"While we're doing this...we might as well..."

[Jim Becker]

Dr. SWMBO participates in an online community called TableTalk and often runs into some pretty interesting articles and information out on the 'net. One she passed on tonight should bring a chuckle to just about any of us who have gone down the home improvement path at least once. (A habit that keeps on giving...)

Here's the article for your own enjoyment. I'm sure there will be some interesting parallels in our collective experience to chat about!

http://www.thelocalplanet.com/Current_Issue/Culture/Article.asp?ArticleID=4939

BTW, this author is very talented and her more current writings (non restaurant reviews) are very entertaining. Her husband, Matt, must be a really good sport

[Chris Padilla]

I like to think of it as the "While yer at it, might as well...."

For me, I skip over this stage and just DO IT. When I remodel, it is hardcore. I'm into GUTTING rooms.

I gutted our 1/2 bath downstairs a year ago. All the drywall came off and the floor was taken to the sub-floor. All the old insulation came out (found mice in the walls as a bonus). All new plumbing went in...all new electrical (lights, fan, switches, boxes, wire, plates)...minor reframing was done...vents were rerouted...copper pipe was insulated...all new insulation...new HVAC cover...fresh drywall...fresh paint...stone tile floor...fancy faucet...home built vanity...corian sink/top...new towel bars...home built medicine cabinet...fancy built-in magazine rack...new base/door moulding.

Sigh, the only things that stayed the same was the toilet (and that was replaced ~3 years before the gut so it was fine) and the door, which received a fresh coat of paint, of course. Oh, the door hardware is the same.

So I just skip the "while yer at it" crap and just dive right in! :D

Oh, and the father of an ex-girlfriend used to say that the first 7 of all of Norm's new projects are stacked up behind the shop...they don't show those ones! :D

[Lee Schierer]

They forgot to add two things. Every part of the project like setting the new toilet requires 3 trips to the hardware store or home center. They also forgot that now that the bathroom is done and looks so nice, the hallway looks shabby and then the bedrooms then the lving room then the den then.....

[Dan Smith]

Boy does that ring true!

I keep telling myself I will be done with the upstairs by fall.... I don't put a year to it though!

-dan

[Chris Padilla]

Fall? Fall of what? :p

[Michael Cody]

Dr. SWMBO participates in an online community called TableTalk and often runs into some pretty interesting articles and information out on the 'net. One she passed on tonight should bring a chuckle to just about any of us who have gone down the home improvement path at least once. (A habit that keeps on giving...)

Here's the article for your own enjoyment. I'm sure there will be some interesting parallels in our collective experience to chat about!

http://www.thelocalplanet.com/Current_Issue/Culture/Article.asp?ArticleID=4939

BTW, this author is very talented and her more current writings (non restaurant reviews) are very entertaining. Her husband, Matt, must be a really good sport


The term in the IT trade for me is "Scope Creep" it is the harbinger of doom for all projects great and small. If left to its natural path it expands the scope to take all money provided and time budgeted then some. One thing you can be sure of is getting a change of scenery often in you project management life if you allow it to happen.