It’s raining outside. Let’s face it, you don’t want to do
any outdoor housework today. If you already had plans to do some work, you are
now having second thoughts. And trust me, you are not alone. There are reasons
why people tend to postpone outdoor DIY activities during unfavourable weather.
Aside from the apparent health risks such as catching a cold or slipping and
injuring yourself, there are jobs that just simply cannot be finished in the
rain; who is going to try to paint a fence in the rain?
So what can we do during rainy days aside from cursing or
praying for the rain to stop before the sun goes down?
I say this is the perfect time to plan your work. Sounds
simple and trivial? Well you’ll be surprised as to how many people do not plan
their DIY projects ahead. I’m not talking about the overall scope of a project,
such as “let’s fix up the fence on the weekend!” or “let’s build a new dog
house for Sparky”. Everyone can plan these broad activities in advance. However,
I am talking about planning ahead for these activities in detail.
What tools do you need to finish these jobs? Have you thought
about whether there might be underground utilities where you plan to erect a
fence? Do you have a blue print for the dog house you plan to build? Have you
considered safety gears?
These are important questions that seems so obvious that we
tend to neglect them and just dive right into the projects. The last thing
anyone wants when they start working is to realize they don’t have a measuring
tape or a pen or a hammer. Now time is wasted while scavenging for a measuring
tape. This happens in construction more often than you think. How many times
have you drove by any construction site and you see 7 people standing around talking
and not doing anything? It’s true that they may be on their break, but more
often than not, a lack of foresight leads to stand-by time (trust me, I’m in
the construction industry).
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| Typical Wednesday afternoon |
So how should go ahead and plan? Through my experiences, I
find the best way to plan ahead is to walk through a project in your mind break
it down step by step. Stop and think about what might happen in every step and
jot down what you may need to complete that step. For example, if I am erecting
a fence, I would break down the project into 4 steps:
1.
Layout
2.
Digging post holes
3.
Erecting posts and panels
4.
Painting and finish work
Now I would plan each of these steps in detail. I would
think about the problems I would encounter and what I need to finish these
steps before moving on to the next. Doing all this may sound tedious, but a
project that finishes smoothly and without a problem will save you both money
and time.
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