Homes are work. Any experienced homeowner is aware of the constant maintenance work required to maintain a home. Home maintenance may be fixing or replacing worn out or broken appliances to hammering in nail pops and repainting. Sean Patrick McVay is no stranger to home care and is proud that he is able to do a lot of the work himself.

"I've never had a problem doing little things like unclogging the garbage disposal or fixing leaking facets, but when I really started to notice how bad the carpet in my living room and hallway started to look I thought about replacing it," says Sean Patrick McVay. Carpets take a lot of abuse. Houses with kids or animals may see carpet wear out faster than a single couple.

Ultimately, Sean Patrick McVay decided to not redo his living room or hallway with carpet. "It was a hard choice. I like carpet because it soft and keeps the floor warm. But the living room and hallway was just so high traffic that I knew even high quality carpet would wear out quickly," says Sean Patrick McVay. He decided to not go the carpet route and to go with hard floors instead.

"Saying I have a hard floor can be misleading. The planks look like wood but really it is vinyl. It is nice because it looks just like wood but it is much cheaper and easy to care for," says Sean Patrick McVay. His floors look great but Sean Patrick McVay is proud of his floors for another reason than their looks, "I saved money by going vinyl and by doing the work myself," he says.

After he planned on getting rid of the carpet, it only took Sean Patrick McVay a few days to plan to do the remodeling work himself. "I spent about two days reading different websites and do-it-yourself forums. There were lots of firsthand accounts and tips. I figured if all these other people could do it, I could do it too," says Sean Patrick McVay.

"First I had to figure out my square footage. Everything said to order a little extra in case there are bad boards or you make a mistake cutting a board to size. I measured everything, watched some YouTube videos, and went at it," says Sean Patrick McVay. It took him about a week to get all the work done himself.