I remember as a child my grandmother saying two things to me. One, if you have your health, you have EVERYTHING. Two, be careful how you spend your time. It slips away like ether the older you get.
I'm a jack of all trades. From carpentry, electrical, drywall to roofing, concrete and electronics repair. One thing I remember my grandfather say, "measure twice and cut once" (so true) I've enjoyed passing my knowledge on to my kids and now my grandkids. I'd like to think that I've documented my projects with them.
Another wonderfully done story. Thanks for your wisdom and experience. As I am always reminded by friends-"Make it count, how many weekends do you have left?" I started journaling 35 years ago, first just notes on a calander and then to an actual book. I can't tell you much those books mean to me as I have gotten older, not so much for my accomplishments but for those people I would have forgotten about and who made my life that much fuller. Well done, Dave!!!
@@FireflyHill24he could scan them on to an SD card at Walmart and make a slideshow video, then post it on RU-vid. I'd like to get an idea of the layout because I want to do something very similar to what he's done.
Our memories are something that we should never take for granted. My husband has had 10 strokes. They have affected his short term and working memories. Projects take us 100 times longer. We own 10 25' tape measures because they seem disappear into thin air right when you need one. They are strategically placed now so I can easily find one instead of stalling the project.
ALSO, before you start your gardens, please watch “Back to Eden Film.” It will save you a world of trial and error, YEARS’ worth. Paul Gautschi also has “Back to Eden Full Garden Tour” videos from L2Survive channel. It’s a WORLD OF WISDOM in growing ABUNDANT FOOD for your family. God be with you! 🙏🏼
Profound! I am now 71, and as I sit and enjoy the videos, I look out and try to remember some of the great times I have enjoyed. It gets harder every day. I do have some decent photo-records of the times that help. Having digitized them makes it easier to load and enjoy. I regret there are not enough photos of my Navy days, but, well, not much to do about that. A great video, thanks for the “nuggets”
I live in the heart of the Cotswolds, in the UK. I think my life is really quite different from yours. And yet I find it really interesting that the lessons you shared today are as relevant to me as to anyone else. Time is so precious - and the ability to look back on what we've all achieved is a life treasure.
You could not have made a better video. More than ever, your true essence as a person came through. And that's what keeps me coming back to watch the inspiring content you post. Many thanks, Dave.
I had a dear friend of mine who homestead in Delta Junction. He has since passed away but was a hard working farmer who raised his family hunted and raised crops. Steve Holcomb was quite a fella in the short time I knew him I learned so much from him. But he got sick with MS in his middle 50’s had to sell the farm and moved to Florida where he died. Not sure why I’m telling this story Dave but I guess I’m hoping you two might have crossed paths he was a good man. Thanks for the great advice be well my friend 😊
Sorry to read you lost a incredible friend, a talented man also by the sounds of it. Thank you for sharing a brief story of him..he will not be forgotten as you have documented him with us all here,and not forgetting he will always remain in your heart & mind. Merry Christmas 🎄
I also have MS and it is way better now that it was years ago. Nowadays you can control the illness with modern medicine. At least most of the people can (some "versions" of this illness are still pretty bad). It is much easier to live in the city with this illness. Being a active farmer must be very hard with this.
Treatments and outcomes have come a long, long way. Much better management now. My sis had MS 35 yrs and her faith, grace , grits and guts amazed everyone. So happy it’s all pretty much improving for patients. God bless you!
I also have MS since age 25. 59 now. So 34 years the first 25 yesrs were the worst. It's no picnic but has gotten a lot better as far as pain and disability, so for that i am very grateful. Still live with the symtoms, but it sure beats being bedridden, blind, etc, etc, etc. I am blessed compared to many. Ive thought that from the beginning. MS sucks, but there are many things that can be worse. God bless. Its so different for every MS patient. I just do what i can when i can. Made myself so much worse being stubborn the first 20 years. You just have to respect it.@ondrejmanych5688
Dave, you are so right. When we built our home, we photographed everything and often look back and appreciate everyone’s’ hard work. It was a giant family project for us.
I had a Great Aunt that filmed all of our family get togethers for birthdays and weddings and reunions all through the 50's and 60's. One of my cousins got those old "home movies" turned into DVD's for us. My grandkids loved watching them. I wish I had taken more pictures as they grew up. Thanks for sharing.
I used to be a firefighter in Eureka, California. There were a LOT of houses built in the Victorian era from old growth redwood, all balloon-framed. It’s a pretty rapid building style, but hard for firefighters. Since each stud bay is open from the very bottom to the very top, fire communicates up through the wall to the attic and down the wall to everything beneath it. As well, as you illustrate in this video, fire will run the floor/ceiling between levels. That is alleviated with some fire stop blocking, but back in the day they didn’t bother. Our strategy was a crew to the fire floor, a crew to the attic, and a crew to the bottom floor (there were few basements there).
You and your wife has done so much. Many have enjoyed watching you two. Not many like you. Hope your family prospers so you can sit back and relax and enjoy your kids. Prayed for you.
Thanks Dave! I had read about balloon builds but the blueprints were hard to understand. As usual, you explained it so even my little brain could grasp it. You rock!
Great video Dave at 67 and a contractor for 44 yrs this brings back memories! You'd think I would learn after that many yrs I would not put up a 14x16 addition on my little house lol I hurt in places I didn't know I had places lol! Good to see Daisy behind you i miss seeing her!!! Thanks Dave!
I hung sheet rock one winter after years of concrete only work......I used a COMPLETELY different set of muscles for sheet rock than I used for concrete......I hurt all winter
Oh my word!!!!! I always love and enjoy your videos... But this one, this one, touched my heart!!! As a Cardiac Arrest survivor, memory loss is something I now have to deal with... Thank you Dave for the wonderful advice! Thanks again for having an amazing channel. Much success and health to you, Brooke, your kids and everyone watching these great videos
@julieplaggemeyer6118 Good morning! Julie!! Wow 14 yrs!!!!!!!! You're an inspiration for me to keep on going, fighting. Many a times I thought I'll never see a tomorrow. January 14th is my 3yr anniversary of SCA Survival. Thanks for motivating me! Tons of health to you and your family!
I spent 2 years away from my wife and kids with the exception of 10 days or so every few months trying to make a better life for us and other than meeting a few good people and seeing some things I wouldn't have otherwise, I can't think of a single positive thing about that time that could come close to offsetting the things I missed out on at home. I'm about your age and really wish I'd learned the lesson about time before I did that because not only do you not get that time back, it's changed our lives for the worse in many ways and the benefits I'd hoped to get never materialized. Love your channel Dave, thanks for sharing with us.
It's interesting because a lot of the Founding Fathers of America kept extensive journals about their day, what they build, what they grew in their gardens and what tips and tricks they had...all that stuff. Thanks for the reminder!
Another great video,Dave...you're so down to earth. I've ran some rather large construction projects, some close to home that required 7 day work weeks and some that required being gone all week..and as with you, the time spent away from the family was the worst... you just have to remember that you're doing it for them and keep moving forward. Love watching your cabin builds in the silent woods... so relaxing at 72 to watch someone else doing the building in a much less hectic environment. Keep up your video journals, and I'll keep watching... Cheers
Dave, you are a great story teller. Building homes seems so easy for you! Pretty amazing ! It was good to see “da woof” in the background. I’ll say that I also enjoyed your philosophical words at the end 😊. Merry Christmas to you, Brooke and your family 🥰🎅🎄
You were young, we don’t always do or think of the best way! Your life is amazing and you just keep learning. You’ve spent a lot of time showing your ventures, and we sure appreciate every second you’ve shared Dave! Tx so much for sharing. We love it! God’s blessings!❤❤❤❤
Mick will be home for Christmas? Enjoy family time- reminiscing, joking, laughing at bloopers in life, just never forget❤️ Enjoy all building videos and dreaming on what I wish I learned as a young woman. At 78 not going to start, that’s where the dreaming comes in. Love you all and pray for good health for all. Merry Christmas 🎄
Dave, in your description of ballon framing you addressed the important issue of putting in fire blocks. Years ago I was on a volunteer fire department and unfortunately got to see how fast a balloon framed structure with no fire blocks can burn.
When I feel the need to be grounded and serene, I watch one of your videos and i don't think I ever blink. I don't know what kind of voodoo you doo, but I have been watching your videos for years and it's like the best kind of therapy and inspiration for me. THANK YOU! Keep keeping it real and just talking as with a friend. That's how it is received and appreciated.
Wish you were my brother Dave. Im soon 62 and so appreciate your values. Yes Id be your older brother but I wouldn't mind. 😉 Merry Christmas to you Brooke and your family. Thanks for sharing.
I am a retired firefighter from the rust belt. This was a very common building style in the older parts of Midwest towns. We did not love balloon frame houses. Upon arrival, what looks like an attic fire is often a basement fire that has run the void through to the attic. These are hard, if not impossible, to put the fire out and save the house if gets much of a head start. Those fire blocks are critical but it wasn't something they though of when this was the building norm. Great video.
... Also through the years ,, another method called "envelope framing " ,, (Interior wall matching exterior wall spaced into the area ,, air space was said to improve heated air within) .....was a thing ... also caused serious difficulties for fire mitigation .... ... Always check building regs. and codes BEFORE the project begins ... Where there are none ,, to prevent this type of construction ,, there also may be NO home fire related insurance available ,, you are on your own ... The loss of a barn is one thing .......... The loss of your home ,, all your valuables and maybe lives .. is another ...
I have seen the ‘balloon frame’ on one of the old farmhouses in our rural area in NE Michigan, but never knew what it was called. I heard it said that they used a similar method for some barns, but stopped when dimensional lumber was popular and relatively cheap. Before that, they milled stock as needed. Interesting. Thank you.
Yes! My dad was born in the 1890s and bought an old sawmill and milled all the lumber for their buildings! He lost use of his pointer finger by sawing it off twice, and they sewed it back on both times!
@@donaldhofman5257 Youch! I recall the side belt driven blades powered by my Deere B model. No shields, wide fabric belt with a half twist without any deflectors, and usually the anti kickback guards were off, too. No frank amputations with that, but FIL had to regrow a fingertip he stuck in the sickle bar mower. Twice. I did assist with a few finger/ foot repairs, but we found the plastic and dedicated hand surgeons did a much better job, and just controlled bleeding until we could transfer them to the big city.
Dave what I've taken from this video is,you are a incredibly talented man! Who spent month's working damn hard away from his family to provide money that would feed,clothe,etc everyone! Yes you lost 6 month's away from your little ones & Brooke, but i can bet they would all say what you sacrificed for them and how much they love & cherish you for it... You really are a clever man and seriously dont give yourself enough praise! Both you & Brooke that applies to. Thank you for sharing that story and the importance of documenting events in life. 🙏 note taken & will endeavour to practise more. Merry Christmas to all Dave🎄,i hope your Christmas is filled with love and laughter & cozy nights with family 🎄
I truly enjoy all of your videos, Dave, but this one hit all of my buttons. I've learned so much today, thanks to you, not just about balloon construction, but just about pros and cons on digging wells, nail gun versus hand nail, insulated box headers, lifting walls, the list goes on and on. Your delivery and editing are so appealing and friendly, and the content is presented in such a learnable way. So grateful for all of your efforts and that I found your channel. Thank you, and keep it coming!
Some of my most fulfilling achievements were car stereo installs and antenna tower I welded together out of rigid electrical conduit. Incredibly strong but with just a little flex and free standing being bolted to a two cubic yard concrete footing I dug in two and a half hours. Delivering leftover concrete in my assigned concrete truck made it easier. Sand in my area is very easy to dig out plus the sides of the footing didn't cave in. That included the hoist system to stand it up and for servicing. But to be honest I enjoyed all the research and planning for those projects as well as building it.
Dave, you had an idea, looked back in history and asked yourself a question. Then you tried building something historically to see if it was still viable. You built something with your hands and provided for your family by sacrificing your time as all strong men do. It was tough, but you made it out the other side with something tangible to show for your efforts and in the end, bet on your hard work paying off. It worked out and your family benefited from your strong will. I hope as men, we can all be as fortunate in life to find a goal, work at it and succeed to benefit from it as well as those around us. Thank you for your video! Just hearing anything from you brings me joy. You're an inspiration, man.
I know all about that forgetting things Dave. I've been going through that for the last couple of months. I've tried to keep a journal or pictures on my phone just thinking that I might get me a small laptop to put it all on. I plan on tearing my house down come spring and rebuilding the whole thing in a different View. Plan on doing the dimension of the roof in two different levels so I can put the back level higher so I can put Windows up there or another set of solar panels. I've been living off the grid for over 20 years and that's back when solar panels were quite expensive. Can I manage to save and get things done. Even using old forklift batteries instead of solar batteries. You've been a real inspiration you and your wife to my building and how things go here in my home. You both have taught me quite a bit about things and I'm learning more everyday about eating off the land having natural teas etc. I really appreciate you both. I would like to wish you both your whole family a very merry Christmas, God bless you all
I spent 6 months working away from my family and vowed never again!! Time is very precious to me now at 71 and having to retire from a heart attack!! I still keep busey building things but not in a hurry like I did a couple years ago! Thank you for sharing your story with us!!! We appreciate the quality of your wisdom even at your "younger " age ! You're wise for your age!!! I wish I'd learned as early as you did!
I like that balloon style build, I lived in a house built in that style with four foot second floor side walls. Your video explained enough on how to build it to make it interesting and possibly doable for most guys with some building skills. Thank you.
My son recently bought an old farmhouse in Vermont. As we were stripping the walls in the kitchen, we noticed that the build was done exactly the way you described here, but neither of us had ever seen anything like that before. This was very educational and entertaining as well and I appreciate the information you shared.
I've been watching your channel for a few years now, and well, it's different from what I build. I'm more automotive driven, but I've been looking to move south even southwest. Your videos have been giving me ideas to build a home instead of buying a home. I very much appreciate your videos and the knowledge that you give on all your projects. Thank you for all the detailed information through the videos. I appreciate your time. Thank you.
Excellent Dave, and poignant words, especially on documenting your life. My wife and I are now 70, and have been on the road in our self-converted Sprinter Campervan for 3 years in Eastern Europe, and it's all documented in photos and video, and when we are gone, there is a record. Recently started our RU-vid channel, and getting used to editing skills and such. Thanks for sharing your journey. Best wishes.
I really liked the ending of this video and how you talk of making sure to keep record of what you do. I'm 58 and my name is also Dave and I took my original family home and made it my own I designed it I was the General and I was Hands-On. Making sure everything was done exactly how I wanted it to be play this was back in 2008 - 2009. It is solid as a rock and it's Title 24 and it's located in Southern California so I'm sure you can only imagine all the inspections I had to go through. I enjoy your videos keep making them and get yourself a digital camera or use your cell phone. I have a record of all steps of building my home and I love it and so does my family.
Great advice Dave...Family time is precious ...time is precious!!! You can't undo what you already done did..so do it right the first time😊 Great video I really enjoyed it👍👍
A neighbor of mine lives in a 2-story balloon frame home built back when they built 'em like that. The man who had the house built also incorporated his farm to "Jimtown" and licensed himself to make whiskey in Jimtown. It's still called Jimtown road but Jim is long gone as is the distillery.
Interesting build and experience happy you were able to sell it . The house look's awesome. Memories eh WOW. A live and learn experience. Your chat about time and remembering was a real eye opener which makes a great deal of sence. Found this an interesting video. Thank's Dave
Came for Brooke, Stayed for Dave. I have learned So Much watching you both; And Mick💞! From Technique to Philosophy, your Whole Family Enriches peoples lives...🥰 🙏🏻🙏🏻Thank you All So Much! Happy Holidays, y'all 🎄🎄
Dave, your stories and memories remind me of the conversations I had with my old man. Thank you for sharing sir and I will continue to watch your videos. Merry Christmas!
I would like to add a couple of things I see a lot of people struggle with; It's a lesson I my Dad taught me when I first got started as a contractor. Anytime you invest in a project or build an asset consider your exit plan. How is Someone going to buy it from you? What are the rules of financing? The traditional way to sell is with bank financing, which requires you to adhere to building codes and insurance. Job safety is #1. Your Healh is #1. Profits are great but if you get hurt or killed its all for nothing. Thanks for you insights on documenting your journey. A Daily journal is pure gold!
So glad you share another video with us the fans,like how maisy daisy is still around,u r one of a kind in building,no one builds like u. U can look back and pat yourself on the back for all your hard work!
You're such an inspirational person, and I love watching you telling stories about anything from building to general day to day in general. Hope to see you and brooke on your next video.Stay bless 🙌 🙌
Wow, that's amazing that you did all that by yourself. My husband has renovated many houses in the Southern VA area and he always had a right hand man and subbed out plumbing and in many cases roofing. All the electrical and carpentry work he does with his guy. But there were many times I'd bring the boys when they were young because Daddy's working on a house if we wanna see him we got to go to him. He learned so much with each house. I bet the two of you could talk for hours! He doesn't like permit pulling either. 😂 God bless you and Brooke 🙏
I grew up in a balloon framed home, helped Dad and Mom with all remodeling until I moved out after college. It is an old style of construction and makes interior remodeling interesting.
Wow, for so few photos, you sure made the build come alive with your great ability to explain things!! So much great wisdom as always! Thanks and God bless!!
A classy story teller...Thanks Dave....I feel like building something (green house) but I failed at my last build - dog house....at 72 ?I look forward to hiring someone...
You are so right Dave! I've been taking pictures since middle school, I have photo albums full of pictures until i went digital... Now i have memory cards! Kinda wish I kept up with the photo albums... But I still have the pictures, they are just harder to locate sometimes...
Again, great video. As for the documenting memories. Left the law enforcement world in 2010 and am driving a truck. Ive always like photography and in the 8yrs ive been doing this, taking pics is the fun of seeing this country. My Google Photos is over 16k photos now. Ive told my kids that im also doing it for them and not just me. Dave, u are 100% correct. Document the memories. Merry Christmas to u and the family.
Dave I love the build and the craftsmanship you shared. I agree with you about time. Your video made me stop to think about what I’ve done with my time over the past 63 years and looking back and reflect how much time I wasted chasing the dream of materialistic things. When it’s all said and done I hope I will be remembered as a good father, husband and friend in the end. Keep up the great content as well as your thoughts on life.
This is exactly how my house is built and I'm renovating it, mostly plumbing and electrical but a few new walls and new stairs. Main part of the house that is balloon framed was built in 1892 in northern Illinois. A great video that really deep dove into how it looks as its going up. Thanks for this!
I have been keeping bees for almost 30 years , 15 years full time removing wild bees from structures all over Maryland, and never wrote any thoughts down, have no kids, managing over 15 colonies by myself the entire time...
Thanks for the video. I'm fixing to start building a house next spring. Your video has helped me decide how to do it. Thanks for the hard work you put into doing your video. Merry Christmas to you and your family
I am 65 now and boy am i glad i stopped smoking in 1985.After my moms mom passed...we made a pact to quit.I had her till July of 2014 and was blessed with here living til she was 88.As i said i am so glad because i smoked for 14 years and was glad i sweated it out.Many of my friends growing up that did not quit....some of them didn't even make it to 50.Any way....enough of that.When i was a senior in high school 1977....i built this stick frame room out in the woods.The floor support was about 9 of these pallots my dad had piled up.This room was about 14' by 16' with a backwall offset with three bunk areas that were about 7' by 4'.The wood was mostly two by fours that people had laying around and were donated to the cause.This build took about 2 months because i was still in my last school year and my other chores around my parents house.This build was also in a area of thick woods on their property.An older freind started hanging around and so he designed the fireplace made out of an old water tank.We burnt wood at first but it was too much tofind fire wood and stock it and start a fire.So we designed a fuel oil burning set up which worked great.It could be 10 degrees F outside and inside was 70 F. inside.A month down the road we found out that strangers knew about this building,as my friend came to our house and called me out side to say....there are two couples out in the fort and one guy is causing trouble.These people were from Illinois .About thirty miles away.We chased them out and warned them...never come back.One kid i kinda knew said he would stay there and watch the place...as long as he could crash there often.One neighbor across the street got angry because his daughter started screwing her boyfriends out there and started the fort on fire.So that was the end of my off grid place.Years later ther is just a clearing and some memories left there.
Thanks for sharing. When I was younger I heard a saying: amatures will waste time to save resourses. Pro's will waste resourses to save time. It wasnt until I built my first house, handnailed, that I understood. You provide a lot of inspiration. Grateful!
I like the idea of the balloon framing. Not sure I'll ever use it or see it again. But I think it ties the whole frame together better than modern framing. Our old homestead was built this way as a kid. With an add on for the second attic on our old farm house. The lathe walls were covered in horsehair plaster. And heated by a wood cook stove & a pot belly stove in the livingroom with ventliation grates in the floor for the heat to rise up to the 2nd floor. Besides the 4 foot wide stairway to help draw the heat up. It had a 3 seater outhouse, 2 adults and a childs seat. And the well was in the center of the barn and pumped by the windmill outside. Water was carried to the house in 2 gallon galvanized buckets. There was no such thing as a 5 gallon bucket back then, nor plastic ones. The house had a rock foundation with full basement, A root cellar for canning jar storage, and root crops was in 1/3 of that area in its own room. This was my home and I only have beautiful memories bcuz all my videos & pictures of my lifetime were stolen about 6 years ago. I have nothing for my children or grandchildren and great grandchildren to watch or pictures to show them of family members, homes, animals or vehicles that I once owned. They are all gone. And yes, it's almost like me & my family never existed. And it creates a hole in my heart ❤️ 💙 💜
As someone who does a lot of photography as well as writing about local Appalachian History, I completely understand your sense of urgency. As a child and young man, I knew quite a few people born in the 19th Century yet I only came away with one story because I didn't write anything down. As to the reason for you having B&W Photographs, I think I may have the answer: as you said, that was the time of transition from Film to Digital. Everyone was in a mad rush to go Digital. Those little Point & Shoot, Disposable Film Cameras were becoming obsolete and businesses were trying to get rid of them. The B&W ones were cheaper than their color counterparts. That isn't a bad thing though. A B&W shot is generally better for documentation purposes as it puts the focus on the subject matter. There are no color distractions. Looks like you captured it well!
Thanks for another look into your Journal, Dave. I was on the edge of my seat the instant you started describing "balloon framing" because the old farmhouses around here tend to burn so quickly from the "chimney effect". Our volunteer Fire Department has been wrongly accused for years of only saving the basement, but the way they built in years past really gave the flames a head start! I'm Journaling, too ... just not very organized, yet. It's funny how little we think of our own day to day reality but how much we'd like to actually "see" what life in the 1800's was like. Maybe our Great Grandchildren will appreciate what we record for them :) Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year from our family to yours, friend!
Hey Dave! I totally agree.....there is so little to look back on from other generations...thats because they were too busy to take down notes....just like we are today
I was raised in a house that was balloon framed ..... Seriously this video was awesome and makes a great point about journaling your experiences... Love it!💯✌️
Hey, Dave, great recap! I never knew it was called balloon framing, but thats exactly how I built both my 12x12 2-story cabin in the Appalachian mountains as well as my 8x20 Tiny House on wheels with 2 lofts in Florida! They're both super strong & I built both (almost) solo. The cabin at age 52, the THOW @ age 59. Slow & steady wins the race for this chunky gramma! I documented it all, so much that I still have darn near a terabyte of files to edit into vids for my RU-vid channel. LOL. I totally share your passion to keep records as we make memories, knowing full well that our days are numbered, our health not promised, and to leave a legacy for the kids to learn from & cherish after I'm gone. God has blessed you and Brooke, and through you 2, he has blessed us. Thanks for all you share with us!
Like your videos. I bought an unfinished cabin 30 years ago. It had half of a loft. So the half with the loft was stick built with the other half balloon built. In order for me to make it a complete second floor I had to learn balloon framing.
Another great video Dave! I have a balloon frame house here in Mid Michigan that I remodeled. You are spot on in the way you built that place. I have a 10x10 ring beam and I added a couple pad and post supports where it helps this old house support itself. One good thing I found is that with no insulation in the walls it was easy to do blown in insulation. It's better than fiberglass and is great soundproofing.
I spent a year restoring my lakefront post and beam log lodge that started as a single high ceiling room circa 1827 and was added onto through the years, I'm a civil war era reconstruction specialist so it was not an overwhelming task but doing it by yourself is a large task to take on.. enjoyable as it is. I also had the support of cranes and lifts which was needed and welcomed ..it turned out great and sold for well more than my asking price...I love building and still do as a hobby more than for work ..as I've retired 3 times now..lol . enjoy the wood
Excellent video, especially your closing points. During 2019, but mainly from Oct/2020 until Sep/2022, I spent a lot of time on an island (Arran, off the west Scottish coast) renovating my late parents' house to prepare it for sale, meanwhile dealing with the house contents which culminated in a 9-day yard sale. I repeatedly spent three weeks on the island, then a week back home in Edinburgh. While on Arran I documented much of the work I did in part for myself but also as a diary for my brother, who was unable to help for health reasons. I was concious of not spending too much time recording progress vlogs though as I was worried getting carried away would all too easily eat into the day's available time to get things done. However, looking back at all the footage now, I am so very glad that I recorded so much, in part because of something I said to myself sometimes while doing the vlogs, namely that at some point in the future the work would all be over, the house sold, new owners living there, and I would never be able to walk the grounds of the place again. I couldn't yet conceive of what that would be like or what it would really mean, after 40 years of always having had some kind of base on the island, so it seemed important to record what I was doing, so that in the future I could indeed look back and properly appreciate the expended effort and the many things learned & discovered along the way. I am a tech nerd, but for those years I was far removed from tech, the isolation ironically timing nicely with all the lockdown nonsense, it meant I could just get on with things largely undisturbed. The days spent doing interior decorating, wallpapering, various DIY repairs, electrics (including new network cabling to all major rooms, so ok just a little bit of tech), outdoor drainage works, building a dry stone wall, felling storm damaged trees, building riverbank fences, masonry paintwork and all sorts of other things, at the same time keeping the many lawns in check, though a hired gardener tended to the flower beds and general grounds upkeep. It all led to an unexpected love for outdoor work, DIY and inparticular carpentry, though the storm damaged trees problem was a turning point in terms of confidence, my first time using a chainsaw (albeit just a small electric model). I'd asked a tree surgeon (the gardener's husband) if he could deal with the remains of the tree, but he encouraged me to do it myself, for which I'm now very grateful as the result worked out very well. Finally returning home, I knew I would miss all the outdoor work and DIY, as there was still much I would liked to have done, but even so, the eventual prospective buyer's property valuation agent said the house was the best condition Executor estate sale he'd ever seen, and would inform the buyers it was worth every penny, the new owners being a couple with three children and their grandma, so as I'd hoped it became a family-occupied home rather than some place used only during holidays by someone living on the mainland (always a risk with island property sales). This new regard for such DIY activities meant I got stuck into some essential works back home with an initial fervour I didn't have before, replacing the shed roofing felt, insulating and paneling the shed interior and fitting new shelving, constructing shelves in the garage & attic, finally completing a large bicycle lockup that had been on hold for so long, and now constructing a concrete block wall to hold back an earth bank at the back of the garden (and a raised garden bed), my first time doing anything with mortar in such a manner. These projects I record aswell, mainly for myself, because exactly as you say, being able to look back later is indeed very rewarding, to see what was and how it changed, how one spent one's time, etc. The most unexpected discovery was that I don't mind getting completely soaked by rain while building walls or doing drainage works, so long as it isn't too cold. What happened to this tech nerd? Perhaps the realisation that working with tech is often not tangibly productive, whereas construction and carpentry is, the latter something which concluded my time on the island with the completion of a new oak cross for the village cemetery, to replace a cross originally erected in 1956 but which had sadly fallen apart. The local council responsible for the cemetery had no mechanism for the maintainance or replacement of such crosses, which annoyed me, so I decided to make a new one myself, retaining the original brass plaque. Dealing with the house led to replacing the broken cross, the skills learned doing the former making possible the latter, which served as a nice symmetry for the time spent there. Dave, I found your channel back in April this year, your wife's channel two days later. They helped me get past a low funk after some months of being back from the island, and served as inspiration to get cracking with the latter works mentioned above. I've recommended your channel so many times to people, especially men of similar age who in these times often seen to lack a creative outlet in life. Build something, make things which are visible and that require skill. Or to quote an antiques book I found: Make things that are useful. Make them well. And make them beautiful. You and Brooke do this over and over again, so thankyou both for the great viewing and the continued inspiration.
Yeah , doing a new build or a big renovation solo is a hella tough gig , even with modern air nailers . I've done some seriously sketchy and dangerous lifts because I was to stubborn to recruit some help . Luckily , it worked out for me . When raising heavy walls like that , having a couple prop.studs bolted to the top to act as braces that set automatically and keep the wall from falling back if you have to stop or let go , are advisable . I have used these with a post or 2 installed on the interior to act as a stop so the wall can't fall over into the house you are framing . Once it is stood up , some bungees or ratchet straps can hold it while you get it into position and braced plumb and square . Of course , a couple extra hands would make a lot of these workarounds unnecessary and save you the time implementing them .
