Never do anything by yourself which requires a permit (HVAC, Plumbing/Gas, Electrical), unless w.r.t. electrical it's low voltage boxes covered by standard switchplates with the breaker box off.
Never do anything structural/load-bearing. Avoid touching window-headers/columns, door-headers/columns, that random beam in the middle of your living room, that random pillar that you wish you know what was for, and that really inconvenient wall between your kitchen and your dining room (those are likely "important" points).
Other than that, paint... sheetrock... siding... sheds... trim... cosmetics... run wires... drill (some) holes... attach things to things... it's your house!
I learned the most by watching Income Property and Holmes on Homes.
Pretty sick of this, really. I know it's meant to stop idiots from doing work that could endanger them and others, but I've serviced my own boilers, installed my own sockets for years and even laid out the electrical for a whole house.
Now some dickwad comes and tells me "man, that is illegal". k
No one ever prevents you from doing your own work, it has never been illegal. You just need to get the permits and pass inspections (just like all licensed electricians / plumbers / etc do).
> I know it's meant to stop idiots from doing work that could endanger them and others
Yes, and it's a lot bigger problem than you might think. You know what you are doing, but 99% of people don't, and they will happily murder the next owner / next occupant through their own malpractice, without even thinking once about it. I've seen professional home builders screw this up and fail inspections, multiple times. It's a real and common risk.
Language, please. Also consider the context: "I just bought a home, I don't know what I'm doing!"
That is _not_ the person I want working on a gas line (which is "plubming") on a house I'm going to buy in the future.
I'm sure you're a special little snowflake that's good at everything, but if you don't feel comfortable getting a permit for permit / license-required work, then... um... maybe you shouldn't be doing it? That's the context for the advice I gave to the parent poster.
You can do simple plumbing and electrical stuff yourself. Just shut off the main valve or circuit breaker, change out the fixture (light switch, outlet, lamp, faucet, etc) and turn things back on. As long as you are careful to put wires back in same place it should be fine. And there are plenty of videos on Youtube to guide you.
You should learn basic plumbing and electrical if you own a home. Not only does it save money, but it gives you freedom and allows you to evaluate the quality of work done by professionals you hire.
Easy to do electrical yourself. I guess it depends on where you live but a self-wire permit just needs you to walk through your plan and get a couple inspections. It's intimidating for sure but it was really easy to wire my basement. It might need some years of school/experience to do a whole house but once you do one light/switch/outlet they are pretty much all the same.
Never do anything structural/load-bearing. Avoid touching window-headers/columns, door-headers/columns, that random beam in the middle of your living room, that random pillar that you wish you know what was for, and that really inconvenient wall between your kitchen and your dining room (those are likely "important" points).
Other than that, paint... sheetrock... siding... sheds... trim... cosmetics... run wires... drill (some) holes... attach things to things... it's your house!
I learned the most by watching Income Property and Holmes on Homes.
http://www.diynetwork.com/shows/income-property
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holmes_on_Homes