DIY Projects that are Most Likely to Fail, and Why

In this day and age, there is a certain sense of pride that comes with doing a job yourself. With farmhouse trends, shiplap, and the rise of Chip and Joanna Gaines, there have been more and more homeowners attempting DIY jobs on their own homes. This could be a great route to go - if you know what you’re doing. The common homeowner doesn’t, as construction is a specialized field that takes time to understand and gain expertise in. If you’re feeling up for a project, then do your research first! 

The most commonly attempted projects by homeowners are:

-Interior painting projects

-Floor tile installations

-Kitchen/bath fixture installations

-Hardwood floor installations 

The most regretted DIY jobs are:

-Floor tile installations

-Ceiling replacements

-Hardwood floor refinishing projects

-Carpet installations

-Basement finishing projects

As you can see, common jobs such as interior painting and fixture upgrades may be something well worth undertaking. While you can opt to hire a professional, those are jobs that are easy to learn and accomplish. The bigger jobs are where people start to wish they had hired help!  40% of people said they have regretted floor projects, and nearly a 1/3 regretted room additions/expansions, wall and ceiling projects, or cabinet and counter projects. Foundation repair projects are the most likely to go over budget or cause damage to the home, because of all the unexpected things that can pop up that homeowners don’t know how to deal with. As far as technical difficulties? Electrical work and backsplash installation come in as being at the top of that list. 

And, on top of these jobs being harder and/or more expensive than anticipated, often times homeowners aren’t 100% sure what they’re doing, and can cause more harm than good. When homeowners end up hiring help after attempting a DIY project, the project actually costs more because the company needs to fix the damage or problems caused by the DIY attempt. 

What is it that makes a DIY job go bad, though? Why are these larger jobs regrettable, especially with the rise of YouTube and DIY videos? 

Looking into it further for these answers, we discovered that over half of homeowners who were disappointed with their results said that the final result just didn’t look good, and a quarter said the project didn’t function well. Homeowners also said they spent an average of six hours researching their project via the web, and nearly half of homeowners who took on a project said their projects took longer than anticipated, were physically harder than anticipated, or were technically harder than anticipated. One in five said that the project cost more than they thought it would, most of them being nearly double the anticipated cost. 

Our verdict? If you have any doubt or reservations, you may want to consider talking to a professional. On top of things going wrong or taking longer than anticipated, if the project ends up going wrong in any capacity, it could end up costing you more to hire someone to fix what went wrong and THEN do the project then it would have to just hire someone in the first place! Plus, hiring a licensed and insured company guarantees that it will be done right and look good. You also don’t need to do all that research and work yourself!