Building a new home on your own lot is a significant investment. Many soon-to-be homeowners consider taking on the project on their own. Whether you’re an experienced DIYer or planning to pick up a hammer, saw, and pipe locator for the first time, explore the pros and cons of professional vs. DIY home construction and why it’s best to leave much of the building process to the professionals.
Benefits of Hiring a Professional
A professional general contractor and construction team may be a costly investment, but it’s not without reason. Tackling an entire home construction project requires expert knowledge of general construction, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, excavating, roofing, and more. Here are a few advantages of working with professionals in each of these areas:
- Ease of inspections
- Available financing
- Efficient construction
- Hassle-free project
All homes need to be inspected by your local building department throughout the process. Even if you’re building on your own property, you’ll still need to ensure that your home is safe and being properly constructed. A failed inspection can require you to pay for additional inspections and delay the building project.
Most banks are hesitant to finance a self-built home. Unless you’re a certified general contractor, be prepared to only work with hard money loans or personal financing. A traditional construction loan is difficult for a DIY construction project to receive.
Builders can take a professional design and turn it into a finished reality with relative ease. If you’re scratching your head at a particular architectural feature, appliance installation or other feature of the process, turning to an experienced team can relieve much of your stress and keep the home building project moving forward.
Complications of DIY Home Construction
Swinging a hammer on your own home construction project can give you a sense of ownership of your property. Unfortunately, it also comes with these complications:
- Risk of injury
- Unprofessional look
- Costly tool investment
- Delayed construction timeline
Building a home requires the use of excavation equipment, saws, drills, and lifting heavy framing materials into place. Without proper protective gear and training, constructing your own home can end with a trip to the hospital. Even professionals have workplace injuries from time to time, so homeowners have an even higher risk of injury when attempting to build their own home.
It’s much harder than it looks to pull off a flawless look when building a home. Finish carpentry, tile, paint and other materials are particularly difficult to work within a professional manner. A DIY home building project can result in a DIY look, which diminishes the value of your investment.
Unless you have all the tools necessary to build a home, you’ll need to invest in these professional items. Tool purchases and rentals can really add up, particularly if you’re attempting to take on some of the subcontractor roles like electrical, plumbing, and HVAC.
If time is money, then a DIY project may not be as cost-effective as it appears. Even a fully professional team takes months to build a home, so you should expect to take months to work on your home project instead of at your day job.
Ideal DIY Projects To Add Value To Your Home
Don’t let these concerns prevent you from flexing your construction muscles. A full home build may be too large of a project for you, but there are still a number of DIY projects that you can safely handle. Pick up a paintbrush, tape measure and pipe locator to tackle one or more of these projects:
- Painting
- Flooring
- Landscaping
- Interior designing
These projects require minimal tools and come with minimal risks. A comfortable outdoor walkway or bright, comfortable paint job can help your house feel more like home. It’s also a cost-effective way to add value to your home, whether old or new.
Shop for Professional Construction Tools Today
Make your home your own and put in some sweat equity with one of these DIY projects. Taking on a full home construction project on your lot may be too much to handle, but find out how a pipe locator and other tools can make a small DIY project go without a hitch. Shop for tools today at Engineer Supply to improve the interior design or curb appeal of your new home.
- This is a guest post not written by this sites’ owner.