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Comment by linsomniac | Hacker News Reader

That's a really hard question to answer. I'm getting towards the end of a to-studs bathroom remodel, and it's taking an amazing amount of time, probably 300 hours. But, if I hired it all out it could easily have been $25K to be done to a similar standard. I'll have around $5K in materials in when I'm done. But I also know that if I hired it all out, there are a number of things I've done that wouldn't have been done, for example I ran 500 feet of 12-2 romex to replace current several current 12-2 aluminum runs, switched our bedrooms over to AFCI, ran several spare 12-2 runs for future renovation, removed a totally not to code wiring situation that was a fire waiting to happen...

And on top of it, I gain experience and get to know my house inside out... But on the other hand, I haven't had a spare weekend for 6 months.

So how do you value that on a per hour basis?

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I'm not sure either, I'm also in the middle of a fairly extensive remodel (first floor of the house basically down to studs, most flooring ripped out, changing kitchen layout).

Some things seem within the scope of somebody like myself (who doesn't do this as a day job). For instance, I'm comfortable with removing and replacing toilets, I can do basic drywall work, I can texture and paint and do backsplash. But I don't think I could redo hardwood and tile flooring myself, install an exterior sliding door, nor make cabinet faces that I'd be happy with. For that, I'd pay whatever a contractor calls Market Rate^tm.

I expect to not have any free weekends for at least the rest of the year. What would I pay for that? Maybe... $25-$30k?

When I did my kitchen + dining room remodel a few years ago, I ended up bringing someone in to finish the oak I put in, and refinish the rest of the oak in the living room (they were connected). I don't think I could do it in the 2 days they did, and I'd be almost certainly making a bigger mess (they had a sander with vacuum, truck mounted IIRC). I've also paid someone to replace our doors and windows.

Tile I didn't find so bad, with the exception that in the kitchen I did 8x48" tiles which I thought would make the job go faster, but they were a nightmare to set. The large format was just hard. The backsplash subway tile went super easy.

If it helps, I've done hardwood floors and tile but have a hard time with drywall and texturing. For the hardwood, I just needed someone who had done it before (my brother) to show me one time.

Unless you're a licensed electrician, that electrical work you did yourself is in violation of building codes and you'll need to pay an electrician to approve the work or you'll have difficulty selling your house.

This is probably not true, and it's at least not true for any of the places I've lived on the west coast. As long as an inspector signs off on it (which they have to do regardless of if you do the work or if an electrician does it), and it's found to be up to code, it's fine.

In many areas of the US, it’s perfectly legal to do your own residential electrical work, so long as you get the permits and inspections.

I didn't say it was illegal, I said he would have difficulty selling his house due to the electrical work performed by someone who isn't a licensed electrician.

It wouldn't have mattered in the seller's market of the past few years, but it will absolutely be a dealbreaker now that we're entering into a buyer's market.

This is not true.

Permitted and inspected work is fine.

YMMV but this is absolutely not true in my case. I have building inspections filed with the city to back that assertion up. Our local building office is actually quite good to work with as a DIYer.

It makes sense really, it's better to work with DIYers to "backstop" their work by having an inspector look at their work and not be an A-hole about it, than to have them do the work anyway and cross their fingers. I love having the building inspectors check my work, worth the couple hundred bucks I pay for a permit.

My state doesn't license electricians at all and leaves it up to local governments to decide whether they want to require any sort of local license to be an electrician.

I've never done electrical work myself but I've hired electricians and as far as I can tell there is no licensing requirement in my local jurisdiction nor any sort of local license to be an electrician.

Nobody is comparing outlet locations to a building plan at the time of sale.

Well, unless the house catches on fire after the sale and someone comes to sue you for improper disclosure.

That's assuming the install was in some way at fault, the faulty install causus a fire, the cause was determined, and the cause was traced back to me.

Im more worried about being hit by a meteor.

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