Home Improvement Today?

Dipping my toes into this thread. Bought a condo here in SoCal back in mid January. First up was to scrape the popcorn, install LED "can" lights (they're pancakes, not really cans), fans in both bedrooms, new smart switches in every room & all new outlets. The place had 0 ceiling lights or fans prior.


Next up was to demo the 80s cabinets on the upstairs landing. Relocated them to the garage, installed new shaker style pantry closets, trimmed them out & ran a new power line to charge the vacuum.


Currently I'm on the master bath. Prior owners did it about 10 years ago with good quality tile & vanity, although not my style. They left the tub, spout & shower surround original & looking like shit. I demo'd it all, including the soffits, and am slowly piecing it together. As of now I've got the shower plumbing nearly done & ready for a pressure test maybe tomorrow. Framing out the niche on each side this weekend.



Today me & the GF decided on porcelain for the shower walls & all of the flooring. Hoping to have the shower drain ready & hot mop scheduled next weekend. It's slow progress working full time, having a social life AND doing a DIY remodel.

 

Phase 2: Build fence, 1/2 way done and going to build a new gate too. Fence separates back yard from the back 40.

 

That's a huge endeavor of a project.

 

Lots of work, the lights look like it was a chore

 

Push mowed our back 40 that had 2ft weeds...fun

 

Yesterday, I push mowed my backyard for the first time in 1.5-2 months. I had to put the mower on its tallest setting, then put it back to normal and run it again. Luckily the backyard isn't too big. Took about an hour.

 

I don't miss mowing. It's 111 in Phoenix today and supposed to be as high as 117 all this week. I watered my front and back yards extra and installed shade screen covering over several of my plants. No pics, sorry, too hot to stand outside and take them.

 

takes me about that for one pass. i'm not staying in this house forever so can't really justify to the Mrs. for buying a riding mower when the push mower is still going strong (minus a self propelled belt and a few other worn out parts i've changed this year) haha

 

Shade screen coverin’ @ 117F. Kinda like wearin’ Ray Bans during a Nuclear Attack.

 

I thought the same until I tried it. (40% shade cloth) Cacti sunburn and turn yellow if exposed to too much sunlight. Especially after you fertilize them. We had the hottest summer on record last year and I lost a few plants including a really large juniper. This spring I replaced several things and am going to take whatever measures I can to protect them between now and October when it starts to cool off.

I've already made reservations at a lake cabin this summer to escape the heat.

 

Indeed it was. The ceiling had more joists & framing than I ever would've imagined. This condo was built right, it's solid. My Milwaukee 18v impact & auger bits got quite the workout.

 

3 zone pioneer mini split AC/heat pump

 

Forgot to mention that 10/2 romex is $3/foot at Depot which is highway robbery.

 

We havent mowed it since we bought the house last august. And i guarantee it hadnt ever been touched before. I was out there for 3 hours at least.

lowes has had cheaper wire everytime i check. i got 100ft of ufb for $57 vs 96 or something like that

 

Blowes is 30 miles away but good to know. There is also a run on 3/4" PVC pipe right now that I knew nothing about.

 

Find your local electrical/plumbing distributors and stop paying the stupid prices that the big box stores are charging.

 

i dont like going there either but for the savings its worth it for a few items. mine are across the street from each other, lol

when i called around for breakers they were more expensive. not open on the weekends either for my area

 

I ended up buying 3/4" PVC conduit because it was available, not over priced, and works fine for a atmospheric condensate drain. I also got 10/2 on eBay cheaper than my local electrical distributor that is STILL not open for in person purchases.

 

Is there a rule of thumb one can use to estimate how much of a difference this makes? My wife and I are working on floor plans for a home we hope to start building next year. If we put everything we want on a single level, it'll be around 1800 sq ft. If we go two levels, there are some things we want to duplicate on both levels, so it ends up being about 2400 sq ft total - 600 sq ft more finished space, but only 1200 sq ft of roof and foundation. Which would cost more?

The extra 600 sq ft on the two level is mostly an additional full bath and a bedroom, plus stairs/halls/wasted space.