By day, mechanical design engineer for a large mining equipment company, by night – basement finisher! Like Jason, I’m just a DIYer who likes to write articles helping people out by sharing my successes (and failures) from my basement finishing journey.

Handyman Experience & Inspiration

I’m certainly no Bob Villa, but I subscribe to “Family Handyman” so that’s worth at least 10 handyman points right? Although finishing my basement is the biggest single project I’ve undertaken, I’ve completed a few projects in my day including some drywall work, a handful of wood working projects like refinishing a deck and porch, and a bit of tile work. I had zero electrical experience though – part of what led me to IFMB.

My oldest son Jake, myself and Pops

The single most influential person in my DIYer development has to be my father, Andy. Growing up, we didn’t have an abundance of money.

Don’t get me wrong, we weren’t living in a cardboard box on the Eisenhower, put we just didn’t have a lot of excess cash to pay someone to fix our fridge when it broke, replace the hot water heater when it went out, or reroof the garage when it was leaking.

Plus we’re Polish, so I think he’s genetically predetermined to be cheap. So when all of those things happened, my dad went to library, checked out a book and taught himself how to fix it (no, he couldn't just "Youtube" it - Youtube didn’t exist in the 80s)

Once I was old enough to swing a hammer, my dad had me right there beside him. He can take credit for everything I know… well not calculus… or physics… or thermodynamics… but you get my drift. Point being, my dad taught me a lot, and I appreciate it. Thanks dad!

Now that I am a homeowner, handyman, and father of 2 budding handymen myself, I look forward to [Read more...]