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Tool Time Hubby

Favorite Mommy's picture

Does anyone else have a problem with their H's NOT FINISHING PROJECTS? While I was still pregnant, he created a beautiful nursery for our baby girl. He re-textured and painted the walls, refinished the hardwood floors, etc. Well, this is all fine and dandy, but the baby is now one year old, and the baseboards are still not nailed back to the walls. They are just leaning against the walls. The new door hasn't been hung, and the inside of the closet still needs to be done. (He says that isn't importantant because nobody sees it.) It's driving me nuts. He decided to plant new grass in the backyard. Well, that project has already grown. After planting an entire pallet of grass, he decided that we need a sprinkler system. OK.....up with part of the new grass that was just planted and start digging trenches. Guess what? It's been two months and we STILL have trenches all over the backyard. Now, it's a muddy mess due to the recent thunderstorms, therefore, I am constantly mopping up mud that has been tracked in from the other kids. Now he's wanting to knock out walls in the house and redesign the floor plan. He got upset when I said "no" and told me that I have no imagination. Well, hell yes I have an imagination. I CAN ONLY IMAGINE A HUGE MESS THAT I WILL HAVE TO LIVE WITH! I love him, but this is driving me crazy. Am I over-reacting?

laughterandtears's picture

But reading your post made me think of my hubby. We are remodeling our house and he has 5 or 6 projects going on and none of them are finished. The way I get him to work on a project that needs finishing is to mess with myself. Of course, since I'm a girl, I am not doing it right, which makes my SDA (Sir Dumb A**) get in there and take over. I do this regularly. Hehe!

~IT WAS WORTH IT WHEN I BEGAN~

ColorMeGone2's picture

I make a big show of going into HIS garage to borrow one of HIS tools. He immediately comes, takes the tool out of my hand and does whatever job I need done. In fact, I'm getting ready to head out there now so that he'll help me plant the two hydrangea shrubs the kids got me for MD. }:)

♥ Georgia ♥

"Good men don't just happen. They have to be created by us women." (from ROSEANNE)

Angel's picture

EOW my hubby does nothing around the house because he is entertaining the man/child. The garage needs to be cleaned (I MEAN REALLY CLEANED, NOT JUST SHIFTING THINGS and sweeping underneath) and I WILL get it done. I will hire a couple of day workers (while the 6 ft father and 6 ft son sit on the couch) so they can clean out the garage. It is like everything has to stop because the pope is in town.

PinkPixie's picture

I have a hard time getting to even start a project, let alone finish one. He detests any kind of around the house work, and will go to any lengths to avoid it. I finally hired a handyman at 12 dollars per hour, gave him a list of stuff to do, and let him work. Cost me a few hundred bucks all said and done, but money well spent!! Smile Now, when I have a little chore that needs done, I give him a call. I affectionately refer to him as my "other husband" (although not to his face).

But to answer your question, NO you are not overreacting. Living with unfinished projects is majorly stressful, imo.

Favorite Mommy's picture

You ladies are the best! I think I'll go home this afternoon and ask him where the hammer is. He does hate for any of the kids to mess with his tools, so why should I be any different? hehehe Maybe the nursery will get baseboards tonight. Thanks for the help my new friends!

sarahbernheart's picture

my FH is like this too, he is all hot and heavy about a project till it is about 85% done and then it just all comes to a halt.
I have 2 bathrooms that he remolded. well one bathroom the knobs still leak water, the tile needs to be cleaned and bars and pictures still need to be put up and they are sitting right on the floor of the bathroom
the other bathroom has the electrical box still hanging out of it the trim is not done nor is the trim for the window- pictures still sit in my room waiting to be hung. but that doesnt keep him from wanting to landscape the back yard AGAIN..the project he started early last summer... now it is partially mulched and dug up...
zzzzzzz
“You will never be on top of the world
if you try to carry it on your shoulders.”

Elizabeth's picture

He starts one thing, then moves on to something else without finishing it. Then he complains that he doesn't like unfinished projects hanging over his head. Then finish one thing before starting something else!

On a related note, he is not very good at this stuff. I am better. My mom bought us a coat hook and I asked him to hang it by the front door. It kept falling off the wall and he told me I was putting too much stuff on it. Kept rehanging it. It kept falling down. Finally, one day, I asked my mom to help me while she was over. We put it up and it hasn't falled down since. And it is loaded with coats!

You want something done right, you've got to do it yourself. I hung all the pictures in the living room, hung curtain rods, etc. I asked him to hang shades in the breakfast room and he put the first one in wrong. After I corrected him and he tried two more times (with several holes), he managed to get the rest right.

Anonymous12345's picture

Smurfy1smile here. We just bought a house last week and we have named it the money pit. I hope my BF finishes the projects he starts since we cannot move in until the stuff is done and we have to be in by the end of June. I am doing the demo and he does the fixing. So far he has verbally abused the plumbing - the house was not winterrized properly and some of the pipes froze and have leaks. I have ripped up carpet, bleached mold and brought in cleaning supplies. BF wants to rip out all of the carpet in the upstairs - living room and dining room and replace it and the kitchen floor with laminate. I am hoping he will listen to me and let me just clean the carpet and only replace the kitchen floor. It will save us like a grand plus with kids in the house the new flooring will have to be replaced in like 5 years anyway so why spend the cash now when we will have to do it again in the future. BF and I are very handy, thankfully, so the stuff will get done. I just wish it would get done faster.

Too many things to do and not much time to do them. The lawn looks like a jungle!

everythinghappens4areason's picture

We bought a house 2 yrs ago..gutted the inside. We walked around on plywood floors for OMG like 15 months.....

Now that the house looks great, we have to sell it because we are broke - due to unforeseen health problems. (And no, not because of renovations, that $ was set aside before hand).

But yes, A LOT of projects get started, but it takes forever and ever to get completed!! Mind you, going out to his shop does get him all flustered and he immediately goes and does what I want so I won't "screw" it up....LOL. Perfectionist ya know!! Smile

Corie

kassandrarayne's picture

Doesn't TLC have a show about this...you know they send in some guy and he helps out with all the unfinished renos but makes your DH do all the work?? LOL

Sasha's picture

When I first met my husband, he was impressed with the fact that my toolbox was bigger than his. There's a lot of things I cannot do, but there's an awful lot I can do. Before we sold our house I repainted all but 2 rooms. I painted the kitchen cabinets (they were faux wood formica). We both installed new kitchen countertops and a new kitchen sink. I replaced the closet shelves in the bathroom. I hung up all the new bathroom hardware. I replaced the bathtub faucet. I spackled holes and cracks.

Nailing the baseboards back on the wall is easy. Nail them back on then run a bead of caulk along the top of the baseboard to seal it. Dab some caulk on the nail holes (wipe off the excess), then you're ready to paint. It's actually easier to paint them first then touch them up once they're back on.

Pick yourself up a good do-it-yourself book at Lowe's or Home Depot. Don't be afraid to get in there and get your hands dirty. You'd be surprised at how much fun it is!

Harleygal's picture

My DH is worse than me about perfection when it comes to projects. He always finishes what he starts. To the point he has had one surgery on his elbow from ripping the tendons/ligaments to needing a second surgery on the other arm from the same thing.
We always have a project and they always get finished. We are both perfectionists. What takes him more time than anything is the list that needs to be done before the project gets underway. Everything needed must be on the list - but we still make several trips to Lowes before we're done.

One time I started ripping out drywall in our front room due to termite damage. I just kept tearing and tearing and finding more. It bugged him so bad he took a day off work and finished the project. He completely drywalled, retextured and painted that room in one day. He had it completely cleaned up when I got home. Damn he's good!

Einstein's definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."