How Was Your Weekend?

I spent mine redoing the finish carpentry in my office. The original work had no finish. It was all cheap, knotty lumber butted up against rough, exposed drywall. You can see in the stairwell shot where my work buts up against the lipstick on a pig the first owners did. I’ve been slowing adding finish work to the house when I redo each room. I am no expert at finish carpentry, but I can get along well enough.

After doing all this, I don’t know how we ever managed to build civilization without the pneumatic nail gun. I borrowed it from sometimes co-blogger Jason, and it has been invaluable at getting everything placed precisely, quickly, and with minimal labor.

Stairwell showing with kegerator.
The Stairwell. That’s the kegerator showing on the upper level. We dare not take that out of service, as one needs to keep the priorities straight in any home project. The office is the lower level. It’s a split level house.
Around the edge of the awful stuff
Around the edge of the stairwell. Originally all the woodwork looked like the horrid nightmare my unpainted work abuts. You can see nails! They weren’t even trying. I did my best to detract from the suck.
Window Finish
This used to be nothing but rough, knotty pine, with a 1×6 as the sill. The drywall just went up to the pine. There was no trim or finish. The window is level, the ceiling, you can see, is not at all. That is not my work.

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12 thoughts on “How Was Your Weekend?”

  1. Just think about the lath-and-plaster days. Lath boards spaced every two inches vertically, each with square nails – and no way to pre-drill, either. Carpal tunnel must have been a real nightmare…

  2. It looks nice. I rent, so I just ignore all the imperfections of the house. My dog doesn’t care either. It’s comfortable enough, and the ammo cans keep the roof of the garage from sagging too much.

    1. Thanks. I’m really no expert. It takes me probably 3x as long to do something like that as it would take someone experienced. Fortunately, I didn’t make many bad cuts. But I do that by cutting a little long and shaving.

  4. Pretty much the same for me, but lucky enough to be a complete build-out from concrete walls, so no fixing others people problems. I get to make my own. The basement was never finished. Adding office space, gym, bathroom and play space for the little monsters.

    Doing a lot of the work myself with family in to help. Drywall this week, maybe will be able to start using the space in two weeks or so.

    So I sympathize.

  5. Keep at it while you still have the motivation. Motivation for that sort of thing declines at about the same rate as your testosterone, once you pass forty.

    My idea of an all-horror cable channel is HGTV.

    I’ve been daydreaming about a real home improvement channel for men, with shows where guys get together with a bunch of their buddies, agree that everything looks just fine the way it is, and head out for a few beers.

    1. I grew up in a house that was always under construction, with some active project or another. My dad also lost motivation after a while, and a lot of things went unfinished. What got him to sell the house eventually was when he realized he’d soon have to redo all the things he had done in his 20s, like the kitchen. That was enough.

      Of course, then he ended up putting a kitchen in the house he bought after that, ironically. Sold that house and moved to a 55+ community with a brand new custom-built house. Nothing that needs to be done to that one.

  6. Excellent, thanks. I went to the Eagle Arms gun show at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds and bought my first firearm. Age: 61. It will not be my last such purchase.

    1. Mark, did the dealer have trouble getting thru on the NICS or PICS? I was down at the Dillsburg show, intending to buy an old Enfield, but the dealers there were complaining about long delays in getting thru. I couldn’t wait 3 hours. Seems to be the case every weekend; I’m scared to think what the York show will be like this coming weekend.

      1. Did they ever…I was lucky, my spot check took a little under 30 minutes. Others were waiting for hours. The dealers just had their phones glued to their ears. I’ve never been a show like this before so didn’t know what to expect but from what I overheard it was far more crowded than usual.
        I saw a lot of old military rifles on sale but opted for a new Henry lever action. Got a co-worker who is a long-time gunny and has offered to take me to the range once the weather turns.
        I grew up in the city and never owned guns, no one in my family hunted so I have zero experience. But I’ve long thought everybody in America should own a gun simply because as Americans, we can. But it’s never felt so urgent. For me this is as much a protest action as it is the addition of a new sport/skill.

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