Your home handyman talents...

[ocnblu]

It was finally a nice day here today, so I decided to tackle a couple of small projects. I am soon getting a new door on the front of my house installed by others. I also have a side entrance door out of my garage and I wanted it to match the new front door, so I painted it from dark blue to white, added a new lockset and deadbolt, and put up a new motion-sensing light fixture above it. It looks nice and I'm proud of myself, but it took me freakin' forever.

So, how handy are you guys with a hammer? Edited October 16, 2005 by ocnblu

[razoredge]

"So, how handy are you guys with a hammer?"

Is that another trick question Blu ? :)

I do everything myself, I had even half dug out the basement underneath this camp I bought, by hand and wheelbarrel, however I did finally hire a guy to put it up on steel and finish with track loader and a mason to do the block work. Still I was there working on the labor end. All carpentry, plumbing, electrical, car repairs, body work, welding and whatever else needs to be done I do it. I like to keep stuff inhouse and I dont like other people "touchin my stuff". Before I learned how to do more "stuff" I was always unhappy with the quality of work or loss of bulge in pocket, that and the Vaseline thing. http://www.cheersandgears.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/AH-HA_wink.gif

[balthazar]

Can do it all, footings (excavation) to roof, demo, electrical, plumbing, siding, windows & doors, hardwood floors, appliance & cabinet installations... you name it.

[Croc]

I haven't really had the opportunity to do anything yet, but I've had no problem with the few things I have endeavored...I think it's important to do some things yourself because it just makes it YOUR house.

[capriceman]

As long is it doesn't Have a lot of wood I can take on anything.

[jlgolden]

I enjoy around-the-house projects: painting, decorating, and a little "handy work" like changing fixtures. I'm just not good at cutting precise measurments and stuff - like woodwork & trim. I especially like landscaping stuff...it requires vision and creativity, and alot of physical effort...but it requires no precision.

[zoomtm]

im pretty good with my right hand :)

[Chief]

I am pretty good with the electrical stuff in the house. I can change switches and do some pretty easy wiring jobs around the house. At the other house, I painted the entire interior and put up all the crown and base moldings (except in the kitchen we had installed). I dont wana mess up stuff in the new house so I just hire someone to do it now. Chief

[capriceman]

im pretty good with my right hand :)

[post="29558"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

:blink:

[NOS2006]

I can do a lot. Nothing off the top of my head at the moment, but I've learned a hell of a lot from my dad. He can do anything around here. And if he doesn't know anything about it, he'll read books on it.. Like he did when he didn't know about electrical stuff. He read a few books and asked my mom's cousin and now he knows how to do the basics and has taught me stuff.

[Chris_Doane]

im pretty good with my right hand :)

[post="29558"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Is that you Harry??

[RichW5]

I can do most everything except for any heavy lifting. That's what my step-sons are for.

Here's my basement bar, which I built from scratch, using three base cabinets in the backbar. The rest was built board by board.










I still have to complete some trim and minor electrical work. The next project is to complete my workshop, which is the door alongside the backbar.

[HarleyEarl]

I do amazing things with my hammer.

[MGZ06]

Funny to see this topic came up. . . Ive been spending the last month renovating my girlfriends parents bathroom. When im done it will have gone from a 6X10 Bathroom to a 9X16 bathroom with a stand-up shower and a corner tub. I am a certified home inspector/energy advisor so I pretty much know everything from the foundation to the roof.

[Brandon Lutz]

I'm a half assed welder. Well let me rephrase that I'm just not that good with welding. Im handy with a plasma cutter or a torch though. Im good at grinding and finshing metal and etc. Decent painter and I can do minor carpenter work.

[mute]

I can do most everything except for any heavy lifting. That's what my step-sons are for.

Here's my basement bar, which I built from scratch, using three base cabinets in the backbar. The rest was built board by board.




I still have to complete some trim and minor electrical work. The next project is to complete my workshop, which is the door alongside the backbar.

[post="29610"][/post]

whoa gorgeous man great work im envious well

ive built a few things nothin that you can shake a todger at and say hey thats classy but i do what i can drywall/sheetrock, framing, roofing, footers, ducting, plumbing... pretty much anything i know either my buddy(a journeyman carpenter) or my dad (just really effing smart) has taught me but i dont really do muc on my own most of the time im working with someone

[ichbinjohnk]

I can do most everything except for any heavy lifting. That's what my step-sons are for.

Here's my basement bar, which I built from scratch, using three base cabinets in the backbar. The rest was built board by board.




I still have to complete some trim and minor electrical work. The next project is to complete my workshop, which is the door alongside the backbar.

[post="29610"][/post]

That is exactly what I want...

[Cory Wolfe]

Um... I'm 16, haven't really been able to do much. I've thought about it, though, and am taking some classes in school. My dad can do alot... he has done alot to our house. He even raised its value several thousand dollars. I mean 10s of thousands of dollars. That's not saying much since our house was and still is an old 150 y/o fixer-upper. I'll have to take some pics of what he has done. Somethings didn't turn out (like our bathroom) since the walls, floors, and ceilings are uneven. Anyways, off the top of my head, he has: built our garage, new roof on the house, the front porch, new staircases, the bathroom, the PC desk, and much of our furniture. Again, I'll have to get some pics...

[Sixty8panther]

To be 100% honest I'm terrible about following through on many home-improvement projects... I've got 7 cars in my driveway right now, 3 of them need minor repairs/maintenance... on of them needs a complete restoration and one other one needs work I'm doing to it even though it's not mine... (free favor for a buddy) Of course I can od moct basic home upkeeop and thensome, but I'm renting this shithole. If I was my house I might actaulyl make more of an effort. I'm already adding enough equity to this dump just by renting it. The landlord is super cheap.

[RichW5]

What kind of counter top is that? Are those brown rectangles coasters or what?

[post="29825"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

The bar top is 3/4 in oak plywood with 3 coats of gloss polyurethane. I hope to put two more coats on this winter. The glass squares are coasters a neighbor gave me. I don't care for them, but the neighbors are really good friends, so they'll stay on the bar.

The bar edge is oak ($10 per linear foot), so I had one step-son help with cutting and mitering. The rest of the bar and back bar is oak or oak plywood.

While I worked in an office most of my life, I enjoy fixing things around the house and woodworking in particular. Life should be fun, not all work.

[staceface]

As a divorced mother of two with a house you learn FAST! i've always done lots of interior decorating, that's fun. I bought this house 7 years ago, and so far i've built almost everything i need. My last two major projects were building a loft bed (with a desk underneath) for my oldest daughter, and ripping out my downstairs bathroom floor (right down to the studs) relaying the mahogany underlay, and redoing the floor. It was amazing - you could see right down to the crawlspace under that section of the house (kinda creepy too!) I've had to cut a crawlspace trapdoor, (original was under wrong end of house), thaw frozen pipes, lay carpet, etc. It may take me a little longer than a guy, but I get there! The only thing that i won't even attempt is electrical. ("hello, daddy?") LOL Next project is installing my new dishwasher...

[ocnblu]

Damn, check out the hammer on stace! *whistle* :)

[Satty]

Hardwood floord are easy by now, I've done a lot with them. I helped my friend build his house, I learned a lot from that experience. I've done a little electrical work in my life, no plumbing work at all. I'm getting a great deal right now (free house, utilitiess paid) otherwise I'd be living in my preferred setting, a 2-bedroom apartment where I dont have to do anything.

[Satty]

Hardwood floord are easy by now, I've done a lot with them. I helped my friend build his house, I learned a lot from that experience. I've done a little electrical work in my life, no plumbing work at all. I'm getting a great deal right now (free house, utilitiess paid) otherwise I'd be living in my preferred setting, a 2-bedroom apartment where I dont have to do anything.

Ahh, the good old days. In the year and a half since I bought this place...come to think of it, I haven't done shit around here. I have a deaf kid who mows and I've avoided falling through the ceiling (did it once) so the only real work I've done is the big backyad playset for my son. That thing was a pain in the ass, took like 6 hours with one guy helping.

[Intrepidation]

Despite the age of the thread I guess it's appropriate for the time.

We're going to be moving very soon, and whatever house we buy will need some kind of work. I've done house work before, mainly painting, changing ceiling lamps, sockets, switches, and fauscets. Also done some wood staining/finishing. I've also repaired the side porch, done some carpeting, and a few other stuff. I like that sort of thing.

Never done tiling or hardwood floors, nor have I done plumbing, heating or electrical work.

Hardwood floors don't look too hard, but I've never done it, and I'm not sure about tile, which are 2 things we'll probably be doing at the new house, or at least tiling.

[Satty]

Ugg, I remember when we hired some Amish to do the kitchen floor, they did a great job but smelled really bad.

Only housework planned is a new air conditioner, but that probably wont come until the fall. The better half would like to do some expanding, add an extra room, but that seems like it would be a far bigger hassle than just buying a bigger house.

[Intrepidation]

Ugg, I remember when we hired some Amish to do the kitchen floor, they did a great job but smelled really bad.

Only housework planned is a new air conditioner, but that probably wont come until the fall. The better half would like to do some expanding, add an extra room, but that seems like it would be a far bigger hassle than just buying a bigger house.

Since you've done hardwoord floors, is it just cutting them to fit and they lock into place with the grooves? Or is there more. never done it, so any advice would be great.

[Drew Dowdell]

I own apartment buildings and you've already seen my handywork on cars with the ToadSmasher..... just about the only thing I know I can't do is solder copper pipe.... but that's what compression fittings are for... right?

[Satty]

Since you've done hardwoord floors, is it just cutting them to fit and they lock into place with the grooves? Or is there more. never done it, so any advice would be great.

All the stuff I've worked with was grooved. The real wood in the living room/hallway was glued straight to the concrete. The fake wood in the bedrooms has a layer of padding underneath. I'm not sure why, thats just how it was done.

The biggest pain in the ass was the real wood, because it was a larger area and smaller pieces. The slats are about 2.5-3 inches wide (I'd have to actually measure to be sure) and about a foot long. What made it a pain is that its installed diagonally. It looks good, but it was a massive pain to have to cut all the end pieces at an angle. The fake wood uses larger pieces (7-8 inches wide, 4 feet long) and runs parallel to the longest wall. It was easy, took an afternoon.

[balthazar]

All the tongue & groove hardwood I've installed has always been of various lengths up to about 6- or even 8-foot long. Never seen hardwood in only 1-foot lengths. The laminate hardwood ('fake') uses the padding underneath because it is ususally installed as a 'floating' floor system: glue at the tongue but not underneath. The foam padding keeps the up-n-down movement from walking from making noise. Real hardwood is nailed into the subfloor.

You need a hardwood nailer (manual is fine if you like to feel you've been working at the end of the day) for the real stuff, plus a spare piece to hammer them tight first. Sometimes the grooves are a bit tight. You need to let the wood aclimate to the house for... I think it's a minimum of 3 days- the instructions will say. Mix & match from different bundles to disperse various grains throughout the floor.
Lots of the laminate flooring is pretty nice stuff, but the defacto Pergo brand is more of a decal: that 'wood' is only as thick as a few sheets of paper. Some brands have a real neatly engineered interlocking system that makes it impossible for them to separate, plus they're already finished vs. sanding, staining, coating raw hardwood. Look around, Dodgy.

[Satty]

All the tongue & groove hardwood I've installed has always been of various lengths up to about 6- or even 8-foot long. Never seen hardwood in only 1-foot lengths.

Heh, guess I ought to look at my living room floor more often. The pieces out there are indeed longer, roughly 4 feet based on "stepping it off" (one piece in the middle is about 3.5 of my size 13 feet) while the pieces in the hallway (which I glanced at for reference, and which itself is only about 3.5 feet wide and L-shaped) are significantly shorter, 12-18 inches. I dont remember if we cut them down or if they came in various lengths (I assume we cut them) but I do remember the hall being a huge pain in the ass. This was like 6 years ago, and thats the one thing that stuck with me. I believe that did take most of a week, but there was a lot of cutting involved, and I had to randomly skip out for work and school and whatnot.

I really like the laminate in the bedrooms, its a lovely Teak veneer, plus it went a lot faster, due to the smaller area, easier layout, and the fact that it was plug-and-play, so to speak.

[Intrepidation]

Thanks guys, that's helpful info!

Here's some photos of the house:





We may just refinish the hardwood floors, but we have to tile the kitchen, because the previous owner thought it would be a good idea to carpet it.

Edited July 12, 2008 by Dodgefan

[balthazar]

If the flooring gaps are reasonably tight- I'd just get them sanded & refinished. Lot less expensive than R&Ring.
That steam or hot water heat? I love steam heat. What's the vintage on the house?

[daves87rs]

Pretty nice looking house there!

I've got the chance to do a little of everything...and it is not easy...lucky for me I have family that can help.


I'm going to have to learn a bit more because the home I buy next year-My guess is that it will be a fixer upper....

[capriceman]

but that's what compression fittings are for... right?

[2005 EquinoxLS]

I can do wiring work(adding outlets) minor projects and car mechanic work if the need comes. I will let you all in on a secret. Just because a house is new doesnt mean that there is no work to be done. I find things to do all the time. One thing I have been really working on is using flourescent lights and fixtures where it makes sense to do so. 4 foot shop lights quickly replaced the regular bulbs in the basement.

[daves87rs]

I can do wiring work(adding outlets) minor projects and car mechanic work if the need comes. I will let you all in on a secret. Just because a house is new doesnt mean that there is no work to be done. I find things to do all the time. One thing I have been really working on is using flourescent lights and fixtures where it makes sense to do so. 4 foot shop lights quickly replaced the regular bulbs in the basement.

I'm afraid I'd kill myself wiring....

[balthazar]

Nah- I used to regularly rewire hot boxes (it only takes 1 good scary ZAP to make you take the time to throw the breaker, tho, and I can't say it isn't smart to do so)... and I'm still around with no blackened toes.