Help for entry-level owners who want to fix up their homes

“I want to paint,” my daughter tells me. Paige, age 25, and her long-term boyfriend and family fixture, John, also 25, are buying their first house, in Texas.

“And I’m thinking of changing the flooring. And John wants to build a deck out back, around a firepit.”

Here we go. I shake my head. But what should I expect from a kid raised by a serial home improver?

Like many young adults scraping funds together to get a first house, Paige and John have big dreams and small budgets. And, like many millennials who have watched a lot of HGTV shows, they are ready to roll up their sleeves and get confidently to work.

A recent Home Depot survey of 1,000 new homeowners found that more than 57 percent of Americans felt they could remodel an entire room by themselves. Of those, millennials were the most confident: 64 percent said they could remodel an entire room without any professional help.

“The biggest challenge I face when working with new homeowners is that television has made house renovation look too easy,” HGTV’s Chip Wade said.

A licensed general contractor with a degree in mechanical engineering, Wade was in Atlanta last week demonstrating DIY projects at The Home Depot’s New Homeowners event.

“Chip and Joanna Gaines make it look so easy, but many ... don’t know the first thing about painting a wall, laying floor, decorating a space, or even simply hanging a picture,” he said.

When working with entry-level home buyers, Wade strongly encourages them to take on the improvements themselves, both to save money and to gain the gratification. However, to help new homeowners fix their places up with more success and less frustration, Wade offers this advice:

Start with a complete plan. Don’t rule out hiring a professional designer for a couple hours to give you a direction.

“If you start renovating randomly you will head straight for trouble,” Wade said.

Be patient. This isn’t “Fixer Upper,” and your home makeover won’t happen as fast as it looks like it does in a 22-minute show. Live in your space. It will tell you over time what to do.

Make a spread sheet. List all the home improvement projects you’d like to complete, and what they will cost in terms of materials, special tools, and labor you can’t provide. Then prioritize. Fix the leaky roof before you replace the floor or buy the sofa

Get educated. “First-time homeowners can do a lot themselves,” he said. “But they have to look in the right places for information and fill in the gaps for what they don’t know.”

To learn how to work with a product, go to the manufacturer’s website, or look at YouTube, he said. The Home Depot and Lowe’s also offer howto videos.

Lay it out. When installing flooring, such as vinyl wood flooring — a good project for entry level homeowners because it’s affordable, and good looking, he said — or tile, take the time to get measurements exact. Lay out the materials completely before you make a cut.

Don’t skimp on prep time. When painting, for instance, spend 30 percent of your time prepping and 70 percent painting. Mask the trim off, patch the holes, prep the surface, and cover everything you don’t want painted. Use painter tape (not masking tape), and don’t let it stay on too long. The bond gets stronger over time and could pull up the paint. Don’t use cheap paint. Two coats of cheap paint costs more than one coat of high-quality paint Be realistic. “HGTV is good for inspiration,” Wade said, “but if you think you’re going watch a show where you buy a $50,000 ranch and turn it into a paradise for a few thousand dollars and a long weekend, you are completely misguided.” Syndicated columnist Marni Jameson is the author of three home and lifestyle books, including “Downsizing the Family Home — What to Save, What to Let Go”. You may reach her at www. marnijameson.com. Her column is published weekly. To see all of Jameson’s columns, go to mercurynews.com/ author/marni-jameson/.