We get the whole “to DIY or not to DIY, that is the question” question a lot, so we thought this might be a great way to crack open our brains in a nice rambling and meaty post that hopefully makes sense of our thought process to you guys. And who better to demonstrate than our purty new french doors that lead out to the deck? Surprise! I’ll pause while you burst out into enthusiastic applause.
We’ll be back tomorrow with more before & after photos and details on why we went for a french door, what the screen situation is now, and how they look open/closed/from the outside as soon as we’re done painting them (most doors just come primed and not painted) – but here are the rest of the details on how they came to be. We knew from our home inspection when we bought our house that the sliders that led out to the balcony to nowhere (which we later converted to a deck) would need to be completely replaced.
Not only did they get stuck and have a screen that no longer worked, they didn’t even have a lock (we used one of those bars on the floor along with installing one of our alarm sensors right on the door so it was always armed).
They were also super rotten and waaay past their prime. Ick.
So the good news is that when we put an offer on our house, we accounted for replacement doors being something that we’d have to purchase (and assumed they’d be around 1-2K, just in case there was any rot around the framing or they were a non-standard size that we’d have to special order). And now that the deck is all built and furnished…
… we decided it was the right time to replace them (since we’re actually going in and out of those swear-inducing broken doors all the time). But with so much extra behind the scenes book stuff going on (early promotion, scheduling chats, planning presentations and talks for the road, etc) along with doubling up on extra projects to share while we’re away (and the usual Clara & Burger chaos), it just came down to pricing things out and deciding whether it was smarter for our family to hire it out or DIY it.
First we hit up a bunch of secondhand/thrift/architectural salvage places like the Habitat or Humanity ReStore and a local spot called Caravati’s to see if we could find a secondhand french door that would fit our opening. The only issue is that we didn’t want it to have any mullions, so it would look like the laundry room door that leads to our carport to keep things consistent (although we do have plans to ORB the old brass handle on that guy, we love the clean lines and that giant pane of glass).
But alas, we came up empty since it was such a specific size and style. So next we got three quotes from a few different vendors (they all included both the door and the installation) which came in at:
- $1200 total (from a large window & door chain)
- $3200 total (from a local door & window specialist)
- $730 total (from Home Depot)
- $830 total (from Lowe’s – but they didn’t have the exact door style that we wanted)
Those were all for a pretty comparable door except for the much pricier one (that was sort of the Cadillac of door companies, which doesn’t make sense for our house/neighborhood). Oh and of course each company takes jabs at their competition during their little pitch, but the remaining three companies all had extremely similar ratings, eco benefits (like low-e glass), manufacturing standards, hardware options, consumer feedback, etc – so it was a pretty straight-forward comparison.
And out of those four places, if we wanted to install them ourselves it would have cost:
- This vendor didn’t allow anyone to DIY it for their warranty to work
- This vendor didn’t allow anyone to DIY it for their warranty to work
- It would be around $350 without installation (so we’d save $380)
- It would be around $450 without installation (so we’d save $380, but not have the door style we wanted)
Do you guys see where we’re going? As we learned more about each option, Home Depot slowly inched ahead as the best fit for us. Why?
- The total cost (with delivery and installation) was the most affordable for an extremely comparable product – and actually was a lot lower than we initially estimated that it would cost to remedy the door situation when we bought our house
- The door was exactly the same style (and maker, actually!) as the door that we already have in our laundry room. So we know that we like it and after almost two years of living with that one we don’t have any complaints.
Next we had to decide whether we’d rather save $380 and haul it/install it ourselves or leave it to a pro would could bang it out while we worked away on all the other things on our fat little to-do list (basement stuff, hall bathroom stuff, sunroom stuff, playroom stuff, guest bathroom stuff, carport stuff, etc). It wasn’t an easy decision, but in the end we realized that with all of the extra things on our plates right now, it would probably mean a few days without the door being completely installed/secure if we tried to do it ourselves (since we’d only have a few hours a day in the late evening to work on it). So we concluded that it was just best to use a bit of the budget that we had already counted on spending towards fixing this issue when we bought the house and have it installed.
After lots of jobs that we’ve taken on ourselves, it might sound weird to have someone install a french door (ex: we’ve built our own a deck along with a patio, renovated our entire kitchen, added a built-in desk to our office, rebuilt our entire first house’s bathroom from the studs, etc), but the best way I can explain it is that:
… you just know in your gut what you want to tackle and what’s worth it to you. And that answer is different for everyone.
One person might hire out an entire bathroom reno and it’s completely the right choice for their family, while someone else might literally build their own house (seriously, we know people who have even poured the foundation themselves). In the end, I think our general percentage is that we prefer to DIY around 90% of the home projects that we tackle, but we still love hiring a pro for things like knocking out load bearing walls, major electrical or plumbing upgrades, and even smaller things like installing an exterior slider if:
- it’s a planned expense that we’ve already built into the budget or saved up for
- it’s something we have zero interest/excitement about tackling ourselves (which is usually pretty rare)
- life is just too crazy for us to take it on ourselves, even if we wanted to give it a go
And if we’re being honest it probably comes down to that middle bullet. If we’re psyched to tackle it ourselves we usually do (saving our pennies until we can, and making time for it if we’re psyched about it). And if there are a million other ways we’d rather spend our time and the money is sitting there at the ready since it’s a long-planned expense, we might just hire a pro to get ‘er done. Sort of like how we were happy to hire someone to re-roof our first house, especially after hearing from a bunch of our buddies who told horror stories and said they would never re-roof a house again for as long as they lived.
In the end it took the door installation guy, who originally said it would be “two hours tops” a total of five hours and a trip back and forth to the hardware store thanks to some unforeseen complications once he got in there and saw what he was working with. Thank goodness for the flat installation fee!
And thank goodness it wasn’t us trying to make things work, because we’re pretty sure if the big strong guy who installs about twenty doors a week has a bunch of hiccups and it ends up taking more than twice as long as he thought, it might have just been the job that killed us. And then our headstone would look like this:
In the end… the new doors are 100% worth it and we’re so happy they’re here.
Update: Due to a few folks asking how the whole Home Depot door ordering process worked, here’s a little rundown: you do a rough measurement, go to the store with that and look at options, then you pay $35 for them to come out and measure again and make sure what you want will work, and that $35 goes towards the installation fee (so it’s not extra). They called a few days after coming out to measure things to install, so it was all pretty simple.
What about you guys? What percentage of things do you like to DIY? Is there anything you just won’t do yourself? We know super savvy contractors who still refuse certain jobs (one hates mudding and sanding drywall since it’s so messy, so he’s happy to hire that out while another hates all things electrical and always pays someone else to do it). It’s so funny what certain people love and loathe…
Darcie says
Love the French doors! We had six doors including French doors installed by our siding contractor this summer. Totally worth it to hire out. Ours were also from Home Depot and we love them!
YoungHouseLove says
Yay! So glad to hear that!
xo
s
Jenn says
Beautiful! They look great.
Bonnie says
My husband is a die-hard DIYer, however as we age (50’s) we find writing a check can be the way to go for the big stuff(roof, new boiler, huge patio), but he still laid almost 400sq. ft. of tile in our lake house this summer, replaced 6 windows and has plans to replace the garage doors himself this weekend. He just takes a little longer to get over the aches and pains these days. haha
Lindsey d. says
I know this feeling exactly. My brother tried to convince me that we can replace the warped and cracked wood siding on my house (about 20 pieces) ourselves and I’m incredibly skeptical. I don’t even know where I get the materials. Yesterday, I got the first quote on the job. It was definitely sticker shock, but it really reinforces that we can’t do this job ourselves. Boyfriend insists that we can do most of the painting prep by ourselves after the new siding is up (scraping, sanding, caulking), even if we hire out the painting itself.
For me, a huge part of deciding whether to DIY or hire out is time and tools. If it’s going to take me and my crew (boyfriend, brother and dad) more than a day, or it will cost too much to buy or rent the appropriate tools, it’s usually worth it to hire it out.
Emily says
Absolutely lost it over that headstone. Hahahahaha &$!?@&$! French door!
Eileen says
I’d say 70% of the time I DIY. The only thing that truly makes a must hire-out, is time. It would be something that can’t stay partially done for too long a time.
Did you happen to get french doors for you office too? I don’t know if they would bundle installation costs or not, but if they did, that would be a pretty great saver.
YoungHouseLove says
We looked at options but since we don’t need outdoor doors (just interior french ones) it wouldn’t have saved us any money so we’re going to spread out that cost and go for it when the pennies build up again.
xo
s
amy good house says
Looks great!
I love to DIY in my own house but certain things – are just. not. worth. it.
I’ve found acting as my own General Contractor has been the best way to go. Instead of hiring a construction company to refinish the floors, and replace this lighting, and paint this ceiling, etc… I’ve hired individuals to do one project at a time, and I’ve attended to some of the in-between DIY steps myself – like painting, demo, prep, etc.
So it’s not like “we hired someone to renovate the living room” – it’s more like “we renovated the living room and we used this electrician, and this guy did the drywall, etc.” it takes more planning and time but then at least I know things were done the way we wanted it to be done.
p.s. I had a great experience with Lowe’s replacing a window for us – it was pricey – but it was done perfectly and quickly. I’m sure it is a similar experience whether you go to Home Depot or Lowes for that kind of service.
Crystal @ 29 Rue House says
So nice! I bet it looks nice to have them swung open when the weather is nice out! We recently called a plumber in after we put in a new kitchen sink. We tried but it was more work than we expected and with us both working, other house projects, kids plus the negative of not having a working sink, we were happy to have him come and do it in a hour especially since we had already installed the laminate countertops and got the sink in ourselves!
Stephanie says
I’m at a weird point where I can’t quite afford to do anything that I would contract out but I don’t have the time or ambition right now to DIY anything huge. I don’t mind painting furniture. I could handle smaller DIY projects but anything big will just have to wait.
Oddly enough, I’m one of the few people who would definitely hire out painting a room. It overwhelms me for some reason. I’d rather a pro do it and get it over with.
Chelsea @ Riding Escalators says
This was kind of the decision-making process that we went through when we were thinking about installing a new fence around our backyard. The final decision was to hire it out since they could do it in one or two days whereas it would have taken us a couple of weekends – and our dog REALLY likes to hang out back there, so we didn’t want to take that away from her (or us really!) for so long!
I go through the decision-making process in this post!
http://ridingescalators.blogspot.com/2012/05/project-backyard-beautification-part-1.html
Jen says
Beautiful! The new french doors really change the look of the hallway…I almost didn’t recognize it, I thought it was a photo of another home! Oops :-)
Jillian {Her Split Ends} says
SO LOVING THE DOORS!!! what a difference they make. I also love that you guys know when to pass on the work.
Cheers
~ Jillian
http://www.hersplitends.com
Amy E. says
Love the new door! This is SUCH a timely post for my family. We’re planning on replacing a sliding door and had debated buying the door and replacing it ourselves. Hiring it out won, but we’re still shopping around.
What all did the installer tackle, and how much was left for you to do; specifically, did you put up the trim around the doors yourselves?
YoungHouseLove says
He did it all except for the painting (he did the trim as part of the install fee, etc).
xo
s
Teresa @ wherelovemeetslife says
Looks great! I can def. understand those decisions…we are looking at a fixer upper foreclosure (actually put an offer in and are waiting for an answer!!), and some of the work we can totally do. Some of the work is best left to professionals for some/all the reasons you listed above. DIY can be tough work, and time-consuming. Lack of knowledge and understanding of the process can get you in trouble!! I am still looking forward to the work though. Lots of drywall and mudding in my futre. The entire house has paneling in it lol, even the addition. A little nutty.
Deb says
The French doors look beautiful! We usually DIY things That we want to be really creative with. Or things that cost a lot that we can do easily. Sounds like you made the right decision on this one. I swore I would never do plastering again. But I did. It was the last time!
YoungHouseLove says
Hahah!
xo
s
Amanda says
Looks great! We hired someone to install the sliding doors in our sunroom. They were very heavy, and we didn’t want to risk doors that weren’t level, that leaked, etc. We also shy away from plumbing and electrical work, but we’re willing to take on pretty much anything else. Sounds like you guys made a good call!
Melissa @ HOUSEography says
We used to DIY about 95% of our work, or at least get the help of our wonderfully handy fathers during weekend visits! As we’ve gotten older, we have started hiring more out. Spending our weekends on soccer fields and carpooling to birthday parties has made it a necessity – and also my limited patience for living in a construction zone! I wish we could still DIY more and pay less, but sometimes things have to get done!
Marissa says
The doors look beautiful! I bet that gets you excited to get some for your office!
Emily R says
I’ll happily tackle most DIY projects, but when it comes to areas where the outside could come into the house (doors, windows, siding) I’ll let the experts come and help. I’m no good with flashing, and if you screw that up it’s a bigger deal than picking the wrong paint color.
Richelle says
I can’t believe what a difference switching out the door made, love the new look!
Laura D. says
I can’t wait to hear about how you painted those doors & allowed for drying time yet kept the house secure at night – my husband and I are almost done with a garage addition and we will be painting our new exterior doors ourselves, which I’m not 100% sure how to tackle!
Brandyn says
OMG perfect timing on this post for me. The lock on my patio door broke this weekend and I decided that since it’s in my plan to replace that door anyway I should look into replacement cost. I ended up getting really overwhelmed looking at the options.
Reading your process just calms me down and reminds me to take it one step at a time. Thanks! (And I’m definitely hiring out door installation)
Michelle says
Having a father who is a builder has really given me insight on what is possible for a typical DIY enthusiast and what really should be hired out to a professional. Think you guys made the absolute correct call to have a pro hang doors. Those suckers can cause tons of headaches if not installed perfectly! By the way, they look beautiful!!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Michelle!
xo
s
Shellie says
I happen to be one of the weirdos who prefer sliders, lol. I don’t know why, I just feel like they are more secure and I love having the sliding screen.
Hmmm….. do I spy a secret book project painted doorknob on the master??
YoungHouseLove says
Oh don’t mind that, the real secret project for that door was undone except for the doorknob that we painted darker. Haha. Good eye!
xo
s
Jes says
Those doors give it a completely different (in a good way!) look and feel! I love it!
For us (right now) we will pretty much DIY anything unless it involves purchasing/renting large equipment that would not be worth it. Like, a backhoe. haha. I am sure someday that will change when we have kids, but we DIY everything. We refer to the neighbors as “the hire-it-done’s” because they hire (literally everything) to be done. To each their own though =)
Jennifer says
I LOVE it! I love french doors. I know you guys are pumped. And really, it had to be nice to have someone else complete a project (in a few hours without being on Clara duty) to just be done with it…Sometimes it just feels so good! As for us…plumbing and electrical. We will switch out a toilet or 2 or change sockets and switches, but the big stuff..hire it out!
selena says
It looks beautiful! I totally agree with your decision to hire out the labor on this job. We’re getting ready to replace our patio door and the rotted area looks just about like yours. I wondered if you chose a “never-rot” door or wood. The manufacturer’s name you listed makes me think it could be a never-rot. If so, that was a very good price! Good luck with all the upcoming book-signings. We would love to see you in Charlotte, NC :)
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, it’s actually a metal door by Masonite, so we shouldn’t have rot issues!
xo
s
Hailey says
We had nearly the same story – our sliding door that came with our house had rotted and it eventually came to we had to prop it closed or it would fall into the house. We bought a new french door and had my dad (who built houses as his job) install it only to find that the joist rotted too. He knew what he was doing and after a trip to the lumber yard, we now we have a great door that actually keeps the cold Minnesota air out in the winter.
Looks great!
Luanne says
The French doors look amazing. I am very jealous because that’s exactly what I want in my kitchen going to the back deck, but my boyfriend doesn’t think they will be practical there. We would need the doors to open inwards instead of outside so we aren’t blocking the BBQ or deck stairs, but he has heard that sometimes this can be a problem for leaks. Have you guys heard anything like this? I need some support here – I want my pretty doors!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yes our doors open into the house. I think that’s standard (some counties don’t even allow doors to swing out and they all have to swing in). That has been fine with the one we have in our laundry room for all these years!
xo
s
Alex - Old Town Home says
I’m in the camp that you DIY it unless you absolutely can’t. The big question is defining what “can’t” really means.
For me, can’t means that I physically can’t do it, due to injury or physical limitations, such as requiring several people to lift something. We hired out a roof project because I was in a sling due to a broken collar bone and I kept getting yelled at by Wendy every time I climbed up on a ladder. The nerve.
There’s also the occasional “can’t” because of skill/expertise/specialty tools. When we hire out for this, I try to watch everything the pro does so I can learn and figure out how to do it myself the next time.
And finally, there’s the “can’t” because I don’t have confidence in my ability to complete the project on my own. But sadly, this “can’t” doesn’t often come to fruition, instead it becomes a “well, maybe I can,” and that usually ends up in a “Hey, look what I did!” With pretty decent results.
Honestly, after doing a whole lot of DIY that ranges from hanging a shelf to a full bathroom gut and remodel, I’m starting to believe there’s nothing that we can’t handle. The Internet, patience, and dedication to a job well done is a wonderful thing.
Katie says
The new doors look AMAZING!
I’m cheap, so if I can physically do it, I’ll DIY over hiring out. I would much rather spend the money on my next DIY project than give it to someone else. Also, we bought a foreclosure, and it needed SO much work that there was no way we could hire it all out.
Kathy says
I hate to DIY anything (I get my kicks by reading DIY blogs instead) so if it were up to me, we would hire out everything. Unfortunately, our budgets don’t allow that.
We need to replace our slider, too. There’s absolutely nothing in place to keep someone from breaking into the house (we don’t have an alarm system). Except for the fact that we don’t own anything nice – that’s probably a good deterrant.
Alison Weeks says
We’ve done quite a bit of DIY around our house and it’s been trial/error to decide what gets hired out and what doesn’t. My hubby didn’t want to pay someone to seal our driveway – so he did it. And he hated it! So next time we get it sealed, it will be by a professional! We also renovated our basement – hubby and FIL did most of the work but we hired someone to do the wall plaster since that was beyond their skill level and we wanted it to last! Right now I’m waiting for a sink and refrigerator repair the hubby wants to DIY..been waiting 2 weeks. Hum..might need to hire that out too!
Debbie says
Love the doors. Do you plan to replace the sliding doors in the living room?
YoungHouseLove says
We actually thought about that but they function really well (no rot, they lock, etc) so it’s hard to pull the trigger on buying two more french doors to replace perfectly functional doors. Maybe down the line…?
xo
s
sara says
The doors look great!
I don’t have a lot of experience or DIY’er skills. But I sure can DIG and Haul (removed backyard concrete patio and replaced with pea gravel & stone), paint walls, stain floors, and, hmmm lots of little things. I also have the aptitude to tile and would like to give it a shot sometime. Some simple electrical and plumbing would be good to know. Measuring and leveling. UGH, Happy to have someone deal with those kind of details.
Stacy says
Love the new doors! I just bought a house that needs a lot of work done and am going through the same though process on DIY vs. hiring it out. So far, I have hired out to re-drywall the living/dining room, since I have no skills on that type of work. I am having a friend of a friend put in some new windows for me, just to make sure they are done right. Otherwise, I am doing everything else – from demolition of some walls to small electrical to painting. I just have to pace myself because I want to get it all done right away, but I don’t have the time or the cash flow for that!
Sarah G says
Love the french doors and so envious that you have somewhere to have them!
Do you have any information about the light in the hallway? I did not see it on your source list and I was not sure it if was original to the house or a new piece.
Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
That old glass tiffany light was original to the house! It’s really pretty up close, like carera marble!
xo
s
Sam G says
I was going to comment on the light as well. I never notice it before in any pictures. It looks really nice.
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Sam!
xo
s
Robyn G says
So far I (with the help of family and friends) have done 100% of the changes and upgrades to my house. We have built a wall in the back of the garage to make a laundry room, replaced the front double-doors (special order from Lowes because it was not standard size), reinsulated and vinyl-sided the master bedroom addition to correct all kinds of problems, and tons of painting and small touch ups.
I really want to find an interior designer to give me some ideas for my master bedroom. It is made up of the original (small) MBR with a 1/2 bath attached, with the back wall removed and a log cabin style addition put on to form an overall “L” shaped room. The ceiling in the addition slopes down to about 5.5 feet, 3 walls and the ceiling are cypress planks, and the 4th wall the former brick exterior wall. It is very strange, but also cozy.
Tracy says
Beautiful new doors! I just love French doors. I wish we could say that we balance between hiring out and DIY, but it just ends up being us DIYing all the time. Before buying our first house 4 years ago, we had never done this kind of work, now we’ve done a little of everything. To date, we have knocked down a load bearing wall, put up a header, moved a wall back, installed our own gas line for the range, ran new plumbing lines, completely replaced all the electrical in our house, drywall, built our own kitchen cabinets from scratch, laid new hardwood floors, as well as sanding and refinishing the existing ones (and very nearly setting our floors on fire in the process!) and reroofing our house. And we did it all by learning from the Internet, books, and friends who have been there before. And yes, we are completely NUTS!
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- sounds like you’ve been busy!
xo
s
Vanessa says
LOVE the new doors! There’s something so wonderful and classy about french doors. I feel like they’re the crown moulding of doors. Does that make any sense?
I’ve never noticed that light fixture before. Did it come with the house/Do you have plans to update it? It looks a little old-fashioned for YHL taste haha, but it might just be that I can’t see it very well from a distance!
YoungHouseLove says
It actually came with the house, but up close it’s beautiful! It has gray veining like carera marble in the old glass with an ORB finish!
xo
s
Michelle says
Did you trim out the interior yourself or was that part of the package?
YoungHouseLove says
That was part of the install fee! Love that. All we had to do was paint.
xo
s
Michelle says
That’s awesome! We put in our own slider this summer and alas… are still waiting for the opportunity to trim out the inside! It looks great! Countdown to book tour!!
Anne @ Baking Me says
Your doors look great!
My husband and I run into the dilema of when to DIY or not a lot. Our house needs a good amount of work done and we only have so much time to do it ourselves. When we do the work ourselves it often takes so much longer than hiring someone but I feel the work is often done with more care and detail when we DIY, although there are definitely some projects we dare not tackle on our own :)
Emily says
We replaced our roof ourselves years ago, complete with tear-off of the old. It was terrible. You can add us to the ‘We’ll never do that again as long as we live’ group.
However, we recently just hired out to have our privacy fence replaced. We have a big yard and while it was something we probably could have done, we have two very young kids and I don’t even want to think about how many weekends it would have taken us to do ourselves.
So wonderful to have it DONE!
Holly B. says
Emily, I have a question for you! My husband and I are buying a house and planning on just doing the tear off for our roof only, and letting the pros do everything else (because that saves us a couple thousand) – do you think that’s crazy of us? What was your experience with the tear off? We were going to have 5-8 guy friends come and help us…but I’d love to know your experience. Let me know! Thanks!
Samantha says
I totally agree with this approach to DIY. We’ve taken our basement from concrete to finished living space over the course of the past year. We went DIY with everything – studs, flooring, cabinetry, electrical, full bath with a tile shower – with two exceptions. We hired a plumber to hook up water lines and drains and we hired a drywall professional to take care of the hanging and mudding.
For us it comes down to time vs. cost and the need for professional expertise. We saved so much DIYing the other stuff that we had money left in our budget for the drywalling, and decided the time savings of having it done by professionals in a week vs. spending a month or more of evenings on it ourselves made it worth the money. With the plumbing and copper pipes we wanted the professional expertise. For us the trick to successful DIY isn’t just knowing what we can do, but what will be worth the effort because we enjoy doing it.
Monika says
A part of being a great DYIer is knowing what not to DYI. The doors are looking great! Will you hang curtains on these new doors?
YoungHouseLove says
More on that tomorrow!
xo
s
Suni says
Wow Wow Wow… seriously looks so so so so good. :)
Angela says
The tombstone made my day.
Excellent post.
Morgan says
I agree completely. There are some times when I get gung-ho and think I can DIY just about everything. But oftentimes, I end up doing a bad job of it, waste money, and then have to hire a pro to do it. I actually wrote a post on it a few months ago. http://livingyoungwildfree.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/if-you-know-you-cant-do-it-yourself/
Glad to see what your approach is.
Cheryl says
My boyfriend worked as a contractor, and his absolute least favorite task was installing doors. He said there were always too many variables that could cause the whole thing to go awry.
Wendy says
Love the new doors!
We DIY approximately 95% of our projects, but our hard and fast rule is if it has to do with gas, we hire it out. There are some things that aren’t worth the risk, and you need to acknowledge your lack of knowledge! We’ve also hired out structural work as well. :-)