Hello folks,
Wanted to start by saying Thank You to everyone who posts here (especially the regulars and truly fine Home Builders who take the time to share their knowledge)
I am a moderately skilled, fairly young DIY. I recently moved into a new home which I self-contracted. This forum was EXTREMELY helpful to me during that process.
I’m sure not everything in our home was done up to the standards of a Mike Smith, Piffin, IMBERG, Diesal Pig, Boss Hog, Blakemore, BlueeyedDevil and the rest of the gang. (I feel like I know you) But eavesdropping on your discussions certainly helped me reach for those levels and kept me from making some amateur mistakes and decisions. In the end, my wife and I have been blessed with a beautiful home:)
This project gave me a very high appreciation for professional people and professional work in the building industy. I was very fortunate in my project as I had a number of very good subs to work with. I had a couple who were not and boy is there ever a difference.
You all probably don’t hear it enough but good contractors are amazing people and w/o you all we would all be living in little mud huts or rickety little shacks
Thanks again
May be back with some questions as I have many loose ends to tie up such as porch ceilings, basement coverings, etc and I can’t afford “quality subs” for now. So I’ll probably be fumbling through some projects myself.
Edited 4/21/2006 10:22 am ET by matt2
Replies
I appreciate the mention - Always nice to get a little recognition.
But now that you've mentioned your project here on BT - Pics are required. (-:
You're welcome Boss. Not to blow smoke up your azz but I always enjoy your posts.
Unfortunately, my forum skills are even worse than my DIY skills. I would love to post some pics but don't know where to start. I'll look into it though. I have a million digital pics but haven't even had time to print many of them out. Been neck deep in dust, lenders, inspectors and, heck you know better than me...
IF I can figure it out, I'll probably only post the ones from a distance.
I don't know if I can handle any deep scrutiny from the Break Timers ;)
"I don't know if I can handle any deep scrutiny from the Break Timers"
Don't worry - Most of us don't really know what we're doing. We just put on a good show.
(-:
Old age is when you resent the swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated because there are fewer articles to read. [George Burns]
Boss,
I tried to attach a photo of our house. Hope it worked....
We'll seeI've never learned much while I was talking
Wow, that's a big pic. I think I've seen other people have the same problem. I'll see if I can adjustI've never learned much while I was talking
You're right - It's awfully big. You've hung around here long enough you probably know my policy - I don't download anything over 1 megabyte unless it's a pic of Pamela Anderson.(-:
Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country [Marion Barry, former Washington DC mayor]
There are no pictures of Pam Anderson smaller than 1meg are there?Why is it every time I need to get somewhere, I get waylaid by jackassery?
http://grantlogan.net/
I hope not. At least none of the ones I have are that small.(-:
Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world I can't help but cry. I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with those flies and death and all that junk [Mariah Carey]
Last try today
I've never learned much while I was talking
That's the house you built?! Darn nice looking house! Lets see some more pics.
View Imagejt8
"The difference between greatness and mediocrity is often how an individual views a mistake..."-- Nelson Boswell
Thanks a lot John, a little blood, a lot of sweat, and maybe a tear or two from DW contributed.
To set the record straight, I definitely can't say that I "built" it. I only wish I had the skill. I acted as the contractor, provided a lot of dumb labor and picked up on a lot of the finish when we ran out of money.
I subbed (sp) out the majority of it to the "professionals". Man, that was more than a handful in itself.
As far as pictures go - will do John, I've gotta run for now. It's 7:30 and I'm still at work on a Friday night?!! What the heck. Oh well, DW is out of town anyway so its just me and the hounds.
Right now, I'm down to the trim and trying to grow some grass. (lawn that is) :)
If your still tuned in, have a good Friday. I'll be back at work in the morningI've never learned much while I was talking
matt2 - I love that tagline. I think we should have that tatooed onto some people so they remember it.
Don K.
EJG Homes Renovations - New Construction - Rentals
I can't remember where I first heard it but I love it too. It's kind of subtle but it makes you think. It's amazing what you can learn if you just take minute to listen to what people are saying
I also like the old classic about having 2 ears and 1 mouth - listening twice as much as you talkI've never learned much while I was talking
To set the record straight, I definitely can't say that I "built" it. I only wish I had the skill. I acted as the contractor, provided a lot of dumb labor and picked up on a lot of the finish when we ran out of money.
I'm pretty sure that GC's say they built the house, no matter how many subs are involved. You've earned the right to say you built it.
jt8
"The difference between greatness and mediocrity is often how an individual views a mistake..."-- Nelson Boswell
Damn Matt, You stole my house! That is just what DW wants! And I have hounds! and my father used to say "shut up, You just may learn somthing"...I grow my X-mas trees in Maine. Do you have a trout stream?
Beautiful Job!!
Another long time, better educated, DIYer sends...
ward121,
Thanks man, I appreciate it. Your dad said that too? LOL
It was either that or the old standby-
a smart man learns from his own mistakes
a wise man learns from others mistakes
a fool never learns at all
Trout stream, In my dreams, unfortunately, no trout stream :( on the property. Now that the house is about done I look forward to getting out in the creeks and chasing some of the little devils around though. Finally, Finally, finally got to go fishing for the first time in about 2 years last weekend. We didn't burn it up (1 striper, 1 small mouth) but it was nice being out there. By the way the striper was a fish, not a dancer;)
What kind of trees do you grow in Maine?
Good luck with everything
I've never learned much while I was talking
There was a supplement in the local paper last Friday. It featured three homes. I (we) roofed them all. All the homeowners made a statement like "we did a copper roof on our house". I only ever met one of the homeowners and that was after the fact when they wanted some copper flower boxes. I never saw any of them helping, but they did write the checks.
Its never too late to be up to date.
http://grantlogan.net/
Did they have pics? Got a link to the article or a scanner to scan it for us?
And I really love to hear those HO's who say "I built this house" as if they'd hammered in all the nails themself.. .when all they did was decide they wanted beige carpet and white walls. They didn't supervise the construction in any way. Just waited for the GC and his team to do it. I think they should be required to say, "we had the house built."
Playing GC is a big hassle, and I'm always impressed when a HO takes it on and is successful.
jt8
"The difference between greatness and mediocrity is often how an individual views a mistake..."-- Nelson Boswell
Edited 5/3/2006 10:41 am by JohnT8
Got a buddy who GC his own place first time. Big brick place. He was wired for sound everytime I saw him during construction.
At one time he almost started blaming me for the thing since when asked an opinion I told him hey you got the money, want to do it, and you're not getting any younger.
He pulled if all off pretty well actually with a minumum amount of freaky shid to deal with compared to some of the horror stories you can read on here.
But ya know, he still ain't satisfied with the way the house went.
be on yer hands and knees looking for a drywall screw pop.
or be hearing the same old story years later about wondering how in the world he could forget to run a line for the button to the garage door opener in the garage ceiling before the drywall went up.
be and I thought I had some compulsive moments.
half of good living is staying out of bad situations
CU invented it being yur faultLife is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
That's EXACTLY what I wanted to avoid! :) Last thing I wanted to be seen as was a poser. I can't stand posers.
Semantics, I know but I can understand why that would get on your (the professionals) nerves. You were the one that was 40' above the ground, right? I've never learned much while I was talking
>>>>>>>>>>>You were the one that was 40' above the ground, right? Yeah, well, not exactly. On these three projects, I seldom got on the roof. But, I DID layout and fabricate every single piece of copper on the roof. And I got to the point where I can do that by spending 20 years on the roof. You did a great job from what I can tell by the picture and I didn't mean to marginalize that. I just get a kick out of homeowners that hire a GC who hires me and then uses the phrase "we put a copper roof on our house" even though they never met me. They PAID to get a copper roof put on their house so I guess they can phrase it anyway they want.Cheers.
Its never too late to be up to date.
http://grantlogan.net/
As long as the check clears, I guess it doesn't really matter.
jt8
"The difference between greatness and mediocrity is often how an individual views a mistake..."-- Nelson Boswell
Thanks, Cheers to you as well
Don't worry no offense taken
I've never learned much while I was talking
Edited 5/3/2006 5:33 pm ET by matt2
JohnT8,
Thanks for the vote of confidence, that means a lot.
It was one of the toughest, most challenging, most strenuous, stressful, time-consuming, PITA things I've ever done. Also one of THE MOST rewarding things I've ever done. First year of marriage, man what a strain. Gotta give my wife tremendous credit for hanging in there.
Scariest part of the whole project was drilling the well, waiting to hit water and almost killing my dog when a piece of scaffolding fell and hit the poor guy in the head :(
I almost weighed in on another thread where a guy said he was considering being the GC on his own house but decided that most of what needed saying had already been said.
The bottom line is that I got the house built for much less than I could have had it done by a really good Class A contractor. BUT only if my time is free. If I had to pay myself (even minumum wage, forget about it.)
I definitely had some of those moments that you mentioned your friend had, "how the heii did I let that happen....
But when it is all said and done, I'm happy I did it.I've never learned much while I was talking
"I almost weighed in on another thread where a guy said he was considering being the GC on his own house but decided that most of what needed saying had already been said. "
But that's when you NEED to chime in - When you can identify with what someone is going (or will go) through and have gone through it yourself recently.
My wife and I were happy for twenty years.
Then we met.
you're right Boss, should've posted. I'll probably head back to that thread before long and do that. It's just that I don't want to add too much noise to a good forum here.
Most of the posters here actually know what they're talking about. Not much for me to add usually. I've never learned much while I was talking
John,
Here's some more pics. Bear in mind, I've still got lots to do
Thanks for your interestI've never learned much while I was talking
sorry man, I'm working on it.
If I could only get Pam to come sit on my porch or even my ....deck (sundeck that is)I've never learned much while I was talking
I found an old thread of yours that described this method through jpghosting.com
Maybe it will work..
<a href=http://www.jpghosting.com/showpic.php?image=049_49_cdef55a2e4041e9c9cddd26bfa86ab44.JPG><img src=http://fileserver2.jpghosting.com/images/tn_049_49_cdef55a2e4041e9c9cddd26bfa86ab44.JPG></a>I've never learned much while I was talking
After you copy the info from jpghosting.com you have to click the box below where it says: "Check here if HTML tags are in the message"
View Image
One of life's great mysteries is how a 2 pound box of candy can make a woman gain 5 pounds
Thanks Boss, I appreciate the help. I'll try it again. I've got a picture of a use for duct tape that maybe no one here has ever thought of.
And yes, I know that's a bold statement
Is that the method that Mike uses to get the pics to display on his Adverse Condition thread. It's nice to not have to click to open a pic
I've never learned much while I was talking
Edited 4/29/2006 10:16 am ET by matt2
Shucks, after that, maybe I'll stick around
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Please do. Other hopeless DIY'ers need you guys
It's Friday evening...gotta
Piffin, IMBERG,
If that's me yur talkin' about... thanks...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I thought it was yer jewish half brother . . ."Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think -- there are no little things" - Bruce Barton
just don't tell him..
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Edited 4/21/2006 6:42 pm by IMERC
IMBERG
That means that 90% of you is below water.
"Citius, Altius, Fortius"
excellent concept...
now the others can jump on to what ya starteddd.
thanks fer the entertainment...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Yeah, not sure where I got the "B" from but that was you
Good luck to all and may the building boom continue for all of you :)
thanks for the thanks.. that makes yur day...
that letter probably just came offa the keyboard with all the rest of them...
you must have noticed my level of spellin'... so you am I to complain...
ummmmmm... what was it I help'd ya with???Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
ummmmmm... what was it I help'd ya with???
The proper Placement of Piffin Screws!
or more uses of them...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
The biggest thing I learned from BT is that there are probably a dozen acceptable ways to do something and even the pros disagree on the "best way", BUT they almost always agree on the WRONG WAY
IMBERC - I've been trying to learn everyday about building for the last couple of years from a million different sources so I probably couldn't say specifically what you helped me with (the last year is a blur) but rest assured you contributed to the slush fund of info that I very loosely refer to as my construction "knowledge"
One day I may be qualified to post here and return the favor to some other lost soul, until then adios, I'll be lurking, learning and laughing :)
Thanks again
alrighty then...
since ya didn't fill in yur profile... ..
we know nothing about ya...
hmmmmm.....
what is it that you do do....Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
so what words are we gonna give over to my new acronym???
I use to be IndustrialMERCenary....Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Profile filled out-Nice to meet you
What is that I do?
Big question. I'll take that as what do I do for a living
I work for a company that designs and manufactures materials for log homes.
On the side I designed and contracted our own log home (DW and I). Hence the reason for my original post thanking everyone for their help. It was a long haul, but I'm glad we did it. Also have a small Christmas Tree Farm (Mostly Fraser Firs, some white pine) in the Blue Ridge Mts. of VA. Probably phasing that out though.
As far as your new acronym goes...
Saw the picture of the looney tunes martian on your profile so I tried to run with that....Best I could come up with was....
IMBERG=InterGalactic Mercenary Builder Experiencing Relative Godhood-
pretty lame, I know but it reminded me of that character. I threw the builder reference in there to honor IMERC, another guy who posts here I've never learned much while I was talking
IMBERG=InterGalactic Mercenary Builder Experiencing Relative Godhood-
a bit much fer my head....
now that you let us in on what you do...
you got a great bunch of stuff to share here...
what ever you do ...
don't be shy....
what kind of materials...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!<!----><!---->
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I have to say "breaktime" fills the holes in my 29 years of working by my self. It sucks to work in a void and since I found all these pros? and wise guys, I've learned a lot and hopefully contributed a little. If you really want to thank them, keep postin'!
Hey a big You're Welcome! Matt!
And yes, another thank you to everyone at BT!
I don't know who it was, but a while back someone said of me (I think it was Piffin LOL) "I've watched you go from a wet behind the ears newbie to a seasoned blah-blah-blah." Hehe.
And I'm still learning!
Good luck to you Matt, and continue to check in with all of us.Jason Pharez Construction
Framing Contractor
Matt2 said it well.
There are lots of us "skilled DIY's" (whatever that means) out here that have benefited from all of the pros that participate in this forum. How do we get "skilled"? By not being afraid to tackle projects and problems because we have your insight and wisdom.
Thanks.
Bdub, you're welcome.
Even as a professional remodelor turned framing contractor, I became a "pro" at many things by practicing on my own home.
And, I've also seen some DIY's work better/ faster than some of my "pro" cronies.
Keep at it, bro!Jason Pharez Construction
Framing Contractor
I'll be here, lurking in the shadows with my ear against the door