The 3 Lies of Home Remodeling Writers

Having just finished reading a muckraking travel book called Smile While You're Lying, which is about the lies that travel writers tell their audience, I realize that home remodeling writers have a certain set of industry-approved lies that we perpetuate, too. I'm not sure exactly what to call it--conventional wisdom?--but every industry has stories that it tells in order to keep itself well-oiled and running. Here are a few:

Lie #1: "Home Renovations Always Pay You Back"

The bible for this tenet is, of course, Remodeling Online's Annual Cost vs. Value report, as close to an empirical set of data as you can get in this industry. No knock on Remodeling Online. It's more of a knock on the way remodeling writers, myself included, crunch the data and use it for our own benefit. The central idea is that home renovations always pay off. Granted, there are some projects which are less lucrative than others. But kitchen and bathroom renovations are big ticket, big return items which homeowners are encouraged to leap into without a second thought.

Yet at the time of this writing, mid-2008, in my neck of the woods there are more For Sale signs than ever before, and the signs are not coming down. The lush, expensive, granite-and-stainless-steel renovated kitchens, which every homeowner was practically obligated to install, are cluttering the marketplace. The article of faith was this: pour every dime into your kitchen, because it will pay off. Yet that is not necessarily true. Yes, I have seen this happen, but recently I have seen more five-figure kitchens go for fire sale prices than ever before. What a shame.

Lie #2: "You Can Do It Yourself"

This is not particular to home remodeling. In the last few decades, it's all about doing it yourself. You pump your own gas. You set up your own computer. You do your own financial planning. You do your own banking online.

Less and less are we relying on service people. Remodeling writers push, urge, and coax readers into doing everything by themselves. Yet, with other pressures in our lives, I believe that we actually have less time and patience to install our own siding, replace our own windows, and sand our own floors.

Some projects are what I would call One Shot Wonders: you get one shot in life, and then it's done. Example: floor sanding. How many times in your life do you think you will do this?

Floor sanding requires a delicate hand, more than you might think. Keep a drum sander in one spot too long, and you've suddenly created a deep groove that is impossible to sand out. Why take a chance at ruining your floors to save money by doing it yourself? You say you don't have the money? Then work some overtime to pay for an experienced person--the kind of person who does this 8 hours a day, five days a week.

Lie #3: "Do it Right - No Slapdash Remodeling Allowed"

Legalities mean that legitimate home remodeling writers describe "the one right way" to accomplish a task. Everything must be done according to accepted safety and building standards. Yet this is not reality. There is more than one way to skin as cat, as the saying goes.

DIY home remodelers usually start out by faithfully following the directions in the book. Then, at some point, they diverge from it. When you diverge once, you realize that you have the freedom to diverge at any time that you choose. There is a shadowy world of ad hoc home remodeling--it runs parallel to the legitimate "guidebook" home remodeling world. It is a world where "just get it done" is the battle cry. What else do you find?

• Construction glue - lots of it.
• Cheap, contractor-grade building materials, seconds, or bargain defective products.
• Copious quantities of drywall screws for things other than drywall.
• "Creative" wiring.
• Eschewing those second and third coats of paint...and primer, too.
• Saying, "It's going to get covered up anyway."

It is not an indication of laziness or a failure of character. Reality is that most DIY remodelers make liberal use of slapdash techniques as a way of keeping the project moving. Also, these methods are more than just a stop-gap. I believe that they are used far more often than we would like to admit.