From age thirteen, I was raised by a single mom, and house maintenance became something I started doing to help out. Pretty early on, I liked the feeling of empowerment that finishing a project provided. Since then, I have always tried to do what I could myself. A few years back, I bought a classic 50’s ranch home with a full basement that looked great. However, I quickly discovered the previous homeowners cut corners on many repairs and updates. My “perfect” home quickly turned into a “project” home. My DIY skills had become a little rusty, but I figured with my previous experience plus a little help from Google and YouTube, I could tackle the required fixes and updates. I found plenty of articles and videos, but the quality and accuracy of the information provided varied greatly. I often felt the authors knew only slightly more than I did, and typically the exact situation I was dealing with was not addressed.

I thought about the experience of reading article after article and endlessly watching videos, and it seemed odd to me that in so many areas of life, we have the option of making our lives easier by hiring an expert to provide guidance and support. For example, a personal trainer who can help us get in better shape, a cooking class taught by a trained chef to help us cook better, but when faced with a home improvement projects we are left with just two options, hire a contractor or try your luck with Google and YouTube. I created DIY Coach to offer DIYers an easier and more efficient way to complete their next home improvement project. The other reason I started this company is to help improve the economics of homeownership for anyone willing to do the work.

When in the market for a home, I saw many fix and flip homes. I appreciate that for some, this is the best option, but the economics of buying a recently flipped home does not benefit the home buyer. If you choose to buy a home that needs a little love and do some of the work yourself, you can ensure the improvements are done right, you can fit the improvements into your schedule, and you can build some home equity along the way. When you hire a contractor, you never get 100% of the money you spent on improvements back at the time of sale. However, when you do the work yourself, you almost always get the money you invested back, and usually, you get some additional equity as well. For me, improving and maintaining my home has been a great way to build wealth.

I wanted a way to help empower homeowners and build home equity via DIY projects. The best way I have found to help homeowners accomplish this is to bring people who are most knowledgeable about home improvement into the DIY process without the high price. Contractors and other people from the skilled trades have spent decades building up their knowledge. I created DIY Coach to provide a way for homeowners to affordably gain access to this vast wealth of experience and apply this knowledge to your unique DIY project.

Our mission is to provide support and advice to homeowners and help them complete their next project like a pro and build some home equity along the way. Do it yourself, but don’t do it alone.

Chris Menard

Founder