Many homeowners sometimes believe that they can undertake major remodeling projects on their own. The reason being “Doing it yourself” is often perceived as an efficient way to save money. However, certain home-renovation projects, especially exterior renovation projects, could be very costly, potentially dangerous, and even illegal if you don’t have the right skills or expertise.
The average homeowner without experience and proper equipment should not attempt exterior renovations such as roofing, siding, or window replacement projects. Sometimes it’s better to hire a professional. Not convinced? Fort Sask Reno Inc. will give you four reasons for just how serious things might get and what are the risks associated with attempting DIY exterior renovations.
1. It can cost you a lot in the long run
There are definitely financial implications for DIY projects! For starters, most customers will pay wholesale prices for materials which can be up to 40% more than the wholesale prices that contractors pay. Another high-cost many DYI’ers can end up paying includes the cost of hiring a professional after they were unable to complete the project on their own. There have been many occasions over the years where we have had to remove all the materials a homeowner has tried to install and start from scratch. Ouch!
2. You could fail at home inspections
Licenses and certifications are not always required for homeowners to complete their own work. However, city inspections often are! So if you don’t know what you are doing, you may end up failing inspection and wasting valuable time and money!
3. You don’t have the skills and equipment
To carry out this type of work on your own, at a minimum, you need all the proper personal protective equipment, basic hand tools, pneumatic nailers, and compressors; often, you need expensive ladders and scaffolding to complete the job safely.
4. You could seriously damage your home’s exterior
An example of how a DIY project can go wrong is inadequate weatherproofing on exterior renovations. The tricky thing about this is that while the job done by the DIY’er may look OK, it may not actually provide the proper barrier to the weather. The result could be an intrusion of rain, wind, heat, and cold into the interior of the house. This could result in high heating and cooling bills, siding being blown off the house, and water damage, including rot on the substructure of the house. In the case of water intrusion, the issue may not be known for many years as water leaks in gradually through the seasons resulting in rot. When we as professionals are called to check out the sudden appearance of water or mold inside a home, it is not uncommon to find faulty weatherproofing as the root cause. The solution is often complete demolition of the exterior components (sometimes even the wall insulation and drywall are damaged and need replacement) and complete rebuild and re-side. So instead of paying a contractor to properly install windows, roofing, or siding, for example, you end up paying a contractor to demolish your shoddy work and install new siding, roofing, and windows as well as carpentry to repair rot and, worst-case scenarios, insulation, drywall, and painting costs. Be careful!
Do things right - Hire a professional!
Exterior renovation contractors pay some of the highest workers’ compensation premiums because it ranks as one of the riskier jobs out there. Hazards include slips, trips, falls, the potential for exposure to asbestos-containing materials, and injuries due to overexertion.
So if you do decide to hire a professional, consider the following criteria: contractor must have a high number and Google reviews ranking, longevity in business, possible business awards, all proper insurances such as commercial liability insurance, Workers Compensation insurance, and a local business license at the very least!
Hiring a properly vetted, qualified, and insured professional greatly reduces the risk of personal injury, property damage, and financial loss. If you are not certain how to do the job and have no highly experienced friends or family to help you throughout the process, you should seriously consider hiring a professional!
However, it may seem that hiring a professional will cost way more than doing it yourself (and in some cases, that is very true, there are a limited number of homeowners who actually can do their own work and save some money), in the end, if you are not a highly skilled individual the cost of doing it yourself is substantially more expensive than hiring a professional. Also, homeowners should be equally wary of low-priced contractors as they often do not have enough ability or insurance to complete the job safely and with any better quality than an inexperienced homeowner. Ask for references!
If you’re looking for a renovation contractor in Fort Saskatchewan, AB, reach out to Fort Sask Reno Inc. We are a licensed and insured renovation contracting company with more than fourteen years of providing seamless exterior and interior services along with top-of-the-line products to our clients. We have the necessary skills, tools, and equipment to professionally install siding, soffit, fascia, capping, exterior insulation, eavestroughs, and decorative trims on new and renovation residential exteriors. We have people who genuinely love transforming our customers’ older houses into new, energy-efficient, stylish homes. Our services are available to clients across Fort Saskatchewan, Edmonton, Lamont, Redwater, Gibbons, St. Albert, Sherwood Park, and the surrounding areas.
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