For extra value and thus money in case you want to sell your house, a good way to increase its value is to fix or modernise things or build an addition yourself. This gives more value, and/or saves more money, than you can quickly make via work, or even via gambling sites like 22Bet login.
If you are handy, then a lot of repairs and improvements can be done yourself without much knowledge of the particular area (woodworking, tiles, stucco). One of the reasons for DIY, besides saving money over getting a contractor, are issues of which you may have faced some such as dodgy contractors. As an example: people installing windows and not using the right nails for window sills that will rust is an example that I had to deal with (which you can fix by removing some wood, using rust converter on the top of the nail and filling it in with good filler, especially a 2 component one).
A roof shed can be made for example with Onduline or similar corrugated sheets. Instructions on which nails or screws to use can be found on the manufacturer’s sites and how to build the roof, how many wood beams to use etc., is also made clear by the manufacturer.
Electrical wiring is an example of where electricians want a lot of money but which you can easily do yourself.
The real issue you face is buying tools, having the space for tools and to work in to saw wood, sand, etc., and the time required which will be a lot when doing something for the first time. Also an issue can be perfectionism, it can take ages to finish something if you want something to be perfect, which contractors generally don’t do…
Some examples of what you may face and what costs you may save:
- Stucco: To remove decorative stucco, which is fairly hard you can use either heat (a paint strip gun) + chisels or a putty knife to remove the old stucco, or use a diamond grinding disc on an angle grinder. In the latter case you need to use a breathing mask and eye protection and open all windows if you don’t have the proper vacuum cleaner attachment that sucks all the dust away!
- Electrical wiring is easy to do except for cutting grooves in the wall. This can be done with a diamond cutting disc on an angle grinder or a special dual disc grinder that is used especially for this purpose of laying electrical wires in walls. As you are unlikely to use that much, hiring the tool is an option. An angle grinder is useful for many things and they can be bought fairly cheap, so this is something I would just buy. By wiring myself I saved 4000 euro, the amount that an electrician gave as a quote for the work that would take ‘weeks’. I did the wiring that he proposed to do in less than 2 days, though cutting a few grooves in the walls and then filling them with cement took more time (a few more days) which was mostly waiting time for the cement to dry and then some details of finishing it with stucco and paint. Total cost of wiring (you will need a lot, I needed ca. 200m) and electrical outlets were ca. 200 euro.
- Floors, laminate: Laminate can be laid quite easily yourself. You can cut using a jigsaw and then make the cuts straight with a belt sander, but a circular saw is better. This can save you easily a 1000 euro in laying costs. This will take time, a few days for a room if you want to work precisely. Look on youtube videos for how to do it and what tools you need. Mostly a hammer and some special tools to lay laminate. You can buy the latter e.g. from Ikea…
Tools that you need:
- Angle grinder with metal cutting discs (e.g. to cut off old steel outer electrical tuning when renovating an old house), diamond cutting discs to cut stones for repairs in walls or to cut grooves for electrical wiring.
- Jig saw
- Band saw
- Optional: A circular saw, even better a plunge saw
- A hammer drill to drill in concrete and to remove old tiles.
- 12V or 18V cordless drill with phillips/pozidriv/torx bits and some sockets to drive outer hex screws. I like those with detachable chuck (drill head) so you can directly put in bits to use as a driver to screw together wood structures.
- A 4V screwdriver is excellent for certain woodwork, as then you won’t risk driving in screws too far.
- Various hand tools, such as screwdrivers, hand saws.
You can buy what you need when you need it. The main issue you will face is that you need quite a bit of work area which may encroach on your living area, and time you need to spend to learn how to do a particular job. The best thing is perhaps to finish one area so you can use that normally from then on, then continue to the next room. With stuff that makes lots of mess, such as grinding stucco of walls with a grinder, do that first. Also make sure to only do the delicate jobs last so that they won’t get damaged by something else you need to do there.
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