Why do Some Of The Most Simple Projects...Turn Into The Biggest Headaches?

 I suppose it's an eternal question. Why do some of the most seemingly simple projects turn into the biggest headaches?

Case in point, setting up washers and dryers.

We recently moved, as did my mother-in-law. In fact, she just moved in today and we're glad to finally have her join us in Northern Utah. When you move, there's a ton of things to worry about. Some of the projects are huge--getting everything moved, and organized once you're in--then, there are things that seem simple.

I thought, incorrectly, that hooking up our washer/dryer combo after the move would be one of the simpler things. First, our washer. We noticed the hoses were aged so we decided to get new ones. I chose the ones with the "L" end thinking they'd be easy to install and they'd fit better. Well, it wasn't easy. I ended up installing the hoses backward with the L bend connected to the wall.

I don't know what it is about dryers, but I have the hardest time installing dryer hoses. We ended up going to the hardware store thinking there had to be larger hoses since the pipe in the wall was so wide. Nope--they didn't make larger hoses so I had to crimp and bend and adjust until finally, I was able to finish.

So, with all that experience, I thought hooking up my mother-in-law's washer/dryer would be a piece of cake. It was for the washer--much easier than ours, but the dryer...once again, nothing came easy. After an hour of trial and error and finally success, I went to plug in the dryer. 

Who knew there were different plugs for dryers?

I didn't. When we moved, ours fit. Turns out we need to get an adaptor for my mother-in-law's.

I suppose I should just change my perspective. Instead of budgeting five minutes for a five-minute job, I should budget an hour, no matter how easy it may seem.

A worthy goal, but I'll probably not do it, and realize a half hour into something that I should have remembered about those "simple projects."

For Sale...Pallet Grow Box...$40...Cat Not Included

Facing a world-wide health crisis, a person's mind can wander. "What if's" can fill your thoughts. What if this continues past the summer? What if there's no football this fall--college or pro? What if we run out of toilet paper? Many have already found out about that one.

And what if we need to grow our own food?

Years ago, we used to be crafty--not evil, but resourceful. My wife and I did a lot of finish work on our house. But, that was almost twenty years ago--we were much younger then, and we didn't wake up after working on a project wondering if our bodies could properly function.

Age has a way of doing that to a person.

My wife wanted some grow boxes and since we didn't want to spend a lot of money, she got on-line and did a little research. Turns out, regular pallets, properly re-assembled, can make some nice above-ground grow boxes.

Last Saturday, for Mother's Day, we decided to try and build one. 

We think it turned out great, so much so, I built another one and I'm putting my toe in the water to see if anyone would want to buy it. It holds about eight cubic feet of dirt. It's got natural drainage (no liner...) and what we call "side cars," small growing compartments for other plants, or marigolds--great for repelling bugs.

I'm asking $40. If you know pallets, you know it's not the best wood, but it should last for several seasons, and if you stain or paint it, it'll last longer. If you're interested, leave me a comment, or DM me on Facebook. And, no--the cat is not included.

Project Stair Repair...Day Three...Done

My wife applied the second coat of deck stain this afternoon bringing an end to Project Stair Repair. 

It took two days and I still wonder how we did it. It's only a five-step staircase, but something about that project seemed so daunting. We put off doing it for years. Now that it's done, I can still feel that apprehension we felt before we began.

I mentioned this in previous posts, but when we built our house years ago, we were so handy. We did so much to it. We painted, we wired, we put in floors. I remember not feeling nervous about any project we took on. We just jumped right in and got to work. Maybe it's because we didn't know any different. Neither of us had built a house, or helped build a house. We must not have known what we were doing. Ignorance is indeed, bliss.

Today was much like Saturday. We spent the morning operating power tools. We had a step to shave down and the railings to attach. Thankfully, both went well. When we were done, we all marveled at how sturdy and non-wobbly they were. It had been at least a decade since they were so well constructed. My father-in-law would have appreciated that. We were about two years too late for him. That's too bad.

We have so many other projects on this house that--at one time--we would have not thought twice about doing. Maybe it's our age, maybe it's our confidence--whatever the reason, we're hesitant. Perhaps we can learn form this experience and take on something else. 

But first, we need to recover form this one. It wore us both out.

The stairs have been replaced. It was a good weekend.

Project Stair Repair...Day Two

We waited until the sun crested the mountain and the air outside heated up a bit to begin. I was still a little apprehensive about doing this ourselves, but we had the materials and the old stairs had to be replaced. Like I wrote in yesterday's blog post, it was time.

We dusted off (literally...) our cordless Ryobi tools and got to work. Measure twice, cut once...it's a good way to prepare to build a new staircase. We thought about assembling the new staircase and then attaching it to the deck after it was fully built. So, SO glad we didn't do that. We found out taking off the old staircase then putting up the supports then attaching the steps was the way to go.

After several hours, we had the steps in place and it was time to test them out. Our verdict = amazing! It's been so long since the staircase wasn't shaky and creaky. We could almost not believe it.

We were able to take a break a few hours after noon. My wife and her mother (who, was a lifesaver and helped paint the railing...) fetched fast food for lunch. As I took my first break of the day almost inhaling the burger and fries, it took me back to when we worked on our house as it was being built. We basically lived off of fast food for months. Eating lunch today was an almost surreal experience, the way those memories flooded back.

Thanks to some advice from a neighbor, the paint we were going to use for the steps wasn't going to work. It was obvious we wouldn't finish today. We waited for the paint on the railings to dry then moved them and all the tools into the garage.

We' re resting now. And even though today felt so much like it did seventeen years ago, it's evident we're no longer in our 30s. We're going to feel it tomorrow--we're already feeling it now.

Tomorrow we'll take a break and not work on the house. Thankfully, I have Monday off of work and so we'll be able to finish Project Stair Repair then. But, until then, we need a well-deserved break.

Project Stair Repair...It's Time

Today, we finally did it--we took the first step in a DIY home repair project. Back in 2003 a good friend of ours, Alan Jensen, built the front stairs to our house as he watched airplanes drop fire retardant on the mountainside. A few days before we moved in, a homeless man started a fire several hundred feet from our home. Thankfully, no homes were destroyed, but it was scary.

Fast forward sixteen and a half years. Thousands upon thousands of foot falls up and down those stairs, every bit of furniture we have, almost every scrap of food, almost every time anyone has come and gone to and from our house has been on those stairs, five steps up, five steps down.

The wood we used to build those steps have served their purpose well.

It's time to retire them.

This morning we loaded up the minivan with wood, paint, and other things we'll need for the project. In those almost seventeen years, we haven't done a lot of DIY projects, which is weird considering how much sweat equity we put into the house. We did that mostly for practical purposes--not a lot of money. And I suppose you could say we're building stairs on our own now and haven't done it sooner for the same reason. We can't really put it off any longer, though. It's time.

Tomorrow, we'll break out the power tools and get to work. And since I will need something to write about tomorrow, I'm sure I'll keep you posted on how Project Stair Repair turns out.