The Reluctant Handyman
I have many friends who talk about how they wish they had husbands that were “handy”. I have one of those, and it’s not always as advantageous as you might think. When we begin a project, my husband is a real go-getter, but as the project moves forward, sometimes he doesn’t. Case in point – 2½ years ago our home was hit by a mini-tornado. Our backyard shed was totaled according to the insurance company, so we received the funds to tear it down and have it rebuilt. And here we are today, as is the shed – at least what the wind hasn’t taken down – and we don’t seem any closer to having a shed with a roof and sides than we did the day after the tornado.
In the spring of 2006 he decided to enclose our front entryway, which sits on the north side of the house. That way, when the Oklahoma north wind blows in the winter, we can have some protection from it and as a result, save some energy. It is now the fall of 2007, and the only protection we have is our front door. Thankfully he didn’t decide to remove it when he started this project.
In August of this year Oklahoma had a hurricane. Yes, I know we’re “landlocked”, but the hurricane didn’t. As a result, many homes, our’s included, were flooded. Because my husband is “Mr. Fix-It”, we did all the repairs ourselves. This included replacing all the carpet in our living room, hallway, entryway and bedroom with tile. We did complete that task, but the water damaged wall and ceiling and the wind-damaged chimney and patio cover are still waiting.
The truth is, we have several projects, small and large, that need attention, and I can only hope they get some before we’re too old to handle them. My husband is one of the nicest, sweetest people you could ever hope to meet, and he would do absolutely anything for me. This makes me wonder if it’s just a gene that males have that we females don’t – something that keeps them from being able to complete the task at hand. Does anyone else have the same type of wonderful man?
In the spring of 2006 he decided to enclose our front entryway, which sits on the north side of the house. That way, when the Oklahoma north wind blows in the winter, we can have some protection from it and as a result, save some energy. It is now the fall of 2007, and the only protection we have is our front door. Thankfully he didn’t decide to remove it when he started this project.
In August of this year Oklahoma had a hurricane. Yes, I know we’re “landlocked”, but the hurricane didn’t. As a result, many homes, our’s included, were flooded. Because my husband is “Mr. Fix-It”, we did all the repairs ourselves. This included replacing all the carpet in our living room, hallway, entryway and bedroom with tile. We did complete that task, but the water damaged wall and ceiling and the wind-damaged chimney and patio cover are still waiting.
The truth is, we have several projects, small and large, that need attention, and I can only hope they get some before we’re too old to handle them. My husband is one of the nicest, sweetest people you could ever hope to meet, and he would do absolutely anything for me. This makes me wonder if it’s just a gene that males have that we females don’t – something that keeps them from being able to complete the task at hand. Does anyone else have the same type of wonderful man?
Labels: handyman, home repairs, honey-dos, Mr. Fix-it
4 Comments:
Oh, boy, can I relate to this! My dad was notorious as a Mr. Fix-It, who never quite finished fixing things. It drove my mother nuts, because there were incomplete projects everywhere at our home in northern Virginia and at our summer place at the beach. She was Ms. Type-A, who once motivated to tackle a household project could hardly wait to get it finished. This caused many, many lively "discussions" around the house.
And then there's a dear friend of mine, whose wife was bemoaning to me the state of various repairs that needed to be done at their house. Then, just before a holiday -- Thanksgiving or Christmas, as I recall -- he finally decided to tackle one...he took off the roof and started replacing it. Well, you can imagine how thrilled she was about that. Best part of this story? He's a contractor!
Hoo-boy. My kids' father was a builder and fixer of things. He was just great at thinking up things to do or make and gung-ho with the starting of them, but he always got bored and interested in something else before finishing anything. He finally talked his youngest brother into moving across the continent to 'help' him. He started things, Little Brother was an outstanding finish carpenter, so it went. But the house we lived in, and which he left for me and the kids when we split, never did get finished. Probably a good thing, too, I got awfully tired of projects going in the living room and having to clean up sawdust, etc, after him. And I learned to do a lot of it myself. And oddly enough, after all the years I've spent living in places that needed more things done to them, the thought of living in a house that's completely finished gives me the willies now.
Yep, I'm married to one of those, but he doesn't lose steam so much as other projects grab his attention. I still don't have grout between two tiles in the bathroom he remodeled two years ago. And there's still one row of nails that need to be added to the metal roof he put on last spring. But - he's still a jewel and I think I'll keep him for a long while.
My husband loves to start big projects - loves to demo stuff and can usually get the 'bones' in place - but trim, finish paint, thresholds - you get the picture. And once he walks away from it - he's done with it. I've learned how to do a lot over the years!
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