As any homeowner knows, there are plenty of benefits to being a homeowner. There’s nothing better than tinkering, and planning, and really putting your own personal stamp and style on your home. But a home is also a living thing in a lot of respects: when everything is in working order, it’s a great feeling. When something’s not right, your house will usually let you know it.
It’s inevitable that home repairs are going to need to be made, but not all homeowners want to address them immediately. In fact, 1 in 5 homeowners says they put off completing repairs on their home. A big reason for this may be a lack of knowledge when it comes to home repairs. If you don’t know what you’re doing, it can be very easy to make some common home repair mistakes.
Such mistakes can prove frustrating and costly. If home repair isn’t your thing, it’s best to leave it to the pros and hire local contractors when it comes to jobs like home insulation and making repairs to home plumbing. Professionals can help with just about any kind of repair you need and have the experience to do a good job. There are many good reasons to enlist the help of local contractors in your area.
First, let’s look at home common home repair mistakes:
Thinking You Know It All
One of the least advisable things you can do if you’ve got a list of home repairs to tackle is assuming that you know everything about the repairs. You may think that after watching HGTV or scrolling through Pinterest that you can tackle any home repair job.
Odds are this probably isn’t a good idea. If you don’t have tools, you may rush out to buy materials and have no clue what it is you need to buy. If you don’t know the process of a particular repair, you may end up skipping a step and having to up your budget.
As if that wasn’t enough, there are lots of options these days for just about any home repair you can think of. If you need windows or doors repaired or replaced, the fact is that there are a lot of doors and windows to choose from. With so many options, it can be easy to become overwhelmed. Contractors can help you narrow your choices and make the best possible option for the repairs you need.
Ignoring Water Damage
When spaces in your home such as your bathroom aren’t kept dry, it can very easy for mold and water damage to occur. You may not realize, but it can take as little as a few hours for the water to seep into cracks and crevices it’s not supposed to be in and cause major damage. If water damage accumulates over a long period of time, mold can grow, and repair costs are going to go up.
Not Maintaining Appliances
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is not taking care of your appliances. You may notice that your ice maker is scaling up. You may notice that your washer and dryer are taking a longer cycle through than usual. You may notice your AC unit stalls out from time to time. Whatever the case, a failure to do basic maintenance on everyday appliances can cause them to malfunction.
Procrastinating
Procrastination is never good whether you’re talking about work or home repairs. But many of the most common home repair mistakes are made because projects are simply put off too long. It never seems like there’s a good time, and when you do have time you may be tempted to rush through a project. Let’s say your garage door has been malfunctioning. If you’re going to fix it, make time to fix it by writing it down or making a note on your phone.
Messing With The Temperature
If you’re trying to control the temperature of a particular room, you may think that closing a vent will do the trick. But what this can actually do is cause your furnace to work harder. In the long run, it can lead to costly damage. To avoid making a costly mistake, you’re better off hiring a local HVAC contractor to take a look at your unit and give you a better idea of what’s going on.
Deviating From A Plan
Even if you’ve got a little bit of home improvement experience, it can be hard to complete repairs if you don’t come up with a workable plan. Before you start any project, you need to have a written plan of what you’re going to do and stick to it. Deviating from the plan—for whatever reason—can cause you to become frustrated, it can drive up your budget, and ultimately it could cause you to waste time.
Ignoring Your Gut Feeling
Let’s face it, there are some home repairs that can be easily taken care of with some duct tape, a set of screwdrivers, and some good, old-fashioned elbow grease. But for bigger repairs, you’ll do yourself a disservice by not listening to your gut, which is probably telling you that bigger repairs to important appliances are best left to the pros.
Bad Winterizing
When cold temperatures arrive in winter, there are several important things that need to be done to winterize your home. For example, if you don’t proper maintenance your sprinkler system, pipes can easily freeze and break. This will cause a myriad of problems since you’ll have to have your system repaired and you’ll have lots of water draining into your soil.
Why You Need A Contractor
Whether you’ve got a little bit of know-how or you’re completely in the dark about home repairs, there are plenty of good reasons to hire contractors. Professionals can help you avoid common home repair mistakes because they are licensed, insured, and experienced.
If you’re looking to hire professional landscapers or other kinds of contractors, here are several reasons to do so:
Experience
One of the best reasons to hire contractors for home repair jobs is that they’ve got the experience to help you avoid common home repair mistakes. If your garage door is malfunctioning, or you need your air conditioning unit fixed, or you’ve got some leaky pipes, there’s a good chance a contractor has dealt with those issues many times before.
Bottom line: contractors will do the job right. If you’re looking for the best contractor for a particular job, such as dealing with AC services, you can easily find that person. How? You can go online, search for local HVAC services in your area, and read reviews on different companies and independent contractors. You might even inquire among friends and neighbors to see who they might recommend for such a job.
Connections
If you’ve ever tried to tackle a home improvement project yourself, then you know there are lots of materials that accompany a job. If you’re trying to paint your home, for example, you’re doing to need rollers, paint, mixing cups, drop cloths, primer, and other materials. The point is that the project may only be as successful as your budget allows and there are no doubt materials can be expensive.
Thankfully, contractors have connections that can save you money in the long run. Chances are pretty good that they have different accounts with vendors. What this means for you is that contractors can get discounts, especially if they purchase materials from different vendors with any regularity. If they do, they can pass the savings on to you, which will help you better manage the budget for a particular project.
Different Skills
It’s true that contractors can save you from making a lot of common home repair mistakes, and they can do that because of the skills they have. Contractors, such as plumbers, are the best at what they do because they’ve put the time in to learn their craft.
A professional plumber has fixed his or her fair share of leaky pipes, installed their fair share of toilets, and dealt with just about anything plumbing-related. They know the best process to make any kind of repair, the best materials, and tools to use, as well as what to avoid. As a homeowner, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that you’ve got a professional contractor working for you who’s going to do a good job.
Safety
With any home repair job, safety is, and should be a top priority. Every homeowner wants home repair jobs done correctly, but they want all concerned parties to stay safe too. Thankfully, a contractor will know all of the codes and obtain all the needed permits for a job. That means for example, that if a contractor is doing a custom fence installation, or putting an addition on your home, the job they do will be code compliant. A contractor is also well-versed in OSHA regulations, so if there’s a team of contractors working on a home project, they’re going to maintain safety standards to protect themselves and your home.
Savings
Contractors can save you from making frustrating common home repair mistakes, but they can also save you some money too. There’s no denying that some home repairs are more costly than others. But the flip side to that is that by hiring contractors, you’re spending money wisely.
You can try doing a job yourself, but you might end up spending lots of time, money, and manpower on a job that’s impossible for you to complete. Even if you are able to complete the job, it may not be safe, or up to your liking. By hiring a contractor, you’ll save money because the job will be done right the first time. Spending the money on a contractor to make a home repair now, can save you 10 years or more of patchwork fixes that will add up over time.
Respect
In the midst of trying to do home repairs yourself, not only will you make common home repair mistakes, but you might make a mess in the process.
Another benefit of contractors is that they’ll show respect for your home while they work. If you read reviews on contractors, you’ll likely find some reviews where homeowners aren’t happy. But you’ll also find reviews where homeowners speak glowingly of the respect that contractors have shown their home. The best contractors will respect your home and will never leave a mess. You won’t ever have to worry about dirt, nails, sawdust, wrapping, or any other debris when a job is complete.
Quality
If you have a friend or neighbor, who’s recently had some work done, you’ve likely marveled at how good the work they’ve had done is, whether it’s a home addition, the building of a back porch, or the reroofing of a home.
The reason you’ve marveled is that experienced contractors not only offer experience, but they offer quality work. In addition to fixing common home repair mistakes, contractors can do jobs that are going to look immaculate when they’re done. Let’s say for example you’re having your windows and doors replaced. You can have window contractors install custom blinds to help make your windows more energy efficient. If you’re having your doors replaced, you can meet with door contractors who can offer suggestions on the best doors to buy and then install them for you.
When all is said and done, you’ll have new windows and doors that will make your home more energy-efficient, safer, will keep pests out, and will improve the overall aesthetic of your home.
As you see, there are many common home repair mistakes you can make if you’re not careful. Fortunately, you can avoid any and all of them by hiring contractors. Making the choice to hiring interior contractors or exterior contractors can save you lots of time, money, and energy. Contractors have the experience and the skills to bring your home improvement projects to life, and they’ll make sure to do the job right the first time while showing respect for the safety of your home.
