Entertainment, Part Twelve: Construction

Is construction entertainment or work?

For me, construction projects start out as entertainment. I get really excited about making something. Actually, I get really excited about making something so I don't have to spend money buying it or paying someone else to do it. I love the planning, making diagrams, gathering free materials off Freecycle and recycling used materials into something practical. Production is very exciting and challenging.

In addition, unless you end up painting whatever you make, it's fairly non-toxic. Old wood, hammer, saw, nails and other odds and ends.  I like I can select non-toxic materials to use instead of treated wood or cheap plastic.

After all the planning and preparation, I stand before my pile of gathered supplies with my construction diagram in hand and wonder, What the HELL was I thinking? It seemed like a great idea on paper but then I realize I don't know what I'm doing. I start second guessing my construction abilities. This probably stems from high school wood shop, a class I wasn't allowed to take because I was a girl! My insecurity makes me fret with worry and indecision: This isn't going to work!  I need that thingy-majig tool! You know, that THING with the part? How do I make that corner so it holds? Did I measure that piece right? How will it stand up? Will it fall apart? Wouldn't it be cheaper and take less time to hire someone to do this?

Sometimes it would take less time to hire someone to do it! For instance, my screen door. It took me about five hours to attach it to the door jam. Lots of false starts and a whole lot of extra screw holes before I got it right. Honestly, it's still not quite right. So what is five hours of work time worth? The dilemma is if I have extra time, it seems worth saving $25 it would cost to hire the handyman for an hour.

Is it worth the stress? There have been times I've been close to tears with frustration. There is a man who works at the local hardware store I hit up for advice and there have been times he's volunteered to let me use a fancy tool he owns. I think he'd do anything to get me to stop whining.

In between whining, throwing the hammer, stomping my feet and holding my head screaming, I persevere and the project does eventually get done.

Here are some of my projects:

This was my very first construction project! A new gate for the back yard. I didn't even have an electric drill at the time so I had to use nails. The wood piece keeping the gate shut has since been replaced by a metal gate latch. Lovely. I was quite proud of myself. I also added the post and the  rest of the fencing was removed from another part of the yard and placed here. When people-stink can kill you, nothing feels safer than good fencing and a gate!

Replacing the garage door was my second project. It was intimidating to do something this big, but I figured it would be just like the gate only bigger. Both designs are modeled after barn doors with the cross-plank support. I always call this "the barn." Garages shelter cars.
Barns shelter hay and livestock, and at the time, Peter was living in it with his bale of hay.  This was one of those projects  that taught me not to trust the advice of hardware employees. Just before I started sawing those planks, I realized the measurements were all wrong for the opening. Thank goodness I caught that. The whole thing cost me $100. You can't buy a pre-made garage door anywhere for $100 and definitely not one that is solid wood. It works.

This is Peter's hutch. When I moved to this house the previous owner had piles of old wood pieces up in the rafters of the garage. So I used them! Someone donated an old piece of plywood for the roof and I used some left over shingles from a previous roofing project. I have to say it's a construction masterpiece and I still have no idea how I pulled it off. There are two compartments with removable walls so if I got Peter a friend I could separate them.  A few years later I decided I couldn't tolerate Peter locked in jail and I let him out in the yard. Now it's Peter's feeding station. You can see him under the hutch behind his glass-enclosed patio eating at his dish.

This is one of my book tables made out of an old window frame from our family barn that no longer exists. I held on to the frames as keepsakes for years and vowed I would make something to give them a new life. It took me two years to find all the supplies including the table legs and chandelier crystals. It looks like it would be an easy project, but figuring out how to support the legs so they weren't wobbly and able to hold heavy glass was a challenge.  This one displays children's books.

Here is the second barn window frame book table. This one functions as a coffee table and displays art history books.

This was my latest project...Peter's house. I got a bunch of wood pieces off Freecycle and felt inspired. Peter needs lots of places in the yard to hide from predators or to get out of the weather. I also found free roofing tiles. I positioned it on top of pieces of concrete and gravel to keep it from getting wet and made the roof extra big to shield it from the rain. That little red door is just for looks and I'm considering putting a sign above it that reads, Peter's Playhouse. Maybe. I'm not sure if I want it too cutesy. I still have to find some triangular pieces to fill in the roof and some flashing, but for now it's fine the way it is. See my ceramic bunny that is painted like a dog sitting in the eaves? The little neighbor girl made that for me when she was seven years old. When it came time for her to paint it, she couldn't quite remember what a rabbit looked like. It has fluorescent pink ears and nose.

I made Peter a split-level condo!  With carpeting! Such a lucky bunny. It has two openings, one on each side (on the right side and under the ramp, not seen well in the photo) so he can escape if anything comes into the house and as you can see, the whole front  wall swings open so I can clean it out if necessary.  Unfortunately, I've never seen him go in or out of it so I don't think he likes it. Maybe someday.

Most often after I finish the project I feel proud and accomplished. And then I vow never to attempt construction again...until the next time.