We've always done most of the stuff needed - painting, repairs, concrete pouring, wiring and plumbing.

My biggest luxury now that the DH is a bit older is that we get window cleaners in. Our upstairs windows are nominally on the 2nd floor, but given the hillside behind our house, it's a 40' drop. DH, on all his meds, is not really safe up there.

So now, 3 times a year, these wonderful people come in and do our windows inside and out. They clean all the screens, too, and change lightbulbs in the entry way chandalier, if needed, and dust 2nd story corners of the ceiling in the entry.

Any work on the minivan is done at the shop. I have relatives who could do that for me... if I still lived in Ohio. DH does a lot of work on his own car, replaced the brake pads, spark plugs, etc. But the van always seems to require removing a lot more "stuff" to get to what needs fixed. I had to get the battery replaced a couple weeks ago. Even that is under a lot of other parts, not right on top where a battery belongs!

DH can do anything electrical in the house, but I don't trust him with gas. ;o) So the gas water heater was replaced by the pros. Besides, it also turned out to be a special order.

Last summer we painted all the trim and replaced parts that had some rot. Except on the chimney. That we called in someone who isn't afraid of heights!

So we're half and half. We try to do things ourselves. But there are times when it's worth it to pay someone else.

I have a handyman to fix things when DS isn't around or when it is something DS can't do. My handyman is very talented and doesn't charge much. A neighbor with a snowblower clears my sidewalks and driveway for $10. I have a new car and all servicing is done at the dealership.

More and more as the older we get. We have no family close by as they are in the north and we are in the south. Our dear nextdoor neighbors will help if we ask, and we will hire their kids to help us too.

i do all the inside housework, and a little gardening. DH is responsible for keeping our cars running and outside chores. We have a Landscaper crew come and cut the lawn in summer. I have a great local handyman for thinggs DH can't do or doesn't own the tools for.

We do most anything ourselves..Except big drywall projects.

I did hire a guy to put in my backsplash in, a year ago. The stone was to complex that I didn't feel confident cutting it. We also hire people to put flooring in most of the time. Those are rare projects tho.

Fortunately we have a neighbor who is very handy so he comes over to help DH fix things.
(DH can't find his butt with both hands so I am very glad we have a great next door neighbor.)

More and more as the years go by...but have always used licensed pros for heating, plumbing and electrical work. It's actually illegal to do otherwise here.

Just about everything - DH is not handy and doesn't like doing stuff around the house even if he was. Plus we both work a lot and he travels a lot so we don't have much time to do it either. Unfortunately my fantastic handyman is so busy I'm really not able to get on his schedule any more. I have a great contractor lined up to do some bathroom remodeling and I'm hoping they'll be willing to do a few handyman projects after I use them for this bigger project. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have a handy DH who loved doing projects around the house and yard.

We do everything ourselves. Hubby would never hire anything done. I, on the other hand, have hired a neighbor boy to help me paint... We did hire the Amish to build our new barn. Hubby was going to do it but I finally talked him into hiring it done.. It would have taken him forever. His nice little getaway place,. He has part of it heated, cable tv and his lazyboy! What more could he ask for???

Susie

We've always done most everything ourselves. DH wanted to do the carpentry and the electrician work in the room we added on last spring, but I convinced him it would be MUCH faster to pay to have it done.

We'll paint a bedroom or a bathroom, but we leave the rest of the painting to the professionals lately. They do such a quick and 'neat' job as compared to us slinging paint.

I wish I could afford a landscaper! We have terrible soil here and neither DH or I like to 'play in the dirt'.

Electrical and plumbing. We do everything else. That said, I have quit doing windows so I will be adding this to the list soon.

Well, I guess compared to most of you, we hire out more jobs than most. All electrical and plumbing work, most carpentry work, some painting. A couple of years ago, I hired someone to do snow plowing, which has been the most wonderful luxury. I've thought of having someone come do the windows, but haven't actually done it yet.

Applying new roof shingles and seamless rain guttering. We have a 2 story house. The pros are better equipped to do this especially the one piece gutter.

I re-stained all exterior wood and repainted the window trim. Also re-caulked.

I have replaced over half of the electrical outlet boxes in the house. The originals had defective push connectors and were hazadous.

I installed new garage door counter balance springs with safety cables. The originals did not have safety cables and when a spring broke, it went flying.

Ever since my husband passed away, I hire people to do everything. Clean the gutters, leaves, snow, paint, and more. The only things I still do are cook and clean. As the years go by and more things come up that need doing, I wonder if it's time to give up the house and move into an apartment or condo.

We rarely have to hire help. About the only thing DH can't repair is the air conditioner. He knows how to do nearly everything around the house/yard/cars.

We used to do everything ourselves or with help from friends, but now Harry isn't able and the kids aren't close (or very handy, even if they were). We find more and more things being hired out.

I need to find a handyman for small jobs like repairing the screen on the front door, replacing a few pavers on the porch and two tiles on the kitchen backsplash they broke putting in the silestone countertops. We're hiring someone to finish painting--two bedrooms and two baths, too.

I miss our youth!!

I guess we have been lucky. In 43 years of marriage, we have only called a repair man 3 times - once for a fridge on the blink, once for the air conditioner and once for a washing machine. DH fixed everything else. Well, he did take the cars in for service sometimes, but mostly he fixed them and changed the oil, etc. He does all the yard work. He is taking down the wallpaper border and painting our dining room this week.

Now that age is catching up with us and DH's eyes are not so good, we have started to rely on others a little more. We have the gutters cleaned twice a year (the back and one side of the house is three stories high with a very high pitched roof), we had a friend help paint the exterior of the house the last time it was painted. I think we are going to hire someone to clean the windows. I am the one that would hire helpers in a heartbeat. He is the one that always says why waste money if he can do it.