lulu71]

Originally posted by KarenC
My DH is completely qualified to handle most home repair projects we require, but for the most part we hire someone to do them. I keep saying to him, honey, why do you think I married an engineer? But he contends that free time is worth something!

Oh Karen, be careful what you wish for! I too am married to an engineer, but mine insists on doing all the projects himself. The problem is that as an engineer, everything must be perfect and planned to the most minute detail. The last straw for our most recent two-weekend project (started Memorial Day weekend, by the way, and still nowhere near finished) is when I found the charts and color-coded graphs he concocted detailing the right mixture for drywall compound (spackle?) when IT'S THERE RIGHT ON THE BAG!!! UGGH!

 

[rcyannacci]

DH and I try to do home repairs/remodeling together- it's fun and you feel a real sense of accomplishment. We just re-did our bathroom (installed a lighting fixture yesterday),and I love the way it looks. We found some great Mexican tile our last trip to San Antonio and made a large frame for the mirror. I painted and made a new shower curtain, DH did the carpentry, etc.

 

[KarenC]

Originally posted by lulu71
Oh Karen, be careful what you wish for! I too am married to an engineer, but mine insists on doing all the projects himself. The problem is that as an engineer, everything must be perfect and planned to the most minute detail.

I know what you mean, but I figure free labor should be the perk I get for having to write down all of the mileage statistics every time I buy gas for the car!

DH has excel spreadsheets for all the cars--give me a minute and I could tell you exactly how many gallons of gas we've purchased and our mileage for cars we don't even have anymore!

 

[RUDisney]

My DH has no patience. I, OTOH, have gobs when it comes to home repair and I've always liked doing construction type jobs around the house. When I do one of these projects, he usually hangs out with me to hold things or get me a drink.

I've built walls, insulated, painted the entire house, landscaped, and put up wainscotting, to name a few. My DH is not allowed to so much as utter the words "caulk" or "spackle" in my presence.

Now, as time has gone on and the kids are getting older and taking up more time, I'm more than willing to hire people to do the work for me. Luckily, DH has a lot of contractor friends that he feeds lots of jobs to, so we get great deals on all of the labor.

That being said, my next project will be to put up Venetian plaster in our master bath.

My DH is very lucky to have me and would admit that he needs me far more than I need him.

 

[msdznyduck]

I pay someone, after DH has done the work

We still have not gotten the drywall up downstairs in our family room. We had some major leaks in the main wall that runs through the middle of the house, and had to have a plumber come in and repair the pipes. Unfortunately, it also required walls coming down. Instead of paying someone, and having it done by now........."I'll do it myself, ...we can save money that way". (This was APRIL........it is now halfway through August!!)
We also need work in both upstairs bathrooms, since the plumber had to put holes through the tile, and drywall to fix the leaks. We will be hiring someone to do that work.!! I am not going to go much longer....vacation is next week, but when we are back, I need to start looking. I have tile picked out, and a new tub, vanity,sink in the hall and a new shower, vanity and sink in our bathroom.I just have to find someone (FAST, before he decides to start work, LOL) and get things rolling.

 

[decker96]

Depends what it is -- painting, wallpapering, putting up new light fixtures or ceiling fans and outside stuff he has no problem with. DH and my dad did install a vanity and new sink in our bathroom once. It took them 6 hours, 4 trips to the hardware store and alot of sweating and swearing to do it. He says he'll never do that again. Big major jobs we definitely hire someone, although he always says first that he'll do it himself. Case in point, our basement is unfinished and when we first bought our house 2 years ago "we" were going to finish it off ourselves with the exception of the electrical. Then it became, well we'll have someone do the bathroom and put up the studs, but we'll drywall, paint, etc, now we're having someone do it all, even all the painting!

 

[hercamore]

Well,

I am married to an engineer also and he has the same traits as Karens and lulu's husbands!

Dh won't hired anyone to do a home repair unless its a major, major one like roofing.

He even put new siding on garage one summer.

Karen, I hear ya aobut mileage. I can tell ya 26 years back what gas prices wereLOL.

decker96, Decker is my maiden name!

Kitty, at leas tthe weather is cool for home repairs! Good luck.

 

[Kitty 34]

Originally posted by hercamore


Dh won't hired anyone to do a home repair unless its a major, major one like roofing.



My DH did our roof a few years ago.......I won't even begin to tell you about the leak we had after a horrid rainstorm!!! To give you an idea; we could've held the Olympic swimming events in the living room!!!!

 

[hercamore]

OMG, how di dyou handle that little problem?


herc.

 

[KarenB]

When we finally bought our house, I thought that "WE" would do all of these things. We have managed to do the small things, like painting, but since we are both working full time and many hours at our jobs AND two busy teenagers, we are very happy to have someone do the work. So far it has only been a new front porch, screened in back porch, new walkway, and new fence.......but it looks great!

 

[sweet angel]

Oh boy is this a sore spot!

Feb '03, started to remodel the kitchen. Put up wainscotting, stripped and refinished the cabinets, new countertop, tile backsplash. Still waiting for the cabinet doors to be done (my job because SO says, "I don't know how to do that), and new floor to be installed.

Feb '04, gutted my only bathroom. SO "hired" a friend to help with the work. We spent a week before the friend was coming gutting the bathroom down to studs and floor joists. New tub, new tile surrounding tub, new fixtures, new toilet, sink, vanity. What's it now, August? Still have plywood for a floor, hole in the wall where the light switches are, no moulding, old doors (which I carelessly painted on because they were supposed to be replaced -- new doors just sitting in the garage with the moulding and floor tile).

On the flip side, I took a home equity loan out and paid someone to do an electric/gas conversion, install central air, side my house, install new windows and repair my deck. Amazingly, the stuff I PAID for is done -- while I still wait for the rest to be completed.

I still have tape on my living room ceiling from when he got his home theater system (Christmas) and wanted to tape the wires up "temporarily" -- speakers are mounted now, but the tape remains!

Ugh!

 

[lulu71]

Originally posted by KarenC
I know what you mean, but I figure free labor should be the perk I get for having to write down all of the mileage statistics every time I buy gas for the car!

DH has excel spreadsheets for all the cars--give me a minute and I could tell you exactly how many gallons of gas we've purchased and our mileage for cars we don't even have anymore!

I know what you mean! I don't know about you, but there's something very liberating about driving away from a gas station without resetting the tachometer, LOL!!

 

[syncer55]

I try to learn and read up on projects before I start them, but its always helpful to ask my partner.