8. Don't hang drywall

Believe me when I tell you this: only the congenitally clueless hang their own drywall.

The pros – where I live they're mostly Mexicans – can do it twice as well in half the time. Maybe a quarter of the time.

Better you should spend your time on work that otherwise would require high-priced tradesmen. For me this was electrical work and re-piping the radiators. True, I'd been wiring other people's houses since age 14, starting with my parents', and was well past the sparks-and-excitement stage by the time I got to mine.

My point is, if you'll permit a little business-speak, when you're working on a house, use your time cost-effectively.