Top 7 House Repairs You Should Never DIY

You’d be surprised to discover how fun it can be to re-paint the walls in your living room or put a new backsplash in the kitchen. Such home repair projects are more manageable than they seem, and they’re incredibly rewarding to take on yourself.

But there are some home repairs you should really leave to the professionals. It’s not worth rolling up your sleeves to try and fix the toilet or see what’s going on with one of your faulty outlets. This can lead to even bigger problems in your home and more stress for you.

Not sure if something falls under the DIY category or not?

If you’re thinking of doing any of the following 7 house repairs yourself, don’t!

1. Electrical Repairs

The proper way to handle electrical wires isn’t common knowledge, which means it’s a professional’s job. Taking this matter into your own hands can lead to electrocution, burns, and/or a bigger problem.

It’s not worth guessing and checking different wire repairs and risking your wellbeing while you’re at it. Swallow your pride and pick up the phone to dial an electrician’s number. You’ll be glad you did.

2. Plumbing Repairs

Just as you should call an electrician for wire repairs, you should call a plumber if you have a leaky faucet or a backed up toilet. Not only will this ensure you get the problem solved easily, but it will boost the chances that the same issue doesn’t happen again.

When regular homeowners handle plumbing problems themselves, they’re not usually looking at the big picture. They only see the leak or the flushing issue. They don’t think about how this problem relates to the rest of the pipes in the home and the sink/shower/tub in question.

Plumbers, on the other hand, can assess the big picture right away. They can tell homeowners just how serious the issue is and provide the best possible solution.

3. Flooring Repairs

A flooring repair isn’t impossible to do yourself, but it’s a whole lot of work. If you take this on as a one-man job, you’re going to be spending many nights and weekends working to get it done.

Or, you can call a team of flooring professionals and have them handle it in less than half the time it would take you. You wouldn’t have to worry about getting all the equipment to recoat your wood floor or rip out your carpet. There’d be no need to spend hours measuring and placing new floors or securing it all, either.

Just one call can save you a significant amount of time, money, and energy.

4. Roofing Repairs

Handling a roofing repair by yourself is basically asking to get injured. Even if you have a completely flat roof, you don’t have the experience it takes to be up there.

More so, you can’t assess and solve a roofing issue in the same way that a professional can. Experienced roofers know what to look for when they get on top of a building.

They can easily identify which shingles need to be replaced, where other ones have come loose, and what part of the roof can be kept as-is. They don’t have to guess these things or take a lot of time figuring it all out. They can take one look at your roof and know exactly what to do.

You, on the other hand, would be spending a lot more time up there trying to come up with a solution for your roofing issue.

5. Gutter and Chimney Cleanings

Maybe you don’t want to get on the roof to change out shingles or check their strength. Maybe you just want to pull up a ladder and start cleaning out the gutters or get into the chimney.

Although it’s not as bad of an idea as taking on the whole roof, these “DIY” repairs still aren’t a good idea. Basically, anything on the roof is off-limits. Whether you want to see what’s going on with your solar panels or you’d like to handle a cable antenna repair, leave it to someone else.

This way, you can trust that everything is well taken care of without putting yourself at risk. It only takes one misstep or weak piece of roofing to cause a bad accident.

6. Structural Work

Are you thinking of tearing down the wall between your kitchen and living room? Would you like to fix up your stairs a bit or re-do the setup of the laundry room?

All of this falls under structural work, which is another kind of home repair project you shouldn’t get anywhere near. This kind of labor is intense, hard work. It takes a lot of energy out of you and it only requires one wrong move for everything to go south.

7. Installing or Removing Gas Appliances

Most people who own gas appliances have called their spouse while on their commute or turned around on their way out of the house to make sure the gas was turned off. They know that leaving the gas on too long can be a big risk.

If you’ve found yourself in a similar situation, don’t even think about removing your gas appliance or installing a new one. If you didn’t realize there was such a big risk associated with gas tools, you’re not in a position to take on a DIY project that involves this.

House Repairs You Can DIY

If you can’t tear down a wall, fix a leaky faucet, or get on the roof, what kind of house repairs can you actually do? Plenty of things!

A few home repairs that fall into DIY territory include:

• fixing/upcycling furniture
• painting walls
• doing window treatments
• countertop and cabinet projects

Additionally, here’s a good rule of thumb to follow: if you have to think twice about whether or not the DIY approach is best, it’s not.

For more home improvement insights and words of advice, click here.