OT: DIY

[Pachinko_]

Last weekend I started my backyard Studio/Workshop project. Just a little maker space for me and the kids to build stuff, woodworking, electronics, bicycles, toys, whatever.

The project involves demolishing a tin shed sitting on a concrete slab, extending the slab, and then building on it something that looks good from the outside, is about the size of a standard garage, has electricity, ventilation and natural light, and also some insulation (mostly for noise as I want to run a couple of powertools in there). Those are the requirements. Help will be minimal, just me, my wife and maybe a friend for a couple of weekends.

One thing I learned with projects like that is don't assume you will be able to find doors and windows the size you want. First buy your doors/windows and then build around them. So I did that first, bought a pair of used French doors For $250 and spent most Saturday sanding them down to get rid off the old lacquer and putting on a coat of primer. I will eventually paint them white gloss to match the house and protect them from the sun and rain. I will find a window next week.



Sunday I extended the concrete slab. That was hard work, first I had to dig and cut through roots the size of my arm and also relocate garden watering pipes. Then I went shopping again



Then I made my form, drilled the old concrete and put a few iron bars half way in to bond it with the new concrete, laid down my iron mesh, and then mixed 30 bags of readymix, old school, two at the time in the wheelbarrow. Today I'm hurting everywhere, but it was good, I needed the exercise.



This will take forever LOL
I'll keep you posted

[bizarro]

Last weekend I started my backyard Studio/Workshop project. Just a little maker space for me and the kids to build stuff, woodworking, electronics, bicycles, toys, whatever.

The project involves demolishing a tin shed sitting on a concrete slab, extending the slab, and then building on it something that looks good from the outside, is about the size of a standard garage, has electricity, ventilation and natural light, and also some insulation (mostly for noise as I want to run a couple of powertools in there). Those are the requirements. Help will be minimal, just me, my wife and maybe a friend for a couple of weekends.

One thing I learned with projects like that is don't assume you will be able to find doors and windows the size you want. First buy your doors/windows and then build around them. So I did that first, bought a pair of used French doors For $250 and spent most Saturday sanding them down to get rid off the old lacquer and putting on a coat of primer. I will eventually paint them white gloss to match the house and protect them from the sun and rain. I will find a window next week.



Sunday I extended the concrete slab. That was hard work, I had to dig and cut through roots the size of my arm and also relocate garden watering pipes. Then I went shopping again



Then I made my form, drilled the old concrete and put a few iron bars half way in to bond it with the new concrete, laid down my iron mesh, and then mixed 30 bags of readymix, old school, two at the time in the wheelbarrow. Today I'm hurting everywhere, but it was good, I needed the exercise.



This will take forever LOL
I'll keep you posted

Well done! Excited to aee the final results!

[Pachinko_]

Thanks
It will take a while though, I'm just a weekend warrior

[Coln72]

Concrete truck drivers always a little left over. Sometimes they will let you have it for a slab of beer. Saves a lot of mixing

[trwi7]

Dingo Concrete is the most Australian thing ever.

[Pachinko_]

Concrete truck drivers always a little left over. Sometimes they will let you have it for a slab of beer. Saves a lot of mixing

yeah there were a few easier ways of doing this, the problem is there is no access where I'm building

[Pachinko_]

Dingo Concrete is the most Australian thing ever.

it's the most wog thing ever

[trwi7]

Dingo Concrete is the most Australian thing ever.

it's the most wog thing ever

CRIKEY!

[thomchatt3rton]

Dingo Concrete is the most Australian thing ever.

it's the most wog thing ever

Maybe it's just my outsider American-ness (and I know the meaning has changed) but that word still sounds ugly as hell to me.


Besides, the most Australian thing ever, as far as I can tell, is diving into a murky brackish swamp despite clearly marked "no swimming, crocodiles" signs and being killed and eaten by a crocodile, and Joe Ingles is there.

[Pachinko_]

Well it's not meant to be pretty LOL
It's usually Greeks and Italians calling themselves wogs, I've never actually heard an Australian use that word. People are not as racially sensitive here as they are in the US. No reason to be.

[thomchatt3rton]

Well it's not meant to be pretty LOL
It's usually Greeks and Italians calling themselves wogs, I've never actually heard an Australian use that word. People are not as racially sensitive here as they are in the US. No reason to be.

When the Antetokounmpo family invites you to their home for dinner as the winner of the "Best Greek/Australian Bucks Fan Dinner Appreciation" contest, you should definitely throw the word "wog" around a bunch. Maybe they don't know it was a nasty word for blacks and you'll be OK.

[Pachinko_]

I think we'd be talking Greek mate

[HurricaneKid]

Anyone else have projects that just spiral out of control on them? I wanted to put in a faucet as the old one is barely functional but I hated the vanity top so I figured I would do them together. Well if I was going to do that why not refinish the vanity and bring it in to the 21st century. But if you are doing all that and pulling out the vanity you almost have to address the horrible flooring. So now I need to yank out the entire front of the house and get moving on new flooring.

And the wife has expanded on THAT list by a substantial amount.

[Beorn]

when I was 15 or so we decide to demolish part of the wall dividing the kitchen and the living room, about 2x2m. We found some wetness at the bottom of the area, which originated in the living room's floor. We dismantled an area of that room's marble floor (it was a bitch to do) until we found a leaking waterpipe; so after finally fixing the waterpipe we had dug half our living room, so we decided to go all the way, so we leveled the dug out spot with concrete and installed tiling in most of the house. Something simialr happened when we decided to change our old, embedded granite (I think) shower tub, and ended up into re-tiling and refurnishing everything in the bathroom apart from the door.
It's like a tropic storm, when it gets going it's uncontrollable.

[Pachinko_]

Weekend #3
I finished painting the doors


Then emptied the old tin shed, then demolished it (but kept the 2 corner walls as they are effectively the barrier to my neighbours' properties, there is no fence behind them) and cleaned the site



It will be the size of a standard room, about 15 sqm or 160 sqf feet, which is all I need.

The wall on the right is just decorative, put there by the previous owner to hide the tin shed. It's pretty solid hardwood, my original plan was to remove the boards and reuse them, but all my tools failed to undo the screws. I tried every trick: impact drivers, hand impact drivers, corded drills, screw extractors, but the timber has sucked in moisture over the years and the screws won't budge no matter what. So I think I might have to just leave it as it is and nail the cladding on it, and then just stuff it with insulation from the top.

Then I spent most of the day researching cladding materials and prices. There's lots of beautiful options these days but they're mostly meant for feature walls and they are not cheap. I think the best option that is still visually appealing and reasonably priced is the good old weatherboard. I think I might go for this kind of look:



Not sure if I can be bothered with trusses & fascias and things like that,depends on how much fun I'm having at that time, or I might go for a flat roof to keep things simple.

[Pachinko_]

Weekend #4

Saturday was rainy so I didn't do much, just searched my fav reclaimed building materials market. I love this place





Finally found my window. Probably a bit too nice for what I want it, double glazed, quality hardware etc but I bought it anyway because the price was too good.



Sunday I tackled the most stressful part of the build: Making the door frame, then stripping the inside of the existing wall, cutting out an exact opening for the door on the outside, finding a big massive stud that is concreted into the ground, cutting it off, adding a stirrup to the stud, and then repositioning and reconcreting it in the exact correct position so that the frame is perfectly wedged in and the door close properly. You get this part wrong and you're basically ****. Measure twice, cut once.

And of course the Ryobi tool dies when you need it the most.



I didn't catch it in this photo but the motor was literally smoking from trying to cut through 5 inches of treated pine.

Finally I got the whole thing right, mostly. I had to chisel cut outs for 3 out of 4 hinges to align the doors properly, but finally here it is



And a little more concrete for the entrance step and I was done for the weekend.



Next weekend I'm framing, weather allowing.

[trwi7]

I haven't seen this much wood since I was in that bukkake video.

[Jez2983]

I haven't seen this much wood since I was in that bukkake video.

Was wondering what your contribution to this thread was going to be.

I was not disappointed.

[trwi7]

It's a good thing I did that video. Saying "I haven't seen this much wood since high school woodshop" wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining.

Pine, oak and cherry as far as the eye could see.

[Pachinko_]

Weekend #5

I intentionally skipped the Bucks game, and with my sanity safe I proceeded with my project

Timber and fibre cement sheets arrived. These sheets are a 1/3 inch thick and 8 feet long, and they weigh a tonne.



I screwed some castors and some old iron frames on a piece of chipboard I had lying around so now at least I have a trolley to move those things around



My friend came to help and we started framing. Paslodes are awesome.



And then we got to the probably the hardest part of the build... this wall is flat against the neighbour's shed so there is no room to work behind it, which means we had to cut and pre-attach all the cement sheets on the outside of the wall, and then lift it and wedge it in place. With the sheets attached it was a 250 pound wall with nothing to grab on to from one side, so that was not fun at all.



Then the existing concrete was not exactly straight either so we had to lift the frame from one side. I'll put something more permanent underneath it next weekend.



But now I have my second wall up, and it's straight!



That was my Saturday. Sunday was rainy most of the day so I only worked for a couple of hours, I just made the frame for the 3rd wall.



It's slow going but I'm getting there. I hope to have a weather proof structure by Xmas.