DIY Home Improvement Thread..

[Kosher Ham]

I want to know if I should bother sealing my driveway and garage in any form or fashion ?

And what type of sealant should I use ?

[DButz65]

Dont mean to hijack this thread, well im not really , im staying on topic

Does anyone in MD know of your need a permit to just redo the top layer

of a deck? I have one already but the wood you walk on is starting to warp and splinter, and it just LOOKS old, been wanting to redo it since we moved in over 2 years ago Thanks

[zoony]

I want to know if I should bother sealing my driveway and garage in any form or fashion ?

And what type of sealant should I use ?

Concrete or Asphalt?

[Kosher Ham]

Concrete or Asphalt?

Concrete.

[rincewind]

Here's what I did over the weekend:

And one of the dog enjoying her new, fenced-in yard.

[Blighty Skins]

^^^ That's a nice fence you put up there Rince...even for a Yankee fan.

I'm doing up a whole house: New kitchen, bathroom (without changing cupboards) and the rest of the house needs decorating. The house was empty for about 4 years and empty on and off for nearly 10 years...and it was never modernised.

So far it's had a new central heating with a condensing bioler installed last year...I've nearly finished the bathroom. Kitchen next.

[rincewind]

My offseason project was building a deck off my back porch. Screened in porches are great, but no place to put the BBQ

Anyways, there is not one nail in the entire deck. Screws used for everything. I thru-bolted all of the major joints & I used 4 2x6 runners to lay the joists on top of... it's over-built to say the least. But that's half the fun.

Anyways I just recently put the finishing touches on it... low voltage lighting integrated in the steps and in the landscaping... as well as a japanese maple & some assorted red & white azaleas. I even used cobblestone pavers for the landing. The landscaping needs to fill out a bit more, but I guess I just need to be patient.

I started this last January... worked on it nights & weekends mostly when I was home and the wife would allow

Excellent work zoony. :applause:

I love decks. To have two would be just keen.

[rincewind]

^^^ That's a nice fence you put up there Rince...even for a Yankee fan.

I'm doing up a whole house: New kitchen, bathroom (without changing cupboards) and the rest of the house needs decorating. The house was empty for about 4 years and empty on and off for nearly 10 years...and it was never modernised.

So far it's had a new central heating with a condensing bioler installed last year...I've nearly finished the bathroom. Kitchen next.

Thanks. First MAJOR house project I've ever done. I'm mighty proud if I do say so myself. The neighbor was nice enough to supply the tools - including an electric auger (sp?).

Good luck on your modernizing.

[DixieFlatline]

This is going to be the calendar year for my DIY projects. Last fall was painting some rooms inside. Then pulling up some parquet and replacing it with laminate hardwoods.

Currently, I'm experimenting with laying down sod in the backyard in some major bare spots. First I had to lay from French drains to divert water where the rivers flowed. I've got a 20'x15' planted now using some garden gates to keep the dogs off it. If this works I'll slowly expand it out.

One question for the landscapers out there. My front yard gets some morning sun, but that's about it. Its pretty shady. Over the years I've had varying success growing grass. Usually moss takes over even though I lime it pretty well. If I were to kill the grass, disc it up, and sod it will the chance of moss lessen? Just wondering since the moss seems to hold off until there are some bare spots from the new grass not surviving.

I'll also try tackling the painting of my house this year. Probably be a slow process.

[zoony]

Thanks. First MAJOR house project I've ever done. I'm mighty proud if I do say so myself. The neighbor was nice enough to supply the tools - including an electric auger (sp?).

Good luck on your modernizing.

Good work Rince, looks great. I did a rail fence in my old house... I know how much work that is. Auger's make it a lot easier but they'll still kick your ass running one all day.

Give it about 6 months for the wood to dry out, then put on a good sealer

[Switchgear]

I redid the kitchen in my house, with help from family. New cabinetry and counters are from Ikea. Their stuff looks decent and really easy to put together.

Before:

After:

I removed a wall to turn a really cramped kitchen with almost no counter space (what is in the first picture was almost all there was) and a tiny eat in breakfast area into a single decent sized kitchen. Best part is my wife (a Steelers fan) picked the colors without realizing how close they are to Redskins colors. I just wish I'd taken a better before picture, to show the unecessary wall and lack of space.

[CHUBAKAH]

Dont mean to hijack this thread, well im not really , im staying on topic

Does anyone in MD know of your need a permit to just redo the top layer

of a deck? I have one already but the wood you walk on is starting to warp and splinter, and it just LOOKS old, been wanting to redo it since we moved in over 2 years ago Thanks

As long as all your doing is resurfacing you're fine. You can even change out all of the desk surface boards, as long as you don't change any of the stringers, and or joists that are structural.

[PleaseBlitz]

Ok, got a good start on the house yesterday.

1) Weeded my front yard (which is about 10 feet by 8 feet ) and planted this years pepper garden.

2) Fixed the fridge, i think. Pulled it away from the wall and noticed a loose connection of one of the pipes behind it. Tightened that. Realized that i hadnt cleaned under my fridge since i bought my house. :puke: Needed a putty knife to get all the crap off the floor. Will monitor to make sure the leak doesnt come back.

3) Bleachified and scrubbed the mold off the wall in my upstairs bathroom. Worked pretty well. Going to have to paint that room.

4) Started to patch a hole in my ceilling in my downstairs hallways. About a month ago, the toilet in my upstairs bathroom was leaking onto the ceiling of my downstairs hallway. I fixed the toilet a month ago by replacing the wax ring and i had a plumber replace some piping. However, enough water had leaked to create a little damage, a hole about the size of 2 quarters side-by-side. I bought a self-adhesive mesh drywall patch and stuck it up there and spackled it. Need to sand it and re-spackle it 3 or 4 times. Going to have to paint that whole room too.

5) Picked out a new front door. Mines just old, time to replace it. Thought doors would be like $500-$800. Pleasently surprised to find they are like $250 and less.

Still have about 10 things on my list. So I will continue to bump this thread periodically. Wondering if i should start another thread so this one can be for advise and the other one can be to show off your DIY prowess, because some of you guys are really good. :applause:

[zoony]

I redid the kitchen in my house, with help from family. New cabinetry and counters are from Ikea. Their stuff looks decent and really easy to put together.

Before:

After:

I removed a wall to turn a really cramped kitchen with almost no counter space (what is in the first picture was almost all there was) and a tiny eat in breakfast area into a single decent sized kitchen. Best part is my wife (a Steelers fan) picked the colors without realizing how close they are to Redskins colors. I just wish I'd taken a better before picture, to show the unecessary wall and lack of space.

Great work man! :applause:

Really turned out nice.

(I like the burgandy and gold walls, too. Way to slip that one past the wife. )

....

[PleaseBlitz]

I redid the kitchen in my house, with help from family. New cabinetry and counters are from Ikea. Their stuff looks decent and really easy to put together.

Before:

After:

I removed a wall to turn a really cramped kitchen with almost no counter space (what is in the first picture was almost all there was) and a tiny eat in breakfast area into a single decent sized kitchen. Best part is my wife (a Steelers fan) picked the colors without realizing how close they are to Redskins colors. I just wish I'd taken a better before picture, to show the unecessary wall and lack of space.

How much did that run you?

[DoubleB123]

Great Thread!

Since I've done a little rehab work the past year: 3 houses, 1 - total rehab, 1 light remodel and 1 sugar coat. Oh yeah and now that I am finally back in NOVA the wife and I bought...you guessed it a fixer upper :doh:

Anyway here is a little of my handy work...

and after:

[Air Force Cane]

I just got a quote from a Brazilian brothers contracting firm:

for my condo bathroom: remove 60 square feet of old tile, remove old shower faucet, remove baseboard tile, fix ceiling (plaster prime and paint), install cement boards, install new tiles, new shower head, new faucet and new wood baseboard all for

$2,300

Thoughts?

[zoony]

looks great!

tile especially

...

[DoubleB123]

What kind of tile are you looking at? That can really effect the price.

I just got a quote from a Brazilian brothers contracting firm:

for my condo bathroom: remove 60 square feet of old tile, remove old shower faucet, remove baseboard tile, fix ceiling (plaster prime and paint), install cement boards, install new tiles, new shower head, new faucet and new wood baseboard all for

$2,300

Thoughts?

[DoubleB123]

Thanks! I tought my wife how to tile while laying this floor. She thought I was working too slow. By the end of the project all I was doing was mixing the mortar and making the cuts.

looks great!

tile especially

...

[DButz65]

As long as all your doing is resurfacing you're fine. You can even change out all of the desk surface boards, as long as you don't change any of the stringers, and or joists that are structural.

Cool i dont plan on doing the joists or anything, just the top surface boards/wood. thanks

[Blighty Skins]

This is a great thread! DIY is such a manly-bonding process...the thread should have "(no women allowed)" added to it.

[Major Harris]

here is my weekend.....actually, the excavation took place the weekend before this past one. then last friday, we laid 3 tons of crusher gravel and one ton of sand, then 700 some odd pavers. here ya' go:

here's the excavation, w/ lil' dude helpin' out:

after the crusher run:

and the finished product: (still got some things to touch up/ clean up)

[Fergasun]

I just moved into an apartment. Any ideas on how to put shelving onto the walls? I understand the first thing I'd need to do is get approval from management. I just want to put a few nails into the wall, and set up a bracket with some shelves... probably need a stud finder...

We're limited on space and I want to put my computer up on a shelf instead of on the desk.

Yes I am a home improvement rookie. There's probably some $20 kit from home depot I can buy.

[Blighty Skins]

I just moved into an apartment. Any ideas on how to put shelving onto the walls? I understand the first thing I'd need to do is get approval from management. I just want to put a few nails into the wall, and set up a bracket with some shelves... probably need a stud finder...

We're limited on space and I want to put my computer up on a shelf instead of on the desk.

Yes I am a home improvement rookie. There's probably some $20 kit from home depot I can buy.

hint: use screws, not nails to put up shelves.