When you invest a lot of time or money into a project, you’ll do strange, persistent, and sometimes unpleasant things to protect it. In this episode we share those little extremes, plus a tale that proves renovating a house more than two hours away can be full of unexpected hiccups. We also collected practical advice for building a new home from the ground up or managing a major renovation with a team of professionals — how to find the right people, how to avoid common mistakes, and why it’s important to keep your expectations realistic.
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What’s New
- While we were away for a long weekend, deer stripped about two thirds of our gingko tree. The lighter green new growth abruptly changes to darker, older foliage at the height the deer could reach — we call that the “deer line.” They also ate the fresh growth off several holly trees, leaving the lower, darker leaves untouched.
- For deterrents, there are surprising options available commercially — some people buy animal urine products intended to repel deer. We decided to experiment and, to our amusement, discovered the review sections for those products contain some pretty entertaining comments.
- Here’s a photo of the side staircase at the beach house we’ve been staining over the past few weekends. There’s an identical stair at the back door, but this one faces better sunlight, which is why Burger prefers to park himself there.
- Before staining we cleaned and prepped the wood. We did a light pass with a pressure washer, then used an all-in-one wood cleaner to remove dirt and mildew and help the stain adhere more evenly.
- Our first attempt used a semi-transparent brown stain. In the evening light it looked richer and more pigmented than we expected, and by morning it still appeared heavier than the sample swatch suggested. Because we wanted the wood grain to remain visible, the coverage was more than we hoped and the tone wasn’t the cool brown the sample had promised.
- After a couple more weekends of testing and reconsidering, we switched to a clear sealer designed to waterproof and enhance natural wood tone. It still needs another coat, but the transparent finish deepens the wood’s color without masking the grain, resulting in a more natural, finished look.
Building A New Construction Home
- Thank you to everyone who shared advice and personal experiences about building new homes — both publicly and privately. We highlighted Dusty from the blog All Things G&D and her detailed posts about designing and building her dream home. Hearing real-life stories helped us understand the scope of decisions and trade-offs involved.
- If you’re curious about our experience working with a custom builder on a showhouse, we’ve documented the finished home and the design process in a photo tour and multiple posts that walk through the choices and challenges we faced. Seeing the end result and the step-by-step process helps set realistic expectations.
- One small win from our recent projects: we tracked down a secondhand diamond-paned door for a duplex. The door turned out to be a serendipitous find — a friend happened to bring it from another city while traveling, which saved us a lot of hassle and felt like fate.
- If you’re considering new construction, our biggest pieces of advice are: vet builders and contractors carefully, communicate clearly and often, get as many decisions documented as possible, and accept that timelines and budgets often shift. Seek out others’ experiences and ask for referrals — first-hand accounts are invaluable.
- If you have tips or personal stories about building a new home, we’d love to hear them on social media.
We’re Digging
- Recently loved items include an affordable pair of 9″ inseam casual shorts that have been easy to wear and buy in multiples. Sizing and fabric details vary between similar names, so if you purchase a popular budget-friendly style, double-check the material and fit before keeping extra pairs.
- For vintage and fixer-upper inspiration, there are some great social accounts dedicated to old homes that we enjoy following for ideas and creative restoration approaches.
If you want to revisit anything we’ve shared in past episodes, we compiled a master list of favorite finds and recommendations from earlier shows so you can find what we’ve been loving without searching through individual episode notes.
We’re grateful to our sponsor for this episode, You Need A Budget (YNAB). If you’re planning a renovation or building a home, budgeting tools can really help you track costs and make more confident decisions. Try a budgeting system to see if it helps your project stay on track.
Thanks for listening and following along — we appreciate all the tips, questions, and stories you send our way.
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