I like large, complex projects. There are many facets to them and I often learn or practice a whole host of skills to complete them. Once they’re done, I have this satisfying statement of a finished product. Sometimes, however, it’s good to work on a small scale. It helps me focus on the details. I […]
When we bought our house, the driveway was sorely in need of an update. The blacktop was pitted and crumbling. It was clearly neglected for quite some years. I checked back on Google Street view and found that the driveway looked the same both in 2007 and 2011. I’m not sure if it had been […]
In the ongoing saga of finishing half of our basement, we’ve been making slow progress. So far, Ellie and I have bought the bulk of the materials, and we have insulated two of the rooms. After insulation, the logical next step is to hang the drywall. Hanging drywall in the basement is not a particularly […]
The previous owner of our house, that’s who. I guess the real question is, “Why would someone paint a sink?” That is an answer I don’t think I will ever have, but I do know what to do about it. Start from scratch. It kind of all started from that, a sink that was painted […]
I have wanted a CNC (Computer Numerical Control) router for years. The problem, however, is that a CNC is very expensive and only recently have they come down in price but even at that lower price, they’re still out of my range. For a while, I was looking at the cheapest CNCs on the market, […]
Do you ever think to yourself, “Well I might as well, before it’s too late”? That’s what Ellie and I thought before we started hanging the pile of drywall we bought. We might as well insulate the basement walls, before it was too late and they were covered in drywall forever. When we bought the […]
This is only the beginning. This is not a complete story. It’s a work in progress and a learning experience all in one. Aren’t the best projects always like that? We didn’t buy the cabin up north, but that same weekend we decided to improve the home we own. It was a part whim, part […]
I’m particular. I have a standard of quality. If my name is going to be tied to something, I want it to be something I’m proud of. This is a trait I developed in my twenties, unfortunately too late to apply to my schoolwork. It drives Ellie crazy at times. When I look at something […]
In Wisconsin everyone knows someone who has a cabin up north. It’s a part of your childhood. What did you do this summer? I spent two weeks at the cabin up north. For those of us who didn’t have a cabin up north, we’d usually get invited by a friend for the vacation. My family […]
One of the many things that came up in our home inspection prior to closing on the house was that the garage was in need of some love. More specifically, the home inspector told us that it was built using methods not up to modern day levels of quality craftsmanship and he didn’t know how […]