Should you DIY your kitchen renovation?
When you’re staring down a kitchen renovation budget, going the DIY route can start to look pretty appealing. You’ll save money, have more control over your costs and timelines… and of course there’s a YouTube video for everything these days.
I get the temptation.
But unfortunately, doing it yourself doesn’t automatically save you money if you don’t know what you’re doing.
And as someone who’s been called in more than once to fix a do-it-yourself project gone sideways, I can promise you there’s a lot of risk involved too.
The reality is that when it comes to one of the most important (and expensive) rooms in your house, you shouldn’t mess around. So in this post, I’m sharing my advice on where you can safely DIY, where you should probably leave things to the pros, and the risks you might not know about.
What's safely in DIY territory
Demo and grunt work
Pulling down your old cabinets, countertops, and backsplash are all jobs you can easily do yourself. This includes getting it out of your house and into a trash bin or taking it to the dump.
(One key exception: the plumbing. I don’t recommend disconnecting this yourself — if things go wrong, you may find yourself with an expensive problem to solve.)
And this kind of work extends past the demo phase into the rest of the project. Helping with removal, bringing stuff to the dump, and general fetching and carrying is physical labor that eats up time on a project but doesn't require any specialized skills. Contractors charge for this work, so doing it yourself is a legitimate way to save money.
Painting
Paint is one of the safest DIY tasks you can take on in any home project. It's time-consuming and takes some patience to do well, but it's hard to mess up so badly that you create expensive problems.
A bad paint job might not look great, but the solution is pretty simple: more paint. That’s a lot easier to handle compared with botched electrical or plumbing, where mistakes can be dangerous, expensive, or (more likely) both.
Basic cosmetic work
This category includes things like:
Simple drywall repair
Replacing cabinet hardware
Finishing touches like caulking seams, installing cabinet organizers, or changing light switch covers.
These are all cosmetic tasks where the stakes are low. If you mess up, you can redo it without creating bigger problems or voiding your insurance.
Replacing light fixtures
Replacing a light fixture is actually pretty easy. Turn off the breaker first (this is important!). Then connect white with white and black with black, and you’re pretty much good to go. YouTube is genuinely a helpful resource for simple projects like this.
That said, make sure you check with your insurance provider before you start this kind of project. Some insurance policies require certified electricians for any electrical work, even simple fixture swaps. We'll talk more about insurance in the risks section below.
Project management
Acting as your own general contractor means coordinating trades, managing timelines, and keeping everyone on schedule. Doing this yourself can be a big money-saver if you have the time, organizational skills, and are willing to learn.
But before you take this on, make sure you know what you’re getting into! It's not physically difficult work, but you’ll need attention to detail and the ability to stay on top of multiple moving parts. It’s demanding and time consuming.
Be honest with yourself about your skills and capacity before you decide to manage everything for yourself. And if you've never managed a multi-trade project before, you might want to hire a general contractor this time around and learn from watching them work.
What you should leave to the pros
Now let's talk about where it’s wiser to bring in the experts. These are the tasks where trying to DIY will almost certainly cost you more in the long run — either because you'll have to hire someone to fix your mistakes, or because the stakes are too high to risk getting it wrong.
The general rule: Specialized knowledge or tools
Quick story for you: A friend recently decided to replace his flooring and install the trim work himself. He had a chop saw and figured he'd buy an air compressor and nail gun to handle the rest. He finished the project, but he picked the wrong molding — so they now have baseboard trim running along the ceiling. By the time it was all said and done, they could have hired someone who would have finished faster and gotten it right the first time.
As a rule, anything requiring specialized knowledge or tools should be left to the pros. Here’s why:
Specialty tools: Tools are expensive and add up fast. You might spend as much on tools as you'd pay someone who already owns the right equipment and knows how to use it properly.
Knowledge and experience: The internet has made experts of all of us, but ask yourself honestly: do you have the knowledge and skill to do this well? The person you'd hire has done this work hundreds of times. They know the techniques, shortcuts, and how to avoid costly mistakes that aren't covered in YouTube tutorials.
The time factor: Are you willing to spend three times longer learning how to do something properly? Because that’s usually how long it will actually take vs. how long you think it will take. Factor in the value of your weekends for the next two months and decide if you’re happy with that trade.
If you'd need to invest significant time learning how to do something, or if you'd need to buy tools that cost hundreds or thousands of dollars that you'll never use again, it's almost always cheaper to hire someone who already has that knowledge and those tools.
Plumbing
Even "simple" plumbing tasks should be done by a professional.
There's too much risk of leaks, water damage, and code violations. A small mistake can lead to water damage that costs thousands to repair, and if you've done the work yourself, your insurance may not cover it.
Cabinetry
I’m calling this one out because it's my specialty and I've seen every possible way this goes wrong.
Cabinetry is a very precise trade that requires less than 1mm of error. The tolerances are incredibly tight, and small errors compound in the blink of an eye. It doesn't take much to end up with cabinet doors that don't line up or things not working properly.
And it’s not just about looks.
When your doors don't line up correctly, drawers don't close properly, or hinges fail — all of these are functional failures that cause all kinds of unnecessary damage and make your kitchen less usable and enjoyable.
Electrical
Beyond the simple fixture replacement I mentioned earlier, electrical work needs a certified electrician. There are safety issues, code requirements, and insurance implications that make this non-negotiable.
Gas lines
This one's simple: gas lines are a safety issue. Don't touch them. Period.
Structural work
Anything involving load-bearing elements needs a professional. You can't know what's structural and what isn't just by looking at it, and mistakes here can be dangerous and expensive.
The DIY risks nobody tells you about
Choosing to DIY isn’t just about money or time. There are real risks and consequences to doing it yourself that most homeowners don't think about until it's too late. Let’s walk through the big ones.
Voiding your home insurance
This is huge, and most homeowners are completely unaware until they file a claim and it gets denied.
If you cause a flood in your own house or you do something electrically that isn't done by a certified electrician, your insurance provider could void it. So check with your insurance provider before you do anything yourself!
As a general rule, most insurance companies stipulate that anything other than cosmetics needs to be done by a pro. You might be able to do the work competently, but if something goes wrong and you don't have the proper credentials or permits, your insurance won't cover the damage.
Condo/strata complications
If you live in an apartment or condo, make sure you get the OK from the strata or condo board before starting any renovation work… even if the work seems minor.
The consequences of skipping this step can be expensive and stressful. I've seen homeowners forced to rip out work they've completed because they didn't get proper approval first.
Some stratas require a bondable contractor with the appropriate insurances in place before you undertake anything — even something simple like replacing flooring.
And keep in mind, these rules aren’t in place to make your life difficult. It’s their job to protect the building and the other residents from potential damage caused by unqualified work.
Paying twice to fix your mistakes
I've seen way too many people try to save money by doing something themselves, and then they have to hire somebody to come in and fix what they did wrong. You end up paying more money than you would have if you just hired somebody to do it in the first place.
And that's not even factoring in your time. The hours you spent trying to figure it out, doing the work, then undoing it when it didn't work… your time has value too!
How to decide what to DIY
So how do you actually make the call on what to do yourself and what to hire out? Here's my framework for thinking it through.
Be brutally honest about your skill level
I’ll say it again: DIY doesn't automatically save you money if you don't know what you're doing. Watching a video on the internet doesn’t equal actual experience.
Before you commit to DIYing something, ask yourself:
Have I done this before, or something very similar?
Do I have the tools I need, or will I need to buy them?
Do I have the time to do this properly, or will I be rushing?
If I mess this up, what's the worst-case scenario?
Be honest with yourself. There's no shame in recognizing when something is outside your skill set — actually it’s probably very wise.
Calculate the real cost
Here's an exercise to help put things in perspective. Calculate what your DIY project will actually cost you:
Your time — estimate the hours it will take, then multiply by what you could be earning if you were working instead
Tools you'll need to buy
Materials — including any extras you’ll need to buy because you’re learning and might need to redo things
The risk of mistakes that need professional fixes
Now compare that total to what a pro would charge. Sometimes the "cheap" DIY option actually costs more when you factor everything in.
Consider the stakes
Finally, consider how serious the impact will be if things go sideways:
High stakes (impacts to insurance, structure, damage, safety): Hire a pro. The risk isn't worth it.
Low stakes (any mistakes are cosmetic and reversible): If you have the skills and time, go for it.
And when in doubt, err on the side of hiring someone who knows what they're doing.
The bottom line on kitchen reno DIYs
Focus your DIY energy on physical labour like demo, project management, and cosmetic tasks that are hard to mess up or easy to fix. Let the pros handle anything that could cause damage, void your insurance, violate code, or create expensive problems down the road.
The money you think you're saving with DIY often disappears when you factor in your time, the cost of tools you'll only use once, and the risk of having to fix mistakes. Often you end up paying more money than you would have if you’d just hired somebody to do it in the first place.
And it’s not just about cash — your time matters, too. Save your energy for the decisions that will directly affect how you use and enjoy your home, like choosing your layout, selecting your finishes, and making sure your kitchen actually works for how you live. That's where your expertise as the homeowner matters most.
