This is the DIY history of the house that won’t get finished. Chapter links at bottom of the page.
Stories of the daily challenges of DIY home maintenance are in DIY projects.
9,000 decisions
A Boulder architect once speculated, that there “at least 9,000 separate decisions you have to make when you are doing a house.”
Big decisions pretty much take care of themselves. You will (you better) know where the walls are going to be before you build the foundations.
It’s also a really good idea to know the pitch of the roof before you start building it. Changing the shape of a roof midway through putting up the roof would be, well, in a polite word, stupid.
Whether 9,000 decisions is a high or low figure, there are certainly a lot of decisions to be made with even the smallest addition.
It’s the small things that seem to end up causing the bulk of project grief. Ideally, to keep things in perspective when approaching a home building or remodeling project, you should plan backwards from the final finish.
I try and try to do this, but at some point I think okay, I’ve got the gist of what’s being built here. Time to get some walls up, smell some fresh cut lumber. So I’m a loser in this regard, but I think that mounting toilet paper holders has pointed me in the direction of becoming Planning Man.
Toilet paper and planning
You mostly think of TP holders only when they fail to provide a supply of their signature product. But they often lead a rather tough life, tugged on every time the paper is used, whacked by thighs and knees. And, in the case of my house, occasionally attacked by dogs and cats. It goes without saying then that the more securely the roll holder is attached to the wall, the better.
If you have ever hung anything more substantial than a picture – say a shelf – on a wall, then you know that screws driven into wall studs are much more secure than any wall anchor, or (promise you’ll never to do this.) screws driven into just drywall.
The trick with putting up TP holders is they are usually only a bit wider than the roll of paper, say seven inches, while the standard distance between solid wall studs is 14 and a half inches.
So, in order to mount the TP holder with all screws into wood, you should know where the holder is going to be mounted before you put up the drywall. That way you can install a solid wood block between the studs to receive those mounting screws.
To know where the holder is going to be, you need to think about: The wall you want to mount the holder on if there is more than one choice. Do you want to pull the roll with your left or right hand? How far from a person seated on the toilet should you mount the roll? How high above the floor? Decisions, decisions.
You make all these decisions, then you put the TP holder location into your plans. Eventually you sit back and, you know, enjoy the fruits of your labors.
Links
Planning gone wrong. Try not to laugh:
https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/65-of-the-absolute-worst-construction-fails-weve-ever-seen
Reading on:
- Moving the Front Door
- Back to Project Kickoff – rain, rain
- Handyman’s Dream
- Do-It-Yourselferism
- Architects Wrestling
- Engineer Muscle
- Demolition Fun
- Building Materials ain’t what they used to be