In Michael Crawford’s book, “ShopClass as Soul Craft”, he has a passage about repairing on an old motorcycle.
In it he describes how he’s trying to remove a gas tank but the screw strips. He tries various methods to remove the screw but eventually has to drill it out and do subsequent repairs to the tank that were unforeseen.
What appeared to be a simple afternoon repair job turned into a multiple day long effort of trial and error.
Before I read this book, I thought it was just me.
I thought that other men did repairs right the first time. I thought they knew how to do them because they had innate skills, a father who taught them or abilities far beyond mine.
Unlike me, they knew what parts to buy, had the right tools, the knowledge and ability do things right the first time.
I, on the other hand, was always fumbling my way through a project. Most projects required 3 plus trips to the hardware store. Many had me assembling, disassembling, reassembling ad naseam until I finally got it right.
I’ve learned that it isn’t just me. It’s not even just me and Michael Crawford. Of course, we all love when a repair works the first time. If we have a lot of experience and some luck, some of our repairs work out this way.
But many times, adjustments must be made. Often we run into a frame that isn’t square, a part that snapped off, a screw that’s stripped, plastic latch that broke, part that corroded or measurement that we screwed up.
Even seasoned repair guys and hobbyists run into this.
The more experienced I become, the more I expect to run into unforeseen challenges.
Now when I start a project, I don’t set a hard deadline for completion. I might think, “This took the guy on YouTube an hour…so I’ll surely be able to accomplish this is 2 hours”. But then I set aside the entire afternoon for the work.
I rarely begin a job when the hardware store is not open for at least a few hours – because I’ll probably be going there at least once during the project.
I don’t do plumbing work on weekends – in case I blow it and need to call in a professional.
My latest projects included installing 2 smart switches for ceiling fans in home and installing two gutters.
Switch #1 took 4 hours. Then it took me several days before I had the programming working. Switch #2 took 30 minutes.
Gutter #1 took over 8 hours over three days with four trips to Home Depot and two trips to ACE Hardware. The second gutter took about 90 minutes.
All of these projects bring me immense pleasure.
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- I learned how to do things I couldn’t do before.
- I use these switches multiple times a day.
- The gutters work perfectly- solving water runoff problems I’ve loved with for two years.
And of course, I saved a ton of money doing the work myself.
For me, the learning part and the feeling of self-accomplishment are the most rewarding. They are well worth the extra effort to do it myself vs. hiring a pro.