We all get house envy, whether it's after you've seen your neighbour's new bathroom or watched one of those total home remodelling programmes on the television. For full-on house envy I can recommend those series featuring people who literally build their spectacular homes from scratch.
Obviously the works are condensed to fit into a 30 minute episode and although bumps in the road are often hinted at you don't often get the real sense of the full horror of a derailed home improvement project.
My friend had a nightmare when it transpired that the previous owners of their home had skimped on building works. My friend had planned to create an open plan kitchen/diner from the separate kitchen and dining room which should have been a quick and relatively easy task for her builders. However the cost of the work and the timescale increased dramatically when vital missing supports needed be added. She was lucky her whole house hadn't collapsed!
In the bad old days, a decent DIY fanatic could tackle pretty much any home improvement projects themselves with no concerns about rules and regulations. Now before you attempt any electrical, major plumbing or gas work you should check whether you need permits or an inspection or whether it is actually illegal for you to be doing the work yourself.
Failing to abide by rules or even guidelines could at best invalidate your insurance and at worst could cause severe injury or even death.
Big projects can be a nightmare and if you plan to go it alone you have to be accountant, project manager, contractor and interior designer all in one.
Even small jobs can become big jobs quickly - I know this for a fact after watching my son and husband recently spend almost an entire day fitting a new basin unit into a bathroom. The local DIY store saw the two of them quite a few times as they kept forgetting vital parts or buying the wrong thing.
For an easy life and the reassurance that your work will be done professionally and to code you are probably best finding a firm specialising in enabling home improvements big and small like Bishops of Brighton, a one stop shop for pretty much any job you can think of.
From kitchen and bathroom installations to painting and decorating, Bishops of Brighton can offer bespoke services from one-off jobs completed quickly and efficiently to monthly retainers so you always have a handyman available.
I would love that service! My husband is actually quite handy but he definitely has jobs he prefers so anything carpentry related is generally completed quite quickly whilst I am still waiting for him to build the patio I desire as that requires digging which he hates. And don't even mention the new roof on our wooden gazebo which is about two thirds complete....
He did however build me the kitchen of my dreams and has just finished painting most of the rooms in our house so I can't complain really. I would do it but he wont let me as I am horribly impatient and have been known to paint over cobwebs in my eagerness to just get the job done.