DIY OR NOT?

HERE’S WHAT WE DID AND WHAT WE HIRED OUT

The projects you do yourself will save you money and cost you time. Think carefully about how much you enjoy the DIY process compared with enjoying your Getaway. DIY what you can do well, and what you have time to learn. You should not DIY projects requiring expensive equipment you don’t own or special skills you don’t have, especially where safety is concerned. Here’s how we answered the DIY Or Not? question.

YES FRAMING

Whether you're using hand tools or power tools, screws or nails, framing walls is a DIY project. We did rely on pros with heavy equipment to position our floor trusses and the large LVL (laminated veneer lumber) spans we used overhead. Read our plan to see how we saved lumber and money.

WINDOWS

Our Getaway has a lot of windows, some tall and others high. The work does require careful planning—from purchase through installation—as well as muscle. We’ve installed windows before; it’s manageable work needing no special tools. And since we took care of the framing, we knew the window openings were right.

Our story looks at choosing windows, and you can find how-to-install stories at familyhandyman.com.

INSULATION

You can DIY rolls of insulation but not blown-in material. You'll need to understand the different types of insulation, what is going where and why. We explain R-value and show you all its contributing elements.

DECK

If you’re a regular reader, you know that we know decks. This is a DIY home run for us; it can be for you, too. We dug and poured the deck footings ourselves, built a massive deck and added a cable railing instead of standard posts and balusters. Read how we planned this one.

BATHROOM

A bathroom project can cover every aspect of DIY, at least indoor DIY. You can do some or all of this yourself. Do you enjoy tile work but not plumbing? You got it. Wanna build a vanity cabinet but not wire in the lighting? No problem. We focused our story on the shower with an easy-to-install shower pan and lovely glass doors. You can do it.

WINDOW TRIM

We finished our windows in a trimless drywall-return style. It's a modern and minimal look that can also save you time and money. We show you how to do it yourself with simple tools.

KITCHEN ISLAND, CABINETS & COUNTERTOPS

These are great money-saving DIY projects. We used ready-to-assemble (RTA) cabinets and constructed our own kitchen island. We topped it with an affordable and attractive laminate countertop and an undermount sink—and we tell you how to do it.

? YES, IF… ROOFING

Most roofing work, especially on a two-story house, is pro-level territory. The roof on our one-story Getaway has a 2/12 pitch, which is relatively flat. If you can do it safely, you can DIY this; we’re glad we did. We increased our skills in working with metal roofing, perfect material for a wooded retreat. And we saved money.

SIDING

Installing metal siding requires intermediate to advanced DIY skills, from handling the material to cutting it to the installation and finish. Ask yourself all the DIY questions about costs, tools, time, safety and skills. Lots of ifs here.

HVAC/WATER HEATER

If you’ve worked with sheet metal and ducting, you could DIY the HVAC and furnace. But it’s a big if. And keep in mind that you'll have to work safely with the energy source, too. Our water heater required basic construction skills to secure it and plumbing know-how to connect it. We let the same pro team do both jobs.

LIGHTING

We’re not talking about wiring your house. This is about lighting design for each room and installing the lights yourself. If you have that skill and want to experiment with lighting, our story will help you.

LANDSCAPING

If you’re low on funds at the end of your project, DIY this. Our budget tightened, but we kept three main landscape ideas: DIY, low maintenance and our desire to reuse as many trees and rocks as we could. HIRE A PRO

NO SITE PREP

DIY IT!

You can do some of this work yourself; we did. But not much. We cut down a few trees and watched Irv, our excavator, pull the stumps and roots. Irv’s tool? A 20-ton Caterpillar excavator; a used one costs about $60,000. We installed the silt fence to help with erosion control, but Irv and his Cat dug most of the trench.

FOUNDATION AND BASEMENT

Digging the foundation and building the basement is not a DIY job, not even close. Digging, shaping, positioning and leveling for the foundation involves a mix of massive power (that Caterpillar) and engineering detail. Hire local pros.

The basement—ours was poured concrete—is another call-a-pro project. A well-built foundation and basement walls support the entire house and make the rest of the build go smoothly.

ROLL-UP DOOR

Our goal was to bring the outdoors in with a huge door like the kind you use on your garage. We don’t recommend the installation of the roll-up door spring as a DIY project. We left much of this work to professionals. The story about a “garage” door as part of our

Getaway space is interesting, with DIY elements and creative design options.