What Goes Around Comes Around

The cheapest way to get things done is to do it yourself.

The second cheapest way to get things done is to get some munchies and have your friends come over to help you ;)

Did I mention that the second cheapest way is also the most fun?

Who needs a gym when you have a sledgehammer?

I spent several hours recently over at a friend's house helping out with the demolition and reconstruction of his kitchen. I've mentioned before that my place was a foreclosure that needed a bit of work. By a bit of work I mean the entire house had to be painted to cover the mud patching from where the last tenants had put holes in the walls (there were some doozies!), and the flooring had to be torn out and replaced. Add some miscellaneous plumbing and electrical work, and you have a project house! My friend K has been incredibly helpful in teaching me how to do a lot of it. Not to mention the fact he lent me a lot of his tools. It was time to return the favour! A handful of us ripped, sanded, scraped and generally demolished his existing kitchen over the course of a couple days. Cabinets were removed, linoleum ripped up, tile scraped off, dry wall  taken down, and a doorway was framed in to become a wall. The carpentry on that framing wasn't my proudest moment, but it fit with some convincing. The doorway wasn't straight to begin with, but it's not a load bearing wall (it is filling in an existing doorway...). All it needs to do is hold up drywall, and it'll will more than do that. Some of us were a little sore when it was all said and done, but we got it done ahead of schedule and for the low low labour price of free. There aren't many things that make my feel like I've actually accomplished something when I'm done these days, so when I get a chance to work with my hands I take it.

I'm off to vote this morning and do some work in my front yard. Has anyone else lent a helping hand recently?