This is a question that can apply to many things, not just houses.   This can apply to relationships, businesses, or even your physical health, … pretty much everything we encounter on our life’s journey.   To get started, it is wise to ask yourself a number of pertinent questions:

How much would it take to repair?

Do you have somewhere else to live in the meantime?

Do you have the resources to re-build?

Can you make a band-aid patch to prolong its life while you are accumulating new resources?

Is there an infestation?   ants?   bugs?

Is there chronic mold in the walls or in the ceiling?

Is the foundation solid?  Water damage?  Cracks? Crumbling?

The Ultimate Question.. are efforts to repair something worth it?

If you remedy the situation, is there a strong chance that it will just come back again?   i.e. can you take away the source.   If it’s water seeping through the foundation, can you redirect the water.  If it’s mould, can you keep the area free from moisture in the future?

If you can’t take away the source, the best you are ever going to be able to do without tearing it all down is come up with a band-aid solution.  This can be useful if you need to buy time in order to gather the resources to re-build.  So it not always a bad decision.   But know that fixing anything without finding out what the ultimate cause of the situation is will never solve your problem entirely.

Maintenance is Key

Regular repairs to a home as soon as something is noticed goes a long way to extending its life.   This accomplishes two things – it keeps your problems small, and it keeps you in touch with your house and its functioning.  Because you are interacting and observing things, you will also notice larger issues as they are beginning as opposed to only when they become huge problems.

Infestations, Left Unchecked, Have a Way of Taking Over

Well all experience issues with bugs and other critters every once in awhile.   Ants are very common,   But spiders, ladybugs, mice and all sorts of other critters find houses compelling.  And the problem with them is, once they have found your house, once they have nested, they tend to find their way back even after you think you got rid of them.

The use of poison in your home to take care of critters is a double-edged sword.   Yes, it may kill the critters… but what is it doing to you?  You are ingesting this as well, through the air you breathe.  And what about pets?   Pets tend to get into things they shouldn’t, including poisons that are not meant for them.

The Foundation is the First Thing You Must Assess

If the foundation is not sound, no amount of splashy paint is going to fix your problem,   Houses built of cards always fall down.

There are many things that can impact a foundation.  Earthquakes or movement of the earth is one.  Water is another big one.  If your house is build over an underground stream or sitting downhill from a drainage route, that constant flow of water will eventually move the earth around your house and impact the stability of the foundation.

If the foundation is solid then most damages can be easily and relatively cheaply repaired.

Does the Structure Represent the Highest and Best Use for the Plot of Land that it is on?

Given that you are assessing whether to renovate of whether to tear something down and re-build, it is always a good idea to look at what else you would/could build in its place that would provide the most value.   The value could be revenue, or it could be pleasurable use.  Either way, is there a new structure that would better suit your needs?    Before you spend a lot of time and money repairing something… look around.  Go shopping.   Explore other ideas.

How does this apply to relationships?

Is the foundation solid?  Do you like each other?  Do you resonate with this person?  Is it a win-win situation where each person is getting something out of the relationship?

Is there an infestation?   Are there external factors (in-laws?) intruding on your relationship that can be easily extracted?   Is there something you can do to mitigate the interference?

Are you regularly maintaining your relationship?  Are you spending a little bit of time and energy each day considering things that need to be repaired, or things that could be expanded and improved upon?

Is this the highest and best use of your time?   Are you trapped in a situation?  Are you depressed?  Do you feel lethargic?   Do you feel uninspired?   Or, are you invigorated?  Are you happy?  Are you motivated?   Are you making plans for the future?   Do you have hope and vision?

How does this apply to businesses?

Is the foundation solid?  Does your business make money?  Does it have the potential to make money?   Do you have proper procedures in place?   Do you have a vision, a strategic plan, a mission?   Do you have a solid understanding of the industry or the niche you are in?

Is there an infestation?   Are there external factors – (employees, competitors, overly needy customers) detracting from your business goals?  Is there something you can do to mitigate the interference?

Are you regularly maintaining your business?  Are you spending a little bit of time and energy each day considering things that need to be repaired, or things that could be expanded and improved upon?

Is this the highest and best use of your time?     Is there a slightly better business idea you could adopt?   Can you grow this business to the next level?   Do you want to?    Or is it time to take all the lessons that you have learn and start over with a new and better business idea. You will never lose the knowledge and skills that you have acquired the first time around.  And the next business you create will be even better than the one you just retired.

How does this apply to our bodies?

Is the foundation solid?  Do you feel healthy?  Can you walk, run, jump?   How is your breathing?  Do you feel suffocated?   Do you breathe freely?  What about your circulatory system?   Is your heart in good shape?   Do you have a pulse?

Is there an infestation?   Are there external factors – (itches, rashes, parasite) detracting from your enjoyment of life?  Is there something you can do to mitigate the interference?

Are you regularly maintaining your body?  Do you get enough sleep?   Do you take long baths or find ways to relax and detox?   Do you get regular exercise?  Do you take time to laugh, and to smell the flowers?

Is this the highest and best use of your time?     Is there a slightly better way you could be proceeding?   Are there things you would like to do, but just never do them?  Can you add them to your daily routine, or to your “bucket list”?.

Don’t Be Afraid to “Start Over”

Have you ever marvelled at an ice sculpture – seeing the beauty in the work, and knowing that all that beauty is about to simply melt away?    Have you ever been to a sand castle competition, and admired these gigantic sculpture, that are soon to be eroded back into the rest of the “beach”?   I have often asked myself, “well, what is the point?  Why would you create something that is only going to be destroyed?”.  It has taken me a long time to truly get it.

We are here for the experience.  We must build.  We must create.  We must experience.  We are creative beings and we are here to express our creativity.   Each time we build something, each time we make something, each time we express ourselves, we learn.   We become better.  We become more knowledgeable.  We become more skilled.

Think of a singer.   Going through the process of learning how to sing better.  Each time they sing a particular song, they feel more compfortable.  They know the song better.  They learn more about where to pause, where to put emphasis.  Each time they sing the song, they perform it slightly differently.  They experiment a bit.  Eventually, after singing that song a number of times, they make it theirs.  They put their own “twist” on it.   Singing a song is about the process.  Yes, you can record it.  And you can listen to it again some day.   But what you will find, is past recordings are rarely as good as the “real thing”.  The current expression is always the most relevant.  And will often, (not always), be the best version.   Which is why it is ok not to record, or to save everything we have ever created.

The Final Word

If you can salvage something and make it better, this is often the cheapest and quickest way to proceed.   Also, it is often fun to save some of our earlier creations to see how far it is we have come.    Sometimes this can inspire us to continue on when our motivation slips a little.  It can also be used to help inspire others.

However, sometimes you simply have to start over.  Tear whatever structure you have down, and build something new.   While this may be stressful at first, as you delve into the process this can be a quite enjoyable process.  Because in the process of tearing something down, you have the flexibility to re-build an entirely different structure, that more aptly suits your present needs and desires.   Overall, what we are doing here is constantly expanding and growing, thus our past creations are not nearly as important as what is to come.    Embrace change.  (Resistance is futile.  lol.)