12 home improvement projects you should never, ever DIY

We’re all for rolling up our sleeves and saving money when it comes to DIY home improvements. But all the home reno binge watching and YouTube videos don’t necessarily make us pros.

Choosing the perfect colour is the least of your problems if you’re planning to paint your own kitchen cabinets. “What many people don’t know is that painting kitchen cabinets are a lot trickier than a bedroom dresser,” says Newell Slade, a building contractor. “Often, there is a build-up of cooking grease and finger oils on the surface of the wood. Prep means extensive cleaning with a degreasing agent such as diluted TSP and using oil-based paint, fed through a sprayer.” For flawless results, this home improvement is quite an undertaking and involves specialised equipment and safety measures than most homeowners don’t realise. A skilled painter knows how to paint cabinets in a timely fashion with beautiful results.

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“Homeowners typically fail at DIY projects that require intimate knowledge of a process that a professional would take great care in completing; typically something that is beneath the surface, where they’re more focused on the final cosmetic appearance,” says Brian C. McHugh, owner of McHugh Construction. “A homeowner wanted to save money by forming their own custom shower pan and curb. They did not install the membrane correctly, resulting in water leaking below the shower and damaging the sub-floor and drywall below,” says McHugh. Unfortunately, much of the project had to be re-done, costing the homeowner a large chunk of change. The desire to customise your own home improvement project defeats the purpose of saving money unless your skill set is keen. “If you don’t know what you’re doing and it has the potential of going south quickly, just hire a professional,” recommends McHugh.

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Draino didn’t get the water flowing again but it’s pretty clear the pipe under the sink is the culprit. All you need is a bucket and a wrench to get that hairy clog out, right? Think again. Doyle James, president of a plumbing company, says unless you are certain you know where the problem is, dismantling pipes can be risky. “Pipes are complex and very tricky to reassemble, particularly when they’re in close proximity to other plumbing components and machinery, such as dishwashers or garbage disposals,” says James. Even if you’re certain the obstruction is under the sink, if you don’t have prior experience with dismantling and reassembling pipes, you better leave it to a plumber, James says.

Here are 30 secrets plumbers won’t tell you. 

Buying a new dishwasher at a superstore doesn’t always come with free installation, but hiring a pro is definitely worth the extra cost according to James. There’s a lot of moving pieces and it could be more trouble than it’s worth. You may have to drill into a cabinet to make holes for the water lines, position the water and electric lines, hook up the water lines, and more. “The complexities involved with setup, such as installing water and drainage lines under the kitchen sink cabinet, are best handled by a professional.”

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Does it take forever to fill up your big spaghetti pot? Low water pressure is frustrating and sometimes easily fixed. According to James, removing the aerator and cleaning out the gunk may do the trick but if it doesn’t, that’s probably a sign this may be a DIY improvement to leave to the pros. “From time to time, low water pressure and the causes behind it could be indications of greater problems within a plumbing system. It could be a fractured pipe, an eroded water line or a water leak in the system,” says James.

Removing walls is often a viable option to creating a larger space or an open floor plan, but before you start swinging that sledgehammer, get a contractor to verify the wall isn’t load bearing. “Damaging a load-bearing wall could have serious consequences like a ceiling caving in,” says Jesse Fowler, president of a building company. That’s bad enough, but it can also be dangerous for the homeowner and result in serious injuries.

Installing new light fixtures to save money may seem like a no-brainer, but a lot can go wrong when dealing with electrical. “Aside from the risk of forgetting, or not knowing how to turn off the live power to whatever is being worked on, there’s the possibility of getting shocked,” says Fowler. “In addition, wiring anything incorrectly or overloading your power draw often equates to popping breakers, additional hassles, sparking outlets, and repairs that are more costly down the road, especially if walls needs to be re-opened up to fix the mistake,” he warns. A mix of low-voltage and higher-voltage electrical products make electrical wiring even more complicated for a DIY job. Fowler says to leave it to an electrician. “Safety and fire concerns make electrical DIY projects a bad idea.”

Meet 11 DIYers who thought they were electricians until they failed. 

Maybe you noticed a leak in your bedroom ceiling or the last storm took off a few shingles. No need to call a roofer for such a small job, right? Joe Percario General Contractors, LLC says what appears to be a simple home repair can cost way more money down the line. “To repair a leak, you have to identify the trouble spot and replace the shingles or other components without causing any more damage, utilising costly tools and hopefully matching materials. In most cases, this results in an area that doesn’t match the rest of the roof,” says Percario. This ‘band-aid solution’ usually just compounds the initial problem. In fact, Percario says roofs should last anywhere from 18-30 years but amateur workmanship usually causes more problems down the road.

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You didn’t store your treasures properly and now they’re floating in the basement, so you’ve called some buddies and this weekend you’re going to stop the water once and for all! Unfortunately, digging, applying the waterproofing material and then back filling takes a lot more time than you thought. “We commonly see that the job was started by the homeowner who dug the hole but didn’t complete the job. The hole was left open to take in more moisture and in some cases cave in. Or the ground was so saturated with water that it had to dry out before it could be properly excavated,” says Jamie Hallett, a RCC Waterproofing Consultant. The biggest concern when doing a waterproofing project like this is safety. “Every year there is typically one fatality as a result of trenches caving in,” says Hallett.