Planting a Tree
Posted by Wayne
Yesterday I decided I had enough of our house being the only one in the neighborhood without a mature tree in the front yard, so I decided to plant one. I shall realize the fruits of my labor in approximately 20 years.
I have often wondered why our house had no tree in the front yard, I’m betting that there there was one there early on that died. We probably won’t be here in 20 years to see the full grown tree, but I think it will be nice for the people who live here then.
Removing a Stake or Fencepost
Posted by Wayne
Planting a tree yesterday made me consider how I would remove the support stakes I pounded in with a sledgehammer once they’re no longer needed. I used the steel tee fence posts, and they’re not exactly meant to be easily removed (they’re impossible to simply pull out by hand).
“Tee Fence Post”
Russian Dacha
Posted by Wayne
The other day at work as my colleagues and I gathered for a meeting I was describing the documentary “Alone in the Wilderness” that I had seen the previous night on PBS. I was amazed that the guy had built his house, by himself, in the middle of nowhere with no power tools.
Mike G., the Quality Assurance director at my company, who happens to be from Russia, wasn’t as amazed with the story as I was. He was impressed that the guy lived in the Alaskan wilderness for 30 odd years, but not that he had built a house by himself with no power tools. Mike tells me that growing up in Russia his father had built two houses by himself with no power tools, one for himself and one for a neighbor, and he was not a professional builder. He says in Russia it isn’t that uncommon for people to build their own houses.
Alone in the Wilderness
Posted by Wayne
Last night I was hypnotized by a movie on PBS called “Alone in the Wilderness”. It’s a documentary about a crusty old guy who is builds himself a log cabin next to an extremely remote Alaskan lake. He was filmed building the cabin “by himself”, but obviously there was a person there filming too. In any case, I was extremely impressed with the guy’s craftsmanship and the ease with which he built the cabin over several months to prepare for the harsh Alaskan winter.
Forearm Forklifts, Thumbs Up!
Posted by Wayne
I think everyone should have a set of these around the house. They make lifting really heavy stuff a breeze.
They’re called “forearm forklifts”. You can see them by clicking here. I think I saw these on TV commercial and thought it was pretty dumb. Then the guys who delivered our new kitchen appliances were using them. Then my Dad got some for Christmas from someone and I’ve been using them quite a bit. I suspect you can buy them at Home Depot or any hardware store.
Most recently I used them to pick up a big screen TV which my father in law gave us. He told me to gather up about 4 guys to come and pick up the thing because that’s what it took him to get it into the house. I took these straps over to his house with my brother and we were easily able to pick it up ourselves, put it on a trailer, and then carry it about 75 yards all the way around my house to take it in through our basement. It was a piece of cake.
I have no doubt that it would take 4-5 guys to pick up the thing otherwise, and it would still be a total pain in the butt. The forearm forklifts make it easy, and I’m a believer. You should get a pair if you ever move heavy items.
Carefree Weekends
Posted by Wayne
I haven’t blogged for a while, and it isn’t because I’m not planning on blogging anymore. It’s been a combination of being really busy at work and not actually making any home-related improvements worth mentioning in this blog. I’m still getting about 150 visits per day from all over the world from people who are searching Google for a variety of home improvement topics which I love to see.
My weekends have been carefree and boring for quite a while now. I’ve been getting ideas in my head on which projects that I’d like to start on next. One day it is finishing the garage. The next day it is refinishing our basement. It might take a little while for me to build up the nerve to start any big projects. I think what we want to do in our basement is going to take me the better part of a year to do myself, so I’ll have plenty to write about. It will be my first chance to do a home project where I’m truly starting with a blank slate and there are no limits, so I’m kind of looking forward to it.
DIY Burnout
Posted by Wayne
It’s been about 3 weeks since my last entry. At that time I was just wrapping up on kitchen work and we were preparing for a big party with about 40 of our closest friends. Read the rest of this entry »
Filthy Animals
Posted by Wayne
Over the past week I’ve made a huge effort to finish our kitchen, mostly because we can’t stand living like this anymore. It is really tough when you don’t have a working kitchen, and when part of your house is under construction you eventually lose motivation to keep the rest of it clean.
The garage is really bad. Virtually everything I’ve taken out of the kitchen (old appliances, countertops, etc.) is still in the garage. I need to make a run to the dump to get rid of a lot of it. Plus, because it’s so cold outside, I have to do a lot of my work in the garage. It’s going to take me an entire weekend just to clean it up. It’s quite terrifying:
The worst of all is that we’ve got some kind of weird skunk living in our house now. I keep trying to stuff it back under the porch but it keeps showing up, sometimes even in our bed. It’s a little bitey too. Read the rest of this entry »
Installing Granite Countertops
Posted by Wayne
My original plan was to install 12×12 granite tiles over the existing laminate countertops, however our cabinets turned out so nice that we felt obligated to go for the gold and upgrade to solid granite countertops if we could afford it.
My wife found a place that sold standard countertop depth pre-cut sheets with a finished front edge. These sheets are 30 inches deep, 8 feet long, and cost about $400 each (give or take, based on the granite type). We needed two sheets to cover our counters. Installation and cutting the hole for the undermounted sink was not included in the price.
I wisely decided that attempting to install these sheets myself would not be a good idea, and the granite seller has an installer that they frequently work with that they recommended. We decided on ‘absolute black’ granite (my wife is the interior designer, so I didn’t argue). We paid for the granite up front and would pay for the installation after it was completed. Our total for the granite (with the sink hole cutting/polishing and tax) was about $1000. The installation would cost an additional $900.
More posts coming soon!
Posted by Wayne
I haven’t posted in about a week and it’s because I’ve been making a huge push to finish our kitchen and haven’t really had time to write. Our house is a nightmare and my wife and I can’t stand it anymore! We’re also planning on having a party in early March and want to have everything done by then.
In the past week I’ve installed hardwood flooring, new appliances, and tiled a backsplash behind the kitchen counter. It has been a very busy week, and the kitchen really looks fantastic. We’re about 97% done, and I hope to get close to completion tomorrow.
Kitchen- Replacing a Garden Window
Posted by Wayne
Technically, the window that was in our kitchen is called a garden window, but it is often incorrectly referred to as a bay window (mostly by me). The main problem with this garden window was that it was the same ugly brown/green metal color as the sliding glass door I had replaced, but also that the double paned glass had gotten foggy in between the sheets of glass.
Searching for a replacement garden window convinced me that window business is sketchy and underhanded. I say this because it is impossible to find any good information, explanations, or prices about replacement windows online, even after extensive searches. My typical process would be to learn a lot about a subject online and then go purchase something in person, but this is impossible if the subject is windows. Just try to find a window price online.
Caulking like a pro
Posted by Wayne
Caulking is just one of those things that seems so easy but every time you go to do it it turns into a big mess and you darn near ruin the project you just worked for hours on. I always had mixed results with the Dap Cap, and thought there had to be a better way. I could never figure out how to get a quick, professional caulk bead. It’s just plain irritating is what it is.
