Builders Share

Planning and Figuring, Figuring and Planning

The chores and churning of daily life have conspired against moving forward on several of the renovation projects of late.  Or so it seems.  I have found an hour here, a half hour there to start refinishing the interior doors that I sent out for stripping.

When a couple of weeks pass and I haven't made apparent headway on the project, my mind starts playing all kinds of tricks, and the little voices start whispering, "you never really were cut out for this project were you."  "Are you lazy, or is it just that you can't manage your time?"  "That guy down the road started and finished his renovation project in less than half the time you've been working on yours." And on and on.

It's true that my project is taking a long time, and perhaps I'm not the best time manager, but most of the discouraging thoughts are simply brain noise. 

Even when the physical aspects of the project aren't progressing, there is often planning taking place.  And when there's planning, there's decision making.  A luxury (and sometimes curse) of a do-it-yourself project is that you can deliberate endlessly on the planning and decisions.

Lately I've been trying to decide how the finish the door arrangement of the master bedroom.  Originally the three doors that serve the main entry, bidet closet, and walk-in closet were going to hang on hinges, but there was always a question about the closet door because there's not a lot of space between the bed and where the door swings open.  Like the one for the upstairs bath, the closet door could become an obstacle.

I got the idea that putting the closet door on a slider would solve the problem.  A pocket door would be nice but that wasn't part of the original planning and would require tearing apart a wall and doing some re-wiring which I'm not interested in doing considering the amount of work I have to do in other areas.  The only place I can reasonably place a slider is on the outside of the closet.

Then I got the idea that sliding doors across that entire wall might be a nice solution/design.  I like the antique barn door sliders that I see on some buildings and I think that hardware would look great along that wall.  Unfortunately, the space requirements for the flat track and hardware are greater than what I have and the cost is high to boot.

But since this idea set in, I've been stuck with it.  I like the idea of the main entry door not opening into the hallway (the only other option) because this allows for reflected light to flood into the stairwell in the afternoons.  (I've discovered that some of these little details make a big difference in daily life. I'm even willing to deal with a little inconvenience here and there to maintain some of the sublime pleasures.)

I'm still working on solving the bedroom doors problem (getting quotes, making sketches), which I can do in the small snatches of time between work and parenting.  So even if I'm not pounding nails and making sawdust, the work is still progressing.

handyman

Recycle, Renew, Refresh

Our little family of three (soon to be four) went to the big box store this weekend.  We were in search of baby goods.  Volume 2 of Graham-Merrick productions is due at the beginning of September so it was time to start preparing in ways most patriotic.  Shopping!

I don't venture out into the consumer world that often so it's always a bit of shock entering the big box.  OK, I do visit building suppliers often enough, including the big box building supplier, but even the big box building supply store creeps me out a bit and I have to get in and get out before Mr. Hyde takes over.

We were in search of a new rear-facing infant car seat.  I deferred to my wife's concern about buying one of these used.  Forget about the cushy fabric being impregnated with some other baby's bodily fluids, the safety factor of knowing exactly what you're getting fresh out of the package provides some peace of mind. (Of course we'll have to look up recall info. anyway but that's all part of the game.)

I'm also sensitive to the fact that I don't necessarily have to promote my obsession of buying used and/or "fixing-that-broken-thing-one-more-time-instead-of-getting-a-new-one" with my loved ones.  There's nothing like a Dad's obsession to create a lasting backlash in the off-spring.  If I can afford a new bike for the boy isn't it a bit sick to be pulling a rusty one out a dumpster that might have another year or two left in it?  Talk about destroying a dream!

But I digress.  I was talking about entering the big box.  (No wonder I digressed.)

The baby supplies at the big box are all the way in the back corner.  I guess its the same highly refined store design as the super duper super market that places the milk and eggs back in the same corner.  Parents of infants must wander through all the items that their baby will be able to enjoy as they get older.  Oh, and maybe you'll pick something up for yourself while you're visiting. Some folks probably celebrate this opportunity. Yours truly finds it strangely oppressive.

What most amazes me about the big box is the sheer quantities.  There were hundreds, I mean hundreds, of the same style clothing for kids 6-12 months.  And there were tens of different styles.  There were literally thousands of options for outfitting a child that can't even express itself beyond the need to eat, sleep, and poop.  Is it possible that our freedom of choice has reached a perverse level?  Don't even get me started on the gender specificity angle.  We've decided to be surprised on the birthday.  I suppose the vendors just expect we'll by twice as many outfits and then throw away the ones only appropriate for the opposite gender.

OK I'll stop.

...but not before I get back into my comfort zone of fixing up a good old thing.

This Lakewood window fan has served us well for many years.  It works so well as an exhaust fan that I put it to use during construction of the interior.  Well, now I want to put it back into 'civilian' use.  The problem was that it was coated with all kinds of nasty construction debris dust.  The answer?  Just a few screws to remove the fan from the housing and give it all a good cleaning. I gave it a day to dry out before plugging it back in and now it's cooly humming along.

handyman

Such a Cutup

I said to a friend the other day that progress on the renovation was going so slow that sometimes I feel like I'm going backwards.  Such is the plight of the weekend warrior.  I've mentioned before how during the times I had at least a few hours every day to devote to the project, things moved quickly, but for a while now the daily work and responsibilities that come with home ownership have pushed the big improvement project to the sidelines.

Most recently I found myself cleaning up a large tree that blew down in one of the dramatic June thunderstorms that passed through.  The tree in question was a large Box Elder (acer negundo) that had grown awkwardly out over the yard in search of the sun.  I was lucky that it fell somewhat gradually as I had a chance to move the truck and the motorcycle that would otherwise have been crushed.  The day after I first noticed it leaning low, it crashed to the ground but remained hung up, hinged on its trunk about 10 feet off the ground.

The big problem with cutting up a leaning tree is that it's under tension and the direction of its fall can be  hard to predict.  Either side of the cut can spring up or roll at you.

I read through the Chain Saw Operator Safety Manual a couple of times just to get my head in the right place and then went to work.   Probably the rule I most wanted to break for convenience was lifting the saw to cut limbs above my shoulders.  But it seems that this is an easy way to end up cutting your own limbs off your shoulders so I resisted the urge.  I did cut a little working from a ladder but made sure I was in a stable position and wasn't reaching.  Even so it was clearly risky so I put the chainsaw down and used the hand bucksaw to finish cutting the limb from where it broke off the trunk 10 feet up.

The bulk of the work is in cleaning up the limbs, cutting up the trunk, and removing it all from the yard. Unfortunately Box Elders are not good firewood but since I had to do the work of cutting it up, I'll probably throw it in stove to take the chill out of the mornings next spring.

And speaking of firewood, there's another chore that cuts into the work of renovating...