Being a homeowner is a privilege, but it is also a great responsibility. Sure, you get to live in your own home, which you can customize according to your own needs and desires, but you are also in charge of its upkeep. This, however, can be turned into a fulfilling hobby since a lot of people particularly enjoy making DIY repairs around the place. Still, unless you are a certified electrician, plumber or a contractor of any kind, there are some home repairs you should definitely stay away from unless you want to make things much worse.
Simple DIY repairs
You see, there are some repairs you could easily do without any fear of making thigs worse. For instance, if something goes wrong with your furniture (loose screws, weakened glue or damaged paint) you can safely attempt to deal with this on your own. Similar things happen with broken windows. All you would have to do here is remove the remaining glass, thoroughly clean the putty and place a new pane in its place. Still, in a case where you live in an apartment or a several-story-tall building, you might want to consider hiring a pro, seeing how the risk of falling isn’t to be taken lightly.
Plumbing
When it comes to the plumbing things are much more complicated than it may initially seem. For example, why would you ever call a plumber in order to upgrade your showerhead? All you have to do here is make a short trip to the hardware store, get what you need and then install it back at home. All of this takes about several minutes of your time (not counting the trip itself).
A leaky faucet, clogged drain or running toilet may also be issues you are competent to resolve on your own, but it usually isn’t a clear cut. You see, sometimes trying to make your own repair on the pipes or drain may result in the problem that is considerably greater than what you first started with. In order to avoid a more expensive repair somewhere along the way, it might be for the best if you were to leave this to a professional.
Seeing how most of these repairs require at least some degree of urgency, there are two things you need to know. First, you need to have a reliable plumber on a speed-dial and second, you need to know the location of your main valve. Shutting it down will give your plumber just enough time to get to you, without the fear that the leak will flood your entire home before that.
Electrical issues
When it comes to the electrical issues, things are much more seriou. The risk of getting shocked to death is real and thousands of people around the world suffer this fate due to their own negligence.
First of all, it is vital that you find a competent local electrician. This means that it might not even be enough to look for someone in your metropolitan area but in your nearest vicinity. For instance, those living in the Western Sydney may want to restrict their search to an ‘electrician in Penrith’, rather than looking for one anywhere in Sydney.
To make the long story short, unless you are a certified electrician, it is probably for the best to just call the professionals. Again, of course, you don’t need an electrician in order to replace a light bulb.
In Conclusion
To make the long story short, in order to know whether to make a DIY repair or to call a contractor you need to ask yourself two questions. The first and the most important one is – can I get hurt? The second one is – can my repair attempt make anything worse? If the answer to any of these questions is “Yes”, you should definitely call a contractor.
