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Not yet. Took one of those home depot classes because I've never done this #### before and the guy highly recommended them. There is a limit to the size of tile you can use the mat with though. We were going to do small glass tile. Sure looks better and easier than mortar.
Thanks! If I ever get a chance to to take a breath I'll try to get some pictures up in the original thread. I'll stick some back yard pics here.https://forums.footballguys.com/forum/index.php?/topic/727256-products-you-believe-in-lets-hear-em/page-17#entry18092567
I would love to find a system like this with shallower shelves for a pantry. Anyone know of one?
That looks really nice...my issue is always with flexibility as I get more/new stuff. I always have issues making "pretty" storage functional, which is why I almost always resort to just lots and lots of shelves, and plastic bins. I LOVE plastic bins. My MIL thinks I'm nuts when I ask for bins for X-mas.
LOL we love those plastic bins too. They are all going up in the attic now. Stuff we do not need access to goes in the attic now. I need my garage functional with specific space for my golf bag, kids baseball equipment and training space. Tools, car wash stuff, bikes and general storage. I have a pressure cleaner and Honda Generator, a fert wagon etc. I just want everything off the floor so we plenty of space for things that need to be on the floor but on the side.
So what did you do in your attic? What kind of attic access do you have?
That sounds cool. If you want it to keep the wood finish, I'd do a few coats of Dewaxed Shellac then cover with a Spar Polyurethane.matttyl said:
That looks awesome. I can't find any estimate for the cost of the paneling though. Rough guess as to how much it cost you for the paneling for your walls? We have a completely unorganized 2 car garage that only my tiny Passat can park in at the moment.
Thanks for this! I have some spar poly already, didn't consider a dewaxed shellac before it, though. I'll see if I can get some.
You don't need to go to 220 - especially on something intended for outdoor use. 150 would probably be plenty, 180 if you want to go to an indoor level of sanding. Is it already stripped? If not, you might start with 80 grit if you plan on sanding off all the old finish. Citristrip is messy as hell but can make it a bit easier.matttyl said:
Zinsser makes a pretty good pre-mixed de-waxed shellac that you can find in the box hardware stores. Rockler also has a ton of different kinds, including flakes in different hues.
I would still recommend lightly sanding after each coat of shellac though. If you're sanding off the old wood, down to the new, as soon as you get that wet, you're going to get some grain raising up. You'll want to knock that off after each coat of shellac until you don't get it anymore, otherwise it'll feel like your face after a day of shaving.
It can. I had a couple places where it got into the grain a little bit and I had to use a wire brush to get it out. Although I scraped the top off as recommended, for the base and the chairs, I use a pressure washer to get it out of all the nooks and crannies.
Did the math on this and, in Seattle, it just doesn't make sense from an ROI perspective unless you're sure you'll be in the house for at least 15 years or so.
We paid $30K+ just to have our master bath renovated - not even an addition.
I must be lucky. Our biggest expense will be a big, jetted tub at about $3500. I am redoing our entire floor, all the shower/tub surround, replacing a framed shower insert with seamless glass, repainting the cabinets and it's not going to be $10K. I am having the tub professionally installed along with the glass for the shower. I can't imagine the labor on the rest would be $20K though. Brand new twin vanities with marble tops were going to cost us about $3K, but we decided to refinish and just replace the tops. Our bathroom is huge.....way bigger than it needs to be really.
This is why I'm getting my MHIC license and starting a GC. There is simply too much money in it (in our area) and over the past 4 years Ive learned how to supervise jobs.
I've got a good, 6-figure job, and there have been many times I've considered doing this as well. I enjoy hands-on stuff a lot more than working with numbers, and I see the kind of money GC's can make if they just have some sales skills and the ability to manage time, budget, and their workers. If I had time, I'd have done this job myself...at least a decent bit of it, but I just don't have time between work, a 1-year old, and actually trying to enjoy life.
How small is your dog that it can't do stairs? (asking b/c I have a 4.5 lb Chihuahua who flies up stairs like it's nothing...)
I agree with everything you've said. 80% of the job is communication and scheduling. When the phone rings, you pick it up. Every time. You update people when there is no update.
the guys I've been working with are making absolute bank, but I know from my days doing "lower" end work (not $1k+/sf) that a ton of these guys go out of business fast. can't tell the number of times I've worked with or bid somebody on one project who is *poof* gone by the time I call them to bid the next one. from my experience on the other side of it, I think the problem is often that the GC is at the mercy of their subs- who are operating on a shoestring. The GC is also responsible for a lot of money going out- when the subs or orders get ####ed up- they immediately take a big hit. Also, a lot of these guys are great builders, but not so great project manager/coordinators- the best GCs have to be both. my 2c.
Agree, especially the bolded...nearly every GC I know of that has had issues works job-to-job. I've never understood how you can make so much money, yet have so little money. I feel like you have to have a sizable enough float of cash to get you through jobs. If you're relying on one job to pay for the next job, or even relying on a customer's bill to pay for their OWN job, you're going to have a lot of debts, a lot of outstanding bills with suppliers, etc. Even the best guy will end up with a customer who's slow to pay. I remember asking my GC for our bathroom what could speed him along. The job was taking forever...we were going on 3 months, and the wife had just had our son 7 weeks early. He said, "I need the next payment installment so I can go get your tub, glass, and counters. They won't give them up till I pay." I was shocked that he literally needed money to go get stuff to speed things along. Now it might have been a bit of a ruse, but whatever. We had a good relationship, and I know he was good for the work, and he knew I was good for the $$, but it was shocking to me that he didn't have money to make that kind of thing happen. When you have that many in-flows and out-flows, you can't have a bank account that dips so low that you can't make good without more cash.
Amen...Especially the "update people even when there is no update." This is so key. I feel infinitely more confident in anyone if they call just to say, "I haven't talked to you for a while. Nothing really to update, but I just wanted to check in." Compared to the "Hey...haven't heard from you in a week...nobody was here yesterday working. What's going on? Call me back...again"
preach. or not replying to a question because there's no answer yet... guess what, that's an answer that works for me. silence doesn't.
Dealing with a non-communicator right now on a non house related project. Makes me kind of nuts, and worse, he's my daughter's best friend's dad. When he works, he's gold. I get better communication by having my daughter text his daughter. Oy.
Matty, you have good advice here for re-purposing it as a backyard bar, but it might be an awesome find for it's intended use. There's a reason the Boos block you linked to is nearly a grand. Jmo, but I'd hate to see one treated like anything but a proper chopping block especially if it has an end grain pattern.
And his daughter calls my daughter to tell me he'll be here in a few minutes. Lame.
Thanks. I read something similar but couldn't figure out why it would start failing to line up correctly out of nowhere.
Wood expands and contracts. If it was "just right" during the winter, expanding could expand just enough to misalign during the spring/summer. We have a door that does that. It doesn't latch during the summer/spring. I just haven't adjusted it.
