Spring / Summer Projects Thread (non-game related)

goombakid

Fu'un-Ken Master
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Gonna start the expansion of my deck. Picking up some materials here and there and hopefully get it done before I go visit family in August.

Also planning to make a little raised garden using hollow tile for the Mrs. to grow stuff. We might be doing that pretty soon here.

I may also attempt to make a go-kart or something from free stuff through CL. We'll see, though.
 

ahcmetal

Super Spy Agent
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Winter has been about restoring cabs...and the summer is for trying to fix up a car I've wanted since I was a kid...
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The cost...has been way too much. The difficulty...has been way too hard. But I think it's going to be worth it... I'm not a car guy at all, I just really want an El Camino...
 
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GregN

aka The Grinch
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This side of my basement is currently used for storage, but I and my Dad might re-do the walls, I haven't decided yet. There will definitely will carpet it at some point.

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This part of the basement needs work; the wall needs a poster to cover it or some re-dry walling. The ceiling needs to be redone. I haven't decided if I'll redo the lights; They are from 1940 (year the house was built) and showing their age.

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The garage is a whole 'nuther beast. It's real old and needs painting. I don't put my car in it and am using it as storage. The inside's floor needs a makeover.

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My Dad and I worked on this side of the basement a couple of years ago, added lighting, dry wall and a ton of outlets. All we need to do is to put a shelf in the corner and carpet.
 
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mjmjr25

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Greg, you're a trip man.

I don't know what's real and what isn't - but under no circumstances should you carpet below grade. Even if your basement stays bone dry - it will still absorb humidity in summer months and begin to reek like wet dog, grow mold and mildew.
 

GregN

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Greg, you're a trip man.

I don't know what's real and what isn't - but under no circumstances should you carpet below grade. Even if your basement stays bone dry - it will still absorb humidity in summer months and begin to reek like wet dog, grow mold and mildew.

I think I've done the right thing when people's eyes go wide with mouths gaping open. People have this pre-conceived assumption that I'm a man-child parents basement dweller but that's not true anymore. I do visit my parents often though - they're only a hour away.

My Dad had a foam-backed carpet downstairs in his old house and it worked out. I thought of putting hardwood floors down there like my above rooms, but christ is that expensive. It would be worth it in the long run though. Another option is just put a huge rug in. Foam back would be an option too.
 
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mjmjr25

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Define "worked out". Even if it didn't reek - it was very likely releasing mold spores - you may have been stuffed up, runny nose all the time and never known why. I would under no circumstance recommend carpet or plush rug below grade. If you laid tile or something and put a vapor barrier - maybe a rug is ok. In addition to being below grade you have to deal with whatever you lay wicking moisture from the concrete or stone foundation.

You don't want hardwood floors below grade either for the same reason. They will warp, bow and crack over time. If you want that look - install an engineered hardwood (basically pressed plywood cut into hardwood flooring strips) or laminate - something that isn't susceptible to (unseen) moisture. Having it be a floating floor is recommended too.
 

GregN

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Define "worked out". Even if it didn't reek - it was very likely releasing mold spores - you may have been stuffed up, runny nose all the time and never known why. I would under no circumstance recommend carpet or plush rug below grade. If you laid tile or something and put a vapor barrier - maybe a rug is ok. In addition to being below grade you have to deal with whatever you lay wicking moisture from the concrete or stone foundation.

You don't want hardwood floors below grade either for the same reason. They will warp, bow and crack over time. If you want that look - install an engineered hardwood (basically pressed plywood cut into hardwood flooring strips) or laminate - something that isn't susceptible to (unseen) moisture. Having it be a floating floor is recommended too.

Thanks. I'll think it over. What about vinyl?

I remember an old girlfriend's had a mold problem in her sisters room - that shit is not fun.
 

mjmjr25

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Vinyl should be fine - i'm not sure what the concrete would do to the adhesive on the vinyl backing, but that would just loosen it if anything - there shouldn't be any health risks. I really like the idea of tile flooring on anything below grade. It's easy to install, inexpensive, low maintenance, will last for years, and easy to clean.
 
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GregN

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Vinyl should be fine - i'm not sure what the concrete would do to the adhesive on the vinyl backing, but that would just loosen it if anything - there should be any health risks. I really like the idea of tile flooring on anything below grade. It's easy to install, inexpensive, low maintenance, will last for years, and easy to clean.

I could always put a rug over vinyl too. Next time I'm at Menards, I'll price it.
 

BanishingFlatsAC

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Vinyl should be fine - i'm not sure what the concrete would do to the adhesive on the vinyl backing, but that would just loosen it if anything - there shouldn't be any health risks. I really like the idea of tile flooring on anything below grade. It's easy to install, inexpensive, low maintenance, will last for years, and easy to clean.

The problem with laying Vinyl straight on the foundation is that he's going to have to apply a ton of epoxy to make the Vinyl adhere. Over time the moisture will wick under the Vinyl and cause bubbling. What I recommend doing is painting the floor and the underside of the subflooring with Owens Corning water barrier, then apply the vinyl to that. I used this new stuff called Ceramica in my kitchen, 3 season room, and laundry room. It lays down like tile and you can grout it, but it's basically high end peel and stick. However if you never plan on changing the flooring down there, tile it once and be done with it.
 

GregN

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Good thoughts, guys. Keep it coming. I'm green to this stuff, so any advice is appreciated.
 

lithy

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Whatever you do, measure your tiles before you pull them up. If they are 9x9", assume they contain asbestos.

I need to do some work in my basement as well.
 

Lastblade

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Spring Time, tune up time. I just recently built a storage deck bench for keeping the patio furniture chairs out of the rain. And, a yoko shed, that thanks to its horizontal orientation (as opposed to a traditional storage 'mini house' style shed) it nooks nicely away, under the deck.
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Voila. Finished just before yesterday's rain. Time for some melons, berries, and veggies.

This is awesome. I don't have any pics now but we bought the Costco raised garden kit a month or so ago and reaped the first reward this weekend (cabbage).
 

wataru330

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This is awesome. I don't have any pics now but we bought the Costco raised garden kit a month or so ago and reaped the first reward this weekend (cabbage).



Thanks, man. My nephew just got the Costco raised bed kit. The cedar stained one, that is about 8" high I think. Perfect for his side yard; that is great you have harvested so soon!

Just Sealcoated my drive way-I'll spare the pics, it's a black ribbon, lol. The latest hypes is this:
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Made my wife a mini wine cellar out of pallets.
 

Craig

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framing up something to throw a shed on....

Fuck my life it's hot down here in the swamp.

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Its already level, so its just shimming up the low spots, driving some more anchor steaks, and plywood on top...

than I get to build the actual shed.
 

mjmjr25

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Man - we lost some good posts in this thread w/the rollback - didn't realize that :/

I like that wine crate idea, Jim. Where i'm located - it's generally beneficial for me to order all my stuff from Menards in one fell swoop and pay the flat $49 delivery fee. The only downside if you will - they just lift it off the flatbed by the pallet, so each spring I end up w/8-10 pallets and don't really need any more. I have a pile of about 15 right now behind the garage I planned to burn up. I should really google "pallet projects" or something.
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Craig - nice work dude. Foundation work is tedious to get it right and it's wholly underappreciated - good on you for taking the time to get it all plumb and level. The downside to living up North is there's really only 6-7 months a year you can do projects, but the upside is...in late spring and early fall - it's 55-60, no bugs and just ideal project weather. Today was our first "hot" day, but nothing like Louisiana. It was 84.
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I mostly finished my woodshed weekend before last - I originally planned to paint the inside too, but i'm liking that painted exterior and natural interior as it sits right now. My wife and I leveled out the foundation for our pool last night - I got entirely bored - trying to level out a 15' circle is just tedious; we have no level ground on our property, so it was just till, shovel, tamp, measure - over and over for 4 hours and I called it good, but my wife put in a couple more hours (perfectionist). Today I built a captain's chair to compliment the Adirondack set I build last year. I'll post up a pic here this evening.
 

Craig

Stupid Bitch.,
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All that complaining I did about the heat worked... it Fucking poured and was hot today... rained its Fucking Ass off.




The old man in this one.


But still my hair looking dope as fuck!



Got all four walls up, but forgot to snap a pic..
Should be all done in a day or so and I'll post some more than...
 

mjmjr25

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I put these Adirondacks together last year - this is one of the best bang-for-your-buck projects. All told it was under $75 for all the wood (2 chairs, 1 bench) and took less than 3 hours total. First one took about 75 minutes, but then the next 2 just flew, less than an hour apiece start to finish:

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I started a new set of Captain's Chairs this weekend. These are a bit heavier and give a more mission-style look. Really straightforward design and quite sturdy. $20 / 60 minutes / weighs about 35lbs.
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My wife and I leveled the ground where the pool goes. Last year by end of season we were 7" off level - the weight of the water compacted softer ground, apparently, and it just got worse over the summer - this year we put the hours into digging it all out and compacting:
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Here's the wood-shed I completed a couple weekends back. Originally was going to paint the interior too to offer more weather protection, but the roof has rolled roofing and water shouldn't get to the interior (it's treated anyways) so going to leave the inside natural:
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All work and no play...yada...so took the kids to one of the fishing holes near our house:
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mjmjr25

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Summer got away from me and the early progress on projects really bogged down. I built a cabinet for the upstairs bathroom in August...and that's been it.

We went over our "to do list" for the summer and we got about half done...not great. Today was a nice fall day and everyone felt like working outside - so we picked one of the projects on the list - TREEHOUSE.

Well, my wife is very particular about this type of thing and it had to be: not visible from our house, but close enough we could here them if they needed help, and in an area she doesn't have other future plans for. That narrowed it down to a few areas - so we found an area with 3 nice birch we can use as a base; about 40' into the woods and 200' from the house. Today was simply a "clear" the area day. Took down about 60 brush trees and a ton of weeds, ferns, and other foliage. It was a lot of work, but with 6 of us going, it only took about 2 hours to clear the entire area - really happy with the clear out and it's sort of cool, middle of the woods and then there's this complete opening - will pickup the wood tomorrow and get cracking.
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So, feeling pretty good, but pretty beat - the boys were saying, "we worked so hard and no treehouse. We NEED something to show for it. Dad, build a goal post." I was in a decent mood and have enough scrap wood - literally took 20 mins. 5 mins to dig a post hole, 10 cobble a few boards together, 5 mins to fill hole. It's only 30" deep in the ground and weighs about 30lbs - i'll be able to pull it up before the ground starts to freeze and store it behind the garage.
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tighecg

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Damn, wish I woulda saw this thread earlier.

I started laying a concrete floor in my barn about three weeks ago. 60' x 40' barn, doing three pours. First pour was about 14 yards, did the second yesterday morning, 16 1/2 yards. I was pulling the screed board next to the wall and about half way through I dehydrated and all my free help had to pick up the slack, I felt like such a piece of shit. I did what I could after, worked the chute, rode a shovel, I wasn't going to stop completely.

I have always planned on putting the floor in sometime, but the motivation was that my bro in law wanted to have his wedding reception there on Oct 8. The total cost will be around 10 grand all together.
 

LoneSage

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Hello MJ Mr.J 25, I am happy you keep yourself busy with these projects.


But what to do when the winter sets in
 
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