An observation frequently expressed by my dad, it’s an apt warning for those of us who can readily imagine how we want things to be different than they are, but dismiss or minimize the physical requirements of making it happen. Renovating and remodeling turn out to be excellent examples of this principle.
It was easy to decide that a skylight should fill the hole in the roof left by removing the chimney. And it was similarly easy to propose that it be a skylight that could open and provide access to the roof. And to specify how a special purpose ladder could be designed that would be a convenient way up.
All of this brilliant design work done in a few minutes while thinking about the requirements of replacing the roof of This Odd House. But the head is quicker than the hand. Now I had to actually make the design happen.
I have excessively high opinions of my abilities to make things, but I have learned over the years that there is a deeper knowledge that accumulates in any discipline, and in areas involving structural and waterproofing-class carpentry, I was way out of my league. Even if I knew in principle how to do this (I didn’t), a professional who had done this work a hundred times before, someone who had acquired the muscle memory of operating the right tools and working the right materials, could do the task in a fraction of the time it would take me.
And so I obtained the advice of experts, contractors who could take my rough sketches and turn it into a flesh-and-blood feature on the house. The carpenters knew the requirements for rooftop structures and the interactions with EPDM roofing materials. They were familiar with skylights and their installation requirements. I signed up the builder and watched their hands implement the ideas from my head.
