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Richard Minter, right, conducts a free tile clinic at The Home Depot store in Bend on Saturday. Minter is explaining backer board to workshop participants, from left, Barksdale Brown, Zoe Ditmore, Kathy Polykronis, Larry May and Lisa Innes, all of Bend. “The hardest part is selecting the tile,” Minter said, encouraging the do-it-yourselfers.
Melissa Jansson The Bulletin
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Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series from various sources on surviving the current tough economic times.
Sometimes, getting down and dirty can help the pocketbook.
In these trying economic times, more consumers are making improvements and repairs to their homes themselves to save money. While many home maintenance projects can be done on your own, it’s good to know what you can handle and when to call a professional.
Hammer Time Home Center, a Sunriver hardware store, has seen a roughly 20 to 30 percent increase in customers purchasing supplies for their own home projects, said store manager Mike Lee.
“It’s a reflection of people trying to save money and doing small projects themselves rather than calling a professional to come in and do it,” Lee explained.
Hammer Time’s manager suggested that if you are planning to try your own small projects, it’s best to go to a store that has good customer service and where you’re not afraid to ask questions.
It helps to explain the problem, your skill level and the goal of the project. With that information, employees can explain how to proceed.
Rich Mires, a semiretired real estate agent with Riata Realty in Prineville, is planning to start a laminate project on his floor. While browsing for products at The Home Depot in Bennd on Thursday, he said he searches the Internet for instruction and asks store employees for installation tips.
Mires has various reasons for doing the project himself.
“Number one is money,” he said.
Other than financial motivations, Mires enjoys construction and has more time since he is semiretired. Mires also is contemplating upgrading the flooring product with the money he’s saving on installation.
The Home Depot, with locations in Bend and Redmond, offers free do-it-yourself clinics. Participants can learn skills such as how to laminate or tile a floor, organize a closet, make a home more energy efficient, or how to hang drywall. A “Do-It-Herself Workshop” for women is offered once a quarter. Clinics are taught by the store’s employees, many of them former professionals in the fields in which they teach.
Turnout has been high lately, especially for the laminate, flooring and closet organization classes, according to Sheridan Letzer, specialty assistant manager at the Bend Home Depot.
Common do-it-yourself projects include pipe insulation, installing roof tape and flooring, painting and light drywall projects, Letzer said. He expects home projects to increase as the weather improves.
“I’m sure we’ll have more of that in the spring and summer, when people are installing more decks, putting up their fences and doing their own landscaping,” he said.
The Home Depot also provides how-to CDs and books, and its Web site, www.homedepot .com, offers written and video project and buying guides.
Lowe’s, with locations in Bend and Redmond, also offers CDs, books and a Web site, www.lowes.com, that includes a library of how-to videos and project ideas and guides.
Free clinics will be offered at the Lowe’s Redmond location every Saturday starting Feb. 7. Workshops will cover how to patch a hole in a wall, painting techniques, how to lay ceramic tile and other projects that people like to do themselves, according to Tom Quinn, Redmond store manager.
Popular projects include energy improvement, garden landscaping, painting, and replacement of light fixtures and pipes or equipment that has simply worn out, Quinn said.
Lowe’s, like other home-improvement stores, offers in-store consultation.
“We have sales specialists in every department that are knowledgeable and will walk people through any of their projects,” Quinn said.
Installation services are available through both The Home Depot and Lowe’s.
The Central Oregon Community College Continuing Education Department offers home and garden classes during the college’s four terms. Classes can include landscape design, green building and remodeling, welding, woodworking and a willow furniture workshop. Cost for the classes range from $29 to $175.
Prevention and safety
If a project is not a good idea to attempt individually, one way to save money on professional services is to price shop.
Laurie Woolery, co-owner of Deschutes Plumbing in Bend, said she has had more customers calling in for price comparisons.
When it comes to plumbing, Woolery said, it is best not to do a lot of projects yourself.
“You can try to make repairs on your own, but then you always run into the risk of finding something that is going to leak and causing more damage than having a professional do it,” she said.
One way to avoid expensive plumbing repairs is by prevention and thinking ahead. You can winterize your house, and ensure that the temperature inside is at least 45 degrees if the house is left vacant for an extended period, Woolery said. To avoid a frozen pipe, leave cupboards and inside doors open.
Other preventive measures include putting antifreeze in toilets and blowing out water pipes. If a winter storm might be approaching, you can leave a porch light on so a neighbor can be aware if your electricity goes off and they need to contact you.
Ron Hollif, owner of Prineville Electric, has recently noticed customers buying more compact fluorescent and energy-saving lamps. The bulbs cost a few dollars to $10, more expensive than a typical bulb, but they last approximately eight years.
Customers around Central Oregon come into the electric store to buy retail items, Hollif said, and ask for advice. Major electric repairs are not wise to try on your own, he cautioned.
“It depends on their knowledge, but most people aren’t comfortable working (on) their electrical panel,” Hollif said. “They usually leave that up to the professionals.”
Lee, the Hammer Time Home Center’s manager, also recommends people avoid electrical repairs when there is an element of danger or when the project may become too technical.
Improving a home yourself can be both a learning experience and a money-saver.
“A lot of people are in a tight spot,” Lee said. “They need to get things done and bargain shop.”
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