Construction Site Steps Best Left to Contractors

With soaring materials costs and understaffed crews working many construction jobs, it can be beneficial to plan on doing some of your own work on a project. There is definitely an advantage to taking care of things like cleanup and landscaping yourself, but there are also a lot of jobs that need to be left to professionals. Here are some site tasks that are not as suitable for DIY as you might think.

Site Drainage

What’s so difficult about connecting a few downspouts to a piece of plastic drain line and then burying it? More than you would think. Site drainage requires a lot of calculations on the volume of water in a given area, the capacity of the drain line, the discharge point, and the slope of the entire system. There are permitting issues, easements, and erosion control measures that must be taken into consideration as well. Whether it’s temporary drainage during construction or the permanent system to be used after completion, poor work can leave you with worse results than doing nothing.

Outdoor Hard Surfaces

Flip on the TV to a home improvement channel and you’ll see people slinging concrete, asphalt, and pavers like it’s the easiest task on the project. It’s true that it’s not too hard to lay these surfaces down, but your results may not be as impressive a year or two down the line. Work that looks great at the end of the day will show its inferiority as settling and erosion begin to take their toll. Professional pavers and excavators, like those at W.N. Yoss Construction Inc, have the skills and equipment to build solid sidewalks, driveways, and patios that will last for decades instead of months.

Heavy Equipment Operation

Most cities have a few equipment rental businesses where you can get anything from a tractor to a mini-excavator. Those implements can really help you get things done, and they look like to operate too. However, you will find that the precision required to do good work with them is not easy to develop. Even if you can do the work properly, the extra time you’ll need will run up the rental costs so much that you won’t save anything compared to hiring a contractor.

 It’s always a good idea to save money where you can, but some of the choices you make on a construction site could prove more costly in the long run than simply letting a contractor do the job upfront. Know when you’re crossing that line.