Do-it-yourself ‘damage’?

October 3, 2019 by Neuse Tile Service 2 Comments

There was an interesting article in a recent industry publication that detailed the results of an ImproveNet survey of homeowners who had chosen to do home improvement projects on their own –without initially hiring professionals. A surprising 63 percent of the 2000 people surveyed regretted taking on the project without the help of a professional, and 33 percent had to hire a contractor to either finish the job or re-do it completely.

It was particularly interesting to us that “installing tile tops the list of most regretted jobs.” The 30-second clips on home improvement television shows have done a great job of expanding the idea of using tile, but they’ve also made it look incredibly easy. And it just isn’t. Sure, it can be done with a strong investment of time learning techniques, acquiring special tools, and garnering lots of patience, but the time it would take a professional pales in comparison to the time and effort that a novice has to extend.

Almost half of the respondents in the survey said their projects took longer than expected or were more physically difficult than they anticipated. Almost that many also said it was more technically difficult than they imagined, and nearly a quarter said it was more expensive than they had calculated. Interestingly, almost 10 percent said they did actual damage to their homes in the process, and nearly that many said they damaged themselves in some way!

Sadly, more than half of respondents said they were disappointed in how their project turned out – some saying it just didn’t look good, didn’t function as intended, or just didn’t hold up well over time.

We absolutely love that home improvement television has made it more popular to make changes in our homes, and we are thrilled that tile is showing up in all kinds of unexpected places. We also hope that with the continuing popularity of remodeling will come great respect for the professionals who have the craftsmanship, knowledge, and expertise to do home improvement projects well. #QualifiedLabor

Resource: Qualified Remodeler, May 2019, by Lew Sichelman