Should you do it yourself?

When it comes to home improvements, many of us have champagne tastes on a beer budget – we noodleout the perfect plan for a project, then the contractors’ bids come in at twice what we can afford. So we become do-it-yourselfers. We know what that by eliminating the labor expense, we can often chop a project’s cost in half.

But should you do the work yourself? The answer depends upon a number of factors, including your abilities, your collection of tools and safety gear, your time, and your inclination to roll up your sleeves.

Unless you are a highly skilled do-it-yourselfer, avoid taking on jobs that may be dangerous or particularly difficult, or if a mistake can be quite costly. Some jobs simply are not worth the risk. For example, think twice before doing: