It’s very tempting, especially when starting out, to try to do the work cheaply and save huge dollars. Everything is getting so expensive. You can’t get a plumber out there for less than $300 now. I’m even considering pushing my kids into that field!
Or, maybe, you would like to do a hybrid of DIY – by getting a cheap handyman to do the work. Sure, he isn’t licensed, but it’s not a big project, and he charges 1/3 the cost. Maybe you’ll rethink after you read my story.
Over 10 years ago I built my house when we bought our first rental property, dumpy. We did everything properly on that house, including getting licensed contractors to do the work. We ended up building an outbuilding. A two car garage with a small studio on one side to either rent out or to have parents or grown kids live there someday. We knew we wouldn’t need it for years, and the house cost a lot, so we planned to leave it unfinished.
We spent a lot of time at the new construction, as you should when building. We were able to guide the project and we had many conversations with the contractors. We met a journeyman electrician, who was thinking about going out on his own as a contractor. He offered to help us on the outbuilding, what I call my shop. And, I wanted electrical out there so I could do work.
He would charge us much less due to not having a license, but we felt he knew what he was doing due to working for an electrical company. He commenced to framing the living area and wiring it up. We started using him as a handyman for our rentals. We didn’t need to live in the shop or get it finished so we never had the electrical inspected.
Until recently, when we decided to actually finish the area. I wanted that inspection done because it would need to be done before any resale (sure you can sell it, but it would be a huge red flag at an inspection for sale). The rough-in inspection was done and we had so many violations it filled up my sheet of paper. Electrical wire was stapled too close to the front of the framing, stapled on edge (which can damage the wire), and multiple other code areas had issues. It’s completely my fault, one, for using an unlicensed person, and two, for waiting 10 years for the inspection. The code has changed three times in those years!
It’ll now cost a few thousand dollars to get an electrician out there, costing me more than it would have to have gotten it done and inspected back then. Now, the temptation is even bigger to do it myself and save money. We wonder what landmines are sprinkled about our properties elsewhere. What would you do? I know what I’ll do – get an expert – it’ll cost you less in the long run.
