ARTICLES AND ADVICE

Should You Build It Yourself?

September 29, 2026

“I’ll never do that again! This was hell!”Those were the words of a homeowner who had just finished building his own home.Now and then, I have a homeowner tell me that he plans to act as his own general contractor in order to save the cost of hiring one. My first thought is usually: Why would you want to do that to yourself? Unless you are retired, on an extended sabbatical, or have considerable construction experience and plenty of free time, managing a ...

Please Don't Paint Beautiful Natural Woodwork

August 28, 2026

I was once hired to restore the interior of a historic Tudor-style home in Denver’s Cherry Creek neighborhood. Previous owners had made some drastic changes that were entirely inappropriate for the architectural style of the house, and my clients wanted to restore as much of the original character as possible.I was fortunate to find the original architect’s drawings at the Denver Public Library. Using those drawings as a guide, I prepared a complete and highly detailed set of plans ...