Something you'd rather have a professional handle than DIY?

[fiby41]

Things: goods or services you prefer paying for?

Examples:

Taxes
Domestic help
Furniture
Food
Cooking
Plumbing

How do you decide when having someone else do them is worth the time or energy that would be spent otherwise?

A sub question: If you want to leave your job because you hate it, what parts of your job would you rather have someone else do for you so that you won't hate it anymore?

[jennypenny]

surgery

[m741]

I started paying someone to do taxes a few years ago. I really didn't mind doing my own taxes with H&R Block software, but my income and cash grew large enough that I figured a professional would more than pay for themselves, and I was right. It's a worthwhile investment right now when I'm trying to shift things around to minimize tax burden.

[7Wannabe5]

Hard to answer because there are quite a few categories of stuff/services that I prefer to acquire through either scavenging or bartering, rather than either DIY or paying with cash.

I've never paid to have my taxes done or hired domestic help. I almost always scavenge the discard market for furniture. Food and cooking, I sometimes DIY, scavenge, barter or buy. I have prepared far more meals for other people than I have eaten meals prepared by other people (probably packed 3000 lunches for my ex-husband), but I enjoy eating out sometimes for the novelty or sociability. I can do most plumbing repairs myself, but prefer to pay for Roto-Rooter type services.

This week I paid cash for zip-ties, wireless headphones and Febreeze. I think Febreeze might be my number one secret consumer product vice. I am kind of addicted to the stuff, and every homemade or generic version I have tried hasn't worked as well.

[JasonR]

o

[jacob]

I don't think there's any one category that I'd rather have a professional handle than DIY as a matter of rule.

For non-complex stuff, I often find that the primary difference is that the pro can finish much faster and with much less effort whereas the DIY approach often results in a job that is better done insofar the job is not so complex as to get screwed up by DIY ignorance. DIY means being able to do a more thorough job. The reason is professionals are often about optimizing their hourly rate whereas you are about optimizing total cost. IOW, pros can do "good enough"-work really fast. You can do good work but it takes much longer.

For complex stuff, there's a long learning curve.

My general rule is that if it only has to be done once or twice in my life by me, I'll punt it to a pro.

If it has to be done more often, what generally happens is that first I'll hire a pro. Then I'll realize that I could do this and paying $100 each time from now on is crazy. I will then buy too many tools and take an enormous amount baby-steps covering all the terrain (this is why I've still not started on the kitchen renovation after living here for 1.5 years because there are related steps yet to be finished). Then I will finally accomplish the task. The second or third time around will be much much faster and in my opinion be better than the pro job because there's no communications failures or anything. I get it exactly how I want it. As the final step, I will now realize that I don't need all those tools I initially thought I did.

The benefit of those more frequent jobs is that I save money, obviously, but more importantly that I always get a personalized solution that I can start on right away.

Then of course there are those issues where you MUST hire a pro because of some BS legal stuff. For example, whereas cmonkey could install French drains on his own basement on his own, the building department in my city insist that this be done by a licensed and bonded pro.

[IlliniDave]

-Any number of medical and dental procedures.
-Some legal matters
-Some auto repair
-As Jacob mentioned, those things that require a professional/certified/bonded/insured individual (a system in my view that is essentially the legal cousin of mob protection rackets). In my area certain electrical and plumbing jobs require this along with permits and inspections--lots of bills dipping into my wallet.

I used to use a simple trade analysis for other things. I valued my free time at $20/hour (this was when I had a young family and free time taken up by chores meant additional time away from them). If there was a job I could do in 6 hours but could pay someone $100 to do it, I'd pay the money. If it cost $300 to hire out I'd do it myself. The $20/hr was arbitrary.

Now that kids are grown and I fly solo, the calculus is different. For now dollars are more important and as long as I feel I can do it correctly, without causing excessive collateral damage, without investing more in tools, etc., than the cost to hire (unless it's clear the tool(s) would be a significant asset going forward), and without injuring myself, I do it. Otherwise I pay. An example is I pay someone to clean my gutters because most of them are at a height far beyond the reach of my ladder, or any my neighbors have, and I'm not comfortable with heights to begin with.

[cmonkey]

whereas cmonkey could install French drains on his own basement on his own, the building department in my city insist that this be done by a licensed and bonded pro.

What the city doesn't know, won't hurt you.


For me, items that fall into this category would be exceedingly complex solutions (i.e. my geothermal system (although I am learning about it)) or extremely labor intensive work/work that is best left to machinery (such as the piping for the geo or boring a new water well). Another example is the geo-lock wall anchors we had installed to secure our basement walls. That would have been a lot of work and would have required a huge drill.

[George the original one]

Specialized tools can be rented for reasonable cost, at least they can for construction and automotive work.

Outside of the medical trade, time constraints are the usual reason I've hired professionals. If you're already working a full time job, it is really tough to install siding, windows, & a roof by yourself before the weather turns on you!

[Sclass]

Recently I burned some dark moles off my skin using and upside down can of air duster. I didn't feel like seeing the dermatologist. I guess that isn't real "surgery" though.

The last time I hired a mechanic to do an auto repair was a clutch job on a vintage mercedes. This falls under the category "hazmat removal" since the old cars used real asbestos friction plates. The bell housing has a nice way of storing up decades of asbestos shavings for the day you separate the transmission from the engine. All sprinkling down on your face as you try to free the transmission from under the car.

I gladly paid a local guy to take care of this for me.

[tonyedgecombe]

Recently I burned some dark moles off my skin using and upside down can of air duster. I didn't feel like seeing the dermatologist. I guess that isn't real "surgery" though.

That reminds me of a story about the explorer Ranulph Fienes who trimmed the ends of his frost bitten fingers off with a pair of garden shears in his shed.

[fiby41]

-Any number of medical and dental procedures.

This reminded me, when a milk tooth used to become too loose, shaky and painful, when it was preferable to remove it that wait for it to fall off on its own, we used to fix a long string around it and pull from a distance to remove it. Saved unnecessary trips to the dentist and I am still alive.

[Sclass]

-Any number of medical and dental procedures.

This reminded me, when a milk tooth used to become too loose, shaky and painful, when it was preferable to remove it that wait for it to fall off on its own, we used to fix a long string around it and pull from a distance to remove it. Saved unnecessary trips to the dentist and I am still alive.

I love using this analogy for getting things straightened out in my life. Probably because I learned this at an early age with the dental floss and the door knob. You can leave it in and it will bother you a long time. Or you can do the abrupt and violent thing and be done with it instantly.

What idiot came up with eating and Apple? Ouch!

[OldPro]

I have used a cost/benefit formula in the past for some things I could have done myself or paid someone to do. Similar to what IlliniDave describes. One yardstick I used while I was working for a living was the long weekend. If I could finish a project in a long weekend, I would do it myself. If it was going to take up more of my free time than that, I would hire someone to do it.

Looking at it from a monetary side, I did not calculate based on how much I could earn in a day but in terms of how much I could enjoy a day of free time. In other words a day might equal $100 in income but it would also equal $200 in free time. Free time is always worth more than the income you could earn in that same amount of time.

Regarding, "DIY means being able to do a more thorough job. The reason is professionals are often about optimizing their hourly rate whereas you are about optimizing total cost. IOW, pros can do "good enough"-work really fast. You can do good work but it takes much longer.", I would say that while this is true in some cases, from what I have seen of DIY jobs people have done, in the majority of cases, it is the opposite in terms of the quality of the end result. Most DIYers are NOT capable of doing as good a job as a professional is in any amount of time.

While Sclass for example might be quite capable of doing as good a job of rebuilding a carburetor on an old Mercedes as the mechanic at his local garage, he might not be capable of installing baseboard in a room at all. I use that example because the house I currently live in had obviously had baseboard installed by the previous owner who had no clue of what a mitered corner was. I'm sure he thought his DIY job was 'good'. So you have to add 'good enough' rather than just 'good' to the equation. Something might be good enough for you but not up to the standards that a professional would be held to.

To me the most important factor in deciding when should you DIY or not, is your ability to do the job. A lot of people kid themselves that they can when in fact they cannot. At least not to a level I would accept as 'good'. You have to be realistic about your abilities. It's fine to pick up a scrap carburetor and practice rebuilding it 3 or 4 times before doing the real job on your car but you can't practice drywalling 3 or 4 rooms before you re-drywall your bedroom. Drywalling happens to be one of the most botched DIY jobs homeowners do and tiling is another. You don't get to go through a 'learning curve' unless you want to spend the money to re-do the job several times. In that case of course you might as well have paid a professional to begin with.

[luxagraf]

To me the most important factor in deciding when should you DIY or not, is your ability to do the job. A lot of people kid themselves that they can when in fact they cannot. At least not to a level I would accept as 'good'. You have to be realistic about your abilities. It's fine to pick up a scrap carburetor and practice rebuilding it 3 or 4 times before doing the real job on your car but you can't practice drywalling 3 or 4 rooms before you re-drywall your bedroom.

I have to respectfully disagree with this.

I would argue the opposite: In most cases you need a lot less skill than you think.

The likelihood of me undertaking a DIY project is directly proportional to how much I think I'll learn from the experience (i.e. how little my abilities are currently). For example, I know enough about plumbing to unstop a drain clog 5-60 feet down the line, but I tend to hire that out because a) not much more to learn b) specialized tools required c) not fun (to me). On the other hand I know nothing about fiberglass, so fiberglass repair is on my shortlist of DIY projects to undertake.

Your examples are funny though because just last weekend I broke the linkage on my carburetor trying to find a leak in the bottom and instantly got the opportunity to learn how to rebuild it. Never occurred to me to get a spare for testing, that's not a bad idea actually. But now I know how to do that (thank you youtube) and I'd do it again because a) still a lot to learn b) pretty much just need a wrench c) still fun. I also just redid the drywall on my ceiling, never having worked with drywall before. Can't say it was fun, my arms were worn out by the time I was done, but it wasn't hard.

Anyway, I think the myth of the expert stops a lot of people from DIY and while I don't want to downplay expertise entirely, you don't always need to be one to accomplish something.

[Sclass]

While Sclass for example might be quite capable of doing as good a job of rebuilding a carburetor on an old Mercedes as the mechanic at his local garage, he might not be capable of installing baseboard in a room at all.

You got me. I did fix my floor with some Bondo I had left over from a car project.

[George the original one]

I know someone who used bondo and automotive high-build primer to smooth out their door trim before painting it.

And then there's the story of a lady who wanted her husband to install the picture window that they'd had sitting around for a month after purchase, so, in a fit of pique, she finally took a sawz-all to the wall and cut out the rough opening while he was at work. He came home to that gaping hole, so had to take care of the installation immediately! [it's a true story, heard from the husband & wife... he's the pro]

[enigmaT120]

I paid somebody to pump out my septic tank.

I paid somebody else to install a new water pump in my spring-fed cistern. A year later there was a leak in the pipe and I had him come out again, and this time he didn't have his helpers so I helped him. I won't need him again though, that is a lot easier than I thought it was.

I paid somebody to install our solar panels and more recently a ductless heat pump in our house. Both required installation by qualified experts in order for me to get tax credits and stuff.

I sent out the cylinder heads and tranny on my BMW for machine work and a tranny rebuild. I expect eventually I'll rebuild a tranny but like Oldpro said, at this point I don't want to spend the time it will take.

I did install tile and hardwood floors in my house. Timing belts and chains, brake jobs, head gaskets, most automotive stuff I do. I do my own bicycle work now, though I don't want to lace up a wheel yet. I have the book though. Time, again. I painted my old Triumph Bonneville and will do so again.

I can't decide if I want to install a metal roof on my house myself, or pay to have it done. MMM's article was cool, but my roof is a lot more complicated than his and I have a bunch of those plumbing vents coming up through the roof, and my fireplace chimney. Also he IS a lot more handy than I am at stuff like that. I'm slow.

[cmonkey]

Drywalling happens to be one of the most botched DIY jobs homeowners do and tiling is another.

I'd have to agree with this even though I don't have anecdotal evidence outside of my own work. The actual process of each is quite simple, but its attention to detail that makes them turn out well or not. Many people would just get frustrated and be forced to be content with a less than perfect job.

Case in point - when we moved our kitchen across the house after moving in, I had never done a lick of remodel work...ever. The tiled floor is the one sticking point that annoyed me the most. We never prepped the concrete subfloor and so there is one area that is noticeably higher than the rest.

The drywall turned out very well except for one area that was tricky. Its a little wonky. It bothered me for the first couple weeks...now it just reminds me that I can (and will) do a better job next time. I'm pretty proud of the rest, the ceiling in particular. Textured and everything.

Like anything a {visually appealing} 'job well done' is in the eye of the beholder.

[henrik]

The likelihood of me undertaking a DIY project is directly proportional to how much I think I'll learn from the experience

Same here. I am paying ~1.5% of my monthly net income for a full cleanup of my apartment once a month. I know how to do it, not complicated, it would take me about 4 hours to do it (it takes the cleaning person about 2 hours). Then again I'd never outsource replacing the roof on my country house.. how many of them do you get to replace in a lifetime? Also, doing it myself is likely to save me the equivalent of about 8 years of apartment cleaning costs depending on how well I do it:)