By Gretchen Leigh

My husband and I often disagree on how home repairs should be accomplished. I prefer to call a professional, my husband likes to try and fix stuff himself. For the most part I don’t object to my husband handling situations. He’s a very handy guy and is highly capable when it comes to home repairs. What I do object to is his plan of attack.

I like instant results. My husband likes to ponder his approach, which takes a lot longer than my sanity prefers to endure. However, his methodical approach often calms my frenzied state and I see the wisdom in thinking things through. He has saved us countless funds because of his easy-going demeanor.

Sometimes, however, our worlds collide and his slow tactic doesn’t always jive with my desire to have something done now. In those moments I react, maybe because he insists on working for a living and I’m stuck at home with whatever perceived disaster of the day bursts through my common sense bubble.

The last irrational thing I did was have someone come out to fix the ignitor on our pellet stove. My husband had checked it over the night before, fired it up once, and christened it worthy to voyage forth. The next day it didn’t function at all. I was trapped, cold and lonely, with a non-working pellet stove. He was working a lot of overtime at the time. I thought I did him a favor, as he drug himself home every evening with only an hour or so before he went to bed. But really his defenses were down when I struck. So he didn’t object when I told him a repair person was coming.

The repairman fixed it to the tune of $350. I felt it was a bargain to have it done so quickly and I could wash my hands of it. My husband came home, saw the repair costs, and what part was replaced. He informed me he had replaced that very part 10 years prior.

There are times when I have no choice but to wait. We had to have more insulation blown in the attic over the ceiling of one room. We could save a lot by doing it ourselves, but it was beyond my knowledge or capabilities. I was ready to call in a professional. But who to call? There were many and with no referrals I was in a quandary. So I acquiesced to my husband and let him decide.

He Googled it and spent several hours and days researching it, while I chomped at the bit, snorted and moaned. He reported to me every once in awhile about the problems that lay ahead. All I heard was, “it can’t be done.” He told me, “Get that out of your head. I’ll do it, but since I know nothing about it, I have to make sure I do it right.” Whatever.

Finally the day came and there was activity in the attic as he laid a plywood path to the further point. It wasn’t an easy feat as it was a small crawl space and my husband is over six feet tall and, let’s just say he’s not a kid anymore. As he was cutting pieces in the driveway, the neighbor said he knew a guy who was reasonably priced.

My husband came in the house and said, “I’m too old to do stuff like this.” The company came out the next day and insulated the entire attic in an hour. With my husband’s process added, it took longer than I like, but sometimes it’s best to let him come to his own conclusion.