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Antique windows really can't be replaced.

Antique windows really can’t be replaced.

I worked on houses for almost 19 years, I had some favorites.  Favorite houses, and favorite neighborhoods.  I had my favorite house pets, mostly cats, even though they were neurotic and not to be trusted. I had favorite driveways to back up, and, I had favorite jobs.  My all-time favorite work was repairing antique sash windows.  I don’t know why, they are difficult and moody, like favorite…

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Monday is House Day. Even in a travel trailer.

Monday is House Day. Even in a travel trailer.

We don’t clean our house all the time, but when we do it’s easy.  Our place is only 238 square feet inside.  Monday is house day.  It’s like Saturday, but Monday is our Saturday.  We start by getting weekly chores done that come naturally from living in this house.  Swap the compost toilet, empty the waste tanks, fill the fresh water tank, chase leaks, tidy up…and on the inside, we oil the…

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Care for your trees.

Care for your trees.

If you’ve ever bought a tree, you know they can be a little pricey.  I don’t mean one of those pencil-thin, root bare, vacuum pack trees that come from a forestry service or orchard catalogue, but a good 6 to 10 footer, with real leaves and a root ball.  They’re expensive because it’s taken years of labor, gallons of water, and pounds of soil amendments to get it ready for transport, and market. …

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Empty the House.

In America, we are lucky enough to have just about everything.  This became even more apparent while I was chatting on the phone with a podcast host when I mentioned: “empty the house”.  He laughed and said that’s crazy. “Really?” I said, “next weekend look into all the garage doors open on your block, see if any cars fit in them”.   Some of the most passionate conversations I’ve had with…

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Sell it AS IS.

Sell it AS IS.

During 19 years of working on houses, I watched a lot of people move. Moving from one home to another is a big deal.  Not only on the sheer scale of things, after all, everything one owns will be moved, and a long time place of shelter and security will be left behind.  A lot of emotions come to the surface in each family member, including the pets.  These are legitimate feelings.  Strong, and…

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Now for the Real Cold Weather.

Now for the Real Cold Weather.

It’s been cold enough this winter, with plenty of snow and ice. But if the forecast hold true, it’s going to get REAL cold. Here’s a few ideas to deal with this upcoming arctic air stream that is supposed to blow into the midwest.

  Get your pets indoors!  Little guys and short hairs can experience sudden effects of super cold air when stepping out to do their thing.  Keep an eye on them and get…

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Winter Damage to Your House. This region is hard on houses.  For those of us living in the midwest, things can be quite varied in the winter.  

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Someone's moving in this spring.

Someone’s moving in this spring.

It’s looking like spring outdoors. I’m getting calls about animals.  Mostly birds and squirrels. They are moving into peoples’ houses.

  Springtime is busy outside our homes.  It’s nature’s time to nest, to build a safe place to lay eggs or have young.  Houses provide excellent shelter for animals.  They are steady and less prone to wind and storms than bushes or trees. Houses have nice corners…

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No stairs for the holidays.

No stairs for the holidays.

This has been a common conversation lately.  Stairs.  I have plenty of aging customers, which is a subtle way of saying, old enough to start worrying about getting around the house.  Most of them are single and living alone.  Alone except for the input of their grown kids.

I get in these conversations the easy way, by listening.  It only takes a few minutes of reviewing some job I’m doing when an…

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How does the fall season make you feel?

How does the fall season make you feel?

I know it’s a funny question, but I have to ask. How does fall make you feel? I ask this as a craftsman, who works on houses, for a number of reasons. One, for those of us who drive work trucks and own tools, fall includes a bunch of preparation not normally thought of in the summer.

Fall is mixed emotions for me. While I love the smell of the leaves turning, it means my walnut trees, all 13 of…

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Everyone has a skill.

Everyone has a skill.

How do you shake out your trash bag? Do you open it and shake it to fill it with air, so it fits in the kitchen trash can just right? Do you snap it with one hand, holding the can with the other? How do you do this? It seems like a weird question, because who cares? Who cares how a person does something as mundane as putting a trash bag into a trash can? I do. I noticed the other day that after…

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Long Drives.

How far do you drive for work? I drive about 1-7 miles one way most of the time. I drive to the urban core of a large city near my house, to the suburbs around me, maybe to the outskirts of the city. I don’t like driving my truck a long way to work, and I’m surprised when I do. I laugh at myself, knowing other guys, who drive the length of our metroplex back and forth 5 or 6 times a day in some…

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Life is a mosh pit.

Life is a mosh pit.

It happened again.  It happens all the time.  So often, I got used to it years ago.  My friends and professional buddies are always amazed that this kind of thing goes on at my job sights.  Some people call it unprofessional and risky.  They say they would never take the risk and steer clear from these moments all together.  These things strike fear and anxiety in a lot of peoples hearts. My…

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Fall changes moods.

Houses look pretty now.  It’s that time of the year in this region.  Blooms of color, the size of trees, right in our front yards.  Last year the color was a warm yellow with spots of orange and crimson.  This year a full burnt orange.  Same tree, different weather, water and exposure.  Kind of like us. The houses we live in and the houses we view are reintroduced year after year thanks to fall.…

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You don't see these things coming.

You don’t see these things coming.

Customers grow on me. I can’t help it, it’s like making friends with someone you never imagined you’d be friends with. It just happens. You work in someones house for days or weeks at a time, and chances are conversation more than pertaining to the job will break out. I don’t think this goes on with all craftsmen, some guys are just pretty quiet. Most of my customers make an effort to get to know…

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It's wet around here.

It’s wet around here.

We’ve had a lot of rain around here lately. Sounds like we may have even had some records broken for the month of May. It seems like the drought we’ve been watch should be over, but it takes years to soak in and fill underground aquifers. Looks like all the flash flooding is mostly a big hassle. To add to the frustration, since we have been in drought conditions, there’s a lot of shrinking and…

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Moving walls.

Moving walls..

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