Hi Guys, my name’s Bhavik. First of all, thank you so much for visiting Gethomesavvy.com. I really appreciate you checking out the website. All of my articles come from lessons I’ve learned in my DIY journey so far.
I’ve always been interested in DIY. As a kid, I used to help my dad out with odd jobs around the house. I tried my hand at everything including wallpapering, painting, fitting lights, and replacing radiators.
I guess the biggest job, and the reason why I got into DIY was when my dad and I decided to convert a derelict building. The building was previously my dad’s place of business which we converted into four flats. We did it on a shoestring budget and we made a lot of mistakes along the way. I learned what to do and what not to do for sure!
It was a super steep learning curve but I learned what considerations need to be made before a renovation, extension, or building processes such as the status of planning permissions, utility services, and agreeing layout, and more importantly understanding limitations before you start.
Managing this build was the best grounding I could have asked for. Understanding what it takes to successfully complete the conversion of a property is truly invaluable knowledge.
Not only did I learn about what order to carry out jobs required as part of a renovation, but I have also become acutely aware of the risks of not carrying out jobs correctly and the importance of building standards. Let’s just say I’ve seen a wall fall down and a few sparks fly when they shouldn’t…
Going out on my own, and taking all my lessons learned; I’ve managed the full refurbishment of a small flat, a couple of terrace houses and then went on to fully renovating my current home with my wife. I love all things DIY. Although, I’ve got to admit that I only really got my hands dirty so to speak with my current home.
My wife and I bought our home around 4 years ago in a town where we didn’t know anyone. We stretched ourselves massively to buy our place so there was little budget left to get tradesmen in to get the work done. We were also both living in rented accommodation at the time, so let’s just say the situation was not ideal.
Our ‘new’ home at the time had no heating, unusable bathrooms, and a non-existent kitchen area. We rolled up our sleeves and started gutting the place. This included removing wallpaper, smashing up tiles, and removing the waste. Once the place was cleared, we watched YouTube videos where we needed to, to basically put the place back together again.
In doing so, we learned a number of new trades which included hanging doors, tiling, skirting, laminate flooring, and coving. We really did love every minute of it.
I’ve got to add that our house was on the market for some time, presumably because of the amount of work that was required to bring it up to a livable standard. Because of my previous experiences, I thought we could do it – and we did! This is our first home together and with the value, we have added to it by doing a lot of the work ourselves, we’ve set ourselves up well for the future. The best part of this story is that anyone can replicate what we did and I think you should!
DIY is great because you can get a tangible result in whatever you do after you have completed it. You can also gain so much knowledge as part of the process. ‘The journey is as important as the destination’ as the old saying goes.
I think this is particularly true with DIY. It’s very easy to accept the face value of the price of a good or service or property without really knowing whether you are getting good value or not.
The great thing about any DIY project is that you find out the cost of the material, and get a good feel of the level of effort and more importantly the craftsmanship required to make or build anything. You get a feel for all of this as part of the process.
Bear this in mind when you take on a DIY project. Some furniture can be very cheap to buy and cheaper than doing it yourself, but just take into account the quality and what you could potentially get out of it too.
Don’t get me wrong, I do not build everything myself. I buy furniture and use tradesmen like everybody else. The difference is though because I’ve tried my hand at so many different jobs, I can appreciate whether a good or service is a good deal or not a lot more easily than other people just because I’ve given something a go in my spare time.
I created gethomesavvy.com to encourage people to give DIY a go. I think that general DIY knowledge can help you in many aspects of your life. This includes buying furniture, buying a house, and getting a tradesman in.
Thanks again guys- fell free to reach out to me if you need any help on gethomesavvy@gmail.com.
