Just a little update on the house/garage

[BOBBYGRV]

I have been busting hump to get all my things done, but I just keep adding to my list. I’m happy with the way things are turning out and I hope to be done fairly soon. Driveway is getting done next week and I should have a good portion of my kitchen done by then too…

Here’s an update since I last posted:

I started on my kitchen finally. Ordered new countertops, backsplash, floor, cabinet hinges & hardware and also decided to paint the cabinets. I came across a great deal on a greenhouse window that was almost an exact replacement for the window that was there now. Once I took the flashing off that window to pull out, I realized it wasn’t done properly and the wood was rotting and causing water to run back in the house, behind the siding. Needless to say, that came down quick and I got the new one in with a little bit of help.

Out with the old:

With the flashing off, you can see all the rot/mold.

This is the window I picked up. Got it for $80, which I think is pretty damn good considering the cheapest I could buy new was around $1,300.

It was in really good shape, just had a little over spray on the outside and it was filthy all around. I spent a few hours scraping it and cleaned it up. Had 2 glass shelves made from Abbott Glass and bought some shelf brackets from HD and it looks really good. I’ll post some better after pictures of it.

Little preview of the new counter top with the window in. I was really unsure if I wanted to have the window sit flush with the counter top or have a small ledge. I really like the way it turned out and I think it will be even better when done. I also need to cut up the carport a little to allow it to open on that side.

I think someone else approves of the new window as well:

A while back, someone decided to plug up all the basement windows. I can only assume that they had water coming in since the house had 2 single pane windows still there when I moved in. I replaced those with glass block within my 1st year of being here. What a difference in the winter!

Anyways, I was tired of hitting the metal dryer vent with the lawn mower and it was pretty ugly as well. I had a glass block window made to size and threw a dryer vent in that to clean things up a bit. The window came from the Glass Block Guys, Joe was great to work with and the window exceeded my expectations once installed. I have a few others that will be going in sometime soon as well.

Got my party deck back in full operation as well:

I have hated my front yard since I moved in. It’s so small and close to the road that I’m limited with what I can do and the previous owners put some stuff up there that just never did well. The November storm did me a huge favor and pretty much killed every plant up there, except for the burning bush, that thing rebounded pretty quick.

I had my neighbor use his landscaping software and make me something. It was totally worth the 12 pack I bought him because I think it turned out awesome!

So that’s my little update for now. I have to finish the kitchen/living room, once the driveway is done next week, I have to throw my gutters back up and make some minor repairs to the carport. Paint the foundation and garage and finish my landscaping.

I am taking @Beck’s advice and replacing my fence either this weekend or next. I’m tired of looking at my neighbor’s shitty yard.

Lowes has Dog ear fencing on sale 4 for $5, I’ll prob get enough to do this section for now. Quick mockup I did of what I want to do.

[Beck]

:tup: 6 ft tall privacy fence is the best thing about my house. 5 years and I’ve met one neighbor, twice.

[BOBBYGRV]

I actually don’t mind talking to him, he’s super nice and funny, but I hate his yard. I’ve done so much work to mine to be able to go enjoy it and I have to look at all his crap everyday. He tore down the pool they didn’t use and that’s what’s in his trailer. He’s getting his windows replaced currently and getting ready to side his house too. Should help out, but the boat is what I don’t want to look at anymore.

[Onyx_Z32]

Nice. Yeah that fence will make a difference.

[ubengineering]

How are those type of hot tubs?

[jay_g]

Looking good. I’ve been thinking about painting my house. Not sure if I want to do it or pay someone.

[GV1390]

Looks good man.

[1QIKZ]

Like the “cat greenhouse”.

[King]

Fence makes a huge difference, i could use a new one myself - going to check that deal out.

[drvnkd]

Looks like you are making good progress on the place.

How long until you paint the side of his garage?
Slide your deck to the right, paint it white and watch 50 shades on his wall.

Or just make it a chalkboard wall so your friends can ruin it at every party.

[BOBBYGRV]

I was going to run my deck right up to his garage, but the property line runs through there and I didn’t want to go over it. Plus, his garage doesn’t have a gutter, so if I moved it an closer, the rain would have dropped right on my deck. He wouldn’t really care, but I thought ahead on it. I gave up the grass strip right next to my house to allow him to run a gate across his driveway to keep his dog in, so he can’t really say much about it.

I’ve got a window on the side of my garage, that is almost perfect size for a 32" TV. I’m going fab up a bracket that allows me to swing the TV down into the window so I can watch football back there. I don’t want to leave it outside, because well, I don’t live in that great of a neighborhood…

[ubengineering]

I don’t think I got an answer before but how is that inflatable hot tub you have?? I don’t expect to have more than 2 people in it ever if I have one. Warranty, life span, etc. I see they’re between 4-600$.

EDIT: Also time to heat up, does it add significant cost to electric bills? Filtration?

[BOBBYGRV]

It’s an excellent deal. It’s about $1 a day to operate when you run the heat/filter element. It’s fits 2 ppl just fine too. I keep mine set to the max heat of 104 degrees, it takes about 24 hours to get up to heat once you leave the cover on it. I have it covered by canopy most of the time, so the sun doesn’t get to it.

This will be my second summer with it. We took it down in the fall and put it back up in the Spring. I dried it out real good before putting away, but when I brought it up from the basement, it was still a little moldy inside. I scrubbed it best I could, filled it and threw some chlorine tabs in and in 1 day, it was crystal clear again.

Filters are like $10 for 2, I changed them out this year. Will prob just change it once every year. It runs on 110V, so I just ran a line back from my box and put a post in with a GFCI outlet.

I would not hesitate to buy it again. I see that they are now selling accessories too. I wrap around bench, cup holders, pillows, etc… for $3-400 you really can’t beat it.

[llink78]

http://www.softub.com/Models-and-Features/t300 This is the one i have. Been going strong for 4 years now. Even in the winter. Bought it new from the people at the fair. Didn’t pay close to retail that the site shows.

[ubengineering]

Nice guys thanks! I was going to go with an actual tub but everyone I know that has one, maybe 6 people, have all made repairs within the first two years and barely use it, like 5-10x a year, so if this works out seems like it’s worth the money.

[BOBBYGRV]

I promise guys, once my home work is done, I’ll be back to posting in the auto section again…lol

Major progress in the last 2 weeks.

Here is the fence progress from start to (almost) finish…still have to tie in my the top runners towards the end and build my 1x1 posts to come up and cover the green cast posts…

While I was finishing up the fence, the guys showed up to get started on busting out the driveway.

By the afternoon, it cleared up and the sun came out. They really hustled once that happened and got basically the whole thing ripped out in one day, including the steps and posts. Supporting the carport was a chore as well, I jumped in to help out with that, since I was the one that was going to be replacing the posts, once they pour the piers on place for me.

By the end of day 1, we basically had everything ready for the piers to be poured.

Forms cut for new steps…old ones were rickety pre cast steps that were shimmed with cardboard…

Day 2, they had the steps poured and the piers were all poured as well.

By the end of day 2, they had already started to grade and brought some stone in. The piers had to sit for a few days before I could get my posts back in. That was a priority because they wanted to be able to pour the driveway around them and I also did not want to leave the carport suspended on 2x10’s longer than I needed to.

Got those put in Saturday wit the help of my brother. Getting that header straight was a bitch. Whoever installed it, put the seam for both headers right in the middle. Normally you stagger them, but nope, not this time…

It actually ended up working to our advantage and allowed us to get it back to being straight and level again. Each post was put in plumb, within 1/8 inch. (I’m a weekend warrior) We finished just in time to watch the Triple Crown race and enjoy some cold beers.

The next day, I really hustled to get the foundation cleaned up and fix a foundation block that popped through my basement during tear out. They were using the bucket to pry a rather large piece and it slid off and the corner of the bucket knocked the block inside. It was a rather easy repair with the grinder and chistle and I used some quick set hydraulic cement to allow me to paint shortly after.

All ready to be poured…

Since mother nature was a bitch last/this week and threatened with rain almost every day during the week, the pour kept getting pushed off…I decided to get my backyard gardens finished.

Finally we got a day (yesterday) that was rain free, for the most part anyways and they were able to get it poured and finished. I am extremely please with how it turned out and I can’t wait to finish it!

This line I concerned about…I knew that the front and back were offset, I like how they did it.

So now I get to park on the street for 3 weeks and keep working on my other projects. Here is a sneak peak of my cabinets that I refinished, I’ll update once I have the entire kitchen done…It’s about 75% there right now…

If you made it this far, thanks for reading through it all. Some people think it’s funny how excited I am about all this, but it is very cool to see you ideas come to life and know that you are only helping to improve the value and ultimately keep money in my pocket. :tup:

[nermoria]

how did you achieve that look on the cabinet doors?

[BOBBYGRV]

I used the Rustoleum kit for cabinets. It covers 100 sq ft and you can choose whatever color you want to do. The glaze was optional and you just brush it on and then wipe it off leaving it as light or dark as you want.

[1QIKZ]

The Celosia’s are one of my favorite flowers. Be sure to cure seal that Crete soon. Two weeks you should be good to drive on.

[BOBBYGRV]

He sealed it the day he poured it. I know some say not to do it right away and others say it’s no big deal. I think this rain might have washed some away though…