Homeowners May Be Overconfident in Remodeling Skills

NerdWallet’s 2018 Home Improvement Report found that younger generations are particularly gung-ho about tackling home improvement projects themselves than other age groups. Homeowners under the age of 35 take on more than half of all their home repair or home improvement projects themselves, according to the study which surveyed about 2,000 adults in the U.S.

Eighty percent of all homeowners surveyed say that professionals charge too much for labor and materials. Further, 73 percent say there is a wide variety of resources available with enough information that homeowners feel they could do every single one of their home repair or improvement projects themselves if they chose to.

Some homeowners go DIY merely for the cost savings—but they tend to take on smaller projects when they do. Homeowners who did a kitchen renovation themselves typically spent $22,000 less than those who used a professional, according to the report. Landscaping and bedroom renovations were the most common projects that homeowners took on themselves rather than hiring a professional.

DIY rates and savings by project type

DIY rate represents DIY projects as a percentage of total home improvement projects. Savings represents the difference in median expenses between projects that homeowners DIY’d and those for which they hired a professional. All data refers to period 2015-2017. Source: 2017 American Housing Survey, U.S. Census Bureau.

While homeowners may be more confident to take on a project, they don’t always complete it correctly. Forty-three percent of homeowners admit to butchering a DIY home project at least once. Thirty-five percent say a home improvement show influenced them to take on a DIY project that ended badly.

“Have some humility when you think about tackling repairs and renovations yourself,” says Holden Lewis, NerdWallet’s home expert. “If it’s a job you’ve never done before, and it’s hard to undo, think really hard whether you should do it yourself, even with the guidance of YouTube.”

For the most serious repairs, like those that involve plumbing and electricity, homeowners do say they are more likely to hire a pro.