Determination To The Point of Stupidity

Alternative titles for this post: “Watch me beat the hell out of a piece of drywall”, “Things I should not post on the internet”, “When proving your point goes very, very wrong.”

Here is something you have to own up to as a person of smaller stature working on big projects with big tools. You often look ridiculous because of the things you have to do to get as much leverage as someone twice your size does.

I’ve come to terms with the fact that it often takes me twice as long to do what guys twice my size can do in half the time. And that’s ok, I still get stuff done. Okay, maybe I’m a little touchy about it. Maybe when anyone tells me I can’t do something, my streak of stubbornness sets in and I do things that should only be attempted with a spotter. Wearing full body armor.

Back when I wrote about hanging ceiling drywall by myself I admitted to struggling with getting a nine-foot piece of drywall on to a drywall rack inside of a nine foot bathroom. This was after someone glibly said “No way you’re getting that onto that rack by yourself” and then I started throwing sharp objects at him until he left me to tackle the project on my own. So I set up the video camera to prove how easily I could pick the drywall up and set it on the rack myself. And… uh…

I really should not be posting this to the entire Internet.

But I do make fun of every guy who tells me I can’t do things on this website all of the time and I would be remiss for not sharing something that perfectly illustrates why they tell me not to do things sometimes. In my defense… I can actually pick up and move a big sheet of drywall on my own. Maneuvering it in a small space is a different story.

Highlights:

00:14 – I try to pick a nine foot piece of drywall up with my armpit. Eh, it seemed like the thing to do at the time.

00:25 – Things are looking good.

00:38 – Not so good.

00:52 – I realize my “master plan” of proving I can do this has backfired. I have absolutely no control over this piece of drywall AND IT’S ALL ON CAMERA.

0:55 – 01:00 – I realize I’m pretty well screwed, but refuse to give up.

01:01 – I run out of ideas.

01:02 – It occurs to me I may be able to use my butt to more easily maneuver the drywall. This is surprisingly successful.

01:06- Uh, oops. Maybe a little too successful.

01:08 – Eh, we can buff that out.

01:27 – It actually took three minutes and fifty-five seconds to lift one piece of drywall 3 feet onto a rack. I edited out the part where I stood there for 50 seconds contemplating the meaning of life.

01:34 – I sum up the entire experience in two words.

I don’t actually recommend that you waste a minute and thirty-four seconds of your life watching this video. Except for maybe the part where I demolish a corner of drywall with the sheer size of my ass. That part is a little funny.

Proving a point gone wrong from kitliz on Vimeo.

Yes, kind of funny, but mostly just ridiculous.

I need to eat more Wheaties.

EDIT: Against my better judgment I shared this video with one of my work buddies and this was his assessment via AIM.

Brian D: The grunting is HILARIOUS.
Brian D: “ehh”
Brian D: “ehjhh”

Brian D: huh huh
Brian D: SMACK
Brian D: deep breaths
Brian D: assess situation
Brian D: BREAK OFF CORNER

Brian D: HAHAHAHAHHAA
Brian D: look up
Brian D: look down
Brian D: look up
Brian D: lift
Brian D: fail
Brian D: laugh
Brian D: out of breath
Brian D: HAHAHAHHAHA
Brian D: that piece or drywall didn’t MOVE

Brian D: that is amazing.

Holy shit, I was laughing so hard I was crying. Thanks for that flattering assessment of my DIY skills Brian. Amazing is right.

29 Responses

  1. OMG! Thank You! That’s the best laugh I’ve had in ages. And I was also laughing so hard I was crying over your sound effects. It’s almost to the point of panty piddling funny. And I really thought you were going to make it work. It’s great that you have such a wonderful sense of humor about your abilities, or in this case, lack thereof. But you definitely get a A+ for effort.

  2. Heheh. I’m larger than you, but you’re demonstrating (1) why I usually work with 4×8 sheets not larger ones (especially for 5/8″ drywall for ceilings) (2) why there’s an extra seam in the drywall in our master bathroom — I just couldn’t get the full sheet in, on the lift and up to the ceiling.

  3. What in the hell were you thinking, you petite, usually smart person? That was a funny vid, for sure. I loved how you were working that ass! Too bad you just have to depend on the tall men in your life.

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  4. 5′ nothing here – I chalk it up to one of those times when being little is just a pain in the butt.

    Here a tip for digging holes of any sort. It is a weeee bit messy but it will cut the soil, in our case nasty clay, like butter. Dish soap, cheap dish soap and water.

  5. Reading through some of the archives and I just laughed so hard I cried and had to blow my nose and I scared the dog.

  6. Love your website. I am just like you with a little less experience 🙂 Totally have the same attitude about being smaller.

  7. I can so relate! My husband gets incredibly frustrated with me because I don’t know when to say when, and I hate asking for help. I take advantage of the fact that he often travels for work to pull up floors and replace them, or any other home improvement project that catches my eye. Love your blog!!

  8. My husband and I both cracked up over your video. I am 5’2″ and am trying to remodel our 120 year old house. Hubby is always telling me I can’t do things so I try to prove I can. We will be dry walling our 10 ft ceilings tomorrow which is why I came here to visit again tonight. Thanks!!!
    P.S. I have been that person jumping on the shovel as well!!!

  9. Few things are more frustrating to me than when I know how to do something but I lack the physical capability to do it. I refuse to ask for help for as long as possible and truthfully prefer not to ask at all.

    I hate being told how to do something that I already know how to do (or at least have some kind of plan for) and I hate being asked if I need help by my husband when I’m visibly struggling. Not because I’m anti-politeness but because I hear it as “you’re never going to get this; I’d better do it for you.”

    It’s an illness, I’m sure. I’d do the exact same thing with the drywall but with WAAAAAAY more swearing and maybe a few tears. I also wouldn’t post it on the internet, though. 🙂

    Like Michelle, I prefer to do projects when the hubs goes out of town. He made the mistake one time of mentioning that we wouldn’t be getting to the master bath remodel anytime soon (which pissed me off) and then he went out of town for 3 days. I tried to warn him; he didn’t take me seriously. He came home to a bathroom gutted to the studs. He now specifies what projects he’d prefer I not start when he goes out of town. LOL!!!

  10. Haha! I’ve often wondered what I looked like while trying to manhandle things into place. Now I know. I’ve never had the guts to set up the video camera to record it. Nor would I have the courage to post it for the whole interwebz.

  11. Literally laughed out loud at you and your determination! I’ve remodeled three older homes almost entirely myself. I’ve done what you did here with drywall, hung upper kitchen cabinets myself with a kind of “cabinet scaffold” made with 2x4s and ladders. Basically I find a way, but it ain’t pretty… and I’d never have the courage to post film of myself doing it. Go you! 😀

  12. Nice job doing it yourself. I have jumped on shovels, and made only tiny holes. I have hung from windows that I can’t close (maybe WD40 would have helped). At 5′ 3″, I lack mechanical advantage. If I ever have to do that by myself, I think I’ll find a pulley, but I might not have thought of that until I saw how much work it was for you do it.

  13. You can do amazing things with leverage. I love the fact you just didnt ever give up. In life you can make one left turn or three right turns. One take longer, but you still end up the right way.

    Thanks for the video, it was funny, but I like the determination against all odds aspect.

  14. That was really a cool video! I’ve been checking out your website for several months(since I started my gameroom & bathroom remodel) & just this week found your blog. I can relate to the drywall situation, I ended up cutting mine in half because there was no way to maneuver it into position once I got it through the bathroom doorway. I really enjoy your site, very informative and entertaining.
    John

  15. I’m not sure if the first person to comment on this post didn’t watch the whole video or if they have some sort of disability that makes them unable to comprehend because as far as I can tell you did get the sheetrock on to the equipment. Anyway….
    you, lady are awesome! yes it sucks that we have to work so much harder than the people of larger physique but the point that I see from this is that regardless of what it took, you got the job done. Anybody that gives you shit about how you did it deserves to have a chunk of drywall dropped on their head. the fact that you were able to accomplish something on your own that I know men of average size that haven’t been able to accomplish is something that you should be damn proud of. Who cares if you had to use your derriere as a tool, or if it didn’t work out perfectly, or if it didn’t just smoothly slide into place. the fact of the matter is you accomplished the task.I have done nm currently in the middle of a shit ton of home improvement jobs and I’m with the chick above you said when I do it there’s quite a bit more swearing.thank you so much for sharing your experience with us

  16. Kit, you are wondrous. I would be on a plane to blackfeather farm this minute to give you a hand with that squeaking monster, if it weren’t for an appointment with own builders who are coming (back) tomorrow (to fit..you guessed it) and that I have to brain with heavy a tooling iron.
    Loved this. As with Laurel and Hardy and the piano, dogged determination to overcome against all odds also equals great comedy.
    Can’t wait to read on.

  17. Reading through this thread, those of us who do it, I think building is in our genes. My mum (now 79 and never more than 7stone 8 soaking wet) used to knock down the dividing walls in our bungalow when my dad was away. She had three of us kids so she had some child labour to assist. We helped build our own bedrooms… Got paid a hap penny a brick – after I negotiated wage increase. It built the muscles up though.

  18. Haha…I love you…and I also cannot tell you how many times I’ve made those EXACT same sounds while trying to do something EXACTLY as impossible for my body size. It’s amazing…I think when my stubbornness sets in I could pass as a contortionist that fails to complete a task!

  19. You are 5’2″
    I’m 5’3″ not in good health, and fixing to turn 60 yrs.old.
    With that being said. :
    My tub, has a very weak spot in the bottom of it. It now has been cracked all the way, across the bottom. Thing’s have been put there for patch.
    Nothing is working for me. !
    So now, I’m going to just put a shower stall in there. The commode in bathroom sink, will stay where they are.
    My bathroom is 5.’ 7″ wide
    But that is measured from behind my commode to the wall. Then from the edge of the tub to the door, is 6 ft.
    Not much room. Small. So now, with the tub broken, 2 teenage grandson’s living with me. The Tub, needs fixed. Well,
    My plan is tare, the tub out, put in a shower.. and, money is limited, every month. So, I say, you can do it, then so can I. I can get help, but I want this to be, me, doing this… ! !
    I live in Oklahoma, so is there, tips, on what and how. ? I can send pictures,
    If you would like for me too.
    Thank you so much for reading this.

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