Home Improvement Today?

Not sure which is better between those 2 but we just replaced ours with the Kidde units that have the 10 year lithium ion batteries

 

Little update about where we are on my current build

All the windows are installed , drywall complete and painters are currently inside priming and painting the walls and ceilings .

While they're in the house we've been outside working on some concrete features

We've formed 2 retaining walls on the covered deck end of the house , the upper one allows you to walk off the deck to the side , the lower will become a planter




Out front we're casting the concrete columns that our deck posts will sit on . 8x8 concrete columns with 6x6 fir posts will carry the deck framing .

The deck wraps around the front of the house extending about 55' almost to the other end of the house .

You can see where we have one built up beam cantilevering out from the section of deck we've already framed . That will have a post directly under it and forms one corner of the deck




We formed a planter that is the same length as the common spacing of the columns , so a fir post sits on the corners closest to the house and the clients added a feature pond that is a common dimension to the planter .

The top of the pond and planter will be approx 18" above finished patio grade so you can sit on them and pond will be EPDM lined with approx 3' of depth inside

 

As always, very impressive work. I can't help but think about the cost of all that wood to build the concrete forms. It all looked like new lumber, is that something that gets re used or just scraped after the concrete cures? I have seem a lot of concrete jobs with lumber that has obviously be re used many times over but that has all been foundation forms nothing this intricate

 

The lumber gets re-used

 

So we just moved into our new house and we've got a window that needs a temporary cover. I was trying to get some paper to stay stuck to the window. Then I saw your post, and I have a crappy bedsheet that will do the job perfectly.

Now if I could get my wife to settle on some curtains I wouldn't need the sheet.

 

aluminum foil works too

 

I've had both. Dislike them equally. Too many false alarms, die early etc. The current ones I have are First Alert Z-wave. I have cathedral ceilings so they are a PITA to get to (my poor wife, no way she could get out a ladder and reach them). I have them connected to a smarthings hub so I can see the status or reset them from my phone.

They did start beeping when the batteries got to 75% after a little over a year so I just replaced all AA batteries with 10 year batteries.

 

Poured our concrete today .

17 yards of 25 MPA / 10 mm over the house with a 40 metre boom pump

 

What are the boxes for? Structural? It seems like an odd placement.

Edit: I scrolled up and saw your other post.

 

I didnt get to take a pic in its initial stage but long story short, helped out an elderly couple (late 70-80's). The man tried to fix a clogged sink and leak. His fix was to put rtv and caulk on the outside ofthe joints. The exit to the P-trap going into the galvanized pipe was leaking severely (no seal). We had just been over there a couple days ago, asked if they needed help and they said no. So today after church I asked if they got it fixed yet, his wife says no. I said let me come over and try to fix it, since they had family/company over. I ended up putting 2 seals in and tightened the joints. Still was clogged but quit leaking and all they had was a plunger and I plunged it a couple times and cleared the clog. I hope I dont do crazy stuff like this when I get old. He wanted to pay me but I really wasnt looking to get paid, just wanted to help...

 

I have a shed thats trim has seen better days. The siding is in solid shape but needs a new paint job.
My trim work is rotting away though (shed is 13 years old and was neglected by previous owners) so I’m looking to strip the trim off, paint the siding, and lay new trim.

Does anyone have any experience with PVC board for trim?

I’m wondering if its not worth the cost to use that because its a better material but then it saves me $50-$100 in paint since its solid white.

 

I’m curious to know also, I need to re-trim my house and was thinking of using it.

 

I’ve used it for baseboards at work and in kids rooms.

 

I looked briefly at lowes, just make sure you get the paintable kind if you are going to paint. PVC should last.

 

My dad used azek(?) on all his windows when we redid the house exterior last summer. It was in the 8k range just on trim for the windows and doors. Sure does look nice though and will outlast him.

 

I went in and saw the solid white PVC trim and priced it out... yeah not spending $500 on trim. But I did see a composite paintable trim that was very price similar to regular lumber. I’m going with that.

 

I posted some pics a few pages back of some pvc trim I used on a screen porch for the window casings. cuts really nice. I was going to use it on my shed that im changing trim on now but I was able to get a lot of 1x3 trim boards for free. if I was going to buy it and the shed itself is in good shape, I would spend the extra and do the pvc. never have to worry about it again. also buy the screws that go with it and have the bit and plugs for the holes.

 

Not really my best work but extended our wood shed, Needs some tin trimmed and paint. Disregard the mess Looks good enough for a wood shed.

 

I still have to trim some tin pieces on the corners but looks decent. I picked a different color and it was WAAAAAAAAAAAAY (they hand tinted the dye) too much red so my wife had to got to lowes or homedepot and get something to cover it. I dont plan on accenting the trim as of now.

 

Recommendations for a toilet? Elongated and skid mark resistant are my 2 main requests.