Home improvement can be a costly affair, especially when a project idea and project estimates collide with a reality check — actual cost. According to HomeAdvisor.com, the average cost to remodel a bathroom these days $9,143, with most homeowners spending between $6,219 and $12,449. That kind of money can stress even the most flush of wallets, but there are those who get around the high cost of home improvement by brushing up on their shop skills and doing it themselves.

Local attorney John Tate III is one of those who look to their own abilities rather than farm a job out. Since he and his wife Katherine bought their Short Drive home in Washington in 2011, Tate has set a goal: one big project a year.

Last year, it was a pier for their waterfront home; the year before, an outdoor shower. A deck that created outdoor space and access across the river side of the home, two bathroom remodels later, Tate decided it was time to do something about the garage doors — or lack thereof.

“When we bought the house, there were no doors — there was just a big hole,” Tate said.

That worked, but the Tate’s didn’t use the space to park their cars. Instead it was storage for bikes and lawnmowers, tools and more, and when a neighbor’s lawnmower was stolen out of their garage, Tate decided it was time to tackle the garage doors. It required a bit of imagination, and ingenuity, to get the job done.

“There really weren’t any good plans for doors. They were either overkill or too complicated,” Tate said.

Complicated wasn’t needed — only something that could close and lock to protect the valuables. Inspiration came in the form of a visit to a friend’s beach cottage, where shutters on two separate tracks enabled protection for an entire window when closed, but opened, one shutter would slide behind the other on either side of the window.

For Tate, this translated to sliding barn doors on two tracks and a simple solution to what could have proven to be a costly problem, had he bid the job out.

“I would imagine that it wouldn’t be less than $5,000-$6,000,” Tate said.

Instead, less than $1,000 was spent: $400 on hardware and lumber and $500 on pre-fab paneling.

“I built one door and attached the hardware and put it up, slid it all around and it worked — and it worked great. So I went and built the other three,” Tate said.

With the help of a friend, who take care of the welding the two tracks together, the project took two weekends of work, that came with a lot more than just the security of a locked garage door.

“I get the satisfaction of looking at it and knowing that it’s something that I built,” Tate said. “It saves money, but more than saving money, I think it’s fun. Most of what most of us do (for a living) — it’s hard to see a tangible benefit. This is a creative outlet,” Tate said.

With the garage doors behind him, Tate said, he’s turning his sights back to the river and a 10-foot nutshell pram (a combination rowboat and sailboat) to add to the 8-foot rowboat and 17-foot kayak he’s previously built.