Some of the finish work I saved
for the pro's, like the cabinets, carpet, and brickwork. I knew I
couldn't hide my lack of skill there. I found a little trick that
worked well. After a contractor had been on the job one day, I went
over his work until I found a flaw. Then I ragged him until he re-did
it. His work quality now moved up a notch. Most contractors will only
do their best work if they are pushed to it by picky people. It's all
about speed with them. Many will go too fast if you let them.
When it was finished, we turned
$3000 back to the bank. A 1710 square foot, three bedroom brick house
for $22,000 dollars. Including the lot. But, that was 1978. Prices
have changed some since then. But the labor expense saved amounted to
close to half. It took 10 months, after school, weekends, and a
summer. I wound up building the next two housed we have lived in,
too. But not for that price. $38,000 in 1983 out in the country, a
two story frame house. Our new banker was very hesitant about lending
money. He just said most people who set in to build their own house
were soon overwhelmed, and quit. But, I had done it once already, so
he finally relented. When the house was finished, and he came out for
the final inspection, he told me I should build houses for a living.
No thanks. Once the banker does his final inspection, and declares it
finished, I take his word for it, and just quit right there. I'm sick
of it by then, and I have never finished up every little detail.Who
am I to argue with a Banker? Usually, it's part of the garage that is
eternally unfinished. After our kids grew up there, Barb wanted back
in town with city water and cable TV. That third one, 20 years ago,
cost $68,000, the one we still live in. But this time, the soreness
in my body did not end after a few days. It was there, every day, for
10 months. I was getting too old for this.
A sheet rock hanger guy, in his
mid 50's, lived next door. He kept a close check on my progress
awhile, then told me I was going to make it. His son told me one day,
“I never want to be old. I want to die by 50.” I asked why. He
said, “ I never want to hurt as much as my father does, every
morning when he gets up.” A few months later, his father died
suddenly, no one seemed to know why. But I did. Hanging sheet rock
every day, for an old man, is a man killer..
The city inspector was the bane
of my existence while I built that last house. Although it was legal
to buy permits and build one's own house in our city, He was just
determined that you just can't build a house like that, alone. He
was there, nearly every day, finding things wrong.
I pulled a fast one on him once. I had
the under- the -slab plumbing finished, uncovered in a 4 foot deep
trench, and he was getting out of his truck, coming to inspect. I
noticed a drain curve turned the wrong way. I knew he would say, "You
can't do that! That will cause the drain to stop up every couple of
weeks! Pull it out and redo it!" I threw a shovel full of dirt
down on top of that joint as he walked up, gambling he was too lazy
to get down in the ditch and check it. He didn't, and twenty years
later, it has never stopped up.
A couple of times, I had to bring him
an engineering book to prove my point. He once decided that 2x6
studs, 24" apart, would not hold a two story house. Told me to
put another stud in between. I finally convinced him that 2x6's
spaced that way could carry more weight than 2x4's spaced 16"
apart. I let him read it right out of the engineering book But the
last time he came out, as I was finishing up, he was different. He
smiled and said, “You know, a man should never have to do what you
did, on this house, like that, but once in a lifetime.” And I was
doing it for city water and cable TV, for Heaven's sake! I decided
that day that he and I finally agreed on something. This was my last
house.
Then we started buying old,
rundown rent houses, and I fixed them up. After the first one, our
banker realized I would quickly fix it up, make it worth more. “Sweat
equity,” he called it. I never had to make a down payment on
another one. I even made a profit on a closing once, because rent was
due. But like I say, that was then, and things have changed in
banking. We made sure our credit rating stayed around 800. And I
have changed. I've got to renovate a trashed apartment next week, and
what I really want to do is write. I wouldn't mind if I never saw
another hammer and saw. Anyone want to buy 16 old houses and
apartments? Have I got a deal for you!
ABOUT TODAY'S TITLE: When nephew Ken Gillum was about to leave the farm and go off to college, he was about sick of that farm work. A neighbor called him one day, offered him a job hauling hay. I chose Ken's reply for my title, because I now agree with him! Thanks for your time, and your attention.
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