TODAY’S STORY: A Homeowner Does-It-Themselves
The homeowner needed a small painting project done. He figured he could do it himself and save money. Why not? So he bought the brushes, rollers, paint trays, drop sheets, drywall filler and basic equipment needed from the paint store.
$150.
He bought the paint he needed for the room he wanted to paint.
$70.
First he needed to fix a big hole in the wall the plumber made. He watched YouTube videos and was all set. He went to the builder’s supply store and got a piece of drywall and some mesh tape and the tools to spread the drywall filler.
$38.
Now he was all set for sure.
Then he realized the piece of drywall for the hole needed something to attach to. So he watched more YouTube videos and went back to the building supply store and bought some small pieces of wood to use as backing.
$4 for wood. $8 for gas.
He was surely all set. He fixed the hole and applied filler and waited overnight for it to dry. It wasn’t exactly smooth so he added more drywall filler in the places where it wasn’t smooth. Again he waited overnight for it to dry. Then he sanded it.
He realized with horror that the drywall dust was now making a white cloud in the room that was coating everything in the room. Never mind. He would get the cleaning lady in when he was finished. ($120)
After he sanded he thought it looked pretty smooth. So he put on some paint. Then he found out the can of paint he bought wasn’t an exact match. Well never mind, he was going to paint the whole room anyway. But when the paint dried he realized the patch was actually a bulge, a bump in the wall. So he used more drywall filler to expand the area he patched, to kind of smooth out the edges around the bump to make it unnoticeable. This took 2 more times applying drywall filler and waiting overnight and sanding. Then he painted the room.
He was happy with the result and the money he saved. How much did he save? Well if we add up his expenses including materials, gas, and the cleaning lady it was around $410. He spent about 9 hours of his time on the project, including driving around. If he is an average Canadian his time is worth $32 p/hour so $288. The total cost was $698 to do it himself.
How much would a painter have charged?
About $700. So he saved $2.
Sometimes it pays to hire a professional.
Peter Byrne
Owner/Operator
KASSEL PAINTING LTD