Home Improvement Today?

That will look nice. I have to do all the trim, window jambs/sills , doors and casings in my house. I will have to take a look into Varathane as opposed to the stain, clear coat route I was planning on going.

 

I really enjoy doing projects around the house. It is always a great excuse to get a few new tools. I am happy to finally retire my craftsman Ni-cd drill and do a slight upgrade to the impact driver and hammer drill/driver.



And the addition of my first framing nailer to help speed along my shed build. This is nothing fancy but it will see moderate weekend warrior use and probably is enough for my needs.

 

Finally got around to replacing the front porch on the house. it's been on my to-do list since we bought the place, and I finally managed to get the "have money" and "have spare time" lines to intersect.

Ripped the old steps out and found some pretty good-sized rocks while I was digging the new post holes down below the frost line.


Bolted the new posts into concrete block footings on gravel pads, backfilled them with sand, plumbed them up and bolted on the deck bearers


Framed up the joists.


Then I decked the platform, set the granite bottom step, and built the bottom step from the house and the middle step from the deck to the granite bottom step. I got really lucky on the granite base; it was too heavy for the tractor to lift, so I had to sledge it into place with the bucket. I packed the ground where it was going to land with a tamper, leveled it, and slid it into place. Ended up being perfectly level on the first try.


Then I mounted the railings and screwed the balusters on, cut the posts to the same height, and set some LED post caps on top.


The final piece was the gate, to keep the chickens off.

 

I think I would go with something like a Spar Varnish on a workbench

 

nice job, love the house

 

Thanks!
We like it too. It needed a lot of updating inside when we bought it; I've been going through it slowly, but it's a long process.
Of course, I blew most of the first summer we were there (last summer) on outdoor projects like chicken coops and gardens.

Here's what it looked like when we bought it in October of '12


And by June/July of '13

 

Thats pretty awesome Noelie, congrats

 

I use this excuse from time to time when I'm doing a project lol

 

Glad to know I am not the only one. I was eyeing up the Makita's but I couldn't pass up this deal that came with an extra large battery pack. I tried the hammer drill out tonight and was very impressed.

 

My next drill type purchase will be an impact driver.

 

Impacts are great, definitely do

 

Love my cordless Makita tools

 

I like the Milwaukee brand.

 

That is what I set out for as well. The hammer drill was a bonus in the combo kit.

I went looking to get a makita but ended up with a Milwaukee. I hope I am not disappointed. My dewalt miter saw has left me a little disappointed.

 

In my experience I like the Makita sliding compund mitre saws the best , I have 2 LS1013 saws I've had and used daily for over 10 years

 

Impressive work with a contractor saw. Picked up a rigid last year as it had the most solid fence table set up out of the lot. I'm a little spoiled since I have a unisaw in the shop.

 

I like the DeWalt portable , it has a 15A motor and the rack and pinion fence adjustment works well

The final dimensioning was done with a 12 1/2" DeWalt thickness planer

 

If I come across the right deal on one I will jump on it. The plastics on my dewalt are not holding up to weekend warrior use.

 

My 12 inch dewalt trigger assembly broke and for the cost of that plastic I can pick up a new saw. The older makitas are very solid. For hand stuff I use the dewalt brush less 20v and love it.

 

I've never actually used a lunch box planer how easy are they to bog down?