Home Improvement Today?

didn't have a renter issue with mine, just a pure laziness and cheap neighbor. he wouldn't help replace a couple posts or at least stake it back up as a temp fix. he had the nerve to complain about my dogs going into his yard after the storms a few years ago and wouldn't split the $1000 cost to have the full length replaced. he ended up selling and I split it with the new owner.

 

Well this week I hauled 5 tons of broken up concrete from my old back steps, and today I dug 10 holes for my footings. Used a 2 man auger then finished the holes with a post hole digger. I noticed one hole is a few inches from where it needs to be, so I'll fix that tomorrow and check the level of the top of the sono tubes to make sure they're all right where they need to be.

Open footing inspection is Monday.

Cement truck is coming Wednesday, and I'll wheel barrow the cement to the sono tubes.

Anyone have an opinion on putting rebar in the sonotubes? Couldn't find any info saying it's necessary, any apparently my town doesn't require it. I bought one 4ft piece for each footing, but I'm wondering if I should get more.

 

It's better but for a vertical load in an area without any seismic concerns no biggie if you go without , having said that , it's so cheap it doesn't make sense not to put it in your pour

 

I agree with Oz. no reason to put it in for vertical load. I always put rebar in everything else though.

 

Cool. Thanks guys. That's what I was thinking. And yea oz, for $3 a piece it's not a big deal.

 

I drove four 3' pieces of rebar into the ground and tied it to WWM just for the one step I poured on the back door of my shop. Was it complete overkill? Absolutely. Was it cheap insurance to know that I will never have that step fail while I carry a heavy load out the door? Absolutely. Rebar is cheap. Your pride in craftsmanship and your health are both priceless.

 

Was it his fence?

 

Refurbishing an older MasterCool that will have a new home on my shop.

 

Absolutely. Picked this one up for free. Only missing a couple of minor parts and had some rust in the reservoir. I've already sanded it down and chipped out the worst of the remaining epoxy coating. First coat of sealant curing, second coat maybe tomorrow.

 

Finally my schedule lined up with Dad's so we did the grout.

 

My kitchen is finally at a point where I am happy with the level of completeness. There are still a few small things to take care of and I have all the materials sitting in the basement (crown molding for cabinets, quarter round for wall/ceiling joint), but after about 8 months of weekend work, here is how she sits today. I won the cabinets in a radio contest and they were sitting in the basement for about 9 months......wife and I saved up to get granite counter tops and all new stainless steel appliances. Just finished the floor this past weekend and I am quite happy with the remodel - never done something of this caliber before as it is our first house, but we took it step by step and made sure to take our time. Took things down and put them back up numerous times until they lined up to my standards....

My only real mess up is just to the right of the window over the sink. I thought the cabinets would fully cover the junction box for the under cabinet lighting, but I should have placed the box on the other side of the stud to be sure. Oh well - guess we can't all get a 100% every time. I will find a decorative piece of trim to run down the sides and cover the gap. There is a hole cut in the back of the cabinet to access the box, just wish I measured a little better on the placement.

Before:


Before:


After:


After:

 

Wow, looks awesome!

 

Wow! Night and day difference! Goodbye 1970's, hello 2015.

 

This whole house was stuck in the 1970s when we bought it. A perfectly preserved piece of history lol....Every room has been freshened up and it finally feels clean and "newer". We completely remodeled the upstairs bathroom and still have the downstairs one to do.

This will be the first and last fixer upper I ever buy lol.

 

Congratulations on the kitchen remodel. Nice work! Now you can sit back and be proud of it for a while.

 

Kitchen looks awesome man.

 

Good job on the kitchen!

 

Kitchen turned out great

 

Got my newel caps milled up today from an old timber scrap I had