Home Improvement Today?

Or a "just hang out and enjoy outside" deck

 

The water level of the pond when full will be just 2" below the bottom of the framing , the 14' x 14' square portion of deck at the back will have a post and beam " gazebo " style roof over it , the front 6' x 11' section is essentially a swim pier to get you out over the 14' deep middle portion of the pond , there will be a swim ladder attached to the end of it

 

So was the slab poured with the deck piers built in or are they just sitting on top of it? I have an uneven slab that I want to put a low profile deck over (about 6" over the adjacent sidewalk). I'm trying to figure out the easiest way to do the piers for the deck. After seeing your deck, I'm wondering if I can just pour my own piers on top of the carpet near the house (or should I try and take the carpet up).

It was a little putting green (cement slab with a green outdoor carpet on top).

To give you an idea of the slope, the bricks by the shuffleboard are about even with the bottom of the top row of bricks at the little wall by the house.

 

Soon I can shit upstairs. How exciting.

 

Sometimes it's the little things...

 

The 9 columns are formed and poured on top of a large raft slab footing in my case , they are approx 7" tall

 

We're starting on the living room renovation. 1st step is to remove the wallpaper.



The little room in the back used to be a deck but the original owners converted it to a small office space. I got the surface of the wallpaper removed in there (it came out pretty easily). Now I just have to spray down the paper backing and it should come off. The paper in the living room is going to be a pain. The DIF solution doesn't soak in very well so it doesn't release much of the glue. We got one wall done last night.

We are also going to remove the tongue and grove wood from the bottom of the walls and refill it with drywall. It's about 3/4" thick. I started on one wall to see how easy it's going to come off. Not too bad. We're planning on installing a fireplace (either electric or bio-ethanol). I may use the wood from the walls to decorate the fireplace faux chimney.



For this window, We're going to take down the old lady valence and I'm going to try building shutters (3 1/2").


The wife likes this bio ethanol fireplace. I'm going to build a similar platform and wall. I'll probably use the wood on the wall part (laid horizontally).

 

^ you could also try those " wood plank " porcelain tiles for that application , you would get a similar look but the tile would help store and reflect the heat

 

I'm not so much concerned with heat (San Diego rarely gets cold). Plus the bio-ethanol fireplaces are more for looks than heat and the fact that they're ventless. I think they burn cooler than a wood fireplace.

I don't really care for the porcelain wood-look tiles. It looks fake to me. Our other option was recycled granite done like stacked stone. Since we already have the wood, that'll be our first option if the wife likes it enough.

 

No issue with clearances to combustibles with those units I take it

 

As long as it's mounted on a non-flammable surface, I think it should be fine. I wouldn't mount it to the wood. I'll double check clearances.

 

trying to discern from the pic, ...does that fireplace sit proud of the wall it's mounted on?
...if so, i'd tend to think that just a solid color wall behind it would like pretty good (i.e. just like the pic)

 

Yes they sit proud of the wall. The front of it is actually flat (it looks curved to me). I think the front is about 4-6" away from the wall.

They actually don't recommend inserting it into a wall. I imagine a brick one or an alcove lined with something fire resistant would be fine.

 

They look a bit like a TV on the wall

 

They really do nothing for me...seems better placed in a apartment in Manhattan. My wife would probably love it though.

 

I like them

 

i was thinking the same thing... a flat panel tv, ...and i think you could find a DVD vid that portrays flickering flames (fireplace ambiance)...

 

I have a blu ray like that , and an aquarium one

 

I've seen an electric fireplace heater that uses an LCD screen and a video of fire. I thought, why not just buy a tv and run a dvd when you want fire. At least you could use the TV for something other than a fireplace.

The electric fireplaces that intrigued me were the ones that use water vapor to simulate a flame. The Dimplex Opti-Mist is one. This is another though I couldn't find anyone that sells it. I'd want to see them in person. A lot of electric fireplaces looked good in videos but looked too fake in person.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJzSa46UqzE

 

wow, that's impressive.... of course none of these will provide any warmth in the physical sense...