I have seen few desi folks that will DIY on home reno.
And those that do it either have contractors or will do a lack lustre job themselves. Why is that?
Re: Do Desis DIY?
I wouldn't generalize it to desis. Lot of people do reno projs with/out contractors. It all depends on the project scope, time, cost etc.
Re: Do Desis DIY?
1- skills, not many people know how to do DIY projects, in many cases they have not grown up helping their dad work on house projects, thus either they will go to a contractir or do the job to the best of their ability which may not be good enough and thus lacklustre results
2- time/cost/quality review. thought being, somthing like, if a pro did it they can do it in 10 hours, I being a newbie DIY'er may take twice that amount of time, I am not going to use my vacation time to do this, so I have to do it in my free time. what else could I be doing in my free time instead of doign this work.
3- tools, u dont have all the tools that would make the job be done properly, sure u can rent them from homedept, but that is another cost.
for my last house i saw a neighbour finish his basement with his son, hauling 2X4s, drywall, wiring, assmeblies for canlights, tiles, and all that. they both took time of from work a week each and then spent the next few months getting their basement done. cost of materials, cost of rental equipment etc ran them around $8K.
I was advised the same by my dad, but as I started getting quotes from contractors, I realised that in off season they really need the work, would gie u a great deal, and got materials cheaper anyways. for $10.5K I got my basement done, did not have to do anything except draw out the plans and write the check. and the quality was much better. my basement was around 30% largr than that dude's anyways, so I may have saved a grand or so in costs if I did it myself, but having it done properly, avoiding the hassle, and avoiding the time spent on it was well worth that grand
I do the same for many house projects at my place, I have a good contractor, he gives me good rates and does a good job, anything from istalling a humidifier, to putting recessed lighting, to wood flooring, removing the generic sinks in master bath and installing vessel sinks etc.
Re: Do Desis DIY?
my desi friend has been working on his own home for a year now.. and he remodelled EVERYTHING himself... including the kitchen sink..
Re: Do Desis DIY?
DIY 
can somone tell me wot that stands for ?
Re: Do Desis DIY?
Do It Yourself
Re: Do Desis DIY?
chacha khud bhee kuchh kar liya karo :google:
Re: Do Desis DIY?
Most Fobs like me have seen mistarees do that work back home, while their fathers supervise. It is for the same reason, most desis know the torque of their car but wouldn't know how to change the spark plugs.
Re: Do Desis DIY?
AAAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
I’m a bit of a DIYer but not for big jobs, only small jobs. The reasons are as Fraudia mentioned, time and quality of work. I have certain skills which I use to make money and pay someone else who has the skills to work on my house.
Re: Do Desis DIY?
yeah, last thing u need is try your own hand at maintenance of your car and voiding the warranty because you goofed
Re: Do Desis DIY?
I always find it very hard to open the bonnet of my car 
Re: Do Desis DIY?
Fraudia Bhai, that shows you drive new car. I have an '89. It runs on my own warranty.
Re: Do Desis DIY?
okay...even my car is not from '89.
I feel better now.
Re: Do Desis DIY?
DIY - nah too much work.
Re: Do Desis DIY?
10K for a basement? And I thought we got a good deal spending 25K 
We made our own porch in the backyard with stone kinda tiles and it turned out pretty good.
Re: Do Desis DIY?
This basement was not huge. it was for my first house which was a townhouse. the basement was around 800 sq feet. the quotes ranged from 14K-19K but this guy gives better deals in off seasons because not a lot of people are getting work done to their houses then. same guy will charge me more for my current house because the basement is much larger, but wedont need that space so no plans in near future to finish it. It will serve as storage, gym, table tennis place. maybe I will get a pool table as well.
finsihing included, one bathroom, laundry room, closets and mechanical room.
for the patio at my new place, again i found a contractor at the end of the season and got a 15X15 patio labor and materials included for $1500. This is good enough for out use, but intend to expand it using the same contractor maybe ext year. it is not a square but hs a flowing rounded organic shape and that cutting etc took extra time.
Re: Do Desis DIY?
thats a pretty good deal too..dont even know how much it cost us doing it ourselves but i am pretty sure it was under a 1000. It was more like for fun than anything else since we hardly ever use it, the only thign we ever use it for is for someone to stand there and bbq. Oh and I wanted to make an artificial waterfall and pound but my dad wont let me. I even got the DIY booklet and instructions and watched programs on HGTV and he still wouldnt let me :(
I actually dont know how much the basement is, but i know the house is like 3500 sq soemthing and we got a bathroom, a room and three closets done from like these two shady arab guys.
Re: Do Desis DIY?
chacha par haath uthatay hovay sharm nahin aati 
na hinjaar batijay …
would’ve taken u the same amount of time to just say wot it meant… oh well i guess i’ll have to google it
Re: Do Desis DIY?
got it.... google rocks:D should've been able to guess :( but i guess spending too much time at the computer is gettin to me
Re: Do Desis DIY?
thanx man... didnt' see ur post untill after i googled it