Id be stoked if ya did a bunch of “small finishing job” videos, most of the time diyers are keen to take on the small jobs since they dont necessarily have the knowledge to do a big job.
I found I needed a nearly complete second set of tools to keep my own home projects progressing. The thought of packing up all tools from a jobsite, setting them up at home then packing them up again to get back to the jobsite is quite the psychological hurdle.
So unbelievably relatable and real life. Thank you for making this video! The fatigue is real, I spent 2 years working on my new kitchen, bathroom, floors, and at this point I don't know if I'll ever finish. But when I get home, I don't see a project house, it's just my house... that happens to also be a project. The real test is when friends/family come over. Then I suddenly have a realization that "holy crap this place looks like trash, I can't possibly host people with my unfinished trim, vanity, unpainted doors with janky old knobs" etc. etc. But they all say to me: "we don't care about that stuff, we just want to spend time with you, and look at how amazing your kitchen, bathroom, and floors look. Just have a beer and hang out, no stress." I guess I have good people in my life even though I feel like a failure in my own home! 🤣
Mate, nearly cried, feeling like the only one that doesn’t have a finished house yet, it’s been 2 and a half years - I feel so much better for having seen your video!!! Seriously, so happy to know I’m not the only one
Another builder here with an unfinished house, 5 years into a reno. The untold part of this story is the conversation we have with our partners when looking for a house "... This house is cheaper because it needs fixing up and we'll save money cos i can do it all myself...."
This hit home for me. We are now moved into a house i worked 6 weeks in to get ready and I still have so much work left to do. Shouldv just gone for the more expensive finished house and pay more each month on loan
I'm not really interested in building but I watch all your videos. Two things occurred to me while watching this one: 1. No house built in New Zealand is ever actually finished 2. YOU only "finish" your house when you're about to sell your house
The guy that taught me construction only finally finished his house when his divorce was settling and we spent 2 days finishing up stuff in every room. He built a beautiful kitchen and never got around to putting on the outlet covers. For over 2 years!
ye same here Scott, my mrs says she is fed up of looking at images of all of my work in OTHER peoples houses when ours isnt finished lol...I tell her "A plumbers pipes will always leak a joiners gate will always squeak" 🤣
Don't sell yourself short. If Beau Miles' video of him sorting bolts and screws can get 632k views, videos of you doing little finishing work can kick ass. It's all in the execution. You're both charismatic people yet your humility and frustrations keep it all relatable. Do those mundane videos! We'll watch them!
I redid the flooring in the entry way 2 years ago. I still haven't installed the skirting. That last 10% is always the hardest. There's also nothing more permanent than a temporary solution.
3 stubbies 🍻 in to my Friday night here in Oz 🇦🇺 and I stumble into your vid. What a great way to finish up the week. Great vid too by the way. Cheers, mate.
My father was a mason that had his own general contracting business back in the '80s. My parents bought their first house in 1994. They're selling it now (2024). There's still stuff he never finished 30 years later.
Oh man, too relatable. Especially the infinite Keep note. Every job I intend to start, I find theres 5 steps I need to do beforehand, it feels like the house deteriorates/garden grows/plans change faster than I can keep up with, feel like im spinning plates. Every weekend feels like a race against monday morning. It's a lot.
What a wholesome video Scott and Jess even got in to do her own bit on Milanote, great stuff. From the very beginning you always maintained that in order to save costs you would be focusing full time on building yourself and not taking any new work for the time being and funding this via the various streams of income you had coming in. Granted costs have sky rocketed over the years and funds are depleting so you have to go back to work if you want to finish your home. What I like most however is that both you and Jess are very thoughtful about materials and outcome of the spaces you are creating, after-all this is a place that you will be spending much time in so you want it to be exactly as you both imagined it to be. Just as time makes a wine, so to does the perfect home. Worrying about how long its taking you is trivial, whats important is that you have fun getting there. Keep up the great work both of you and still loving the vids even when they are simply just imformative like this one (",)
Not a builder nor RU-vidr, yup, not getting finished either! Even the tiniest easiest jobs! I wish I could just crunch them down all one day... never gonna happen..
*Jess *I had the same problem with you when I started gardening, I got so excited with growing every kind of vegetable and flower and the garden felt super hectic and busy, and I could not control the invasion of kikuyu grass which was super stressful. I would recommend choosing one spot for growing your vegetables that gets the best sun, planting hedges like native pittosporum or something more uniform around the boundaries that is easy to manage and gives you more privacy, maybe clearing out some of the flower gardens and just planting one fruit tree there and perhaps a few herbs bulbs or comfrey planted next to it and letting the grass grow back. The flowers in pots look really nice. I read a saying in a garden magazine "there are two types of gardeners, crouchers and gazers". Thats really resonated with me. Having hardy shrubs that grow well in your area can be really nice to look at and low maintenance. (what once sounded boring to me is now super appealing) Maybe start saving for your own flower farm? You have a lot of talent there, but I can empathize with how chaotic it can get in a home garden. Sometimes growing a lot of one or two types of flowers also looks less chaotic, and still helps the bee's. We need to have a sense of calm in our garden, and flow. If you can get someone who knows about feng sui or garden design to help with the layout and then you can do the work, this is my plan for our next place, and my big veg garden won't be right next to the house or like taking over the whole lawn. Although a kitchen garden with herbs by house would be handy. There is a balance. I had chickens which drove us completely crazy lol (thanks, Katie.)
Hi Jess and Scott, thanks for being awesome and sharing you skills and renovations with us all. Thanks so much to you Jess, for your review of Milanote and the in's and out's. I have been watching it over and over to learn how to use the Program. Thanks again. Lou from OZ
I finished my house and currently looking for another fixer upper, however, it hasn't been without great cost. I took 4 months off my day-job as a small-scale builder and blitzed the house with 10-12 hour days. This gap away from paid work made my business suffer for the following 2 years. As a 42 year old millennial, my house and fixing it up to sell is my retirement plan. Rinse and repeat as many times as possible until I'm unable to do it anymore. Your house is looking great Scott and Jess.
This is the way to go, just have to be ready for the business to take a hit It’s crazy that it took 2 years to pick up the pieces though Just think, it’s cos I’m invaluable, haha
So relatable. Not a builder, but I'm up to 3 rooms under reno, none finished, two years in. This episode reminded me of a saying: "The cobbler's children never have shoes."
A handyman I know gave me this advice, and it has actually finally got me eating away at that last 2% of finishing stuff -- When you've got a bunch of tiny jobs left, go around and make a list, but then organise it not by room or 'job', but by type -- so like what are you going to need to use the miter saw for? So finishing the bit under your window, cutting the architraves or crown moulding, etc etc. Then maybe all the tiny 'paint' jobs (that might include sealer or caulking the gaps) -- Mostly I'm doing my renos after work, so having everything grouped by what equipment I need has really helped me :)
Yep, this is totally relatable. I've been renovating the house my brother and I own, that he lives in for the past 5+ years, but for reasons, I can only work one Sunday afternoon a week on it. The big things get done, but the finishing takes forever. Add having to do maintenance or urgent repairs as well as renovation, I've got lots of unfinished areas still to finish. I feel Scott's pain 😂
I once worked in a clients house and their bathroom had 3 pull string switches, one for lights, fan and heat lamps. They coloured them to easily identify it i thought it was great
Scott and Jess, this is one of the best videos you’ve ever done. I loved how you interviewed your builder friends and spliced it all in. I hope this episode is wildly successful and you make enough to buy a Japanese heated toilet, they’re marvelous. I’m with you on the costs. During the zero percent Covid years which sparked those massive inflationary pressures in NZ, I got quoted 180K for a simple unlined garage. Another 20k for matched wood with the house and builder only had one two week slot in 2021 to do it. Not their fault at all, material costs had skyrocketed. We’ll be paying that off for years in NZ unfortunately. A couple of observations, 1. Jess was brilliant doing the Milanote set, but did she first whiteboard her overalls from early in the episode using it? They are world class. 2. Secondly, telling your partner not to psychoanalyse this any more is as useful as nail gun without nails. Just let it wash over you and nod every now and then.
Thanks for another great video. I let my Patreon support for you guys lapse a while back. I just re-upped to help keep you able to create more videos I hope more fans will follow.
This has been a great video Scotty & Jess. We have a Bathroom that has been under construction for the past 4 years. I reckoned when I retired I would jump in to it and have it completed in no time. I have been retired 3 years bugger its still not done, You have given me a boost to get on with it. Thank you Scottyand Jess
Very cool that Jess did the Milanote ad. She's a natural! Good luck with the rest of the house! Glad to see you're not done yet so that means there's more videos to come haha.
You two are lovely people! I'm an app designer and former architect and constantly working away on my unfinished house. It's never done because I'm a perfectionist and I think you are too! Other people don't notice or don't care about the stuff we do.
Noticed the house was painted.. Thought when did that happen?. Definitely a Jess colour theme, which looks great and consistent inside and out.. For the back yard, less is best. A lush lawn between your toes feels good. Well placed gardens for what you want to grow, like vege, flower, herbs etc placed according to sun/shade requirements. Mix them up to take advantage of companion planting and food for bees.
I don’t know if its of any help, but I can rent my wife. She will point constantly to all the unfinished things until you fix it. For me it has been quite effective, this is less work to finish things than argue on why this is not finished with her.
Same here yeah. Have a baby, that does help get stuff done before it starts crawling :D. Another thing that makes it take forever to finish building at home is that you tend to want to do it with free materials, so it takes a while to gather all the leftovers from jobs :P
Can 100% relate, especially with the unpainted skirting. I've just finished* decorating our living room - last time it was done was 10 years ago. The skirting I pulled off to fit the new floor had not been painted yet... 😅 * just got to fit scotia around the fire surround, and then it will definitely be done, finally! (Who am I kidding? 😂)
So relatable. We bought our first house when you did. The renovation at this rate is going to be another 7 years. Sometimes it’s hard to walk into a room and get stuck back in. What has been *really* helpful for morale is watching each week how you’re going.
Im a carpenter with an unfinished house.. my brother in law is a carpenter, he bought a house last year, and said "I'm gunna just blitz it, every evening, weekend and holiday day. Be done in a year." Now, a year later, he's a carpenter with an unfinished house too.. 😅
you should save up all the footage from the finishing work around the house and make a long Finishing video for everyone who loves that stuff (me included). A lot of building shows shoot the "exciting stuff" nut never show how it all comes together - in order
I can relate completely... we started our reno in late 2019... still going.... can't even think about the costs, they are insane... Japan is amazing, I lived there for 4 years. Do the travel, the house will wait.
now my wife understand the reason why our house didn't get finished yet after watching this video. Big thanks Scott. This video is my favorite so far in youtube!!!
Wich is the exact truth. I also am a plumber, of course, the beak of the tap is broken, and of course Mrs is still waiting for her bathroom and New shower although most of the supplies are already in the garage. Cause you know, I'm busy doing masonry and roofing work ( with the help of fellow masons and roofers) all around the house. There's an order of priorities, and the bathroom isn't on the top. 😕
Loved the window trim sequence. Amazing shots and editing! That’s why I watch your videos. It’s about carisma, quality, the characters, exotic places, oh and building is a plus. So don’t worry about the content too much, you guys got the gift! Keen on going ❤
In my neck of the woods we refer to this as “the handy man’s burden” or “the builders burden”. You have the tools and know-how to do whatever you want but lack the time, motivation and in some cases finances to actually do it. And/or you keep thinking of ways to improve something that you never actually finish it. Very relatable video!!
Now now, I painted one room of trim and just painted one door! I’ll patch the holes I made when I moved my water pressure tank and softener this winter, and I’ll swap the windows in the master after we….
This was such a blast to watch! We bought a house two months ago, and I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed because I can never seem to finish one task before another one pops up. I guess I will have that feeling for the rest of my life :p
Wow, thanks again for another real vid. Yep, it’s hard out there at the moment, and lots of things half done. Appreciate all the time you do spare for your content. Oh, and love the colour you’ve chosen.
Also, when you work for somebody else, you have a clear plan thats specific to one area (at least in renos) and somebody else is paying. When it's your own house, you have the scope of the whole house, and decisions to make for each and how they impact other parts, then cost, and ultimately you're not getting paid either.
I can totally relate to not coming home from work and doing the exact same work you done all day, at home. My friends who work in offices enjoy doing work at home as it's totally different to the day job
This made me feel better. Last year when I bought my first home, a 90m² apartment, I naively thought I could redo it in 2-3 months. LOL. (What do you mean, real life work takes longer than those sped-up renovation videos I watch? Hahaha). Almost a year later, I've only done about 1/3 of the "essential" renovation.
We worked on our house for 7 years. We took a break 2 years ago. We have 1 room left to finish. Still no pulls on any of the kitchen or bathroom cabinets, and no towel bars. After paying $7 for a 4 pack of TP today, I told the Mr. that it's time to hook up the plumbing to the bidet.
We have just moved into our unfinished reno. I spend most of the time staring at all the unfinished things I have to do or starting other jobs instead of finishing the jobs I’ve already started. Also budget has a lot to do with it 😅 that’s what im blaming any who
