Here are the Top 10 Home Improvement Mistakes
After a friend of mine fell off his roof and broke his foot, I wasn't too anxious to crawl up on my roof with a circular saw and start cutting holes. I'm a bit afraid of heights, anyway. But I was determined to put in skylights, and there wasn't anybody else down on the ground whom I could sweet-talk into climbing around my roof.
Like many home owners who think they know what they are doing, I came up with this brilliant idea to tie myself to the clothes-line pole in the back yard. I securely fastened a sturdy rope to the pole and threw the rope over the ridge cap. Then I donned a harness, darted up to the ridge and hooked the rope to myself. At least if I slipped, I reasoned, I wasn't going far. What I didn't notice during the project was every time I pulled on the rope to keep it taut, the rope was rubbing back and forth on the ridge cap. That motion left burn marks all along my roof line, down to the tar paper.
But believe me, there are worse mistakes a home owner can make . . . read more about Home Improvement Mistakes.
More Articles by Elizabeth Weintraub:
- Installing Skylights & Remodeling a Kitchen, Buy, Fix & Sell Series
- Repairs that Add Value to Your Home
- Today's Hot Home Features
©Elizabeth Weintraub
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Comments
My palms began to sweat as I read your account of being on the roof and the rope friction. I visualized something out of a McGyver episode. Perhaps Mr. Gadget could be persuaded to help out next time. So glad you came out on the right side of that escapade.
Elizabeth, if you want to be regarded as a real writer, you need to use an editor before you publish.
First, you don’t pull something “taunt” — you pull it “taut”. “Taunt” is to mock in a contemptuous manner. “Taut” is to pull or draw tightly.
Secondly, you warn us not to “wreck havoc” on our backs, but as the expression is to “wreak havoc” perhaps we needn’t be too concerned.
Like Mark Twain said, “The difference between the right word and almost the right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.”
Oh my gosh, a typo. Thank you. I fixed it. That’s what I get for typing so quickly. But your comment about being a “real writer” was sort of snarky.