Taking On Risky Challenges Is The American Way

There’s something very American about wrapping yourself around a challenge that comes with some risk.  Christopher Columbus ignored naysayers and set off to find a better route to the east by traveling west.  That was a larger than normal undertaking with the flat earthers expecting him to fall off the edge before he got to Asia.  What about the American Revolutionaries who decided to go it alone and break away from the mighty British Empire?  There were certainly more than a few who thought that idea should be reconsidered.  And then there's the Moon.  Seriously.  Who did we really think we were setting our sights on that goal?  That thing is way out there; no water, no oxygen, and then re-entry comes with all that crazy heat shield vaporization action.  Whoa.  But we checked the math and then did it anyway.

The thing is, as Americans growing up in what President Reagan described as the shining city on the hill, we have this belief that we can do these things.  We're Americans.  We set a goal and have the freedom to try to find a way.  I get a sense of that when I take on a house that other people don't want or a property that others believe is beyond repair.  People around me try to talk me down.  "Don't do it," they've said.  "Find a place that's not so bad."  But those doubtful pleas are part of what get me going and in this country, there's nothing stopping me from trying.  It just feels right to set my sights on something not so easy and then persevering through the obstacles.  For someone else it may be restoring a junky vehicle, helping someone who's down and out, saving a troubled business, or some other goal that others think is a hopeless mission without a big enough safety net.  For me though, it's rehabbing run-down property.

Now, I hope it doesn't seem like I'm comparing myself to the early nautical explorers, our rebellious Founding Fathers, or those astronauts who made the moon landings.  I'm just saying that I learned those stories growing up like all the other kids in our country (and maybe around the world) and they meant something to me.  They still do.  They inspired me.  So, if you have a lofty goal lingering on the horizon, something that get's you excited (but may worry others), I want to encourage you to go for it.  You don't have to be an American to set a goal, break it down, and find a way.  Plus, it's fun.  It's exciting.  It's what life's about.  Take on a big challenge and make it happen.  And if/when you have a tough day and it seems like you're not getting anywhere, look up at the moon, take a deep breathe (w/out help from NASA), and then get back at finding a way.

"The Perestroika/Glastnost Approach"

The properties I've bought to renovate have always come with existing additions or modifications and I haven't necessarily been wild about what the previous owners did.  However, for mainly structural reasons, my predecessors decisions have always factored into my changes.  Sometimes their remodels have been a dominant influence on how I re-worked the layout and on other projects what they did to the house has played a more subtle role in my final design.

Each of my Pig's Ear renovations have been different.  However, they've all been similar in that my visitors routinely comment that my finished homes feel bigger than their respective square footage sizes.  Someone probed me once about this openness.  They were curious and seemed to really want an explanation for why I tore out walls and redesigned the floor plan with multiple columns and headers.  I didn't have a well thought out answer and I ended up saying something like, "It's sort of the perestroika/glasnost approach, I guess... I tear it all down and then I try to open things back up when I rebuild it."

The expression on my interviewer's face seemed to say, "Sorry I asked."  My answer was just what popped into my head and it came out of my mouth as I thought it.  It was what is was.  All I can add to that today is that I've never given that answer a second time.  I have an associate degree in construction engineering, but also have a B.A. in international affairs and although my two degrees are not alike, maybe they come together in my mind in moments like this when I mutter an off-the-wall answer like, "It's sort of the perestroika/glasnost approach."  

Finally, I'll admit that I've heard the late President Reagan's voice during the demolition phase.  It's echoed in the back of my thoughts in a grandfatherly way, very supportive and full of encouragement as I've swung my sledge hammer.   "Mr. Renovator... tear down this wall."


See Step 6 - Sketch Out Your Floor Plan

See Step 8 - Redraw Your Floor Plan