Monday, September 20, 2010

Honey-Do Project

The difference between try and triumph is a little umph. ~Author Unknown

Oy ... still tired today. My DH is working on this MASSIVE project: repainting his car. You see, after I smashed MY car and had it fixed, he got a quote for his. It has little pit marks all over the hood, roof and trunk (maybe it was in a hailstorm?) and there were signs of rust (:::cue sounds of doom here:::). It didn't *look* all that bad, but once the rust starts out here, it eats cars alive. And DH likes his car.

Still... their quote -- $4000 -- was a little more than we could stomach. So, being DH, he decided to research it and do it himself. After all, he watches all those car restoration shows on TV... how hard could it be?

Determined to do it right he researched and bought the proper equipment (a paint gun, a respirator, some attachments for his air compressor, etc) and made the acquaintance of a guy who does this kind of thing on the side, who agreed to come help for the price of some beer and pizza.

He even went as far as to build a paint booth in our garage.



So for the past three weeks he's been filling and sanding and priming and then, yesterday, he did the painting. Only ... the gun the guy who came by to help brought over didn't work very well and dripped paint, so DH has to redo the hood. So... he took today off to finish it.

In any case, we're still out a lot of money for all this stuff, but nowhere NEAR the $4000 we were quoted. Clearly it's mostly a labor charge, and after seeing the blisters on my DH's hands after spending about ten hours with the sander, I can understand why.

What kinds of projects have you or your significant other undertaken that seem like a little TOO much? Were they finished?

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You Are an Appaloosa Horse



You are extremely independent and even a little stubborn. You always do your own thing.

You have an amazing endurance, and you can soldier on through almost anything. You're one tough cookie.

You are quite intelligent and resourceful. You enjoy solving problems, and you've definitely got some street smarts.

You work hard and never give up. You are loyal and reliable... you always get the job done.



That's about right ... and of all our horses we had when I was little, our Appaloosa was the best. Mom, remember Hombre?

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7 comments:

Michele said...

::snicker::
The "Project" We've both started that at times seems too much is.... HAVING KIDS! lololol

Hope your Monday is great, M~!

MomJane said...

Yes I remember Hombre. What a great horse.

Will the car be finished today? How does it look?

Maria Zannini said...

I had to laugh at your question. Almost all our projects are DIY and we did them because in our minds they were all too much money.

We did his car once too. His MGB. It turned out nice. You just have to go slow because the depth of sheen comes with how well you buff it out between thin layers of paint.

Of all the projects we've done, I've hated doing irrigation the most. But it was also the most expensive in terms of labor. Not that I blame them. I wouldn't do it for less money either.

It's hard work!

Brandy said...

Wow! Wish my hubs was as dedicated to finishing projects as yours is, but he's pretty, um, unmotivated to tackle things for me. So I handle most everything. *g*

Hope the painting goes well.
Have a Blessed Day!

Tori Lennox said...

I can't imagine painting my own car!

Marianne Arkins said...

Michele -- HAHAHAHAHA!!!

Mom, the car's not done yet. Guess who's taking tomorrow off, too?

Maria, we installed our own sprinkler system. Holy COW was it a lot of work!! But we saved somewhere in the neighborhood of $9,000 so it was worth it.

Brandy, my DH would wither up and die without projects. I'm pretty sure they are his life's blood.

Tori, ME EITHER! LOL...

Dru said...

I tend to finish my singular project since no one else will finish it. The job at hand, though, must be easy.