Home made pcb is still good for small production and/or proof on concept, but yes you need to play a little bit with chemicals and stuff like that. Home made SMD, double side PCB is not a problem. I still do it here, then once I'm sure everything's o.k I go for the outsource.

Does ExpressPCB software allow you to export to gerber or you need to stick with their service only? Beauty of third party one, is the ability to generate standard gerber format so you can have your PCB made everywhere. Some place even accept Eagle files directly, not only generated gerber ones.