"Redesigning my home instead of a website," in the Other Home Decorating & Remodeling Projects forum, begins: "barrycarlton said
worse than that I have left out the oil pump drive shaft on 2 rebuilds.
I can't believe ..."
But the refer surround got framed out today. A little overkill on the studs, but I want to make sure I have a place to hang shelves or pictures without resorting to hollow wall anchors.
I used 2x3s instead of 2x4s. Saves a little space and works just as well for what I need it for. The bottom plate is treated lumber and I glued and nailed it into the concrete. There's too much flex though, so I will be cutting a piece of half-inch plywood that will wrap around the top. It will act as a shelf on the backside, trim all around and a cubby hole for stuff I usually throw on top of the frigerator. I may also use some angle iron or shelf brackets turned sideways to strengthen the corner and reduce the flex.
It's level and plumb and I'm happy. I had to cruise around town on my Segway looking for someone that might have an extra row or two of 16 penny nails for a nailing gun I borrowed. It takes too much energy to pound them by hand. A box of them things is outrageously expensive and I only needed a couple dozen more nails. It was a great opportunity to visit some of my neighbors and make a few new friends. It was a fun couple of hours and I got 2 rows of nails from a plumber.
But the refer surround got framed out today. A little overkill on the studs, but I want to make sure I have a place to hang shelves or pictures without resorting to hollow wall anchors.
I used 2x3s instead of 2x4s. Saves a little space and works just as well for what I need it for. The bottom plate is treated lumber and I glued and nailed it into the concrete. There's too much flex though, so I will be cutting a piece of half-inch plywood that will wrap around the top. It will act as a shelf on the backside, trim all around and a cubby hole for stuff I usually throw on top of the frigerator. I may also use some angle iron or shelf brackets turned sideways to strengthen the corner and reduce the flex.
It's level and plumb and I'm happy. I had to cruise around town on my Segway looking for someone that might have an extra row or two of 16 penny nails for a nailing gun I borrowed. It takes too much energy to pound them by hand. A box of them things is outrageously expensive and I only needed a couple dozen more nails. It was a great opportunity to visit some of my neighbors and make a few new friends. It was a fun couple of hours and I got 2 rows of nails from a plumber.
Today was good.
Jim
I wanna see a picture of ya with all those the 2X3's loaded on the Skegway driving down the street. .....sompthin' Youtubeable.
Lookin good there Jim. Like Nick said, it will stiffen up with the plywood.
Any way something like this would work? There's more than one version out there, just wondering if they make something that will adapt to activate the existing switch.
In a very short search, all I've seen are receivers that plug into a wall socket.
You need some kind of electronic radio controlled switch to fit inside where the original switch is now. Maybe more googling will turn up something.
I wanna see a picture of ya with all those the 2X3's loaded on the Skegway driving down the street. .....sompthin' Youtubeable.
Lookin good there Jim. Like Nick said, it will stiffen up with the plywood.
What I actually do is glide my Segway into Home Depot (or Lowe's), pushing a cart to a central location. Then I grab as much as I can and still be able to use one hand on the turn grip and carry stuff to the cart. I make as many trips as I have to.
The load of 2x3s, along with a few other things, was kind of difficult to get through the bumpy parking lot - I was using a regular shopping cart. The boards kept wanting to slide off the cart and I had to keep stopping to readjust the load. Two very attractive women saw me struggling and asked if I needed help. They took the cart and wheeled it to my car and helped me load it in. Man, I wish I coulda took them home with me. I wouldn't be posting this right now.
The sheetrock stiffened up the flex a little, but the plywood made it solid as it should be. A single layer of half inch plywood wasn't looking good though, so I added a second layer. I would have preferred a single layer of 3/4" or thicker, but the half inch was free.
I didn't do a whole lot today, just the first coat of mud. I even put mud on the plywood to make it smoother and seal the end grain - this plywood has been outside, under an eve, for nearly 2 years. I sanded it, but it still had some weather damage, although it never got rained or snowed on.
Lo Down said
Any way something like this would work? There's more than one version out there, just wondering if they make something that will adapt to activate the existing switch.
Those would be real nice, but way more expensive than I can handle. I think the switch will be fine the way it is. If I had an angle drill, I would prob'ly re-wire the switch and move it to the side of the refer surround. There's no sheetrock on the inside of the surround so I can give the old 'frigerator room to breathe (s'posed to allow a min. 2" space in the back) and still make the surround as small as possible, so re-wiring the switch would be easy with the use of conduit to protect the exposed cable. Not sure I will do that though unless I can borrow an angle drill from someone. No one I've called has one though.
I may make a trip to Reno tomorrow (today, I guess) to get materials for the faux beams.
I guess they do look kinda pink in the picture, but no, they are definitely beige. They won't stay that color though. That will be next year's project. And there ain't no door - I took it off so I could put a highboy chest there and not block the entry entirely.
Unfortunately, Rusty, I have had no lady friends visit me in this house since I moved here. Well, let me amend that... I had a couple old girlfriends visit here, one was a sweet lady I used to be engaged to. I'm lucky that I manage to remain friends with girlfriends after the breakup. But I haven't dated anyone since I got sick. Maybe it's the fact that my Segway only has room for one.
I figured I'd update this topic some. Been working as much as I can on the remodeling of my apartment and enjoying every minute. It just takes so damn long to do everything and I am so impatient. But the satisfaction of being able to work with my hands and exercise my design skills has been so great.
Just today I did some more work on the entryway. I now have an extra 12 square feet of space in my apartment and way more light coming in with the new door. It's a huge improvement.
The door had been damaged - the landlord said he dropped it, which is why he never used it. I didn't see much of the damage before I installed it, but the frame was broken, the door cladding (metal) was tweaked and the window had a small crack in it. The door knob was bent, but I didn't realize it was also broken inside.
So, my landlord gave me money for a new glass and door knob. I added a few extra bucks to get a different style window and a few more dollars to get a nicer looking door knob. I put the new glass in, but want to clad the door in a nice panel more fitting to the style I am going for before I do the new door lockset.
The trim is all done except for the baseboard, which will go down after the flooring. I installed a door chime because my lungs ain't the only thing that went bad the last few years. For some reason, people don't know how to knock like they mean it.
I looked all over for a nice light fixture for the entry. I wired it so the outside and now the inside light comes on when you flip the switch. I finally found a 4' pendant light with a nice grass cloth fabric shade. It was less than half price because it was damaged, but the only thing I found damaged was the canopy, which was slightly bent and made the light hang crooked. A couple smacks on the inside with my hammer took care of it in less than 30 seconds. The up-rod was in 4 sections, so I cut one of the sections down to 5", cut new threads and made a very nice entry light. The bulb is one of those fat decorator soft white bulbs at 25 watts, but I think it's still too bright and may try a 15 watt bulb later.
I painted all the walls except one in the room and finished painting the ceiling over the weekend, so it's looking pretty complete in the entry area. I like the look and hope you do too.
One of the biggest deals in this remodel project is moving the refrigerator. Everything kitchen was all along the back wall of the apartment. The stove was on the right side, originally had a hood vent and I took that out and mounted my microwave when I first moved in. Problem with that is the microwave only opens on the right side and the door only opens 90° to the unit. My desk chair always had to be moved so I could get to the opening and the door had to be closed and re-opened several times every time I did a meal. Bad place.
The refer was on the far left and the sink in the middle. My plan was to move the refer to the other side of my bedroom door, which is right off the kitchen area. That would let me move the stove and microwave to near where the refer used to be. It would also give me enough room to put in a dishwasher, which I really need because it's hard on the lungs to do dishes manually.
I've already posted some pictures of the refer surround progress, so let me jump to where it's at today. My boo-boo in trying to move the original kitchen light switch resulted in me moving it to the outside of the refer surround. Much easier and looks natural. I have a nice shelf on top where I can put some basket or other accessories for the living space. I also have enough space under the shelf to put my cake dish (that thing is actually nearly 50 years old) and other stuff. I fixed the wheels so it rolls easy now and it's level (actually, very slightly tilted back so the door will always close if I forget to do it).
I like that it doesn't really close up the room. It's less than 6' tall and even in a sitting position anywhere in the room, one can see the expanse of the room. It's a small room (less than 12x19'), so I wanted to be careful about making it look smaller. I think it works.
As you can see from the pictures, the faux beams for the ceiling are getting close. I have mounted the cleats they get attached to and hope to have a couple of them up by the end of the week.
Wow Jim, tha's looking great. The wall color is just what I wanted.
Trim makes a room and that's a nice design. I like the way the header was trimmed out too. Had you continued the wall trim down both sides of the entry area, it would visually shrink the size of the room. Light switch was done right too. It's where it belongs. Coming along nicely.
So that's why you been so quiet.
Is that a textured treatment you have done on the outside of the fridge-surround, or are my glasses just dirty? Like the colour, too. Looking forward to seeing more pics as you progress ...
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..... ..if so, could ya kindly keep that door closed fer us.............
For some reason, people don't know how to knock like they mean it.
