Weekend project update

On Saturday I volunteered at a Habitat for Humanity build.   Volunteering for Habitat is one of those things I’ve wanted to do for some time and I’m glad I did it.  About 20 people, including the new homeowner, spent the day painting doors and trim and installing closet organizers, door knobs, and towel racks.

If you’re looking for a way to use (or build) your DIY skills in service to others, I highly recommend spending a day at a Habitat build.    At the beginning of the day some training is provided for the task at hand, so beginners are welcome.

On Sunday I exchanged the defective ceiling fan that I wrote about last week.    Install was a snap since the instructions were fresh in my mind.   Everything went smoothly.  The fan looks nice and adds balance to the room.    I’ll post some pictures soon.

Ceiling fan in – and out

Decided to install the last ceiling fan in the basement yesterday. While unpacking it, it was clear that someone had installed and returned the fan. After looking over the pieces that would show, none of them were damaged, so I put it up.

Flicked the switch, nothing happened. Verified that I was getting power to the fan, but no fan and no light. So uninstalled and repackaged the fan. I’ll have to return it and try again. That’s how it goes with DIY sometimes…

Getting back in project mode

I haven’t done any projects or updated this blog in a while.  The basement reno was a full on year of every weekend and many evenings.  It came out great, but I burned out.  So for the last few months, no project work.  Went to the kids spring soccer games.  Watched lots of movies in the new home theater.  Hung out and did nothing.

I seem to go in cycles, where I do project after project, then get just totally fed up with it.  It isn’t fun anymore.  It makes me tense and angry.  I resent the work instead of enjoying it.   So I just stop.  Usually after swearing I’m never going to do that again.

Then after some time, I start thinking about some project I’d like to try.  Some small improvement to the house, maybe learning a new skill.  Pretty soon I have a pretty good list of things I would like to tackle.  Then I take one on and finish it.  It’s fun again and in the end I take pride in the improvement.

So for the last week or two I’ve started to get the project list going again.   This weekend I spent a couple hours on projects.  First up was replacing some quarter round molding in front of the deck doors.  After that I decided to break out the power washer.   I cleaned the porch, steps and sidewalk on the front of the house and the patio out back.  Looks great!  You don’t realize how dingy something has become until you clean it up a bit.

So what’s next on the project list?  There’s still a handful of things in the basement to finish up: some trim under the bar, a ceiling fan to install, staining the fireplace surround, and eventually some shelves for storage in my workshop.  Painting the master bath needs to fit in there somewhere – probably sooner than later based on the gentle hints from my wife.