Looking to save money by doing it yourself? These home renovation projects could cost you twice the price of hiring a tradie.
Ever wondered why your house didn’t sell fast? You did the reno work yourself.
Think you can learn how to do the job by watching YouTube? See point one.
Wanting to DIY but knowing when not to is a hard lesson to learn.
Saving money on a reno can cost a bomb, so don’t fall into the trap of doing-it-yourself, only to find you need to hire a tradie to fix your epic fail.
DIY can be tiring – and costly if you don’t do it properly.
REAL LIFE ISN’T A RENO SHOW
Matthew Menichelli has earned a place in Australia’s heart as “Matty”, TV’s The Block hero builder and reno expert.
After five seasons with The Block, it was in 2022 that Menichelli came to the rescue on the show as a hipages expert tradie.
He agrees that reno TV shows offer unrealistic expectations.
“You see a project that you would allow eight to 10 months to complete, and you do it in eight to 10 weeks,” says Menichelli from his Melbourne base.
“Don’t get sucked into reality TV too much.”
Matthew Menichelli from The Block.
SEE QUOTES AND EXPERIENCE BEFORE YOU HIRE
Tradies, I’m sad to say, have a reputation for never getting back to you with quotes – and you should get three quotes, which can be a pain.
This is why agencies such as hipages, Airtasker or One Flare make it easier: you enter the job once, and qualified tradies come to you with quotes. No chasing.
Sadly, you won’t see Menichelli on The Block this year, he’s having a year off from the program, which he says can leave tradies ‘running on empty’ by the end of the series.
“It’s definitely not a cake walk,” says The Block favourite.
“The only way to get through is sheer grit and determination.”
And that’s exactly the kind of professional you want working on your own production.
MORE: Sydney leading Australia’s home price recovery, according to PropTrack
You need grit and determination to DIY – like The Block’s Kyal and Kara Demmrich.
TOP FIVE JOBS WHERE YOU NEED A TRADIE
After the many properties Menichelli has been called to repair, here are the top five areas he says DIY-ers should avoid.
1 PAINTING
According to Menichelli, this is the most frequent botch up. “People don’t realise you have to put in the prep work,” he says. “Just putting a coat of paint over a diminished substrate is not going to work out.”
2 DECKS
“We’ve seen a few decks where the owner has even attempted the actual decking frame.” Besides not being up to code, and dangerous to walk on, it is a costly fix.
“The difficulty is explaining to the client that to rectify it, you pretty much have to scrap it and start again. So essentially they’re paying for the deck twice.”
Only do your own plastering if you are happy to stare at your handiwork every day.
3 PLASTERING
Anything that is on the interior of a home and anything that needs a highly finished product is best done by a professional, because “you’ll be staring at it every day.”
4 ELECTRICS
Menichelli says low voltage is OK for the homeowner to tackle. “Like garden lights, with a transformer, because that is very much ‘plug and play’, but the minute you are
dealing with 240 volts that’s a no. Why anyone would attempt it is beyond me.” Plus, it’s illegal – and the homeowner can be fined up to $40,000.
Think twice before attempting home plumbing.
5 PLUMBING
Changing a washer is OK, but think hard after that. “We’ve seen a lot of remedial plumbing work, fixing people’s own renovations. We were called to a 1950s weatherboard home. They were running their washing machine waste through a hole in the floor. We had a bit of laugh. It’s a bad idea to be pumping out your washing machine water over your foundations.”