When It’s Time to Bring in the Professionals

July 03, 2013

Summertime is a great time to finally get to all those DIY projects you said you’d get done after New Years.  The problem I have is once a project gets started, it’s not always easy to know when to quit. After months of trying to figure out how to get an ice maker to work, I finally got it done. Some projects, like replacing an automatic ice maker, are as simple as unplugging the old unit and plugging in the new one, but when it comes to more elaborate projects, like replacing the front porch stairs, I like to take a step back and count the costs before I begin.  Here is a breakdown of the steps I like to take before tackling a project myself.

1) How long will it take?

Most DIY books and websites (http://www.diynetwork.com/, http://www.doityourself.com/, and http://www6.homedepot.com/how-to/index.html) give you an estimate on how long a project should take depending on how skillful you are. I like to at least double those estimates knowing that I’ll need to make three trips to Home Depot just to get the right tools and materials.

2) How much is my time worth?

Take your annual salary and divide it by the number of hours you work.  This will tell you what your time is worth.  If you make $40,000 a year and work 250 eight hour days, your time is worth twenty bucks an hour.

3) Can I hire someone to do it for less?

Let’s say the stair project is expected to take six hours to complete.  Using my logic, I’ll expect it to take me twelve hours.  Now, at twenty dollars an hour, that project is going to cost me $240 in labor. If I can pay someone else less than $240 in labor (the cost of material will be the same whether I buy it or the contractor buys it, so I generally don’t factor that in) to do the same job, then that’s what I’m going to do.

As you can see from this model, the higher your income, the more expensive your time.  The more expensive your time, the more often you’ll hire a pro to do the work.  I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer and whatever you work on, don’t forget to wear the proper safety equipment.  No amount of savings is worth risking an injury.