Home stuff 🏡 Home improvements

[Big Owl]

Excellent idea!! I might just rough it out with a sander and a contour gauge. It'll look more "hand made" that way I guess.

If you go that route, I'd suggest using a power sander of some sort to rough out the shape and fine tune it by hand using a piece of a pool noodle or pipe insulation cut lengthwise with a piece of sand paper with adhesive back stuck to the inside curve. Or you can buy something like these

 

[kjel]

Helping RT gear up for Phase 2 of improvements to the beach house. Contractor is coming next weekend to go over the two inside projects-bathroom renovation to get rid of the fugly wall and floor tile, the fiberglass tub and shower surround, and cheapshit vanity. We're going to use the leftover laminate for flooring, a prefab shower base, glass shower doors, tiled shower surround plus the return wall, new vanity, and new hardware/fixtures.

The other project is restoring the garage. A previous owner decided to turn the garage into a room, not entirely sure what they used it for because it's sort of awkward in relation to the rest of the house. All they did was frame up a box on top of the concrete floor and drywall over the garage door and ceiling, build a weird little closet, and extend the HVAC ducting without resizing the system so it's always hot or cold. Oh and they removed the door between the dining room and garage but left the doorway. Just going to have them demo everything, install new drywall, tape/spackle, put a garage light in, and cap off the HVAC.

Phase 3 is a new roof, unfortunately a tear off since there's two layers and a couple of soft spots in the decking. Also new siding, soffits, and trim.

 

[AG74683]

If you go that route, I'd suggest using a power sander of some sort to rough out the shape and fine tune it by hand using a piece of a pool noodle or pipe insulation cut lengthwise with a piece of sand paper with adhesive back stuck to the inside curve. Or you can buy something like these

So now I am seriously considering a router and router table. It's not necessary for this small project, but there's a lot of smaller furniture projects I have that I just cannot find pre-built things to fit. IMO, a router is really a tool everyone should have anyway. It's a tool for life if I get a good one.

Reviews look like this Bosch router is the best beginner one to start with. I'm not sure which table to go with either. Cabinet or regular bench top. I'm leaning towards the cabinet just because I like the enclosed space for bits and such.

 

[WSU MUP Student]

It took longer than anticipated and then there were some scheduling conflicts with our installer but our fireplace insert is being delivered today and installed Friday. If all goes right, I'll be able to sit in the armchair next to a roaring fire Saturday morning with my coffee and newspaper.

 

[Planit]

^^^A router is a good investment. I had a Craftsman and the table to match. Used it many many many times when I was doing projects. Sold it to our Public Works Director last year as I was done with projects and he was starting to build.

 

[AG74683]

^^^A router is a good investment. I had a Craftsman and the table to match. Used it many many many times when I was doing projects. Sold it to our Public Works Director last year as I was done with projects and he was starting to build.

I think I'll snag just the router for now and forgo the table for a bit. I think it's unlikely I'll need the table for anything immediate anyway, and I can round a shelf edge without the table.

On the same line of thinking, do I really need a table top planer, or will a handheld do the trick, at least for now? Now that I've started down this path, I see a lot of projects I can do (two small entry tables, plant stands, an outdoor work table, a deck box). Tons of things I have needed over the years but have never been able to find anything I really like the look of.

 

[Big Owl]

I think I'll snag just the router for now and forgo the table for a bit. I think it's unlikely I'll need the table for anything immediate anyway, and I can round a shelf edge without the table.

On the same line of thinking, do I really need a table top planer, or will a handheld do the trick, at least for now? Now that I've started down this path, I see a lot of projects I can do (two small entry tables, plant stands, an outdoor work table, a deck box). Tons of things I have needed over the years but have never been able to find anything I really like the look of.

It's a slippery slope. It's very easy to wind up with a garage full of tools. I have a number of routers. My biggest one lives in my small router table. My router that gets the most use is a bosch colt palm router because its light weight and small. I'd say get you a good 2 - 2.5 hp router with both a plunge base and fixed base. That will do most every thing you need to do. You can stick it in a router table if you need to at some point.

You could release your inner luddite and get a good low angle block plane. A good sharp block plan producing curls of wood is a zen-like experience.

 

[Salmissra]

What are your thoughts on ceiling fan lights? We have a ceiling fan in our living room... it has a light.. I love the fan... hate the light.

I love the combo. But the style must fit the room.

Bedroom - both
living room - fan only unless no fireplace
Small room - whatever works

Our house came with 3 matching light/fan combos in the bedrooms, and a fan only in the living room (with a fireplace). While the fan/light size and style works in the smaller bedrooms, it's wrong for the master. I'm going to put in a different style combo. The fan only in the living room is OK, but I'm more concerned about other things that are not OK style-wise so I'm not worrying about it now.

 

[Doohickie]

I highly recommend checking out pawn shops for power tools. I got a nice mitre saw for $40, a circular saw for $20. They work fine. The only thing is to ask to plug it in before you buy (assuming plug-in).

 

[Maister]

What are your thoughts on ceiling fan lights? We have a ceiling fan in our living room... it has a light.. I love the fan... hate the light.

We have one in the bedroom. Like the fan. Hate the light. The fan in the family room does not have a light. I like that one.

 

[Veloise]

My latest favorite site is Family Handyman (sic).

Stumbling across their FB feed, they had an array of Saturday morning projects. This one explained how to fix the gap in a door jamb.
My garage service door was set too close to the hinge side, and a result the latch wouldn't catch, plus it was a needless struggle to turn the deadbolt.
Note my use of past tense!

My gap was about 1/2 on one side, so wimpy thin cardboard shims wouldn't work. I used a leftover strip of door frame weatherstripping from the overhead door, about 1/4" thick. Cut it to size, undid one hinge, used it as a template to Sharpie the drill holes, opened them. Inserted under the hinge on the door, replaced the screws.
Et voilà! The door is magically moved over towards the latch, which now catches and holds with a gentle push. Deadbolt now works a treat. And I've kept some material out of the landfill.

 

[kjel]

I have a Haiku fan in my bedroom. Love it. I have the white one with the light. https://www.bigassfans.com/fans/haiku/

 

[Doohickie]

I'm a big fan of haiku myself.

 

[Maister]

I have a Haiku fan in my bedroom. Love it. I have the white one with the light. https://www.bigassfans.com/fans/haiku/

Bamboo ceiling fan
Provides some cooling relief
You like how it looks?

 

[WSU MUP Student]

We got our fireplace insert installed Friday and it's awesome! I wasn't home during most of the install but thanks to an access panel behind a cabinet, they didn't have to cut into the walls anywhere to run the electrical components over to the fireplace. We ran the fireplace most of the day with the temp and blowers both on a medium setting on Saturday and it kept the main living area (living room, dining room, family room, kitchen, foyer, and a bathroom) toasty warm. For reference, that's probably about 1,200 square feet of living space.

In fact, it was probably working a little too good and when we started to get the kids ready for bed Saturday evening I went down to the end of the house with the bedrooms and realized they were relatively chilly. I looked at my the log on my thermostat and saw that the furnace hadn't kicked on all day.

Sunday afternoon my wife and kids were at the movies so I got cranked the new fireplace up to high, switched the ceiling fans to really get air flowing in the rooms with the high ceilings, and turned on the smaller gas log insert in the other fireplace (that doesn't really throw out all that much heat) and left everything going for a while. I fell asleep on the couch watching reruns of The Cleveland Show and woke up sweating with the temperature inside the house around 85º. It was great!

The plan is to use the fireplace during the day but I need to sit down and reconfigure the Nest thermostat to turn on for an hour or so before bed no matter the temperature just to take the chill out of the air in the bedrooms.

 

[Doohickie]

take the chill out of the air in the bedrooms.

I actually fall sleep better if it's already chilly in the bedroom.

 

[Gedunker]

I'm convinced the lady I bought my house from thought the answer to all household problems was CAULK! Among all kinds of places I've found CAULK, this included the grout in the shower, which I'm guessing wasn't bright enough for her (the house was built in 1965), so she decided to use a tube (or 12) of tub CAULK to make it look prettier. I've had a massive battle trying to keep mildew from the tile and grout lines in the shower. I've tried store bought products, I've mixed up recipes I found on the interwebs. Good old fashioned elbow-grease and plenty of it, too. It sometimes looked better, but never completely great.

That is, until I found Chlorox Tile-X Mold & Mildew. Spritz that stuff on there and sit back and let it do its work. And baby, does it work! There are still a few tiny spots here and there, but it looks like a brand new 1965 pistachio green tile shower again. Awesome.

The label does say to use in a well ventilated space. Not because some lawyer thought putting that on there would be a good idea. They really mean it. I coughed up a lung the rest of the day, but hey, the shower is clean again! Totally worth it.

 

[WSU MUP Student]

I actually fall sleep better if it's already chilly in the bedroom.

It doesn't matter the temperature of a room, if I lay down it's lights out in about 5 minutes for me. However, I will sleep longer and more comfortably in a chilly room.

 

[kjel]

I'm convinced the lady I bought my house from thought the answer to all household problems was CAULK! Among all kinds of places I've found CAULK, this included the grout in the shower, which I'm guessing wasn't bright enough for her (the house was built in 1965), so she decided to use a tube (or 12) of tub CAULK to make it look prettier. I've had a massive battle trying to keep mildew from the tile and grout lines in the shower. I've tried store bought products, I've mixed up recipes I found on the interwebs. Good old fashioned elbow-grease and plenty of it, too. It sometimes looked better, but never completely great.

That is, until I found Chlorox Tile-X Mold & Mildew. Spritz that stuff on there and sit back and let it do its work. And baby, does it work! There are still a few tiny spots here and there, but it looks like a brand new 1965 pistachio green tile shower again. Awesome.

The label does say to use in a well ventilated space. Not because some lawyer thought putting that on there would be a good idea. They really mean it. I coughed up a lung the rest of the day, but hey, the shower is clean again! Totally worth it.

The beach house. Their answer to any home improvement project was caulk, hot glue gun, pins (not nails), and staples.

Sounds like you need a better fan in the bathroom.

 

[Gedunker]

The beach house. Their answer to any home improvement project was caulk, hot glue gun, pins (not nails), and staples.

Sounds like you need a better fan in the bathroom.

There's no fan in the bathroom (and no light in shower or even outlets in the bathroom anywhere, for that matter). She CAULKED and painted the window shut. Once the weather breaks, I'll be outside finishing refurbishing all the wood windows and triple track storms, and will get the window operable again. I will not poison myself a second time, that's for sure.

 

[kms]

I'm convinced the lady I bought my house from thought the answer to all household problems was CAULK! Among all kinds of places I've found CAULK, this included the grout in the shower, which I'm guessing wasn't bright enough for her (the house was built in 1965), so she decided to use a tube (or 12) of tub CAULK to make it look prettier. I've had a massive battle trying to keep mildew from the tile and grout lines in the shower. I've tried store bought products, I've mixed up recipes I found on the interwebs. Good old fashioned elbow-grease and plenty of it, too. It sometimes looked better, but never completely great.

That is, until I found Chlorox Tile-X Mold & Mildew. Spritz that stuff on there and sit back and let it do its work. And baby, does it work! There are still a few tiny spots here and there, but it looks like a brand new 1965 pistachio green tile shower again. Awesome.

The label does say to use in a well ventilated space. Not because some lawyer thought putting that on there would be a good idea. They really mean it. I coughed up a lung the rest of the day, but hey, the shower is clean again! Totally worth it.

That product makes my chest hurt.

I found that using those post-shower/bath sprays were pretty effective in keeping mildew down, but those started to make my chest hurt, so I stopped using it.

I found a home made formula of water, Dawn dish soap and boiling vinegar that cleans just about anything from a bath tub. Talk about needed ventilation and personal protection. Vinegar vapors burn eyes and mucous membranes. I had to tie a heavy cotton towel around my face.

 

[AG74683]

I learned last night that there is such a thing as "drywall texture" that you can spray on a repair to return the orange peel look. I've struggled with large patches forever because they always stand out. I bet this will fix that problem.

 

[kjel]

There's no fan in the bathroom (and no light in shower or even outlets in the bathroom anywhere, for that matter). She CAULKED and painted the window shut. Once the weather breaks, I'll be outside finishing refurbishing all the wood windows and triple track storms, and will get the window operable again. I will not poison myself a second time, that's for sure.

Because of course. Most of the windows in the beach house were painted shut. Fortunately it just took a few minutes and a sharp blade to get them open.

If you squeegee the walls after finishing showering most of the water is eliminated and what's left evaporates quickly so it won't mildew as fast.

 

[WSU MUP Student]

If you squeegee the walls after finishing showering most of the water is eliminated and what's left evaporates quickly so it won't mildew as fast.

My in-laws keep a little squeegee attached to the wall for us to use in the showers in their house in Florida. I was skeptical about it really making a difference but I bought one for our master bathroom and it really does seem to be effective at keeping things cleaner.

 

[DVD]

I learned last night that there is such a thing as "drywall texture" that you can spray on a repair to return the orange peel look. I've struggled with large patches forever because they always stand out. I bet this will fix that problem.

Just make sure the seams are smooth enough before you spray the texture and make sure you're using the same texture. There is orange peel from fine to rough and knock down and I'm sure a few more.

 

[Gedunker]

Because of course. Most of the windows in the beach house were painted shut. Fortunately it just took a few minutes and a sharp blade to get them open.

If you squeegee the walls after finishing showering most of the water is eliminated and what's left evaporates quickly so it won't mildew as fast.

I'm a little worried about the window. It has a spring-loaded system (not pocket and weights). The track the window rides in is aluminum and is stamped "DO NOT PAINT". Of course, she painted it. So, yeah. We'll see.

We have a squeegee from our last trip to IKEA in Cincy. I bought it because the shower floor isn't adequately sloped. One of the three of us is good about using it, the others not so much. I'll have to try it on the tile now, too.

I've tried teaching the pigs to sing, but I've found it wastes my time and it annoys the pigs. Someday they'll have their own houses ...

 

[AG74683]

Just make sure the seams are smooth enough before you spray the texture and make sure you're using the same texture. There is orange peel from fine to rough and knock down and I'm sure a few more.

The patch I'm looking at now is fine orange peel. It's a good test patch for using the spray for the first time, it's in my basement on a wall that I think hasn't been painted in 20 years. I fell going down the stairs and put a hole through it with the laundry basket.

I have two other big patch areas that could use texture too. If it goes well with this test, I'll do the others.

 

[MD Planner]

I'm in the preliminary stages of planning to install some floating shelves. They will be between two walls above a toilet. I've actually never done it before and want to do it right. Seems like there are a lot of el cheapo "kits" out there so I'm going to try to avoid that. It looks like having a drill press would make the job easier but that's one thing I don't have.

 

[Veloise]

I'm in the preliminary stages of planning to install some floating shelves. They will be between two walls above a toilet. I've actually never done it before and want to do it right. Seems like there are a lot of el cheapo "kits" out there so I'm going to try to avoid that. It looks like having a drill press would make the job easier but that's one thing I don't have.

Lots of how-tos at the provided link

 

[AG74683]

Well I did a thing this weekend. Came home with a table saw, jigsaw, and a pile of lumber.

I decided the table saw was the right move to start a home woodshop. I was gonna go with a miter saw but decided I can do everything a miter saw can do plus rip boards with a table saw.

First test project will be something simple, building a gate for a deck. Shouldn't be too hard. After that, it'll be a cover to go over my glass top stove. Idea is I can use it for extra counter space when I don't need the stove.

Eventually I'll build a big worth table in the basement with a built in spot for the table saw. I just have to figure out the best way to get large lumber here. My table is planned to be 5' x 8'. It'll actually be two tables that join together because it'll go around a support in my basement.

 

[Doohickie]

I was gonna go with a miter saw

I picked up a chop saw (miter saw) at a pawn shop for $40. Stop in to a few pawn shops if you have the time; you'd be amazed at what you can find.

 

[Bubba]

Discovered some water intrusion in the basement late last week for the first time since we've been in this house (two-and-a-half years). Granted, we've had a lot of rain recently, but the last couple of weeks was hardly the first time we've had lots of rain. Couple that with a noticeably higher water bill (especially considering that one of the two people that live here was out of town for two weeks of the billing cycle), and the proximity of the origin of the water intrusion to a sprinkler line...and I think I might have a busted sprinkler pipe. Yay! I turned off that water line, and we've been able to mostly dry out that area of the basement. It's started raining again this morning, and it will last for a couple of more days - we'll see if I'm right...and then I can get it fixed.

 

[AG74683]

I picked up a chop saw (miter saw) at a pawn shop for $40. Stop in to a few pawn shops if you have the time; you'd be amazed at what you can find.

I think I'm gonna go the new route for tools. We have limited pawn shops here, and I am wary of buying anything used because I have no ability to really repair it. That said, the miter saw I was looking at is now way overkill with a table saw. It was a compound sliding DeWalt. I can downgrade that now to a regular compound since I have space on the table saw for larger items.

The table saw has a pretty limited table though. That's fine considering I was planning on building a large work space and including a built in area for the table saw. I have discovered that the included miter gauge is a pile of hot garbage. That'll be the first upgrade. I had to clamp the piece I was going to cut to the miter gauge, which is sketchy at best IMO. I couldn't remove the piece until the cut was finished and the saw was off. I'm not terribly worried about kickback on a crosscut though.

 

[Veloise]

I have fixed so much stuff!

--M/D light on one side of my overhead garage door never detected traffic in the alley. Decided to try swapping it out with the one at the passage door. Beautiful warm Sunday afternoon, I did it. The problem location now works, and the donor location does too.

--Had to remove globs of clear caulk from the donor fixture, which took some paint off the siding. Got the spare can out, used one of my yard waste sticks to stir. Hey, as long as the brush is wet, I worked over the side of the garage, and the diagonal patch that the siding dudes made (tried to fill with more clear caulk).

--Side yard wood fence had worked loose from the post. Got out the super long star-head deck screws.

--Across-alley neighbors (four young women renters) had a wobbly fence, absentee LL. (When you know how to access property records, you learn all sorts of interesting things. He's in California!) Another couple of deck screws.

--Last week I removed my side yard gate, trimmed the lowest cross member, re-installed. Had to take a break midway to recharge my cordless drill.

--Cabinet doors can be trued up just like a bicycle wheel using principles similar to adjusting a derailleur. No more 91/89° angles with an obvious difference in the reveal. Did the kitchen and the up bath.

--Scraped up all the yard waste, cut back the old raspberry canes, piled it all up in anticipation of our yard waste site re-opening in a couple of weeks.

--Snuck into the garden section of a Lowes and got ten 6-packs of pansies. Planted up four big window boxes and a couple of small planters, plus a porch pot.

--A couple months back I replaced my cracked glass coffee pot, moving its white top to the new (black). I'd not aligned the handle completely, so yesterday I grabbed the Phillips screwdriver and straightened it. It's the little things ...

--Last fall I got new faucets, and the installer mixed up the H and C lines at the kitchen sink. It was simple to connect them correctly ... guess he didn't notice the bright orange-red HOT WATER LINE label on the one. Hardest part was removing all my cleaning supplies and the custom shelves I made for them, but in replacing everything I revised the layout, which improved it.

--And I did an egg plant.

 

[Salmissra]

I wanted to do some outside work this spring, but massive amounts of rain, saturated soil, and WFH orders means no go on the bigger projects. We did get the sprinkler system fixed in Feb, but haven't had to turn it on since. I haven't been to any gardening center, and don't feel like ordering plants online. I pull weeds coming/going on my dog walks, but that's only the front flowerbeds.

Inside work that I wanted to start (lighting fixtures, ceiling fans) put on hold due to fear of Hubby being laid off if pandemic continues too much longer. I actually picked out a fan and was narrowing my choices of lights, when we put the brakes on.

Spring Cleaning is a go. Bedooms, bathrooms and master closet done, and will be doing the living areas this week. The media room is last - Hubby's using it as his WFH office.

 

[AG74683]

I worked all day on my backyard Saturday. That involved pulling a massive tree limb that had split off during the hurricanes in 2018 down from the sky. I was trying to avoid damaging my fence, but it was completely unavoidable. Not a ton of damage, but I'll need the fence guy to come out and fix it. Can't be more than $100, maybe less.

There's so much to do in that yard. I decided I want to put a concrete patio out back, but have no idea where to start. I'm not sure I can do that type of job myself. It'll be fairly large, maybe close to 300 sf. I assume I'll need rebar in something that size, and I don't have any experience with cutting/tying it. I want to put actual footers on the outside too because I may eventually lay down a wall around the exterior. I want to build in a fire pit as well as electrical outlets too. All told, it'll be a significant project I think. I won't be doing any stamped concrete or anything like that, just poured standard stuff. There's an existing concrete walkway that goes from my screen room/deck to the basement stairs, and it's just standard concrete. I suppose I can smash that up and repour and stamp it though. It is in some rough shape now though.

 

[Veloise]

... I decided I want to put a concrete patio out back, but have no idea where to start. I'm not sure I can do that type of job myself. It'll be fairly large, maybe close to 300 sf. I assume I'll need rebar in something that size, and I don't have any experience with cutting/tying it. I want to put actual footers on the outside too because I may eventually lay down a wall around the exterior. I want to build in a fire pit as well as electrical outlets too. All told, it'll be a significant project I think. I won't be doing any stamped concrete or anything like that, just poured standard stuff. There's an existing concrete walkway that goes from my screen room/deck to the basement stairs, and it's just standard concrete. I suppose I can smash that up and repour and stamp it though. It is in some rough shape now though.

Look at putting in pavers. They are not expensive, and the process is simple. You can start small and expand. And the styles! Designs! A poured concrete patio would look very garage-like.

 

[Planit]

Two weekends of yard work. Had let things get a little overgrown, but now most of the front looks great.

 

[MD Planner]

Look at putting in pavers. They are not expensive, and the process is simple. You can start small and expand. And the styles! Designs! A poured concrete patio would look very garage-like.

Pavers are a good option but also look at how they can paint or stain concrete now. You can get some pretty amazing looking results. And for those who already have a tired, plain old concrete patio you can treat those as well and really dress it up.

 

[AG74683]

Look at putting in pavers. They are not expensive, and the process is simple. You can start small and expand. And the styles! Designs! A poured concrete patio would look very garage-like.

Pavers are a good option but also look at how they can paint or stain concrete now. You can get some pretty amazing looking results. And for those who already have a tired, plain old concrete patio you can treat those as well and really dress it up.

I'm not a paver fan, mostly because I get annoyed when things like chair legs get caught in the cracks between pavers. There's tons of options out there for poured patios now. Acid stains, various concrete color additives, stamps, all that stuff. That said, I didn't think about staining my existing concrete, so that could be a nice option. At the end of the day, I'll probably end up busting up the current concrete walkway because it's not in the best shape. It's starting to erode underneath.

 

[Doohickie]

My latest favorite site is Family Handyman (sic).

Stumbling across their FB feed, they had an array of Saturday morning projects. This one explained how to fix the gap in a door jamb.
My garage service door was set too close to the hinge side, and a result the latch wouldn't catch, plus it was a needless struggle to turn the deadbolt.
Note my use of past tense!

My gap was about 1/2 on one side, so wimpy thin cardboard shims wouldn't work. I used a leftover strip of door frame weatherstripping from the overhead door, about 1/4" thick. Cut it to size, undid one hinge, used it as a template to Sharpie the drill holes, opened them. Inserted under the hinge on the door, replaced the screws.
Et voilà! The door is magically moved over towards the latch, which now catches and holds with a gentle push. Deadbolt now works a treat. And I've kept some material out of the landfill.

I just Google the project I'm interested in and look at a variety of different people. There is variation in techniques and I like to see the different ways to do things. This video when I was doing the roof on my porch cover cracked me up. You can tell the guy knows about roofing but based on his mockup he built for the video you can tell he don't know doodly-squat about framing. First thing he says in the video is "The mockup's a little shaky."

 

[Doohickie]

Patio cover.

As bought: Trellis (useless to me)

Deconstruction:

Putting it back together (you can see it only in the shadow, but there are roof joists on the left slope):

My goal for the weekend was to get decking over the joists before storms blew through last night, but it was probably a good call to not push it. We had pretty strong winds with last night's storm.

Broken links.... that's what I get for using FB as my photo host. They jumble things up now and again. I've since realized that I can link to FB posts. Who knew?

 

[Veloise]

I just Google the project I'm interested in and look at a variety of different people. ...

I had no interest in re-centering my door until I saw it on the site.

One of my favorite ways to spend time is to find resources for people who post dreck like, "Can someone find me the ruling on dog limit per household in GR? Seriously... really need to know."
In a couple minutes I'd posted the ancient link from the first civic discussion, the one where they dropped it from the agenda, and the pertinent link to municode.com

 

[fringe]

Well I did a thing this weekend. Came home with a table saw, jigsaw, and a pile of lumber.

I decided the table saw was the right move to start a home woodshop. I was gonna go with a miter saw but decided I can do everything a miter saw can do plus rip boards with a table saw.

First test project will be something simple, building a gate for a deck. Shouldn't be too hard. After that, it'll be a cover to go over my glass top stove. Idea is I can use it for extra counter space when I don't need the stove.

Eventually I'll build a big worth table in the basement with a built in spot for the table saw. I just have to figure out the best way to get large lumber here. My table is planned to be 5' x 8'. It'll actually be two tables that join together because it'll go around a support in my basement.

I made a center work table in my shop/studio with medical office casework that was diverted off of a truck headed for the dump during a remodel. My donor told me to get the biggest casters I could find and make the whole thing mobile, which is what I did. Mine is 50" (two counter top depths) by about nine feet. Eight 300 lb casters. Only trouble is I have to provide power outlets from overhead.

 

[AG74683]

I made a center work table in my shop/studio with medical office casework that was diverted off of a truck headed for the dump during a remodel. My donor told me to get the biggest casters I could find and make the whole thing mobile, which is what I did. Mine is 50" (two counter top depths) by about nine feet. Eight 300 lb casters. Only trouble is I have to provide power outlets from overhead.

Awesome! I have actually sketched up a table design. It will fit in a very particular place. It's designed to really be two tables that connect together around a support post in my basement to utilize all the available space I have. I think I designed it to be one table at 2' x 8' and another at 5' x 8'. Problem is getting plywood and 2x4's in full size lengths. I'm still working on that.

I decided over the weekend that I want to turn this frustrating natural area I have underneath my bay window in the kitchen into a rock garden. I don't really want any uncontrolled vegetation underneath the window, and I think this will work well. I plan on using those large cast stone pots to plant whatever vegetation I may want so I can contain it. Problem is, I don't know how much stone I need. I plan on digging out the dirt to eliminate as much of the vegetation as I can and laying landscaping fabric. I'm going to use non-decorative drainage rock on the bottom and larger round river rock on top. I haven't estimated my square footage yet, but I'm estimating it'll be around 30sf.

 

[mendelman]

We may be looking to start a cosmetic redo of our master bath - basically new vanity sink/cabinet, backsplash and simple new vinyl flooring.

Nothing amazing, but is needed.

 

[Veloise]

...
I decided over the weekend that I want to turn this frustrating natural area I have underneath my bay window in the kitchen into a rock garden. I don't really want any uncontrolled vegetation underneath the window, and I think this will work well. I plan on using those large cast stone pots to plant whatever vegetation I may want so I can contain it. Problem is, I don't know how much stone I need. I plan on digging out the dirt to eliminate as much of the vegetation as I can and laying landscaping fabric. I'm going to use non-decorative drainage rock on the bottom and larger round river rock on top. I haven't estimated my square footage yet, but I'm estimating it'll be around 30sf.

Last spring I implemented a dry creek feature, using free rock from a posting on Nextdoor. Hardest part was hauling the buckets up the slope from her back yard.

pro tip: a plastic toboggan is a useful garden aid

 

[TOFB]

I cleaned out my two ponds Sunday. A wet, filthy job but satisfying and nice when it is done. Monday morning I go outside and one pond is completely devoid of water.

 

[WSU MUP Student]

Last spring I implemented a dry creek feature, using free rock from a posting on Nextdoor. Hardest part was hauling the buckets up the slope from her back yard.

pro tip: a plastic toboggan is a useful garden aid

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Every time we go to the beach house in the summer I bring back as many large rocks as I can carry from the beach to the back of our vehicle and then put them in my gardens at home. A couple of years ago I started using a plastic sled to drag them through the yard and around the house to where we park and that made a huge difference. I still have to carry them from the water line to the seawall (that's gotten to be a really short trip over the past couple years!) but now I can load a whole bunch onto the sled and just pull it across the grass.

 

[Veloise]

On Friday I went out on a mask collection run, and stopped by Big Lots thinking that they might have stock of some of the popular products. Nope, no vitamin C. But they did have a four-pack of solar lights that affix to your gutters. On Saturday I found good places for three of them, and I need to figure out what to do with the last one. This is in part because I found evidence of ... ah ... public defecation in my back yard. (It's open to the alley because I sometimes need to back the four-wheeler up to the door, and I moved the side yard shrubs to the alley side to help screen. At least they didn't drop it in one of my flower beds.)

Yesterday I undecorated the egg plant, brought out the glue gun and the new pack of plastic eggs, and fixed them all up for next year. (Unbent paper clips are easiest to hang, but I like the look of the shiny green ribbon.)

Started raking all the yard debris. Trimmed back the pampas grass, pulled a lot of the ground cover, moved some of the former to eventually provide more of a screen regarding Obnoxious!Neighbor across the street. (He's the one who demanded to see building permits, told me to re-install the chain link fencing in my side yard, admitted to a friend that "we take turns calling the city" regarding alleged code violations. He's also the reason I almost never use my front door and porch.)

Then I made the mistake of loading several tarps worth of material info my vehicle for drop-off at the city's free yard waste site ... which opens ten days from now.