Another expensive part of owning a home is paying for professionals to do maintenance and repair work around the house. The average amount spent by a homeowner in the United States when it comes to home maintenance and repair services is $9,081.
While there are people who prefer to leave the work to the hands of professionals who make a living out of maintaining homes, there are people who don’t have that luxury or just prefer to handle things with their own hands.
That amount can be spent on something else more significant such as home upgrades and other expenditures. If you’re one of the homeowners looking to save when it comes to spending on home and maintenance services, you should learn that there are some repairs that you can do yourself and some you can’t.
To give you a clear view, here’s a list of the most common household repairs, and we’ll tell you the ones you can do yourself and the ones that are better off in the hands of a pro:
1. Fixing a pipe
A pipe problem can be messy, and you’ll need highly absorbent cleaning rags in bulk to clean the mess, especially if you overlook the problem and it causes minor indoor flooding.
Fixing a leaky pipe can be as easy as tightening a loose slip-nut near the U-shaped p-trap segment of the pipe. In cases where the leak problem is coming directly from a cavity in the pipe’s body, an easy fix would require you to clamp them with hose clamps.
Leaks can come from a drainpipe that’s installed inside a wall, too. And that is the point where you should be calling for professional help.
2. Installing wallpaper
Wallpapers can be a good addition to improve the appearance of a space. In doing so, your goal is to make your home look better. That could be hard to achieve if you have little to no experience when it comes to professionally installing wallpapers.
It’s a challenging task because you need to get them straight on the wall’s surface without ruining the pattern. The task usually requires two people for efficiency. There are also instances when the pasted wallpaper can form bubbles. They’re a waste of supplies because the area would need to be redone with a new set. You’ll end up having to buy more wallpaper if you end up getting many bubbled areas.
You can DIY this if you want to risk the wallpaper and there’s no saying that it’s impossible to succeed without professional help. But the best thing to do if you want to achieve a good-looking wallpaper is to consult a professional to do the work for you.
3. Painting your home
It’s impossible that you haven’t passed by a home under a painting job. You’ll see a lot of equipment required in painting a home’s exterior. There are lots of professionals doing the work, some are high up the roof and some are painting somewhere else.
Painting involves a lot of processes and chemicals that are best left in the hands of professionals. The chemicals also aren’t safe and can turn lethal when handled without care. You also risk a fall accident by trying to reach high portions of your home.
4. Replacing a faucet
Faucets are one of the most used parts of your home. They’re prone to damage and wear because of that. Fortunately, if you had your faucet installed as a center set, you can easily replace it when it breaks or works under the intended quality.
Most replacement faucets come with installation manuals you can follow. But if your faucets are connected with other water lines in the house, you should consult a professional before you touch anything to prevent further damage.