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Episode 54 - Do you live in a HOUSE or a HOME?- Building a Legacy or Just Breaking Your Back?
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What is a house to you? An investement? A place that offers shelter to keep your belongings while you figure out where to move next? or is it something MORE? A symbol of family, a collection of rooms and objects where entire lives of family members have been lived, objects that have been with us through some of the best time and also our worst. Today we take on the question of WHAT IS A HOME REALLY, and how does that impact how we fix it and work to improve the home. Do we do it ourselves or do we hire out the work? What about the quality of materials we use for it?
To watch the YOUTUBE VIDEO of this episode and the irreverent & somewhat unpredictable AFTERSHOW, subscribe to our Patreon: (http://patreon.com/user?u=91688467)
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Transcript
00:00:01
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
What is a home to you? Is it an investment? A place you'll live for a limited amount of time and then sell for some fat bags of money? Is it a functional entity?
00:00:12
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Somewhere you eat and sleep provides shelter until something better comes along or you have to move across the country for a job? Or is it more than that to you? Is it an embodiment of your family, recalling countless memories spent around dining room dinner tables with friends and family?
00:00:28
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Lines on doorframes measuring your child's height as they grow up. And what do you do when this house needs improvement or renovation? Do you pay someone to do it? Or do you channel your inner DIY champion and do that shit yourself?
00:00:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And we're back.
00:01:03
MARY BITCHMAS
he
00:01:03
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
This is Woodworking is Bullshit, your favorite podcast about creativity, art, design, philosophy, the mental side of what of what we do, not how we do.
00:01:14
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I'm your host, Paul Jasper of Copper Pig Woodworking, scientist by day, woodworker by night, and we got the band back together.
00:01:21
MARY BITCHMAS
Heyo!
00:01:22
Home Owner #2
What up, motherfuckers?
00:01:24
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah Across the screen, I got my boy Eric Curtis, fine furniture maker and content creator. And the third Musketeer is back in the mix tonight. Mary Tisai-yi
00:01:34
MARY BITCHMAS
ah Oh, wow. It's been too long since I heard that.
00:01:37
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
is back.
00:01:40
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mary is back. Adobe, let's see, Adobe, engineer by day and designer and...
00:01:49
MARY BITCHMAS
Non-engineer? Nope.
00:01:50
Home Owner #2
no
00:01:50
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah. Sure, sure.
00:01:51
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh, sorry, sorry. Sorry.
00:01:52
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh, God.
00:01:52
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well, like, don't you... a Designer? Designer?
00:01:55
MARY BITCHMAS
yeah
00:01:56
Home Owner #2
UX designer.
00:01:56
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well, yeah, but you you you you know the engineering, though, too, Mary.
00:02:01
MARY BITCHMAS
sure sure
00:02:03
Home Owner #2
She does it all.
00:02:04
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Adobe UX designer by day, ah deep home DIYer by night.
00:02:08
Home Owner #2
all
00:02:09
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Is that...
00:02:09
MARY BITCHMAS
oh god
00:02:10
Home Owner #2
um i yeah. Get out the leggings of the scroll saw, girl. Let's ride.
00:02:15
MARY BITCHMAS
Ugh, these days.
00:02:18
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well, so we decided to maybe take this on tonight because Mary bought a house. And we're like, what ah we wanted to get you know we wanted to have Mary back and she's got time on her schedule because her life is back in somewhat of a ah semblance of balance.
00:02:24
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
00:02:33
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And she we're like, what should we talk about? She's like, well, I bought a house and I pretty much spent every waking moment on my house.
00:02:39
Home Owner #2
She said, I bought a house and I fucking hate it.
00:02:39
MARY BITCHMAS
That is true.
00:02:39
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And we're like,
00:02:41
Home Owner #2
I don't know why i did this.
00:02:42
MARY BITCHMAS
Like, what was I thinking?
00:02:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So we're like, why don't we talk about DIY on our houses?
00:02:50
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh, God.
00:02:50
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So Mary, so about how do you feel about your house and DIY in a general sense?
00:02:55
MARY BITCHMAS
I fucking hate DIY.
00:02:58
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Ha ha ha ha ha!
00:02:59
MARY BITCHMAS
is the worst.
00:02:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah
00:03:01
Home Owner #2
She said, no foreplay. I'm not setting it up. I'm hitting the punchline at the three minute mark.
00:03:06
MARY BITCHMAS
It is the goddamn worst. And I understand why you have to do it because it's so much cheaper than hiring someone. But also it's just the worst. And like, I kind of know what I'm doing for the most part.
00:03:17
MARY BITCHMAS
And I have like all the tools, but it's still so unbearable and I hate it.
00:03:21
Home Owner #2
Okay.
00:03:22
MARY BITCHMAS
And I just, all I want to do is make furniture, but I don't have time to be in the shop anymore.
00:03:26
Home Owner #2
time out Timeout, timeout, timeout.
00:03:27
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
00:03:27
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Wow, we came out swinging.
00:03:28
Home Owner #2
Let's bring it back to the beginning. We really did.
00:03:29
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Came out some swinging.
00:03:31
Home Owner #2
We really did. Let's now let's get all right. First of all, let's sit on the couch. Let's stare at the ceiling. um And let's, you know, close our eyes and really dive into why you have so much vitriolic hate toward DIY.
00:03:47
Home Owner #2
um What is it about the process from the beginning? Because you bought your house, what, two months ago?
00:03:55
MARY BITCHMAS
Uh, yeah, I've been in my house for two, i think almost two months now.
00:03:56
Home Owner #2
Or you've been in your house for like two or three months?
00:04:01
MARY BITCHMAS
i bought it, I closed July 7th, so it's been almost half a year.
00:04:06
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:04:07
MARY BITCHMAS
and But I worked on it for like four months.
00:04:07
Home Owner #2
Okay. All right. Yeah, you had an ample amount of time where you were doing a bunch of things to it.
00:04:09
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm. Hmm.
00:04:13
Home Owner #2
And even that took, it was way over budget.
00:04:13
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm, yeah.
00:04:16
Home Owner #2
It was way over time, as all projects always are.
00:04:19
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm.
00:04:19
Home Owner #2
um Is that where it started? Is that was was that the seed of hate that is now burning brightly in your heart?
00:04:26
MARY BITCHMAS
I feel like the seed of hate comes from the fact that I look around and I just see never-ending projects. Like, I'm not a patient person, as you both know. i want things done fast and as soon as possible.
00:04:36
Home Owner #2
I don't know what you're talking about.
00:04:38
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mary?
00:04:39
MARY BITCHMAS
So I'm not the kind of person who's like, all right, that's good. That's something I'll eventually get to. Like, I just want to get it done, which know is not something that is... I am basically capable of doing in this house. Like I have to wait and I have to just let time do its thing. But like, it kills me to look around and see things that are unfinished.
00:04:58
Home Owner #2
Okay. can Can we also give some context to the listeners about the house itself?
00:05:03
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, yeah, sure.
00:05:04
Home Owner #2
Because your your house is not, it's not like you bought a house that was built in 2007 and you're like, i want to paint the walls.
00:05:05
MARY BITCHMAS
Uh,
00:05:11
Home Owner #2
Like you bought one hundred plus year old house.
00:05:13
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, the house was built in 1915. It's, think, kind of like Victorian style. Maybe, don't know how, it's like a little in between. um But for the most part, it's like very, it's got beautiful, like stained glass windows, um like really nice wood ah carvings and like decorative elements.
00:05:32
MARY BITCHMAS
um But there's a, you know, the last owner didn't and to quite take care of it as well as one should. And i remember during my closing inspect or during my inspection,
00:05:44
MARY BITCHMAS
i was like, what is that sound? And I hear just like water in the basement running down the walls and I see it.
00:05:49
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
boy
00:05:50
MARY BITCHMAS
And I'm like, oh, gosh, like active leak. So I go upstairs and I turn off but like the water to the toilet because the toilet is running. And that shuts off the leak. So i was like, all right, I know there's a leak from the toilet. I know where where it's coming from.
00:06:02
MARY BITCHMAS
I'm going to get, you know, concessions from the seller on that, which sure, I got like, I forgot how much it was, like 7,000 maybe. was like, okay, great. That'll cover whatever this like leak is.
00:06:14
MARY BITCHMAS
Fast forward closing day. i close. The plumber comes. And he opens up ah the wall where the leak is. And he's like, yeah, all the plumbing needs to be replaced.
00:06:29
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh my God.
00:06:29
MARY BITCHMAS
And I was like, every single but bit of plumbing, because it's all cast iron.
00:06:30
Home Owner #2
Every bit of it.
00:06:35
MARY BITCHMAS
He like brings me over. he he points and like touches the cast iron pipe. And it just crumbles like under one poke.
00:06:41
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
All this is, ah this is all the wastewater return.
00:06:44
Home Owner #2
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:06:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I'm assuming.
00:06:45
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah. so that was great. ah But I mean, yeah, so it was a little bit more than i wanted. i'm glad I got some of the money back from the seller, but it was still not entirely covered.
00:06:57
MARY BITCHMAS
I mean, it's nice that I know that it's all new plopping now because it's like, I don't know, I guess it's all new and PVC and I know it's going be fine, but it's just like a hard pill to swallow. And at this first few months, ah Eric can attest that I was like driving myself crazy because it's It was all of these internal things that I couldn't really see the changes happening because it's like plumbing and electrical. And I did i did structural stuff. but like It's just so frustrating when you spend so much money and all you you don't see that much changing in the actual house.
00:07:30
MARY BITCHMAS
like It's none of the fun cosmetic things, which is what I wanted to get to.
00:07:30
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Right.
00:07:33
MARY BITCHMAS
ah
00:07:33
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Right.
00:07:33
Home Owner #2
I'm so glad we touched on that, buddy.
00:07:36
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
00:07:38
Home Owner #2
Because like, so much, like even so much of what we do people don't understand a lot of clients often don't understand or new clients don't often understand that like sometimes I'll spend a week milling wood, you know, and it's just joiner thickness or table saw joiner thickness or table saw.
00:07:55
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
00:08:00
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:08:00
Home Owner #2
And like, I know that's not the sexy stuff, but guys, like you still got to pay me for that work.
00:08:05
MARY BITCHMAS
You have to do it, yeah.
00:08:06
Home Owner #2
And the the thing is, is that it all comes together at the very end. So you lay the strong foundation, you do the work.
00:08:10
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
00:08:12
Home Owner #2
And in this case, you're playing the plumbers and the electricians. And it is, it's, if you had to do that work once you were already moved in and your belongings were in there and you had to tear it all up, like it's, and then you're paying for storage units or like trying to like stuff everything into different rooms and constantly moving things around.
00:08:22
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh, nightmare. Mm-hmm.
00:08:24
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm.
00:08:30
Home Owner #2
So it, it, I, I'm not trying to minimize like it was a real pain in the ass when you moved in dog like you had a real time of it.
00:08:36
MARY BITCHMAS
Yep.
00:08:38
Home Owner #2
I'm not trying to to to say you didn't.
00:08:38
MARY BITCHMAS
Yes.
00:08:40
Home Owner #2
But um as far as the investment in either your time or your money, like those are the moments to do those things is before all your shit is in the house.
00:08:50
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
00:08:51
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It was smart.
00:08:51
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:08:52
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, exactly.
00:08:52
MARY BITCHMAS
I was, um, my basement is, mean, it's old house. So like my basement was like this old stone foundation. um it was kind I'm not gonna lie. It was terrifying to be down there. Cause it was just like cobwebs everywhere, really like spooky lighting and just overall it was fine. it was like, I addressed all the moisture issues. I got like dehumidifiers down there. fixed some like sister, some joists, et cetera.
00:09:15
MARY BITCHMAS
So like it was fine. It was safe. But like going down there was just not fun and slightly terrifying. And my mom, who had not been to the house yet, by the way, she was like, you need to fix your basement. You need to get it addressed because that looks really scary. She saw photos. And I was like...
00:09:30
MARY BITCHMAS
do you know how big my big my basement is 60 feet long? That is so much money to get it. Like everything reparged and like put in a sump.
00:09:37
Home Owner #2
Just so that it doesn't look scary?
00:09:39
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah. I was like, do you know how much money that is? Like, are you going to contribute to this? Because I'm getting estimates that are real high.
00:09:45
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
No. ah
00:09:47
MARY BITCHMAS
um And ultimately I did get it done. Cause like she pointed out, which yeah, yeah she's technically right. And I am kind of glad I did it, but like it, that's,
00:09:55
Home Owner #2
Hold on. Have you have you told her that she was right?
00:09:58
MARY BITCHMAS
No, of course not.
00:09:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
No.
00:10:03
MARY BITCHMAS
ah this This Asian parent-child relationship works both ways in which you never admit to the others that you're right, that they're right.
00:10:10
Home Owner #2
it's You're just playing to a stalemate at this point.
00:10:12
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, exactly. um But I mean, she she was right in that ah the the basement is my storage for everything in this old house. So like if I had all of my stuff down there and like was trying to do this, that would have been such a pain. So I'm glad I did it before I moved in. It looks like very pristine and white and Eric's been down there. It's like pretty sterile, I guess. Yeah,
00:10:33
Home Owner #2
Yeah, but I mean, it's a basement. It doesn't have to, like,
00:10:35
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
is that is Is that where you dissect the bodies or what?
00:10:35
MARY BITCHMAS
yeah it's a basement.
00:10:36
Home Owner #2
Yeah.
00:10:36
MARY BITCHMAS
It's not ter it's not scary anymore.
00:10:38
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well,
00:10:39
Home Owner #2
Oh, first, oh, that's a murder basement.
00:10:39
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
00:10:41
Home Owner #2
A 100 P.
00:10:42
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I mean, if it looks like a you know a surgeon's office, which I guess is an OR.
00:10:43
Home Owner #2
Yeah.
00:10:46
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
00:10:47
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
don't know.
00:10:48
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Immediately thought of Mary dismembering bodies down there. I don't know why.
00:10:48
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm.
00:10:52
Home Owner #2
As, as the only person of the two of us who has been physically in that basement, that is worrying to me, but I think it's probably not inaccurate.
00:10:52
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:11:00
Home Owner #2
Yeah.
00:11:02
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So Mary, what um you you mentioned your house is historic. So when you were thinking about renovating it, ah how did you feel about changing the character of the house versus celebrating and maintaining its original character? Did you feel you had an obligation to keep the historic nature of the home or do you view it as a blank canvas? It's mine. and I do what I want.
00:11:27
MARY BITCHMAS
um
00:11:29
MARY BITCHMAS
I guess technically if you're a homeowner, you can do whatever you want. However, if you care about the house, as one should, um i think that you should try to maintain the character of the home. So here...
00:11:46
MARY BITCHMAS
this the last homeowner ah ruined all of the character they like put in like the worst finishes just like really did not seem to care about any of the characteristics of the house i mean
00:11:53
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh no.
00:11:58
Home Owner #2
Like what? What do you mean by like bad finishes?
00:12:01
MARY BITCHMAS
um just like i mean you've been in the kitchen it's just like the cheapest possible finishes ever and
00:12:06
Home Owner #2
ah Sure, sure. It felt like a Home Depot kitchen. Yeah.
00:12:08
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, it was a flip, I guess. And I think renters were living in there before, so there wasn't too much... Not super nice quality stuff. um And like they have allowed a lot of the kind of nicer historic things, like the stained glass and kind of like the the carved wood details, like they had allowed those to fall a little bit into ruin, so I'm getting the stained glass fixed. i'm um
00:12:34
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:12:34
MARY BITCHMAS
I'm a little disappointed that all of the wood is painted, but... It's fine. like They had covered up this like beautiful tile fireplace with like peel and stick. and it's just like Stuff that wasn't great. so The way that I'm trying to address it is bring it back to its own original character, but also like in my... ah i don't know what the right word.
00:12:55
MARY BITCHMAS
Aesthetic, I guess? in I'm trying to maintain its original details, but also decorate it and... um furnish it in a way that fits my personality.
00:13:08
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, see, the decorating and furnishing, though, is is not, it's like non-binding, right? Like that's temporary.
00:13:12
MARY BITCHMAS
yeah
00:13:13
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So it's like you can have your cake and eat it too. You honor the original character of the home in terms of structural elements, but then you decorate it or adorn it in a way that kind of is nice to live with in your own aesthetic.
00:13:25
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, which is what, like, exactly what i'm trying to do. So it is kind of a more traditional style home, and my aesthetic is a little bit more contemporary, modern-ish, but I actually think the mix of different styles is what makes a home feel like a home, I guess, and I think that it like I don't want to live in a house that is like Victorian super old and um doesn't feel like any of my own furniture fits in it so I think that once you step into the space it feels very natural and it feels it's a very girly home I'll say I have a really embraced kind of like
00:14:04
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Good.
00:14:04
MARY BITCHMAS
very um feminine features, I guess.
00:14:07
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
That's awesome, I think. Yeah.
00:14:10
MARY BITCHMAS
It's pretty it's been funny like how having the contractors come in and every single one has asked me where my husband And... is
00:14:15
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
oh
00:14:16
MARY BITCHMAS
and
00:14:16
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mary, tell us about how they talk to you.
00:14:18
Home Owner #2
the
00:14:19
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Tell us how the contractors talk to you, please.
00:14:22
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh my God. There's one guy who is dropping off. I think was like an AC unit and it's pretty heavy. So it was on like a pallet. So he like drops it off in front my home. I like come outside and he like looks at me and he's like, oh, you ain't got a man in there to lift this. And i will let me tell you, I've never summoned more strength in my body than that.
00:14:41
MARY BITCHMAS
Like those five seconds, I could have lifted seven of this AC units in front of him. I summoned so much strength. was like, you watch me lift this goddamn unit.
00:14:51
Home Owner #2
That feminine rage goes a long way, man.
00:14:51
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
00:14:52
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
and ah Mary, how about, um, you know, you're an architect.
00:14:53
Home Owner #2
Hmm.
00:14:56
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So, you know, when you actually, that started this episode, honestly, and the the way we started this episode is Mary saying kind of off the off cuff, like, it's not that hard bitches.
00:15:01
Home Owner #2
Hmm.
00:15:08
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It's like, there's like diff there's like fucking, I don't know what the big fucking deal is. There's different systems to a house, right? There's the electrical system. There's the plumbing system. There's the, the structural elements.
00:15:18
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And then there's the, the coverings like, uh,
00:15:21
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I don't know if I had those right, Mary, I'm guessing, but you're like, it's not that fucking hard.
00:15:21
MARY BITCHMAS
yeah
00:15:24
MARY BITCHMAS
For the most part.
00:15:26
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Like these are so like stages and skins and like each one has, sure, ah you know, some, some details, but like, it's not that hard. And so obviously Mary, you're coming into this knowing a lot more about, i think how homes are constructed than the average person. So like when the contractors meet you, I feel like they're, i feel like they're walking on landmines that they don't even know.
00:15:48
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
They have no idea.
00:15:48
MARY BITCHMAS
Yes, that has been that has been a thing where I am not someone who likes to kind of like interject and like butt in initially. I like to maybe just be a little bit more, loop's not the right word, but i I don't want to tell someone what to do.
00:16:02
MARY BITCHMAS
um But I do know what they are doing when I'm watching them. So hu I guess, yeah, some of the contractors have been interesting. i like will say one or two things that gives them the indication of like, oh,
00:16:15
MARY BITCHMAS
She might know what she's talking about.
00:16:17
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mm-hmm.
00:16:18
MARY BITCHMAS
And then once we like get into it, then then they like open up. It's actually been interesting to see how like aloof they are initially until I kind of like quote unquote prove myself, which is something that I really resent having to do because I don't think any homeowner should have to do that.
00:16:33
MARY BITCHMAS
um But it was funny. I was saying like there's one contractor who was like definitely pretty aloof like when he was texting just like one word answers. And then i was showing him very in nerdy, but I showing him this new. um impact driver I got because it's hydraulic so it's like super it's like ultra quiet it doesn't make the really loud noise for impact drivers and I was like look how cool this thing is and it's like and he was like oh do you know how to use that I was like yeah look at like like this look at how quiet it is I'm like trying to get him very excited and then he like starts to talk about tools with me and he's like oh are you woodworker and like we get down this whole rabbit hole and then he like opens up completely like makes jokes like in his text he'll write like lol to me like what what is what just happened
00:17:17
Home Owner #2
yeah
00:17:21
MARY BITCHMAS
It's like, okay.
00:17:21
Home Owner #2
see but like but in in that instance it well all right well that's a whole that's a whole other pie to to cut into right there
00:17:23
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Is he hitting on you? What?
00:17:25
MARY BITCHMAS
I don't think so.
00:17:26
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Sorry, what? Sorry, what? did that did you Did you hear something? Okay, great.
00:17:31
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh my god.
00:17:32
Home Owner #2
uh no but i do think uh uh in that instance there are people who assume that everybody doesn't know everything or or anything or um feel like they get looked down on a lot and then when somebody is like oh check out this new impact driver that just came out that's super dope they're like oh shit we got something to talk about let's ride man you know yeah yeah yeah it's like an exciting thing of like okay we're gonna be in this house just the two of us for the next eight hours I'm glad we have some commonality to like shoot the shit
00:17:54
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, that's true. It's common ground.
00:18:06
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, I can't really blame the guy for kind of assuming most homeowners don't really know the details because I think a lot of homeowners don't.
00:18:12
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, that is true.
00:18:13
Home Owner #2
Yeah, and in in I don't want to minimize and say that sexism doesn't play a part in that with a lot of people.
00:18:18
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh, it does.
00:18:19
Home Owner #2
Of course it does.
00:18:20
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:18:21
Home Owner #2
um But I also, a lot of homeowners don't know shit about fuck. You know, that's ah that's a hard thing to navigate when you're just like silently working away and they're staring over your shoulder.
00:18:33
Home Owner #2
And they're like, well, why did you do that? you're like, can you just, can I please just do my job for like 10 minutes?
00:18:37
MARY BITCHMAS
Right.
00:18:38
Home Owner #2
Yeah.
00:18:40
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah. But I do, I do want to clarify when I had said that, I'm sorry, that hard, I meant, I,
00:18:40
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So,
00:18:45
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
yeah, please please please please, please, please, please add some gasoline to that.
00:18:46
Home Owner #2
yeah Yeah, please clarify, Mary.
00:18:48
MARY BITCHMAS
i
00:18:52
MARY BITCHMAS
i did not I did not mean to say that it's easy because it hasn't been. It's not been easy. i understand that it's just like a lot of, there's been a lot of complexities, but I will say that like compared to our world of design, like there's a right way to do things in construction. There's like a right and wrong and there's creative ways to get to the right answer.
00:19:12
MARY BITCHMAS
But versus like being in design and that being completely subjective of like what the quote unquote right thing is. And especially like in my everyday job, like UX design, I have to like try and predict like user behavior and think about ah psychology of people. Like that is something that's so hard to understand, like say there's a right or wrong or black and white, et cetera.
00:19:32
MARY BITCHMAS
So like in construction, at least there's something concrete that I can be like, okay, yep, that is not going to kill me. Yes.
00:19:39
Home Owner #2
Well, there's a code, right? Like we we have code for a reason to try to have some standards.
00:19:41
MARY BITCHMAS
Yes.
00:19:44
Home Owner #2
And if in there are skills that allow you to build more efficiently and allow you to hit code ah more accurately.
00:19:45
MARY BITCHMAS
Right.
00:19:54
Home Owner #2
But yeah, like there is there's a playbook in front of you of like, if X, then why
00:20:00
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Sure.
00:20:00
MARY BITCHMAS
Right. Exactly.
00:20:01
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So Mary, how do you see a house? Like as an architect, do you see a house that's like a semblance of like three or four systems that are like like integrated into it? Like how do you see a house?
00:20:12
MARY BITCHMAS
Are you asking what the definition of a house is?
00:20:15
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh shit. I think I did. um my God. This is a good one.
00:20:20
MARY BITCHMAS
A house or a home. ah
00:20:22
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Wow. Those are different things.
00:20:23
Home Owner #2
Yes, both, please.
00:20:23
MARY BITCHMAS
They are different things, yeah.
00:20:24
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:20:25
MARY BITCHMAS
A house? I don't know. i a house is a... Yeah, it's a structure. It's got structural, me mechanical, electrical, plumbing. Like, it's... I don't have a definition for a house, but it's like where you...
00:20:38
MARY BITCHMAS
You know, it's where you spend your time. It's where you fix things up and make and like make it to your standard, I guess. and that's when it becomes a home when you make it your own.
00:20:49
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Ah, I see.
00:20:50
MARY BITCHMAS
um Like a house is a structure itself.
00:20:50
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And what...
00:20:52
MARY BITCHMAS
A home is your own personal abode.
00:20:54
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And when you, when you see ah your house or whatever, do you see it as just like this series of systems that are like, in like integrated into the walls?
00:21:04
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Like, as if like, you know, you've seen those images of the human body where you see all the blood vessels and then another human body where you see like the organs and another human body where you see like the fat tissue.
00:21:15
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
is Is that how you see a home?
00:21:15
MARY BITCHMAS
Uh-huh. Yeah.
00:21:16
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Like with the, you see the plumbing in one view
00:21:18
Home Owner #2
Hold on. Is that how you see a person, Paul?
00:21:19
MARY BITCHMAS
i
00:21:20
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well, no, you've seen you've seen those diagrams Eric.
00:21:24
Home Owner #2
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:21:24
MARY BITCHMAS
I... Yeah, I will say that is actually similar to how i as an architect see it because I remember seeing the structural plans and the electrical and the plumbing and i remember all of the details that I had to draw in CAD of like just all the like extremely fine construction details and that is kind of how I view it in my mind I know that's not maybe everyone's definition but um coming from an architectural background I do see it as these kinds of layers of what makes up a building a home I would say is different home is like more emotional personal etc but house yes I think
00:22:03
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Is your house, ah is it a home yet or is it somewhere in transition?
00:22:07
MARY BITCHMAS
It's in transition. There are some rooms that I think are definitely home me um Will it ever be done?
00:22:13
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay.
00:22:16
MARY BITCHMAS
Hmm.
00:22:18
Home Owner #2
Well, ah um my I mean, my house is...
00:22:19
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Eric, how about you? Wait, before, how do you feel about yours?
00:22:23
Home Owner #2
is um i don't So the question I was about to ask is, like, how much does intention play a role in that?
00:22:33
Home Owner #2
and And what I mean by that is, i bought my house because... um It was where I wanted to be. It's a good neighborhood. But like when I bought it, I knew that I wasn't going to be here forever.
00:22:46
Home Owner #2
And I'm wondering if the idea of long-term investment versus short-term investment plays a role in that.
00:22:54
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, big time.
00:22:54
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm.
00:22:54
Home Owner #2
right like
00:22:55
Home Owner #2
i ah my My house is a home because my shit is in it. And you know and it's like it's to some extent a gallery of my work. um But I haven't made...
00:23:07
Home Owner #2
large alterations to the structure of the house because I'm not willing to invest that type of capital in this house because it's not my quote forever home.
00:23:17
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
How do you know that?
00:23:20
Home Owner #2
it's just the thing you know, like, I like, it's, I'm not going to be in the city forever.
00:23:22
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
You just you just feel it?
00:23:24
Home Owner #2
I love the city.
00:23:25
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:23:25
Home Owner #2
And I'm glad I've been in the city for about 10 years now. And um I think it has been exactly what I needed it to be. But like, I'm a I'm a barefoot in the grass and meander around the trees kind of boy like I'm not I'm not a city boy in my soul.
00:23:43
Home Owner #2
And I just know that I'm not going to be in the city forever. And I don't know how I
00:23:46
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, he's going to come out near me.
00:23:48
Home Owner #2
Nah, that's it. Like you're, listen, you're flirting with the suburbs and murder me now. Okay. Um,
00:23:53
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Eric, where where where are you going to be in the fucking mountains somewhere?
00:23:57
Home Owner #2
Oh, if you guys, if one day you just never hear from me again, that's how you know I've made it. Or I've been murdered. Those are the two options.
00:24:04
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:24:04
Home Owner #2
I was just out in the mountains somewhere. um No, I like I need I need some more space and I need a place where like I can be for I can see myself being for more than a decade and then I can put the emotional investment in the the house itself to turn it into a home rather than the objects that exist in the house, if that makes sense.
00:24:27
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, now I get it. Mary, is is that ah is that your forever home, do you think?
00:24:32
MARY BITCHMAS
um I don't know. I mean, a forever home is hard to say, but I plan on spending a good amount of time here, especially how much money after how much money I've invested in it. um i When I was looking for a house, it took me probably seven months, I think six yeah six or seven months, maybe eight months, ah to actually find a house that I liked. I was really picky about what I wanted.
00:24:55
MARY BITCHMAS
Um, so yes, I think I bought this house with the intention of like making it my own, and fixing it up. I'm probably living here for a while, unless something goes like drastically wrong or like something in my life really changes, um, which is always possible.
00:25:08
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:25:11
MARY BITCHMAS
But I also just wanted a i yeah I wanted my a house that was my own because I was tired of renting. I was tired of like living in someone else's space that i didn't feel fully comfortable with.
00:25:20
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:25:24
MARY BITCHMAS
like
00:25:24
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
20 years.
00:25:25
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, sure, I could paint some walls, but that's, I don't know, it's just kind of a pain. So, yeah, I mean, as of right now, it's a forever home. That could change.
00:25:34
Home Owner #2
Paul, how long have you been in that house?
00:25:37
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
twenty years
00:25:39
Home Owner #2
and And your daughter grew up from the get-go in that house. like that's That's your forever home.
00:25:43
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh, yeah. It is.
00:25:45
Home Owner #2
you know You ain't going anywhere.
00:25:45
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
We don't. Yeah. No, we want to.
00:25:47
Home Owner #2
And you know that.
00:25:48
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
We know that we want to die.
00:25:49
Home Owner #2
and And so, so, oh, buddy, I don't want to talk about you dying right now.
00:25:49
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
We want to die here.
00:25:54
Home Owner #2
Don't make me emotional. um But, but the, the investment that you make in the structure of that house, you, it's not an economic decision.
00:26:05
Home Owner #2
It's an emotional decision, right?
00:26:07
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:26:07
Home Owner #2
Like this is, it's, well, ah it's the same thing that like my mother does now where, know,
00:26:08
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Totally.
00:26:14
Home Owner #2
she, my grandfather built that house, she's been in that house since 1980. All of us grew up in that house. And when she does things, when she renovates things and and updates things, like we're at that point where we're like, listen, girl, live your live your fucking life. Like we know you're going to die in that house. You're gonna be in there.
00:26:34
Home Owner #2
Lord willing of the Creek don't rise like another 30 years. So whatever, whatever the, it's not about the economic. We're not worried about what it sells for in 30 years.
00:26:41
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah. Yeah.
00:26:42
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm.
00:26:42
Home Owner #2
We're worried about like, how do you feel being in that space for the rest of your life?
00:26:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah. Yep.
00:26:47
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm.
00:26:48
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:26:48
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So,
00:26:48
MARY BITCHMAS
I also maintain that, like, you should not ah live in your home for the next owner.
00:26:54
MARY BITCHMAS
You should...
00:26:56
Home Owner #2
But so many people do that.
00:26:56
MARY BITCHMAS
You should make the space.
00:26:57
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
so many do right.
00:26:57
MARY BITCHMAS
So many people do. and that just like, it just feels like such a waste. Like make it your own. The next owner can always, can always change it. Or like you can do, you know, minor changes before you sell.
00:27:08
MARY BITCHMAS
But like, what why else do you live in a space? Like, why else would you own a home?
00:27:12
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah. I think that's a, yeah. I, I don't, I, I understand the idea of making a home an investment, you know, and you just, you know, make it all neutral. So the next person likes it, but like, that's not at all how I think about this house.
00:27:23
MARY BITCHMAS
Blech.
00:27:26
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I mean, you both have been here.
00:27:26
MARY BITCHMAS
In
00:27:27
Home Owner #2
How, yeah, how do you think about that house?
00:27:27
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
That is not, uh, well, let me say I bought it from a newspaper ad. It was in the classifieds of the Boston globe.
00:27:34
MARY BITCHMAS
the 1920s. Like you and were, you both were like, yep, it's the...
00:27:35
Home Owner #2
In 1956, yeah.
00:27:36
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I'm,
00:27:38
Home Owner #2
It was the post-war era.
00:27:41
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay.
00:27:41
Home Owner #2
FDR had just signed the New Deal.
00:27:48
MARY BITCHMAS
like you both and i were you and i both were just like yep
00:27:48
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay.
00:27:50
Home Owner #2
They had actually, fun fact, they had just invented newspapers, so it was a new technology.
00:27:51
MARY BITCHMAS
it's
00:27:55
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay.
00:27:55
Home Owner #2
LAUGHTER
00:27:56
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh, you two are so young and so funny.
00:28:00
MARY BITCHMAS
Right off the printing press.
00:28:00
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
my God. You two are so hip and young. Oh my God. ah hate both of you. um So yes, it was in the Boston Globe classifieds. I'm not even kidding of the newspaper. Yes.
00:28:15
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And it was for sale by owner. And we just came and we just were like, we looked around, the owners were there. It was just us, no realtors at all. We looked around and under the dining room table, i caught...
00:28:28
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I caught my wife's eye and I like nodded. Yes. Like we, this is the,
00:28:31
MARY BITCHMAS
yeah
00:28:31
Home Owner #2
Hold on, hold on, hold on. Paint me, paint me a more specific picture here.
00:28:35
MARY BITCHMAS
Did you go under?
00:28:36
Home Owner #2
Under the dining room table?
00:28:37
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh, sorry.
00:28:38
Home Owner #2
What the fuck were you looking at?
00:28:38
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
We're, we're looking around. We're just like kind of looking at the, at the vents and you know, the trim and I'm kind of like looking around and then I caught, like I had just kneeled down to like, I think look at the, the vent or the China cabinet and I caught her eye under the table and I like nodded my head enthusiastically.
00:28:52
Home Owner #2
Hmm.
00:28:54
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Cause you don't want to say in front of the owners.
00:28:54
MARY BITCHMAS
Hmm.
00:28:56
Home Owner #2
Sure, sure, sure.
00:28:57
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah Yeah, so that's how it happened. And and we they said, okay, here's what we're asking. And we said, okay. And we just hired a lawyer to draft the paperwork and it was done. No, there was zero, ah you know, um what do you call ah realtors involved, which was awesome.
00:29:10
Home Owner #2
so So in that moment, when you knew that you wanted to buy that house and she and she was in there, was yeah like it was it was it was the energy.
00:29:15
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It felt so fucking right.
00:29:19
Home Owner #2
It was like you saw the vision.
00:29:21
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yes.
00:29:21
Home Owner #2
Did you know in that moment that it was your forever home?
00:29:26
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I don't know that I thought about it.
00:29:28
Home Owner #2
Hmm.
00:29:29
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
that That thought hadn't occurred to me. And so then, you know, over the years now, I've been here 20 years. um it I think once my daughter was born and we made the house more our own, meaning, in fact, like Mary, like you were saying earlier that like previous owners kind of like do shitty things to houses.
00:29:49
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And this is a historic home, 1915, just yours.
00:29:52
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
um Every time we did anything on the house, we would roll it back. We would honor it. We would get the correct materials, only the best materials, do it the right way. We would demodernize the house as it were. I know that's a design decision.
00:29:52
MARY BITCHMAS
Aw, twins.
00:30:07
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Don't come after me. um But that was you know keeping... We stripped doors. We stripped paint. We stripped so much lead paint out of the house.
00:30:16
MARY BITCHMAS
Aw, that's what I have to do
00:30:17
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
right? Because the woodwork, the woodwork was Southern yellow longleaf pine, this beautiful pine that was all over the United States in the early 1900s and 1800s. And it was harvested to near extinction.
00:30:28
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It is the most beautiful pine you'll ever see. Super amazing 20 foot long lengths of pure straight quarter sawn grain with like a heartwood and a sapwood color that is contrasting It's not a softwood.
00:30:38
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm. Oh.
00:30:42
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It's definitely more like walnut ah consistency, kind of a medium hardwood, if you think about it. It's so beautiful. And they slathered paint all over it and they put Formica on the countertops.
00:30:53
MARY BITCHMAS
so
00:30:55
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And they did all kinds of atrocious things. And then as we would take an opportunity to make this home, you know, improve it, every time we would roll it back, you know, original materials,
00:31:09
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
correct period stuff, only the highest quality. And I did all the work myself because I couldn't trust contractors to do the right thing, or I didn't believe they would. So, and I said, I'll do it myself.
00:31:23
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I love this home so much. I don't want to risk someone fucking it up. This house deserves better. You know, it's kind of how I felt about it.
00:31:31
MARY BITCHMAS
yeah yeah when i've looked
00:31:33
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So I wound up doing everything myself.
00:31:35
MARY BITCHMAS
When I've looked for contractors, I've made sure that they have worked on historic homes and like that is their specialty because, and I will say like for the most part, I've had really good interactions with contractors because I've done that research where they're like, yeah, new construction is just like awful.
00:31:52
MARY BITCHMAS
And they're like, I, as much of a pain as this house is, I'd rather take this over new construction any day.
00:31:56
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Me too.
00:31:57
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm.
00:31:57
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Me too. And you know, I think you get used to the idiosyncrasies. Like joists are not 16 inches on center.
00:32:04
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Joists are two by fours. There's yeah, the plaster and lath and yeah there's all this hair in it.
00:32:04
MARY BITCHMAS
Right.
00:32:07
MARY BITCHMAS
Got all plaster and laugh.
00:32:10
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And you're like, what's, what are all these tiny hairs?
00:32:11
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, exactly.
00:32:12
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh, it's, it's horse hair plaster.
00:32:12
MARY BITCHMAS
The horse hair.
00:32:14
Home Owner #2
Uh-huh.
00:32:14
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
There's literally fucking horse hair in the wall.
00:32:16
MARY BITCHMAS
Yep.
00:32:16
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It's like, what?
00:32:16
Home Owner #2
Gotta have a fiber, man.
00:32:17
Home Owner #2
Gotta have a fiber.
00:32:18
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hey, um there's asbestos in the house.
00:32:18
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm.
00:32:21
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I had to have that removed. There's knob and tube plaster.
00:32:23
MARY BITCHMAS
Did you have asbestos?
00:32:24
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, some of the wraps around the ducts and the...
00:32:27
Home Owner #2
You got asbestos in that house, Mary.
00:32:27
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
and
00:32:27
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh, that makes sense.
00:32:28
MARY BITCHMAS
Okay. Okay.
00:32:29
Home Owner #2
You just don't know it yet.
00:32:29
MARY BITCHMAS
No, because asbestos only became popular in the 20s on.
00:32:30
Home Owner #2
Yeah.
00:32:34
MARY BITCHMAS
And um well, it it may have been updated after that, but for the most part, there isn't asbestos in this house. There's lead for sure.
00:32:41
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And i've i've had I've had many things sent off for testing because I do all the work myself.
00:32:41
Home Owner #2
Oh, yeah.
00:32:45
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
00:32:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So I've sent everything off for testing before I did the DIY myself because I'm not about to get me mesothelioma.
00:32:53
Home Owner #2
That is a smart thing that I've never done and probably should.
00:32:58
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And you know, it's not that expensive. There's labs. The only way it can be, the only way asbestos can be detected is by a microscopic examination is by seeing it because it's kind of an inert mineral.
00:33:09
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And so what they do is they look under a particular microscope and they they can see it. And so you just send it off to a lab and they get back to you in about three or four days. And it's like 60 bucks, I think. but's It's really not that big a deal.
00:33:21
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And so every every time there was like things in the bathroom or the kitchen or or let's say the mastic, like the adhesives or ceiling material, you know, anywhere you suspect there could be asbestos, I sent it away.
00:33:21
Home Owner #2
Okay.
00:33:36
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And of course, the house is entirely sided in asbestos cement shingles underneath all
00:33:40
MARY BITCHMAS
Wow.
00:33:40
Home Owner #2
Of course, of course.
00:33:40
MARY BITCHMAS
Dang.
00:33:42
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
underneath the vinyl that guess who put on myself? I sided the house about 10, 12 years ago. And so because I'm nailing through asbestos cement fiber, I had to wear respirator while I sided the entire house, which is like, what?
00:33:57
MARY BITCHMAS
wow
00:33:58
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It's crazy.
00:33:59
MARY BITCHMAS
saying
00:33:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
But these are the kind of sacrifices you make for a home, right?
00:34:05
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
My I love it. My daughter's height is on the door. I look at that dining room table and I see you, Eric. I see Mary. I see the brunch we had. I see countless dinners with friends and family. Like there's thousands, too many. And I've watched my daughter, you know, she we all have her our own chair.
00:34:05
Home Owner #2
Yeah, it's because you love the place.
00:34:25
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
i don't know if you guys do that. Like you have your chair, right?
00:34:26
Home Owner #2
Oh yeah.
00:34:27
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm. Yep.
00:34:28
Home Owner #2
Uh huh.
00:34:28
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And that's your and like that's like a thing. you can see her growing up from like a three year old to now an almost 18 year old in that same chair, you know, and and engaging, trying to pretend like she, you know, is adult and can engage in conversations, you know, when she's a little, you know, like it's just was it it becomes
00:34:44
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm.
00:34:48
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
a almost a lightning rod or like a microcosm of your, of your memories about your family and your friends. And so that's when it really turns the page, I'd say from just an investment, let's say, I'm going to sell it and to like, I don't ever want to leave here. And the thought of someone else living here gives my wife nightmares.
00:35:13
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
She's like, i can't even imagine 50 years from now, another family living in our home. She's like, it it haunts me at night.
00:35:23
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And i was like, well.
00:35:23
Home Owner #2
shit
00:35:24
Home Owner #2
She's like, when I die, I'm going to burn that bitch down.
00:35:24
MARY BITCHMAS
She's going to haunt the house. Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:27
Home Owner #2
Light a match in there. All that southern yellow pine is going to go up.
00:35:32
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So, um yeah, so for me, it's a home. Go ahead, Mary.
00:35:35
MARY BITCHMAS
Can I ask, ah Eric, like when you walked into your house, did you have a similar reaction as Paul? like Did you know it was going to be your house? i remember you telling the story of like you walking around and like,
00:35:46
Home Owner #2
Yeah, no. um I had, so I bought this house in 2021, which was the right time to buy a house economically, but the the the market was hot.
00:35:59
Home Owner #2
So I walked into an open house and I walked around and I saw exactly what I saw, which was a house that had been a rental for a large number of years and renovated sometime in the ninety s So I knew like down in the basement, I could poke around a little bit.
00:36:15
Home Owner #2
And I knew was structurally sound, um aesthetically dog shit. And so I walked in poked around for a few minutes and was like, Okay, that's a house. um Called them up. This is I don't know 1230, one o'clock in the afternoon, called him up about five o'clock. And I said, like, hey, you know, like, I'd i'd be interested in that house.
00:36:37
Home Owner #2
Because I was thinking, if I stayed there for somewhere in the range of five to 10 years, I can renovate some things, it'll hold its value. It's a great neighborhood. and And I do love my neighborhood. um
00:36:48
MARY BITCHMAS
It's true. I do miss it.
00:36:49
Home Owner #2
was it's it's such a great, like I know all of my neighbors, it's such, ah like Paul, I think it's the closest thing to what your neighborhood could feel like in a major city.
00:36:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mm-hmm.
00:37:00
Home Owner #2
Like it's, my neighborhood's phenomenal. um But I literally, like i I called him up and I said like, hey, i was thinking about potentially putting in an offer. And this was five hours after the house went on the market. And they said, we already have eight offers and the owners are trying to make a decision at 8 p.m. So if you want to do it, do a fucking now.
00:37:19
Home Owner #2
I said, okay, let me find an agent real quick. Let me just call some people up. Um, and by eight Oh five or, or eight 30, I think it was, I was literally in the grocery store signing, uh, documents to, to like put in an offer on the house.
00:37:35
Home Owner #2
And you know, that's how it went.
00:37:35
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Unreal. And you got it.
00:37:37
Home Owner #2
I got it. I mean, literally six hours after I saw the place.
00:37:41
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Wow.
00:37:41
MARY BITCHMAS
Do you know if there other bids?
00:37:41
Home Owner #2
Um,
00:37:42
MARY BITCHMAS
10?
00:37:43
Home Owner #2
I think there were 10 beds I think was the total.
00:37:46
MARY BITCHMAS
Wow.
00:37:46
Home Owner #2
Um, yeah.
00:37:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh, my God.
00:37:47
MARY BITCHMAS
wow
00:37:48
Home Owner #2
Um, and, and the thing is, is like, I like the house, the house the house was built in 1870, uh, 1860, 18, somewhere in that range. Um, it's interesting.
00:38:00
Home Owner #2
It's not cookie cutter bullshit, although it's as close to cookie cutter bullshit as they could get 150 years ago. Um, yeah, um And, and like, it's the right size for me. i don't want a big house, you know, like my house is 800 square feet. It's the size of some people's kitchens.
00:38:16
Home Owner #2
um And it, is but it, but it, it fits what I needed to do.
00:38:17
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Not mine. Mm-hmm.
00:38:22
Home Owner #2
um But, but I also knew when I bought the house, this, like, I wasn't going to grow old here. You know, and so what I'm wondering right now is the it seems like we have different levels of emotional investments in our house or houses like Paul, you know, you're going to be there until you're not here anymore.
00:38:42
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I'm all in. I am all in, Eric.
00:38:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I couldn't be more all in on this house.
00:38:44
Home Owner #2
Right.
00:38:46
Home Owner #2
Right.
00:38:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yes.
00:38:47
Home Owner #2
And Mary, like, ah it sounds like you're at a point where you're like, I'll be here for a number of years because of the financial investment. And you're like a couple of things you haven't said on on the pod so far, like there are elements of the house that you fell in love with the radiators, right?
00:38:57
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And she
00:39:03
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh yeah, for sure.
00:39:04
Home Owner #2
Right.
00:39:04
MARY BITCHMAS
yeah, yeah.
00:39:05
Home Owner #2
The the moldings, ah some of the weird angles and some of the weird shit that you can play with and turn into Mary. Right.
00:39:13
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, as soon as I walked in that like, I mean, it was god awful, like in terms of like the plaster ceiling had like this like swirl pattern. I was like, oh, my eyes are assaulted. But like, as soon as I saw the stained glass and like the ornamental like radiators, was like, this is the kind of like feeling that I've been looking for.
00:39:32
MARY BITCHMAS
but in the houses that i haven't found so far and it's actually pretty funny because um i had just gotten back from my italy trip and my realtor was like i could not tell if you like this house at all because i was so jet lagged i saw the day i got back and i like i was like i love it and like with no emotion on my face he's like i thought you hated it was like no i am so tired
00:39:49
Home Owner #2
ah sure
00:39:50
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:39:55
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mary's like, I'm a tough read, just so you know.
00:39:56
Home Owner #2
So yeah, well, it's a preach, preach. um Okay, so it sounds like you you had some level of emotional investment and excitement in the place. um And I imagine, therefore, the things that you invest in that house will have more...
00:40:15
Home Owner #2
weight or value, you know, you know what I'm trying to get at?
00:40:16
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:40:17
Home Owner #2
Whereas like, when I bought my house, I was just grateful to be able to afford a house. And this was within my budget. And there was a house literally three doors down that I liked better.
00:40:27
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:40:28
Home Owner #2
And it was like, another 15 or 20,000. And I was like, well, that's outside the budget. So like, I'm not gonna overstretch myself.
00:40:35
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well, good for you sticking to the budget.
00:40:36
Home Owner #2
Um, well, sure. Like I, you know, I i cared more and and still do care about living within the thing that is comfortable and like the, the means that I know that I have rather than feeling stressed, rather than feeling stressed about like making the mortgage every month, just so that people think I have a cooler house, you know?
00:40:38
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:40:48
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mm hmm.
00:40:48
MARY BITCHMAS
A lot people don't do that, which is insane. Yeah.
00:40:56
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mm hmm.
00:40:56
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, that was that was also another thing for this house, too. It was a little under my budget, and I knew that there was going to be a lot of work that needed to be done.
00:41:03
Home Owner #2
Hmm.
00:41:04
MARY BITCHMAS
so I was like, I'm okay with this. like it's ah There's a lot of work that's that needs to be done. It's pretty significant, but because it's under my budget, i can I'm willing to invest in this.
00:41:15
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mm-hmm.
00:41:17
MARY BITCHMAS
So it felt good.
00:41:17
Home Owner #2
Well, and so that brings me to the question that like I'm trying to get at is the the type of investment that we make, specifically in the DIY, not necessarily in contracting it out.
00:41:17
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
i
00:41:30
Home Owner #2
it What is the level of design...
00:41:35
Home Owner #2
stress that you feel when like trying to to work within the boundaries of what the house gives you like Paul you're like yeah like I owe this house something and I'm and I'm out here like I know this house again renovated in the 90s my staircase the the stairs up to the second floor are unfinished red oak and they're not even trimmed out their literal gaps from the runners to the risers because whoever fucked that shit up was just like ah nobody's gonna fall in that hole
00:41:43
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Huge. do. Yeah.
00:41:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
i do
00:41:49
MARY BITCHMAS
Interesting.
00:42:05
Home Owner #2
So like, and and and I just haven't fixed it yet because I'm like, ah there's other shit I got to do, you know?
00:42:11
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well, as you get more attached to the home, the ante goes up, right? It's like at first when I owned the home, I wasn't that discriminating or discerning.
00:42:22
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
But over time, as I became a woodworker, I was not a woodworker when I bought this home. like I didn't know my ass from my elbow about woodworking. And so, um you know, as I became a woodworker and as I started investing, then it really started to ratchet up the pressure to give it the the best materials and the best workmanship.
00:42:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And now it's to the point, Eric, where... I can't make a move in this house without like extensive research, you know gathering of historic materials, you know ah reclaiming all of those materials, ah Adobe designing, a Mary, Adobe like like
00:43:01
MARY BITCHMAS
Thank you for paying my salary.
00:43:02
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah ah drafting like mock-ups. We do extensive mock-ups like digitally to see if we're going to like it before we do it. And now it's like every move we make is fucking...
00:43:14
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ginormous effort. Right. And it's worth it because when you see it, you almost don't even know that it's not original to the home.
00:43:24
Home Owner #2
Yeah, you you have done a really wonderful job in that house, to your credit. Here's my question.
00:43:30
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
But, but there I will say, and let's get back to your question. There's a, there's a price to be paid for that to insanity.
00:43:37
Home Owner #2
Yeah, literally.
00:43:38
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
00:43:38
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah. Okay.
00:43:39
Home Owner #2
Yeah, yeah.
00:43:39
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
00:43:40
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Go ahead. Go ahead. What's your question?
00:43:40
Home Owner #2
Well, so so what I'm wondering is, paint me a picture.
00:43:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mm-hmm.
00:43:44
Home Owner #2
Last project you completed for the home versus the first project you completed for the home. Because again, you've been in there 20 years. Yeah.
00:43:51
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yep, 20 years. First project I completed for the home, I put in a ah disposal in the in the in the kitchen sink. And that sounds easy, but the kitchen sink is 110 years old.
00:44:05
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And it doesn't necessarily fit a modern disposal.
00:44:05
Home Owner #2
Mm-hmm.
00:44:05
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah. It's not made for that, yeah.
00:44:07
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:44:08
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
so And there was there was this there was this brass collar on it that was frozen in place, like corroded to fuck. And I was under there with my 80 year old neighbor, Hal, who taught me woodworking.
00:44:08
Home Owner #2
Mm-hmm.
00:44:21
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah He's like, oh, you just got to cut that shit off with a hacksaw.
00:44:24
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh no!
00:44:24
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And so I'm like, are you sure? And he's like, I'm sure. And so so we start cutting. And the first thing I did is I cut the water supply pipe. I started with that.
00:44:33
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh no! Oh no! Oh no.
00:44:40
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
like
00:44:40
Home Owner #2
I hope you killed the main, like, oh
00:44:42
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Because didn't know pipe was what.
00:44:44
MARY BITCHMAS
oh no
00:44:45
Home Owner #2
my God.
00:44:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I didn't know anything. I was so i was so new. And he's like, I don't think we wanted to cut that. And I was like...
00:44:52
MARY BITCHMAS
Ha ha ha ha
00:44:54
Home Owner #2
Can I just say big fan Hal, love his energy.
00:44:54
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So...
00:44:57
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So ah yeah, so water starts squirting everywhere and I'm like, uh-oh, turn the water off. We had to do a solder repair. We put a sleeve over the cut and then soldered it in place, which he taught me soldering and sweating ah copper.
00:45:12
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And then then we cut you know we cut the the frozen flange around the sink and I put the the the the disposal in. So that's like an example of the first project. Now, fast forward 20 years, the last project.
00:45:27
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
In our dining room, we want beautiful beadboard, right? But I am not. i am Listen to me, motherfuckers. I am not about to go to Home Depot or Lowe's and buy some plastic or MDF shit beadboard and staple it to these fucking walls. No way, no how. You'll have to bury me before I do that because...
00:45:53
Home Owner #2
That horse is tall, baby.
00:45:55
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
This house deserves better. Okay. So what does that mean for me? Oh boy, boy, boy, what does that mean? It means finding a huge hoard of Southern yellow longleaf pine antique, right?
00:46:11
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Finding that I had half of it from a neighbor's like who had a farmhouse in upstate New York. And I drove all the way there. It's a ripped out kitchen floor and I brought it all the way back. So I had that squirreled away.
00:46:22
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And then I had to go around Boston and find even more. Then I have to take off whatever's on it. God knows what was on it. Take out every piece of metal, take every piece of flooring,
00:46:36
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Give it five operations in the shop. So cut off the cut off the tongue and groove, ah cut it in half, plain, joint, plain, get it to to stock.
00:46:39
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh my gosh.
00:46:48
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Now you have to make the beads. You have to make the beadboard again, new from scratch. So you buy Freud beading bits, and you know that which is a set of two you know that cuts the bead. And it's another three or four router operations to get the beads back in the this flooring that you have repurposed.
00:47:06
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And then me, I'm feeling all proud of myself, like proud as a peacock. And I walk into that dining room and I show my wife, oh, look, daddy came with the goods, right? I was like feeling all good.
00:47:18
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I'm like, check it out. Right. And I hold it up to the wall and it doesn't match at all because this pine is freshly surfaced. Yeah.
00:47:28
Home Owner #2
Mm-hmm.
00:47:28
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It might be 200 year old pine, but it's freshly surfaced. It's bright as the sun compared to the hundred year old trim in the same room that's oxidized for a century.
00:47:34
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh my God.
00:47:39
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And I'm, and we both look at it and we're like, this doesn't match at all. Like not even close. Yeah. Like, and you can't, you can't install that. And I'm like, yeah, I just, I just spent of two months like making this.
00:47:53
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And I'm like, oh shit. So I have to like swallow my pride. Right.
00:47:57
Home Owner #2
Mmm.
00:47:57
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And I'm like, okay, we can solve this problem. We can, we can fix this. We're going to age it with shellac. We're going to do, use different types of shellac. I have like garnet shellac, which is the most, one of the most unrefined cuts of shellac. It's very dark. I can trans tint dye it with a little brown and we can like age it.
00:48:15
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And i I had to take all 250 slats, one at a time, by hand, and sing each one one, two, three, four times.
00:48:25
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh my god.
00:48:25
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
just And it's darkening by a tone every time until I fucking nail it, until it just matches perfectly. Right? And then... ah that's another month of just standing there in my shop with shellac and gloves and a fucking brush. And just like, and I started spraying it a little bit, but like nothing was easy.
00:48:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And eventually I matched it and it looks original. Like you cannot tell that that didn't come with the house, but Mo, God, did I pay a price for that?
00:48:52
Home Owner #2
It's true.
00:48:56
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh my God. and And you say, well, do you regret it, Paul? No, i don't. But boy, I didn't know what price I was signing up for. Yeah.
00:49:04
Home Owner #2
Sure, but would any of us do any of these things if we knew you know like beforehand how much of the investment it would be?
00:49:08
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
00:49:11
Home Owner #2
But i just i I'm curious about that because, Mary, you've only been in your house six months. I've been in my house pattern four years, something like that. Yeah.
00:49:24
Home Owner #2
When I do renovations in this house, I bear in mind how I want the house to look. like I don't give a fuck what the next person wants. But I do have to calculate the fact that like my my financial and time and emotional investment in the space... So when I do things like I had these...
00:49:47
Home Owner #2
atrocious tiles in the kitchen, atrocious.
00:49:50
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, you did. I remember them.
00:49:52
Home Owner #2
And the countertops for those, like for folks listening, um, my countertops in the kitchen are still tile. It's dog shit.
00:50:00
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, that is crazy.
00:50:01
Home Owner #2
It's wild. Okay. But this is what I've been. and And I have the countertops, but I haven't had the time to put new ones in. But when I laid down the new floating floor on top of those tiles, Paul, you immediately texted me and you were like,
00:50:16
Home Owner #2
what is that dog shit you're laying down in the kitchen? Like, what is this?
00:50:19
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah I was like, Eric,
00:50:20
Home Owner #2
What is this? What is this fake plastic flooring you're laying down in the kitchen?
00:50:24
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Eric, what are you doing?
00:50:24
Home Owner #2
And, and, and, and, hey, you have a very fair point to make there.
00:50:29
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
No, no, but intention matters.
00:50:29
Home Owner #2
But, but also, like, if I was going to be here for the next 50 years, of course I would do a thing.
00:50:31
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Like you said. Yeah. Yeah.
00:50:37
Home Owner #2
Like, this is, I haven't renovated certain parts of this house because ah I want to do something nicer.
00:50:37
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Right. I get it. I get it.
00:50:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:50:45
Home Owner #2
But like, it comes a point where it's just like, I can't look at this kitchen floor any longer. And I just need a patch for a while, you know?
00:50:53
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, I get it.
00:50:54
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, i I'm kind of in between, I would say Like, there are some areas of this house, like my living and dining room, that I'm, like, really investing time and money in.
00:50:54
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I get it.
00:51:03
MARY BITCHMAS
But, like, for example, this bathroom um on the upstairs was, like, a nightmare. And it does have Home Depot bead. I will say there was a moment of real growth where there, where the plumber had to rip up some tile and it's just like this shitty kind of like porcelain tile from Lowe's or Home Depot or something.
00:51:21
MARY BITCHMAS
And I had to replace a few of them and I like looked at it and it was not a perfect match. And I have to say real moment of growth where the contractor puts it down and I'm like,
00:51:32
MARY BITCHMAS
it's fine it's fine i will deal with it and like the fact and like i've made i like painted the bathroom to make it like up to a certain standard but like it's not it's eventually gonna have to all get torn out because i know there's no waterproofing um underneath the floor like i know that they didn't do a good job with um like the plumbing and everything like
00:51:34
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:51:34
Home Owner #2
It's fine.
00:51:48
Home Owner #2
Hmm.
00:51:54
MARY BITCHMAS
i made it manageable and it is maybe quote unquote a patch.
00:51:58
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:51:59
MARY BITCHMAS
And I know eventually I will have to tear it out and like really spend the investment in time and money. But for now it's fine. So it kind of depends on the room.
00:52:08
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mary, i I feel like your home might sneak up on you. And what I mean by that is you think it like it's okay for now. yeah it's good. i think yeah I'll stay here for a while. But I think as you get more and more invested in it, you you may you may really grow to love that house and you may never leave.
00:52:28
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, maybe. I mean, I could see that. The neighborhood is pretty good. Like, my neighbors are all great.
00:52:34
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Eric, i i saw your I saw your face, Eric.
00:52:35
MARY BITCHMAS
I think...
00:52:37
Home Owner #2
Oh yeah, she's gonna fall in love with that house in time.
00:52:39
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, I had the feeling too.
00:52:40
Home Owner #2
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:52:41
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, totally.
00:52:41
Home Owner #2
It's gonna be like a soft, broken-in blanket where she's just like, this is this is my thing now
00:52:48
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well,
00:52:48
MARY BITCHMAS
I mean... ah yeah sorry, go ahead.
00:52:51
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well, actually, that that brings up a point about home renovations and seeing the possibilities that I've always noticed with homeowners. When you're fresh to a home, when you're new, you see it every possibility. I'm going to knock out this wall. We're going to do this. I'm going to do that. going put that porch on and we're going to paint it. We're going to rip out the windows. We're going to put a dungeon in, whatever. whatever you
00:53:15
Home Owner #2
That took a hard left.
00:53:15
MARY BITCHMAS
Excuse me, what? That's true.
00:53:16
Home Owner #2
That was Freudian. You know, now that I think about it, Paul, we've been friends, what, fucking close to 10 years? I've never been in your basement. What's down there, buddy?
00:53:25
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah We're going to talk about we'll talk about that in the after show.
00:53:25
Home Owner #2
What's going on?
00:53:25
MARY BITCHMAS
That's true.
00:53:26
Home Owner #2
so Is that the after show?
00:53:35
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So when people are new, they want to put a dungeon in their house. But then as as you get as you get that that warm, cozy blanket, like as it becomes more and more familiar, you just accept the the the the imperfections and idiosyncrasies. You just accept them. Like, that's my house.
00:53:52
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And they become invisible. And you don't, I think over time, you you lose that fire in your belly to like improve this and improve that knock out this wall.
00:54:04
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So have you guys noticed that?
00:54:06
MARY BITCHMAS
I've noticed that a little bit in... I mean, i haven't been here that long. I've lived lived in this house for two months so far, so it's still way too new. But I remember like when I first bought it, i was like, oh, I'm going to like level all the floors. I'm going to make sure, you know, like whatever. And was like, this house is so old. like It's been standing for this long. It does not need to be leveled. like sure ah Because I've not lived in a house that is this old before and like has all of these...
00:54:34
MARY BITCHMAS
ah things to be addressed so like I know houses settle I but my mind i was like I'm gonna fix all this but now I'm just like there's no way I'm gonna do that there's just no need first off and yeah and like if it was structural sure that's something else that's something to be addressed but like it's been standing for this long it's not gonna fall down
00:54:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
That's what I'm talking about, right?
00:54:51
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Sure, sure.
00:54:56
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah. Yeah, my brother-in-law recently said to me, have you noticed that huge crack in the stairwell? And I was like, yeah, it's fine. fine.
00:55:03
Home Owner #2
It's fine.
00:55:04
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
it's fine
00:55:05
Home Owner #2
It's, you know what? Hasn't fallen down yet.
00:55:07
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
No, it's only like an inch wide. It's fine.
00:55:09
Home Owner #2
Yeah, don't fall in.
00:55:09
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah All right. So, you know, I did a little research prior to this episode on like, you know, DIY and and what percent of people do their own work.
00:55:17
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh, what a surprise.
00:55:19
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Imagine that. ah Americans spend apparently over 600 billion with a B dollars annually on home renovation.
00:55:30
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So it's like almost a trillion, maybe like half a trillion.
00:55:32
MARY BITCHMAS
What year was that?
00:55:34
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I don't know, actually.
00:55:35
MARY BITCHMAS
I'm curious if it's still the case be given the economy.
00:55:35
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I don't have a year.
00:55:37
Home Owner #2
I'd also I'd also be really curious if you took the top like 5% out of that, what what that turns into, you know?
00:55:43
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
00:55:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Sure, sure. And they said an estimated 75% of homeowners attempt DIY projects themselves. So three out of four people.
00:55:53
MARY BITCHMAS
How many of them finish it?
00:55:54
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
that That I don't have the stat and I would love that stat. They said most people do it for cost purposes. That is like the primary driver.
00:56:01
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, that makes sense.
00:56:02
Home Owner #2
sure. sure
00:56:04
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
um And I think it varies whether you DIY by your generation. So I sort of looked at generationally.
00:56:11
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm.
00:56:11
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And so let's say but baby boomers, right? They were born, ah you know, that's the generation older than me. It would be my parents' generation. um I'd said most likely to hire professionals, probably because they're old and have money is my guess, focusing on major renovations for age in place adaptations, but still do some DIY though ah less than the younger generations.
00:56:31
Home Owner #2
no
00:56:34
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Makes sense. They're older. They have the money to pay for it. Totally makes sense to me, right?
00:56:37
Home Owner #2
Well, I think also as they age, they are probably aging out of some of the things that we would consider DIYing ourselves. And they're like, our our bodies just can't do that anymore.
00:56:45
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah. Right.
00:56:47
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
right
00:56:48
MARY BITCHMAS
Also, just like accessibility to information, our generation is so used to looking stuff up.
00:56:51
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay, Mary, you just teed up the next.
00:56:54
Home Owner #2
Hmm.
00:56:54
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay, so hold hold that thought. Stick a pin in that. So next after baby boomers is Gen X. That's me. All right. My generation. Often rely on spouses and partners to help them do things.
00:57:05
Home Owner #2
Hmm.
00:57:06
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It's just totally fucking true. Vicky like my wing woman on every project.
00:57:12
Home Owner #2
Yeah?
00:57:13
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I mean, totally. She's right there with me. And if she's not, i'm like, dude, where are you? I need you.
00:57:19
Home Owner #2
ah so
00:57:19
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah. it's it I couldn't believe it said that because that is us to a T. We do that we do the projects together, the two of us, everything, side...
00:57:24
Home Owner #2
Hmm.
00:57:27
Home Owner #2
That's actually really fucking adorable.
00:57:29
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
well
00:57:30
Home Owner #2
That's... Hmm.
00:57:31
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Honestly, Eric, I need the help. i can't I can't figure out all the problems and like reach for all the tools and go get things. and I really do need her help to hold things. and like you know You just need more than one pair of hands.
00:57:45
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah Less likely to DIY complex tasks than their younger groups, but more than boomers. So somewhere in between.
00:57:52
Home Owner #2
Yep.
00:57:52
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
all right right Now, you guys are millennials? Yeah.
00:57:56
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, course.
00:57:56
Home Owner #2
yep
00:57:56
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay, millennials. High engagement in DIY. Completing many projects around five per year, often to save money and build equity using digital tutorials heavily. Mary.
00:58:09
MARY BITCHMAS
yeah of course Yeah, the number of times where my parents have asked me something and I'm just like, just Google it. And they're like, they, it never crosses their mind to ever Google something. Although my tat my dad has discovered ChatGPT, which is both a blessing and a curse.
00:58:25
MARY BITCHMAS
But, uh...
00:58:25
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah
00:58:27
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, I mean, why wouldn't why wouldn't you? like Everyone has so many tutorials of how to do shit all different kinds of way on YouTube. Of course you're going to attempt to it.
00:58:38
MARY BITCHMAS
Because if you're going to attempt it and it goes wrong, then call someone. But like it is kind of crazy to not make that initial first pass. Okay.
00:58:45
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Can we come back to your dad and chat GPD?
00:58:48
Home Owner #2
yeah, yeah, yeah. That's an after show moment.
00:58:50
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
He's like, how do I get my Asian daughter to admit she was wrong?
00:58:57
MARY BITCHMAS
and then I Hachi Bati like how do I get my Asian parents to admit that they were wrong yeah I could see that
00:58:58
Home Owner #2
And then, and then Chad GBT is like, well, are you an Asian parent? Well, let's start there.
00:59:06
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I'm sorry. There is no answer to your question.
00:59:10
Home Owner #2
yeah One cannot divide by zero.
00:59:13
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And then we have Gen Z, the youngest generation, which is as high digital fluency, TikTok, YouTube, but sometimes lacks traditional skills leading to hiring pros for basic tasks, like changing bulbs.
00:59:21
MARY BITCHMAS
yeah i could see that and
00:59:25
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I'm not sure about that, but...
00:59:27
Home Owner #2
Okay, so so let me ask this, because as you're saying this, like I'm thinking less necessarily about like the generational aspects of how we grew up and and more just maybe where we are as a generation in this moment, where like flashback 30 years, I feel like we remember our parents, and maybe everybody's parents are different, obviously, but...
00:59:54
Home Owner #2
Cars came with manuals on how to repair them and they attempted shit, you know, they and they, and they like took out a window and they tried to put a new one in.
00:59:58
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
01:00:03
Home Owner #2
um And if it went wrong, they could call somebody to come replace them. And then as they've grown older, they can't physically do those things anymore. And the Gen Xers might be at a place where like,
01:00:13
Home Owner #2
they're still capable of doing things, but they know like, hey, if you've again, if you've ever been under a sink replacing some shit and trying to so pull out some so like if you've ever bitched about people using plastic parts in plumbing and then you've not tried to take out a frozen brass component under a sink, go fuck yourself because you don't know how difficult that is.
01:00:37
Home Owner #2
And hey, you don't want to get up out of a sink cabinet when you're lying on your back at a weird angle. So you go, hey, Vicky, could you hand me the fucking wrench right there, please?
01:00:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yes. That's why you need your wing woman.
01:00:46
Home Owner #2
Totally fair.
01:00:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, totally.
01:00:47
Home Owner #2
Totally fair. And now now millennials are at a moment where we have gotten into the home buying process.
01:00:48
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Totally.
01:00:54
Home Owner #2
And of course, there's arguments to be made about how these things are getting pushed later and later in life. But we're firmly in the home buying stage. as a generation. And we go, shit, we just spent all our money on the house.
01:01:08
Home Owner #2
Maybe we just figure it the fuck out for a minute.
01:01:10
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm.
01:01:11
Home Owner #2
And Gen Zers are where we were 20 years ago, 15 years ago, where everybody was like, millennials are so lazy.
01:01:13
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
01:01:17
Home Owner #2
And now I see all these TikToks about how we as millennials were like, we would show up to work not even hung over from the night before, still fucking drunk. And like having a real, we're fighting for our lives in the bathroom, trying not to throw up, but we had a work ethic. And it's like, did we?
01:01:33
Home Owner #2
Because that's what Gen Zers are going to be saying about themselves in 15 years.
01:01:40
Home Owner #2
I'm just wondering if this is, if this is just the flow of life, I guess, you know?
01:01:43
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I think it is because every generation seems to say the same thing. Now, one thing that that became clear to me about that assessment of like the different generations and how much they do is like, well, the boomers kind of knew how to do stuff.
01:01:46
Home Owner #2
Yeah.
01:01:57
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It was more part of their general lexicon, right?
01:01:58
Home Owner #2
Yeah, they they were taught to repair things.
01:02:01
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yes.
01:02:01
Home Owner #2
Yeah.
01:02:02
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Me as Gen X, we were an in-between. We were a transitional. We were the first computer. We were the first generation to grow up with computers. I was the first computer kid.
01:02:14
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I remember when the internet started. like It's crazy to say that. I was in college when the internet started. um
01:02:21
Home Owner #2
Back back when they were still in the classifieds?
01:02:21
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
That's nuts.
01:02:23
Home Owner #2
Is that how you found out about the internet?
01:02:24
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
01:02:25
Home Owner #2
They put a classified out in the Boston Globe?
01:02:28
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
For those that don't have the video feed, I'm flipping Eric off. um But ah one thing that became clear to me is that when I bought my house, Hal, who was, i don't i don't I think he's even before the boomer generation, like he was 80 at the time, and that was a while ago.
01:02:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
He took it upon himself to give me the gift of knowledge, like showing me this is how you solder copper pipe. It's not that difficult. you You cut it, you steel wool it, you flux it, you heat it, and you put the the solder in and you test it. Like, no problem. And he showed me, and we tried it a bunch of times.
01:03:04
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
This is how you wire electrical. He showed me. This is how you would work. He showed me. He gave me like this incredible. incredible gift of like every project on my house that I had.
01:03:15
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
He was there. He's like, I'm in, let's let's figure this out. I'll show you. And it was like such an incredible gift as a new homeowner. I was so thankful. And he would, he gave, he gave me the ability to feel like I could do anything. Right.
01:03:31
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And I've carried that on because i do all my own plumbing. I do almost all my own electrical, as long as it's fairly simple. I won't i won't change a box out, but I will add circuits and like you know do some basic electrical. Of course, he was an electrical engineer, so he told him told me the code.
01:03:47
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
you know So plumbing, electrical, you know structural. He gave me that gift. And now now the people who bought his home, this is really interesting. The people who bought his home, they're like 20, they were 27 at the time. This is about a year or two ago.
01:04:00
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I think they're 28 or 29 and they don't know how to do any of that, right? Of course, when did they have the time? They're only 20. They're like in their fucking 20s, right? like When did they have the time to figure this stuff out?
01:04:14
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So one of them says to me, you know, our Porsche is rotting. What do we do? And I come over and I look at their porch and I built my porch, you know, and that was a total fucking debacle. And I'll tell you about that another time.
01:04:30
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
um But no, no, it worked out well in the end. But boy, was I scared. And I'll bring that up. But I said, OK, the first thing we have to do, you know, and I kind of took them through. I'm like, it's easy to change the floorboards. But the question is, is the structure is the structure stable and safe?
01:04:45
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Right. Is it you know, can you just change the floorboards? And I'm like, that's a more complex question. So we're going to have to take some up and look at the frame and just see how see how things are. And I taught him. i you know i said, what kind of flooring do you want?
01:04:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Do you want like super quick, easy ah Home Depot pressure treated? Or do you want cedar? Or do you want like ePay? like like the Rolls Royce of wood, right? in In terms of, and one's like $1,000 and one's $3,000 and one's $5,000 in terms of just material.
01:05:18
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And I give them the credit. They opted for the most expensive. They're like, we love this home. We want to do right by it.
01:05:24
Home Owner #2
Well, in fairness, if they're 27 and they just bought a home, they probably got money to do eBay decking. Like, I'm assuming.
01:05:29
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
No, no. they I mean, they just, they know, and they just had a baby too.
01:05:31
Home Owner #2
No?
01:05:33
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It's like, ah you know, I, I,
01:05:34
MARY BITCHMAS
yeah
01:05:35
Home Owner #2
I'm not trying to shit on them. just...
01:05:36
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
No, but they're like, we want a budget for things that matter to us, which is quality in our home.
01:05:40
Home Owner #2
Hmm.
01:05:41
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And so he didn't know how to do woodworking. And I showed him, I'm like, we have to drill pilot holes. We have to do this. And i showed him how to install decking. And we did the first half of the deck together. And I felt like I was able to pay back some of that knowledge that like Hal gave me.
01:05:54
MARY BITCHMAS
Aww.
01:05:55
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And the ironic part is it's on his house.
01:05:56
MARY BITCHMAS
That's sweet.
01:05:58
Home Owner #2
And I was going to say, and putting it back into his home.
01:05:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh, yeah.
01:05:59
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, that's so sweet.
01:06:01
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It's the new owners of his house. It's so crazy. And some of the tools he gave me are the tools we're using to teach his new homeowners how...
01:06:10
Home Owner #2
That's a nice full circle moment.
01:06:11
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And the best part is when his name's Aaron, ah the husband, he finished the deck... And his wife's standing there with a baby, only like eight months old.
01:06:23
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And he finished it. And he remarked to me, he's like, I have such a sense of empowerment that now that I did this, I feel like I can do so much more in my own home.
01:06:30
Home Owner #2
a
01:06:35
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I just didn't know.
01:06:36
MARY BITCHMAS
That's how it starts.
01:06:37
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yes. And i was like, this is it. Yes. Like this is the gift that Hal gave me. And I was even even in small part, I mean, I haven't told him electrical and plumbing and all that, like at least in terms of woodworking, I could like pay that back and and see that younger generation.
01:06:53
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
it says millennials, you know, they use a lot of technology, but they don't really have the skills or Gen Z. He's kind of on and the edge of Gen Z.
01:06:59
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, you've become his Hal.
01:07:01
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yes, and it it feels so it feels really good to me.
01:07:02
Home Owner #2
oh
01:07:05
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And they're taking us out to dinner at the end of this week to thank us. it's it's It was such a feel-good story because it came full circle over 20 years, and I couldn't believe it
01:07:08
MARY BITCHMAS
Aww.
01:07:16
Home Owner #2
Hmm.
01:07:16
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah. See, i wish I had someone like that. I think that the...
01:07:20
Home Owner #2
Well, that's a big part of it.
01:07:20
MARY BITCHMAS
Actually, my... oh
01:07:21
Home Owner #2
We didn't have people like that.
01:07:24
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, well, see, the reason my parents are so incapable of anything handy that my brother and I both took it upon ourselves to try to be as handy.
01:07:24
Home Owner #2
Like it like
01:07:35
MARY BITCHMAS
I mean, i'm not like the most handiest, but I am handier than i think like an average person.
01:07:38
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
You're pretty handy, Mary.
01:07:38
Home Owner #2
you're you're handier than you give yourself credit for for sure.
01:07:40
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mary, you're pretty handy.
01:07:40
Home Owner #2
Yeah. yeah
01:07:41
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Is that handy or handsy, Eric?
01:07:42
MARY BITCHMAS
mean, I went to school –
01:07:43
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
In his dungeon.
01:07:44
Home Owner #2
Well,
01:07:45
MARY BITCHMAS
That's Eric.
01:07:48
Home Owner #2
how did I take a stray there? What the fuck did I do?
01:07:51
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
in his dungeon
01:07:53
Home Owner #2
okay
01:07:56
MARY BITCHMAS
But my brother and i like saw how incapable our parents were, that we're like we have to make this part of our like personalities of like trying to learn as much as possible. of like how do I can't fix cars. My brother can. But like ah woodworking and like I went to school for architecture and like even just like knowing how to switch out a light fixture or like anything.
01:08:15
MARY BITCHMAS
And then, of course, that comes back to bite me in the ass when I go back to my parents' house and they're can you swap out all this?
01:08:19
Home Owner #2
Oh, that's the way of it.
01:08:21
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh, goddamn.
01:08:22
Home Owner #2
That's the way of it.
01:08:22
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
01:08:22
Home Owner #2
my My mom does the thing now where anytime she needs something changed out, she'll ask me. And then when I do it, ah she'll turn to her friends and be like, yeah, so we did this over here.
01:08:32
MARY BITCHMAS
We are.
01:08:33
Home Owner #2
And I'm like, my bitch, I love you.
01:08:33
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
01:08:34
MARY BITCHMAS
we
01:08:35
Home Owner #2
But who the fuck is we? What? ah what that's I hope. and Am I using the royal we? What's happening here? ah But I, Paul, the the story about Hal and your neighbors is is genuinely really lovely and heartwarming.
01:08:49
Home Owner #2
And I'm glad that that had that full circle moment. But I think a lot of the um criticism that our generation took early on was based on the fact that, number one, the schooling system made a huge push when we were younger toward technology education.
01:08:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
yeah
01:09:06
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, white collar, so to speak.
01:09:07
Home Owner #2
You know?
01:09:07
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm.
01:09:08
Home Owner #2
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:09:08
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, yeah.
01:09:09
Home Owner #2
Well, in in, you know, we were in a transition moment of like information and technology advancement is the American economy.
01:09:11
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yep.
01:09:17
Home Owner #2
And so let's get as many people into that as possible.
01:09:18
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
That's right.
01:09:20
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
That's right.
01:09:20
Home Owner #2
And so a lot of people who like to work with their hand, or I should say people who were not good at sitting at a desk for a long period of time were shunned and and put into like, you know, ah quote, yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:09:26
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah. Yes. The tech, the tech ed classes.
01:09:33
Home Owner #2
Vocational education.
01:09:33
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, vote right, for the dumb kids, right?
01:09:35
Home Owner #2
Yeah, yeah, yeah, right.
01:09:36
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
That that that was totally it, yeah.
01:09:36
Home Owner #2
Exactly. Exactly. And on top of that, when ah like things actually came up, there were very few people who were willing to actually show us how to fix things.
01:09:51
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
01:09:51
Home Owner #2
So so we lacked that. and And then as we grew older, we came into the necessity of fixing things. And that's how we got into it. And it's the same critique that's happening of Gen Z right now, which I do think is unwarranted of like,
01:10:04
Home Owner #2
Give them 10 years, give them 15 years. And then they're going to be figuring out how to change out ah switches and sockets and, you know, how to sweat a pipe because you do you know how expensive trades folk are going to be in 15 years because there's like seven of us left.
01:10:19
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
01:10:19
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yes. Yeah. There's, they don't return the calls. They're so busy. They don't give a shit.
01:10:24
Home Owner #2
Yeah, yeah, of course.
01:10:25
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, that's true.
01:10:26
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah. Right. Mary. Yeah.
01:10:28
MARY BITCHMAS
Yes, it's been a getting a contractor to agree to a date and being on time for that date is like, it's so rare. It is so frustrating.
01:10:38
MARY BITCHMAS
And and as someone,
01:10:38
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mary getting stood up for a date. Is that what I just heard?
01:10:42
MARY BITCHMAS
as someone who likes to schedule things and have people be on time, it is infuriating for me.
01:10:49
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well, you know, my daughter is 18, right? and And I had to make a conscious decision about like, do I try and force her hand to like learn some of these skills?
01:11:01
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And, um you know, no.
01:11:03
MARY BITCHMAS
Does she know how to swap out a tire? Okay.
01:11:09
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Uh, probably not. No, but, but she has seen me do almost everything as she's been living in this house while I've been doing major projects. And she's been a little part of them here and there. And of course I taught her some woodworking in the shop.
01:11:23
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And so I feel like, look, she may not enjoy it. And right now she doesn't, I know she doesn't. Right.
01:11:28
Home Owner #2
Of course, she's a teenager.
01:11:29
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
But at least she knows what's possible. It's impossible on her own. It's in there. I know the information is in there. She's seen me do it. She's seen the work ethic. She's seen like you can figure this out yourself. You don't have to necessarily hire someone.
01:11:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It's in there. So I know at the when the time is right, she'll be like, I think I can figure this out.
01:11:49
Home Owner #2
Well, and and as we've talked about before on the pod, you and her are very similar, you know, I think it might be slightly different if you were entirely different personalities, like my my brother and sister.
01:12:04
Home Owner #2
um ah hard to say they have a handy bone in their body, you know, but like like it's I'm more like my father than, than they are. And i grew up watching him. I can't say fix everything, but, uh, he definitely took things apart, you know,
01:12:22
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well, I mean, that's half of it, right?
01:12:23
Home Owner #2
but, but sure, sure, sure. ah but watching him do that, like uh,
01:12:31
Home Owner #2
I have never lacked for confidence in the arena of I can figure out how that goes together and I can recreate that, you know?
01:12:39
MARY BITCHMAS
i thought you were going to end your sentence after after I've never lacked for a confidence.
01:12:39
Home Owner #2
And I've never lacked for confidence. Full stop. That's a t-shirt.
01:12:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah Oh, that's it.
01:12:45
Home Owner #2
That's our next t-shirt. But it's just...
01:12:47
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
That's today's t-shirt. I've never lacked for cup.
01:12:48
Home Owner #2
but
01:12:49
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And it's Eric's face, just like smug
01:12:51
Home Owner #2
it's yeah
01:12:54
Home Owner #2
I think there's enough people who critique me for that on the internet. to that We don't need to promote that. um But, but yeah, Paul, to your point, I think just being around it, like, of course, right now she doesn't like it.
01:13:06
Home Owner #2
and And there are probably some things that like forcing her hand to learn is a good thing. Like to Mary's point, swapping a flat tire. Like that's a thing that's good to know, but yeah,
01:13:15
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
01:13:15
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm.
01:13:17
Home Owner #2
there will come a point in her life where whatever this is what I always said when I was teaching um middle schoolers woodshop because it was mandatory for the middle schoolers.
01:13:27
Home Owner #2
I was always like, I don't care what you do for a living. I don't care if you're a lawyer. I don't care if you're a doctor. I don't get whatever it is. There's going to come a point where you own a home and the the the socket dies or or the switch dies or whatever, or you got to swap out a sink.
01:13:46
Home Owner #2
And you've been in this classroom and you've used a drill and you've fucked around with with screwdriver. Like you you have a basic understanding of how mechanical things go together. And you might just have that moment of like, I could probably figure that out.
01:14:00
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm.
01:14:00
Home Owner #2
You know, you know that it's possible. And that's what you're doing for your daughter right now is you're just showing her that like, even if you don't know the thing, you know that the thing is figureoutable.
01:14:02
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, totally.
01:14:09
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yes. And that that confidence goes a long way to even trying it. Now, Mary, want to put something on the record. Mary, you but but let's, I want to put this down on the record because like this whole, like what Eric, what you said about like ah when you were young, like the, the pressure to be like tech and, and like white collar, ivory tower shit.
01:14:29
Home Owner #2
Hmm.
01:14:32
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And like the vote tech was kind of shit on like, I want to just set that like of right in the center of the table for a minute because i have seen both sides with eyes wide open, right?
01:14:48
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Like my science job is about as ivory tower as it gets, right? And I've been in that for a long time. And I've also been under my sink cutting the the water supply pipe by accident, right?
01:15:03
Home Owner #2
Mm-hmm.
01:15:04
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
With my 80-year-old neighbor showing me how to use a hacksaw. um And I've done woodworking now for 20 years and tried to earn money at it. And I felt the pain of of, you know, how hard it is to be on your feet for eight, 10 hours wrangling huge slabs of wood and making mistakes and just keeping that physical motivation. Like I've seen both sides of this coin.
01:15:32
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And I can't express how unfair I think it was all along that the white, the sort of the white collar was like the, you know, so put on a pedestal and the blue collar.
01:15:47
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm using those terms and I don't love those terms, but I'm just using them just to conjure like in our minds.
01:15:51
Home Owner #2
Yeah, they're they're generalities, yeah.
01:15:53
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay. I just, I'm so pissed that, Having seen both sides pretty clearly, they're both hard in their own right.
01:16:04
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
One is not necessarily more valuable than another. One is not necessarily more difficult than another. I think they're both they both have their difficulty. Mary, you you are i very i feel like you're very similar.
01:16:19
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
you've You have a very white-collar education and and job, and you have been fucking making shit for years.
01:16:28
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
01:16:29
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
i i feel I feel like you see what I'm saying. They're both hard. they're There's not there's not a hierarchy here.
01:16:33
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, they they both, and a lot of people are trying to say, like, oh, one is, like, working your brain, the other is more manually, but that's not true, necessarily. One is, well, yes, one is probably only working your brain, the white-collar one, but, like, the blue-collar jobs, and I also don't love that term, but...
01:16:51
MARY BITCHMAS
that it is there's so much kind of like creativity in those jobs that you don't understand because nothing is going to be exactly the same nothing is like a easy answer I mean sometimes it is but um often this is every time I hear a contractor be like what the fuck is this and then I'm just like oh no that's more money going down the drain yeah exactly
01:16:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
That's right.
01:17:11
Home Owner #2
Oh, that's that's my favorite game. Oh, well, I don't know who did this before me, but if I was this guy, wouldn't have fucking done it this way.
01:17:17
MARY BITCHMAS
yeah exactly
01:17:20
MARY BITCHMAS
Exactly. I was like, every time I heard that, I just like groaned in turn like, oh my God, it's more, more of my money going, going towards this guy. I already know it. But like, I always see, I always hear them say that. And then they have to like figure out like how to get around what the last person did.
01:17:34
MARY BITCHMAS
Like I, these are things that sure I could do, but it would take me so long and so much like, i don't know. There's so much expertise in the number of hours that they've worked.
01:17:43
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yes. An experience in knowing like, like ah for I'll give you a great example.
01:17:45
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah. Yeah.
01:17:49
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah We, we picked up a, an antique sink off the side of the road. A friend of ours found this amazing, like beautiful, uh, ah porcelain cast iron sink from the nineteen twenty s on the side of the road.
01:18:03
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And my wife's like, dude, we need this sink. Cause we had a modern shitty Lowe's one from the previous owner. And I was like, yes, yes we do. But the plumbing, it is going to be a total nightmare.
01:18:15
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Like plumbing was not standard back then. Like what the fuck?
01:18:18
Home Owner #2
now
01:18:19
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So a lot. It was like 150 pounds. Yeah.
01:18:19
MARY BITCHMAS
How much did it weigh?
01:18:24
MARY BITCHMAS
Jeez.
01:18:24
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
150 easily, maybe 200. Uh, so I had my wife, of course my wing woman there, uh, cause I'm Gen X, uh, carry. So we mounted it fine. We, we've, we found a mounting bracket at a, at a home renovate, uh, sorry, uh, uh,
01:18:37
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
what he call a restoration like place? And we cut it in half because the spacing didn't match the sink. So we've, I took a hacks, I'll cut it in half and spaced it out. Okay, fine. Problem solved. And then it's like, then it's leaking the wastewater return.
01:18:50
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Like I can't find something that fits it. It just, it's non-standard.
01:18:53
Home Owner #2
Mmm.
01:18:54
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
These are non-standard diameters for the love of God. Like, can we not use standard diameters?
01:18:57
Home Owner #2
Mmm.
01:18:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Right. And it, and nothing's working. And so we go to this local oldie time plumbing supply store and there's an old, there's an old timer behind the counter and we tell him the problem. And we're like, we cannot find a pipe that fits this. I don't understand.
01:19:13
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And he's like, listen, this is what we used to do. You take string, right? And you dip it in Right? And in the gap between the two where it doesn't fit and wastewater would come at, this is not a non-pressurized fitting.
01:19:28
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Of course, this is just wastewater. So it's just gravity.
01:19:30
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm.
01:19:31
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
He's like in that fitting in that gap between the two pipes, you just put a big wad of this waxed up string and you just stuff it in there. And I I'm looking at him like, really?
01:19:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Is that what you do? He's like, I guarantee it'll work. And so I was like, okay. So we go home with this $2 bill. wad of cotton string dipped in wax and we fucking stuff it between the two pipes.
01:20:00
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
That was 10 years ago. It hasn't leaked a bit.
01:20:01
Home Owner #2
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
01:20:03
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And I'm like, fuck, like there is just some great, there's great wisdom, Mary, like you were saying, like in these trades, it's, it there's creativity in terms of problem solving the, the, the level of expertise and experience. There's just no way you can get that without paying your dues in the field. Right.
01:20:24
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And I think this is highly undervalued from that community.
01:20:28
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh, yeah, for sure.
01:20:30
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So that, sorry, that was just my soapbox moment. Having been on both sides of that coin.
01:20:33
Home Owner #2
No, was just sitting back enjoying listening to you guys talk about it. It was a, it was a good time.
01:20:36
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well, Eric, i i feel like there's not a ton of people who can speak from both sides. and I feel like Mary and i certainly have. And you too.
01:20:47
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
i mean, you too. to so Eric, come on. You're a college grad. Get out of here. um I know you.
01:20:52
Home Owner #2
Sure. Sure. Yeah. But like, I've never, I've never held an office job, you know?
01:20:57
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, but but anyway, I just, all right.
01:20:58
Home Owner #2
Um,
01:20:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So one one more question before we move to lightning round, which we're going to do next. um Well, actually two questions. The first one is like renovation fatigue.
01:21:13
MARY BITCHMAS
yeah
01:21:13
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
You decide to do a project, right? And you're like, you're into it. And then after like three weeks or a month and you just want to die. Have you guys felt renovation fatigue before?
01:21:23
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah. ah My entire time in this house.
01:21:31
MARY BITCHMAS
Honestly, I think the reason I ah don't enjoy DIY is because i finish a project and yeah, it looks good, but I am just not... like I don't get the same satisfaction out of that that I do making a piece of furniture for some reason.
01:21:46
MARY BITCHMAS
It's just like, it's just not as satisfying to me.
01:21:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I don't either. Same.
01:21:50
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
i agree. Yeah.
01:21:50
MARY BITCHMAS
And I don't know why it's different, but it is for me.
01:21:54
MARY BITCHMAS
And the fact that I just have more and more of that, and I know that I'm not going to be like as satisfied is just kind of exhausting. And like, I just wish I could be making furniture.
01:22:05
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
01:22:07
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Eric, do you get renovation fatigue?
01:22:11
Home Owner #2
So the year was 2011. ah
01:22:14
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I was working on my dungeon.
01:22:15
MARY BITCHMAS
Storytime here.
01:22:17
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
i was working on dungeon number two.
01:22:19
Home Owner #2
Well, this was in my mom's house, so I hope not. ah And Irene had just hit New York. And um she she's about 50 miles north of the city, but still, like that the whole you know area got slammed.
01:22:26
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh, yeah.
01:22:36
Home Owner #2
And um she lives in a raised ranch. It was built in, I think, 62. And the water table lies like a few feet below the foundation.
01:22:48
Home Owner #2
And when that water came up, um it was coming up through the the concrete lower level of the house. So like the whole thing was completely fucked.
01:22:58
MARY BITCHMAS
wow
01:22:58
Home Owner #2
um So we decided in that moment that we were going to tear the whole thing out. And I agreed that I was going to move back up there for a time because this was in that transition period post college where I wanted to go back to school for woodworking.
01:23:14
Home Owner #2
So was like, OK, here's the deal. I'll renovate the basement um if I can turn the garage into a workshop for a time as I kind of figure out this woodworking thing. She was like, great, no problem.
01:23:26
Home Owner #2
So strip the entire thing out, like to the foundation, to the cinder block walls, um, and started from there and it went,
01:23:28
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Thank
01:23:35
MARY BITCHMAS
Was it a finished basement?
01:23:37
Home Owner #2
Well, it's ah it's a split level, right? It's a raised ranch.
01:23:39
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh, oh, okay.
01:23:39
Home Owner #2
So it was the lower level of the house.
01:23:40
MARY BITCHMAS
Gotcha.
01:23:41
Home Owner #2
um So the the whole thing, like once I tore everything out, once we got you know rid of two dumpsters full of of construction debris, um I was i replaced the the wastewater line because that had been tapped. It was copper, so it wasn't cast iron like yours. so But it had been tapped into so many times over the last 50 years by my grandfather who didn't know what he was doing, even though he was a contractor. And my father who was drunk when he did it all, um that like it was useless.
01:24:12
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm.
01:24:12
Home Owner #2
Replaced the electrical and reframed the entire thing, changed the entire layout. And it got to a point, I think it was like four or five months in where it was just like,
01:24:24
Home Owner #2
I don't give a fuck about this job anymore. You know, but um so I think it ended up taking me like,
01:24:29
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh
01:24:33
Home Owner #2
eight or 10 months to finish that whole renovation.
01:24:36
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
gee.
01:24:36
Home Owner #2
But I like at that point, I also, i was working like I had to pay my bills. So I was doing other things.
01:24:41
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
No.
01:24:42
Home Owner #2
Um, but it was, it was a slog in, in what I saw happen was in the idea phase and the design phase in the moving things phase.
01:24:45
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm.
01:24:53
Home Owner #2
Um, I think Mary, this sounds like it might be opposite to your experience. Um, I was really intrigued and engaged in the the puzzle fitting components of it, you know, moving the plumbing, moving the electrical, reframing out the walls.
01:25:09
Home Owner #2
and And then by the time I got to like the third coat of mud, I was like, fuck this shit, man. Let's just bring somebody else. out I'm so over it. And the detail work was not interesting to me at all.
01:25:22
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh, wow.
01:25:23
Home Owner #2
um
01:25:23
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Really?
01:25:23
Home Owner #2
So yeah, like I just, I had no interest in, i I could see what the thing was. And also it wasn't my house, you know, that probably had a thing to do with it.
01:25:34
Home Owner #2
And I had other dreams of like being a woodworker. um But yeah, I mean, eight months into that project and I was like, I, well, I was doing it completely by myself.
01:25:41
MARY BITCHMAS
That's a long time.
01:25:45
Home Owner #2
You know, the only people I brought in was, were people to to help remove the debris when I was demoing.
01:25:45
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
01:25:50
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
01:25:50
Home Owner #2
um So yeah, it was, it was a lot. It was a lot.
01:25:54
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
the you know The common thread I hear from both of you, and my experience too, is I do the DIY, but I don't love it. I want to get back to woodworking. That's good that was like that's the common thread.
01:26:07
Home Owner #2
Yeah, to some extent. And I think that's why I haven't taken on some of the larger projects in my house, like replacing the stairwell that I mentioned earlier, or doing the kitchen, because it's, there are parts of it that are, um I still enjoy a construction project.
01:26:12
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
yeah
01:26:15
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm.
01:26:24
Home Owner #2
But doing a kitchen by yourself will invariably take like a month. And I'm just like, I just don't, I don't care about kitchens. Like, you know, that doesn't, that doesn't excite me.
01:26:36
Home Owner #2
Like I said, I don't give a shit.
01:26:38
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
But it excited my wife, so I did it.
01:26:41
Home Owner #2
Well, if there was the promise of an excited wife on the other side of that kitchen, maybe I'd be more motivated, you know, like maybe there's a bigger payoff there.
01:26:51
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah ah And actually, Eric, you worked on my kitchen for my excited wife.
01:26:55
MARY BITCHMAS
I do
01:26:58
Home Owner #2
I sure did. I sure did. You're welcome, buddy.
01:27:02
MARY BITCHMAS
think that there is a point at which i do I have to be like, I'm not going to do it. I'm going to pay someone to do it.
01:27:08
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
yeah.
01:27:08
MARY BITCHMAS
Because like if they can do it faster than me, and ah I know that they can do a better job, most likely, then I'm just going to wait and save up to be able to pay them.
01:27:09
Home Owner #2
Yeah.
01:27:18
MARY BITCHMAS
Because...
01:27:18
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
yeah.
01:27:19
MARY BITCHMAS
I think for me, especially if it's like a larger job, if it's just me, that's going to be a nightmare.
01:27:22
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
yeah
01:27:24
MARY BITCHMAS
And I'm going to have to live in that too. So if they can get it done faster.
01:27:26
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, that's it. Mary, you have to live in the construction zone.
01:27:28
Home Owner #2
That's part of the fatigue.
01:27:30
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
That's part of the.
01:27:30
Home Owner #2
Yeah.
01:27:30
MARY BITCHMAS
yeah
01:27:30
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
fit So during the kitchen, which took two months, I mean, we went down to the studs, the the the walls, the ceiling, the floor, every piece of trim, the the strip doors, the entire pan, you name it, we did it.
01:27:31
Home Owner #2
Yeah.
01:27:35
Home Owner #2
Yep.
01:27:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
By the end of the two months, we were so, I was, she was pretty good. I was so depressed. I almost needed counseling.
01:27:55
Home Owner #2
Hmm.
01:27:56
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Like almost, like I needed a therapist because it was every day i of just forcing yourself to do hours and hours of work that you really don't enjoy
01:27:56
Home Owner #2
Hmm.
01:28:09
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah for two months every single day because the kitchen the kitchen you need a fucking kitchen in a house and you're living in this construction zone and everything in the kitchen is now in the dining room so you don't have a dining room either so you're like eating in the living room for two months you can barely make food and so you want to get it done as fast as possible it was so the fatigue was so real
01:28:24
MARY BITCHMAS
Mm-hmm.
01:28:33
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah But I mean, she loves it. she She tells me all the time and it's been years. ah Even today, six years, eight years later, she's like, have I told you how much I love this kitchen? And I'm like, me too. I love it too.
01:28:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
But boy, did that hurt. That one really hurt.
01:28:48
Home Owner #2
You know i know, we've talked about this on the show in the past, and probably in the distant past, but this...
01:28:57
Home Owner #2
the The mental engagement of the work that you do the first time you do it is, ah you know, you you can chase that dragon for the rest of your life. And then at some point you develop skill. And then when you do the same thing over and over, for some people, what happens is the that that work becomes monotonous and um like depressing, right?
01:29:21
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And boring.
01:29:22
Home Owner #2
And bored.
01:29:22
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
01:29:24
Home Owner #2
um And so when you're in that state, you know, as I'm not promoting doing work and using drugs, that's not a combination that necessary.
01:29:31
MARY BITCHMAS
What?
01:29:32
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Are you suggesting you take an edible and then do the work?
01:29:32
Home Owner #2
But no no no, no, no, I'm not I'm not suggesting that what I'm saying is like, we've we've talked about how in the past,
01:29:35
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
What are you saying?
01:29:42
Home Owner #2
that the, the engagement, the hands can do things when the brain is not on.
01:29:47
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay.
01:29:48
Home Owner #2
And then once you get two months into a project where all you've been doing is milling wood or laying tile or whatever it is, you're like, ah, I could probably, i could probably have a bourbon at lunch.
01:29:59
Home Owner #2
Like it's probably not a big deal.
01:29:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mary, Mary, I was like, Mary, Mary, where's this going?
01:30:01
MARY BITCHMAS
I feel like like there's a difference between us. feel like there's
01:30:06
Home Owner #2
I'm just saying. maybe Maybe that's why your bricklayer is stoned a little bit.
01:30:11
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
yeah
01:30:11
Home Owner #2
you know like Maybe it just relaxes the mind so it's not the drudgery of it.
01:30:14
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay.
01:30:15
Home Owner #2
Maybe don't judge people for their human experiences.
01:30:15
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
we Okay. So aside from doing drugs before do home renovation, Eric.
01:30:21
MARY BITCHMAS
a difference between
01:30:23
Home Owner #2
this is I feel like this is a unique episode, guys.
01:30:27
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
All right. I have some rapid fire questions for you too. You ready for a little lightning round?
01:30:32
Home Owner #2
Shoot.
01:30:33
MARY BITCHMAS
Okay.
01:30:33
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
All right. This is a segment we used to do, but I mean, Mary's here. We can roll it back to all the old like segments we used to do we're gonna We haven't done a second segment a long we haven't done the second second a long time.
01:30:40
MARY BITCHMAS
The ones that gave me anxiety.
01:30:43
Home Owner #2
We have it.
01:30:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
No, it's been a long time. We're going to do ah lightning, what I like to call lightning round. And so Eric and Mary have to answer and myself will answer quick, rapid fire questions.
01:30:56
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
No long verbose shit. All right.
01:30:58
Home Owner #2
Physically impossible, but carry on.
01:30:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
All right. You ready?
01:31:02
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
01:31:02
Home Owner #2
Go.
01:31:03
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay. What's a trend you're seeing everywhere with houses right now that you think people will regret in five to 10 years?
01:31:05
Home Owner #2
Yes.
01:31:09
Home Owner #2
Color blasting their rooms.
01:31:12
MARY BITCHMAS
Not the right term.
01:31:16
MARY BITCHMAS
ah
01:31:16
Home Owner #2
ah Sorry, color drenching?
01:31:19
MARY BITCHMAS
I guess.
01:31:20
Home Owner #2
Is that the term that you What is the actual term?
01:31:21
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I don't know Eric what does that even mean what what is that
01:31:21
MARY BITCHMAS
ah Yes.
01:31:22
Home Owner #2
All right, so mary Mary has educated me to this trend, which is like where you paint everything in the room the same color.
01:31:22
MARY BITCHMAS
Yes, color drenching is the term, but...
01:31:27
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
what is this
01:31:31
MARY BITCHMAS
It's a trend, but yeah, so i looks like the trim, the walls, the ceiling, everything is the same color.
01:31:32
Home Owner #2
Everything.
01:31:38
MARY BITCHMAS
um But people, its it's not like a, it hasn't been a trend for a specific style of house. So like Victorian style, kind of like Edwardian, that is in line for that. However, people are doing it to houses that don't have that style.
01:31:53
MARY BITCHMAS
So it looks really out of place.
01:31:54
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I see. It's out of place.
01:31:56
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
01:31:56
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay. All right. So color, color drenching. Is that what you called it?
01:31:59
Home Owner #2
Color, color blasting.
01:32:01
MARY BITCHMAS
And then eric Eric called it color blasting for some reason.
01:32:01
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Blasting.
01:32:06
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mary.
01:32:09
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh, God. um
01:32:13
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh, God. I know it's lightning round, i but my mind is blank. I guess.
01:32:16
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Fail.
01:32:18
MARY BITCHMAS
Like. ah
01:32:19
Home Owner #2
Nope.
01:32:20
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh, I think right.
01:32:20
Home Owner #2
Done.
01:32:21
MARY BITCHMAS
ah antique ah Antiquing and thrifting right now is really popular.
01:32:25
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And you think that's going to be passe in five to 10 years?
01:32:28
MARY BITCHMAS
I think it won't be as popular.
01:32:30
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay. Mine is ah gray walls and granite countertops.
01:32:34
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Big thumbs down.
01:32:34
Home Owner #2
Oh yeah, those are already out.
01:32:35
MARY BITCHMAS
um Those are already out, I think.
01:32:36
Home Owner #2
Yeah. Yeah.
01:32:37
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay. ah Ready? Number two. Wallpaper or paint? Mary.
01:32:41
MARY BITCHMAS
no oh Oh, it depends. but Paint for the versatility.
01:32:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Eric.
01:32:47
Home Owner #2
Paint, I will always have an emotional reaction of like grandma's dungeon to wallpaper. yeah
01:32:55
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Now grandma's in the dungeon now?
01:32:55
Home Owner #2
lot of dungeon talk. A lot of dungeon talk. Yeah, she was weird... She was a freak, all
01:33:02
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Grandma's freaky deaky. Grandma's freaky deaky. ah Paint, paint, but I'm edging towards wallpaper. We're going to put wallpaper in that dining room.
01:33:09
MARY BITCHMAS
I do like wallpaper.
01:33:11
Home Owner #2
Don't do it.
01:33:11
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
and We're going to do it.
01:33:12
MARY BITCHMAS
I like wallpaper in very specific scenarios.
01:33:14
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
We're doing it, Eric. Shut up. Okay, next question. Open concept or defined rooms? Eric.
01:33:20
Home Owner #2
Defined rooms.
01:33:21
MARY BITCHMAS
Define rooms.
01:33:22
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Our house is defined rooms and I love it. All right. Mary, keep the original charm or modernize.
01:33:28
MARY BITCHMAS
Keep original charm.
01:33:32
Home Owner #2
Depends on when it was built. Like if it built 1980, don't keep there's no charm in that.
01:33:35
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, that's true.
01:33:36
Home Owner #2
Get the fuck out of here. Yeah.
01:33:38
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay. ah Which is scary? Oh, what would I say? keith youre Oh, um of course, keep the original charm.
01:33:43
Home Owner #2
Obviously, yeah.
01:33:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
but Duh.
01:33:44
Home Owner #2
I assumed you didn't even need to answer that.
01:33:45
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay.
01:33:46
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
01:33:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah. Come on. That's a gimme. ah Which is scarier? For DIY electrical or plumbing Eric Okay, Mary
01:33:52
Home Owner #2
Relationships. Oh, sorry. Keep going.
01:33:54
MARY BITCHMAS
Jesus Christ. It's a fucking therapist session.
01:33:58
Home Owner #2
um Most people, interestingly, I don't think either are scary. I grew up doing both. Most people, interestingly, are more afraid of electrical.
01:34:07
MARY BITCHMAS
I'm more afraid electrical.
01:34:07
Home Owner #2
Where more physical damage can be done to your house through plumbing.
01:34:12
MARY BITCHMAS
that's true
01:34:13
Home Owner #2
It doesn't make any fucking sense.
01:34:14
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, but electrical is, like, for me it's electrical because there's always a chance of, like, death?
01:34:14
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
okay mary
01:34:20
Home Owner #2
Yeah, but if you cut the fucking line, then the breaker will go off and cut the electric to the line. Whereas if you cut a plumbing line, you have to go all the way downstairs and you probably don't know where the fuck your main valve is.
01:34:25
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
01:34:31
Home Owner #2
So now you're all of a sudden flooding your kitchen with a bad intake pipe.
01:34:35
MARY BITCHMAS
and Okay, that's your own fault for not knowing where your main valve is.
01:34:35
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
All right.
01:34:36
Home Owner #2
Yeah.
01:34:37
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, I know where my main valve is, Eric. I use it routinely, so I'm definitely more scared of electrical, although I'm not. i That being said, I'm not scared of electrical in any sense, but I suppose you could die if you make a mistake.
01:34:49
MARY BITCHMAS
You didn't include structural in that.
01:34:50
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh, yeah.
01:34:52
Home Owner #2
Fair point.
01:34:53
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay. ah Manual. Mary, manual. Do you read it or figure it out as you go?
01:35:00
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh, I read it so hard. Are you kidding me? You guys know me.
01:35:04
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Eric.
01:35:05
Home Owner #2
She color blasted that manual. um ah I mean, i'll I'll skim it. Yeah.
01:35:13
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
That means he doesn't read it.
01:35:15
Home Owner #2
No, I'll skim it.
01:35:15
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
All
01:35:16
Home Owner #2
If there are things I don't know, I'll definitely skim it. But most of the time...
01:35:18
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
right. I'm a figure it out as you go with like skim for the like the key points. Workflow. Do you finish one room before you move on or do you do three projects at once?
01:35:26
Home Owner #2
No. Multiple.
01:35:29
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh, I'm learning this because that's...
01:35:29
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mary?
01:35:32
MARY BITCHMAS
I was doing three at once, but now I have to do one at a time.
01:35:36
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I'm a one at a time kind of guy. i can't handle the disorder of three at once. Jobsite, do you clean up every night or do you wait until the project's done?
01:35:41
MARY BITCHMAS
It's too slow for me.
01:35:46
MARY BITCHMAS
No. No.
01:35:47
Home Owner #2
clean Clean up every night.
01:35:49
MARY BITCHMAS
My house has not been clean.
01:35:52
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh, I leave it a shit show until it's done.
01:35:55
Home Owner #2
No, I'll always clean up. There's nothing harder than coming in to a dirty work site and getting shit done early in the morning. Because then the first thing you do is organize.
01:36:05
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
All right. All right. Two more. You ready? Tools. Cordless or corded for power?
01:36:11
Home Owner #2
Depends on the situation.
01:36:13
MARY BITCHMAS
It does, but for the most part, I have cordless.
01:36:15
Home Owner #2
Yeah.
01:36:17
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, it depends. Cordless for quick jobs. Corded for long jobs, I would say.
01:36:22
Home Owner #2
I don't even think it's ah a job. I think it's just a torque situation.
01:36:25
MARY BITCHMAS
yeah
01:36:25
Home Owner #2
Like if we're mixing concrete corded, if I'm nailing up some trim, obviously cordless.
01:36:26
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
01:36:26
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah.
01:36:31
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
All right. Finally, the dream. Is it a historic fixer-upper with character and charm? Or is it a brand new build modern?
01:36:43
MARY BITCHMAS
I don't have to answer this.
01:36:43
Home Owner #2
as As a historic fixer-upper with some charm myself, I'm going to go for old but good.
01:36:53
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
yeah
01:36:53
MARY BITCHMAS
Yeah, that's what I bought.
01:36:55
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah. Yeah, that's what it's what I love. All three of us are aligned on that. All right, and that concludes our lightning round, everyone. Thank you.
01:37:01
Home Owner #2
a
01:37:03
MARY BITCHMAS
I understand why some people want new construction. like I know when Keith was looking, because he's had issues in the past with old homes, like I understand the appeal, but as someone who really wants like charming character and like visual ah like things that are pleasing to the eye, I just can't get behind new construction.
01:37:23
Home Owner #2
I mean...
01:37:23
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
do Oh, Mary, let me ask you, this new modern farmhouse trend, do you think it's here to stay or is it a flash in the pan?
01:37:30
MARY BITCHMAS
Modern farmhouse?
01:37:31
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Have you noticed this new modern contemporary farmhouse trend with all black windows and stuff?
01:37:35
MARY BITCHMAS
i wouldn't i haven't oh I haven't noticed and farm modern farmhouse. I've noticed kind of like a return to almost like traditional style.
01:37:47
MARY BITCHMAS
Like people are really into paneling and kind of ah vintage antique.
01:37:47
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay.
01:37:50
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay. Okay. I'm going to have to show you. There's like a thing up here in New England where it's like farmhouses but done modern with all black windows and black trim. it's ah It's a whole thing up here.
01:38:00
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I'll have to send you some pictures.
01:38:00
Home Owner #2
ah
01:38:00
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh, God.
01:38:01
MARY BITCHMAS
I hate that.
01:38:02
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I'll have to send you some pictures.
01:38:04
Home Owner #2
Hey, Mary, um let me ask you a question. When's the last time you prayed?
01:38:12
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah
01:38:16
MARY BITCHMAS
I know this is going, but ah never.
01:38:19
Home Owner #2
I'm just, I'm, I'm asking, I'm asking about your relationship to the Lord.
01:38:25
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Our lord and savior.
01:38:25
MARY BITCHMAS
Our Lord and Savior.
01:38:27
Home Owner #2
Billiam T. Burkle?
01:38:28
MARY BITCHMAS
phil it yeah Yep, yep, yep.
01:38:28
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
well
01:38:28
Home Owner #2
Yes, indeed.
01:38:28
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
what William Teresa Burkle?
01:38:32
Home Owner #2
Yes, indeed. ah So it's been a hot minute since you've a contributed to the Church of WTV Woodworking?
01:38:43
Home Owner #2
What's your tithing life?
01:38:43
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
chad chad and Chad and Will?
01:38:45
Home Owner #2
as
01:38:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Did we have
01:38:46
Home Owner #2
St. Chad and St. Will, they've been venerated.
01:38:50
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
we have to applaud twist
01:38:52
Home Owner #2
They've been venerated.
01:38:52
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh my god.
01:38:53
Home Owner #2
um So you know I know the Christian church likes to tithe 10%, but um the the reason that Billiam Teresa Burkle is our Lord and Savior is because he tithes 50% on so many of the things that are on sale in his store right now.
01:39:11
Home Owner #2
Um, this is probably far after the fact these things have gone off sale, but we're going to say it anyway. Uh, all chill epoxy products. Definitely. Like he's tithing 50% of the proceeds from those to his own church. I don't know. I feel like my analogy is falling away right now.
01:39:28
Home Owner #2
Um, slabs. Amazing. He sacrifices so many trees to the gods of woodworking, um which is weird because he is among them. um But they're all 50% off as well so that he can maintain a good relationship with the Church of WTB Saints.
01:39:44
Home Owner #2
um And, you know, I feel like you guys should know that all of his slabs and boards are phenomenal. They're beautiful. They're wonderful. worthy of a deity, I would say I don't mean to overstep the bounds, but like definitely if you're trying to build something for, you know, his his holiness.
01:39:55
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mm-hmm.
01:40:04
MARY BITCHMAS
This is a bizarre metaphor.
01:40:05
Home Owner #2
I feel like I feel like you want to go. No. swear you want a girl no ah And you can find you can find the main temple of woodworking at 390 Pike Road in Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania.
01:40:21
MARY BITCHMAS
It's a temple?
01:40:25
Home Owner #2
um And you can tithe ah at WTBWoodworking.com.
01:40:30
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh my God, Eric.
01:40:32
MARY BITCHMAS
Uh, interesting. Things have changed since I last met on
01:40:36
Home Owner #2
you have it You haven't been ah introduced to the cult of WTB Woodworking?
01:40:40
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
To our our Lord and Savior.
01:40:42
Home Owner #2
Praise be.
01:40:43
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay.
01:40:43
MARY BITCHMAS
here. Praise be, Chad.
01:40:43
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well, with that...
01:40:45
Home Owner #2
praise
01:40:47
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
With that, all right, y'all. Well, I hope you enjoyed our episode on home ownership and DIY. This was a little bit of an experiment. We didn't quite know where it was going to go, but I think it it went to some fun places.
01:41:01
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
If you would do us a favor, i just i keep forgetting to ask this, but if you could give us a rating on, say, like Spotify or Apple Podcasts, if you would go to the rating section, it's in the About And give us a rating, whatever that rating is.
01:41:15
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
If it's good, great. If it's bad, great.
01:41:18
Home Owner #2
let me Let me put an addendum on there. um
01:41:20
MARY BITCHMAS
How dare
01:41:21
Home Owner #2
Maybe if you didn't love this episode and it's your first episode you listened to, maybe go back and listen to a couple other ones before you go ahead and put up that rating.
01:41:29
MARY BITCHMAS
you?
01:41:30
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Eric, are you saying this is a bad episode?
01:41:32
Home Owner #2
I didn't say it was a bad episode, but it was maybe not a five-star episode.
01:41:32
MARY BITCHMAS
hu but dario
01:41:35
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
He's hedging. He's hedging. He's hedging. But if you yeah if you enjoy our podcast or you don't enjoy it, please give us a rating because we're all about authenticity here.
01:41:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And if you want the video feed, you know what to do. You can hit us up in the after show, which we'll discuss Mary's dating life. ah We're going to hit that up in the after show.
01:41:53
MARY BITCHMAS
Oh my god.
01:41:55
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I just made that up. We're going to hit that up in the after show.
01:41:57
Home Owner #2
Well, now that's what we're doing.
01:41:58
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
You can... You can hit that up on Patreon. Is that it, Eric? Anything else? Any other notes?
01:42:04
Home Owner #2
I think that's everything. Okay.
01:42:05
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh, we have... Oh, no. That's dated. Okay. Yeah. Sorry.
01:42:10
Home Owner #2
okay
01:42:10
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I was thinking it's time sensitive, but this is not...
01:42:10
Home Owner #2
ah i was I was just going to say, love you guys.
01:42:13
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
01:42:15
Home Owner #2
Appreciate you guys. Thanks for listening. And you know what? Paul and Mary, I love and appreciate both of you too. You guys are both wonderful friends and wonderful co-hosts.
01:42:21
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh.
01:42:24
Home Owner #2
And I don't want to hear no shit from anybody on the internet. Okay?
01:42:29
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
About?
01:42:29
MARY BITCHMAS
What?
01:42:29
Home Owner #2
I don't know why I took that in a hard left direction.
01:42:30
MARY BITCHMAS
Wait, what?
01:42:31
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Whoa.
01:42:32
MARY BITCHMAS
What shit are people talking about?
01:42:33
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I really, i like I liked your moment of appreciation and then it got weird.
01:42:33
Home Owner #2
You guys are wonderful. That's all.
01:42:38
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well, bye.
01:42:40
MARY BITCHMAS
ah now Now I have so much anxiety.
01:42:42
Home Owner #2
That's what we're talking about in the after show.
01:42:42
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
well
01:42:44
Home Owner #2
Okay, bye.
01:42:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
and by