DIY · philosophy
Why DIY When You Could Buy?
The philosophical and practical reasons for building your own projects instead of buying commercial solutions.
The philosophical and practical reasons for building your own projects instead of buying commercial solutions.
Before buying a commercial solution, ask yourself: "Am I solving a problem, or am I learning something?" DIY isn't always the right answer, but understanding the trade-offs helps you make intentional choices.
You value the project because you are able to customize and experience the process of its creation, both physically and mentally.
Many items can be purchased locally or sourced from the worldwide market through the Internet. I rarely have money to spend on projects — whenever possible, reusing and repurposing junk is ideal. Many projects contain parts purchased at local dollar stores or found through eBay. Online research, reviewing, and sourcing materials is part of the process.
It takes time to learn how to use tools and equipment successfully. Let alone, have the time to actually make the project meet your expectations. Will you take the time to safely use the equipment necessary to complete the project? Are you able and willing to troubleshoot problems as they arise?
Time used for the project is time that could be spent with family, friends, learning something more important, etc.
Even though it may pain me to swallow my pride, I try not to reinvent the wheel. If I don't have direct experience performing a task, I take the time to research how others have approached similar problems. It's best to learn from others before making a serious mistake. Practice makes permanent. We cannot expect to become experts on a subject overnight. It's okay not to know how to do something — find someone who can help, take small simple steps towards achieving the goal.
For electronics projects — reliably wiring hardware and designing software to operate using an Arduino variant or Raspberry Pi — is a challenge.
When facing a build-vs-buy decision, I run through this mental checklist:
| Factor | Build | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| Timeline | Weeks to months | Days |
| Cost | $20–$100 in parts | $100–$500+ |
| Learning | High — you own the knowledge | Low — black box |
| Maintenance | You fix it | Vendor support or replace |
| Customization | Unlimited | Fixed features |
Commercial smart plugs cost $25–$40 each and require cloud accounts. I built one with:
Total cost: ~$15. Time invested: 3 hours including debugging. The commercial version would have stopped working if the company shut down. Mine still works because it runs on my LAN with no cloud dependency.
The DIY smart plug is still running 7 years later. Meanwhile, two of my commercial "smart" plugs became paperweights when their cloud service shut down in 2022. This is why I build.
Archived links from the original 2018 hydroMazing project blog — the predecessor to hydroMazing v1, now running in the CoreConduit lab with Arduino firmware, a Python daemon, a Flask API, and a React PWA.
Ready to build something? Check out Configure Your Own Internet Router for a practical DIY networking project.
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