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The wedding gift
comments (0) October 3rd, 2008 in Blogs
Kevin Ireton, editor-at-large
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When my friend Chris Green got married last summer, I gave him,
as a wedding gift, one day of my labor. He is remodeling his small house to
accommodate a now-expanded family, and I knew he could use some help. I would
happily have helped Chris anyway, but I figured he might be more inclined to
accept my offer if it was a wedding gift. I also knew that one day wasn’t going
to make a big difference in his project, but might make it easier for him to
ask for my help in the future.
So I took last Friday off from work, and Chris and I installed a steel I-beam
in his basement. We notched it into the joists and supported them with joist
hangers, which allowed Chris to remove a wooden beam and a couple of obtrusive
posts in a cramped laundry room. We finished up a little before 5.
It was an expensive day for me because Chris let me use his Fein MultiMaster, which filled me with tool lust such that
I now have to buy one for myself. The MultiMaster looks and sounds like a giant
version of the electric clippers that barbers use. It has a 2-in.-wide blade,
with Japanese-style teeth that oscillate at right angles to the tool’s body. We
used it to finish and clean up the notches in the joists, which we had roughed
out with a reciprocating saw. The tool is amazingly precise and easy to
control, even on plunge cuts. I’m not sure how I could possibly have renovated
a house without one. I will soon be sending Amazon $200.
Despite the money that Chris cost me, I enjoyed working with him. He is smart
and fearless, confident without being arrogant. But mostly, I enjoyed working
with him because he does not hurry or cut corners. He expects himself to do
everything well, and he patiently gives to a task whatever time it requires to
be done well. I hope he’ll let me help him again. And I hope he understands
that the day was as much a gift to me as it was to him.
Over the years, a lot of people have helped me work on my house. Friends and
colleagues have come to help with framing and siding and roofing. And then
there was the time that Chuck Miller and my father-in-law, Tony, were at my place
until 11 p.m. helping me trowel the slab in the walkout basement.
And of course, I have helped others in return, sometimes repaying a day’s labor
directly to the fellow I owed and other times paying it forward. I helped Andy Engel pour the foundation for his house. I
helped Scott Gibson build his woodworking shop. Roe Osborn remodel his bathroom. Tim Schreiner build a
screened porch. And I have helped Chuck Miller more times on more projects than I can recall (though I
don’t think he’s ever kept me working past dark).
All of these days, spent working with friends on their projects or on mine, are
among the finest in my memory. There is a quality to them that I cannot
explain, but a quote from one of Wendell Berry’s novels may offer some insight. In Hannah
Coulter, Wendell writes of Hannah’s husband, a farmer: “He loved the old free
work-swapping with our kinfolks and friends, who needed no bossing but out of
their regard and respect for one another did what they were supposed to do.”
posted in: Blogs
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About this blog
As the editor of Fine Homebuilding, I spend my weekdays trying to produce a magazine that will satisfy 300,000 of the most demanding builders, both professional and amateur. As the owner of a 200-year old Cape in Connecticut’s Litchfield Hills, I spend weekends working on my house.
Each activity invariably informs, and complicates, the other. In this blog, I’ll offer observations from both worlds -- publishing and building -- with the hope of providing some useful or at least entertaining insights.
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