What won't you do??

[kwb]

Is there any project that you won't do?

I was thinking about this as over the last year I have done a little of everything as far as what is required to build a house/shop. I have torn down/reassembled engine in my boat, replaced motor mounts in the car, fabricated a fire place hood, welded railings for my deck, ran equipment to regrade the yard, reconfigured all the electronics in the boat, reconfigured the battery bank and inverter, replaced control panel on the furnace, cut trees, and on and on.

I am Nuts to do all this and not hire much of anything out?

 

[A_Pmech]

Why would you be nuts?

 

[back2class]

I do everything except involved auto repairs. Even if I mess up it still works out less or at least I gain a skill. I've worked on everything from old houses to old tractors. Wired homes, built home furnishings, built engines and done some pretty artistic stuff too like make retail signs and paint motorcycle flame jobs. Truth is I have done too much construction to be fun anymore so if cost was not an issue I would hire that out. Face it guys, anything one may encounter as a project in everyday life is not rocket science be it building a shop, fixing the HVAC system or building a street rod.
Once in a while I fail pretty good but 99% of the time I have it covered and once in a while impress myself.

 

[kwb]

Why would you be nuts?

Time... we only get so much of it and working solo after a day job tends to draw things out.

 

[rsanter]

its really not a matter of what I wont do but rather what I cannot do well

bob

 

[Vinko]

What I won't do: take **** from anyone. It's a good way to lose business

 

[-B-]

Roofs , ceilings, high voltage, and table and cross buck saws it is someone else job. Mind you I will fix high pressure system in excess of 4500psi, climb and limb a 75' + trees , hang out of a car fixing a bike in a race at 35mph+

 

[WSMC633]

The Plumbing leaving the house. That one I'll hire out any day.

 

[Stuey]

I won't go near hydrofluoric acid - it scares the everything out of me.

 

[krooser]

Geez... I've rebuilt engines, transmissions, suspensions, built race cars/ restored vintage cars, done all my own major remodeling, electrical, plumbing, heating, concrete work, painting, flooring, tree work.

I disassembled, moved and reassembled my pole building 40 miles.

Last year I repaired $12,000.00 worth of body damage on my Peterbilt... even painted it myself. Last Monday night a drunk visitor from south of the border pulled out in front of my Pete and I hit him and totaled the truck. I plan on buying it back from the insurance company after I settle and rebuilding it again!

Now that I'm getting older I do hire out SOME work but I pretty much still do most everything myself (with some help).

I thought everybody did the same.

 

[rieferman]

I do too much - on one side, I take pride in it.. but like you say, we only get so much time. And I really would like to spend a lot of it with my kids and wife and friends.

But, I've learned this much: if it's absolutely critical that it be done 110% correctly, it's a skilled job, and it's something I'll probably never have to do again... consider (I say "consider") hiring it out.

Like the roof on our farmhouse.. total tear down, re-deck, metal caping etc. etc. etc Hired that sucker out for sure.

Otherwise, I normally get the bids, see the $$ figure, and think to myself "I can learn/figure out how to do that"

 

[Piper]

I typically look into doing it myself on most jobs, before starting, and then weigh the options. For example, I planned on installing 3 garage doors in my new garage build. Never done it before but figured it'd be easy by door 2 and 3. Anyway, the cost for me to buy the components needed vs hiring someone local (who is a reputable guy)to install was actually more. Go figure! So, I'm getting identical stuff and all I have to do is prep the wall. No brainer. So, my bottom line is, do the research and see if it makes sense for me to do it.

P

 

[Gary S]

I built my garage from the ground up including doing the dirt work and the concrete. I have no problem doing concrete work, carpenter work, wiring, insulating, or any of the work that goes into putting up a building, except plumbing.

I won't do plumbing. I have only 2 kinds of pluming. Leak and Clog. I turn that dirty work over to the professionals. I also hired out the tree removal before building my garage. I didn't have the crane and bucket truck needed to remove that 65' tree like the professionals have.

Also, I don't work on computer controlled cars. I figure that if the manufacturer couldn't get them to work right when new, why waste time trying to fix their mistakes?

 

[gearbuilder]

I won't do exhaust pipe work on my car.

Jamie

 

[slicktoptt]

I usually don't do big projects that need to get done right away. Anyhting else that can I can do over time or get done in a reasonable amount of time I'll do.

Gutters was my most recent project I let someone else do. Needed them done quick...been raining a lot here and water coming off the roof was beating holes in the ground and washing out dirt around the slab. 563 feet of gutters was not something I could get done in a weekend. 4 guys came out and were done in a day.

 

[Defender Chassis]

Concrete - Screw that up and you have a ten fold harder project just to get back to square one,

Drywall finishing - I have a guy that will come to my house after his day job and work for me at the same rate his boss pays him. I can do it but am very slow. Just is not worth the trouble. H emakes me look like I am walking backwards.

Roofing on anything greater than a 6/12 slope - Just not worth the risk.

Spray painting in the shop - Overspray bugs the **** out of me.

Sanding in the shop - The dust gets everywhere. I spend more time cleaning up than the jo usually takes.

 

[Defender Chassis]

I usually don't do big projects that need to get done right away. Anyhting else that can I can do over time or get done in a reasonable amount of time I'll do.

Gutters was my most recent project I let someone else do. Needed them done quick...been raining a lot here and water coming off the roof was beating holes in the ground and washing out dirt around the slab. 563 feet of gutters was not something I could get done in a weekend. 4 guys came out and were done in a day.

563 feet? WOWSER!

 

[knudsen]

Roofing - it just ***** too much

Cement - too easy to fubar it

HVAC - I know a guy that doe sit for peanuts, if he's in the mood

Chain saws in trees or on a ladder - I'm too pretty to lose a limb LOL yah right

 

[buening]

Electrical diagnostic/repair on the wife's 06 BMW 530xi.

 

[GN4WHLN]

Most things I can do myself like plumbing, electrical, concrete, drywall, yada, yada... I done plenty of engine builds on cars and bikes, transmissions, suspension, metal fabrication, landscape; lots of stuff. I hate paying someone to do something I can do but will if it beyond my skill level, too big a job, or I have some other project going on. My biggest complaint about hiring people is that they don't finish things as well as I would - I am very detail oriented.

What I pretty much won't do is fix somone's mess; some bastardized repair or half-a$$ed contractor job.

 

[rocketman]

I wont lay ceramic tile again. Too old and my back and knees can't handle it.

I wont/can't do gears. Don't have the right tools, machined out bearing sets for testing and adjustments or the experience. Regearing differentials and doing it right the first time is an ARTFORM.

I'd LOVE TO LEARN. In the Jeep community around here, I think I could make some good weekend money doing it.

The RIGHT TOOLS alone are pretty pricy.

Won't rebuild an engine for the above reasons. I'd do a long block replacement myself though!

 

[sammerdog]

+1 on ring and pinion replacements in differentials. Definitely a learned skill. I'd love to learn some day.

Internal work on ******'s. Auto or manual.... too many little pieces for this old Polock.

....and anything over 440v scares the **** out of me.


...oh yeah... almost forgot, the whole gay thing. Something about kissing a hairy *** dude does nothing for me.

 

[speed bump]

Underground coal mining east coast style I can't do little tiny spaces in something like coal veins.

Other than that I haven't run into things I won't do although I plan on hiring out body work just because of the shear amount of time and space required to do it.

 

[Farmallgray]

Replace a couple shingles that blew off my 2nd story roof in 10 deg weather with the wind howling. I got the ladder up and climbed half way up and said "screw this". Best $75
I spent was having a pro do it.

 

[ovilla]

Transmission work - I limit my work to drain/fill and filter replacement. Just way too many pieces in these things to get lost.

Two story roofing jobs - Just not worth the risk/injury anymore.

Gas Lines - Whenever I do any kind of gas line work, I have a friends dad give me a hand, as he's definitely a pro at it (retired fireman). I built a whole new bathroom last year so I'm not afraid of water or electricity but workibng on gas without an electronic sniffer just doesn't quite give me enough sense of closure. Personally, I'd like to light a match next to each fitting to make sure there's absolutely no gas leaks - which I know is a big No-No.

 

[79pacecar]

anything over 240 volt..

and
Piss off krusty.....

 

[bluesman2a]

It's not a question of what I *WON'T* do, as much as it is a question of suckage vs. cost. If I like doing something, or it doesn't bother me I'll give just about anything a try. Things I have found are not worth my time to fool with:

1) digging/manwell labor not fun, and most folks will do it for less than I would have to pay in doctors bills for my back.

2) ******/gear-work -- yep it's an art. Paying somebody to do it is cheaper than the parts I would tear up "learning", and it saves me multiple times having to pull it out.

3) Insulation -- brings the **** and I can get it done for about the same as I'd pay for just materials at the big-box.

4) Plumbing -- nuff said.

5) Concrete -- I've SEEN it screwed up, and it ain't cheap to fix.

 

[Old Moparz]

Even though I have a pretty sharp utility knife, a good tolerance for pain, lots of paper towels, rubbing alcohol, bourbon, & duct tape, I decided not to do my own hernia surgery back in the early 90's.

 

[krusty the clown]

anything over 240 volt..

and
Piss off krusty.....

bwahahaha......youd be better off with the electricity!

 

[79pacecar]

bwahahaha......youd be better off with the electricity!

See what I mean....

 

[Intel]

Any exhaust work on cars from the rust belt/salt belt. Don't have the proper tools nor lift to get the right leverage on them. Best 40-100 bucks for removal/install.

 

[Shocker]

Circumcisions. Way to delicate for any of my tools to handle.

 

[twostory]

I have done just about everything in building my garage.

EXCEPT pouring & finishing the slab. It is just too expensive to fix if I mess it up. Better to pay the professionals to do it right. Now finding a "good" professional is another story.

Another job I am hiring out is sanding 1,000 sq ft of hardwood flooring. While I can rent the equipment, it only cost a little more to hire a professional who will do a better job.

I find it funny that so many do not like roofing. I used to do roofing in college and really enjoy doing roofing work once in a while. I am also a rock climber and while I enjoy heights, I do respect the danger and work safely.

 

[snorky18]

I refuse to do gutters on the 2nd story section of our house. Waay too cheap to hire someone and save myself all that risk.

I've roofed, rock climbed, rappeled, inspected aerial water towers, ridden the sky flyer at Carowinds (150' face first free fall, you're in a harness), and done a lot of really stupid dangerous things in my life, but standing on a ladder 18+ feet above my concrete driveway while using my hands to do anything besides hold on to the ladder for dear life just doesn't seem like a good idea. The little voice inside my head turns into a big loud booming voice screaming "Danger! This is not safe". If I had a scissor lift, scaffolding, or some kind of sturdy platform, or a safety harness, I might feel differently.

Fun fact of the day (from my dad who used to work in industrial medicine): Once you reach 11' above concrete, over 50% of falls are fatal.
The higher you are, the higher the % are fatal. And let's not even discuss the cases of people who fall, and live, but might be better off had they died b/c of the extent of their injuries.

 

[Todd.Brock]

I farm out 2nd story gutters..For what I pay the guy top do it twice a year its a no brainer.
I did everything in my basement except the drywall. I hate it. I paid to have that done and dont regret a minute of it..
I also had our roof fixed in the last big storm..And a tree thinned out.. I guess its the height things..

After a year finishing my basement I had some yahoos tile my kitchen floor so I could manage the project... That was the 2nd best check I wrote. 1ST WAS THE DRYWALL.

Because it was hotter than Haitis a couple weeks ago and I only have a sketchy idea of HVAC innerds, The A/C man replaced the start capacitor on the compressor. $119 bucks for 30 minutes was good money spent and made (for him)

 

[ddawg16]

I won't do fat and/or ugly women............

 

[shmo]

I concur with ddawg16


Also, I see no reason to drywall or insulate. For the cost of hiring that out, it isn't worth messing with. Roofing is another one of the things I prefer not to deal with. This is only do to being a little "ascared of falling off the roof", heights and I don't get along too well....haha

 

[babzog]

I won't do fat and/or ugly women............

Hear hear!

I also hate heights, taping / mudding drywall and insulation.

 

[ears]

If it needs doing I will do it. That said I am paying one of the guys from work to sand down and repaint a blasting cabinet I just bought tomorrow. I want to get it painted before I go out of town this weekend and he needs the money.

In the winter when work gets slow I hire him time to time as a grunt. Digging, cleaning, pressure washing etc. I work alongside him but it is a huge help having an extra set of hands, and I have too many projects lined up to ever finish.

 

[Boyd Who]

It's nice to know I'm not the only one who hates heights. I'll go on the roof of a bungalow or ranch style house, but the 12/12 pitch roof of my 100-y/o 2-story house is out of the question. I don't bounce nearly as well as I did when I was younger. lol