Even the most enthusiastic DIYer sometimes faces a decorating task that they wish they’d left to an expert. While many jobs can be attempted with limited skills, some more complicated decorating jobs should really be passed on to a professional with the right experience and tools if you want to be sure of a quality finish.
Let’s face it, if you’re having a bash at decorating your home, you don’t want the result to look shoddy! A lick of paint and a bit of sanding is easy enough, but there are some aspects of interior design that take years to get right. If you’re decorating without the right experience, you could end up being reminded of your poor workmanship every time you step into that room – and it won’t be long until you shell out for a pro to make good your mistakes, meaning you pay for the work twice in terms of time, materials and execution!
5 decorating jobs you should hand over to a pro
Here are the main decorating jobs that should be left in the hands of a professional unless you really know what you’re doing…
- Patterned wallpaper – lots of people try their hand at wallpapering and the results are good enough, but there are certain circumstances where you’ll be glad of professional help. For example, if you’re covering a room or a feature wall in a paper with a complex pattern, you really don’t want it to become a feature for all the wrong reasons! Matching a pattern properly, and doing so without a lot of waste, is really difficult – but a pro decorator will ensure that the joins are faultless. Similarly, if your house is old and a bit on the wonky side, any type of patterned wallpaper can fast become a nightmare due to the walls not being square – an experienced eye may be the only way to keep the paper straight and looking neat and tidy.
- Coving and ceilings – wallpaper and paste in your face or badly cut coving angles where the walls meet could leave your room looking more disaster than designer. Even if you do the walls and paintwork yourself, these jobs are generally better passed on and paid for. Your stress levels will thank you for that little extra investment!
- Hall, stairs and landings – ok, so the hallway and landing may not be insurmountable, but scaling the dizzy heights and hard to reach places at the top of the stairs can be a real pain, not to mention dangerous. Unless you have Inspector Gadget arms, you’re never going to manage those extra long lengths of wallpaper, or even the painting if you want to ‘cut in’ professionally. Don’t be a dingbat – call in a pro with the right equipment to safely solve the problem. It’ll take half the time, and look twice as good, and you won’t have a worried other half freaking out about the obvious dangers.
- Exterior painting – from the walls themselves, to panels, soffits, fascias and shutters, there are plenty of outdoor areas that need attention to keep your home’s exterior looking smart and shiny. However, much like the previous point, getting up that high, doing a good job and staying safe is not for the faint hearted. Many people find that they’re distracted by the safety aspect, and make silly mistakes, or splatter paint where it doesn’t belong. Don’t put yourself through this unless you have a genuine head for heights, a sturdy ladder and some experience of cleaning up, preparing and painting exteriors.
Could you get your tiling this perfect? Maybe not, but a pro could! - Tiling – yes, some people are perfectly capable of tiling a kitchen or bathroom and doing a good enough job, but the cost of time taken and mistakes made can soon tot up. A pro will get the job done much quicker, with a result that looks just perfect. Spacing, grouting and patterns will be exactly as they should be, and they’ll know where to start to get the most symmetrical and stylish finish.
These are definitely the main decorating jobs that we’d recommend hiring a professional for, but there are some other home improvement jobs that should NEVER be attempted yourself (unless qualified). The main one has to be anything to do with gas or boilers, closely followed by electrical works – and some more complicated plumbing jobs should be left to the experts too.