{"id":3516,"date":"2018-05-20T08:00:30","date_gmt":"2018-05-20T12:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/?p=3516"},"modified":"2019-05-05T08:14:42","modified_gmt":"2019-05-05T12:14:42","slug":"diy-do-it-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/2018\/05\/20\/diy-do-it-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"DIY Do It Yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"DIY\"<\/a>
Do it Yourself projects may need permits (infographic from census.gov)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Home owners are spending more on home improvements.\u00a0 \u201cDo-it-Yourself<\/a>\u201d (DIY) projects are becoming popular again.\u00a0 Besides being inspired by the increasing number of DIY home improvement shows on TV, there are numerous books, online sources and YouTube videos to show a DIYer how to take on almost any project in the home.\u00a0 Being a DIY is ambitious and exciting, but for many becomes overwhelming and costly.<\/p>\n

The notion of DIY is more than just being proud of getting your hands dirty.\u00a0 For many home owners it\u2019s really about money.\u00a0 DIYers have a reputation for being thrifty, but a revealing research analysis asserts there\u2019s more to it. Ryan H. Murphy (The Diseconomies of Do-It-Yourself<\/em><\/a>; The Independent Review; Fall 2017; pp.245\u2013255) provides ample evidence that many who engage in DIY have an anti-market bias.\u00a0 Those who engage in DIY home improvements believe it is a zero or negative sum game, where there is no benefit from money spent on the home improvements.\u00a0 He concludes that unless home improvement is your vocation, you\u2019re better off sticking to your profession and hiring a (licensed) professional home improvement contractor.<\/p>\n

One of the issues that is often noticed with DIY projects is that the result may be substandard.\u00a0 The home owner may decide that although the project is not completed, it is \u201cgood enough\u201d to save time and money.\u00a0 Sometimes, the \u201cgood enough\u201d attitude is evident by jerry-rigged components.\u00a0 This can obviously be a problem when selling the home.\u00a0 Home buyers have a keen eye and will be turned off by poor workmanship.\u00a0 Even if the home buyer misses it, you can count on a home inspector<\/a> to flag it.<\/p>\n

Permits seem to be another issue for many DIYers<\/a>. Some believe that obtaining a permit (when it\u2019s required) is costly and time consuming.\u00a0 However, inspectors are getting better at sniffing out unpermitted projects, so it is common for the DIYer to get caught before completing their improvements.<\/p>\n

The permitting process may increase the time and cost for your DIY project, but it\u2019s there to assure that buildings and home improvements adhere to the building and zoning codes within the city or county.\u00a0 Building and zoning codes are devised to help ensure that buildings are safe.\u00a0 Finishing a project without a required permit can potentially cost you more money and time down the road.<\/p>\n

If you are required to get your unpermitted DIY project inspected after completion, don\u2019t be surprised that you may have to make alterations and\/ or corrections to your work.\u00a0 If you built a structure that is deemed unsafe or even encroaches on a neighbor\u2019s property, you may even have to demolish the project and start over.\u00a0 You may even have to hire contractors to assist you.\u00a0 If you are selling your home, the home buyer may require you to have your work inspected.\u00a0 It can be even more costly if the project was completed during past code cycles, because, rather than send county inspectors, you may be required you to hire experts to inspect your work.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re planning a DIY project and not sure if it needs a county or city permit, check with your municipality’s permitting office.\u00a0 Here in Montgomery County MD, the Department of Permitting Services\u2019 website lists additions and alterations that require permits<\/a> (permittingservices.montgomerycountymd.gov).\u00a0 However, if you live in one of Montgomery County’s county\u2019s incorporated cities<\/a>, your city may have different permitting requirements.<\/p>\n

By Dan Krell
\nCopyright \u00a9 2018.<\/p>\n

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\"Protected<\/a>Disclaimer<\/a>. This article is not intended to provide nor should it be relied upon for legal and financial advice. Readers should not rely solely on the information contained herein, as it does not purport to be comprehensive or render specific advice. Readers should consult with an attorney regarding local real estate laws and customs as they vary by state and jurisdiction. Using this article without permission is a violation of copyright laws.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Home owners are spending more on home improvements.\u00a0 \u201cDo-it-Yourself\u201d (DIY) projects are becoming popular again.\u00a0 Besides being inspired by the increasing number of DIY home improvement shows on TV, there are numerous books, online sources and YouTube videos to show a DIYer how to take on almost any project in the home.\u00a0 Being a DIY … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “DIY Do It Yourself”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1091,113,35,478,173,13],"tags":[1092,855,811,939,885,797],"class_list":["post-3516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-do-it-yourself","category-home-improvement","category-home-remodeling","category-home-renovation","category-home-repairs","category-real-estate","tag-do-it-yourself","tag-home-improvement","tag-home-remodeling","tag-home-renovation","tag-home-repairs","tag-real-estate"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1VZLf-UI","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3516"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4404,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3516\/revisions\/4404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dankrell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}