DIY home improvements ITT

[Adarus]

just curious why you guys choose to do decks instead of nice concrete? Is it purely for aesthetics reasons?

Price is a big factor for me, I'll have less than $600 in this deck vs a few thousand for a concrete slab that size. Also I like that with a deck if I want to go a different route in 5-6 years I can pretty easily tear it up where with concrete I'm either hiring someone to bust it up or renting equipment to do it. I'd have to see exactly what you mean by nice concrete but from examples of both decks and concrete patios around here the decks usually look better as long as they're maintained.

[JoshSP1985]

Price is a big factor for me, I'll have less than $600 in this deck vs a few thousand for a concrete slab that size. Also I like that with a deck if I want to go a different route in 5-6 years I can pretty easily tear it up where with concrete I'm either hiring someone to bust it up or renting equipment to do it. I'd have to see exactly what you mean by nice concrete but from examples of both decks and concrete patios around here the decks usually look better as long as they're maintained.

This

Decks > Concrete patios as far as asthetics are concerned IMO. You can also use decks much more easily to be level with your home floor level so you don't have to step up/down when transitioning from the house to the deck.

[joshatfield]

Age: 24
Owns home
Mirin'
See's location: North Carolina





Still mirin

Own my home too age 22

[mongochuy]

First time home buyer here. Appraisal is done and processing. Inspection is happening tomorrow. Nervous AF. Hope the place isnt falling apart. If it needs to much work we may back away and start again

[robertk232]

Myron my poverty to aesthetic kitchen faucet transformation?

I may have acquired this from a house near me that is being torn down and replaced by three new homes. SRS... NOT SRS... NO FBI... SRS.

[Adarus]

First time home buyer here. Appraisal is done and processing. Inspection is happening tomorrow. Nervous AF. Hope the place isnt falling apart. If it needs to much work we may back away and start again

Remember this feeling all too well. Don't sweat it too much, though be ready for plenty of things to come back on the inspection. The inspector I had do both of my houses came back with a lot of things they found but none of which were serious.

[k5dvw]

My fire pit put in Spring 14



and my fish pond put in Spring 13.

All work done by me.

[PP4puppy]

^^^ is that pond sealed?

[k5dvw]

^^^ is that pond sealed?

Yep, entire pond and waterfall has a thick rubber liner under it. Same stuff they use to line commercial roofs.

[SpeedCheeser]

My fire pit put in Spring 14

[img]http://i.imgur.com/orFqtcv.jpg[img]

and my fish pond put in Spring 13.

All work done by me.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/r39qtaw.jpg[img]

Mirin hard. Looks really good.

[JDizleSwoleizle]

Yep, entire pond and waterfall has a thick rubber liner under it. Same stuff they use to line commercial roofs.

How man gals? What kind of pump/filter system are you running. Want to put one in

[y0lked]

First time home buyer here. Appraisal is done and processing. Inspection is happening tomorrow. Nervous AF. Hope the place isnt falling apart. If it needs to much work we may back away and start again

nice, i had my inspection on friday, nothing major just needs a furnace deep clean and tune up. Hope your findings will be the same.

[mongochuy]

nice, i had my inspection on friday, nothing major just needs a furnace deep clean and tune up. Hope your findings will be the same.

Remember this feeling all too well. Don't sweat it too much, though be ready for plenty of things to come back on the inspection. The inspector I had do both of my houses came back with a lot of things they found but none of which were serious.

Im sure there will be a couple things that I'll need to fix, I just hope its nothing major hidden behind a wall that the inspector cant see.
The home had an initial inspection done by a previous bidder but backed out since it had Section 1 work to be done. Owner then did section 1 work and had a second inspection done. Our inspection got pushed back to Wednesday (on my birthday). Three inspections in less than three months, always better to have more than not enough. Also, the owner hired the handy man to do some wall repairs and he did a total shyt job. Something I will have to fix IF we get the place.

Thanks Brahs

[Damien1990]

In on this. Bought my first house this year. Looking for ideas for my back patio, also need to start on my vinyl fencing project.

[Adarus]

My fire pit put in Spring 14



and my fish pond put in Spring 13.

All work done by me.

[img]http://i.imgur.com/r39qtaw.jpg[img]

Did you fill in the area inside the pavers with dirt/sand and then do the blocks like inserts?

[Avalanche3319]

I've always wanted to buy a projector and the links you posted show they're significantly less costly than I thought they'd be. Does it require complete darkness to see the picture or are they powerful enough now to compete with natural light? Also, does the picture quality degrade as you move it back to increase the screen size even though it might be rated up to a certain size or does the highest rated size provide the same picture quality wherever it's placed?

Generally speaking the darker the room the better the image. It depends on how bright your projector is, and the type of screen you have, but if there's a lot of ******t light your image is going to look washed out. That being said I've watched hockey games on mine with all the lights in the room on and thought it still looked fantastic.

I don't think the picture quality degrades as you move the projector back, but the larger your image is the larger the individual pixels are so they could become noticable. The closer the projector is to the screen the brighter the image will be. Again, the throw distance for a certain size will vary greatly depending on what projector you use. I have my projector set up 10' from the screen and that allows me to have a screen size anywhere from 92-120".

Edit: If you're so inclined, there is a TON of info on projectors here: http://www.avsforum.com/forum/68-dig...-000-usd-msrp/
That's where I did my research before deciding on my current setup.

[k5dvw]

Did you fill in the area inside the pavers with dirt/sand and then do the blocks like inserts?

The base layer is crusher run which is what they use to pave roads with and that's anywhere from 6" to 1' deep to level it out, it's on a slope. You can get crusher at full service garden shops. It's heavy ass crushed rocks that tamp down hard and seem to lock together to make a very firm base.

Then on top of that I put about 3-4" of sand, layed in the paver stones, and then just grouted them with loose sand. The perimeter blocks lock together, they dont use mortar.

How man gals? What kind of pump/filter system are you running. Want to put one in

I forgot how much exactly, but I wanna say it's 800 gallons. No filter, and a submersible pump that runs about 1600 gals/hr thru 1.5" PVC pipe. The pond area is dug down about 2.5 feet. Had the entire thing freeze over last year about 3" thick. Fish survived just fine underneath the ice. The biggest pain in the butt is the leaves falling in it this time of year.

PM me for more details if you want it.

[halfchad]

I haven't been able to do barely anything with my back injury.

I have however made the house lighting a lot more energy efficient, about 95% of the lights in the house are now LED rather than halogen/energy saving. Between the NEST thermostat (with Skylark app), and LED lighting I should hopefully save a bit on my energy bills... then again I set up my amp, and speakers for the home cinema system to test they work so probably burn a heap of power that way now ha.

36 x LED downlights
1 x B22 LED Filament style bulb
1 x E27 LED traditional shape bulb
1 x 4pin LED (to replace 4pin fluorescent)

With the amount of money they cost it'll be years before they probably recoup their own value haha.

Next step is getting the plastic condensate pipe from my boiler replaced, I'm heading out now to buy some insulation and pipe wrap for it.

[Damien1990]

Quick picture of my kitchen thus far (Future plans include all stainless steel appliances). Any ideas what to do with that window space above the sink?

[Adarus]

Quick picture of my kitchen thus far (Future plans include all stainless steel appliances). Any ideas what to do with that window space above the sink?

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/HtTq60q.jpg[IMG]

What room is that window space looking into?

[Damien1990]

What room is that window space looking into?

Its a large office, also has the washer and dryer in it.

[robertk232]

quick picture of my kitchen thus far (future plans include all stainless steel appliances). Any ideas what to do with that window space above the sink?

[img]http://i.imgur.com/httq60q.jpg[img]

jesus t*tty f*cking christ. Myron your kitchen brah.

[Adarus]

Its a large office, also has the washer and dryer in it.

Ah ok, was going to say I put an opening in the kitchen wall looking into the living room when I was fixing up my house but in your case you probably wouldn't want an even bigger opening looking into that room.

Don't have a before picture from the kitchen side when I did this and I'm kicking myself for not taking one. It made a huge difference in making the room feel bigger and plus I can watch the game while I'm cooking now.

[gixxer0.6g]

Quick picture of my kitchen thus far (Future plans include all stainless steel appliances). Any ideas what to do with that window space above the sink?

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/HtTq60q.jpg[IMG]

Very nice. Is that a cooktop on the island? Where is the oven?

I'd just trim out that space above the sink. Women love looking around when doing the dishes.

[Damien1990]

Very nice. Is that a cooktop on the island? Where is the oven?

I'd just trim out that space above the sink. Women love looking around when doing the dishes.

Better picture. Definitely want to replace with stainless.

[gixxer0.6g]

Better picture. Definitely want to replace with stainless.

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/a4S7erF.jpg[IMG]

Oh I see. Very nice. We are building a house and I wanted the cooking in the island so I went with a cooktop. Didn't even think about something like that. Much more space saving than a cooktop and then finding a place for a wall oven.

Here's where we are at now

[Bushmaster]

New question, are home warranty's worth the money?

It depends I got one with the house I bought which the seller paid for as an incentive and I went ahead and renewed it because my HVAC system is ancient and could go at any minute. I guess it's a call you can make depending on how old the items it covers are or if something were to fail if it would be a huge financial burden on you etc. You're basically paying 300-500 or whatever a year for the chance that you might not have to pay 500-10,000 in damages depending on what fails.

I personally think they're a scam.

I got one once for the same reason - an HVAC system that had seen better days. And shortly after I moved in, it needed work, so I called the warranty company and they sent a contractor out to work on it. And while he was there I quizzed him about it since he said he did a lot of warranty work for them.

According to him, they will never, ever replace an expensive item like an HVAC system. He said that they would keep contractors coming out to fix it forever until there was nothing left but rubber bands and paper clips holding it together - even if the total of all those repairs was more than a brand new system.

Good thread OP - subbed.

[Damien1990]

Heres a pana. of my game room. Plan on putting a pool table in the middle and a mini bar.

[gixxer0.6g]

Heres a pana. of my game room. Plan on putting a pool table in the middle and a mini bar.

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/H8HKI0R.jpg[IMG]

I like. What type of flooring?


This is what I've been working on the past few weekends. Got about acre done. Hopefully finish it up before the ground freezes. Then in the spring I'll trench sprinklers and plant some seed.

Before


After. Gravel pile and shed for reference

[Damien1990]

I like. What type of flooring?

Laminate for now, mainly wanted to get rid of all the carpet. Thinking bamboo for the future.

Oh I see. Very nice. We are building a house and I wanted the cooking in the island so I went with a cooktop. Didn't even think about something like that. Much more space saving than a cooktop and then finding a place for a wall oven.

Here's where we are at now

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/IUW84ZS.jpg[MG]
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/D2SXYcE.jpg[/G]

Damn thats going to look gorgeous. Do you have any ideas for the color?