Posted on 11/27/2006 9:18:21 AM PST by KJC1
Homeowners Margaret and Daniel Anderson were proud of the work they did to upgrade their basement -- until all the lights went out. Electricians investigated, and found a fire hazard: Some wires were loose, bare and crammed together so tightly that electrical boxes were getting singed. The Andersons ended up paying a handyman service $10,000 to tear out walls and finish the basement.
"It was all wrong," says Ms. Anderson. "They just bailed us out."
Remodel for Less Than $500
The recent do-it-yourself boom has led to a growing number of botched projects as ambitious homeowners get in over their heads. Now, handyman services and some contractors are increasingly going after a long-overlooked segment of the $215 billion home-improvement and repair market: fixing people's snafus.
House Doctors Handyman Service, a Milford, Ohio, home-services company that will fix or finish bungled projects, has opened 15 new franchises this year. HomeFIXology is a Tampa, Fla., franchiser of handyman services that was launched this year, anticipating, in part, a growing need for services to rectify botched or abandoned projects, says its director of operations, John Ogg. And Handyman Connection, a national home-improvement chain based in Cincinnati, last year added 400 tradesmen who can handle these types of jobs.
"We see this as a niche and growing market for us," says Steve McCoy, the owner of the Handyman Connection franchise that fixed the Andersons' home in Colorado Springs, Colo. The firms also anticipate a growing market as baby boomers age and come to need help on projects they once could do themselves.
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How ever did the pioneers survive?
They didn't - they're all dead.
Remodeling was much easier when houses were made of sod.
"The Andersons ended up paying a handyman service $10,000 to tear out walls and finish the basement."
Sounds like these homeowners got screwed paying $10,000 to fix a wiring job. You could rewire an entire house for $10,000.
Obviously these were people who didn't get a permit for their DIY remodel and thus, did not have the benefit of a town engineer to inspect their work. Now they are really paying for being so cheap in the first place.
Lesson: Don't do your own electrical or plumbing work unless you really, really know what you're doing.
The only process more difficult than finding a good contractor is finding a good contractor that will pick up the pieces after a bad contractor fails to follow through.
Yes, what Izzy said.
No electricity, no plumbing, no heat, no air conditioning, no basement, no glass windows, no door locks, no sheetrock, no molding, no linoleum, no tile, no nothing.
I could build a pioneer house. In fact, when I was a kid, I did. We called it a "fort."
Really? I'd think it would be easier to use wallboard than sod. I tried but I couldn't' get the screws to hold. ;-)
Sounds like the kind of work where a camera would provide some future entertainment.
EXACTLY!
When dealing with contractors, the previous worker screwed up the project no matter what.
I like those design shows where they do stuff like glue straw and fabric to the walls (and around the outlets).
I really enjoy looking at one of our offices that was done by a very expensive faux-finisher. The walls themselves look great, but there are paint smears all over the trim. **I** know to use masking tape and plenty of it.
I learned the hard way, of course, by not using it because I was such a careful painter, but after scraping all my own smears off, I did learn.
I'm becoming so disabled that I can no longer do it, but for a time I did DIY jobs for elderly and shut-ins for free, except they paid for any expensive 'parts'. I can still advise DIYers (for free) but the pride issue with some folks prevents them from contacting me or someone like me. One piece of advice I am giving more often now is 'hire a good contractor to get the entire job done right and with insurance for workers at the job site.' But sometimes all a good DIYer needs is a brush with fundamentals of home construction, which I and many more willing to do so but never asked can give for free without danger. (I even have a motorhome, to travel to jobsites if asked! It's retirement fun, really.)
I agree. In my jurisdiction a permit for household electrical work is only $23.50 and inspections are free - as many as you need along the way to finishing the job provided you have no gaps greater than 6 months. I look at it as a dirt cheap way to get an education by getting an expert in my house that I can ask alot of questions of. I have a BS in Electrical Engineering so I certainly feel confident and competent, but that doesn't mean I automatically know everything about bldg code.
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