I’ve taken on a whole lot of do-it-yourself (DIY) projects over the years. I built furniture (end table, bookcase, coffee table, etc.) in high school and college. Thanks to owning a couple of old Volkswagens (’61 Beetle and ’65 bus), I’ve done a lot of car repairs and even rebuilt the engines in each of those VWs. My biggest DIY undertaking was building a house in 2001. And now I’m remodeling my basement, doing some of the work myself.

The ugly

Let’s start with the worst parts of do-it-yourself jobs. For example, you may end up doing damage to the thing you’re trying to fix. Heck, you could even flood the basement, blow up the water heater, or burn your house to the ground.

Then again, maybe it’s just you that gets damaged when you fall off the roof or electrocute yourself. Back when I was building a house, I knew of an owner-builder who suffered severe injuries when he fell off a ladder.

Perhaps the problems you create aren’t quite that severe. If the water is off for a few days, you may have an unhappy family but life can continue. Whether it continues with your marriage intact is another matter, though.

And then there’s the possibility that you end up with things going so wrong you have to call in a professional to clean up your mess and fix the original problem plus any new ones you created.

The bad

When you haven’t been trained in the skills needed to do a project, it’s going to be harder and take more time. You won’t always know the right steps. You may not know which tools you need. Sometimes, you’ll create obstacles that a skilled trades person would have avoided.

Take my plumbing project over the past three days as an example. I’ve done plumbing in the past and taught myself to solder a couple of years ago. So I decided I’d move some plumbing lines as part of our basement renovation.

I thought the job would take a day, maybe a day and a half. It took three. And the water to the house was turned off most of that time. By the end of the second day, though, I did get one toilet working in the house.

The delays came from:

• Bad fittings. Not my fault, but it slowed me down.
• Installing the pressure regulating valve backwards. Totally my fault, and I should have examined it carefully to notice the arrow showing the direction of water flow. When installed backwards, it doesn’t let water through.
• Damaging the pressure regulating valve by installing it backwards. After turning it around, I noticed that it had developed a leak. D’oh! That meant another delay.

I ran into a few other obstacles along the way, too, and ended up going to Home Depot 5 times, Ace Hardware twice, and Noland’s plumbing supply once during the three-day project.

The good

I love doing stuff to improve my house! I loved the process of building a house. Planning things out. Making lists. Tearing out the old and putting in the new. It all makes me happy.

Well, I should amend that. It makes me happy when things are going right and when it’s done. As my wife can tell you, there was plenty of yelling and cursing during this project.

But you just can’t beat the satisfaction that comes from doing it yourself. It could be something as simple as making a nice solder joint or as big as seeing a pile of building materials turn into a house that you then get to live in for three years before the divorce. In the case of my first big DIY project, it was the sound of that 40 horsepower VW engine starting up after I’d spent weeks rebuilding it in the summer of 1981.

The one reason not to DIY

It’s easy to get excited about taking on a do-it-yourself project when you read articles or watch YouTube videos. But if you embark on such a task solely to save money, you’re likely to be disappointed. It’s certainly possible to save money doing it yourself, but that’s far from guaranteed. And it could cost you more than hiring a pro.

As I mentioned at the outset, a lot can go wrong with DIY projects. Are you prepared for the worst? Even if you don’t get the worst outcome, your chances of saving money will depend on your skill level, the size of the project, and even the hidden problems that crop up after you start.

Planning for DIY success

Here are a handful of questions to ask yourself to help determine your chances of completing the project to your satisfaction:

1. Experience and skill. How much of a stretch will this project be?
2. Toolbox. Do you have what you need?
3. Support network. Is there one? When I was rebuilding that VW Bug engine, my grandfather was a great help and so was the local VW mechanic.
4. Attention to detail. Can you follow through to the last? Properly or improperly done details can make the difference between success and failure.
5. Persistence. Are you willing to push through the hard parts and find a way to get it done?

Still want to do it yourself? Are you ready to question your sanity? Go for it! Just don’t do it solely to save money. Do it because you love a challenge.

What’s your take on DIY projects?

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Allison A. Bailes III, PhD is a speaker, writer, building science consultant, and the founder of Energy Vanguard in Decatur, Georgia. He has a doctorate in physics and is the author of a bestselling book on building science. He also writes the Energy Vanguard Blog. For more updates, you can subscribe to Energy Vanguard’s weekly newsletter and follow him on LinkedIn. Photos courtesy of the author.