Thank God for home improvement projects. (No, really. Thank you God!)
If it wasn’t for having to dig out bushes, install sinks and fans, change light fixtures, fix the toilet, paint each room in the house (all at least once), hook up the waterline in the refrigerator….well, you get the idea….I’d have no tools at all.
Of course, often I need a bit of help in my home improvement projects. Here, Daughter L helps me paint the dining room.
You see, for the most part, I’ve bought my manly collection of hardware for the on-going home improvement projects I’ve tackled the past dozen or so years on an as-needed basis.
And, as is typical, I often make two, three and even four trips to the hardware store to get supplies and a tool or two that I didn’t think (or know) I’d need during any of the previous trips.
But these projects do provide good husband-wife…um, discussion.
One project that has become immortalized occurred when our oldest son (now 11) was 3 or 4 years old. I had to install a water line for a new fridge. In running the line from the fridge down to the water pipes in the basement, I thought I had turned off the water between the hole I had to drill in the pipes and the main line coming into the house.
No, I was wrong. Instead, I turned off the water past that point.So, I drill the hole and water is spewing out and all over our basement. While I’m doing my best impersonation of a little Dutch boy and calling for Amy to turn off the water at the main, our son yells from the top of the stairs, “Get a wrench, dad. Get a wrench.”
To this day, that story makes us laugh, and my periodic home improvement ineptitude is worth it.
While I enjoy and do get a bit buzzed browsing the local hardware store just as much as any guy, I’ve never gone on a shopping spree to Do it Best (the local hardware store), Lowe’s, Home Depot or any of them.
I don’t need to because there’s been a regular parade of projects.
Like the current one. If you haven’t heard, Amy (and I) won a $30,000 kitchen make over from Merillat. Well, we can’t just get a new kitchen. We have to make that new “look” flow into adjoining rooms. So, since we were fortunate to squeeze in enough new kitchen flooring to take care of the dining room, I’ve had a paint project going on there the past few weeks.
And, in the entryway that leads into the kitchen (and to the steps that lead to our basement).
So, here’s to home improvement projects — may you never end so I keep having a legit reason to build my tool collection.
A wise man I once worked with said that home improvement projects were about three things: time and tools and money. If you had the last one you could afford to hire someone to do it, otherwise you have to budget and plan and account for the 10% “learning curve” in your own budget to learn how to do it right. Both of us are guys that work online, and I can say that while I don't necessarily enjoy every home improvement project, there is a certain satisfaction that comes with doing the job yourself and seeing a great finished product that you and the family can enjoy!
A wise man I once worked with said that home improvement projects were about three things: time and tools and money. If you had the last one you could afford to hire someone to do it, otherwise you have to budget and plan and account for the 10% “learning curve” in your own budget to learn how to do it right. Both of us are guys that work online, and I can say that while I don't necessarily enjoy every home improvement project, there is a certain satisfaction that comes with doing the job yourself and seeing a great finished product that you and the family can enjoy!