About
I started woodworking around 9 yrs of age. I was well into it when “This Old House” debuted in 1979. It was and still is my favorite show on television. I have been buying and selling single-family homes since 1993. I would replay episodes of this old house every time I got one. Whole House renovations are one of my favorite things to do. It's amazing to take a fixer-upper and turn it into the house of someone's dreams. Usable Art/Custom woodworking is another passion. Just adding built-ins, custom baseboards or crown moldings can upgrade any room from nice to WOW.
About
Funny Story
My first whole house remodel turned out to have a lot of hidden rot and water damage. I couldn’t see it, initially. It was an extremely difficult job, especially for a first-timer. During the demolition, I discovered some artifacts that the original carpenter had put in the walls when he was building the house. Most were just interesting but one item I was sure was a treasure. It was a coin from 1864 the year the house was built. Thinking that I struck it rich, I raced down to a coin collector in Worcester. He was on the phone and asked me to wait a minute. As I waited I noticed the same coin in his glass case. On the price tag, it read $20.00! Needless to say, I was back to working on the house about an hour later.
Lesson Learned
On one of the full bath renovations we did, I realized early on that we had not done our estimate correctly. We were very low. In fact, we lost several thousand dollars. We did not ask for more money or abandon the job or cut corners. We simply made a mistake. So we owned up to it and learned what we missed. That bath turned out to be one of our best-looking jobs. I’m confident that having integrity will always pay off.