014 The DIY Shuffle (Podcast)

The Thumb and Hammer Home Improvement Podcast returns after a break of a little over a year.  And what a year it’s been.  The topic of this episode will be familiar to anyone who has read my blog, as I recently wrote a post about The DIY Shuffle.

What is the DIY Shuffle?  Well, it refers to the shuffling of stuff from one part of the house to another during home improvement projects.  Quite often some stuff gets moved around multiple times.   It also refers to shuffling from one project to another before the first project is finished.  For the last year, we have been doing both versions of this dance.

This is the story of how I managed to turn a house that was in “just-move-in” condition into a construction zone and what we could have done differently to avoid this mess.

Listen to the episode

Topics Discussed

* The very first time we set foot in the house, I was already talking about doing some minor demolition and re-framing in the master bedroom, much to the horror of the real estate agent and my wife.

* The very first day we owned this home, I started with that minor demolition.

* Our ambitious plans for the first week of owning this house and how they were doomed to failure.

* How a “weekend project” in the master bedroom escalated, and why it remains unfinished a year later.

* The “shuffling” of our daughter’s bedroom and the guest room.

* “Please don’t blame my doggy;  it’s not his fault at all….”  (Benny Hill fans will understand this reference).

* Why I have trouble finding some of my tools.

* Takeaways and lessons learned.

Links

The DIY Shuffle (original blog post, contains photos)

The TripleSafe Sump Pump System from Basement Systems

Here is a good explanation of how a bridge loan works.  Our loan was for a period of one week.  That is, we closed on the house we were buying one week before we closed on the house we were selling.