My Battles with Renovation Addiction

Today is a special, yet difficult post to write since I am sharing something that is more personal. Since I sold The Duplex, I have been traveling on my own path of recovery from Renovation Addiction.

 

RA is not something people discuss openly, but those days are on the horizon, and I am honored to be part of the solution rather than the problem. Pretending has been unhealthy, unfair, and frankly just plain wrong. So, I am writing this as part of my own multi-step program for healing, but also to help others come to terms with their own circumstances. 

My happy smile was masking the sad truth
... my burning need to build stuff.

It may come as no surprise that my issues are rooted in my childhood, playing with blocks while watching Captain Kangaroo or in the backyard in the sand. Soon, I moved onto more challenging play, became obsessed with Legos, erected towers with my baseball cards, and teamed up building hay forts in our barn lofts. My family didn't intervene and I realize now that they were my first enablers. I still love them, but as part of my recovery, I must identify those who've aided me on my travels down this dirty, dumpster lined road. This is not blame, I'm just trying to move forward. 



Getting my fix w/ harder
things in the 90's.

Simple maintenance tasks may not be of concern though. For example, regularly changing a burned-out light bulb, switching the heating and air filter every thirty days, or using a Phillips screwdriver to tighten a leaky faucet. These are routine, normal, and perhaps fulfilling chores for a homeowner or even a renter. But the gateway tasks that can lead to renovation addiction are the things that DIYers need to be mindful of, perhaps even with vigilant awareness.     

 

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

For me, college was when things really escalated. I lived in a rented house, and one weekend, someone punched a hole in the wall. We were young and needed to save the money. I was up for the challenge and repaired the damage. It looked good and my roommates were pleased, showering me with praise. Once again, I was surrounded by enablers who were unknowingly adding fuel to my RA fire. Adulation with the rush is part of what comes with the gateway tasks and from there I found myself working summers traveling with construction crews pouring concrete foundations and erecting water tanks. Before I even realized what was happening, I was hooked.

 

Other examples of gateway projects may be wainscoting in a dining room, ceiling fans in every room, or crown molding in the master bedroom. Replacing things in the house that are not even broken or damaged are signs that someone may already be on the slippery slope that is RA.



These non-honey-do type chores are dangerous because for many, they lead to harder and harder challenges---kitchen renovations, master suite additions, decks, pergolas, and extensive landscaping. Construction of detached outbuildings! The madness can be all consuming with families watching helplessly. 

Many people can do small projects recreationally and stop there, but others miss the red flags and lose control. People like me suffering from RA simply fail to know when to say when. 

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.

Nicole Curtis, the host of Rehab Addict on the DIY network and HGTV is the most famous person to step up and opening admit that she is "addicted to rehab." Congratulations Nicole! You're on your way. As I've written before, I'm a big fan of Rehab Addict, but if you find yourself dumpster diving for building materials like NC (or myself), you may have a problem.

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 look good already. 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 Fool's Day.

Step 29 - Interior Trim

When I wrote about Interior Doors (Step 28), I mentioned that each part of the pre-hung door has a purpose and these pieces are not just about aesthetics.  Interior trim is similar since there's most times a reason behind the moulding or decorative millwork.  These fine carpentry pieces were originally sealing up gaps and serving as transitional components of a home where one building material was meeting up with another - for example where brick or plaster met up with wood.  Today, when we see an unaddressed cavity inside an interior living space we recognize it as something that doesn't look good or complete, but the generations that came before us were also installing their small pieces of wood to keep bugs, other small critters, and drafty cold air outside.  I'm not saying they weren't mindful of how things looked, but they didn't weather proof, insulate, and take the same pest control measures as us and interior trim did more in the past then simply close up a gap between two different types of materials.

Also, I will point out that some of our nation's oldest, finest homes had experienced shipbuilders on their crews.  I have an opinion that these skilled tradesmen were sometimes just showing off, that some of these charming details caught on and became trendy, and I will speculate that more than a few of our interior trim preferences are rooted in influences past down to us from the homebuilders of our ancestors.

Keeping some of this in the back of your mind will help in completing this phase of the renovation or construction.

Without giving too much more of a history lesson on interior trim, I'll use chair or dado rail as an example of how some interior trim originally had a purpose.  As the name suggests it's initial intent was connected to chairs since it used to be installed to protect walls from being damaged.  However, most homeowners don't consider that and simply like how it looks.  So, as I mentioned above, interior trim doesn't always serve a purpose, but there's typically a underlying reason beyond appearance and chair rail is a perfect example.

Step 29 is the time to install base to trim out the gap where the walls and the floors meet.  With the exception of rooms with carpet (and areas with wood flooring that needs to be sanded and finished) this is also the time to install quarter round or shoe moulding. 

Casing around doors is typically done with Step 28, but this is the phase to complete any unfinished trim at doors, install window sills, any necessary casing around the windows, and the skirting that trims out the area under the sill. 

As I've said before I like to open things up and Step 29 is when these openings get trimmed out with a wooden sill, the skirting underneath that looks like the trim under the windows, and that's needed.  Interior handrails should also be installed at this stage of the interior work.

It's not uncommon for DIYers to install some trim like wainscoting and crown moulding after moving in, but if these are being installed with the rest of the interior trim during the construction of a new home or a rehab, it should be installed after cabinets, counters, and doors and before the caulking and painting.

Interior trim ties everything together and makes it look complete, but don't be surprised if it doesn't look correct and sharp until after the caulking and painting (Step 30) is done. 

 

Jump to Step 30 - Interior Caulking & Painting