How a data nerd approaches DIY home improvement projects

I started 2021 by buying an 1885 hulk of a home, sight unseen, with visions of restoring its earlier grandeur. In almost two years, I’ve restored three of many rooms and tackled multiple smaller projects, by myself.

Do-it-yourself home improvements can save a lot of money, but that’s hardly the only reason to dive in. One in 4 homeowners took on DIY home improvement projects over the past two years because they like doing that kind of work themselves, according to the recent NerdWallet Home Improvement Report. I count myself among them. The joy of this work was instilled in me at a young age by my dad, a former industrial arts (shop class) teacher turned school administrator, and hobbyist carpenter. I joke that I’m the only kid I’ve ever known who built her own Barbie house. It was a blue onebedroom ranch.

Between my current house and the one I previously lived in (also about 100 years old), the only jobs I paid professionals for were the urgent ones and the massive ones: a new roof, demolition of outbuildings, a new heating and cooling system, and the time the oak floor outside my bedroom buckled enough to open into the dirt crawl space (a virtual nightmare). The list of DIY projects, on the other hand, is extensive and has included jobs like removing wallpaper, carpet and popcorn ceiling; skim coating walls and ceilings; refinishing floors; restoring and replacing trim work; rewiring push-button light switches and original light fixtures; and stripping and restoring an original mantle.

In most cases, I take as much time to plan these projects as I do to execute them, and the first step is deciding whether doing it myself makes sense. I lean toward “yes, of course it does,” every time. But choosing to do it yourself when a professional would’ve been smarter can cost you peace of mind, loads of time and far more money than you could have possibly saved on labor.

A note: It’s tempting to compare the estimated costs of a DIY kitchen renovation with a professional one using an online tool. It’s fine to use these tools to get a general idea, but not as an indication of exactly how much you’ll actually spend, or save. The typical project costs gathered by various surveys, including surveys from the U.S. Census Bureau, don’t control for project specifications. Yes, DIYers are saving money, but it’s also possible they’re choosing cheaper materials and doing less extensive projects overall. Plus, these estimates are rarely specific to a geographic location, and costs vary widely across the country.

Consider these three variables carefully before donning your safety glasses and getting to work.

Photos via Shutterstock