this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2024
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And the flip side of that; paying a craftsman to do the job is 1000% better for everyone involved!
Better for the craftsman. I'm helping someone else stay employed.
Better for my house/car. Let's be honest, I learn by trial and error.
Better for me. Outside of more basic maintenance, I don't want to buy all those specialty tools.. like that thing you use to pull a shower handle cartridge out.
It's better for the economy. Putting money in the craftsman's pocket contributes to the general churn of the economy, and he is more inclined to buy local where I am more likely to end up at a franchise. It's a little thing I call Trickle Up Economics™.
I'm happy to do the straightforward jobs that if I mess up I'm just inconvenienced. Changing the kitchen faucet? If that gets stalled halfway, I'm doing dishes in the bathroom sink for a bit. (TBH I wish I was 3 inches narrower because my undersink area has a divider between the doors and it was an uncomfortably close fit, including moving 1 boob through the space at a time, not fun).
Electrical? I'll swap out GFCI outlets but if that doesn't fix the problem I'm calling a professional.
Painting? Sure, good excuse to get a nice step ladder.
Anything I get stumped on or which takes more equipment than I can fit in my closet (chimney sweep, carpet replacement) gets hired out.
Am considering doing the flooring in my laundry closet, will probably hire it out because I don't want to deal with moving big stuff.
Am very glad we can afford to do these things instead of deferring maintenance. Am also very glad we were lucky enough to be able to buy a condo when we did. Our mortgage+hoa fee today is 2/3 what rent on our old place is today, and we build equity. And this is a 15-year mortgage, which makes the rent comparison even worse.
Oh, and I should mention I'm still reprogramming myself from growing up in a house where we did everything ourselves. Wallpaper? Us. Siding? Us. Roofing? Us. Drywall? Us. Ducting the dryer through the crawlspace? Us. Well, Mom. No way I was going under the house
The only thing I remember being hired out growing up was installing new dormers in the attic and framing the attic into bedrooms.
Partner is the other end, his dad hired everything out growing up.