Our fix-it fixation

CHANGE a switch? Install a fan? Pack spackle? Almost anyone can do it.

“There’s a lot of stuff you can do yourself, and there’s a lot of good help out there to show you how,” said Lou Manfredini, Ace Hardware’s do-it-yourself advocate and a former licensed contractor who works on his family’s suburban Chicago house. “No disrespect to the fine contractors and handymen out there, but you can save so much money -- the cost is mostly labor.”

Start with simple projects -- painting or changing doorknobs and kitchen hardware -- and build confidence, Eden Jarrin suggests. “It’s not rocket science,” said Jarrin, who helped found www.bejane.com, with its trademark slogan: “Empowering home improvement.” “A lot of people are surprised by how much you can do.”

Homeowners spent an estimated $155 billion on home improvements and repairs during the last four quarters, up 2.8% from the year before, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. That included do-it-yourself projects that some experts estimate would have cost consumers about six times as much to have someone else do.

A typical household, either owners or renters, spent an average of $2,465 on home-improvement products in 2004, an amount that has been increasing by about 10% a year, according to the Home Improvement Research Institute. But no one knows exactly how much do-it-yourselfers save on projects, according to Richard Johnston, a senior research analyst for the Florida-based institute.

“It’s really hard to get an accurate look at do-it-yourself versus” the cost of hiring a contractor, Johnston said, “since the more expensive projects are ones the homeowner doesn’t want to get involved in.

“I can tell you that if a do-it-yourselfer did something themselves, they spent an average of $774, but when they hired a professional they spent $9,000.”

Labor remains the single highest cost in professionally completed work, Johnston said, and this is where the do-it-yourselfer can save.

Installing a new faucet, for example, usually costs from $60 to $150 for parts. Hiring a handyman to do the work -- assuming there aren’t any problems with the plumbing and sink -- will raise the price by $75 to $200 in labor, whereas a plumber may charge as much as $250 for labor alone.

Redondo Beach resident Brooke Coe replaced the faucets in her home by herself. “My kitchen faucet didn’t have a pullout sprayer and I wanted one,” she said. “I replaced the faucets in the bathrooms for aesthetics.”

Coe said the first try was a little scary, but everything went well, and now she’s very comfortable doing the work.

“It’s really just unscrewing the old one, and then closely follow the manufacturer’s directions for putting in the new one,” she said. “The kitchen faucet was a little more awkward because the garbage disposal is under there, but the bathroom ones were really simple.”

Topping the list of the most popular DIY projects were painting, minor plumbing and landscaping, according to survey results released in March by Roper Reports, a New York-based company that tracks consumer attitudes and behaviors. Beyond the potential for savings, do-it-yourselfers are motivated by pride in their workmanship, the Roper survey found.

The survey results suggest that DIY is a lifestyle, with do-it-yourselfers generally leading more active lives than average.

Respondents said they got ideas and advice from lots of sources but that home-improvement TV shows led the way.

Raised on remodeling

Generation Xers -- who came of age watching HGTV and remodeling expert Bob Vila’s “This Old House” -- are the emerging force in the do-it-yourself boom, the study found. That age group, about 30 to mid-40s, accounted for 41% of all do-it-yourself home-improvement spending, compared with baby boomers’ 26%.

The do-it-yourself market segment is also attracting more women. It makes sense since unmarried women made up about one-fifth of home buyers last year, according to Jarrin, who is one of the two Janes at Be Jane Inc. The site, aimed at getting more women involved in DIY projects, has a message board where staff experts answer questions that other members haven’t already helped with.

“Our message is that you can take on these projects yourself,” Jarrin said.

Researching the project, rounding up the right tools and thinking about safety precautions will produce the best results, the experts say.

“Some jobs, it’s as easy as reading the instructions that come with the fixture or faucet,” Manfredini said. Larger jobs may require more preparation.

“We always suggest that people consult with a contractor before they take on something big,” Jarrin said. “Ask them how they would do the job and think about if you can do it.”

That’s exactly what Ave Pildas did when he bought his Silver Lake house, knowing it needed serious foundation work. Over the course of the two-month job, he learned how to apply for and get permits, pour concrete and other skills while he rebuilt the foundation.

“The scariest part was getting the big steel beam positioned so everything was supported while you excavate under the house,” he said. Pildas, who watched his father work on the family’s Cincinnati home, had done some drywall and plumbing work before he took on the foundation. A designer by trade, he said he had always “fiddled around with how things go together.”

“It went so well that my wife and I built our next house from scratch,” he said.

It’s all in the preparation

Thinking through a job and doing the prep work are critical to succeeding. Some home-repair enthusiasts lay the parts out and study how they fit together before anything is taken apart. Others consider what can go wrong, buy extra parts beforehand and return them after the job is done.

“With painting, and with most jobs, it comes down to putting the effort into good preparation,” Manfredini said. “It’s like making a bed where if you don’t get the mattress pad and fitted sheet on right, it won’t ever look square.”

DoItYourself.comand BeJane.comhave extensive libraries of how-to articles and most home-improvement stores carry books with general and specific information. Many, including Home Depot and Lowe’s, offer weekend classes on how to lay tile, hang ceiling fans, set up irrigation and work with paving stones.

Such classes are worthwhile for any homeowner, said Jim Salmon, a home inspector who has a nationally syndicated radio show on home repairs.

“A lot of people learn by seeing and doing, so if books don’t help, the class can be like a mini-apprenticeship,” said Salmon, whose website, jimsalmon.com, is also loaded with how-to advice. “They give you an idea of how things work, whether you want to change them or maintain them.”

For landscape projects, many nurseries and college extensions offer classes and resources for figuring out how to repair irrigation systems, how and what to plant and how to care for what’s already there.

Itching to tackle something around your house?

Gather up the tools, materials and instructions, and promise yourself that you can hire a handyman to help if you get stuck, Jarrin recommended.

“You were going to do the job anyway, right?” she asked. “There’s no harm in trying it yourself and being prepared to get someone to help finish it.”

Even if the job is too big to take on, do-it-yourselfers may still be able to save money.

“You can always just ask your contractor if there are parts of the job you can do yourself,” Jarrin said. “You can take on the demolition, which is lots of fun, or the cleanup after the job.”

Although Jarrin has a rarin’-to-go attitude about do-it-yourself projects, Manfredini is more cautious. “I always say, estimate the time the job takes, double it and add two days, then decide if you’re ready for that.”

San Diego-based writer Marty Graham can be reached at martygraham@adnc.com.

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When to leave it to the experts

Some jobs should not be tackled by do-it-yourselfers. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

* If you can’t shut down the power source, whether gas or electric, don’t do the repair. For electrical work, first shut the power off; test to be sure it’s off.

* If you can’t turn off the water supply, don’t mess with the pipes. Check for a shut-off beneath the sink and make sure it works before you start to replace the faucet.

* Don’t work on old pipe insulation and popcorn ceilings, which can contain asbestos. They’re safe as long as the asbestos remains undisturbed. Hire a professional.

* It’s not a good idea to keep pouring drain opener down a drain that has remained clogged for more than 45 minutes. This just adds caustics to the mess a paid professional will have to deal with.

* Be cautious when using tools that are unfamiliar. Try out power saws and angle grinders on something you don’t care about before using them on the walls of your home.

* Don’t skimp on safety gear. If you want to do the job of a professional, dress the part.

Marty Graham