Homeowning DIY

[wildernesse]

So we're emerging from the fog that is children under 3 and have the tiniest increment of additional energy to begin tackling DIY tasks around the house. Today we're ripping up carpet in the master bedroom after our elderly cats decided that they'd show us 3 weeks' vacation. It's disgusting.

I have a list of about 30 projects of various difficulty, some of which is DIY and some I just need to have done.

What are you working on around your house?

[slimshady2357]

Our list is only about 6 things and I thought that was ridiculous

Well 6 things that are currently ongoing I guess, maybe we could get to 30 if you asked Sou about what needs doing at some point. We are very slowwwwww DIY'ers though so that list will never ever end.

Most our jobs seem to be outside at the moment, like the rain harvesting system, building a new path in the garden where it gets too wet and the chicken enclosure.

[JoeP]

Originally Posted by wildernesse

What are you working on around your house?

[Stormlight]

I put the bins out on Tuesday mornings. Does that count?

[wildernesse]

We are constantly working on something even with the list hanging over our head. Our house was built in the 80's, so we have lots of energy-saving updates to work on and older house replacing things. Plus, we bought it from flippers who made it look nice, but took stupid or annoying shortcuts that we've lived here long enough now to discover and want to fix.

We work on one big project at a time and start a new one when we've paid the old one off and can get another no interest deal. We were going to do floors last year, but we got to do termites instead. Yay.

[ceptimus]

I'm in the process of getting all the windows and doors (except for one door on the house and the up-and-over garage doors) replaced.

I'm paying a firm to do most of the work I expect them to start the work in the next couple of weeks. All I have to do myself is:

• Remove wires for window and door alarms plus doorbells
• Take down blinds and curtain rails
• Move furniture and junk to allow workmen access to the windows
• Redecorate (paint inside window ledges, etc) once they're done
• Refit blinds and curtain rails
• Modify / upgrade house alarm system to suit new windows and doors
• Rewire doorbells
• Paint any remaining old woodwork on house and garage exterior
• Paint up-and-over garage doors
• Most likely some other jobs that I've not thought about yet

[wildernesse]

Replacement windows are on our list, too. We have single paned windows on an east-west exposure here in the desert. We're anti-cats in the summer, avoiding the sunniest rooms.

[lisarea]

Sometimes, when a door handle, like, snaps in half, I get a new one and replace the broken one with that.

[Corona688]

Not quite home nor not quite DIY, but half the doorknobs at work decided to wear out at once and got replaced like squeaky wheels. Boss and I worked on it together. We use these smartkey ones (not actual smartkeys, just user-settable keying) so we didn't need new keys, but got new keys anyway as our old ones were kind of lackluster.

[godfry n. glad]

So...me and DIY is a dangerous and potentially expensive proposition.

Ergo, I tend to hire professional help. Since psychiatrists are so expensive, I found myself a handyman and professional remodeler to work on my 1922 faux Arts & Crafts kithouse bungalow. Ages ago. My wife found him, actually. He remodeled the downstairs bath thirty years ago. Then, we hired him to cut a hole in the roof and add a dormer to the attic with a second full bath with walk-in tile shower. I was surprised to find that he was willing to do my piddling 'honeydo' projects....but he's 'retiring' (getting out of the major remodels as a general contractor). I'm so happy.

Any way, I took in a lodger in the main floor bedroom and, as a result, needed to upgrade the main bath unit to include a shower, which meant a curtain and holder for the existing sprayer on a hose...period plumbing on a clawfoot tub. This was my chance to finally ditch the crappy old bathroom sink my wife had protected....that sucker was so porous it was hard to keep clean. New, larger pedestal sink went in. We're all pleased with the new sink.

Since that meant a plumber, we had him change out the hardware on the kitchen sink to add in a garbage disposal, under sink cold water filter, and a new spout which extends and changes to a sprayer (rather than a spout and a separate hand sprayer on a hose). A new hand cleanser dispenser went in to the old sprayer hole.

It's all done but being billed. I'm waiting for my lodger to provide feedback as to whether we need to alter the wall bracket to change the angle of the shower stream.

My biggest coup was finding an outer shower 'curtain' which matched the lace curtain which has hung in the window in that bathroom for twenty years. It's a lace dual lighthouse theme, with clouds and birds. I thought the one I found online was the same pattern printed on plastic film, but no, it's the same pattern done in nylon faux lace...it wouldn't stop water at all its so porous; it's lace. But, hey, it pulls the room together. I already had several packets of clear liner curtains which solved the problem.



Phallic enough?

Next up....New smoke alarms throughout the house.

Then, alter the back balcony railing to create cat portal.

Then, reconfigure the basement....a project with numerous possible trajectories.

[Janet]

Originally Posted by lisarea

Sometimes, when a door handle, like, snaps in half, I get a new one and replace the broken one with that.

I had a crystal door knob break off in my hand a while back. It was to a small closet, so I figured I'd just turn it around and put the broken one inside. There's been a little snag in that. The screws holding it in were of some incredibly soft metal that just came off in slices when I tried to unscrew them. I had my DIY expert brother over and asked him to get them off and he couldn't make it work. So he tried to drill them out and just came away with long strips of metal, but not enough to get the knob off. So he gave up and I'm just trying to remember not to close that door. I figure if I sell the house I'll make sure I find someone who can fix it. Until then

[Dingfod]

Lately, my homeowning DIY involves chemical warfare against invading rodents.

[S.Vashti]

I'm screening in our year-old deck. And boarding/weatherproofing underneath to keep the stuff under it dry.

I would like to:
fence in the side yard to keep the dog out.
put in a doggy litterbox in the back yard.
attractively fence in the garden to keep the dog and rabbits out.
lay brick in the sideyard where we keep the garbage cans
build a nice workbench area in the garage
make my sister the desk she was promised
paint the kitchen cabinets
tile the kitchen backsplash
rip up all the upstairs carpet and install hardwood.
rip out the bathtub and tile an---redo the bathroom
hide the crack in the wall with some sort of decoration

[JoeP]

And what about next weekend?

[S.Vashti]

Hopefully, will be over my cold by then.