The Official DIY Look At Me Thread

[LilBastage]

Andy - does that construction adhesive hold tight on those pavers?

I think it will hold them tight to a point. Those pavers/blocks weigh upwards of 50+ pound each, between their weight and the forces involved in the freeze/thaw cycle I doubt a bead of adhesive is really going to make a huge difference. But I figure a half dozen tubes of adhesive set me back $15, and they probably will help a little. The adhesive I used is specific for retaining wall block.

It doesn't hold real tight through the winters up here. It gets cold enough to make the adhesive release the block. Every spring I have to scrape the old adhesive off a few blocks and reapply adhesive to them. It's an ongoing maintenance procedure.

Of course it gets a lot colder up here than in Brandon's area, so it may work great for him.

 

[Gonz]

Here's a couple finished pics of the retaining wall as well as the landscaping and sod. I had a little work to do on the grading since the floor of the new garage is about 20" higher than the old garage. Hence the retaining wall and slope off the side of the garage. Also, there's a picture of the old garage just for your amusement, me tearing down the old garage and my progression through to the new garage. Enjoy and ask any questions!

 

[buzzed]

You've got skills Gonz. That is nice.

 

[jgohlke]

Nice garage Gonz. Very sweet! Nail gun or framing hammer? Shingles delivered to the roof or did you carry them up a ladder? Manufactured roof trusses or built on site? That picture of you measuring....That's my favorite build day! A nice stack of 2x4's, some plywood, a concrete pad..... I'd live that day over and over, if I could.

I'm currently stripping the fiberglass off our built-in, concrete pool (pics on the 2nd page of this post: post linky. I've used a couple different tools, including a grinder and pressure washer. Nothing works great. It's just an awful job. No way around it.

My uncle just gave me an old, semi-broken, partially finished gun cabinet. What's there is mostly very nice, made of cherry that he harvested in the 1960's. It's in pretty rough shape right now. I haven't started on it, but it's taking up floor space in the shop.

I just finished a major music upgrade to the shop (thread link), so I'm ready for some summer projects!

I also heard from my son that he's planning to move out this summer. That will trigger a wave a remodeling, I'm sure. His room needs it bad and we've been waiting since the whole house replumb (August '06) to redo his bathroom. He's looking at condo's and apartments, not sure which way to go. He has a friend that bought a fixer-upper, so he might go down that road. If he does that, that will take precedence, I'm sure.

My personal life is turning out to be just like my work life. I get new, higher priority tasks before I finish the task I'm working on. Sometimes the tasks get piled 3 or 4 deep before I can get them unstacked.

 

[Gonz]

I've edited and fixed the pics on my previous post, I'm not sure how I managed to leave out a couple and double up a couple.

Let's see, I framed it using a nailer mostly, they were manufactured roof trusses, built with a storage space within and load bearing capacity, and they delivered the shingles with a crane, so I was able to unload the pallet right onto the roof. I had the roof finished in one day with another person's help laying out the shingles while I nailed. The inside is insulated and I sheetrocked all the walls. Added two coats of mud/tape as well. And finally I may, depending on how other projects go and if my motivation stays high, finish the floor with one of those two part epoxy paints. The cost is cheap compared to the bottom line of the whole project, but that means I have to move everything off the floor.

And I forgot to mention I built two rain barrels to collect water out of the gutters for use on the planter beds.

 

[Golfanatic]

Jesus, this makes me feel lame. Nice work there Gonz!

 

[NullSmurf]

How many Tonka loads of dirt did you order?

 

[Gonz]

4,397 loads.

Plus whatever the union scale was on 5 year old labor to move it around. :laugh:

 

[mmburtch]

And I forgot to mention I built two rain barrels to collect water out of the gutters for use on the planter beds.

Here in Colorado you could get drug into water court and served up a hefty fine. Somebody somewhere already owns the rights to the rain that falls on your yard.

 

[jgohlke]

The new pictures are nice. Looks like you are doing a really nice job, Andy.

A framing nailer is the only way to go. On my first framing job, I used a regular hammer. I remember going to HD and asking the tool guy, "What am I doing wrong? I'm hitting the nail (16p) 12-15 times!" He laughed and picked out a framing hammer for me. We walked over to the lumber part of the store and he showed me how to swing it with a little wrist snap at the end. I ran into him about a week later and told him "3 whacks per nail!"

Eventually I got a framing nailer and a compressor. By the end of my first job using the nailer I had learned not to put any part of my body "downrange", I learned that nails can ricochet off wood and I got to buy 2 more tools; a Wonder Bar and a reciprocating saw. Framing mistakes with an auto-nailer aren't easily undone.

I think I'm about an inch shorter from carrying shingles up onto the roof. The first bundle wasn't bad, by the 5th bundle I felt like I was in Seal training. I lost count after a dozen...I think it was like 15 all together for my shop roof. Plus the shop is barn-shaped, so the bottom half of the roof is very steep. I remember watching a bundle of shingles that I had just carried up to the roof and stacked, slided slowly off the roof and fall back to the ground. I felt like crying. The bundle busted open when it landed and the shingles were all loose. I ended up carrying them back up to the roof in 2 groups. It wasn't crushingly heavy! Of course, that was the last bundle....and I haven't had the opportunity to use my shingle carrying knowledge since. And I hope I never do again!

 

[NullSmurf]

And I forgot to mention I built two rain barrels to collect water out of the gutters for use on the planter beds.

Here in Colorado you could get drug into water court and served up a hefty fine. Somebody somewhere already owns the rights to the rain that falls on your yard.

Ridiculous, but true! I can't wait for the city to charge us for the fuggin rain.

 

[bfreebern]

And I forgot to mention I built two rain barrels to collect water out of the gutters for use on the planter beds.

Here in Colorado you could get drug into water court and served up a hefty fine. Somebody somewhere already owns the rights to the rain that falls on your yard.

Ridiculous, but true! I can't wait for the city to charge us for the fuggin rain.

No shit? I just started doing what Andy is and have barrels on my deck, to collect the water.

 

[grateful1]

Very nice...but WHAT DID YOU SMOKE?

 

[NullSmurf]

Colorado farmers have been sued for water they were pumping from wells, creeks, and streams on their own land by cities two states away.