General Upgrades & Ideas

[Pelado]

So, this has been a long time coming, but I finally got a new garage door. The only one had started ripping in some panels years ago.

Finally ordered one months ago and because I am super cheap, pledged to do it all myself.

I removed the old one, had winding bars and prayed to not kill myself as I unwound the spring. 1 spring was already broken, so that was easy.

I installed the new door and track, but when I got to winding the new springs, even though it seemed balanced it just wouldn't work. So in desperation and frustration I texted a local guy last night to come finish up. 2 hours later he had put in some shims on the track and installed the opener. It works and just in time for my wife's birthday today. The guy was $350 cash, but worth it since he drove from an hour away, and the door actually works.

I was so close, but in the end it best to call in a professional.

A former supervisor of mine told us about how he replaced the spring on his garage door. That was enough to convince me to always hire that out.

[Clark Addison]

I do a decent amount of DIY, but whether rational or not, garage door springs scare me so I never do them myself.

[Pelado]

One of the things I liked about our new house is that the garage already had a workbench in the back corner as well as a bunch of pegboard for organizing tools. Of course, after a while of living here, I started to realize the workbench wasn't that great and that pegboard sucks.

Here's the L-shaped workbench and pegboard setup (with a huge mess) before I started making changes:

20240701_103538.jpg 20240701_103552.jpg I got some free old 2x6 deck boards off some guy on Facebook Marketplace (visible on the floor in the first picture), removed the fasteners and cleaned them up, and used a few of them to improve the situation.

For the new workbench surface and lower shelf, I repurposed the plywood from the old workbench, afterwhich there was not much structural integrity remaining in the old workbench:

20240719_044442.jpg I ripped some of the 2x6 boards into 2x3's and used those as the frames for the workbench surface and the lower shelf. I used 2x6 vertical supports, cutting notches into them for greater support of the frames. After adding the plywood surfaces, here's how it looked:

20240719_044401.jpg 20240719_054333.jpg Continuing in another post since apparently there's a 5-image limit per post...

[Pelado]

After securing it to the studs in the wall, it was pretty solid. I had no qualms about getting on top of it for the next projects.

I put up some plywood backing on the wall above the workbench so that I wouldn't have to worry about drywall anchors or securing things to a stud. Then I mounted some magnetic strips to the bottom of the plywood backing and placed most of my metallic hand tools on the strips.

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I needed better shelving above the workbench than the pegboard allowed for. Using more of the 2x3 boards and some plywood, I built one with a couple angled supports with additional lighting for the workbench:

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While the space was far more usable at that point, I still needed somewhere better than the floor to store the 12-foot long deck boards that I hadn't already used. Also, I wanted a better storage solution for the bicycles than the ceiling hooks left by the prior owners. So I added another shelf that connected to the other wall and hung the bikes off of that. Also added a small shelf above the workbench but below the larger shelf to store various tools in cases and such.

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[Pelado]

I then put together a battery charging station on the wall for my Makita and Greenworks platforms so that I don't have to have them crowding the workbench. I also moved the receiver and speakers and connected it to the attic antenna so I can listen to some sweet radio tunes while working in the garage.

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Then I turned my attention to better organization and access for my frequently-used tools, employing a french cleat system on top of the plywood backing. I've got a cleat for my drill and impact driver, another for the trim router, one for my 6" and 12" clamps, another for the mallet and hammers, as well as one for the sanding discs. I also installed a dowel for the levels on the right side of the big shelf for my levels and another dowel on the right angled support for my headphones and hearing protection. I also turned the front face of the right end of the workbench into a moxon vice.

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I was showing some of the more recent improvements to my wife recently. For some reason, the project that took her over the edge of thinking I have a problem is the glove dispenser next to the charging station that I made out of some scrap 2x4's and extra HDF.

20240813_123906.jpg There are several more projects on my mental list (not necessarily in any meaningful order):

• New and improved miter saw station
• Table saw station
• More cleats to hold other tools (jigsaw, reciprocating saw, multitool, etc.)
• Storage cart for plywood and other scrap wood

And now my wife has started making a list of things she wants me to make for her - a stark reversal from her not-so-subtlely telling me she didn't want me to make a shoe bench for this house shortly after we moved in (based primarily on the aesthetics of the shoe bench I built for the last house).

[Bo Diddley]

P-lad, could have used your help in Iraq when we were outfitting our tent and our shipping containers.

[Bo Diddley]

I do a decent amount of DIY, but whether rational or not, garage door springs scare me so I never do them myself.

I had a high school teacher who shattered his arm while working on his garage door. Ever since then, they've freaked me out and I've had a healthy fear of doing that work myself.

[BigPiney]

I do a decent amount of DIY, but whether rational or not, garage door springs scare me so I never do them myself.

With the proper tools, winding bars, it was really easy. I just took my time. But you are also smarter than I am.

[Moliere]

I had a high school teacher who shattered his arm while working on his garage door. Ever since then, they've freaked me out and I've had a healthy fear of doing that work myself.

I'll install a garage door opener, but I'll never work on the actual garage door if it involves anything with the springs. Saving $200 is not worth the danger.

[Pelado]

I'll install a garage door opener, but I'll never work on the actual garage door if it involves anything with the springs. Saving $200 is not worth the danger.

Amen.

[Pelado]

P-lad, could have used your help in Iraq when we were outfitting our tent and our shipping containers.

I wouldn't have thought that you'd have much wood there to build with.

[Bo Diddley]

I wouldn't have thought that you'd have much wood there to build with.

I'm sure it was all imported. We positioned a PBO down in Kuwait to make sure we got lumber sent up to our battalion.

[Pelado]

I'm sure it was all imported. We positioned a PBO down in Kuwait to make sure we got lumber sent up to our battalion.

Learn something new every day. Speaking of which, when you were deployed to Iraq, I hadn't learned any of this stuff yet, so I probably wouldn't have been much help anyway.

In the interest of learning something more today, what is a PBO?

[Bo Diddley]

Learn something new every day. Speaking of which, when you were deployed to Iraq, I hadn't learned any of this stuff yet, so I probably wouldn't have been much help anyway.

In the interest of learning something more today, what is a PBO?

Property Book Officer. And since you're curious, and I'm old, I'll share more than you could possibly be interested in hearing.

Another term: Class IV. The Army classifies supplies into ten categories (Class 1-10). Class IV is construction materials. One of the jobs of our combat engineer battalion was building defenses. Our welders made guard towers out of angle iron and plywood. So we probably got an oversized share of plywood, 2x4's and 4x4's, etc.

S4 Officer: He was the battalion staff officer that maintained a Class IV yard. I remember every Monday morning we'd have a meeting with him and often he'd lead with, "Charlie Company's been in my Class IV yard again!" He was known for his short temper. As the C Co supply sergeant, I'd just shrug my shoulders like, "what do you want me to do about it?"

Years later, he was our battalion commander and he hired me on as the new PBO, fourth in succession from that PBO in Iraq.

[Pelado]

Property Book Officer. And since you're curious, and I'm old, I'll share more than you could possibly be interested in hearing.

Another term: Class IV. The Army classifies supplies into ten categories (Class 1-10). Class IV is construction materials. One of the jobs of our combat engineer battalion was building defenses. Our welders made guard towers out of angle iron and plywood. So we probably got an oversized share of plywood, 2x4's and 4x4's, etc.

S4 Officer: He was the battalion staff officer that maintained a Class IV yard. I remember every Monday morning we'd have a meeting with him and often he'd lead with, "Charlie Company's been in my Class IV yard again!" He was known for his short temper. As the C Co supply sergeant, I'd just shrug my shoulders like, "what do you want me to do about it?"

Years later, he was our battalion commander and he hired me on as the new PBO, fourth in succession from that PBO in Iraq.

How did they weld angle iron to plywood?