They say a man’s castle is his home.
In August 2016, I bought a new home. To be more specific, I bought a new-to-me home. It was everything but new. Even though I don’t have time to fix things, I had to settle for a fixer-upper built in 1974.
When I say fixer-upper, I mean it. Based on the choice of wallpaper and carpets, the house was last updated in the early 1990’s. There was drop ceiling in the kitchen and dining room, along with Aztec wallpaper in the powder room. Did I mention that about two feet inside the entry way, four different types of floors came together: carpet, fruitwood pergo, black walnut parquet and oak steps. It was hideous.
In January 2017, Sarah and I got engaged and set a wedding date for that August. Between August 2016 and March 2017, I had completed one small project, updating the powder room with the Aztec wallpaper. Sarah and I had crafted an open floor plan, and she wanted to move in by Memorial Day. One project every seven months was not going to cut it, unless the target was Memorial Day 2020.
I took a deep breath and we scheduled demolition day. Demolition consisted of ripping up carpets, tearing down four interior walls and the drop ceiling. After we got a good look at it all, we realized we had to tear down all of the ceilings, even the drywalled section. All we were left with was a partial wall in our kitchen. We had the open concept we wanted and a lot of work ahead of us. Did I mention she was moving in by Memorial Day 2017?
The first major task I had to do was relocating all the wires that we had uncovered by tearing down the walls and the ceiling. After all the junction boxes and wires were tucked away, it was time to start the floor. Sarah chose a beautiful 3/4" hardwood. I enjoy installing hardwood floors. Our bar top in the Lansdale pub is actually made from leftover hardwood flooring. It was fun to teach Sarah how to do the patterns and set the seams so it makes an attractive pattern. In addition to the floors, we have also installed recessed lighting, drywalled the ceiling, installed a decorative pallet wall and ran electric to our sun porch. As of April 2019, we are currently in the middle of finishing our kitchen.
Fourteen months of construction and counting.
So where do I find the time and energy to tackle projects like this? A lot of it comes from having an amazing partner in Sarah. When I say we do projects together, I mean together. She is eager to learn and is handy in her own right. We communicate a lot, because, well, we are living in chaos. With my work schedule and the fact that Sarah also works full time, it’s important to embrace the chaos. Things will not always be in place. We have had boxes of flooring that have been moved around the house for over two years. There is a compound miter saw and a table saw next to our fireplace. It has been there for nearly two years. Sometimes you have the remember the cocoa powder is in a tote behind the couch, and the crackers are in a tote upstairs on the washing machine.
Our kitchen is almost done, and when I say almost, I mean that we may have counter tops installed in two weeks. As of this morning, I made our French press coffee on a cutting board resting atop the dishwasher. It’s mostly stable. Things are rarely perfect, but they are ours. It’s all part of the process. Much like the 76’ers, we are learning to trust the process. I have to make decisions with my time. Sometimes there are weeks of no work being done on the house. Other times I have to take a few days off from the pub. There are late nights or running electric at 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning. I’ve skipped some of my kid’s basketball or lacrosse games.
It’s not perfect, but its what needs to be done. I’m doing the best I can with what I have.
The way I tackle projects at home carries over to the pub/brewery. We’ve been open for over seven years, and we are still in the process of adding and fixing things. There are times when we drop everything and fix it right away, such as our heat-exchanger or our glycol chiller. Sometimes it takes days or months to fix things, like the floor in the brewery.
Sometimes we are just in time, like when we noticed that two ceiling fans had died and one AC unit was out of commission before taco Tuesday, and I replaced both ceiling fans in under an hour.
Amateur electrician at home; amateur electrician at the pub. It’s all about balance, and being content living in the chaos.
Scott Rudich is the head brewer and co-owner of Round Guys Brewing in Lansdale, PA. Rudich is heavily involved in the local beer scene, and was awarded the Brewer Award at the 2013 StarChefs’ Philadelphia Rising Stars Gala. This opinion column is sponsored by Round Guys, and appears every Tuesday on North Penn Now. If you have any questions or comments, please email them to [email protected].
See also:
Round Guys: Good Fences Make Good Neighbors
Round Guys: Brewing On A Beer Diet
