Friday, August 7, 2020

Communication, Wherefore Art Thou?

My husband and I have been married for almost 34 years. For the most part, we communicate fairly well - at least until it comes to home improvement projects. Once the home improvements begin we seem to begin speaking two different languages even though they both sound like English. We can be saying the same thing without either of us realizing it because we're saying it so differently. This means that the next couple of weeks aren't going to be easy. 😬

A couple of weeks ago my husband discovered water dripping from the ceiling in the downstairs bathroom - definitely not a good sign since it's right below the master bath. In order to troubleshoot, we had to pull down part of the bathroom ceiling. The ceiling is tongue-in-groove, which is fortunate; we were able to remove individual strips of wood rather than punch a ragged hole like we would have to do with sheet rock. The tongue-in-groove came down relatively easily - in spite of the miscommunications. At one point we had the following conversation:

Husband: No. You're doing that at an angle; it needs to be flat.

Me: *baffled* What do you mean? Of course I'm working at an angle. I'm not 8 feet tall and I'm working on the ceiling.

Me: (after pondering the situation) Are you trying to tell me that I should turn the pry bar over?

Husband: Yes.

Me: Next time, say that! Use your words.

Image courtesy of www.depositphotos.com

Over the next couple of weeks we will be doing the following in the master bath:

- Covering the popcorn ceiling with tongue-in-groove
- Replacing the light fixtures
- Painting the walls and cabinet
- Replacing the countertop and sink
- Replacing the current non-waterproof flooring
- Replacing towel rods, sink, and shower hardware
- Replacing the toilet

We'll pay a plumber to install the toilet and replace the shower hardware; the rest we will do ourselves. (I'll handle the painting; I learned several years ago that painting goes better if I do it alone.) Opportunities for miscommunication abound! But, we'll get through it - in spite of occasional harsh words and hurt feelings.

Wish us luck! I'll post before and after pictures next month.






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3 comments:

  1. Kaye SpencerAugust 8, 2020 at 11:21 AM

    I sympathize with you. My hubs and I, along with our son-in-law, remodeled our basement after a catastrophic sewer flood (I know, TMI) lol. None of us worked well with each other, but we did manage to complete the project without divorce or disownment. lol

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  2. Mollie Hunt, Cat WriterAugust 9, 2020 at 12:45 PM

    Isabella, my husband is a contractor, so for our 25 years of marriage, my house has been falling down around me. At one point, the pipe under the sink came loose. His fix was so complicated it never got done, and finally I propped it up with a hammer. I will say that when he does decide to do a project, it is wonderful, and he doesn't leave it half-done (most of the time). Good luck. Do you know the "Serenity Prayer"?

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  3. J. Arlene CulinerAugust 19, 2020 at 7:43 AM

    Occasional harsh words and hurt feelings? When my partner Bernard and I build walls, put in windows, work with sand and lime, put in old quarry tile floors and do other restoration work, it's out and out war. The neighbours hear it all, the dogs and cats go hide, walls tremble, and the local fire department stays on alert.

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