My beloved husband is one of the handiest, most capable people I know, and he loves doing home projects. Unfortunately, he doesn't have time in his life to pursue this as well as work, spend time with his family, and engage in his many other activities of interest. However, due to his capabilities, in the 18 years we have lived in our almost hundred-year-old house, he has never allowed me to call in ANYONE to do ANY work of ANY kind. Therefore, I have no idea how involved tasks are nor, more importantly, the cost of such things. And, therefore, I have absolutely no idea whether we can afford to have any, let alone all, of the work I'd like done.
There is a lot of work that needs to be done on our house--some of it simple (painting rooms), some more complex (finishing installing the bathroom my husband started to install, finding a leak he can't locate...). Especially in this economy, I am certain there are plenty of reliable, conscientious people in need of work who would be willing to do the less-skilled labor for a reasonable rate and I'd like to be in a position to help out people who are in need--a mutually beneficial relationship. Am I looking for a Handyman? I don't need a Picasso (I have actually painted rooms myself and know how relatively simple it is and also that it looks bad when done poorly), so do I really need a Painter? And then there are the items that I know require skilled labor, and I don't know whether it is better (& more or less expensive) to call in individual providers (plumbers, carpenters, etc) or use a contractor to coordinate all the skilled work.
I don't even know where to start, and I can't know whether or not we can afford ANYTHING until I have a place to start looking, and then can actually start DOING the looking. And again, don't have much money to play with here.
Advice, please.
Thanks!
/db