How to Avoid a Disaster, and Save Four Hours by Doing So

happiness, lessons learned, Teaching and Education 1 Minute

A new survey of 2,000 Americans finds four in 10 people have more do-it-yourself failures than they do successes. The average person estimates that it takes them five hours of trial and error before quitting their project and calling in a professional to help.

So I have a simple solution to this.

Don’t even try.

Right from the start, just call in the professional.

You avoid possible disaster, and you pick up four hours in your schedule.

You’ll thank me next time you’re thinking about that DIY project…

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

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59 thoughts on “How to Avoid a Disaster, and Save Four Hours by Doing So”

  2. They say if you want a job done right, do it yourself, but I guess that only applies to 60% of DIYers. The worst scenario is when you pay someone to finish your project, and then they do a worse job than you would have done, and you have to redo their work. That happens sometimes.

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  5. When we first got married and didn’t have any money, I was that DIY guy. Of course, most jobs left me aggravated and took twice as long as they should have. I’m much more selective these days and have no qualms about calling a professional.

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  8. Glad to say that we fall into the 60%. DIY was the only way we could afford to get things done for years. Some things did take longer, like gutting a bathroom. Other simple things like not having to call an electrician to replace a light fixture or a plumber to install a new sink were worth gold in our books. For the big thing though, the thing I call The Big Reno, we knew we were over our heads and didn’t attempt it until we could afford to hire someone. So I guess that knowing one’s skill limits is the key.

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      2. in my mind whenever I speak or write, it makes perfect sense to me. Of course, that’s really up to the person on the receiving side to judge that 🙂

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  10. Amen! I work with homeowners who are trying to remodel their kitchens all the time. It’s very frustrating, and generally doesn’t turn out great. There’s a reason people are paid to do that sort of work.

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  11. I taught myself to bake and do fondant art from scratch. As I did correspondence university with no lectures or tutorials, I guess I taught myself accounting to. I think if you are interested in something, you can prevail. Of course, it takes more than five hours [smile].

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  12. Not only am I incompetent but I usually do not have the right tools. I save time by not trying to do most things myself. Then we save money by procrastinating and living with broken garbage disposals, cupboards without doors, cracked windshields, etc., although it might be cheaper to pay a plumber to fix our dripping faucets and running toilets. I could not make this comment on my own Blog because my wife hates it when I expose our bad habits.

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  13. Hubby and I assembled the first 10×8 shed 15 years ago. The floor deteriorated. He dismantled it this summer. We bought a better 10×8 risen shed. No professional service is available. It only comes with a menu and phone call help available. The customer reviews showed some people took 12 hours to finish. Some were done by one person or two people. After reading many from hundreds of reviews, I believed we could do it ourselves. Hubby did most of the work and I only helped to hold the parts while he connected the parts together. He didn’t like to get exhausted because of the heat. He spread out the work and finished it in a week.

    He did a lot of work around the house as his retirement project. There were a couple of things he couldn’t do such as plumbing problems and he had to call the professionals.

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      1. Hubby’s profession is in the medical field. I think the projects using his hands are a way to use his creativity. Before he met me, he built a stable for the horses.

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  15. Wow, for once, I’m ahead of the curve. I’ve only had 2 DIY project so badly I needed to call in a pro. Most notably a toilet replacement. Your photo reminds me of a coworker I had who was fond of saying ‘every tool is a hammer’.

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  17. Honestly, this is my motto but unfortunately my husband doesn’t share the same motto as me LOL…

    He prefers to google and YouTube the solution where as I like to just call a professional.

    The most he’ll agree to doing is it really is out of his realm is call a professional the first time then when they’re here, he uses them and their skill to learn a new trade. Lol I’ve seen him follow the electrician around and shadow him like an apprentice 🤣🤦‍♀️

    I guess there’s something to be said about him trying to learn a new skill but really I think he’s just uber f r u g a l…

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  20. Sounds great to me! Years ago, I decided to be a fix-it man. The kitchen sink was equipped with a rinse hose, but it needed replacement. I had no idea that a special tool made it easier to loosen the connection. I burned a couple of hours before I found a friend with the necessary tool. My Dad is the ultimate fix-it quack (led to my short story on “Hubby’s Toolbox”). He’s in a league by himself.

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    1. but at least it sounds like you finished the plumbing repair I just went to your site and read the Hubby’s Toolbox post – the poor guy. But really, a hammer and a chisel do not seem to go together when fixing a toilet… 🙂

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