When to Hire Out
By: Kiersten Mcdonald
Tags: Home Improvement, Renovations, Home, Construction

When to Hire Out

First-time renovators often put the cart before the horse. We have a house- let’s do absolutely everything! Your timeline would only make sense if you somehow knew how to freeze time, go back, clone yourself, win the lottery with your knowledge of the winning numbers, hire out, and even then, your timeline is wrong. When I look back on our list of to-dos from our move in this past July, I think, “oh, sweet, summer child, what a fool you were.” But, still, it’s a great feeling to get worked up about what your house can be. See the potential!

Why not get excited about the renovation? Hang onto that feeling…there will be times when that feeling eludes you. Times, for instance, when you reach the point of mudding and taping. Mudding and taping will bring no excitement. All joy will die. No one will smile. Everyone will wear black and grieve the renovation stage we are now at… how did we get here. Why have we done this to ourselves?

I love painting. I put on ratty old clothes, turn on some music, grab a glass of wine, and I’m off to the races. Time flies when you’re having fun, right? But even with a task I loved, it was tiring. Some days, coming home from work, I’d stop at the gate and think, “fuck, I still have so much to get done tonight.” And I wasn’t even doing the hard stuff! Partner was opening walls, rewiring, in the attic to install pot lights, and more. My biggest concern was that, as time wore on, we would both reach the end of our workday and dread coming home to this new exciting project. This new exciting project would become an unbearable burden causing both of us to linger at work before slowly trudging home.

To modernize the main floor, we covered the scalloped plaster walls with drywall. Tones of drywall. We also did this to cover the popcorn ceilings. With all the drywall up, we hummed and hawed about doing the mudding and taping ourselves. I had no reason not to want to because I genuinely did not understand what went into it.

I mean, you cover up the screws, cover up the seams, and there you go. It might be a few days’ work, and there are enough YouTube videos to guide us through it. Partner assured me that it was slightly more work than that. After going over finances, we decided to call it. We both needed a break; we were both exhausted; we both really, really didn’t want to mud and tape.

And I’m so glad we didn’t. We hired a fantastic professional who worked for two weeks, 9 hour days, and gave us tips for when we do the basement. As much work as I thought it was, my perception was so very, very wrong. Poorly done mudding and taping is very noticeable. Seeing how hard this amazing, experienced professional worked and the great outcome made me grateful we hired out.

Here’s a glimpse at some of the work halfway through the process.

Mudding and taping isn’t the bar for when it’s best to hire out. The bar is dread. Dread might come from the type of work needed or the amount of work to be done- recognize it. Let yourself feel every emotion about the house because if you don’t, if you keep charging ahead, the dread will catch up to you. If you can’t afford to hire out, let it be a warning sign to take a break. If you can afford to hire out, do so for these types of things. Hell, there’s got to be someone in your neighbourhood who LOVES to do a job you hate, who gets excited at the possibility of it. Find that person pay that person. It’s worth it.