If you’ve been working around the house, you can usually divide your household tasks into three categories: chores, small projects, and big projects. Chores are boring and no one likes doing those, but hey, someone has to, right? Small projects are something like installing the new fan in the living room, replacing a door or repainting the downstairs basement. Those always leave a sense of accomplishment knowing that you were the one to complete them all. Everyone has a small project waiting to be finished.
Big projects, however, are where you really earn your keep. That’s building a new deck, ripping out all the floors or maybe building a treehouse in the backyard. Whatever you end up doing, it’s going to be taking up the next few Saturdays (or months) and these tips can help you before you get completely started.
Be Meticulous in Your Planning
Whenever you’re gathering supplies, people will often say “oh just get a few more, it’s better to be safe than sorry!” This is a great principle that applies to getting ribs for a cookout, paper towels for your home or bags of candy for Halloween. While you definitely don’t want to come up short on your supplies, you don’t want to go way over. Then what, you’re stuck with a few extra paint cans or 10 more 2X4s than you really needed. If you have a place to store them and you feel OK having them take up space in your shed for the next months or years, then that’s OK.
If you’re on a limited budget and have limited space, deep dive into what exactly you’ll be needing. Eventually, yes, you could use those supplies again, but until then try and map out exactly what you’ll need so you’re not flush with a large number of supplies. Every project is going to present its own set of challenges, so try and get ahead of the speedbumps to give yourself as smooth a ride as possible.
Hit the Interwebs
While you may have lots of people who can give you advice on how to go about your certain project, sometimes it’s best to see it in action. That’s where the beauty of the internet comes in. Finding a tutorial for X is incredibly easy, and you’ll be able to find just about whatever you’re working on.
The best part about these tutorials is they’re completely free and many YouTubers know what it means to make a great video. Anything you don’t understand, you can always go back and watch again or head down to the comments to ask a question. Visual aids can be great tools in your quest for fixing and building everything you need.
Look to Rent
There are so many power tools and chances are you don’t have every single one lying around somewhere in the garage. You might have the basics but unless you’re a full-time contractor, finding a nail gun in your tool shed will be impossible. So where should you be turning to? That’s why you can head down to your local hardware store and see what power tools they have for you to rent. You’re not going to be able to rent a hammer or screwdriver, but your big job may need some special tools.
You can go even bigger on your rentals as well. If you’re moving mulch, wood, rock, or large equipment as part of your garden overhaul, you can find a vehicle to rent or ask some friends. Your compact car may not be able to handle the ton of mulch or sod you need.
Double Check with the Experts
It never hurts to get a second opinion on something, especially from someone who works as a full-time handyman. You may be on your way to master level status, but not yet. Run your plans by someone else and make sure you’re covering all your bases. It never hurts to ask a few more questions or get some more clarity points, as you could have overlooked something initially or make a wrong adjustment. Don’t consider it as a shot to your pride, consider it as you’re just checking over your work before turning it into the teacher.
