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We live in an age of the empowered DIYer. If you can imagine a home remodel project, no doubt someone out there is telling you how to do it—even encouraging you to do so.
While it’s great to save money and put yourself up to a new challenge, there are innumerable reasons why we have home improvement professionals. They can get the job done faster and usually better than if you did it yourself. They’ll also take a lot of the heavy lifting off of your plate, allowing you to concentrate on other parts of your home.
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01
of 10Roof Your House
Roofing a house is a labor-intensive task that requires the work of a team of professionals who do this job every day. Given the time-sensitive nature of this project, you’ll want to hire roofers to roof or to make major structural roof repairs on your house.
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02
of 10Paint Your Kitchen Cabinets
While you can paint your own kitchen cabinets, painting them perfectly and professionally is difficult. It’s not just a matter of brushing on or rolling out the paint. You always get better results if you remove the cabinets to paint them. Plus, kitchen cabinets can be notoriously grimy, so the real work comes with cleaning and sanding down the surfaces.
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03
of 10Install a Water Heater
Installing a water heater requires a permit in most communities. Not only that, water heaters are bulky and heavy to move around. But the real clincher is that safety is an issue. A new water heater requires either a natural gas line or an electrical connection, both of which should be installed by pros.
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04
of 10Install Sheet Flooring or Wall-to-Wall Carpet
Because homeowners are so accustomed to installing plank or self-adhesive tile flooring, it’s easy to think that all flooring is simple to install. Not so with sheet vinyl flooring or wall to wall carpeting. Large format materials are difficult to source, transport, lay out, and cut. Let the pros do this job.
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05
of 10Significant Chimney Repairs
As a do-it-yourselfer, you can undertake some minor chimney or fireplace repairs, as long as you’re comfortable with accessing the roof. But once you get past the surface of the masonry, this is a specialty trade that chimney repair technicians or masons know best.
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06
of 10Room Demolition
One important component of room demolition that many homeowners forget is what to do with the debris. When you hire pros to demolish your room, debris hauling should be part of the contract. More importantly, if you plan to do the remodeling yourself, handing off demolition to someone else helps you conserve your energies and your patience for the true creative work.
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07
of 10Window Replacement
Replacing windows in your home on a large scale is always best left in the hands of a replacement window company. As a do-it-yourselfer, it’s tough to find sources for replacement windows. The windows you see on the shelves of your local home improvement center aren’t the right ones. Those are new-construction windows. On top of that, window replacement is an exacting project with little room for error.
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08
of 10Large-Scale Yard Fencing
A fence is a simple thing to construct. At its core, it’s just two four-by-four posts set in concrete with a fence panel nailed between them. Executing this on the large scale, such as across an entire property line or around the yard, is physically taxing. Also, it can get so monotonous that there is the risk of you giving up on it. When you hire a professional fence company, they will do in days what likely would take you weeks or months to do.
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09
of 10Asbestos Removal
Asbestos is a fibrous mineral linked to the disease mesothelioma. Unfortunately, it’s found in many older building materials, from insulation to flooring adhesive to some forms of house siding. Professionals have all of the right gear and know-how for removing asbestos. Hire professionals who are certified in this work.
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10
of 10Drywall Finishing
It’s one thing to hang drywall. All you need is a cordless drill and drywall screws, or even a hammer and drywall nails. With an assistant, you can hang all of the drywall panels in a small room in a day or two. But applying drywall compound, a process known as mudding, and later on sanding it down, is a home trade that approaches an art form. Some do-it-yourselfers do have the magic touch. But for many others, the trick of achieving ripple-free, glass-smooth walls is one that is difficult to master. Pros who do this all the time can give your walls and ceiling a flawless finish.
Though, these projects are ones that you might be able to do yourself, in most cases, you’ll get better results and save yourself aggravation if you hire a pro.
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