Any chance you're around? Well if you ever see this, I sure would like to chat with you about things and stuff.

I know I posted back in November being all "I'm going to read stuff and catch up, etc etc etc".

Then I went and bought a house.  And have as such been busy.  Renovations take way more time and work than I was expecting.  I really should have known better, given that I work in the hardware retail industry/have seen parents and friends live through renos, but I for some reason expected things to be different for me.  If I'm not at work, I'm working on the house.  If I'm not doing that, I'm probably sleeping or shoveling snow.  Seriously, this winter needs to end already.

Anyway, I'm sort of back, in that I intend to be back.  It will likely take me a month or two to get back into the real swing of things, at least until I get my kitchen all installed and looking nice nice, but once that is done I'll feel more willing to distract myself with leisurely pursuits.  Or I'll discover another project to work on, like finishing the basement.

Oh, and apparently I have no idea what my password is supposed to be.  So I made a new account.

Anyway, I have re-installed AIM on my computer.  Myn Winger is still the username.  I'll try to remember to have it on when I'm online, so probably best to message me there.

Check your PM Mr.  Dondana.

I assigned a password to your Jan Dondana account that you can change at your leisure.

Good to see you back Jan.  In several months, I'll probably be in the same boat as you with house stuff.

You know, intellectually, working on the house seems like a no-brainer.  But for some reason, for me at least, when I get around to actually doing it, it does not look as good as contractors.   So, now I have to set a new goal.  Is the amount of money I saved doing it myself (albeit not as good as a professional) enough to sway the wifey's critical eye.

Plus, building materials cost money!   That really sucks!

I put in a new kitchen sink and am working on tiling my den-turned-man-cave and start working on the other parts of our privacy fence.  It is only 1/3 done.   Sometimes, I really miss the apartment.   Still, I must confess it is really cool owning your own place.  Especially a place with a backyard.
 

I work at a hardware store, so I get some pretty sweet discounts on building materials, which is nice.  For example I got my electrical wire for essentially 50% off.  Unfortunately, things need to be done in a certain order, which can cause frustrating delays.  Like today I was supposed to have the day off, so scheduled my electrical rough in inspection.  So now I've been sitting around the house for 4 hours waiting for the inspector to show up.  I can't use this time to insulate the walls, or do drywall, because the inspector needs to see everything open and visible.  I mean, yes, I got some shovelling/snow clearing done, but the sun would have done that work for me eventually.

As far as doing it as good as a contractor, it all depends on what the job is.  I've been doing a lot of it myself/with the help of my girlfriend's dad/my dad, so did the electrical, and will do the drywall and flooring, but for some of the fine carpentry stuff I'm going to just bit the bullet and get someone else to do it.  The cabinets will be about $2000 to install, but due to the staff discount/the sale from the manufacturers that was going on I saved about that amount and I'd rather have our expert do it and have all the mouldings and stuff be perfect, then struggle through it myself and not have it look nice.

2,000 for cabinets is not bad. I used to work for a custom cabinet shop and we would not even walk onto a job site for 2,000. As far as molding, you have the right idea. I promise you nothing is square and sometimes you can get molding looking pretty bad even when its level. But I loved the work when I still could do it. Something about creating something that will last like that. Walls and flooring and stuff is cool but  its when the cabinets and other stuff like that go in that it starts looking like a home.