Home Services: Which to Spend Money on, Which to Add to Your DIY List

March 23, 2022

Whether you hire a professional or choose to go the DIY path, home improvement continues to be a booming business. Many people used the pandemic shutdown as a starting point for projects around the house. These efforts show no sign of letting up.

If you are in the market for a new home, seeing newly renovated features on the listings can be appealing. However,, it’s essential to be familiar with the most common home improvement projects and their possible pitfalls if they are not completed correctly. We’ve listed some of the most popular jobs here, along with common DIY mistakes for each one to look out for.

Landscaping

Sprucing up the yard remains one of the hottest home improvement trends right now. New decks or patios, outdoor kitchens, living rooms, and dining rooms allow people to expand their living space. A well-manicured yard adds to the appeal and enjoyment of these outdoor features. But it takes time or money – sometimes a lot of both.

Most professionals will recommend leaving this work to them. That doesn’t stop homeowners from attempting it themselves. Some common DIY mistakes in this area include:

  • Improper drainage
  • Picking the wrong spot for plants/trees (trees can cause significant problems if roots spread and impact pipes or sprinkler systems, or if a homeowner plants them without regard to their full-grown size)
  • Code violations for new decks or patios

Just one of these mistakes could end up costing you more than the cost of hiring a landscaper.

Kitchen Remodel

Remodeled kitchens are king when it comes to resale. Even if you’re not planning to sell, the appeal of an updated, welcoming kitchen never goes out of style. Home Depot estimates the cost anywhere between $24,000 and $136,000, depending on your taste and how much you decide to do yourself. This is another complicated project for the dedicated DIYer. Common mistakes you might find during your inspection are:

  • Poor ventilation
  • Faulty plumbing or electrical installation
  • Appliances and floors installed incorrectly

Bathroom Remodel

Updated bathrooms are more than aesthetic people-pleasers: they can also increase a home’s efficiency. Older bathrooms might have outdated pipes, fixtures, or even host health risks like mold or mildew growth. Remodeling a bathroom may seem like a smaller project, but it’s still fraught with potential problems for homeowners who want to tackle it themselves. Keep your eye out for these DIY mishaps:

  • Inadequate ventilation
  • Bad drainage
  • Sloppy tile installation (bathroom tile and grout must be watertight)
  • Faulty mitering of baseboards
  • Faulty plumbing and wiring

Windows/Doors

If people can’t get out into the great outdoors, they at least want a view of it. Hence the popularity of new windows. New windows and doors also increase a home’s energy efficiency. That said, they’re a pricey proposition. Homeowners may try to save money by doing the installation work themselves. Certainly possible, but you may spot these problems:

  • Poor fit
  • Faulty seals
  • Incorrect use of spray foam

With a red-hot home improvement market, homeowners are doing some (or all) of the work themselves. It’s becoming more likely that home inspectors will see the results. Some of these well-intended DIYers could cut corners and make mistakes along the way. Before buying what appears to be a beautifully remodeled home, it’s essential to have a trained ASHI inspector check for common mistakes. It will save you a lot of money and headaches in the future.


To Read the Full Article

ASHI offers its members unparalleled resources to advance their careers. ASHI offers training for inspectors at all levels of knowledge and experience, including resources about all major home systems. Members benefit from a vast network of experienced professionals, providing a community for mentorship and knowledge sharing..

Learn More About Membership »

In this Issue

What’s the Best Ladder for Home Inspectors?

When it comes to home inspection equipment, few items are as essential as ladders. Needed for most roof inspections, ladders are an important tool. But when ladders come in so many materials, lengths, duties, and varieties, it can be tough to determine which is best for your business.

2021 ASHI Awards

The 2021 ASHI awards showcase some of our most standout certified home inspectors from the past year. Our most recent winners include years long volunteers, mentors who are always available to help new inspectors, and committee chairs who contribute across committees. You can read more about each of these ASHI Award winners in upcoming issues of the Reporter.

Renewing the Fight Against Radon

As a certified home inspector, whether you think about it every so often or not, you are out there on the front line saving your customers from all kinds of misfortune—costly losses due to water damage, fire, personal injury, lawsuits, and even the long-term medical consequences of under-appreciated hazards that lurk below our day-to-day radar. Among the latter are the hazards of radon.

Insulation Installation Failure

We usually assume homes built around the 1920s in cold climates will have inadequate insulation by today’s standards. When and how can that insulation be considered a major failure?

10 Ways to Better Market Your Business

The market in my area recently slowed for various reasons, including winter being a slower time of year generally. The slow season is a great time to revisit what I am putting out there as a company and fine-tune my efforts. I’m interested in pursuing some educational opportunities during this downtime, but one thing I think is important is to review things I’m already doing, to consider opportunities for improvement.

What to Say—And How to Say It

It can be hard to say what you mean. Even harder still to confirm whether the person you’re talking to understands what you say. How do you, the professional home inspector, communicate to your clients? How do you explain defects in a house in layperson’s terms, for example, or set expectations before a home inspection ever begins?

Postcards From The Field

It's Wacky Out There!
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Professional Networking

Grow your professional network, find a mentor, network with the best, and best part of the community that’s making home inspection better every day.