Every home, no matter how large or small, old or new, requires maintenance. If you are newly faced with the need to accomplish the maintenance on your own, and don't know where to start, your first step might be to get an overall assessment of your home. For $300 to $500, you can hire a home inspection firm to walk through your home upstairs and down, as well as outside, to give you a written report (with photographs included) on just what needs to be done.
About home inspection companies.
These home inspection companies are often franchises and part of a respectable and nationally known companies. If you have an acquaintance or friend who is a real estate agent, you can quickly secure a recommendation to one or more such firms. Call more than one, explain your situation, and hire the one who seems to offer the most help in your situation. Many of these firms also offer tips on how to accomplish simple maintenance tasks around the house, or how to contract for services that seem beyond your reach. And they know of contractors themselves who are often reliable to perform the work or at least to bid on it.
Do it yourself?
Good news: If you have decided to do the work yourself, there are numerous resources dedicated to helping you do that very thing. These range from Web sites on every conceivable repair to local BOCES and colleges who teach repair, as well as the do-it-yourself stores like Home Depot. These stores not only have knowledgeable representatives available to consult (for free!), but they will often send a representative to your house for a small fee, which is often reimbursable if you then purchase materials or service from the store. In addition, stores like Home Depot will often put on seminars at night or on weekends-free seminars you may attend to learn how to redo your closet or re-tile your kitchen floor.
Hiring out the work.
If you have decided to hire the work to be done, here too you have many options. Home Depot, Sears, and other stores will be able to provide you with an estimate that you can use as a guideline for your budget. Your home inspection firm may also have excellent contractor recommendations. Other good suggestions will come from friends, neighbors, and friendly real estate agents. If you know of a nearby family who has had similar work done, simply ask them for a referral: Would they recommend the people they used? Were they satisfied with the price, the quality of the work, and the timeliness of the job? Most people, when told of your situation, will be happy to help.
The handyman can.
Finally, there's the handyman route. These talented, do-it-all folks are often able to fix most of what goes wrong in a house. They can typically do light plumbing, painting, tiling, flooring, repair the roof, install a new electric outlet-just about anything that needs to be done. The good news is they are usually inexpensive compared to contractors who specialize in woodwork, plumbing, painting, etc. The bad news is that they may not be able to deliver the quality you would want, and may not offer guarantees, discounts, or reimbursement, if something goes wrong. Many are not licensed and they may not know the building codes for your area. The most reputable handymen will let you know what they can and can't do-and will advise you when to call in a more expensive contractor. The best way to find a handyman for your house is to ask around until someone identifies one that sounds perfect for you.
Major renovations are beyond the scope of this article, but if you're interested let Gwenn know at gwenn@aloneandcontent.com, and she'll respond with a piece on this subject—or any other of interest to our members.
