Blog Posts

These Old Guys

In 1984 when my wife and I bought our first house, I started watching the PBS home-improvement show This Old House to get some ideas on projects I might be able to do myself.

Although the renovations the TOH crew tackled were always far more difficult than a casual do-it-yourselfer could handle, I definitely learned quite a few handy tips of the trade that I put to good use. From installing crown molding to constructing built-in bookcases and hanging a new door, the knowledge I picked up watching Norm and Tom and the rest made my carpentry jobs easier.

A couple of weeks ago I was watching the final episode of this season’s big project, and it suddenly occurred to me—these guys are getting old. Not the host, Kevin O’Connor, a Gen Xer who is the show’s third host but the guys doing the bulk of the physical work: master carpenter Norm Abram, general contractor Tom Silva, plumber Rich Trethewey and landscape expert Roger Cook. Most of them have been on the show since its earliest years.

“These old guys,” ranging in age from 59 to 65, haven’t slowed down a bit. They continue to climb ladders, scurry across roofs, swing sledgehammers, crawl under sinks, haul lumber, dig holes and use the latest and greatest gadgets and power tools known to man.

It suddenly occurred to me that I had stopped doing that sort of work around my house. Sure, it’s easier to hire somebody to do it, and I probably shouldn’t be scampering across the roof anymore. But as I thought about it, I realized that I miss the satisfaction that comes from doing it yourself. There’s still plenty I can tackle.

And why not? My grandfather, who was one of the handiest of men, built a garage and a 150-foot-long stone wall at his retirement house on Cape Cod after he was 70 years old, and he continued to keep the house up, making small repairs into his early 90s. DIY must be in firmly embedded my jeans…I mean, genes.

So I have decided that rather than hire tradesmen to do jobs around the house that I used to do myself, I’m going to stop making excuses that I’m too busy. I’m going to pick up a hammer, put a new blade on my miter saw, make sure my levels are still on the level, then find a project to do around the house this summer. After all, I am a little bit younger than “these old guys,” so instead of just watching This Old House, I’ll be working on my old house.