It never fails that the weekend DIY projects you expect to be a breeze end up costing you hours of frustration and disillusion and broken nails. (Remember that time you set aside some time to hang those IKEA shelves only to find out that your walls were actually made of brick?) Meanwhile, the jobs you decide to hire out almost always end up being the ones you could have totally tackled on your own.
What’s done is done, but we’d like to help manage your expectations down the road. To do so, we asked “This Old House” host, Kevin O’Connor, just how difficult some common home improvement projects really are, and when it’s time to forgo the heroics and make a call instead. Here’s what he had to say:
IT’S A SNAP (EASY)
Installing A New Faucet
Photo: Getty
“This is an easy fix because an old faucet and a new faucet both probably attached to your sink in the same way. The physical attachment happens under the sink with a nut onto a threaded end. This hasn’t changed much in 70 years. Next, there are usually one to three holes in the sink top to receive the faucet and the hot and cold handles. When you buy a new faucet try to get one that uses the same number of holes with the same distance between them. Your sink has three holes but the shiny new faucet only uses one? No problem, most replacement faucets come with a flange that will cover all three.”
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The key to this project is to take you time. Mix only the amount of thin-set and grout that you need, get the layout right, check and re-check to make sure everything is level and straight.”
WATCH: How to Install a Glass Tile Backsplash
Check out the slideshow below for the projects you definitely don’t ever want to DIY.
