Full speed ahead, life goes on.

Our reno is well underway, but sadly I didn’t finish even one of the small tasks I was hoping to. Thankfully, none of those tasks needed to be completed in order for the reno to get going.

Two weeks in and we’re making great progress on the reno. A friend and I are toiling away on making the basement a little more livable, and I’m happy to say the project is going smoothly. We each have our strengths and weaknesses, but between us we’ve got all the skills needed to sort through all the challenges that come our way.

I’m a bit more of the finer-skills guy, with the expertise needed to be accurate and finicky when necessary. The trick for me is to not get too set on being in that mode, as it’s more of a rut when it’s time for rough, “close enough” work to be done. This is where my friend comes in. I’m sure he could be more accurate if he wanted, but he’s very knowledgeable when it comes to knowing when accuracy and extra care is needed, and when it’s just a waste of time and energy.

So far there have been no surprises. I wouldn’t call myself optimistic, though I also wouldn’t say I’m pessimistic, either. I’d call myself a realist, and I’m great with that title. (A short tangent: Optimists often call someone like me, who self-describes as a “realist,” a “pessimist,” but that’s where I jump in with my stance that the two views are very different. These discussions usually end with nobody budging, but such is life.)

Back to the basement. I almost always work alone in my shop, so it’s a whole new ballgame when I have to work shoulder-to-shoulder with someone else. Luckily, we get along well and each day has moved along nicely. It’s helpful having someone around to grab the other end of a 4′ x 8′ sheet of material when needed or hold a weirdly shaped piece of drywall in place until I get a few screws in it. Working with a partner makes some tasks fly along very quickly.

I think with a couple more weeks we’ll have the bulk of the work done and it will be up to me to start work on a wall-to-wall storage unit, make a sliding shoji screen to separate an office from the rest of the area, and make an interesting mirror and small shelving unit as a functional focal point for the bathroom. Those are the jobs I’m looking forward to the most. I just hope I can complete them in a timely manner, as my track record isn’t necessarily great. I think with a project of this scope, and a one we will surely be looking forward to using once it’s complete, I’ll likely buckle down and be able to finish things off nicely.

Think we can do it? I think so. Maybe I’m an optimist after all.