Doing repairs and upgrades yourself is like having a second income

I’ve always been a do-it-yourself type. Even when he had no idea what he was doing, he would try anyway. At first, it was because I couldn’t afford to pay anyone to fix things when they broke down. If my car breaks down, I’d figure out how to fix it myself (sometimes with duct tape and hangers if necessary) to keep it running. Since those days, I’ve tackled pretty much every type of project, from herb gardening to tile work. It’s not that I’m more mechanically inclined than the rest, it was more out of necessity that I started being a do-it-yourself man and that attitude has stayed with me through the years.

It’s also not because I love getting under the house to replace a hot water heater. I’m not the type of person who does things for the deep satisfaction of getting my hands dirty. It’s much simpler than that, and it also has a practical side, especially in these economic times. It’s a matter of saving money. Something inside of me rebels against the idea of ​​paying someone else good money to do something I know I can handle on my own. It may take me longer and make a few more mistakes to get the job done, but there’s a satisfaction in knowing I’ve done it myself. Even more satisfying is knowing that the money I’ve saved doing things myself has been like a second income. Would you fix an item in your house if you were paid $50 an hour to fix it? Well, not paying someone else $50.00 an hour is a lot like getting paid to do it yourself.

Consider this; an appliance repairman (plumber, electrician) will charge you at least $75 just to come to his house and confirm what he already knew, that his appliance is broken. That charge is just to show up and say… “yeah, it’s not working”, then you’ll pay them by the hour to figure out what specifically isn’t working. So right off the bat, you’re in the hole and you haven’t fixed the device, and you’ve paid them $75.00 to confirm what you already knew. That makes no sense at all.

I now realize that with today’s technology, fixing a refrigerator or dishwasher may be beyond the reach of the average Joe (or Josephine), but you never know what you can fix until you try. Or maybe you love spending money just for the sake of spending money, if that’s the case, don’t bother reading any further. However, if you realize the value of a dollar, you can learn some good basic lessons that are applicable to any DIY project and will help you when you tackle a job.

Sometimes just knowing what’s wrong can save you money.

My wife and I recently purchased a new Fisher-Paykel washer and dryer kit. After about 1 year the washer started to leak. Being the cheapskate that I am, I started to remove the back of the washer to see what was causing the leak. It was a quick scan of a small mixing valve in the control panel housing on top of the washer. The valve’s plastic casing had cracked, allowing a slow trickle of water to seep through. It’s not a complicated or difficult job with just a few screws to remove, a wiring harness clip, and two hose connections, however I have to confess I didn’t finish this one myself. The reason I didn’t tackle this one was pure economics. The cost of the replacement part was around $30.

The repair center told me they would send a technician over with the part and replace it for $70. Some quick math made me decide not to take three hours of my time to run, get the part, and come back to spend another hour putting the part on and half an hour putting the washer back together. Hey! I like to save money, but I’m not stupid. But the lesson to be learned from this is that I knew what the part was (most appliance manuals come with parts schematics), I was able to tell the service center what the part was so they could bring the correct part in your First visit, and I knew first hand that the right part was being replaced. Few things are more infuriating than spending good money to “fix” something only to find out they didn’t do it right. Do you think you will get a refund? Think again.

So sometimes just knowing what the problem is can save you some money by only having the repair guy come in once. However, if you think you’d like to try to tackle the job yourself, don’t let the thought overwhelm you—it’s not rocket science. If you can tie your own shoes, you can repair almost anything. People who say they are not mechanically inclined are usually afraid to take chances. Trial and error is a great teacher and one success begets another. With practice, you’ll be a DIY pro in no time.

Check out these 3 practical tips.

I – Get and stay organized through work

Does this advice seem obvious to you? It should, but it’s amazing how people start a small job with good organization and end up with pieces all over the place (some missing) and a real mess on their hands.

1. One simple thing you can do to stay organized is this. When you remove any part (or a cover panel) from your repair object, put the screw back into the threaded hole. It takes much less time to remove the screws and install the part than it does to search for the screw among the mass of other screws (or in the corner where it was kicked out) that you removed during the disassembly process. Remove the part, replace the screws in the mounting hole (the threaded hole), and continue. When it’s time to reinstall that part, it’s a fairly easy procedure to remove those screws again, replace the part, and reinstall the screws.

You may think that one of those nifty little screw containers that mounts magnetically to your car’s fender and holds all the loose screws is a great idea, but you still spend a lot of time looking for the right screw, and you may not remember it. . exactly what length screw went where. Just put them back in the holder when you remove the part. Problem solved!

2. Labeling things helps keep things clear. Have a roll of masking tape and a Sharpie to label any wires, hoses, or other parts that you know will be hard to remember where they go. I once bought a truck that had suffered an under-dash wiring fire because a couple of incompetent teenagers had wired up a mega stereo system incorrectly and got some wires crossed. When I got the truck, it had to be rewired. The tagging was absolutely necessary to keep things organized, and in the end, it all worked out just fine. It took a while, but I still saved myself over $1,000 for a new wiring harness.

The time spent labeling is well worth it. You won’t be able to confirm this until you’ve forgotten to tag something and can’t figure out where it’s going. Don’t let that happen, just trust me and tag. Tag your hand if you think you need to, you can’t overdo it.

3. Take your time. There is no greater enemy to the Do-It-Yourself Warrior than trying to rush the process. Since you haven’t done something a million times, it’s worth taking your time. I’d venture to say that the extra time you spend taking it easy won’t equal the hourly wage you’ll pay a technician. I can’t say enough, don’t be rushed.

I started outdoor projects knowing I wouldn’t have time to do it before dark and have tried to speed up the process. Ultimately, when he drops a tool in the bushes and can’t find it, he starts skimping on quality to make it and ends up with a subpar job because he rushed.

II – Obtain a manual

There’s a manual for just about anything these days. Considering the amount of money you’ll pay a technician, buying a manual to help you with the job, especially if you’ll end up using it again, is money well spent. Back when I was driving cars that were older than me, I would buy a manual for the car as soon as I bought the car itself. Normally I would buy two manuals, a Chiltons and a Haynes. Sometimes one had a mistake on a particular thing and the other manual had gotten it right. Or one manual would have a good image where the other manual was missing one. A Chiltons or Haynes manual for the cars I owned was about $15.00 each and I saved that the first time I changed spark plugs or replaced a serpentine belt.

If you think you’ll be a DIYer, investing in a manual for the most important things in your home is money well spent. For general home repairs, places like Home Depot or Lowes have manuals that cover just about everything from plumbing and wiring to sheetrock and roofing. Stanely publishes some decent manuals for many different topics. He spends the money, gets the manual. You can always share the cost of the books with friends and spread the DYI bug.

I wired up my own house using a Taunton manual from Lowes. I put in a 200 amp main panel, sub panel, can lights, smoke detectors, HVAC, Lutron “smart dimmers” with 3-way switches, all using that manual. The $25 I spent on the manual was pennies compared to the labor I would have paid an electrician to do all the work. I passed all the revisions and to date, without electrical fires or failures of any kind. Do It Yourself Network. From there, you can search the site until you find what you’re looking for specifically.

Use the internet too, there are many great sources of information if you spend some time searching. When I built a new bathroom, we installed a flush tile shower and I referred to a few DIY sites for some update notes on the latest techniques for properly “panning” the shower. A great site is

But remember, you can’t beat a good “old school” manual or book, it’s hard to have the computer with you in the attic, but a book can be carried around and quickly flipped through, wherever you are.

III – Do not fear the unknown

The most important thing to overcome is the fear of the unknown. As I said earlier in this article, if you can tie your shoes, you can do just about any DIY project. It’s a matter of following good management principles and taking your time. Mechanically it is no different than a thousand other tasks you perform each day.

There will be times (like when your water heater breaks when the company comes in from out of town on vacation) when you just want to call someone and have it fixed right away! But considering how tight the economy is and how much money you can save instead of paying someone else, being able to fix or improve things yourself is like earning that money for yourself. So get involved, stay organized, take it easy, and when you’re done, take some of the money you’ve saved and go out to dinner with your spouse.