The Most Critical Deck Building Decision of All - Should You Do-It-Yourself or Hire It Out?
Ahhhh, summertime. It's almost here. And you still haven't made that key deck building decision. Should you save a bunch of money and do it yourself, or should you save a bunch of time and hire it out? For starters, let's look at money.
Granted, you might save a lot of money if you build your deck yourself. First of all there's the cost of lumber and materials. If you hire a deck building company they'll mark up the materials approximately 10% to 15% in order to cover transportation costs and labor costs for loading and unloading.
But one thing to think about is tools. If you have all the necessary tools and you know how to use them, you'll be fine. But power tools can be expensive, even if you just rent them. So be sure to include this figure in your expenses. And don't forget smaller pieces of equipment too like brushes and rollers for sealing and staining, a power washer to clean the deck before you finish it, work gloves, nails, and other hardware, etc.
The final thing to consider when looking at the costs involved is your own skill level. If you're skilled enough to build the deck properly and you want to take on the task, then go for it. But remember, it might cost you more in the long run if you have to hire someone to come out and re-build your deck after you get done messing it up.
Now, as to the time involved. When deciding if you're going to do your deck building or hire it out, consider that it's probably going to take you at least 4 to 6 solid weekends to complete the job. How soon do you want to be able to use your deck?
Of course, a professional deck building service will be able to complete your deck a lot faster. They're experienced and they have an entire crew of workers. So your trade-off really becomes time versus money.
One way to save a little money and still hire someone else to do your deck building is to talk to the contractor and see if he'll let you use his materials list and buy the materials yourself. That would save you 10% to 15% right there. You could also ask the contractor if he would frame the deck for you and you could do the planking yourself.
The important thing to remember when deciding who is going to be handling the deck building is don't try to do it yourself just to save money. Even if you handle everything yourself that deck is still going to be a major investment that will add thousands of dollars to the retail value of your home – if it's done properly.
Generally, if you talk to your contractor and let him know your budget and time concerns he'll be able to come up with a workable solution that will make everybody happy and you'll have your deck in plenty of time to get in all those summer parties you had planned.
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