There’s an issue with your house.
You know the one. It’s been glaring at you for weeks now, a festering wound on your otherwise beautiful home that nags at you every time you pass it by. You’re too busy to fix it, you tell yourself, as you grab your keys off the hook and commute to your work, only for it to greet you, weary and exhausted from dealing with customers, the minute you walk back into the house. You tell yourself you don’t have the know-how to take it on, and so you look for a professional to take care of it, only to hear the price the disinterested representative quotes to you over the phone, blanche, and lose a year off your life from the sheer weight of the figure.
All the while, you can almost hear it laughing at you, knowing that the issue may be growing, becoming more of a problem with every day it passes untreated.
If you’re reading this, then the chances are that you’ve finally decided enough is enough. You’re going to take care of it as soon as possible. The only problem is, you’ve never done a home renovation project in your life, and you are afraid you’re going to mess something up catastrophically.
Fortunately, guides like this one exist. While not a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to the process of home renovation (as such a guide would likely be as long as an encyclopedia), this guide will give you a few tips and tricks to make whatever project you’re working on just a little bit easier.
Take care of that problem that’s been lurking in the shadows for weeks now with these easy-to-implement tips and tricks.
Make Sure You Have the Correct Tools on Hand
Before starting the process of renovation, you’ll want to make sure you have the tools on hand that you’ll require for that specific job. A basic toolbox will likely be required for most home renovation jobs, with a set of wrenches, a drill with varied bits, and a set of screwdrivers at a minimum needed on hand, as well as other typical tools like a hammer, hand saw, and the like. These are things you should have on hand for any job, as they’ll likely prove handy with most DIY projects.
For specialized jobs, such as getting a bad smell out of your walls or repainting cabinets, you’ll likely need to do some research on which tools you should purchase for that specific job.
Larger-scale renovations will likely require you hire a professional. You just want to make sure they have or will get heavier-duty equipment for your project, like a work truck or a jackhammer.
Keep Yourself Safe
When working on a DIY project, you’ll want to make sure you minimize the likelihood of accidents as much as possible. In the service of that, avoid wearing loose-fitting clothing or jewelry, keep your workplace as organized and tidy as possible to avoid trips and falls, and keep the workspace area well-ventilated. Also, take your time. Going quickly increases the likelihood you injure yourself while working.
On that same note, there are some projects you should never attempt to do yourself, projects that can lead to serious injury if you aren’t very, very careful. Such projects typically include electrical issues, foundation issues, or anything involving gas or heating. Leave those to the professionals, as if you mess something up when attempting to fix them the first time around, you’ll likely have to pay a pretty penny both for a professional to look at it the second time around and for your hospital bills.
Research, Research, Research
The ultimate trick to any DIY project is to make sure to thoroughly research what others have done. This will give you the best possible insight into the types of materials and tools you can use, as well as the most efficient, most stable way to construct or fix whatever you’re working on. Failure to thoroughly research the kind of project you’re working on will at best lead to an unstable construction effort on your part: at worst, it could lead you to injure yourself or waste money on cheap, unsubstantial building materials.
Doing-it-yourself doesn’t have to be as hard as you think it is. With the proper research, tools, and safety procedures, you’ll find that you become more of a Fix-it-Felix (and less of a Wreck-it-Ralph) in no time.
