Attention homeowners: If you’re tempted to do that yourself - you could do some real damage.
David E. MacLellan, a homebuilder and author of “The Home Book,” has a list of the most common, costly mistakes homeowners make on do-it-yourself projects:
* Overloading upper kitchen cabinets. Filling those top cabinets with stacks of heavy dinnerwear can cause the cabinets to sag or even come crashing down. It’s important to store heavier items below or spread them out to lighten the load.
* Hanging a ceiling fan from a light mounting box. Ceiling fans typically need more support than can be provided by a mounting box designed for a light. Fans not only weigh more than the average light fixture, they also vibrate adding a lot of strain on the mounting. Add a new mounting box for the fan, they cost about $10.
* Attaching a trellis or fence. Some homeowners bolt or nail trellis structures to their home's siding. Bad idea. Siding isn’t always strong enough and that could come crashing down damaging the siding and anyone underneath it. The same goes for fences. Attaching them to your house creates a pathway for termites and mold.
* Overloading upper floors. Heavy items such as pool tables, waterbeds, large aquariums, pianos and weight-lifting equipment can overload floor systems—even when those floor systems are built to code. The same goes for the first floor if there is a basement underneath. Heavy items should be downstairs, near a wall. Keep your eye out for any movement or cracking in nearby floors or walls.
* Walking on tile roofs. Roofing tiles are brittle and can crack under the weight of a single person and result in some real damage. Leave roof-walking to the professionals.
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