So remember the 7 P's, plan your work, and work your plan. This won't eliminate all the unexpected challenges, but it will help to minimize them and it'll put you in a better frame of mind for the bumps in the renovation road.
Dedicated to the Art, Science, and Passion of Renovating Extremely Run-Down Homes.
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Remember the Seven P's
So remember the 7 P's, plan your work, and work your plan. This won't eliminate all the unexpected challenges, but it will help to minimize them and it'll put you in a better frame of mind for the bumps in the renovation road.
Thursday, October 23, 2014
The Shatner Project (Adventure)
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
American Rehab Charleston
DIY Series Premiere Thursday, August 28, 2014 @ 11pm |
American Rehab: Charleston on Facebook
American Rehab Charleston 2.015 - August 13, 2015
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Pere Pere: Our Jack of all Trades
1965 |
He was an electrician and he may have loved building more than I do. |
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Dessie: Patience & Work Ethic
The Early Birds; folded, bagged, and stacked on the table. Good times! |
Jump to Pere Pere: Our Jack of all Trades
Thursday, August 21, 2014
My Mere Mere: Concrete & Faith
Mere Mere loading the mixer, on-site with my grandpa in the 40's. |
Mere Mere had cataract surgery before our brother's wedding. When she showed up with sun glasses, we followed her lead and hammed it up for a photo. |
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Grandpa: Work, Clean-up, & Nails
My grandpa w/ his dad before the Great Depression and prior to my Gt. Grandfather's illness. |
2000 - Our last family picture with Grandpa. He was 93 and had one more birthday. |
Monday, June 30, 2014
Under Promise, Over Deliver
Days later, the Miami Heat lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals and that had me thinking of Erik's explanation. The Heat have been dominant the last 4 seasons since LeBron James hit South Beach; four conference titles and two league championships. Not bad. Pretty great really. However, LeBron, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh had promised a lot more. Not one championships, not two,... eight. Lead by LeBron at a 2010 pep rally in Miami, they'd pumped up the crowd with a bold prediction of a historic run that would clearly be a sports dynasty. The day after they lost to the Spurs, folks started piling on and Dan Patrick pointed out on his show that people had enormous expectations because they'd loudly shouted, "Not one, not two, ... not seven." They over promised.
Trent
Monday, June 2, 2014
Memories of Rugby
Playing rugby for The Univ. of Cincinnati in the 90's |
Like rehabbing an abandoned or condemned property, playing rugby can look rougher than it actually is. |
I want You to save an old house that no one else wants. |
Monday, May 26, 2014
Brent Britten Nauss
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Taking On Risky Challenges Is The American Way
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Spring Break 2014
My ring finger is still swollen. That's my wedding band & my grandma's Gt. Dep. Era wedding ring (that I've been keeping in a safe place on my own finger til my girl is old enough not to lose it.) |
Monday, April 14, 2014
What Is A Pig's Ear?
When it comes to houses, and in particular my type of projects, a pig’s ear is a home that’s in terrible shape. It's a property that’s way over due to be rehabbed or it really needs saved.
On a side note, I played rugby at the University
of Cincinnati. If you’ve ever watched a few minutes of this wild sport, you
understand how violent it is. There were plenty of times when people would
comment on me playing and point out how brutal rugby can get. I’d usually responded
with something like, “It looks worse than it is.” Resurrecting a condemned or
abandoned home is comparable. For me, these pig’s ears have all looked worse
than they were once I dug in and got to work transforming them into silk purses.
If a pig’s ear is a home left for dead, then
I’ve been in the resurrection business for twenty-five years.
And finally, as a subsequent acronym, pig’s ear
can stand for property in gnarly shape eagerly
awaiting rehabilitation.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
My Battles with Renovation Addiction
If you or your loved one is regularly
covered in grime from demolition or
other DIY endeavors, it may be time
to have a serious talk about
Renovation Addiction.
|
Building an 8' house of cards as a way of coping with the occasional March Madness blowout... this may be a Red Flag for someone suffering from RA. |
In addition, if you find yourself falling in love with the challenge of buying and saving a condemned house (I'm here as well) then maybe you need to talk to someone; a close friend, a member of the clergy, a counselor, or perhaps someone in your family who has struggled with a DIY compulsion of their own.
The thing to remember is that if you are showing these signs, you are not alone and there are people out there that will help you. But you have to come to terms with your overpowering desires to fix stuff that isn't broken or your obsessions with re-doing things that already look good. Admit that you have a problem, look in the mirror and say, 'I am a renovation addict.' Then, get help. Tomorrow is a new day and April 2nd, but today is the first, so Happy April Fools Day.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Technical Difficulties
So until I can straighten things out, please consider checking out some of my older stuff.
My Top 5 Most Popular Posts:
1. Rehab Addict Nicole Curtis on DIY (April 24, 2012)
2. Step 22 - Insulation (Aug. 14, 1012)
3. Weeping Mortar Joints (March 15, 2012)
4. Renovation vs. New Construction (July 29, 2012)
5. Superstorm Sandy Is A Reminder That Insurance Claims Are Complicated (1/4/13)
Thanks,
Trent
bloodsweatandpigsears@hotmail.com
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Rehab Addict Nicole Curtis: Restoring Homes to Their Former Glory
Then, not too long after this I started hearing about the people on TV that bought, renovated, and quickly resold houses in a 30 minute episode. Folks would learn a little about me and ask excitedly, "Oh, are you a house flipper?" However, I'm really not a flipper. To me that's always a quick turnaround kind of deal that takes a few weeks or months. That's not what I do. Taking on properties that no one else wants is my thing. These are houses that need seriously reworked. Realtors, other general contractors, investors, dreaming DIYers, or want-a-be house flippers pass on the properties I take on because their wrecks. Houses that are really bad have been really good for me.
In the last year and a half, others have started to compare what I do to Nicole Curtis' projects and what she does on Rehab Addict. For me, this fits better than the house flipper comparisons. My wife was the first to make this link. We'd have RA on, Nicole would start preaching her wisdom and my wife would say, "That's what you always say." Or it would show the freelance renovator salvaging something that had been thrown out and it was like my wife started to get me a little differently as she said, "That's something you'd do." Maybe it looks better on camera than the way I explain at home, covered in dust and dirt at the end of the day. I don't know, but I appreciate the way Nicole Curtis has helped people understand what we do.
Nicole Curtis in Action on Rehab Addict (HGTV, DIY) |
So when I get mentioned with Nicole in a blog like Mom and Her Drill or someone hears me describe what I do and says, "Hey, that sounds like what Nicole Curtis does," I like it. We're saving houses that others don't want or can't save, showing people it can be done. I'm proud of that. It feels good and a lot more natural than being called a house flipper, that's for sure.
See Rehab Addict Nicole Curtis on DIY