Home Handymen, Do-It-Yourself-ers Advice???

[Jeff]

There are obviously plenty of geeks on here to help fix a computer but I'm wondering if there is anyone here who is skilled at or just plain interested in doing home improvement projects and do-it-yourself stuff.

I have always been great with technical crap but horrid with tools and the like. My wife had been wanting a railing on our porch and I had been wanting a wooden gate for the driveway and I asked some guys working on a neighbor's house how much it would be. After comparing their price to the cost of the materials, I decided to give the gate a go myself.

My next door neighbor is an electrician by trade and a handyman extrordinaire. He gave me a little help with the gate but I basically did it on my own and it looks pretty damn good. The railing is next.

I realized that many of these jobs aren't nearly as hard as I thought but I'd really like to learn more before I move on to bigger projects like altering the interior of my home to create a smaller laundry room (so I can have an office) and remodeling my recording studio like I've wanted to for some time.

Anyone have any advice, hints, suggestions, books to read, etc? Thanks!

[Ninja Sauce X]

A fun and practical thing to build is a sun deck. My father and I built one in our back yard a couple years ago, it looks pretty nice, and I learned a lot about basic carpentry, plus I got to play with a circular saw It's a great project for beginners because it's fairly easy, but the results are quite satisfying.

[BobFinn*]

Nice site with lots of info:

http://www.remodelonline.com/

[JAG]

Originally posted by Ninja Sauce X A fun and practical thing to build is a sun deck. My father and I built one in our back yard a couple years ago, it looks pretty nice, and I learned a lot about basic carpentry, plus I got to play with a circular saw It's a great project for beginners because it's fairly easy, but the results are quite satisfying.

Jeff, you have unwittingly wounded me, as I am neither handy with tools, nor am I at all proficient with computers. But I CAN play a mean kazoo....ok, not even that. My whole life is a lie, and I am without any redeeming value..

[Princess]

Everything I learned about "around the house fix it's" I learned from my mom.

Nothing she has done is quite as adventurous as anything you have done. She really sticks to following directions though, when they're involved. It may sound simple, but I've seen my dad work on things and completly disregard any instructions whatsoever.

I also helped my dad build a deck, which turned out quite nice. But I was only 3. All I really did was play smash ants with a hammer!

Good luck!

[Jeff]

Originally posted by JAG Jeff, you have unwittingly wounded me, as I am neither handy with tools, nor am I at all proficient with computers. But I CAN play a mean kazoo....ok, not even that. My whole life is a lie, and I am without any redeeming value..

LOL!!!!

[Jeff]

I do have a deck which is cool. Here's what I'm thinking about doing...

The space between the walls of my bathroom and my laundry room (basically a bedroom converted) is 3 feet deep. I know this because there are closets in both rooms at opposite ends of the room but on the same wall. The wall in the laundry room is NOT lode bearing so it can be taken down. There is also a small bump out in the laundry room accomodating a staircase on the other side.

What I want to do is remove the bathroom closet (just wall it in), take down the non-lode-bearing wall and move it out even with the bump out in the current laundry room. That will give me a space between what is now the laundry room and the bathroom that is appx. 6 feet wide by 14 feet long. In that room, I'll put an upright washer and dryer along with all the cat boxes, cat feeders and shelves for storage.

The laundry room will become my office because there will still be a 10x15 room there. I'll need to move and install windows in a couple of places and move around some electrical as well as handle the false wall and new floor. My neighbor said he will help me but most of it will be on me.

So...now you know.

[Vengeance]

Oh gosh, my father is an engineer . . . we would do these projects on the house that are LEGENDARY . . . the drainage system, the fence, the shed, but the big one:

Painting the House . . . seems easy enough, right? Well, why don't we put 4 coats of Latex paint on there . . . and I don't want to rent scaffolding, so lets build our own out of wood (weighed like 700 lbs!!) . . . and we'll replace the guttering and all the wood rot . . .

that project took 2 years! Never again . . .

I do some smaller projects now, and what I know more than anything: Dremel tools ROCK!!!

[The Voice of Reason]

I used to work construction. any questions you may have i can answer. e-mail me if you like at my yahoo adress.

micah

[Princess]

Good luck Jeff. My advice...don't cut your finger off.

(if you don't know, ask Lynus about it sometime)



And Dremel tools do rock (that's the extent of my tool knowledge)!

[Behad]

Hey Jeff, I thought I already won the contract for this work!


I can print a copy of that thread, which would then make it a written binding contract! :D


J/K...if you have any questions, drop me an email!

[mr_oily]

I went to a 6 week summer class at HCC on home Remoldeling. This was the summer I bought my house. It really cleared some stuff up and helped me realize what I don't wanna skrew with (plumbing & elec...fahget 'bout it). The class included a great remodeling book that I can't remember the name of, sorry.
You seem to understanding the weight bearing wall thing, so I think you're well on your way.
I suggest going to the book stop and getting a complete home remodeling book or believe it or not, those Time Life books sold at Home Depot are kinda cool for those special projects! :D

good luck, you can do it!

[Jeff]

Originally posted by Behad Hey Jeff, I thought I already won the contract for this work! I can print a copy of that thread, which would then make it a written binding contract! :D J/K...if you have any questions, drop me an email!

OH, Hell I haven't forgotten! I just thought you might have. Good to know!!!

mr. oily: I agree about plumbing and electrical. I can do small electrical wiring things (after wiring what seems like hundreds of guitars, I kinda get that) but the big things are where my neighbor comes in. I am going to wire a couple of new electrical outlets to a light switch for Christmas lights this year, however. But, it doesn't seem like it will be too terribly hard.

[Pole]

I had a boat house put in at my house this past summer. I live in one of those canal community houses near Galveston, and all the houses are built on stilts or collumns, so we all have porches that are upstairs. The boathouses are built in the canal, so you can lift your boat out of the water, and then they put a top deck on top of the lift. The deck is usually built to be pretty level with your house's porch, and then a walkway is built between them. That allows you to walk out from the porch and get to the deck over the boathouse. It's a great thing, and I had a 10' wide walkway built, so I have tons of useable deck space that's way over the ground and usually over the summer mosquitoes. It's well worth the money.

Anyway, for one of my summer projects, I ran water out of my garage, up under the porch and around to the deck walkway, then I ran it out to the boathouse and down through the roof of it, then under the roof, and down one of the uprights and put a faucet there so I'd have water to wash the pier and the boat. From there I ran it down through the lower deck (which is actually a pier), and ran it under the pier. (needless to say, I had to be in the water while I was doing that work). I ran it out to one corner of the pier and drilled it through a side board and put another faucet there at the lowest part of the plumbing. Right behind it, I put a t-junction, and ran the plumbing up through the pier and up one leg of my fish cleaning table so that I'd have fresh water going to it. Where I came out of the garage, I put a valve, so I can shut if off if there's a freeze, and I can open the faucet at the lowpoint to drain the pipes. I'm pretty proud of the whole job. I think it was well thought out and professionally done.

Of course, I still have about $200 worth of electrical supplies staring me in the face. I never could quite get off my lazy ass (oops! I said it again) to finish boathouse electricity project.

I'm pretty good at cutting and hanging sheetrock; but like my layups, I just can't finish the job.

[Behad]

Originally posted by Pole I'm pretty good at cutting and hanging sheetrock; but like my layups, I just can't finish the job.

Agreed. Taping, smoothing, sanding texturing.....I hate that part!

That water line of yours sounds like a fun job. I did a similar one, running conduit from the box out to a new outlet for my pool filter, then over to the patio for two ceiling fans and the bug zapper. Lots of twists and turns. I was damn proud when I flipped the breaker and everything worked!!! :D

[Jeff]

Originally posted by Pole I had a boat house put in at my house this past summer. I live in one of those canal community houses near Galveston, and all the houses are built on stilts or collumns, so we all have porches that are upstairs.

Cool! Do you ever see Knight Boat???

:D

God, I love the Simpsons.

[Joe Joe]

Originally posted by Jeff Cool! Do you ever see Knight Boat??? :D God, I love the Simpsons.

Only if his porch is next to a fjord.

[JAG]

Originally posted by Joe Joe Only if his porch is next to a fjord.

Mmmmmmm....fjord.......


*** Imagine, if you will, Homer with a thought bubble above his head with some Scandanavian lovelies crowded into a four-door sedan...***