DIY home improvement projects
- Thread starter Pope
- Start date
It really depends on the age of the deck/fence, if there’s anything on it already and what type of look you want. I will say prep is everything though. Most people that have issues with finish didn’t prep it correctly.
anyone on here familiar with Onyx showers? typical price range? ease of install?
finishing basement and not sure which route to go.. for the money may just do standard fiberglass?
finishing basement and not sure which route to go.. for the money may just do standard fiberglass?
The biggest thing is power washing the deck before you stain it and be sure its had plenty of time to dry afterward. Power washing gets rid of any stains and oil spots on the deck that will discolor the stain and be noticeable as heck when finished. It also gets rid of any plant material stuck between the boards.
When you put the stain down, be sure its not to in early in the morning, as the dew on the desk will not allow the stain to attach to the boards and it will bubble up. Be sure and sand any rough areas and tape around the edges where the deck meets the house. I like to put two coats on the decking part and one on all the spindles.
No experience with Onyx but IMO a basement shower isn’t going to wow anyone at resale. Go with a standard fiberglass insert. If you want to jazz it up, get a nice glass door.
All of this except if there’s an existing finish. That’s a whole different animal. Also, they make cleaners for decks and fences. I suggest using that when washing and make sure you don’t use too much pressure where it’s leaving lines and/or splintering the deck.
I don't know who this "someone" was......but usually cutting into a header for any reason is something that should never be done. If it is a 2x12....then you just made it a 2x10 for that opening. There is a reason the engineers had the builder put the 2x12 for the entry door especially with the dead load of a brick facade.
With any luck the 2x12 was complete overkill and you will never come home to a door that won't open or close. It doesn't take much movement within the jam opening to prevent doors or windows from operating properly.
I don't know if the original door was not in working order or not....but when you found out it was a special size (which I have many times on older homes I work on) I would have put it back on and ordered one to fit. Yes, it would have cost more than an off the rack door, but that will be considered cheap if that opening deviates just 1/4 of an inch. Good luck.
We bought a house that the previous owner started a renovation and then decided it was to much work. This bathroom has been a challenge. Did I also mention that my wife is a saint for allowingme to do this.
My wife has Electromagnetic Radiation Syndrome. Combine that with my livelihood being technology and you can begin to see the magnitude of obstacles in our lives. So, the solution was for me to build a detached office. But, me being the perfectionist with idealistic expectations, I just couldn't just go out and buy a shed and modify it from there. Why? Because in the scope of doing it right, they're a piece of crap to begin with. So, I engineered 'my' solution: starting with a custom wall with zero thermal bridging, built a custom truss to allow full access to the attic and maximize the use of box-store materials, put in dual directional joists to again eliminate thermal bridging and provide maximum attic strength, installed in-floor hydronic radiant heating, built 3 duplex windows (because at the height of Covid they weren't available so I designed my own joining mullion), built a separate electrical junction box (30 ft from the building ... just in case my wife wanted a getaway from the house), laid 6 Cat6 cables from the router (in a detached garage),using a hub, I installed 8 Cat6 wall ports, used BX electrical conduit for all outlets, have PVC tubing from wall outlets into the attic for separating the computer gear/noise from the interior, used PVC for all trim, Hardie board for all siding, double wrapped house wrap, installed a metal roof, engineered a unique soffit to minimize ceiling height yet allow the attic to breath properly, installed surface mount LED ceiling lights, installed a 54" wall mount OLED with surround sound ceiling speakers, installed a mini-split for cooling and engineered a covered deck area (great for weather transitioning). Geez, I never realized the depth I went to on this thing until writing this post. As I write this from my ultimate man-cave office with trees and pasture on all sides, I can't begin to express how grateful I am that I have this and that I was able to build this thing by myself.
If you're interested in doing something similar, I'd gladly provide deeper insight into the details to help you out. Just ping me.
If you're interested in doing something similar, I'd gladly provide deeper insight into the details to help you out. Just ping me.
Agree to all of this. I just finished power washing and re-staining my deck a few weeks ago. I stupidly have white spindles, so that part takes longer than the rest of the deck.
One thing I would add: If your boards are even slightly cupped at all, you'll want to brush it versus rolling it or spraying it. Since stain is so thin, it will pool in any slight depressions in the wood. The first time I stained my deck, I tried spraying mine and it was a disaster. The boards were older and not perfectly flat, and I ended up having to redo a lot of it due to the un-evenness.
I've since replaced the boards, but I still use a brush for best results. Some people get by with a roller, but I don't have the necessary finesse to keep it from flinging stain around.
Fences are straight forward and go pretty quickly. My only tip is to make sure to clear dirt and grass/plants at the bottom so you're not fighting it with every picket. Again, some people are good with a sprayer, but I prefer an old-fashioned brush.
That was actually pretty easy. I removed all the dry wall from that section of the wall since I had to cut some old studs and add some new ones, so relocating the light switch panel wasn't hard at all.
The biggest challenge was the fact that it is an exterior wall on the house, so it was load bearing. Because of that, I had to build a temporary frame to support the ceiling while I cut out the small door header and replaced it with a much wider header. And that temporary frame had to reach from the entryway floor to the ceiling above which was probably around 13+ feet.
No, I just ordered a new door from the Discount Door Center in Houston which came with the side windows and the window above.
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I have a vision for our front rockbed/planter area. It's east facing, so it stays cool during the summer evenings. I'd like to remove the rocks and plants and put in a front patio/fire pit. It's a dream project that will likely never move past the idea stage.
Landscaping is one thing that usually takes more work than money in most cases. Removing old landscaping and doing a paver patio really isn't that expensive, it's just a ton of work. Pavers can he had for less than 2 bucks a square foot. Outside of that it's just sand, gravel and muscle. A 12x12 patio can be done for like 300-350 bucks.
Avoid Behr for staining. They make excellent paints but IMO their stains aren't nearly as good. I personally like Thompson's but I know there are many who aren't fans of that either.
If your deck has any kind of age to it avoid transparent stain, I'd go with semi-transparent if you still want to see some of the wood graining.
Also, find a day/days when you know it's not going to be too windy. First time I did it there was a pretty stiff wind and stains are so thin and watery compared to paint a good wind will blow that sh*t everywhere.
