Question: Are there any projects that you wish you hadn’t DIY-ed? I’m in the middle of one that’s not going smoothly and I’m second-guessing my decision not to hire it out. – Holly
Answer: This question comes up fairly frequently – it even popped up during the Q&A portion of our talk at the Richmond Home & Garden Show earlier this month. The truth is that we both have trouble recalling a project that we got to the end of and said “man, I wish we hadn’t DIYed that one.” Maybe it’s that post project rush of victory, the relief of completion, or the joy of saving money? Or maybe it’s like childbirth and you forget the pain in hindsight? But there definitely have been PLENTY of projects that have elicited a major “what were we thinking?!?” moment mid-way through. I’ll even cop to shedding a few tears over one. Okay, maybe two.
So I thought I’d break down four projects that nearly broke me down and share what each one has taught me (spoiler: it’s not to stop DIYing, it’s just to DIY smarter).
#1: The Bathroom Demo. I was still working my 9-5 at the time and Sherry was pregnant with Clara, so I carved out a Saturday to smash out all of the existing tile in our first home’s only full bathroom. This was my first major reno project and I just totally underestimated the time, strength, and endurance it would require as well as the gigantic mess it would make. You can practically feel the exhaustion in the words of my post from back then.
Lesson Learned: Seemingly simple projects like removing the old stuff can be just as taxing and time consuming as installing the new stuff – especially in an older home where you’re dealing with mortar and metal-mesh behind every last tile. But learning this the hard way means that we’ve become better at accounting for that step in our planning moving forward, and renting equipment that makes it easier (like the demolition hammer that saved me at the end of bathroom demo). So now, whether it’s removing old carpeting or clearing the land for our deck (this is foreshadowing, btw) – we go into it expecting it to take time and energy, instead of blindly saying “we’ll have that done in an hour, tops.” In some cases it has even lead us to hire out a demo step, like removing the beams in our home’s sunroom for $200, so we could get to the fun stuff faster and save our aching backs.
#2: The Patio. This was a project that we actually contracted out at our first house, but decided to tackle on our own at our second one. The crew at the first house knocked it out in a day, but we knew better than to expect any sort of speed for ourselves. We did rely on a local stoneyard to help us calculate and deliver materials, but somehow in ordering three tons of gravel we didn’t quite the connect the dots that we’d later be manually moving and spreading three tons of gravel into place. So despite our best efforts to manage expectations, it still turned out to be a back-breaking job that had me and Sherry crying for mercy more than once (though not literally crying – that one comes later).
Lesson Learned: Moving materials from point A to point B can be a lot harder than it sounds, so take advantage of any help you can get – whether it’s having supplies delivered to your site (which we did) or having a few extra sets of hands around when it comes time to haul something (which we didn’t). There isn’t much glory in hauling or lifting stuff, so it’s something we’ve become more willing to pay for in dollars, instead of paying for it in lost time or aching muscles.
#3: The Deck. If I weren’t going in chronological order, this is the one that would probably top my list of Most Second Guessed While It Progressed projects. And it took virtually forever to complete, so there was a lot of time to freak out. Oddly enough, in the end I have great pride in completing this project – and I gained lots of new confidence in my abilities – so I don’t wish I had contracted it out at all. It truly is one of my proudest accomplishments to date. But there were a few times that I was on the brink of turning the project over to the professionals.
It was a perfect storm of some of my least favorite things about any project:
- Lots of manual labor (even though materials were delivered to our house, there was still lots of lugging and lifting)
- Lots of uncertainty (it was unlike any project we’d ever taken on, so there were plenty of unknowns and unfamiliar challenges)
- Lots of pressure (having to execute a structurally sound construction and pass multiple county inspections)
- Lots of heat (it was summertime in a very sunny outdoor spot)
The one element we were sure to eliminate from the story was a time crunch. We didn’t give ourselves a deadline, which is the only thing that made all of those “hiccups” (that’s putting it gently) bearable. And again, it’s probably the project I have the most pride in completing – probably because it was my toughest. Oh yeah, and it totally made me cry once thanks to being totally exhausted and then falling and hurting my back. Still not sure whether it was the exhaustion or back pain that brought on the tears.
Lesson Learned: If all else fails, try to eliminate or reduce the time pressures of a project or loosen up a super strict budget if you can. Giving yourself the gift of a more flexible deadline or a budget with a little more padding can really turn those “how will I ever recover from this mistake??” moments into an “I can get through this” Rocky-music rally moment. And oh yeah, make sure your next house already has a deck so you don’t have to build one again. (I’m kidding. Kind of.)
#4: The Hardwood Floors. This one makes the list because we totally disregarded the lesson that we learned from the deck: don’t rush yourself. When our second house sold much faster than we expected, it caught us by surprise… and suddenly gave us a deadline for removing all of the upstairs carpeting, painting all the trim and doors up there, and installing the hardwoods. While we owned the house for a while before moving in, the priority had been to get our second house ready for sale. Then when our old house sold before even hitting the market (as opposed to around 6 weeks later, which is how long our first house took), suddenly those six weeks that we thought would be built into the process were gone and our closing date was looming a few weeks away, with all of that carpeting, trim, and hardwood flooring to deal with.
We did our best to learn from our previous projects by carving out time for demo (i.e. carpet removal) and enlisting my parents to watch Clara a few times so we could have two sets of hands doing as much as possible. But we still found ourselves racing the clock at the end, which translated to some super long and tiring days of under-pressure floor laying. This one made me shed tears of frustration more than once, and this time I can’t deflect blame an injury. I was just dead tired and ridiculously ready to be done with laying plank after plank, day after day, in every seemingly endless room, hallway, and closet. And Sherry was right there with me. We were like a couple of cooks cutting onions. At midnight. While laying floors.
Lesson Learned: Even the best laid plans can blow up in your face. So by now we just do our best to expect at least one or two project derailments (and sometimes four or five) while reminding ourselves why we’re DIYing something in the first place. Maybe we’re saving money (which we definitely did with the floors). Maybe we’re learning a new skill (which can propel your whole house-journey forward and allow you to tackle bigger and better projects down the line). And maybe at the very least we’re proving something to ourselves about perseverance and determination (there’s nothing like dusting your shoulders off when you’re done, both literally and figuratively).
But if those things aren’t the in cards, perhaps you’ll decide that you’re dealing with a job that’s best left to the professionals – and there’s no shame in handing it over. Especially if you did a little bit of the up-front stuff before realizing it was best left to an expert (every little bit helps, so that supremely annoying realization probably comes with some money-savings from the stuff you did before hiring someone). In a strange way, as our DIY know-how has grown, we feel more comfortable with calling in a pro. We’ll gladly contract out work like our bathroom plumbing issue, our yard-leveling adventures, and larger electrical or load-bearing jobs that are just plain out of our skill set. After all, when you know just how taxing certain jobs might be, there’s definitely a tiny thrill when you get to watch someone else take that off your plate. Especially if it leaves you enough steam to tackle something else on your list at the same time…
PS: If you want to read more about how we decide whether or not to tackle a project ourselves before starting, check out this post which bullets some of the evaluation criteria that we use before diving in.
Thanks for sharing this! We’ve been in our home less than a year, and have done most of our home improvement projects ourselves, with the exception of electrical, asbestos removal, and carpet installation. We’re planning a kitchen renovation next year, and right now the hope is that we’ll do it ourselves. But it’s daunting! Didn’t you have contractors for your first home’s kitchen redo?
Yes! That’s the hilarious thing about this blog’s beginning, we started this whole blog to chronicle our journey as general contractors for our kitchen, and we hired out a lot of the work. It’s such a funny evolution to see old posts where we say something like “we’re happy to hire out our hardwood installation because we don’t have any of those crazy tools around.” We laughed out loud when someone linked to that old post after we installed all the flooring at this house!
xo
s
Such a timely post for me! Just last night we were debating whether to hire out a couple of big structural jobs. I am pretty sure if we didn’t, both of us would be crying at the end, too! Thanks for the good tips, guys. :)
I enjoyed hearing your perspective on this – especially re: setting realistic deadlines. I’m going to use this advice this year when we (hopefully) buy our first home. Sidenote: Even when you write about crying, you manage to make it sound manly! Haha.
Ha! Thanks Janelle (he says as he gruffly clears his throat and strokes his manly beard).
-John
This made me feel better about our DIY situation. We’re moving in 2 days and haven’t finished laying the wood floors throughout the house. My husband works in construction (actually a restoration company) so hiring it out is not an option. He has the know-how and refuses to pay for someone else to do what he can do, which I support (considering all the moolah it’s saving us). But it also means things go slowly because he has his full-time job to do first and then whatever hours we can muster to tackle the new house. The fun part is we have no one to watch our 18 mo. old while we try to work on stuff, but it just makes things more interesting. Like when she backs into a freshly painted wall. Buuut I’m sure we’ll look back on this with pride because we literally did every little thing ourselves! And yes there’s already been many tears involved, but I blame pregnancy hormones. :D
Yes, you’re going to have so much pride in the end – and save so much money! Best of luck Steph!
xo
s
This makes me laugh becasue my black lab currently has a white streak on her side because she brushed against a freshly painted door. I haven’t looked but I’m betting the door also has some dog hair painted onto it now. Such is life.
I am trying not to cry while reading this post. We are in the process of tearing out all of the floors on our main floor and laying 1700 square feet of new floors, opening lots of cans of worms while doing it, living downstairs with ALL of our furniture and crossing our fingers this baby doesn’t come before we get it all done. I know it will be worth it. But man, I just want to fast-forward time!
Oh Julia, you guys are trucking over there! We have loved keeping up with your progress, and have all appendages crossed that the baby waits for the perfect moment to arrive.
xo
s
Not related to this post, but just wanted to say that I miss the “blog roll” section on your home page.
So sorry, we clicked a button to turn the blogroll off a few weeks ago (we’ve received a few complaints about it not being updated, linking to blogs that were inactive or that people didn’t like, etc). It has always been a challenge to keep that current, so we just disabled it for the time being. We noticed a lot of other blogs seem to have been phasing them out as well, so we’ll have to see where we end up :)
xo
s
I never looked at your blogroll, but maybe you could do a monthly post on a “Blog of the month” or something to let your readers know of other awesome blogs to check out. Just an idea!
That would be fun! We try to share link love to other awesome blogs whenever we can (like when we House Crash people or feature Reader Redesigns), so that’s another way we try to weave those in there ;)
xo
s
This reminds me of the new TV show “Renovation Realities.” It is refreshing to see a show with real homeowners doing real renovations, so often you watch the IDY shows and the pros make it all look super easy; like anyone can do it. It is a nice reality check to see that it is not easy and that there is always something that doesn’t go as planned. I agree though that in middle you often cures, wonder why you didn’t call the pros and consider paying any price to just have it done, but in the end it is nice to feel the sense of accomplishment and looking back you often forget the pain.
That show is my new favorite (No, literally, I have like 30 episodes on my DVR at the moment). Mostly because they make the people look really dumb. I’m no DIY goddess but some of the couples lack a big chunk of common sense.
However I think the episodes should be longer and they should actually warn people sometimes (Yo yo turn the breaker off!) or illustrate what the proper way to do it is.
Ooh I like the idea of an intervention with a lesson. Like Mike Holmes waiting in the wings.
xo
s
I totally agree that they should step in at some point to warn them. I have seen numerous people do stupid things like cut live wires without turning off the power! I am amazed at how dumb some of these people are.
I do appreciate when they show couples fighting though because that is often the reality of most challenging DIY projects, or at elast that is true in my house:)
I really appreciate this post, thanks guys!
You’re welcome Janine!
-John
This is too weird. I’m going through this right now. I ripped out the carpet on my stairs over the weekend and have spent the last few days stripping, sanding, puttying, and more sanding. Once I started staining the first step I realized that the quality of wood is too poor to stain and I will have to paint them (I knew this was a possibility). It definitely is disappointing when you are on a roll with a project and have to switch gears. Now I have to pick a paint, head to the store, and spend more money. Ugh. Like you said though, once it’s done it will all be ok!
Oh man, we can relate, Melissa! All the best of luck!
xo
s
I love how much DIY you do and get inspired by it like many of your readers! These are great thoughts and tips. I did wonder why you didn’t get more help with the hardwood floors, though, even when you posted about it initially. John’s Dad was so helpful in your bathroom reno with the tiling. Maybe he wasn’t the right person to help here, but do you think you might have called in for a few more DIY reinforcements if you had to do it again?
Our second house just sold a lot faster than we expected, but if we had more lead time we definitely could have planned things better and gotten more help with those floors, like how we “booked” John’s dad for his help with the bathroom and the deck. Unfortunately with the crazy time crunch, a lot of the flooring project was done during the week where many of our friends and relatives had jobs to work around, so by watching Clara we tapped John’s family’s help a few times, but that was all we could scrounge up. John even asked a few buddies of his but they all had work and couldn’t get out of it. Or they just didn’t want to help and that was their excuse. Haha!
xo,
s
i don’t get this comment – you owned the house for 6 months before moving in. when did the crazy time crunch begin?
Sorry to be unclear. While we owned the house for a while before moving in, the priority had been to get our second house ready for sale. Then when our old house sold before even hitting the market (as opposed to around 6 weeks later, which is how long our first house took), suddenly those six weeks that we thought would be built into the process were gone and our closing date was looming a few weeks away, with all of that carpeting, trim, and hardwood flooring to deal with.
-John
I’m sorry, I don’t understand the answer from Sherry nor the clarification from John, and it’s something I have often wondered about. You owned your current house for about 10 or so months before you moved into it. That’s a long time to be able to plan for projects, timelines and even bugeting. I personally think those are very important elements of any DIY project and a reason blogs like yours have become so popular – to see how it’s done. You still had about 4 weeks, didn’t you? That seems like plenty of time to do the flooring project and pack, considering this is both your full time jobs. So, I’m sorry, I am not trying to be contrary, but this has never made sense to me. According to your own timeline, you went under contract on May 1, were moving in gradually (and had some help) and your Day 1 post for your current house is dated June 1. Maybe this was just human error and poor planning? Because it happens to all of us, so you are entitled to the same shortcomings as the rest of us mere mortals, LOL. I think its what makes you so relatable. Thanks for keeping it real :) I really enjoyed the floor project.
Yes it was complete and total human error. We admit that it caught us by surprise and we thought we’d have a 60 day closing and it would take six weeks to even get an offer and those two things just didn’t happen. There’s nothing in it for us to save things for the last minute and then go nuts and get sore churning them out under the gun, so if we could have seen into our crystal ball we most certainly would have started earlier on those floors!
-John
Thank you for your honesty! I really wanted to DIY most of our kitchen renovation, but my husband is a realist and kindly pointed out that we work full time outside of the house, we don’t know what we’re doing, and we don’t have any family support to help. I can’t even imagine how long it would have taken us to do, so in the end it was worth every penny to have someone else do it. For us the key item was, “how long can we live without a fully functional (insert room here).” That’s what we’re going to use when deciding to DIY or hire out future renovations.
http://jax-and-jewels.blogspot.com
John,
I made a comment back when you finished your deck that I hoped that you took a photo session with your finished deck (just like with newborn photography). I could feel the labor pains that you expereinced from reading your post…and saw the look of delight when it was finished! I hope you gave it a name too! That was some baby! :0)
Hahaha! I keep saying that when John’s an old man I’m going to take him back to that deck and take his picture with it. It’s his child for sure.
xo
s
This made me laugh. And it brought back that feeling of being completely overwhelmed from a project that seems like it will never end! I had to remind myself I wasn’t actually working on anything at the moment. Thanks for the laugh!
Ha!
-John
Thanks for posting this— I remember now how much I appreciated the determination needed for both the deck/stairs and that stone patio particularly, but I had no idea what a test of wills those projects must have been at the time! I heard a suggestion the other day that when heading into tough situations (not unlike these frustrating jobs), you should have a song or battle cry to say to yourself (you know, like how the fifes and drums announced the marching army?) I’ve come up with Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing” and also the phrase “You make me a better man!” The problem with that last one is a) I am not a man, and b) I think I’m paraphrasing that line from “As good as it gets.” But still. ;)
That’s good advice! We always tell people to have a full belly and good tunes on if you can while DIYing. It definitely seems to help with morale!
xo
s
It’s funny you say that because when working on the deck I often listened to an album by Walk The Moon, which has a song called I Can Lift a Car. Whenever I got to that track I changed it in my mind to “I can build a deck!”
-John
You guys crack me up! We’re getting ready to move soon (again– the third time in three years; never thought I’d say that) and Elton’s in really heavy rotation on the player right now– maybe I need to add “I Can Lift a Car” (I can pack this box…) In any case, have a great day, whatever you’re working on!
pro tip, walk the moon was the best band i’ve ever seen in concert. they just finished touring a few months ago, but if they ever come to rva do NOT hesitate!
(hope this replies to the right thread!)
Good to know!
xo
s
Do you ever reward your achievements? Could you name an employee of the month?
A lot of this seems above and beyond the call of duty (particularly the patio, imo) and deserves recognition! Like a trophy or something.
Haha, I think the reward is sitting out on that patio and enjoying it. Or moving in and saying “dude, our entire second floor has new hardwoods – we’re so glad we eked those out!” We get to live in our accomplishments and enjoy them every day, so even things like stripping and staining the deck at this house are so awesome to finish because then you get to sit out there and bask in the “newness” of it.
xo
s
It was oddly comforting to know that my diy superheroes sometimes cry over projects too. Some can be so physically, mentally, and emotionally taxing that you need to let those tears flow for a while before you hop back in. Thanks so much for keeping it real, as always!!
These were my thoughts exactly! You are my DIY superheros! Thanks for this post.
I just want to thank you for being my inspiration to tackle bigger projects…I tiled our backsplash last year after reading your tutorial from your old kitchen…and after doing that I felt confident enough to replace the tile in our bathroom (it was another learning experience, but its done now and I’m so proud that I didn’t have to ask my Dad for help!). We also tackled some board and batten in there (we never would have felt confident enough to do that a few months ago).
That’s awesome Wendy. Congrats!
-John
Sometimes home improvement makes you cry – it’s overwhelming, plumbing is typically never easy and it’s exhausting. But with every project you learn! thanks for this post, really enjoyed it!
Thanks Heidi. I’m so glad.
-John
I really appreciate that you both always tell the good, the bad, and the ugly. What scares me the most about any project is the unknown hiding in the most unexpected places! My dad is a great teacher; he’ll come over to help with any project (other than painting!) and having his input and experience helps me feel better about tackling a DIY project. Your step-by-step how-tos (and what-not-tos) adds to my arsenal of tutorials. Thanks!
You’re welcome Lee Ann! And good luck with everything!
xo
s
Thanks so much for sharing, guys! We’re currently in the planning stages of a very, very similar bathroom reno to yours and I can’t say how many times we’ve read and reread your posts on it! We’re terrified of tackling something so big (the project, not the bathroom… it’s tiny), but honestly, you guys give up the courage to swing the sledgehammer and give it a go!
Go get ’em Jess! We’re rooting for you!
xo
s
Thanks for the advice. We spent three months of evenings and weekends last summer laying a slate stone patio, and saved a ton of cash in labor… But it almost killed us. We’ll think twice before tackling a project of that size by ourselves again.
Oh man, that sounds crazy hard Hilary! Congrats on getting it done though!
xo
s
John, your skill level and eye for detail are beyond your average DIY abilities. You do such a great job and are so meticulous that of course it’s going to take longer. I love the quality of your work. The patio at your last house, and then the sun room at the new one, are my favorite projects, and you did a stellar job on the hardwood floors. I have a very strong eye for detail, but I don’t know if my follow-through would come close to measuring up to yours. Although I guess it helps having to answer to millions of viewers every month!
Thanks so much Carla, you’re too kind.
-John
A hundred times, this! The attention to quality and follow-through is what blows my mind every time with you two.
Do you guys have similar thresholds for frusteration on DIY projects, or does one person tend to snap quicker? I find my husband is a lot more patient when it comes to taking a deep breath and re-grouping, where as I am quicker to start crying, calling in pros, and opening bottles of wine to drown my DIY sorrows.
We always laugh that we have one rule and it’s this: only one person can be freaking out at a time. So one person tries to be the rock and say things like “we can do this, it’s going to be ok” while the other one loses it. We tend to switch off though, so sometimes my fuse is shorter and sometimes John is just over something way before I am. That goes for all life events too, not just DIY. Seems to work out pretty well most of the time ;)
xo
s
My husband and I are like that too. Our fuse lengths are both totally different and triggered by slightly different things. It amuses me to no end to think back to the times when we alternately comfort and support each other about things. That sounds funny, but the amusement comes from looking back and realizing that each thing really wasn’t that huge of a deal.
Yes… it’s always funnier in hindsight. In the middle of it all, not so much.
xo
s
This is so funny! My dad owns a home remodeling/repair business and I have worked for him off and on most of my life. I grew up doing the demolition for jobs he was doing and helping him build decks and walls and… This all to say these are the things I find the least intimidating. My husband and I are buying a fixer upper and it is the small tedious things (picking out a cabinet color and painting all the walls and trim) that I wish I could hire out. I get a lot more satisfaction in tearing out a bathroom than painting an entire bathroom. I love the “Wow!! This was a bathroom, and now its a shell!”. It all just boil downs to different strokes for different folks! On another note, I love your blog and after reading some of your post I am almost excited about breaking out that paint brush :).
That’s so funny! We know a few amazing contractors but they refuse to do their own drywall (they just hate it so much and love to hire it out). It’s funny what some people can do and what tasks make them say “no thanks!”
xo
s
Hmm, you just made me think twice about ripping out all the tile in our one and only bathroom. “It’s loose in spots – how long could it take?” Yeah. I do hate that tile, though.
I hired out, without a second thought and without regret, having ceilings redone in two rooms. I am short. There is no way, even with stilts or drywall lifts, that I am going to work on a nine-foot ceiling! =)
We were debating DIY ing our basement renovation that included installing a bathroom, kitchen-ette/laundry room, family room, etc. In my mind it seemed pretty simple – framing, drywall, flooring…. The plumbing remained a sort of mysterious puzzle to be solved later. My husband wasn’t as sure as I was and it seems he was the most accurate (realistic:). We ended up hiring it out. After seeing all the time, knowledge, and skill necessary for this project I now have nightmares that we actually tried to do it ourselves. I did do the painting though! : )
Wahoo! Every little bit helps! So glad you did the painting.
xo
s
I can totally relate to the bathroom remodel. We live in a tiny apartment in NYC with only one bathroom and decided to demo the mirror area over the sink as one of our first house projects. The previous owners had cut into the brick behind it and shoved it in, so not only did we have to dig it out, we had to fill the hole in the brick, replaster the wall, paint the entire bathroom and hang a new mirror. First project + complicated demo in an old building + only one bathroom = marital problems, lol. It took several weeks, about 100 trips to the hardware store and loads of stress. We learned so much though and are ridiculously proud of this new mirror!
That’s awesome Rachel! I mean it totally sounded like a bear of a project, but I love how much pride you have!
xo
s
Trying to assemble Ikea furniture brings me to tears. You guys are amazing!
Great post! I’m going to make hubby read it so he knows that DIY isn’t fun and games all the time (even for J&S). There are hard times but I think remembering the end goal can get you through. I guess on the flipside is to embrace the little progress you make along the way!
Amen! Appreciate even the smallest victories. That’s what has kept us DIYing for nearly 7 years straight! Gotta stop and smell the roses, er, freshly painted walls.
xo
s
Thanks for the truthiness on the hardwood install. I’ve been bugging my hubs to DIY our beach house floors to replace the nasty gray berber, but after considering the dogs, kids et al I decided to cover it with a canvas floorcloth or a flat weave rug … for now :)
I really feel you on the floor install/moving in thing. When we closed on our house we gave ourselves one month to buy and install new flooring in the entire house, plus pack up all our stuff, clean out our rental and move in.
AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
It took almost three. We extended our rental stay one month (goodbye to lots of reno funds) and then just brought our stuff over to the new place even though the flooring was incomplete. We hired out carpeting the bedrooms, it was done in one day for only $750 and that’s where most of our stuff ended up until we finished the living/dining/kitchen, this saved our butts.
500 sqft each of diy hardwood flooring and 17″ porcelain tile. Plus moving. Plus no sleep. Let’s just say I put my husband and coworkers through hell for a month and I don’t ever want to buy a fixer-upper again. The floors are absolutely beautiful to this day, and I don’t regret DIY-ing it, but no, never again.
Something I’m really proud of that we DIYed that I don’t regret and would do again – baseboard trim. Almost a whole house of it. We got a miter saw, nail gun, primed pine 1×6 board plus cap and shoe molding and did it all ourselves. We also put in plinth blocks on the casing of every door. I used one gallon of high-end paint that was on sale. Whole project done for around $700 and looks AMAZING, we would never have gotten the level of finish we achieved if we hired this out to a mid-range contractor.
Brushing off my shoulder right now.
That’s awesome Jess! Congrats!
xo
s
You did a great job on all of your projects,but focusing on the wood floors, I had mine professionally installed and yet, some how due to humidity or my home shifting, a gap has appeared as it wasn’t nailed down, but installed over tile. Not that you are my answer guru,but to let you know that even the professionals don’t always get it right.
Great work.
Oh man, so sorry about that Dana! I’d try calling them and saying “can you come back out, there’s some sort of installation defect I was hoping you could help me with” – most places are happy to stand by their work and fix oddities like that. Here’s hoping!
xo
s
My husband and I laid the flooring in our newly renovated upstairs (converted the attic) one day and night until 6am, when I had to run him to the airport because he was leaving for Germany for work for 8 months. Sad that we had to stay up all night on our last night together for many months to DIY, but honestly we talked all night and it was really a bonding experience (if exhausting). Needless to say, our muscles were like jelly handling all his bags!!
Oh man, congrats on getting that done!
xo
s
I wish your original posts had been this honnest. I sometimes find that your posts are missing the human side of things…it’s only natural to have low moments…it would be very genuine of you if you could share these regularly….I think you sometimes lose connection with your readers.
Thanks Christine. We definitely do our best to keep things real and say things like “not gonna lie, this project was a bear and we’re tired” (you can see notes like that in all of the posts that we linked to here, from the patio and the hardwoods to the bathroom and the deck. It’s usually only a few sentences, because we don’t want to whine for 1,000 words, but we like to inform anyone who might be going into similar projects just how tough, exhausting, or tedious they can be.
-John
I love your honesty but am also thankful you don’t whine for 1000 words. Some blogs complain so much it feels like I’m listening to my cranky Aunt Susie! And that’s no fun. Thanks for keeping it just real enough.
I remember thinking when you were installing the hardwoods that between keeping the blog running and your time constraints with the move, things must not be pretty. But if I’d been you, I’d have busted myself to get those floors in too!
My husband says that every DIY project has a pitfall. When we somehow manage to get to the end of a project without one, we look at each other like something’s wrong.
I agree with KathyG–thanks for keeping it just real enough. If a good portion of your readers are DIY-ers, they know that every DIY project has a pitfall (or five).
I agree with kathyg! I love you honestly as well and definitely feel the human side of things in your posts. That’s why I love this blog. I don’t feel like I’m reading a step by step thing on a how to site. I feel like my friends are emailing me advice on how to get a project done.
Well that was supposed to say I love your honesty. But I love you honestly too. Freudian slip ;)
I don’t know Christine, I have to respectly disagree. I do think they keep it real and tell us. I also know if they really went on and on about it, somebody else would complain about them complaining.
I’m with Christine! Saying these things in the original posts would be helpful.
I guess it’s fair to say the John and Sherry generally present the glass as half full rather than half empty, but I think John “was keeping it real” in the original posts on the deck project. I recall that in attaching a support header to the brick wall, fighting with the post holes, and supporting/building the steps frustration was definitely expressed! Some or all of these aspects of the project, I believe, stemmed from a very hardnosed building inspector. That painful building inspection rejection was discussed in a straightforward way while acknowledging that the guy was kind of a [language not appropriate for this blog; take your pick of choice words or phrases].
Great post and original question. For those of us who aren’t blogging about, and having to resurrect, our DIY adventures (and misadventures) it’s easier to forget all of the agony and hold onto only the accomplishment!
This post cracked me up and brings back memories (nightmares?) for sure! When we were in the thick of our 3 month nights/weekend 1500sf floor laying adventure, I would tell DH “how in the heck did John and Sherry do this in a week?!” Then we would take a break while we tried to figure out how well our skill sets lined up and added/subtracted points for various additional challenges – “well, J&S didn’t have this sloping concrete subfloor that took two weekends to level” or “J&S had pre-finished wood and we decided to stain ours ourselves” and “Lucky J&S were able to reuse their baseboards but ours needed to be redone from scratch.”
I have totally cried doing a DIY, though, and it was at our first rental property in another 3 month complete immersion of construction, when we needed to paint yet another coat on some surface or another. I just couldn’t pick up the paintbrush one more time. Lesson learned there was “don’t cheap out on the paint!” Buying a much higher quality paint has saved our sanity over and over in time saved versus money spent.
You’re so sweet Mia! And we’re with you on the paint! It’s addicting to use the good stuff!
xo
s
Great post and perfectly timed! We’re just about to start a full gut job on our only bathroom. We didn’t intend to be doing this yet, but cracked tiles and crumbling grout has revealed far worse problems behind. So, we’ve been pouring over your bathroom redo posts word for word. And we definitely feel your pain (and tears) because we also discovered metal mesh in the plaster of our 1960 ranch. Not fun. Still, your advice about how to deal with it has been invaluable. If our bathroom turns out even half as good as yours did, we’ll be happy campers. :)
Good luck Krista! I bet it’s going to be gorgeous!
xo
s
My husband and I put in our brick patio and I will never do that again. It wasn’t so much the laying of the bricks and base as it was the excavation of the soil. Our weekend project turned into a summer project because the south facing patio was all clay and we excavated BY HAND. DOH! Never again!
Oh man!
xo
s
This was a great post! I remember thinking at the time you guys did the floors that you were doing that so fast, and that was before I took up one bitty room of carpet in my house. I still think you guys are insane!! (In a good way.) Mistakes are chances to grow, right?
Thanks Jennifer! I think you’re right that we have momentary lapses of sanity. And then we’re screaming “NEVER AGAIN!” – haha!
xo
s
We’re about to buy our first house, so I appreciate you guys posting about your lessons learned! Hardwood floors are one of those things I always thought I’d hire professionals for because I’ve seen too many hack diy jobs in my family members’ homes. You guys did great though!
I’m at that middle stage right now. Decided to tackle the kitchen cabinets with paint. But with 28 doors, 17 drawers and deciding to paint the insides of the boxes and all the sanding and trying to keep the dust away. I’m beginning to wonder why I started this… Oh, because it will look fabulous with the black granite we installed 10 years ago. Meanwhile, I weep quietly into my paint can…
Oh Theresa, it’s going to look so good! I promise you won’t regret it!
xo
s
Oh vey, renovations are definitely not the easiest sometimes. I watch just how much physical labor, motivation and stamina is involved in a lot of what Andy does and it blows my mind. He hasn’t ever cried during renovations, but there have definitely been nights where he collapses onto the couch and doesn’t move or say much the rest of the night (and rightfully so in my book) or partway through he’ll say “I’m over this” but without one complaint keeps going and pushing through until it’s done. It’s amazing and impressive. Good for you guys for pushing through the same. The utter stamina involved is one of the things that took me by surprise the most.
My only tip to people starting is never take the advice on a renovation show to take a sledgehammer to everything. That’s for good TV only most of the time. Drywall comes down a lot easier in large sections, makes a lot less of a mess and dust, and therefor easier cleanup. Same with removing cabinets, even if they can’t be sent to the Restore. The tinier pieces you smash something into, the most of a hot mess you have to clean up.
Yes, that’s such a great tip! I think about that too when I watch those shows! They throw perfectly good toilets and cabinets out windows and watch them shatter in a dumpster below. And I think “man, you could have donated those – they’d even come to your house with a truck to pick it up, and you wouldn’t need to waste dumpster space.”
xo
s
Exactly! Or keep that crap out of landfills!
Agree with each of these three comments wholeheartedly – I’m glad you and John and have plans to reuse the cabinets in the garage. This is such a no-brainer to me! (If cabinets are able to be removed in that way – I get that sometimes it might not be possible to remove them while keeping them intact).
Best,
Jackie
#1 1,000 times over, lol!! We did the SAME thing with our first house, thinking it would take a weekend. We learned to never, ever gut your bathroom with an only shower without a backup b-room plan :) Live and learn ;)
We are big DIYers, mainly because we are cheap! We’ve done everything from drywall to installing a rolled roof on the porch. We tend to be detailed, and really persnickety no matter what the job is, and that brings on the tears, for me, like nothing else. If it isn’t perfect, I can get peeved. But the one thing I have learned IS to take away a deadline if I can. If I can’t finish a paint job in one day, I wrap the brushes, rest and finish the next….and so on, things can usually wait. And the job tends to go smoother and look better without the rush. Can’t do this in all situations, but I agree…if you can give yourself some breathing room…well, BREATHE! :)
Great post! We have gotten ourselves into a few questionable projects. Well worth it in the end though. I remember deciding to redo the railings on our front deck and when I pulled them out, the deck pretty much came with it (it was all rotten and built wrong). So a small project turned in to a massively overwhelming one that took the entire summer! But we finished it and it looks much better now that we replaced everything. :)
Congrats Becki!
xo
s
Quick Question – do you guys ever consider hiring someone to work alongside of you, especially in a situation where you are tackling something you have not yet done? We are contemplating 2 big projects this summer (one installing a fence) and we are going to try diy for the parts we can and hire someone with experience to work along side of us for those parts that need more muscle/skill. PS the flexible budget for both money and time really does take the pressure off. great tip.
Yes, we have considered that too! We somewhat did that with a load bearing wall that we opened in our second house (we hired a pro who knew a lot more about structural stability to make the opening for us and then we took over and drywalled and trimmed it out and puttied and painted and did all the other stuff but the hard stuff). It wasn’t really working alongside someone (more like working in tandem) but we totally would consider hiring someone to show us the ropes and do something together with us!
xo
s
My dad did a lot of work in our house growing up. He somehow knew a contractor/handyman who would let him work with him throughout the process. He learned a lot, and he saved money too. He helped build the deck, lots of built-in bookshelves, and a bathroom.
When we moved to a new house, he wasn’t crazy enough to do another bathroom. But he did do built-ins for all our closets, bookshelves in our rooms (and a window seat in mine!), and make an entire library for us. It’s a good way to learn skills so you can know what you’re comfortable doing on your own in the future.
We’re currently picking out hardwood floors to install ourselves and I’ve read your posts about it about 4 times so far. This was a great addition to them because it’s so honest about how much work it was. I appreciate that. A lot of blogs just say, “It was a lot of work but so worth it!” and I end up feeling like a failure when I’m crying halfway through. Now that I know you guys were crying at midnight over your floors, I won’t feel bad when that happens to us! In fact, it might be kind of cool because I can sing “It’s my flooring and I’ll cry if I want to!” and know you might have been singing the same thing!
Haha, we’re rooting for you Melissa! Go tell those floors who’s boss.
xo
s
We recently paid to have our new floors installed. My husband was not willing to be the point person to install them ourselves, and since I work full time (he’s a stay at home dad) and we also have a baby, I just knew I wouldn’t be able to get it done with any kind of speed. We did do all the carpet demo, though.
However, even though it would have taken me forever to get it done, I’m sorry that I paid to have them install the quarter round. They did a really bad job of it. :( I feel like sometimes (but not always) I do a lot better job on things than “professionals”.
Oh man, that stinks Kate!
xo
s
Mine is so lame compared to yours, but, painting my kitchen cabinets. They look – ok. They are not great, and though I love them for me, I have to go back and sand down paint drips I missed and repaint before I sell the house. It just kind of sucks.
Also, my attempt to hide my truss uplift issues with regular caulk resulted in ceilings that still separate from my crown molding in winter, but now I also have painted caulk with holes in it that looks bumpy.
I’m soon going to attempt to change a toilet wax seal by myself. Have no help for lifting. May the house and I survive!
Oh man, good luck Barbara! I have totally changed a toilet by myself. If you empty the water (to make it as light as possible) and disconnect the tank and the toilet base (so they’re separate) you can totally do it! Good luck!
xo
s
I love being in my 30s now and knowing these same sort of things about myself. Maybe this isn’t true of everyone but I was so idealistic and unrealistic in my 20s. I grew up with very DIY focused parents. They put on their own roof and everything. I thought I might be the same way. My own realization was that I love READING about DIY. Otherwise I’m leaving it to the pros. My house looks better and my life is much less stressed now.
When we’re in the middle of something that’s not working as planned, my husband and I have a saying = “It wouldn’t be a project if you didn’t do it 3 times.”
somehow, it gets us through :)
Haha! There is so much truth to that. Going into things with low expectations is so much better than thinking “this’ll be done in five minutes flat.”
xo
s