In last week's article, I talked about our current home makeover project, or what my wife calls the 'Upstairs Project.' I'm sure she is still doing payback on me for my studio build and doing it in style.
Last weekend I built a stud wall in preparation for a new guest bedroom that we are planning to create. It went to plan, and it gave me a chance to use two of the new power tools I've invested in for home renovation work. I'm not sure how I would have done it before Google and YouTube were around as I must have watched ten video tutorials and numerous articles to ensure success.
It's amazing what you learn; for example, I'm now a proud owner of a plumbline to ensure the top plate and base plate were in the same place. A plumbline is a simple invention that has been around for hundreds of years, these days builders use lasers, but a plumbline is less than a fiver, compared to a snazzy laser one that is way too expensive.
The whole building project cost me less than £100, which I think is a bargain. It's straight, square and stable, so I've learned a new skill, although today I'm so tired I feel like I have jet lag!
I'm also tired because all this renovation work has meant my mind has been running over with concerns about all sorts of things to do with the work. Even though I'm tired, my brain won't switch off. Last night I was lying awake thinking about a little detail to do with the new guest room; in fact, it's a significant detail.
Is the wall I'm about to remove to make the new space load-bearing? To answer this question, I jumped on Google, read a lot of articles and watched a few videos too. One of the ways to spot it (apparently) is to check if the wall you are about to remove runs parallel or perpendicular to the beams above it. Filled with doubt, the kind you get when you suddenly can't answer a question you've known the answer to for years because you are under stress, I asked my wife. "What's the difference was between parallel and perpendicular?"
Then ensued another discussion and some more Googling to find the answer, at which point I realised something.
It's OK for me to attempt to do some things as an amateur using the power of the internet to get answers, this includes 'Cooking a steak like a pro!', 'How to strip doors like a pro!' and countless other things. However, there is a line one must draw; such as how to perform surgery or how to fly a plane where one has to realise that some things are best left to people who know what they are talking about. One such thing is getting a structural engineer to tell you if you are about to knock out a wall that doesn't matter or have the roof fall on your head.
So at midnight (which my wife said was a wrong time to email the structural engineer we use), I wasn't sure, so I Googled it with no definitive answer on email etiquette, I emailed him. Andy (structural engineer) is coming around tonight to tell me if it's OK or not to remove the wall. I'm a professional, so I told him I expect to pay him, but at worst it will be a couple of hundred pounds, which is cheap for peace of mind and a house still standing.
We like to think we can do anything, record a band, mix it, master it. Compose music, orchestrate, arrange. Do ADR, mix dialogue, this list is endless. After all, we say to ourselves 'I've seen a YouTube video, and it looks easy.' We forget that professionals make hard things look easy; they lull us into a false sense of security. Before we know it, we have a band asking us why their demo sounds like shit or a TV company wondering why the audio for the show you've mixed has failed QC.
As they say, if you think a professional is expensive wait until you've tried an amateur.
In my case, it could have cost me a lot of money or even loss of life - that may never be the case in our profession, but that depends who your clients are.
Discuss.