Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

DIY Projects that Sound Scary, But Aren’t

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In the world of frugality, there are few things that will save you more money than learning a few DIY skills.  From simple things like replacing the light switch cover, to more difficult things like wiring electrical, the savings of doing it yourself over hiring a professional to do it can mean hundreds and even thousands that remains in your pocket.  It also seems like the more money a DIY project can save you, the more likely you are to find people who think the prospect of attempting it to be scary.

While I can’t advocate trying something that you’re completely uncomfortable doing, and uneducated about, I think both situations are completely solvable.  Learning what you can about a task can make it something that you’re far more comfortable doing.  We live in the information age, with access to so much more information than any other time in the history of our species.  We have the ability to learn things by watching videos on YouTube.  We can access websites that will have all the detailed instructions for a repair project, or new project.  Many of those have step-by-step instructions.  In short, there’s just no excuse for at least attempting to learn how to do the project and then deciding whether it’s something you want to tackle or not.  Sometimes, you decide it’s not something you want to tackle.  And that’s O.K. too.

So, what are some DIY projects that sound scary, but really aren’t all that bad?

  • DIY Projects that sound scaryPlumbing – Ok, I have to admit this is one of my least favorite project types to take on.  I do take them on, but it seems like every time I do, it takes me a few times to get it right.  And a few extra trips to the hardware store.  At it’s core, plumbing isn’t all that complicated.  The water starts in one place, and you place some pipes to move it from the starting place to the ending place.  For me anyways, it’s all the different fittings and fixtures that seem to always give me trouble.  My kitchen sink was a notorious problem project for me.  I redid that mess three times before calling in the big guns (my dad) when we remodeled the whole kitchen.  I was slightly reassured when even he made a few extra trips to the hardware store.
  • Electrical – If plumbing is the project type I dislike but do, electrical is the project type that I dislike and usually don’t do.  For some reason, I just have a really hard time getting my head around the way it works.  Outlets are easy, I suppose, but then you start getting into switches, circuits, and crazy electrical diagrams.  One day, I’ll take the time to do the right research and learning and actually feel confident enough to take a few of these project on.  I know they aren’t all that scary, I just don’t understand them.
  • Appliance repair – With some of the newer appliances, all the gadgetry can be a daunting adversary.  Fortunately, in most cases, the real machinery of the appliance hasn’t changed much over the years.  There’s just new, smarter, brains driving the machine.  Which means, if the issue isn’t with the brains of the appliance, you can easily find and fix the problem.  In the last year, I’ve repaired our fridge, coffee machine, and dryer.  And a little maintenance to your appliances goes a long way.  Sure, the coffee maker could have easily been replaced, but I was able to fix it and we still use it today.  A few spare parts and some time saved us the expense of a repair technician coming and fixing the fridge and dryer and there are plenty of guides to be found online that give instructions on some simple appliance fixes.
  • Tiling – When we remodeled our bathroom, we decided that we wanted to tile the floor and shower splash.  I’d never tiled before, so it was a somewhat daunting task.  I spent a little time going over instructions and videos on DIY Network’s site to get a general handle on it, then went and bought the supplies and did it.  Like many things I do for the first time, there are plenty of things that I would do differently, but the end result was that the floor and splash got tiled, and several years later, it still looks great.

I suppose the point isn’t really to list out all the projects that might sound scary to a DIY homeowner.  It’s really to point out that a lot of the projects that you and I might think are scary to take on really probably aren’t that hard.  A little time spend learning the techniques and basic principles of the project will likely lead us to being able to learn the skills needed to complete the task.  Even if it takes a couple extra trips to the hardware store.

Using Youtube for DIY

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When you think about DIY, it’s not very likely that the video site, Youtube comes to mind right away.  If you’re thinking anything video related, you’re probably thinking about television stations like HGTV or the aptly named DIY Network.  Youtube, however, can be the best friend you’ve got when it comes to DIY.

This new age we’re entering where information is super duper easy to disseminate means that we can hop on the internet and find just about whatever information we need.  And that includes how-to videos on just about any DIY project you can imagine.

When I was working at a computer repair shop last winter and spring, one of the things that I did on a regular basis is search on Youtube for the steps to replace a part on a computer.  Each computer manufacturer makes their machines a little bit differently.  It’s very evident in their laptop models, so often, what will take one apart will break another.  Faced with a new model, the easiest way to figure out what you’re doing before you end up replacing it for a customer is to do a quick search for a repair video.  Just about every time, you’ll find a video of a technician doing the exact same repair that you’re about to do.

Armed with that knowledge and experience, one of the first things that popped into my head when our clothes dryer stopped heating up two weeks ago was to see just how hard it would be to replace the heating element.  A couple of videos later, I was reasonably confident that I had the skills necessary to make the repair myself.  I ordered a new heating element and a new non-resettable fuse (just in case that was the problem and not the element) from Amazon.  The parts totaled less than $40.

Once the parts arrived, I was able to make the repair to the dryer in about 45 minutes.  Probably a bit longer than a technician that repairs appliances all the time, but for me, a pretty reasonable amount of time.  Once the new parts were in place, and the dryer was put back together, I hooked it back up to the vent and the electrical and gave it a test spin.  And it heated up!  I win!  😉  For less than $40, and about an hour of my time (if you include the time spent watching the repair video), I was able to successfully make the repair.

I don’t know how much it would have cost to have the local technician come and repair the dryer, but I can guess that the part alone would have cost almost twice what it did for me to order it.  Even if I guess conservatively, the labor would probably cost me about $50.  All told, it could have cost me about $100-$150 to repair the thing.  We bought it used, for about $200, so that wouldn’t have been a very smart thing to do.  And, if it had come down to having someone repair it, you can bet I would have looked at the cost of a new, to-us, used dryer first.

It’s not the first time that I’ve used a Youtube video to learn how to repair something.  Remember when I repaired my iPad myself?  Guess how I learned how to do that!

Have you ever used a Youtube video to learn how to DIY something?