DIY versus hiring it out

[MBDiagMan]

The construction industry exists in it's present form for two reasons: most people can't do it themselves, and many/most people have become accustomed to and accept sub-standard work.

I'm a little bit jaded (can you tell?) - my experience with hiring contractors is that if you do, you'll pay them like they were surgeons, and they'll screw up the job so bad that you won't even be able to use what you paid for. I'm 0 for 6 with contractors - and currently in dispute with one for screwing up a rubber roof installation on some rental property I own. How retarded do you have to be to screw up contact cement? It's baffling to me.

I built an addition on my house in the late-90's, adding 3 BRs, a bath, and an oversized garage. I did it all myself - every nail and screw. The only thing I didn't do was the concrete work. Of course, the garage floor ended up screwed up so bad I can't park a car in there - still a good place for my fleet of dirtbikes though. Other than the floor fiasco, it came out great, with solid engineering and construction, workmanship and features that you can't even buy - I'm convinced that it could survive a tornado. It cost me no more than $25-30k to build - rough estimate was $100k through a GC. Also, since I built it myself and along with improvements I made to the existing house, it's actually insulated correctly, unlike ALL new construction. I heat my 2600 sq. ft. house at 72-74 degrees using 450 gallons of oil for the entire heating season. Everyone I know with similar size houses burns at least twice that amount. Pshaw.

JayC

Yep, this is the old "if you want it done right, do it yourself."

I have a shop full of tools and equipment that I could NEVER, EVER have justified by expense alone. I bought them out of exasperation in trying to get someone to do things right. If I do it myself I am much more motivated to do it right than is a hired gun.

 

[MBDiagMan]

The construction industry exists in it's present form for two reasons: most people can't do it themselves, and many/most people have become accustomed to and accept sub-standard work.

I'm a little bit jaded (can you tell?) - my experience with hiring contractors is that if you do, you'll pay them like they were surgeons, and they'll screw up the job so bad that you won't even be able to use what you paid for. I'm 0 for 6 with contractors - and currently in dispute with one for screwing up a rubber roof installation on some rental property I own. How retarded do you have to be to screw up contact cement? It's baffling to me.

I built an addition on my house in the late-90's, adding 3 BRs, a bath, and an oversized garage. I did it all myself - every nail and screw. The only thing I didn't do was the concrete work. Of course, the garage floor ended up screwed up so bad I can't park a car in there - still a good place for my fleet of dirtbikes though. Other than the floor fiasco, it came out great, with solid engineering and construction, workmanship and features that you can't even buy - I'm convinced that it could survive a tornado. It cost me no more than $25-30k to build - rough estimate was $100k through a GC. Also, since I built it myself and along with improvements I made to the existing house, it's actually insulated correctly, unlike ALL new construction. I heat my 2600 sq. ft. house at 72-74 degrees using 450 gallons of oil for the entire heating season. Everyone I know with similar size houses burns at least twice that amount. Pshaw.

JayC

Yep, this is the old "if you want it done right, do it yourself."

I have a shop full of tools and equipment that I could NEVER, EVER have justified by expense alone. I bought them out of exasperation in trying to get someone to do things right. If I do it myself I am much more motivated to do it right than is a hired gun.

 

[smstonypoint]

Steve, nice analysis, but we will rationalize our tractors no matter how much math you throw at us.

It is kind of like trying to calculate the value of a wife or girlfriend. Better left alone. :laughing:

Maybe better left alone, but that hasn't stopped economists -- there's a lot of work done on the economics of the family, marriage, divorce, and dare I say it, s**.

The "Dismal Science" isn't so "dismal" when you study it.

Steve

 

[rjkobbeman]

If you were awake in ECON 101, you may remember your prof saying something about "opportunity cost." If you are using your own time, you ought to value that time by the income you are giving up by bush hogging.

Of course that only works if you are giving up "income time" with doing work yourself.

When I built my own home, everyone said I have to figure what my time was worth. They said I had to figure what my "going rate" was when I was working. The problem with that was I was building my house on my own time -- time that I would not have been getting an income anyway. Meaning, I worked at night and weekends to build my house... but I would not have worked at night and weekends on my regular job to earn more money.

A lot of us DIY on our leisure and would not be making any money during that time anyway.

Now, we can discuss the value of your time away from your family or doing something else... but that is different.

Usually when I start figuring out what my time is worth, it is because I am deciding on what projects to pay for vs do myself. Meaning, it PAINS me to pay someone to change my oil (I am an ex mechanic), however I work on something else at the house/property and have someone else change the oil. (This comes down to not enough time in the day/week/month/year/life to do it all.) The project that I do instead of changing the oil could be a lot more expensive to pay someone else to do than paying someone to change my oil. Now, don't get hung up on the oil change... it is just an example of how I prioritize DIY projects.

 

[smstonypoint]

Of course that only works if you are giving up "income time" with doing work yourself.

<snip>

Now, we can discuss the value of your time away from your family or doing something else... but that is different.

Not really. In my original post I tried to keep things simple. The concept of "opportunity costs" is general and isn't restricted to monetary values. Suppose you can choose between either going fishing with some buddies or spending time with your kids. The opportunity cost of going fishing is the enjoyment you miss by not spending time with your kids, and the opportunity cost of spending time with your kids is the enjoyment you miss by not going fishing.

Steve

 

[MoKelly]

Not really. In my original post I tried to keep things simple. The concept of "opportunity costs" is general and isn't restricted to monetary values. Suppose you can choose between either going fishing with some buddies or spending time with your kids. The opportunity cost of going fishing is the enjoyment you miss by not spending time with your kids, and the opportunity cost of spending time with your kids is the enjoyment you miss by not going fishing.

Steve

This is true in economic books. However, I think the confusion always turns out to be peoples definition of "cost". Most people define "cost" as money. If no money is involved then there is no cost.

MoKelly

 

[smstonypoint]

This is true in economic books. However, I think the confusion always turns out to be peoples definition of "cost". Most people define "cost" as money. If no money is involved then there is no cost.

MoKelly

Mo.

I agree. Accounting "costs" and economic "costs" are not the same -- accounting costs don't include "opportunity costs."

Steve

 

[TripleR]

I am retired, so I get the same pay no matter what I do. Now if someone would hire me to do what I want, when I want for however long I want, maybe a second job would make sense. So far no offers.:laughing: