In two weeks from now, all of this pictured and more, should be ready so that we can get the house evaluated. The chance of it happening is slim to none, especially since it is going to predominantly be my wife and I doing the rest of the work. We don't want to cut corners, so I am guessing I am going to have to flirt with the evaluator.
We have made quite a bit of progress considering, but we are never going to be able to do all of the finishing work - even the basic stuff. We have resigned to the fact we can't paint the floors before, but at least we have a "here's one we prepared earlier" example upstairs to illustrate what the rest of the house is going to look like.
I have spent the day taping drywall corners, which is something that I haven't done well before, but I am starting to get the hang of it now. I have watched a few YouTube videos from "Vancouver Carpenter" to help me along. Pretty much the only time I ever use YT is for troubleshooting videos, not entertainment.
"This platform is not a toy"
Some people spend so much time on entertaining themselves, I don't know how they get anything done in their lives at all. Perhaps I am just not very effective with my time, while others are just doing it easy.
The Vancouver Carpenter makes it look easy.
There are lots of tricky bits to do and it takes me ages to get it right-ish and then I have to wait for it to dry. I have realized that my process is not very efficient,, but I reckon that I could have been a pretty decent tradesperson, not least of which because I am quite comfortable showing my "tradie smile" when I bend over.
I should probably buy some pants that fit.
In the picture above, you can see the toilet in the darkness there (below you can see the actual toilet unit), which will get completed by a professional, since I have no idea what to do when it comes to water-proofing and tiling, nor plumbing. We need an electrician to come in for a lot of work in the next two weeks also, but ours had surgery a few weeks ago and is out of commission. Par for the course.
He is a really nice guy too and does great work, so we don't really want to have someone else do the rest, as good electricians are hard to come by in Finland we have found - Even though they are all expensive.
There is the saying, "Cheap, Fast, Quality - pick any two." We have had a lot of this where we have had some cheap work done that is quality, but we struggle to get the guys here. We have also had some very, very expensive electrical work done that took ages, that was crap. Price doesn't indicate quality.
But, regardless of what happens in a couple of weeks with the evaluation, we will eventually not only have a house that we enjoy living in, but also one that we have put ourselves into at every stage of the remodel. While we haven't done it all, we have done a lot and there is a satisfaction that comes with this, even if what we have done isn't exactly what the professionals would call "to standard".
But hey, everyone loves an original.
Break time over.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
I use YouTube as a resource as well. In some ways I would have been lost without it when it comes to some house jobs
Since there is no porn there, troubleshooting is all it is good for.
One advantage of doing the work yourself is that you know where all the wires and pipes are. This can save you time and money in future when you need work done. You would no longer have to guess or cut exploratory holes in your walls.
Also, doing the work yourself, you know the capacity of your circuits. You also know what type of paint, what the exact color number is if you ever need touch-ups. Over all, doing your own construction makes you more familiar with your home, which simplifies your decisions when it comes time for maintenance work.
When it comes to the electrical, I have no idea. It is also a mix of old and new, so it would still be guess work at times. However, you are right in that doing a lot of the work has meant I am much more knowledgeable about it than i was. I haven't lived in an old home since a kid, so it is all pretty new for me in regards to maintenance.
Electrical does require some investment in learning. It hasn't clicked for me until recently. I'm in my 40s now. I never quite understood the phases and neutral. Now in my job as a Facility Manager, I've had to increase my understanding of all the systems that make up a built environment.
Your hands-on learning approach is, in my opinion, the best way to learn. I think that if you take on the finishing, you can experiment. Any mistakes will be useful in learning how to repair.
I knew a family who all know construction. Dad was a carpenter. Mom helped him out on the job site. All the kids, boys and girls, were put to work as well. It was cheaper than daycare and they learned a trade. It's incredible. They will remodel each others homes as gifts. They have no fear of demolishing and rebuilding because of the experience they got growing up. They have confidence that they can make it look just as good or better than it was.
Those families tend to do well for themselves and have a good time in the process.
The guys who have worked here are that kind of family and we have had three generations of them plus a son-in-law working on our house :D
Looool goodluck. Time to put up that old Taraz charm for sure
I will have more luck with him than my wife at least :D
😂
Guess it depends what you class as entertainment? Other people see me doing the art as entertainment, I see it as work as well as it’s a lot of work but it’s also fun therefore entertaining 😆
Perhaps the people that have a lot of time for entertainment don’t do a lot else (no hobbies etc that would use up a lot of time) and the entertainment is the main part of leisure time.
Presumably the evaluator lives somewhere in the general vicinity so they should have some idea of glow the weather and everything else is going to be affecting things 😑 hope you’re able to cram in a bit more and that they’re easygoing.
I agree that "entertainment" can be many things - I entertain myself through my writing, as it is creative. I find that when I watch a lot, my brain starts to shutdown and my motivation withers away.
I will put on short shorts and a midriff op ;D
Don't forget to sashay XD
I fixed a radiator that was leaking a few years ago by using YouTube. It was Sunday night and I was at our weekend house, nobody works out there on the weekend. I could freeze to death or try Youtube. I fixed it with a string. I'm not kidding.
YouTube rocks!
!BBH
Because this is such an awesome post, here is a BBH Tip for you.
. Keep up the fantastic work