Forestry mulching is on the calendar for the first of December. As is gravel. Going to do an industrial underlayment and then 8" of gravel. I need to steal the neighbors Bobcat for a weekend, but I should be able to knock out the grading myself pretty easily.
Closed up the pool for the year last weekend. Aside from the headache that brings, I know that my pump is on its last legs so it will be replaced with a variable speed in the spring when we build a pool house, but this may be the last time I close it for winter. My cover is inherited from the prior owners and is about 5 years old, and is a little worse for wear. Im contemplating just running the pump 24/7 on the lowest setting. By my math, it should cost me roughly $4-5 a month, and eliminates a LOT of headache of closing. Moving water doesnt freeze and my pool is salt which helps lower the potential of freezing anyway. Im going to try and monitor the temp over the winter, but I cant imagine it gets much below 50*, maybe 45.

I have a major project coming up that involves doors, walls and demolition.

So, I will admit, I was on the fence buying the house. Having never owned a pool, I had no idea what to expect. The owners left be holding a bag full of shit, pardon my french, because they used chlorine tabs constantly, so when I opened it the following spring (2016) I was met with the worst swamp imaginable. I learned a lot of hard lessons that year, especially about chemistry, algae and ammonia. I did two years of the BBB method (bleach, borax, baking soda) and then in 2018 switched it to salt.

Two things that have really cut down on my "maintenance": 1. switching to salt and 2. the robot.

With salt, as long as the chlorine generator is on, it produces chlorine. Its like magic. Short of a once a week dose of acid, my water chemistry stays pretty well balanced. I usually have to add alkalinity (baking soda) after a good soaking rain.

The robot mitigated what was one of the worst parts of the pool for me and that was the vacuum. So, in the winter once the leaves fall, as long as you vacuum it about once a week, it should be fine. Which for me, means go throw the robot in the pool and let it do its thing.

Those two things took me from ready to fill it in with concrete to loving it over the past two years. Theres many a summer afternoon/evening spent with my daughter in the pool. All it takes is a 10-15 minute skim, and that part should be even better as well with the variable pump because it runs longer and skims longer.

The swamp is algae, which standing water will grow. Chlorine kills algae. Salt (2 NaCl) and water (2 H²O) are passed through the generator where a charge across titanium plates convers it to Cl₂ and 2 NaOH and H₂. Hydrogen gas burns off, the chlorine gas (which looks like fog in the generator) is absorbed into the water and the NaOH slightly raises the pH. Its one of the reasons for the constant addition of acid for saltwater pools. Ergo, chlorine from salt.

Now, I do usually have to add some salt every year, usually through function of summer storms. Evaporation will actually up the salt concentration but you lose a little every time it rains and you draw down, backwash and rinse the filter etc etc.

This weekend I did something I had been meaning to do for a while. I recaulked every exterior window joint. Every. Single. One. Im 99% certain based on the gaps I saw that the prior owners never did it.

The other thing I did is say to hell with motion lights outside. The two on the garage side of the house, really the only two left, were dead. One was on 100% of the time and the other wouldnt turn on if you drove a tank under it.

But, you say, how will you deal with turning lights on and off every time you go outside?

Well, thats the thing. I wont.

I also bought a few extra z-wave switches as part of this deal because if you think about contextual automation (a big industry buzzword right now), there is, more times than not, a trigger or pretext that you can use. Example: I come hope and open garage door. The lights IN the garage are already automated, but in that same code, I add the outside lights. Boom. Flood lights. Heading out the back or sliding doors? Flood lights at the back of the house come on. Same for front lights.

I get that, and thats why after the house is "put to bed", none of the routines run.
But outside of that, usable light is a commodity here. People at work dont understand what I mean by this because they live in a city, and there are streetlights/ambient light that bleeds at night, and well, you can walk outside and see things. Thats not the case for me. I walk outside and its pitch black. Its one of the reasons I have lights on everything.

Theres nothing worse than having to do anything in the pitch black and/or not enough light category.

Buuuuuut it is also one of the reasons I own night vision, so...

So, things have been quiet on the homestead. I had to postpone the forestry mulching due to some circumstances, BUT, those circumstances also mean I have a new job.

And that new job means I am working from home about 99% of the time...

So it was kind of worth it.

I still have a list of things Id like to accomplish, but first and foremost are going to be something Ive procrastinated on which was solved tonight. I did the absolute most adult thing you could do in your adult life.

I. Bought. Kitchen. Appliances.

I didnt go with gas for the stove (although I heavily considered it) for two reasons. One is the venting. Gas stoves/ovens put out A LOT of heat. Our kitchen in the summer is HOT. The other was simplicity. In the event of a power outage, I have a means to cook. Yes it would have bought me a little convenience, but the cost vs. convenience wasnt quite there in my opinion.

My next major expenditure will be a replacement pressure tank. Its time to put a bow on that once and for all which will hopefully buy me 10+ years of trouble free service.

Yes and yes.

In other news, today begins a project Ive had in mind for quite some time and finding myself unemployed (basically) until Jan 6th, will give me plenty of time to work on...

So it begins...



Who wants to take a guess whats about to happen?

Single inswing door.

I get that French doors and sliders are "pretty" but damn if they aren't GIANT security risks. So yeah, that is very much part of this project too.

Part of it also is the built ins. I need a place to store/hang stuff. Almost like a mud room. And this will accomplish that goal. Once the colder months set in, a hat, jacket and gloves are daily outside attire so this would be where I store and hang them.

So, just to preface this post, I texted a good friend of mine today and said "Next time I tell you Im going to undertake a major home project, just give me a good swift kick in the nuts. Itll cost less and be less painful."

That said, this is what I got down to on Sunday evening:

The initial plan was to take the right set of doors first because that would be easy enough to close up/secure if we got into a bind. So, we set about taking those doors out.


The observant will notice the shards of vinyl everywhere. That is twofold. First, as best I can figure the open walkway was closed in to become the sunroom sometime circa 2003 based on date/manufacturing codes in the doors themselves. 16 year old vinyl is not as compliant as new, ergo it tends to shatter and leave little shards everywhere, including your hands. Second, we actually had to take a grinder to cut the door jambs to get them out because of how they were installed.

Framed

Closed
Wrapped.

Now that we had accomplished that, we set about taking out the other set of doors.

This set was a little less compliant but came out. The observant will also notice that there is a rifle propped up beside the door. There is a story to that because last night with the storms that rolled through, all my materials were parked on the trailer and at 3:15 in the morning I found myself outside securing the tarps, but not after I casually strolled out the door (sans rifle, I might add) to find two sets of beady eyes staring back at me.

I broke my #1 "bump in the night" rule last night and that was if I am going outside, there is a rifle accompanying me. In the end, nothing came of it because both the 'yotes bolted as soon as they saw me, but it is not a mistake I will make again.


Framed out for door.

Now, I didnt take a pic, but I did do some security measures as part of this deal. One of which is extra studs and steel. If youre going to kick that door in, good luck. Youll be a while.


Finished product. It only took about an hour of screwing with the door to get it to close without binding and latch reliably, but hey, its done.

Some things I learned today: Houses are never "square" in any sense of the word. I cant tell you how many sheets of paper I used to adjust hinges and how many shims I used to get that thing in there. Nor can I elaborate on how many curse words were uttered. Second, vinyl shards WILL penetrate whatever gloves you have on and not care. I dont know how or why, but the work gloves I had on didnt stand a chance and I wound up picking vinyl splinters out of my hands a couple of times. Third, sliding doors are HEAVY. I mean north of 200lbs at least. It was all I could do with my dad to get those things out without killing either of us.

Tomorrow will be new vinyl siding.

Man, 2020 has not been kind so far.

Ill post some updates soon.

I've really enjoyed reading this thread. I had it pulled up in a separate tab, but forgot about it. Slow day at work (courts are closed right now) gave me time to read it. Thank you very much for writing this, I've really gotten a lot of ideas. Especially the plumbing.

I could have sworn your HVAC guy was my cousin, but he's about an hour south of you.

On your garbage can rack, would a set of fork pockets on the bottom be useful? I didn't see a follow up to that project, you had mentioned basically making it into a small trailer. Wasn't sure if adding some fork pockets would be an additional asset if you needed to move it with the tractor.

Great thread!

Thought about that, but I dont actually own forks. Keep meaning to buy some but I havent as of yet. The intent was to tow it with a car/truck/atv on trash day.

In other news, things have been moving along here. Will try to update this weekend.

So, to those who were kind enough to PM, thank you. Your words were greatly appreciated.

Just a personal update...

At the end of January, a friend of mine passed from cancer. She was a month older than me, and if you want something thatll remind you of your mortality, thatll do it.

Six weeks later, my grandma passed at the ripe old age of 97. If my Grandpa knew what was good for him he was standing at the Pearly Gates waiting to greet her.

Another six weeks later, and one of my closer friends from college passed from surgery related complications.

And Lord knows, everyone has heard about the pandemic. I know I am certainly tired of hearing about the pandemic...

But, that is not to say things stopped around my house. They most certainly slowed down with my daughter being out of school, work schedules changing with my wife, and having to prep my Grandmas house to hit the market. Oh, the stories I could tell about working on a house built in 1946....

So lets get on with some updates, shall we?

So, lets wrap up the sunroom project. I feel like this turned out really well and it has been SUPER useful in the past few months.

When we left off, the outside wall was done. Because the other wall in the room is paneled in tongue and groove pine, I decided to shiplap the wall with the built-ins using 1/8th plywood from Lowes and orienting it vertically. Yes I know its not "true" ship lap. Sue me.

Inside framed in.

And listen yall, I dont want to admit how many hours I spent mucking around with that door to get it to close ok? So lets just leave that struggle where it lies.


All the shiplap cut, and I actually paid lowes to do it with the tracksaw.

Shiplap going up

Shiplap done and cut in with paint.

Painted!
Trimming out with 1x3 boards.

So, lets pause here for a second... Over the past few months Ive acquired some tools. Lots of tools. My dad gave me his table saw, radial arm saw and bandsaw, all of which are Craftsman and older than I am. I bought a planer, jointer and compound miter saw. The latter was specifically purchased for this project. I saw the deal on Wood, and its been the best $200 Ive ever spent, because not only did I get the saw but I got the stand for the saw as well...



I cannot state how much easier everything is with the stand.

Post cutting, and assembled with pocket holes. Thats another thing I spent money on was a Kreg pocket hole jig. WORTH THE MONEY.

Next, I took on painting the other side of the room white to match

Once that was done, I brought the assembly inside and rough placed the pieces


Then I decided to mount it...

Protip: It usually helps if you FINISH assembling the parts before mounting (the observant will notice the backing for all the cubbies is missing)


So, with backs finally in place, we move on to patching, painting and finish work, and this is the final product:


Very VERY happy with how this turned out.

So, for quite a while now, I have wanted an end grain butcher block, but I never could bring myself to buy one being that a larger one is $500+.

I now understand why....

BUT, there is a guy local to me (45ish minutes away) who mills, drys and sells his own hardwoods. Its a hobby until he retires then itll just be a hobby, but once he knows you, he is more than happy to let you shop outside of business hours. Oh, the hours I have spent in that shop (as youll see later...)

So, on a whim I drove down and bought three chunks of hardwood. Black walnut, cherry and maple. And having somewhat of an idea of what I was doing and having watched a Youtube video or two, I bought a planer. Yes, it is the Harbor Freight version, but after watching the Youtube video of the teardown of this, plus the Porter Cable and one other, theyre all the same with different skins.


Its really good at turning wood into dust.

Laid out my pieces:


So, side note, but this was my first time really working with a table saw. And I learned a lot during this process. A lot about belt drives, pulleys and blades that Ill elaborate on later.


Heres my pieces glued up. My original plan was to do Walnut-Cherry-Maple-Cherry-Walnut. Well, measure twice cut once also applies to "dont be an idiot and glue pieces out of order".


Cut and turned on end for end grain. One of the pieces I learned during this process was about the burn marks in the wood and how to prevent them.


Final arrangement I went with because of my previous error.

Glue and lots of sanding later....


And finished product.

I did the final sanding and oiling the day after my Grandmas funeral. I will never forget, I called into my normal Monday meeting the day after her funeral, and at the end my boss informed me I was taking the day off. No questions asked, just take the day. I thought about a lot while I was running that orbital sander for sure.

And just because... life is not complete without an in action picture of course. I LOVE it because I can do all my prep work on one board, wash it, done. And it doesnt dull my nice kitchen knives which means less sharpening!

So, looking back in this thread, we had most of the house painted a while back. The guest room did not receive any TLC, and I guess as part of the coronavirus "everyone is going bonkers", my wife decided it was time. I will give her the credit for painting the bedframe and walls for sure.

So, speaking of tools, I am now a big fan of the Kreg stuff. Its not cheap, but its damn practical and easy to use.

I cut the shiplap for the upcoming project using this jig. As well as the bedrails.

So, bedframe, lets talk about that. My wife had a bedframe her aunt had given her that got used when we moved here and were in an apartment for a bit. The rails, because of how the box spring was supported, split. They went in the burn pile which is where I repeatedly threatened to put the rest of it, but I digress...

I went to the hardwood dealer and got two long pieces of ash to make bedrails:

Assembled and painted.

Next, because I was bored, crazy, or probably both, I decided to build nightstands.
Beginnings of the frames:


Tied together.


Both done.

And because I had paid yet another visit to the hardwood dealer....

The tops are finished in black walnut.

Now, the observant will note that theres a lot of sapwood in those pieces. Theres a story behind that. These are his "select" grade and not the prime grade that I really wanted. The reasoning for that is because a cabinet shop bought him out of ALL of his prime grade walnut as well as 5000 board feet of ash. So, I had to take what I could get in this case.



Glued up!


And oiled.

For this, I decided to go with a tung oil finish to really bring out the grain of the wood. I knew with the sapwood there would be some contrast and obviously they would not bookmatch quite as well as Id like, but hey, its character right?


Second top glued.


Final assemply


And complete!

Here are the tables with the bed in the final position, however we still need to do some cleaning/organization in that bedroom so ignore the bookcase.

Time for an update!

Because of the way my house is oriented, the pool deck is always an oven in the summer. Even with a breeze. Quite literally not a speck of shade to be found, and I mean, I like hanging out by the pool but not baking in the sun, ya know?

So for quite a while, I had been formulating an idea of how to solve this dilemma. I waffled back and forth on what to do, but happenstance at Home Depot one day made this click and work in my head.

I had long since wanted a pergola. I was absolutely not paying five figures for one of the customizable kits because what I didnt want was a 10x10 or 12x12 as youll see why in a minute. Along with the pergola, I have wanted an outdoor kitchen and patio furniture as well since the only thing out there for a few years has been pool loungers.

In Home Depot one day I happen across a rack of Simpson Strong Tie Outdoor Accents stuff, and thats really what made this project come together. In contemplating this, I had resigned myself to having to notch posts and notch each rafter and had figured out how to do it with my dads old radial arm saw and a dado bit. Alas, this saved me from that and untold hours of labor.



We started by installing the post bases and 6x6 treated posts trimmed to length.



With those plum and square, we added the first set of rafters.


Then the next set.

At the end of day 1, this is what we were left with:

Because of the pool deck slope, it took significantly longer to get the bases shimmed/square than I had anticipated.

Day 2 was getting rafters up and using the Simpson clips to secure them:






Day 3 was some paint and tight weave vinyl lattice on the top:


Still needs a little touch up after making the bracing, but the difference is amazing. I will admit, I spent a small fortune in Simpson hardware for this, but it was fast and easy and made this come together quickly. All told, I spent around what a decent 10x10 kit costs from a big box store on something thatll last far longer and is 12x24.

Next up is patio furniture and the outdoor kitchen!

Do you have any close up pictures of the hardware you used for it, including how you anchored it to the concrete?

I recently came across this YouTube channel called Premier Outdoor Living.  They do some pretty neat stuff including decks and pergolas.  Some of the techniques they use I have never seen before and the project looks odd until they finish and it looks great.  They must be in an area that doesn't freeze as some of the patio work they do would have have major frost heave after a year.

https://www.youtube.com/c/Premieroutdoorlivingllc/videos

This is a DIY guy did an outdoor kitchen that looks pretty good.  The technique could be used to build any type of custom outdoor kitchen.

Anchors are just redheads sunk into the pool deck. I can get some hardware pictures for sure though.

Had the day off today, and got sucked into this thread.

Thank you for taking the time to write out everything so a moron like myself can understand it .

My wife and I just moved to Idaho and we're currently trying to find land to build our next farm. I learned a lot from you, so thank you.

Once we find land I'll start a thread like this for our own build, but it won't be as well written as yours.

We sold our farm in Washington to escape all the craziness over there, and have been living in a condo sense November and I'm going crazy with nothing to do outside.

I'll keep checking in on your thread when time permits.

I hope the rest of this year gets better for you, and everyone else. 2020 has sucked.

Godspeed

To say I am thrilled with how this came out would be an understatment. Still waiting on the furniture to go with, that should be here any day now.

Now, since the weather is not a million degrees, I am taking to knocking out fall projects. I have been lazy and havent put the finishing touches on the generator house, so that is coming including re-doing the top cover. That and the trash cart are Saturday projects that will be easy.

But, there are some larger projects.

1. After pulling the well pump and having done its replacement last summer, I decided to go with a larger pressure tank. That has presented me with two options. Option A is under house placement like the current tank, Option B is building a pump house at the well head. After looking at Option A long and hard, I would need to remove the crawlspace door AND frame, and then dig what amounts to a 6" deep trench to get the thing in there. Then, on top of that, I would need to relocate it to the other end of the crawlspace where the sumps are due to its vertical height. That involves a LOT of black pipe and electrical wire and that really has me leaning towards option B. Our winters are fairly temperate here. My theory is a well built, sealed and insulated house would have very little chance of freezing. Even on the most frosty of nights, it would be easy enough to run a drop cord and heat tape. 2x8 walls, a good Tyvek wrap and tape, cellulose insulation behind blue foam board, and I think itll be good to go. Ive been sitting on this one for a year and it needs to get done.

2. Chicken coop and pen. My plan is to place it in front of the barn and have a large run. My questions on doing this primarily are 1) how many birds do we need, 2) does anyone have a source for good coop plans that I have not happened across yet, and 3) in terms of the run, how do you fence and cover it to keep them happy and/or keep predators out? The spot in question gets a healthy amount of sun all day, so I would imagine some form of shade will be necessary as well. Id like to have this ready to go by springtime when chicks come around again.

3. The barn... I have let this one anguish quite a bit after the initial push to get walls up and utility room built because that GREATLY alleviated the issue of not having floor space/storage, but now its time to finish it for good. Part of that will involve a lift for ceiling fans and new lights. I actually contemplated doing this over the summer during some downtime, but the lumber prices at the time were prohibitively expensive, and that seems to be relaxing a little based on my most recent tour down the lumber aisle at Lowes. The other aspect of the barn that will be addressed is the large door side. I dont care what it costs, I am having a concrete pad poured there this fall before it gets too cold.

What about the outdoor kitchen?  Is that still on your project list or is that on hold since the nights are getting cooler and people won't be outside as much?

Very much still on the list, but my wife at the last minute changed what kind of table and chairs we ordered, so I need those first before I start the kitchen to know how much room I have and how to arrange it.

Got an email from the parts house that the well tank I had ordered that was on backorder should be in their hands next week, so I made the pilgrimage to Home Depot on Saturday to obtain supplies.

Have you guys looked at lumber lately? It's RICH. 10 bucks for a 2x6. $38 for a sheet of 7/16 OSB.

I tallied up what it would take to finish framing the barn, and I'm not sure I want to do it right now after that. I mean, I don't know how long this will last so I may not have another choice but holy crap.

We're about to break ground on a house. I was luckily able to get my framers to lock in my price at pre panic prices, but I am hearing that it may come down in late October, or possibly spring. I'm not holding my breath though.

So, today around noon, I got a message from my boss. We are a team of 2 (down from 5 earlier this year), but he basically said "You need a break, go fuck off for the rest of the day".

I kindly obliged.

This was the result.



This weekend I intend on building the structure, Lord willin' and the creek dont rise (aka the weather is decent), and the tank should be here directly.

Indeed! Just need the tank then the heavy lifting will happen.

@ Kitties-with-Sigs

tell me about it!

Not only prices but also availability.

In March I committed to a bid and began having a house built.  It rained for 6 weeks and they started in June, not April.

Not only have prices skyrocketed but I've had deck rails, windows, decking, siding and few other things become unavailable requiring substitutes [each one more expensive than the bid] to be found.

So, little change of pace for a second shall we?

I have talked about canning kind of at length in this thread. Canning is no secret sauce recipe, its fairly easy for those in the know. But something Ive never really discussed is other means of food preservation. This time of year is particularly important because game seasons are open/opening soon, which means fresh meat!

So, about 10ish years ago or so, my parents gifted me a Foodsaver vacuum sealer. And to be honest, it was ok at most things. Now, one of the major drawbacks of a Foodsaver vacuum sealer is that it removes air from the bag via the opening which makes hard seals for anything that is moist/juicy, and the bags are EXPENSIVE. Even the rolls of Ziploc which Ive used religiously are EXPENSIVE. When my Foodsaver gave up the ghost last week, I poured one out for my homie and set about finding a new vacuum sealer. Even posted a thread in GD.

Long story short, after much research and reviews, I settled on an Avid Armor USV20. It is the smaller (i.e. shallower) version of the USV32 with the same internals. It arrived this week, and my wife also snagged some ground chuck at Costco for a decent price, so I decided to put it through its paces this evening. I can now attest, I am a Chamber Vacuum Sealer master race participant. The difference in how it works is phenomenal, but heres the catch. You might look at the $400 price tag and think "too rich for my blood" BUT a two pack of 20ft rolls of Ziploc bags is $19 at the local Wally World. That comes out to about 40 bags. I know from experience, I will burn that many bags easily for processing a single deer. Extrapolate that across one of the chicken buys we do where we get 100lbs of chicken that takes anywhere from 50-75 bags. Thats four rolls, or $38. Not to mention a new Foodsaver ranges from $150-$200 these days.

Listen friends, I bought a CASE, yes,  a CASE of industrial vacuum sealer bags. 1000 bags for $55 shipped to my door. So while that $400 price tag is steep initially, if you vacuum seal a lot of stuff like I do, the break even point is fairly quick. Not to mention you can seal things like soups and stews with a chamber, which is not an option with a Foodsaver type sealer. Best back of the napkin math for me is I will break even on the purchase cost in the first 500 bags of sealing.



I highly, HIGHLY recommend for my fellow ARFcomers, if you havent looked into this route of vacuum sealers, please do. If you freeze/prepare with any sort of volume, this is the cheaper route to go long term, and it is just plain better IMO.

Well, with the remnants of Delta dumping rain on us all weekend, I did what I could in getting walls built:



Tank should be here tomorrow. Once the roof is complete the plumbing can go into place and then the finish work on the pump house (wrap and siding) can be done.

Guys, I need help. BAD.

For the past week or so we have had an annoyance of gnats in the house. We had a cool snap last night, which will be much more of a cold snap this weekend (i.e. frost) but the gnats are EVERYWHERE. I literally swatted 25 while cooking dinner tonight.

What can I do?

Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. They are all over the place.

They're in the kitchen but I've also had them in my office today too.