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http://www.shorecanhandyman.com/, http://ShoreCanLLC.com/

ShoreCan Home Repair, York, ME (2026)

03/17/2025

The “Break” Part 2 - Electrocuted X 2

As mentioned in our prior post, my partner and I took a bit of a break—which gave “us” some time to complete a few projects. The second of which was remodeling my partner’s home gym.
So, after I wrapped up replacing some windows, redoing some siding and trim, and getting stung by a swarm of yellow jackets, we had a few days of rain. My partner figured this was the perfect time to remodel her home gym. Now, she’s an avid chef and is always looking for more storage for her cooking supplies, so she had a great idea: Why not just add a pantry to the gym? And while we were at it, we could also:
Tear out the old paneling and popcorn ceiling
Replace the metal sliding door between the dining room and gym with a new fiberglass, insulated door
Convert the side entry door to the deck into a wall
Swap the large window with a new sliding patio door
Add outlets for TVs
And Install recessed LED lights and a ceiling fan... just because
Simple enough.
Shock #1
First, Kevin, Irwan and I demoed everything down to the studs, framed it all up, installed the doors, had the electrical roughed in, and started sheetrocking. To cut the sheetrock around the existing electrical outlet boxes, I loosened the outlets and pulled them through the holes I cut.
Well, I immediately realized, mid electrocution, that I had forgotten to turn off the breaker. My hand was wedged in the hole, and I couldn’t just let go of the outlet. I yanked my hand back, tore a big hole in the sheetrock, and somehow ended up sitting in the corner of the room, quietly thinking to myself that maybe this “break” wasn’t such a great idea after all.
Suddenly, interrupting my quiet time, Kevin came running in.
“You okay?” he asked.
Trying to play it cool, I replied casually, “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”
He raised an eyebrow. “I heard you yell a curse word—and, uh, the dining room light flickered.”
I blinked at him. Then we both looked at the sheetrock, where the electrical outlet now dangled through the gaping hole I’d just created.
After a short pause, Kevin squinted at me. “Did you electrocute yourself?”
“…Maybe.”
“Did it hurt?”
“…Maybe.”
“Shouldn’t you be wearing gloves?”
“…Maybe.”
Kevin, my partner’s son, and the brains of the operation, went to the panel in the garage and shut off the breaker. I grabbed a pair of gloves, just to be doubly safe and cut a new piece of sheetrock, carefully routing a guide hole for the outlet.
Shock #2
Before touching the outlet again, I looked at Kevin and asked, “Are you sure you turned off the breaker?”
“Yup.”
Feeling reassured, I grabbed the outlet and got electrocuted again!
Same outlet.
Oh, and those gloves I grabbed? Yeah, they were the grippy kind… not the insulated kind.
This time, I managed to let go quickly, though I did let out a slight whimper. I looked up at Kevin, who was trying to keep a straight face.
“Dude, what the hell?!” I asked. He looked at me in disbelief and said: “I swear I switched the breaker off.”
That’s when my partner waltzed in looking all proud of herself, saying: “Hi! Sorry I ran a little late. It took forever to get dessert, I would’ve brought you some but they ran out—but hey, I saved you a trip to the garage and turned the breaker back on! I noticed it was off when I walked past the panel and figured you guys were done for the day.”
After a moment of silence, I hear some snickering, I catch Kevin glancing in my direction, he’s trying to avoid eye contact and trying not to laugh. I glared at him, snapping: “don’t you dare!”. He quickly turned away looking at the floor, and almost made it out of the room before he broke out laughing.
My partner looked at me confused, asking: “what was that all about?”
I let out a sigh and said: “Oh nothing, thanks for the help.” I made my way to the freezer, grabbed a freezer-burned icecream sandwich and called it a day.
Another lesson learned the hard way, carefully select your partner and always turn off breakers and double check with a voltmeter 🙂. And I guess wrapping outlets in electrical tape is not a bad thing either. Be well and be safe. PS ceiling fan is now in, took forever for the boss to pick one.

03/05/2025

“The Break” - Part 1 - Carpenter Bees and Yellow Jackets are not the same!

Hi all, back in March of 2024, my partner and I decided to take a “break” from home improvement work. We’d worked through a long / wet winter, had some personal matters to attend to, so I went back to Corporate America as we sorted things out.

So we make it through March, when in early April, after I ran out of things to fix at my house, my partner says to me: “I was thinking (always dangerous), maybe we can fix a “few” things around my house, shouldn’t take that long (famous last words) and I live near your parents, you visit them every weekend anyway. And you can even leave the tool trailer at my house, it will give you more room in your driveway for the summer. I really don’t mind at all.” Of course, with such a generous offer, how could I refuse?

Well It only took me 32 weekends to “fix” the “few” things she had in mind, which included, replacing 5 windows (along with some rotted sheathing), replacing a large window with sliding patio door, residing almost ½ the house, gutting her gym to studs and completely rebuilding it, building a pantry and replacing a slider with a fiberglass exterior door.

My partner’s son Kevin (a mathematician), and her ex-husband Irwan (a Phd Civil Engineer) helped with the entire project.

Now to the point of the story. So I’m up on the scaffolding (pump jack) flashing a window that Kevin and I had just installed, when I saw what I thought were Carpenter Bees buzzing overhead. Having run into many such bees while repairing rotted wood, I didn’t think much of it, as I’ve never been stung by one. I called down to Kevin to hand me up some flashing tape. Then, as he looks up when handing me the tape he yells: “Yellow Jackets!”. As I spin around to take another look I get stung right on the top of my head and I see more coming. Now I’m flailing around like one of those inflatable tube men trying not to get stung again and I’m yelling to Kevin to get the ladder so I can get down. What I didn’t notice in all the excitement was Kevin running into the house. I knew he made it into the house because I could see him through the window we just installed as I frantically ran back and forth on the scaffolding. Three or four stings later I realized that running back and forth on a 24’ plank wasn’t gonna work (although it seemed like a good idea at the time). So I half climbed and half fell off the plank, thankfully onto a semi-soft shrub and then joined Kevin in the house.

Now of course my partner was out for a walk with friends during the entire episode. Me and Kevin finished for the day and I was in the house licking my wounds when my partner gets back from her walk. She comes into the house and guess what she had to say?? “Wow, the window looks great? “, nope; or maybe “the repaired sheathing looks really good?” nope. She said: “what happened to my shrub?”. We’re still not speaking!! Anyway, be well and be careful!

11/28/2024

Moonpies - York ME Dollar Tree

Ok, it’s the day before thanksgiving and I’m out of Moonpies. I know what you’re thinking: “how could such a thing happen?” To be clear i tried to prevent this from happening. I stocked up two weeks ago and based on my last physical inventory and my consumption schedule (including providing for leakage and obsolescence) I had calculated that on-hand inventory would get me through Friday. What I didn’t realize was that I had mistaken a box of dingdongs for a box of Moonpies. I know, I know what you’re thinking: “ well what do you expect if you’re not using a barcode scanner for inventory control?” Lesson learned! Anyways I make an emergency trip to the Dollar Tree in town to restock. I walk over to the moonpie shelf and it really didn’t sink in at first because there were a bunch of boxes of Moonpies. However, upon further inspection the boxes were Caramel, banana and vanilla!!! Not a single box of chocolate!! Who even knew there was such a thing as banana Moonpies?? All I know is I panicked! I yelled out: “no Moonpies! No chocolate Moonpies!” All three Dollar Tree team members came running clearly understanding the severity of the situation. At least that’s how I interpreted the befuddled looks on their faces. The hunt was on, they tore the store up looking for chocolate Moonpies. I held it together pretty well and tried to be brave. Then after what seemed like an eternity they came to me and broke the news: “ no chocolate Moonpies for you.” I picked myself up (I wasn’t on the floor in the fetal position, I was tying my shoe) thanked them for the help and emotional support and made my way home. All this to give a shout out to the Dollar Tree Team and how much I appreciate them. They’re good sports and always a pleasure to be around. Be well all and happy Holidays.

10/24/2024

Captain heavy stitch here’s his work a year later if not more. Perfect!! The only problem with his business model (self inflicted) is no follow-on work as his stuff doesn’t wear out. The craftsmanship is one thing, but slectong the perfect materials is another. Wouldn’t consider going anywhere else. Thanks Captain!!

03/26/2024

The Marble

Last week was a rough week. I have a feeling this story is going to sound a bit like a country song. The week started with the need to do some rework at a customer's home in order to correct a mistake we made. Thankfully the client is very understanding and patient. Still, a hard pill to swallow as we try very hard to get things right the first time.

Then there’s my dog Bri, who’s 8 years old. She's been sick for 3 or so months. She was born without her eyes, she’s a double-dapple Dachshund that we found online 7+ years ago at a shelter in MD. Of course, as her dog dad, I think she’s the bestest hotdog (closer to a sausage) in the world. She’s got what they call Mega-E, long story short she can’t swallow any longer. I need to carry her in a carrier, holding her straight up and down for 20 minutes or so every time she eats or drinks. Otherwise, she can’t keep her food and water down. She’s had pneumonia twice in the last month or two, including three days in an oxygen kennel at the emergency hospital. It’s a constant struggle to keep her well and many late nights and early mornings.

Finally, my mom. My mom is 91 years old and has been fighting dementia for over 15 years. She’s at home with my dad, he’s 92 years old. They’ve been married for almost 65 years and have lived in the same house for over 60 years. As many of you unfortunately know, dementia is tough. I’ve seen my mom go from being an opera singer as a young woman in the North End of Boston (my older cousins told me stories of seeing my mom sing at weddings, including their own), to overcoming cancer, being a blue ribbon quilter, allegedly fist fighting my childhood friend’s mother in front of our house when I was 6 years old, and getting kicked out of a highschool wrestling tournament when I was a freshman for allegedly trying to choke an opponent’s father in the stands. To someone who doesn’t remember my daughter’s name and confuses me and my brother. I knew my mom was getting sick when I came home for a visit years ago to find my dad reading stitches one by one to my mom as she was trying to make hats and mittens for christmas, something she’d done many times in the past. Except now, she couldn’t recall the patterns and steps, my dad was reading off the steps one at a time, she’d tried on her own and kept ripping out the stitches and starting over. Well, obtaining and retaining care for my mom is super hard. Last week we had one of her care providers suddenly quit and my brother was struggling to find coverage. He (primarily him) and I cover whenever there’s a lack of coverage, particularly to get my mom up out of bed and ready for the day. And getting my mom to bed and settled at night. It’s a two hour round trip for me and I had just done a few back to back.

So it was Thursday and I was just finishing up a project at a customer’s house. We reflashed and re-trimmed a patio door that had been leaking a bit. I was tired, it was super windy and cold out and I’d been there 2-3 hours longer than I had planned. I was worrying about Bri and trying to get home. As I was cleaning up the job site and loading up the trailer the customer’s husband approached me. He said: “My wife told me you guys are finishing up today and won’t be back tomorrow, I made this for your partner, Rose.” He then handed me a handmade, clear glass marble with a rose in the center of the marble. He’s been working hard at learning glass blowing and glass sculpting and took the time to create a one of a kind piece of artwork for my partner. Of course I responded with: “ Where’s MY MARBLE?! I want one with a dumptruck in the center! Why is it always about Rose?” He chuckled and said: “Everyone likes Rose better.” I had nothing in response. He then said: “I did the best I could on the rose.” I took the marble to my truck and turned on the light so I could get a better look at the marble. I said to him: “The rose is amazing, the leaves and the petals are perfect.” He said: “Do you think so?” I said: “Absolutely perfect.” He smiled and went to pick up his daughter at school. As I stood at my truck door, looking at the marble, listening to the wind knock my sawhorse over for the 15th time, I felt a rush of gratitude come over me. My customer’s husband had no idea what kind of a week we had, he just took it upon himself to do something very kind at the perfect time. He’s given me another one of those special life experiences. We are very thankful for our marble.

Be kind and be well

03/18/2024

Mechanics - Amateur vs Pro

I’ve always fancied myself to be mechanically inclined. I’ve been fixing and working on machines for as long as I can remember. Started with lawn mowers, then bicycles, then dirt bikes and finally cars. In elementary and middle school, my best friend Michael and I would beg my mom to bring us to the town dump. We would dig through the metal pile looking for bits and pieces we could use to build bikes or go-carts. Michael lived next door with his extended family, his uncle (also named Michael, with my buddy being referred to as “Little Michael” and his uncle being referred to as “Big Michael”). Oh, and Little Michael’s dad’s name is Michael. Big Michael was an excellent mechanic and could fix anything with a motor and was quick to involve me and Little Michael. Many co-carts, mini-bikes, boats, yard machines and crappy cars later, here I am. I’ve got a car lift in my garage, a bunch of old tools and spend quite a bit of time there fixing stuff (one of my “happy-places”).

Anyway, me and my partner bought a used box van and a month or so into ownership the engine light went on. My partner put the code reader on the truck and diagnosed a vacuum leak, she swapped out some vacuum lines and we were back in business. Then a week later the light came back on, we were both stumped, same codes, couldn’t figure out the cause nor the fix. We googled, we Youtube’d, no luck. So we got a referral to a mechanic (RMB) in Eliot and I drove the truck over. He happens to be standing outside his shop as I pulled up. He greets me with a wave and a “hi there”.

I proceeded to tell him all my partner and I had done to diagnose and repair the truck. I could tell he was totally impressed with our level of expertise and he clearly grasped the gravity of the problem. He even rolled his eyes (likely a bit overwhelmed) a couple of times and chuckled (nervously, one of those “if they can’t figure this out, how can I?” chuckle). So now I’m feeling like, gosh, I don’t want to set this guy up for failure, he’s such a nice guy. So I said to him: “I know this is an old truck and we don’t expect any miracles, anything you can come up with is appreciated, we totally understand if there’s not much more that can be done beyond what my partner and I have done”.

So Ryan looks me in the eye and says: “it’s a big task for sure, I’ll do the best I can, can you do me a favor and start her up and open the hood?”. He walks over to the front of the van, he looks under the hood, listens to the motor, sniffs the air, picks up a blade of grass and tosses it in the air like a golfer preparing to tee off and says to me: “the PCV hose is disconnected”. I laughed and said: “The grass throwing bit was funny, how about you give us a call once you’ve done all you can to try to figure this thing out.” Ryan looks at me and says: “I’ll have the PCV hose reconnected in a few minutes, you can wait if you’d like.” I look at Ryan, in disbelief, and say “sure, thanks.” And 20 minutes later I’m on my way home.

So I drove home with my tail between my legs and when I got home my partner asked: “how did it go at Ryan’s, was he able to fix the van?” Of course I told her: “it was a struggle for sure, but with some help from me, Ryan was able to fix the van.” She replied: “Yeah, I figured as much.” (thankfully my partner doesn’t have facebook 🙂)
The moral of this story is, there’s no substitute for experience and expertise. THANK YOU Ryan for being a great sport, putting up with my silliness and for being an excellent mechanic. Can’t recommend RMB Repair highly enough (207-450-2102). PS, here’s a few picks of some recent projects we’ve done. Window replacement and rot repair and custom shelving build and installation.

02/08/2024

Great Visit on the Nubble

We got a call from a young mom looking to have some work done on her and her husband’s (K3 - arguably kid number three, seems to be the case more often than not when it comes to husbands) new to them home on the Nubble. You know it’s going to be a great visit when you arrive and K3 has a toolbelt on and is tearing up the kitchen and doing his own sheetrock work and mom is texturing the living room ceiling. So instead of the typical mom and K3 welcome, we were welcomed by two little ones, a little boy and his older sister. Both greeted us with a big smile and the little boy threw in a wave (I had my vacuum in hand, the relevance of which will be clear shortly). We were there to replace a slider, replace windows with a slider and replace a kitchen window. We pulled the slider and replaced it with the new one, we finished up for the day, cleaned up and headed out. As we’ll be on site for a number of days, we leave some equipment behind, including the vacuum. I really like my vacuum (just sayin). We get back for day number two and install the second door and start trim work, we get to the end of the day and it's time to clean up. I go to get “my” vacuum and all I see is the vacuum body, and the hose, no attachments anywhere to be seen. I know for a fact that I’d put them all on the vacuum frame carrier when I left the day before as I always do. It couldn’t have been my partner as she doesn’t know how to operate a vacuum much less mess around with the attachment “thingies” as she refers to them. So I ask K3: “ Hey, any idea where “my”' vacuum attachments might be?”. His eyes light up and he says: “Dude!, my son loves the attachments, they make an awesome laser sword, so cool!. I made him a 3-D printed Star Wars helmet a few months ago and he was playing Star Wars last night. Wanna see the helmet?”. Before I can answer he darts out of the room and returns with a “ta-da” look on his face as he hands me the helmet. Now I’m not a Star Wars fan, but had to admit, the helmet was very cool. K3’s face lit up as he explained the 3-D design and printing process to me. As he went on about digital designs and filament and the like all I could think about was how much time this dad put into a toy for his son, and how much fun he had making it and how much fun his son has playing with it. Anyway, long story short, I borrowed K3’s vacuum that evening. Mom and K3 must’ve started taking nightly physical inventories as the vacuum parts mostly reappeared every morning. Then on the final day of work, we are trimming out the doors and window and I hear a woman’s voice behind me, coming from the road side of the house, yelling: “Grab the ladder I’ve got the sealant, the easiest access to the chimney is the right side of the house, I’ll show you where to set up.” I turn around and here comes a woman, walking with a purpose, and a man behind her, carrying a ladder heading towards the chimney. The man goes up the ladder with the woman holding the ladder and providing oversight, lots of oversight. As soon as they were done I walked over to the woman, who I thought was clearly the one running the show, and introduced myself and asked her their names. Which is when I found out they are a mother and son team! As you can see in the picture, where it looks like mom is pointing to the logo on her son’s sweatshirt, she’s one proud mom pointing at her son, not the logo. I know for sure, if my mom was able, she’d be pounding nails right alongside us. How cool would that be!? My mom was once kicked out of a wrestling match for putting a dad in a headlock as I took a beating on the mat, LOL. I wish she could remember those days, I’ll for sure never forget. Be well everyone, and let me know if you come across a vacuum corner cleaner attachment, which is still MIA 🙂

11/17/2023

Hi all, looking for recommendation for a vehicle Inspection station in York. Need to get a work truck inspected. Thanks.

11/08/2023

Rainbow today at Eldridge Lumber. Not sure which is prettier, the rainbow or the lumber??

10/28/2023

Arborists are not like the rest of us.
So we were out at one of our favorite clients last week replacing some cedar shakes and door trim. There was a team of arborists that had arrived just before us. Not sure what you call a group of arborists? A heard, a swarm, a pack, maybe a scrum? Anyway, we were out numbered. I walked over to one of them who was tossing a string up into a tree, like way up into the tree. I asked: “whatsya doin?”, he says “tossing a string up into this tree.” After a moment of silence I say: “why?”. He says: “so I can climb safely.” I said: “way up there?”, with a puzzled look and he says: “yup”. I said, looking up at the string; “I’d be scared of getting stuck up there, I’d grab onto the tree and never let go!” He looks at me and says with a smirk: “don’t worry, you’ll come down one way or the other.” So I say: “sorry got to go I hear Ron calling me, gotta get to work.” And make my retreat. So the cutting begins, and the swarm kicks into gear. There’s branches falling over here trees falling over there, guys running skid-steers with grapples and guys feeding the shredder. No one saying a word, everyone with hearing protection, they all just knew what to do where, how and when. Definitely a swarm. As I’m cutting a shingle on the table saw I see a tree come walking by heading over towards and flinging itself into the shredder. Once all the leaves disappear, I see Mr N standing there. It was at that moment I realized there’s people like me and then there’s people like him. He’s my dad’s age and can work me under the table. I needed to take a break after watching him tossIng around trees like jugglers toss around bowling pins. I was going to head over and say hi but I didn’t want to be mistaken for a small pine tree so I watched from a safe distance. Was a great day out and super cool to watch these guys work. Have a great weekend and be well.

09/29/2023

Maple

We got a call a few months ago from a young family whose washing machine caused a flood on the second floor. As a result, the flooring was damaged as well as the ceiling in the room bellow. After working a bit with the insurance company, we were able to get the work scheduled and then completed. Upon arrival we met dad, mom, their daughter, their black cat and Maple. Super interesting and welcoming family. Dad is the first glass blower I’ve personally met and his young daughter is continually coaxing dad outside to play after school. A hands-on dad, really fun to see them together. Mom, when not out on mommy daughter activities is kept busy managing daughter and dad, making sure they stay out of trouble, hmmm brings back memories 🤔. There’s a general feeling of positivity, caring and acceptance throughout the house. So there we are, two guys up stairs pulling up the floor and I’m downstairs working on the ceiling. Dad is out picking up his daughter from school and mom is working. The work on the floor was very loud including power saws and hammering. As I’m standing on a platform in order to reach the ceiling (well in full disclosure I stand on a stool to reach the cabinet over my fridge but that’s irrelevant) I glance down and there is Maple, laying under me looking up at me with her sweet eyes. There is no doubt in my mind that dogs have a soul, just look into those eyes, it’s undeniable. I climbed down (anything above 12 inches is climbing for me) and patted Maple for a few minutes until dad came home. From that point on, Maple would visit when the work got loud and I was the only one around. She’s a quiet, slow moving old girl. Often I didn’t realize she was around until I looked down. No question Maple rubs impaired my efficiency, at least that was the excuse I gave the team 🙂. On more than one occasion I had to clean Sheetrock mud and then dust off of Maple as she would just plop down anywhere close. I’m convinced that families and homes have a vibe and Maple conveyed that vibe. Even the black cat would meow for rubs. Another great visit with a wonderful young family who’ve built a loving home. Be kind to one another and the animals around us. Be well all.

ShoreCan Home Repair

03/17/2025

03/05/2025

11/28/2024

10/24/2024

03/26/2024

03/18/2024

02/08/2024

11/17/2023

11/08/2023

10/28/2023

09/29/2023

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