Calling All Weekend Warriors

[jay-ell]

So, this week on This Crappy House, I'm replacing a corroded shower door and redesigning the family room with potential buyers in mind.  Anybody else have any fun home-improvement projects in the works?  

I figured I'd start this thread now, seeing as how we plan to list our house fairly soon and my time will be taken with these kinds of projects until such time as we recieve an offer.  I'm wondering who else is caught in a do-it-yourself web of intrigue and danger.  Before and after shots are welcome, if you're looking to show off as well.  

[jough]

Col. Mustard, in the Study, with the Candlestick.

[slink]

I just performed DIY fun on Saturday actually.
I had to replace a beam I had put up across a corner holding a fluorescent tube with two poles spanning the length of that section of the room.
Wasn't really hugely taxing, although it hurt like hell, and I fuck*ng hate drilling walls. It's like my biggest phobia or something.

[arkabee]

i got to play with a nailgun sunday.  truly, there is a god.

i rent, so in the interim i help my brother-in-law sparingly with his home improvement psychoses in the hopes of garnering future tool borrowing.  the nailgun was used in an attempt to better his deck, whilst he recently tore off a part of his home, and old two story deck/porch.

so, foundation laying and a new addition building are in the immediate future, with a pinch of trying to fix the gf's light switch in the kitchen.

is the shower door the sliding kind that sit's on top of the tub, or the swinging door of a full-length shower?

[misterhaan]

um, i put an extra shelf in my closet a couple weeks ago . . .

yes, i know you're all impressed.

[jay-ell]

is the shower door the sliding kind that sit's on top of the tub, or the swinging door of a full-length shower?

The swinging door (actually, a pivot door as opposed to the hinge type) of a 28" stall.  We have a separate garden tub, which I adore.  The old door is corroded like a mofo because the previous owner (we'll call him Mr. Swambo, of Lileks fame) of the home was an avid DIYer who also had the misfortune of being a complete and total idiot.  Half the projects I've undertaken in the 3 years we've owned our home have been to repair things he screwed up.  

In this case, he reconfigured the bathroom in order to create the separate shower/tub scenario we have today.  When he installed the shower, however, he managed to caulk the frame in such a way that the shower leaked from the inside, but not the outside.  As a result, water would get trapped between the inner layer of caulk and the outer layer, under the bottom plate of the door.  This resulted in the rapid corrosion of the bottom plate and the growth of unsightly mildew in places that are literally impossible to clean without taking the whole dang shower apart.  So, brilliant mind that Mr. Swambo was, he decided to spend $1.37 on those aggrivating caulk strips that you "peel & press" into place.  He covered up the water damage long enough to sell the house, at which point I moved in, took my first shower in my new home, and discovered the Pure Revulsion (TM) that was my shower door.  

It was one of those projects I thought I'd get around to later, until the caulk on the outside of the shower started to turn black.  I dutifully peeled off the old sealant and re-applied the outer layer of caulk, only to have it turn black with mildew as well.  After further analyzing the situation and realizing that the inner seal was at the heart of the problem, I peeled back the caulk strips and realized that to re-caulk the whole shower would only cover up the extensive damage and would certainly cause problems for the next person to occupy this home.  Cursing myself for thinking of others, I decided that the only right thing to do would be to replace the door altogether.  (Also, the gold finish on the door frame didn't match the silver accents I'd installed throughout the rest of the room, and that bothered me.)  

Therefore, I've spent the last four hours trying to turn corroded screws; prying gold-tone aluminum away from the walls; peeling away old, brittle, gummy caulk; and scrubbing the shower walls repeatedly with a paste of baking soda (rinsing with vinegar: hey, I didn't know I had an open wound there!).  Dad's coming over tomorrow to help me install the new door, so I guess the hard part's over.  I've got to go over the whole shower with bleach once more, but when this project is done, it's the last of the hardware upgrades.  From this point on, it's paint and decorating...until we move, that is.  Then the whole process starts over.

[Asherdan]

I did my dining room with this stuff last summer.  The Spouse likes it so much that I am going to be allowed* to do the main hall, kitchen hall and the kitchen itself in it.

Currently, I'm finishing off the kitchen cabinets.  See, the prior owners were idiots and stained nice maple cabinets a dark oak and then proceeded to clear coat them so thickly they looked gooey (shudder).  So, I have the cabinetry all stripped down and just have to finish converting the lower doors/drawers into a bright institutional look.  Then I put in the flooring.  New dishwasher and stove will go in the same time as the flooring.  After that, new countertops!  Fortunately, my neighbor runs his own tile shop, so I can use him to pick up this little miracle from Dupont.  He owes me for the Great Plumbing Debacle of 2002 In Which Great Flooding was Narrowly Averted by the Kind Neighbors Perspicacity.**

Oh, and you're right JL, the hard part is over until next time[/creepy voice]


*Compelled by Spouse.
**I rarely use this title out loud, but it's how I think of it in my private moments.

[AugustWest]

We always have 6 or 7 projects pending.  Currently:

-- Getting ready to paint the kitchen three southwestern colors (a yellow, a light orange and a darker orange).  Might also tile the backsplash.

-- Currently the upstairs bathroom has it's subfloor exposed.  I have a bunch of slate tiles to put down, when I receive sufficient motivation.

-- I have almost a full pallet of brick left over from a project at my parents' house that will probably be used for a patio, someday.

-- I got some deck rails yesterday to attach to the pool deck.

-- Both the upstairs and downstairs halls need painting, as does our bedroom.

The usual stuff, you know.  Last year's big projects completed were new floors in the family room (Pergo) and Kitchen (much nicer vinyl that what the previous owners had used.)

[Mantonio]

Last week I dusted the shelves aaaand I made my bed.  Twice.  This week I'm seriously considering mopping the kitchen floor.  I'm on top of things, you see.  

[slink]

Well, as for the multiple 'projects'...
There is the roof which needs partially retiling, and reflashing along one edge.
The bath could do with repanelling along the outside where there's a huge crack.
The bedroom could do with repainting, thanks to the water down one wall from where the roof needs reflashing.
And the kitchen, is just about finished!

[arkabee]

the previous owner (we'll call him Mr. Swambo, of Lileks fame) of the home was an avid DIYer who also had the misfortune of being a complete and total idiot.  

apparently i owned your house right before you?

caulk

caulk, i've learned, is one of my favorite things.  being a renter with no lease, i have certain obligations other renters might not put up with, namely "be quiet or who knows what".

ants have a habit of invading my kitchen.  last year, it was through the windows above the sink.  in my "solve the immediate problem and not worry about anything long term because it's not my house" way, i decided that caulking the bottom edge of the windows shut would keep the bastards out.  i hate to think of the next renters' faces as they try to open the windows... of course, the metal awning on the outside of the kitchen windows is broken, and hangs down covering the windows, so, well, ya.

the ants, of course, kept coming, so then i caulked along the back edge of the countertop along that wall.  and put out copious amounts of poison.

apparently the poison did not do a very good job, because last week or so i found a nest (?) of ants in the top of my Bunn coffeemaker.  still undecided on what to do about the coffeemaker, i might burn it like a sad little american flag that fell out of the hands of a thrid grade boy scout as he stands on the bank of the river watching waterskiers and fireworks with his parents on the 4th.  but i'm drifiting away from caulk, i apologize.

i'm heartened, though, to finally understand the caulk/mildew relationship, though.  

As much as i enjoy laying caulking, ripping caulk out is incredibly satisfying to me, or at least it is ever since i got the caulk removal tool.  i feel vaguely like one of the hellraiser baddies with it, ripping out chunks of innocent yet stupid caulk that dared to play with my evil bathtub puzzle.

so, when i moved in, the bathtub was horrid, and i de-caulked it and recaulked. and now, it's starting to get black again.  i figured it was becase i was filthy and a carrier for some rampant strain of mildew, but most likely it's just up behind the shower backing, and creeps down and through my fresh virgin caulk.


that being said, my next immediate project is to replace a light switch in a beautiful woman's kitchen.  hilarity, i'm assured, shall ensue.

[jough]

You know, you DO have to actually CLEAN the bathroom every once in awhile.

Although I am amused by your solution - I suppose it IS easier to just uncaulk and recaulk every few months than it is to clean the tub surround once a week...

[arkabee]

You know, you DO have to actually CLEAN the bathroom every once in awhile.

Although I am amused by your solution - I suppose it IS easier to just uncaulk and recaulk every few months than it is to clean the tub surround once a week...

i hate to unamuse you, but i've only uncaulked and recaulked my bathtub once.

however, i don't, in fact, clean the bathroom.  once the air freshener wears off, i move.

[V-Adore]

I have semi-DIY going on on two fronts.

At college, I've spent a few weeks off and on working on turning my former double into a proper single and not just "a double where one person moved out." Mostly this has involved furniture movement, strewing my crap everywhere, and hoping that Buildings & Grounds doesn't charge me for all the pinholes committed in the name of my ex-roommate's giant photocollage. In other words, it's a sty. Go me.

Back home on Break, Mom's just put our house on the market in preparation for our move this summer. She took care of the painting; mostly my task has been to pack things places and not strew crap everywhere, which rapidly becomes counterintuitive after a while at college. It's sort of a shame, though, as I would have liked to take out the cordless drill and get to DIYing.

(Incidentally, I have never understood people who take perfectly good hardwood and stain it to look like an entirely different hardwood. OAK IS NOT ACTUALLY ANY NICER THAN MAPLE, PEOPLE, AND MAPLE STAINED (BADLY) TO LOOK LIKE OAK IS GUARANTEED TO LOOK WORSE THAN EITHER NATURAL OAK OR NATURAL MAPLE. IF YOU WANT OAK, JUST BUY OAK, GODDAMMIT.)

[Asherdan]

OAK IS NOT ACTUALLY ANY NICER THAN MAPLE, PEOPLE, AND MAPLE STAINED (BADLY) TO LOOK LIKE OAK IS GUARANTEED TO LOOK WORSE THAN EITHER NATURAL OAK OR NATURAL MAPLE. IF YOU WANT OAK, JUST BUY OAK, GODDAMMIT.)

Thank you for expressing my rage and disgust at this situation precisely perfectly.

*sob*  It's so nice to be understood.