General Upgrades & Ideas

[Brian]

I love contemporary style, while Mrs. D loves traditional style. We've both compromised with a contemporary craftsman plan going forward, though it will take a while to execute. While I love how clean wire railings look, I'm not sure anything horizontal is a good idea with young kids. My first kid didn't climb at all, but my last two have been climbers to the max. Still, that might be worth the < $50 it would cost to do one opening just to see how it would look.

Hmmm... That's a chasm.
Yes, if I had wires in our house growing up, I'm sure I'd be missing a few limbs. And my younger brothers would have more scars.

[Brian]

captain beam is now done.



Next project is either the barn, or new fencing. Probably will be the fencing.

But either way we need a pad, so we had it poured last week.

I did the forms myself, and the concrete guy said they were fine. Put a slope going both ways to get the water to drain properly. Really bonded with my spirit level, string and measuring tape through the whole process. Made sweet love when the whole project was complete.




Put some 12" piers where the support posts would go.




All ready for the final smoothing, then drag with a broom.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Nice work, Brian.

[Uncle Ted]

Nice work, Brian.

Indeed. BTW, that looks like some nice property.

[TripletDaddy]

Brian has some serious skills. Always impressed when he posts this stuff.

Donute, you seem to be temporarily screwed, as those windows to the world are interesting, to say the least. I like the drywall option and that seems to be the most cost-efficient. The "fall to your death" concern seems a bit odd given that you are buying a two story open concept. In other words, the risk of climbing is there regardless of having plexiglass. Perhaps you can channel your wife's terror into a more compromising direction: tell her that the kids could lean into the plexiglass, knock out the plexiglass, and fall to their doom. She will immediately agree to the drywall and your house looks much better because of it.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

You could add some kind of peep show feature that would frost the windows unless activated, then at casual moments with the HT/VT discreetly clear the window and show off your package.

[Donuthole]

Brian has some serious skills. Always impressed when he posts this stuff.

I aspire to be as handy as Brian. My 3rd garage bay is a step towards that, as it will provide me with some much-needed workshop space.

Donute, you seem to be temporarily screwed, as those windows to the world are interesting, to say the least. I like the drywall option and that seems to be the most cost-efficient. The "fall to your death" concern seems a bit odd given that you are buying a two story open concept. In other words, the risk of climbing is there regardless of having plexiglass. Perhaps you can channel your wife's terror into a more compromising direction: tell her that the kids could lean into the plexiglass, knock out the plexiglass, and fall to their doom. She will immediately agree to the drywall and your house looks much better because of it.

I've tinkered around with the wrought-iron baluster idea a bit more and I think I can make something aesthetically pleasing for under $1000 total. The current plan is to drywall over the four windows in the worst locations (the two downstairs, and two up near the loft) live with the remaining plexiglass until I get wood flooring down in the entry/hall/kitchen and tile in the first-floor baths.

[Drunk Tank]

Decomposed granite patio

Figure I would put this here since it falls into the "general upgrades" category.

The patio and walkways in my backyard are made from brick pavers, but there is a section where I assume used to be a hot tub, but now is a poorly done patio extension made from sand and flagstone pavers. The sand is loose and the flagstone is very un-even. Cats love it, I hate it! I am thinking of excavating that area and re-doing it with brick pavers so it matched the rest of the patio or re-doing it using stabilized decomposed granite. The area is approx. 13x15' and will be where I keep my smoker and grill and a prep table. I may even install a free standing patio cover with a ceiling fan/lights there, as there is already power stubbed up.

I know what is involved with a paver patio, but has anyone installed a DG granite patio/walkway? I am not afraid to do the work myself, but if I can end up with a better finished product having someone else do the work, I am not opposed to that. Maybe do the prep myself and have the pro's do the finish work?

Thoughts?

[Donuthole]

Instead of furthering the lunch thread divergence, i'll respond here:

Did you do anything in the kitchen yet? Painting done?

Painting is done. Tile in laundry room/hall/powder room is set and will be grouted tonight. That tile took me 4x longer than I expected. Part of that is because I underestimated the difficulty of the area (three connected areas separated by two walls which turn 45 degrees), part of it is because I decided to cut the 16" square tiles into 8x16 rectangles (leaving me twice as many tile to set) and part of it is because I refused to take the easy way out and leave a seam under the doors. In order to make the tile all one uninterrupted pattern and ensure that the tile was running strait in the hallway (the most visible area of the three) I had to start in the middle and work my way out to the areas on either side. This resulted in some tricky cuts and some awkward positions (not those positions, sickos!) while tiling and also meant I had to work backwards in a couple spots. Here is one cut I'm particularly proud of:

Angle1.jpg
Angle2.jpg
Angle3.jpg

All of this cost me a lot of time, especially since I'm working in 3-5 hour increments after work. Tiling is not really a process that is meant to me started and stopped numerous times, as there's about 30 mins of prep each time you start and 30 mins of cleaning each time you stop. That said, the area came out looking great. I can't wait to see how it looks once it's grouted:

tile hallway.jpg

The master bath will go much faster, as it is essentially one open space, and i'm using much larger tile.

[falafel]

I like the rectangles, good call on that. Are those tiles grey? It like it. The pattern kinda looks like the iPad background you sometimes see.

[Donuthole]

I like the rectangles, good call on that. Are those tiles grey? It like it. The pattern kinda looks like the iPad background you sometimes see.

Yes, grey with hints of brown. They sort of have the texture of a finely-woven burlap (if such a thing exists).

[falafel]

Yes, grey with hints of brown. They sort of have the texture of a finely-woven burlap (if such a thing exists).

I think its called linen.

[Donuthole]

I think its called linen.

Good call.

[thesaint258]

I think it looks great, DH. Especially since it would be an absolute mess if I tried to do the same thing.

[Brian]

Instead of furthering the lunch thread divergence, i'll respond here:



Painting is done. Tile in laundry room/hall/powder room is set and will be grouted tonight. That tile took me 4x longer than I expected. Part of that is because I underestimated the difficulty of the area (three connected areas separated by two walls which turn 45 degrees), part of it is because I decided to cut the 16" square tiles into 8x16 rectangles (leaving me twice as many tile to set) and part of it is because I refused to take the easy way out and leave a seam under the doors. In order to make the tile all one uninterrupted pattern and ensure that the tile was running strait in the hallway (the most visible area of the three) I had to start in the middle and work my way out to the areas on either side. This resulted in some tricky cuts and some awkward positions (not those positions, sickos!) while tiling and also meant I had to work backwards in a couple spots. Here is one cut I'm particularly proud of:

[ATTACH]4482[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]4483[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]4484[/ATTACH]

All of this cost me a lot of time, especially since I'm working in 3-5 hour increments after work. Tiling is not really a process that is meant to me started and stopped numerous times, as there's about 30 mins of prep each time you start and 30 mins of cleaning each time you stop. That said, the area came out looking great. I can't wait to see how it looks once it's grouted:

[ATTACH]4485[/ATTACH]

The master bath will go much faster, as it is essentially one open space, and i'm using much larger tile.

I just saw these. Very nice work. And nice shoe.
Those tile cuts are a pain, but something you'll always admire.
Tile on brother. Did you do the grout yet? Or are you just slacker on posting them?