2021 Home Improvement Projects

Gustavus Adolphus

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@DC - you tackle this bad boy yet?

Mine are in far worse shape than yours, and I finally got around to ordering a solution.
This is what I was dealing with- (included pic of the finished retaining wall I had posted on earlier. once the stairs to the right are rebuilt, I will backfill the void and landscape the whole front.)
View attachment 14235
View attachment 14236View attachment 14237


I ordered what appears to be a pretty solid solution- "Rockstep" natural faced pre-fab stone steps. 48" wide, 18" deep, 6" high.

Going 5 steps up, a 5 foot landing, 5 more steps, and a landing at the base of the stairs.

They are coming in october 10th, and will get them in and photographed- let you know if it was a smart thing or a dumb thing to do.

Install seems easy- gonna rip out all the existing crap with the bucket of my tractor, then slap down gravel, bottom step, and build upwards with whatever overlap I want step by step.


Below are the ones I am using, and I am also getting their landing blocks- materials will be less than 2500 and it will make a world of difference.

View attachment 14238
Those look heavy.
 

airtime143

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Oh my goodness. Where shall I start. This bathroom has been a nightmare. Everything moved smoothly until it was vanity time. We bought our vanity from Wayfair. It arrived with a cracked bowl. View attachment 14250 Called Wayfair and Waifair replaced it. Second one came. I installed it and 2 days later the wife noticed another crack in one of the bowls.View attachment 14251 This time I just insisted on a refund from Wayfair which by the way were very professional to deal with. So Wayfair gave me back my 1700 and this time I removed the top.....broke both bowls off,,,,,,,,,,ground the top smooth and ordered 2 new bowls from HD for 129.00. Ordered mounting clips and epoxy from Amazon and put the bowls on myself, reinstalled all the plumbing and top and called it a day. So my vanity cost me about 150.00 bucks....lol. Was supposed to finish the shower this week after waiting 15 weeks for it and guess what.....lol. The shower pan arrived cracked.
View attachment 14253
I called Onyx and the new pan should ship on the 28th and then I hope I can put this nightmare to rest. Here is what is done so far.
View attachment 14254
View attachment 14255
View attachment 14256
The work and the style looks amazing! Love that tub.
What a damn nightmare. It sounds like you had to do at least double the work due to shipping grief.

that floor- Individual tiles or do they come on mesh? They look amazing.
 

airtime143

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Those look heavy.
They do- but supposedly they are only about 250 lbs a piece.
A buddy of mine helped his dad put those in and pointed me in that direction.
I guess they had a lightweight rigid core that the stuff is poured around.
 

truthbedamned

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The work and the style looks amazing! Love that tub.
What a damn nightmare. It sounds like you had to do at least double the work due to shipping grief.

that floor- Individual tiles or do they come on mesh? They look amazing.
They are mesh. Sometimes the pictures make the floor look blotchy but if you are standing there it looks great. But alas...another downfall. They are a natural stone and they scratch really easily.
 

airtime143

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I thought we had a general thread on this, but I'm not searching 600 Aesopian threads to find it. Anyways, I'm looking to do the following at the very least:
1. Paint my garage
2. Stain my fence/Deck
3. Blacktop my driveway.

So, these are three projects I'll need a pressure washer to complete. Any of you have one? What PSI am I looking considering my three projects? Since I using a pressure washer would be a sporadic use (despite the usage it would get this summer), is it worth buying a gas or would an electric be better?

Little 2000 psi craftsman is doing the job today. Dvr ing the game and engaging in pressure washer porn.
Far more satisfying.
20210926_135720.jpg
 

airtime143

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I stripped and power washed my deck before staining. Insane how much better it looked after a pressure wash. Pretty much exactly like yours.
There is something so satisfying about a good pressure washer before and after.
Instant gratification.
 

Hawkeye OG

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There is something so satisfying about a good pressure washer before and after.
Instant gratification.
Anytime I have to do any deck maintenance I kick myself for not going composite when I did my addition to it.
 

airtime143

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A co worker of mine just did composite. It looks amazing as well as being maintenance free. I am very jealous.

The reason he redid it is because he had a deep fried turkey incident.
His fryer boiled over and it didn't burn the old wood deck, but the oil seeped in and he couldn't get it out.
Said it was like a sheet of ice when it rained.

I am morbidly curious to see if he has yet another incident, and what hot oil would do to composite.
 

airtime143

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How much more was composite? Double? Triple?
2-3 times, plus extras like end caps.
that is the one thing i really didnt like was the end caps. the deck I need to redo is basically a square with one corner lopped off for the face of the stairs.
No matter how it was oriented, there would be angles at the ends of boards and the caps would either tear out or look shitty.
 

gpphat

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100% my concern. I was just worried that an electric might not have the power for what I'm looking to do.
like anything gas powered, so long as you do the end of season maintenance you should be good...I have a gas powered power washer and I've never had an issue starting it up. I prefer the gas so I am not limited on making sure to have access to both a water source and a power source. So long as I have a long hose I can get to everything at my house.

But like others said it all comes down to what you are using it for, the projects you listed power shouldn't be an issue. In all honesty, it will come down to personal preference...I have used both and just prefer gas powered, but both did as good of a job as you would expect.
 

gpphat

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The only project I have on the horizon is freshening up our back deck and the bonus room/kid's playroom. A mini project I have is setting up a grow tent in my shed
 

Urblock

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What are you going to grow in your shed?
 

airtime143

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Big day of work today- ripped out the first run of my rickety ass railroad tie stairs and set the base and installed the first run.
Pretty happy with how they turned out- the time is spent prepping and planning paid off. The measurement was within a quarter inch at the back of step 5.

20211009_172031.jpg

The next steps are a 4x6 landing, 5 more stairs, and another landing.

The tape on the 4x4 on the deck railing is where the top of the last stair will be.
The landings are also 6 inches high, so the surface of the landing will be 6 inches above the tape.
I am removing the 2 wood steps coming off of the deck and raising the 7 inches- that will put the surface of the top step level with the deck itself, basically making one step down on to landing number 1.

Then, I will finish the wall on either side and fill the gap with locking sand to make it look nice. I might go with a bone colored grout... we will see.

Here it is from the top.
Much less treacherous.

20211009_172134.jpg
 

Burque

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Big day of work today- ripped out the first run of my rickety ass railroad tie stairs and set the base and installed the first run.
Pretty happy with how they turned out- the time is spent prepping and planning paid off. The measurement was within a quarter inch at the back of step 5.

View attachment 14676

The next steps are a 4x6 landing, 5 more stairs, and another landing.

The tape on the 4x4 on the deck railing is where the top of the last stair will be.
The landings are also 6 inches high, so the surface of the landing will be 6 inches above the tape.
I am removing the 2 wood steps coming off of the deck and raising the 7 inches- that will put the surface of the top step level with the deck itself, basically making one step down on to landing number 1.

Then, I will finish the wall on either side and fill the gap with locking sand to make it look nice. I might go with a bone colored grout... we will see.

Here it is from the top.
Much less treacherous.

View attachment 14677
Appears to be Chicken approved.
 

airtime143

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Appears to be Chicken approved.
Lmao- those little monsters were a trial... I tamped the sand for the first step nice and flat... every grain in place... went to grab the first stone and when I got back they had scratched it to hell!! Had to put out watermelon for them so they would fuck off and leave me be!
 

Burque

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Lmao- those little monsters were a trial... I tamped the sand for the first step nice and flat... every grain in place... went to grab the first stone and when I got back they had scratched it to hell!! Had to put out watermelon for them so they would fuck off and leave me be!
TBF that does sound like rather typical chicken behavior.

I live in the middle of the city but in an older neighborhood where people have chickens and things like that. I think that we can have goats and up to two horses etc on my property, not that I ever would.

A guy down the street has some chickens somewhere in his back area, and occasionally he will let them out in a front area that he has double fenced. I was walking the dog past one day and those fuckers were going full hog on the landscaping, scratching it out of the fence all over the sidewalk just tearing shit up. They were having the time of their life.
 

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