You’ve successfully completed a few DIY projects in your home and now feel emboldened to take on even more difficult projects. But before you get in over your head and possibly create thousands of dollars of work to have a professional fix what you broke, take a few minutes to review a few jobs that a do-it-yourself homeowner should never tackle.
Electrical
There is a reason electricians train for years to become a certified electrician: Electrical equipment is dangerous when you don’t know how to fix or install it properly. In fact, electricians study electrical safety standards for years in classrooms and under apprenticeships before working. These guys and gals are very well-trained.
Electrical equipment, improperly installed, can short out and create a spark that starts a fire. This is incredibly dangerous because the wiring is out of sight within the walls of your house. Even if the wires have to run outside of the walls, they are always encased in an electrical conduit, which prevents anyone from touching them. For proper protection, these conduits need to be rated for the location where they are being installed. Interior conduits are not as durable as exterior conduits, for example.
Take Down Walls
Another job you should never attempt as a DIY project is to take down walls. Some interior walls bear the load of the upper floors and roof. If you take one of these down your entire structure becomes compromised and it could collapse.
You need the services of a structural engineer to determine whether or not any wall is a load-bearing one. It is possible to remove a load-bearing wall, but it must be held up by temporary posts or pillars and a load-bearing beam must be installed in its place. These beams weigh hundreds of pounds and must be anchored properly to the actual structure of the building in order to keep it from folding in on itself and collapsing.
Plumbing
Like electricians, plumbers spend years learning their trade in classroom-based training and on-the-job apprenticeships. You really do need a professional for all but the most rudimentary plumbing jobs. Someone handy can probably safely replace a faucet or even a toilet, but any time you are adding pipes it is best to leave that to a professional. Water is just too destructive to take chances with. Plus, if your home is damaged by a trained professional and not your own mistakes, then they will be covered under your contractor’s insurance policy.
Even if you have extensive DIY experience, you’ve done your research and believe you can tackle any of these projects by yourself, it is best to let a professional do these jobs.
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