| Blog series by dbhost | updated 885 days ago | 27 parts | 17500 reads | 125 comments total |
Part 1: Making room and clearing junk out of the way...
You know the problem with Texas homes is the lack of basements all you Yankees brag about… Actually lack of storage in this suburban ranch style layout is pretty typical of the size and age of home around here… The most common fix for this problem is a shed, or garage storage, but what do you do when you don’t have a shed (or enough funds to build the shed you want) and your garage is also your workshop? Simple, look up. No I mean beyond the ceiling, to the attic…...
Part 2: But rather above the workshop... Insulating a day late and a dollar short.
This current cold snap has done something I haven’t been able to do in the last couple of years, convince LOML that I need to add more insulation to the house, AND insulate / seal the garage… I guess morning commutes in the Houston metro area at 26 deg F got her attention… So last night, the first 3 rolls of R 30 got packed into the rafters above the shop. I have 6 to go in order to fully pack the garage / workshop ceiling with insulation. Unfortunately my local Home D...
Part 3: Insulation almost done, door seals installed. WOW what a difference...
I am now fully insulated in the ceiling with the exception of the last 2 feet before the common wall, and the niche, which has some insulation, just lousy insulation is all… When I had sunlight out today, I installed the garage door side and top seals on both doors, and while there is still one spot in the doors where sunlight bleeds through (gap between panels) I have now eliminated the breeze coming in through the closed doors. This is something to celebrate! So now the results&...
Part 4: Attic insulation complete, outlets installed, curcuit just needs final connection.
I spent a few quality hours in my attic today finishing up some shop related, but not quite workshop projects… #1. The 1/4” plywood decking by the attic door has been stripped out and replaced with 5/8” OSB. #2. The last two rolls of R30 have been rolled into place, and it was just barely enough to insulate the attic over the shop. I used a grand total of 9 rolls of pink fiberglass insulation in there. #3. As you may recall, I am setting up my shop lights in 2 colum...
Part 5: Almost done with the electrical upgrades for the lights...
I got home from work today and put the finishing touches on, and double checked my connections for the newly added outlets, and fixture in the shop light circuit. I have moved one of the overhead lights into position, and will be real happy to get the rest done. I discovered while up on the ladder today that I have a mismatched shop light fixture. This is also the light that doesn’t want to start up real well, and buzzes when it is really hot, or really cold. Between this, and the on...
Part 6: Hi ho, Hi ho, it's up to the attic I go!
So while discussing bills and such over dinner last night, LOML is leafing through the Home Depot sales circular, and finds R30 unfaced fiberglass roll insulation for cheap… More discussion, and I get informed that we WILL be buying the insulation and we are going NOW… (She saw the February electric bill, I HATE having electric heat!)... So I get over to the BORG, grab a flat cart, and wheel back to where the insulation is… I start loading the cart with the 6 roll cases o...
Part 7: Painfully busy weekend, very little (read NO) shop time...
It hurts to type right now. Why, oh why didn’t I just hire a contractor? Oh yeah, I wanted the job done right. Gotcha… So anyway, I don’t even recall, did I regale you with tales of insulation following me home from Home Depot? Well that is as good of a place as any to start. So here goes… After yet another punishing electric bill, we decided that we were going to go to HD and pick up some Owens Corning R30 unfaced rolls. I figured at the price I had seen before,...
Part 8: More quality time with fiberglass insulation...
Now I know you are wondering how all of this time I am spending in the attic relates to woodworking. There is a tie in here, trust me… Even though the daytime highs have been in the mid to upper 70s lately, the overnight lows are, well downright cold into the mid 40s. Once the sun starts going down the attic isn’t a horrible place to work, aside from all the fiberglass dust that is… I took up a span of OSB to spread between the rafters to give me a more acceptable plat...
Part 9: Took the day off of woodworking, to replace stuff that takes up shop space...
It will be 4 weeks ago Sunday that I managed to find a root / stump under a clump of tall grass that I didn’t know was there until the blade of my 2001 vintage Craftsman 6HP high wheel 3 in 1 push mower ran into it at full speed and managed to give the mower a MEAN vibration… Now not having the hook up on small engine repairs, I hauled my mower, and my younger brother in laws mower over to my older brother in laws shop. Unfortunately since this is work for the family, it took pret...
Part 10: Burn, baby burn... Disco inferno! What a weird labor day weekend!
So my labor day weekend was fun filled, with all kinds of barbecue. All told I used up 6.5 16lb bags of charcoal, and a mess of pecan smoking wood… No not all of it for cooking. If you might recall I had intended on burning out a rather large (36” ish stump) from my fence line that was from an ike downed tree, and a couple of much smaller stumps (3” and 4” respectively, again right along the fence line). Well the 36” is now history, down at least 6” belo...
Part 11: Another step closer to freeing up shop space...
Last night, I took the rings off of where the stumps were, and 3 of the 5 stumps to be removed were nothing but holes in the ground filled with ash. 1 was a half burnt 4” tall stump, the other untouched (ran out of charcoal). I will grab a couple more bags of charcoal, and finish the task over the next couple of days… This weekend is not promising for any shop or even fence time as LOML are signed up for a 5K fund raiser with our Weight Watchers group (yeah I am a middle aged b...
Part 12: More disco inferno...
Storms, just when you don’t want them summer storms. At least I am not in a burn ban right? So today is now, according to NOAA, supposed to be the last stormy day until next week, meaning, I should have a full 48 hours or so before I get off of work Friday of nice, dry weather. This means that the few remaining stumps that need to burn are going to be barbecued this weekend… The charcoal is standing by, at the ready, the fire rings are waiting to go. I just need to get my dr...
Part 13: From Disco Inferno, to the Victory Dance!
For starters, I want to thank GregD (or was it CraigD?), I will have to double check the responses to my prior blog entry, for the guy that suggested hydraulic removal of the fence post… The weather played well enough cooperation wise that last night I was able to finish burning out the stumps, but I want to go further below grade, and I still have charcoal… so if the weather holds then tonight it goes… The lone fence post that refused to die is now horizontal. The Met...
Part 14: Shop projects more or less on hole. (expletive deleted) Masonite siding!
So I am busting my rump trying to get the fence line level, and ready for installing the fence as you may or may not know, when I happened to glace between the side of the house, and the fence and saw something funny… What on earth could it be? Upon closer inspection, it came to light that, well my attic was apparently well illuminated due to the absolute failure of the existing Masonite siding. Or to sum that up. The cheap siding on the gables fell off… Now if the truck was...
Part 15: New puppy, fences, and making space in the shop...
Funny thing is, I wasn’t really looking for a puppy. I was thinking if I get another dog, I want to adopt an adult dog. None of this putting up with the chewing on everything stage etc… But the puppy more or less found us… Sooo… Fence line is levelled, and post holes are marked. Deck still needs to be cleaned, and materials transferred to back yard (this week). And then… Saturday is coming… This upcoming Saturday, I am borrowing a friend and his auger...
Part 16: Can you dig it?
Because I sure can’t… But I guess you need some background information to know just WHAT I am babbling about right? Saturday was the big day to get the post hole auger out of my friends shop, and tackle the fence posts. Well… there were 8 measly holes to drill, that’s all, just 8. Only one of them was fairly easy… We started off breaking the shear pin within 6” on the first hole, only to discover I had no 5/16” carriage bolts to use as shear pin...
Part 17: Being slowed down by hurricanes, leaky radiators, and old Television sets...
Well, my fence building has been slowed down, yet again. First by a a leaky radiator. It would seem that my wife noticed the other day while driving home from a job interview that the car “smelled funny”... Upon investigating, and borrowing a cooling system pressure tester, I noted a geyser under the hood, eminating from the seam between the plastic radiator tank, and its aluminum core. So off to the parts store to grab the stuff to fix that, radiator, hoses, coolant, clamps etc&#...
Part 18: More project progress, less room in my shop! WRONG DIRECTION!
Well, okay some of my work this weekend was in the shop… But for the most part, I continued down the road of progress on my other projects. This weekend saw the following progress… #1. Air conditioning evaporator coils, pans, and drains cleaned. #2. 25 feet of deteriorated and leaky HVAC flex duct replaced. #3. HVAC plenum box taped / sealed. (This thing was blowing cold air into the attic like crazy).The above combined should have a substantial impact on my heating / cooling b...
Part 19: Lousy weather, a shop full of stuff, and holes in the yard...
Last week it was hurricane Alex that hit south of us and dumped a ton of rain on us all week, now it is closely followed by what is now being called “Tropical Depression #2” whatever that means… I know all it means for me is a ton more rain. I have the posts for the fence up, and set in cured concrete, except for the last two. The holes for those are bored, and I am praying that all this rain doesn’t back fill the holes. The ground has been FAR too wet to finish wit...
Part 20: The weather is holding out, and a big list for the weekend...
The rain has stopped, the sun came back out, and the former swimming pool that was my yard is now looking more like a yard again, so if this hot spell holds, I have a few items on my “Git R Done” list for this weekend… #1. Run by Lowes and grab 4 more sheets of R-Max R5 foil backed 3/4” foam board (to finish garage door insulation project). Some 2×12’s for a scaffolding deck, and a single piece of Hardi Soffit, no holes, Cedar Mill texture. #2. I have the...
Part 21: So what actually got done?
On Friday, I posted a list of projects I was planning on attacking this weekend… It was overly ambitious, and completely unattainable being married and having a wife with other ideas of how my time should be spent… So what actually got done? #1. Run by Lowes and grab 4 more sheets of R-Max R5 foil backed 3/4” foam board (to finish garage door insulation project). Some 2×12’s for a scaffolding deck, and a single piece of Hardi Soffit, no holes, Cedar Mill texture. Done, more ...
Part 22: Been gone a while, not much, but some done...
Okay so it is REALLY hard for a guy with a wok shop in League City Texas to work on his shop when he is in Dallas Texas and in various points in Oregon, you see, I have been out for the last 2 weeks… But all is good. I got back from Portland last night at about 10:00, got my full work day in, and even managed to get at least ONE thing done for my shop, well indirectly for my shop. After coming home from work, taking the wife out to dinner (nothing left in the fridge to cook) I gave t...
Part 23: More lumber moved out of the shop!
I have been back off of vacation a little over a week, and have gotten somewhat caught up on things. The 2 remaining posts were concreted and cured, and then they were measured, leveled and cut. The top rails were measured, cut and installed, now I am working on the bottom. 3 of 8 are in! Now for the problem. Where are the other 8 PT 2×4s? I am not certain, but I think I left out lumber for the center rails, which is a HUGE problem. My fence design is a 3 rail design to give lateral s...
Part 24: Fence Framing is done! Gave the nailer a good workout!
I set the miter saw and compressor up under my big oak tree in the back yard, and just started measuring, cutting, and nailing, and before I knew it, I went from having a fence with just the top rail installed, to having the framing completed. I also have the top and bottom pieces for the gate cut out and ready to go, next is the uprights, and then a two cross bars, those should be plenty easy though. Pre made gate hardware brackets sure will make this an easy task… I still need to get...
Part 25: Correcting auger mistakes...
So lining up the rails, building the gate and all for my fence, I discovered something REALLY annoying… The last post hole appears to be 6” inward on the property line instead of right on it (Now HOW did that chalk line move?)/ So anyway, I had to remove an already concreted in post. Yay fun right? Out comes the cats paw to gracefully remove the nails from the rails, and then the concrete removal tools came out. Yep, the 10 lb sledge hammer, and shovel. Now I am pretty sure ...
Part 26: Chillin out, and giving my back some time to rest.
Those that follow my Journey Into The Workshop blog series no doubt have heard me repeatedly lament about my back as of late. I have given my overworked back muscles way more than they bargained for, well since I returned from Oregon in very early August. Nearly on a nightly basis, and almost all day on each weekend day I have been building, cleaning, painting, or demolishing something around the house, and the workshop trying to finish getting both my home, and my workshop in order. Now f...
Part 27: If I use a Japanese hand saw to cut wood, must I bow to the wood first?
I am not sure if I ever mentioned how fond I have become of the Marples Japanese pull saws I got from Home Depot… These things are a breeze to use, and last night, while working in the attic, laying down some new bracing for decking, and then the decking I had an opportunity to use said Japanese pull saw to clear out some 1/2” ply bracing (no kidding) that was completely unsupported, and just dangling in to thin air that was over the joists… (I do not think the builders of m...
