Handy

I have always been fairly handy around the house. I don't see a reason to pay someone else to do what I can do for myself. They don't teach "handy" at school. So I started wondering how I got my degree in "handy". I have concluded the degree was earned by spending time with my father and grandfather. Both were professors of handy.

My grandfather likely begun his training when he bought an old house from an old Cherokee Indian Chief sometime in the 1920's. That old house only had 3 original rooms, a living room and 2 bedrooms - no bathroom or kitchen. As was the custom of the time, when you needed more room in your house, you built on. The old house had at least 2 additions, probably done nearly single handed by my grandfather. He also converted a detached garage on the same property into an apartment for his sister.

To my knowledge, he was never a carpenter by trade. He did work at various dairy farms in the area and could tell you what farm once owned the land a new shopping center or housing development was built on. He finished his full time working life as a salesman for Great Western Paints. I am sure that he had no formal training that prepared him for foundations, framing, plumbing, electrical, and trim carpentry, but he did them all. His principal for a well built house was to use 5 nails when 1 might do.

He passed his knowledge on to my father by doing much of the work required to build a large addition on my childhood home. There were only 2 tasks I can remember were completed by another person. They hired a mason to lay the foundation blocks and build the fireplace and chimney. Everything else was completed by my father's and grandfather's hand, with a little help from a couple of uncles. I still remember them digging out the crawlspace and foundation by hand - something no modern craftsmen would consider doing.

My father repaid his help by lending a hand when my grandfather built an entire house in the Avondale area of North Kansas City. The 3 bedroom, 2 story home was built on family property and served as a rental home providing a second income to my grandfather until years later he offered it to Terri and I for $10,000. We considered the generous offer, but declined due to the location and the routine flooding in that neighborhood. A small creek running in the back of the property would suddenly rise during heavy rains, sometimes enter the home. It was the same creek I fished for bullhead one summer while the home was being built.

These were the large projects the two men tackled. They always handled smaller projects themselves, and it was extremely rare they would pay someone else. Both men re-roofed their own home when approaching 60 years old. Plumbing and electrical work was always performed themselves. I was with them for both the home addition and the build of the Avondale home. I watched and learned. On occasion, I would help when directed. I became an apprentice in handy.

Since those childhood experiences, I continued to develop my handy skills. I initiated small carpentry projects even as a teenager. During my days as a house painter, I witnessed the different trades required to build a house. This was also instrumental in my training. Once Terri and I bought our own home, many opportunities have presented themselves for continued development. All were successful, but many were painful.

One particularly painful project was the replacement of a sliding patio door at our first home. We had bought a new French door. The process seemed simple - remove the trim, disassemble the old door, set the new door, a replace the trim. Once the old door was removed, I found that it had leaked water onto the sub floor which had rotted. I pulled the old carpet back and cut out a section of sub floor. That uncovered water damaged floor joists under the sub floor. That damage was caused by my deck building skills that had trapped water against the floor joist, so I dissembled a portion of the deck.

After replacing sections of floor joist, re-working deck attachments and deck boards, a section of sub floor, reattaching carpet, re-trimming the door, paint, stain and finish, I was done. A weekend project took nearly a month but finished product was great. The lesson learned was best said by Harry Callahan; "A man's got to know his limitations". I now do quite a bit of handy work around my house and my daughter's homes, but I have become selective on what I will do. If I see a big downside, I hire it out. My paternal ancestry is no doubt shedding a tear over my wasteful ways.