Home Improvement Today?

don’t need any electrical YET
I’d personally run it and not need it before closing it up or have a way to do so later down the road (but then again it is only plywood and not being finished so I guess it depends on how much you’d be willing to pull it down later)

 

I have electric all around the shop. I have been using this shop for many, many years and have the electrical worked out. I have many outlets on the non-concrete walls, so I'm good there.

Good advice, though.

 

Another question, this time plumbing...

My big teardrop has PEX (PE-RT I believe) tubing for the plumbing. One of the screw-on fittings (to the water pump) is leaking, and I want to replace the fitting. Everything is held together with clamp rings, not crimp rings. The clamp rings look like smaller versions of the clamp rings on our CV axle boots.

My question is, do I need the $60 tool to squeeze the clamps, or will my nice Lisle tool that I used on my CV axle boots work?

I guess I'm really asking if I can enough leverage/force on the clamp with the lighter weight tool?

Thanks.

 

Any chance when you sell this house and the space could be called a bedroom? My dad's house had a very similar setup with a basement shop. When he passed I sold the house and thought the shop was one of the top selling points. But, the real estate guy wasn't as excited about it as I was. He pitched it to buyers as a potential bedroom or home theater.

What ever you do I'd recommend taking the long view. "I'll never sell this house" can change to let's sell this house and move, over a weekend. (ask me how I know) If you make an investment that can payback latter, like making the shop be a potential bedroom, your wallet will thank you.

 

If it doesn't have an egress window or a closet, it can't be called a bedroom. One is easy to remedy, the other not so much!

 

Tailgate engineering to figure joist sizes: divide the span in half and add 2

For example: span = 12’
12/2 = 6
6 + 2 = 8
Use a 2 x 8

 

I had to get one from

Kutir 25-Ft Tape Measure with Magnetic Hooks, Fraction Markings, Steel Retractable, Both Side Ruler, Easy to Read Measuring Tape, Shock Absorbent Rubber Case

Amazon. No one sold them locally.

 

The OP doesn't say if there's a window, but he does say there's an outside wall. Adding a window just to make it a potential bedroom at some unknown future wouldn't be a good investment. But if there's an egress window adding a closet, plugs and using drywall instead of plywood is probably a wash as far as cost, and the closet can be useful.

 

My post was intended as an addition to your comment, not as a critique of your suggestion.

 

Yes, there is a window, and a closet. However, there is about to be a garage door on the outside wall.

I get what you are saying about selling the house - I have been thinking about selling on and off for years, and do build accordingly (with a bias as to I want to use the house.) I may sell, I may not - at the moment, selling is not in the plans.

The shop is almost 1000' square feet. That would make one hell of a bedroom!

 

"potential rental unit with separate entrance"

 

Marketing at its finest!

 

Been busy checking everything I can off of the to do list. Baby #1 is due next month. Since January I’ve replaced all of the carpeting (about 1,000 sqft) with laminate, painted the entire interior, replaced central ac and water heater, and did some electrical projects around the house - added pendant lights to the kitchen, ran wiring and installed ceiling fans in two of the bedrooms, ran some new outlets, replaced hardwired smoke detectors and some other small crap.
The nursery is in what used to be my office. I’m a full time work at home employee (even before Covid) so I need a dedicated office space. We live in AZ but all of our family lives in PA so we also need a guest room. Planning on moving to something bigger in the next few years, but for now with a 3 Bedroom house I had to get creative. My solution was to build a custom Murphy bed and murphy desk setup. 99% of the time I’ll use the room as an office and made a wall hanging desk with a triple monitor setup (work provided the electronics). The drawers of the desk are two independent file cabinets i put on wheels. When i want to use it as a bedroom i simply roll the drawers to the opposite wall to serve as nightstands, fold up the desk with the monitors inside, and fold down the queen sized bed. It’s all plywood construction and cost under $400. I didn’t use Murphy bed springs and pistons because they were so pricey. Instead I used heavy duty steel turntables and created the accordion pullout base. It’s heavy to lift but solid as a rock. Don’t know if I’ll be able to use it in the next house so I built it with the mindset that it might get tossed. Added some pics of the nursery and other projects too.

 

Impressive! I like when people think outside the box and make things modular and multipurpose. Very well done!!

 

Thanks! Unsure if the next house will be in AZ or back on the east coast, so for now we wanted to stay put. It was a lot cheaper than buying a 4 bedroom house! ha

 

Yeah, I don't blame you there! Luckily we live alone so we have a dedicated office and guest room.

I love seeing what peoples imagination and ingenuity can come up with.

 

Got the front stoop wrapped in stone veneer today. Just need to point the bluestone and the veneer and it will be done.

Started laying out the landscaping for the front of the house, and it for sure added up quick. Guess that’s to be expected to fill almost 80’x6’ of garden beds. Going to try to knock that out this week while I’m off.

 

Looks good

 

Nice work! What are those posts? Looking closely, they appear to be solid and not capped. I like the grain on those, may look into them once we do our back patio and car cover.

Any further back pics of the brick on the house? Lime wash, white wash? German schmear?

 

Replacing all of the lights inside and out with LED's I really hate people who cut wires too short.