Home Improvement Today?

Maybe I'm thinking of an older style. They used to make those jumbo glass versions (non led) that would get super hot, but looked neat. I think they were deemed a fire hazard and quit making them.

edit:
They were similar to these...

$29 Brite Star Vintage Christmas String Lights Multi C9 25 Feet - Old-Fashioned Bulbs Perfect for Christmas - Patriotic Decorations, Indoor and Outdoor Use.

https://www.amazon.com/Brite-Star-C...on6CfgwMVYRGtBh3HzAa5EAkYAiABEgIY8fD_BwE&th=1

 

It's been a while! I'll put most images behind spoilers so I don't spam unwarranted pictures. I chipped away at stuff here and there during hunting season -- mostly my partner's office. She wanted a moody dark academia-type of office with a reading nook for her and our pup. Lots of hours spread across about 3 months or so.

I always start with the listing pictures:


First thing was to run power to the closet where the reading nook would be. She wanted 2 flanking sconces controlled from a switch by the main door. That was fun. I ended up accidentally drilling the wrong side of the top plate in our attic and we have a nice hole in the master bedroom closet . Wasn't funny at the time when I was vacuuming drywall dust out of our clothes. I cheated when running wire long-ways and just notched studs + put nailers.

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For some reason all of the lights in our rooms are off-center so I also re-located the main light to the center and dry-fit a mini chandelier. Wasn't afraid to drill giant holes because the popcorn was to be over-boarded like the other rooms.

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Boring drywall. At least I hung it right this time? Wasn't as rage-y when lifting boards. Mudded and primed it. I didn't hit the edges too meticulously because the plans called for big crown moulding.

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Re-trimmed the window in shaker-style.

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Tracked-down some shaker-style crown moulding at my hardwood supplier. Fingers still hurt from coping the joints. Got creative around the attic access hole. I was just shooting from the hip there but I built a mitered box trim.

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Did the ol' landlord special where the built-in was going and dry-fit the sconces.

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Primed everything, caulked, re-primed, and then sprayed. Still wearing blue paint on those clothes.

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Waited a few days for the paint to cure and then installed Acacia hardwood floors. Then installed the chandelier with its 45 pieces of glass...

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Installed gold outlets, scribed and painted baseboards.

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That finished Phase 1; it ended up looking like something out of John Wick.

 

Part 2! Same thing as before; I'll put most images behind spoilers.

The reading nook was the longest part of the whole project. I made a mock-up in Sketchup. The idea was to have a platform with drawers on bottom, and then use the little cubbies inside the closet for uppers with adjustable shelves.




When a cabinet is against 2 walls you can kind of get away with a sloppy carcass so I slapped one together really fast.

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Face frame:

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Installing it was kind of tricky. I ended up bracing it with 2x4's between the insides of the closet. That way it doesn't rack when you sit on it day in and day out. The 2x's are screwed into the framing.

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While I was doing all of this I was also working on my shop a bit so as the project progressed I had a progressively nicer setup to build cabinetry. I made some nice baltic birch drawer boxes and assembled some shaker-style drawer fronts:

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Then I scribed a baseboard, installed a lip to retain the platform, and dry-fit everything to check reveals:

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Then moved on to uppers. I wanted a fixed first shelf that was raised off the platform a bit so the cushion doesn't cover it. I got some sweet plywood dado bits specifically for cutting shelves and whatnot.

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Faced-framed the book cases and edge-banded a bunch of shelves.

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Final install and paint took forever. I think 5 days of paint sessions and touch-ups? I don't want to paint anything blue for a very, very long time.




First project built in the shop. As much as the process kind of sucked at times I had fun using the new space and I'm excited for the upcoming winter projects. Hope everyone has a great holiday and I'll try to post more frequently next time so I don't drop 5,000 pictures

 

@kmorgan3 the built ins look awesome! Nice work! And thanks for the inspiration- we have an awkward niche in our master bed room that need something along those lines.

 

nice!!

personally, i don't need the spoilers at all, i wanna see the pictures anyways!

 

nice work as usual

sidebar question ~ did you make your own MFT-style work top surface on your assembly table ?

 

Yeah, I remember the big glass xmas lights.

I used to really like the bubble lights too.

 

Yes I did. I used a UJK Parf Guide system or whatever it’s called. It took a long time and I ended up hitting a screw with the drill bit ($50!!!!) and haven’t finished all of the holes. They came out really nice though. I got the Bench Dogs hinge system that doesn’t use aluminum t channel and it’s really nice to cross cut sheets with.


Next weeks project is to finish the holes and build a bunch of drawers for it. Been too busy building to finish shop furniture.

 

nice , I too used the Parf Guide jig and have the Benchdogs.co.uk fence but with Stanton dog locks on UJK expanding 20mm dogs instead of the hinge system

 

Okay now I have fence envy. Need to order some extensions

 

My longest flag stop lets me cut approx 70" panels

 

Last job of 2023 & closing the books. Did some interior painting at the same house I did some exterior painting back in May. Customer bumped out/added 3' to the LR. They also added some new windows in other rooms, so I painted/blended in as needed. Much more brush work versus rolling. 3 colors just in this LR space. That entry door cost $4K btw. I cannot figure out why.

 

We bought a house a year ago. The pantry is 5x7, but it had all the wire shelves which are terrible to really hold things.

Her Christmas present was me rebuilding this into a really nice functional pantry.

 

Are there any electrical specific threads?

I am looking at home energy monitors. I already ordered a Emporia 16 circuit system... But just wondering if anyone here has installed one before?

We have solar, and during the summer this was completely offsetting our AC use. Our SDG&E mid-cycle report came, and it's much higher than we expected- especially considering we don't run the heater (hasn't dropped below 65 in the house at night) and the gas usage is only $35 compared to the electric portion @ $190. So we're a little stumped and hoping the energy monitoring system can shed some light on where our high peak usage is occurring. Our solar is producing around 2/3 as much during these short / off axis days as it was during the summer, but we're also not running the AC at all. Something isn't adding up.

We have a sub panel in the garage, but it's on the back side of the primary exterior panel. I might have to get a second monitor for that one, but I am hoping not...

 

What's your billing setup? During summer, you were probably getting paid a lot more for selling your excess solar than you are in the winter when demand is lower. That's how it works for my solar system and billing setup.

 

Good idea, but last post was November 2019. That's before the world ended.

 

We are replacing our over the range microwave and in the process, we discovered that the new mounting plate location would be about 3/4" into the tile. That would leave about half of the mounting plate on drywall and half on the tile. Do we remove tile or add shims to the drywall to bring it up to the same depth as the tile? Any other creative solutions on how to proceed?

 

I had the same situation when I mounted mine oh so many years ago.

I cut a piece of 1/4" (or 1/2", I forget which) of plywood to cover the drywall, and bring the microwave mounting surface out to the depth of the tile. Use plywood that is the same thickness as the tile, then mount the microwave as usual.

 

Id put shims in. Will it have brackets in top also? If the brackets are in the top use same depth as tile or it will sit at angle. Make the shims same depth as the tile. The shims should be covered after installation of the microwave