“Something\u2019s wrong with the bathroom sink,” she said. “Look. It\u2019s leaking. The floor is soaked.” She wasn’t kidding. The bathmat was drenched. When I looked under the vanity, I was greeted by a small lake.<\/p>\n
“Ugh,” I grunted. This wasn’t how I wanted to start my day.<\/p>\n
Kim kissed me goodbye and hurried off to work. I pulled on a pair of pants, poured some coffee, pulled out the vanity drawers, and got to work.<\/p>\n
I was worried that I might have caused the leak when I replaced the sink’s pop-up assembly<\/a> last month, but no. The problem was obvious: The hot water line to the bidet (which I installed in October) had worked itself loose. (By the way, I love<\/em> my bidet<\/a>. Too much information, perhaps, but it’s some of the best sixty bucks I’ve ever spent.)<\/p>\n Fortunately, the fix was simple. I reattached everything, then added a light layer of tape to prevent similar problems in the future.<\/p>\n Note:<\/strong><\/em> As a safety measure — to make sure I wasn’t missing anything — I took photos of the issue and made a trip to the hardware store to ask their advice. They told me everything should be fine.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This might seem like a small thing to some folks but it\u2019s a big deal in my world. You see, I\u2019ve never really been a DIY type of guy. I used to get overwhelmed by home improvement. I felt unprepared, incompetent.<\/p>\n More and more, though, I\u2019m learning that I can<\/em> do it myself. It just takes patience and perseverance. And the more projects I complete, the more confidence I gain. <\/p>\n When I was younger, I avoided do-it-yourself projects whenever possible. As a boy, I never learned how to be handy around the house. I could program (or build) a computer. I could write. I could do accounting or analyze literature. But I couldn’t replace a broken window or repair a leak.<\/p>\n My ex-wife and I bought our first house in 1993. Fortunately, it was in great shape. During our ten years in the place, there weren’t a lot of things that needed to be repaired.<\/p>\n And when things did<\/em> need work, they were obviously beyond our abilities. The water heater exploded on Christmas morning. The electric wall heater caught fire. We discovered an infestation of carpenter ants. These were problems I was never going to fix myself. We hired experts to solve them for us.<\/p>\n In 2004, we moved to a hundred-year-old farmhouse. The previous owner had lived there for fifty<\/em> years and had done a lot of lazy repairs himself.<\/p>\n Because buying the place tapped nearly all of our financial resources, we were forced to handle some of the repairs and remodeling ourselves. We hired somebody to hang drywall for us, but we tore down the old walls ourselves. To fix the faulty wiring, we asked an electrician friend to help us find problems and make repairs. And so on.<\/p>\n Still, I didn’t feel completely comfortable with DIY projects around the house. I did them when I had to, but mostly I tried to put them off — or to pay somebody else to solve the problem.<\/p>\n After our divorce, I deliberately sought a place where I did not<\/em> have to deal with home improvement. I bought a condo. All exterior work was handled by somebody else. Sure, I was on the hook for problems inside my unit, but those were easy to foist on contractors. For five years, I completely avoided home repairs and home improvement.<\/p>\n When Kim and I bought our current country cottage, we had a chat. “You know you’re going to have to do lots<\/em> of DIY projects,” she said. “There’s a ton wrong with the house — and that’s just the stuff we know about.”<\/p>\n “I know,” I said. “But I’m older now, and I’m actually looking forward to developing my DIY skills. I have a better attitude. I think I’ll be fine.”<\/p>\n You know what? I have<\/em> been fine. After paying a small fortune to get the major things handled<\/a> — roof, siding, floors — we’ve deliberately been taking on the day-to-day stuff ourselves. It’s much slower this way, but it’s also cheaper. Plus, it’s more satisfying.<\/p>\n In the past eighteen months, we’ve:<\/p>\n Some of these projects (the writing studio, for instance) were major. Some (like the laundry-room lighting) were minor. All of them have helped me gain confidence that yes, I can do things myself.<\/p>\n It’s still no fun when I wake up to find that a leak has flooded the bathroom. But at least now I don’t feel overwhelmed. I’m able to pause, think about what needs done, and then tackle the job. It’s a totally different feeling than I had even three years ago. Three years ago, stuff like this would overwhelm me. Now, I almost love these DIY projects. (For real!) Maybe it’s because I’m old.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.getrichslowly.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/46564399085_d1cba29a79.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/p>\n<\/span>Learning to Love DIY<\/span><\/h2>\n
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