Roger's Home Journal

Freeze-Dried Home Repair

By Roger Faris

The heightened risk of injury is one factor, but a more certain cost of leaping into home repair projects is that they take valuable time away from having fun. This is the season for getting out in the woods, or on the water. Compare the appeal of boating with the drudgery of scraping loose paint from soffits and fascia boards. I've always found that a clear winner and loser emerges. It's useful to remember that the dangerous, unhealthy, and unpleasant repair project can always be postponed to a time in the future.

"Procrastination" is a term that has negative connotations. I prefer "rescheduling." It sounds more upright and responsible, but can still cause some awkwardness when not done properly. A major complication will occur if you postpone or reschedule a task and accidentally mention a fairly defined time when it will be taken up again. For instance, I once made the careless error of stating that I'd paint the house "next year." Next year has an annoying habit of becoming this year after just twelve short months. It's much safer to say that the job will be "rescheduled to a more convenient time."

Another life-enhancing strategy is to be thoughtful in our definitions of things. A botany professor once told me the term 'weed' simply refers to any unwanted plant. By simply loosing my prejudice against dandelions and many other wonders of nature I've been able to eliminate most landscape maintenance chores from my life. All of them, in fact. I've admired how other people are catching on to this, and have posted "wildlife habitat" signs in their un-mowed yards.

With a little help from philosophy we can transform reality to better suit our needs. Far from merely avoiding something we don't want to do, we can, through our inactivity, make the world a better place. When I don't wash the car, for instance, I'm helping to save the salmon from extinction. The moss on my roof slows runoff during heavy rains. My thoughtfulness in leaving this moss where it is may be crucial to preventing terrible destruction from mudslides.

All home repair and improvement projects contribute to the crisis in affordable housing. Perhaps it's time to take a stand and just say "no" to these activities. Sadly, many people don't yet have the wisdom or willpower to stay completely away from remodeling and such. They can be helped by learning the art and science of delay. Plans can be "put on hold" where they can do little harm.

Remember that new technology is always just around the corner. Preserve your options by doing nothing at this time. If you were thinking about starting something, think about how much better it might be to just keep thinking about it. It you've already started something, you might want to pickle it, or soak it in lye (like lutefisk). I have several large containers of freeze-dried home projects. You're welcome to haul them away when I hold my next yard sale, which I've rescheduled to a more convenient time.

Roger Faris is the Director of the Well Home Program at the Phinney Neighborhood Association. The program provides advice, encouragement, tools, and classes for home improvement and repair. Call (206) 789-4993 for information or more ideas about why it might be better to not proceed. For the Home Earthquake Retrofit Program, call (206) 382-2159. Roger advises against postponing seismic retrofitting of your home unless you're certain that an earthquake will not occur...

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