Categories

Estimated work complexity

rough-in-plumbing

How hard to remodel a house?

Evaluating difficulty of a remodeling project correctly allows homeowners to make a right decision whether to do it yourself or hire an experienced installer. Cutting labor cost might be tempting and many handy homeowners would rather spend few hours on watching tutorials and complete a simple home improvement project successfully by self. But planning on more complex renovation hiring professionals might be the only solution. Very often poor on site work performance including improper installation or not adequate preparation will lead to significant reduction in lifespan of materials, fixtures and finishing products.

Installation of any type of fixtures, replacing any products or building something new is a complex step by step process and while installation instructions will show the basics in many cases they won’t show you every single detail due to time constrains. It is a big possibility that there might be situations which you just have to know how to resolve and without the experience even looks like a simple project may not be completed the right way. Another factor is a preparation work. Replacing some older and out of date products might not be a complicated task at all, but ones you perform demolishing there might be more preparation work involve than installation itself. Let’s say a homeowner plans on extending a bathroom space and moves a partition wall a few feet. You cannot say it is a hard project and homeowners who know how to operate a circular saw, framing nailer and able to install and finish drywall can do it by self. But ones wall is open there might be multiple water and drain pipes, HVAC ducts as well as extensive rough-in electrical done through the studs. In such case simple work will quickly turn into the complicated time consuming project which should be done by a professional.

In the chart below difficulty of work was evaluated based on standard installation replacing or repair and all additional work which might be unavoidable was omitted.

Estimated work complexity chart

Project name
Work complexity
Interior home improvement
Flooring
Laminate flooring installation simple-project
Hardwood flooring installation moderate-difficulty-work
Bamboo flooring installation moderate-difficulty-work
Cork flooring installation moderate-difficulty-work
Vinyl flooring installation not-difficult-work
Carpet installation not-difficult-work
Hardwood floors refinishing moderate-difficulty-work
Kitchen
Complete kitchen remodeling difficult-work
Kitchen faucet replacement easy-work
Kitchen sink replacement not-difficult-work
Garbage disposal installation not-difficult-work
Kitchen countertop installation
Granite countertop installation moderate-difficulty-work
Marble countertop installation moderate-difficulty-work
Soapstone countertop installation moderate-difficulty-work
Limestone countertop installation moderate-difficulty-work
Synthetic stone countertop moderate-difficulty-work
Quartz countertop moderate-difficulty-work
Concrete countertop (precast) moderate-difficulty-work
Stainless steel countertop moderate-difficulty-work
Zinc countertop moderate-difficulty-work
Glass countertop moderate-difficulty-work
Tile countertop moderate-difficulty-work
Wood countertop not-difficult-work
Bamboo countertop not-difficult-work
Laminate countertop not-difficult-work
Bathroom
Complete bathroom remodeling difficult-work
Toilet replacement not-difficult-work
Shower door installation not-difficult-work
Bathtub replacement moderate-difficulty-work
Painting
House interior painting easy-work
House exterior painting not-difficult-work
Electrical
Ceiling fan installation easy-work
Recessed lighting installation moderate-difficulty-work
Electric panel replacement difficult-complex-project
House rewiring difficult-work
Heating/cooling
Furnace replacement moderate-difficulty-work
Air ducts cleaning easy-work
General home improvement and construction
Insulating house not-difficult-work
Door lock replacement not-difficult-work
Crown molding installation not-difficult-work
Swimming pool installation (above-ground) not-difficult-work
Building swimming pool (in-ground) difficult-work
Concrete foundation repair difficult-work
Grout cleaning easy-work
Wireless home security system installation not-difficult-work
Hardwired home security system installation moderate-difficulty-work
Home theater installation not-difficult-work (custom home theater with screen and projector installation could be moderate difficulty task)
Exterior renovation
Windows replacement difficult-work
Garage door replacement difficult-work
Roof replacement difficult-complex-project
Roof repair difficult-complex-project
Skylight installation difficult-work
Gutters installation moderate-difficulty-work
Vinyl siding installation moderate-difficulty-work
Staining deck easy-work
Outdoor projects
Building wood storage shed moderate-difficulty-work
Patio pavers installation not-difficult-work
Alternative energy sources
Solar panels installation difficult-complex-project

easy-work - Easy to do yourself project following installation instructions

not-difficult-work - Work requires minimum skills, but handy homeowners can complete the task

moderate-difficulty-work - Moderate difficulty work, but can be done by self

difficult-work - Difficult work and requires experience to perform, can be completed by handymen

difficult-complex-project - Not do it yourself project should be done by a contractor or experienced subcontractors

remodeling-estimates-rempros