Great story. I am a bit further along on the learning curve. Know and can do all those steps. And still, I have both an "appliance man" (actually a repair guy who also delivers and installs) and a plumber in my phone. The appliance man is the one most people fail to send money to. Why is the appliance man great? He knows, being the repair guy, which brands and models are sh*t and which are not. And that for less than a 10% premium on the online price of appliances. That's just so much value for money.

(Point in case to the story, estimation is important. Knowing what jobs to buy externally can be even more worthwhile.)