[cerveza_fiesta]

@ Frook

The table was relatively low difficulty since its all plumbsand horizontals. It gets harder when you start adding bevels and stuff at angles to the top.

For the window, as long as there is no mold, and the structure is ok, foam is probably fine. Be careful with it though. Better to add it in many small instalments or you run the risk of it getting stuck with nowhere to expand to. That stuff will push out with a lot of pressure and can pop apart walls, bend windowframes and everything else.

ITs hard to tell in the pic, what is the wall made of? Concrete?

This post has been edited by cerveza_fiesta: 18 April 2013 - 01:05 PM

[frookenhauer]

Hey cerveza. The wall is made of brick with a cavity wall filled with insulation.

I'll make sure to add the foam incrementally.

Thanks dude.

[cerveza_fiesta]

no problem.

I only say foam for gap filling and prevention of air infiltration. If there is a problem with the structure then have it looked at by somebody. If it's a rental unit then fuck it. Spray er full of foam and cover it back up.

If the wall falls apart it's the landlord's fault for not properly maintaining the place.

[Silencer]

cerveza_fiesta, on 20 April 2013 - 03:55 AM, said:

no problem.

I only say foam for gap filling and prevention of air infiltration. If there is a problem with the structure then have it looked at by somebody. If it's a rental unit then fuck it. Spray er full of foam and cover it back up.

If the wall falls apart it's the landlord's fault for not properly maintaining the place.

Uhm...not sure about where you guys live, but here, if it's a rental, you're probably not allowed to undertake renovations without the landlord's permission, and doing so can make you at fault for 1) failing to report and 2) making it worse by trying to carry out work yourself, while also being unauthorised to do so. >.> I.e. you fill it with foam and because the wall wasn't properly repaired it cracks and falls apart due to the increased pressure from the foam (especially if you mess up your application).

Jus' sayin'.

[Macros]

Spencer is entirely correct.
if rental contact the landlord immediately and demand it be fixed. Undertakinrepairs on your own is a breach of contract on both parties parts, and if it goes pear shaped you're fucked.

i knew that tenancy rights module would pay off.

[frookenhauer]

Luckily I own the house. Any work I do and damaged caused from said work will be mine to fix/cry over. Ive decided to do it all myself as I am a man, and my dad did everything so I will follow proudly in his footsteps

I only found the cracks of doom when I wanted to put some net curtains up. The missus likes them and she gets what she wants so i gets what I want...peace and quiet mostly

The house looked great in the pics and when we went to check it out, but we should have looked more closely. Lessons have been learnt and the next time I buy a house I'll be checking EVERYTHING!

I've just ensured that the master bedroom door and bathroom door now close fully and can be locked so I can take a dump in peace In the toilet of course, I'll be sleeping int teh bedroom.

In the garden 4 sections of fence had come down in the 3 months while the mortgage went through. Thick grass was growing through the fences and one out of the four sections is worth using. I think my rage didn't help and I probably could have salvaged at least one more.

The entire garden seems to have been taken over by many different kinds of rampant weeds, most of them stingers and thorny types. My hands feel like pincushions and Ive been nettled a few times...RAGE!!!

The front garden is a mess. Waist high grass, even growing out between the paving slabs.

This house is really going to keep me busy for some time...Funnily enough I'm looking forward to it all

The kitchen is now ready for full service and all the appliances work. Woohoo! One room done, the rest to go.

[cerveza_fiesta]

Silencer, on 20 April 2013 - 04:27 AM, said:

cerveza_fiesta, on 20 April 2013 - 03:55 AM, said:

no problem.

I only say foam for gap filling and prevention of air infiltration. If there is a problem with the structure then have it looked at by somebody. If it's a rental unit then fuck it. Spray er full of foam and cover it back up.

If the wall falls apart it's the landlord's fault for not properly maintaining the place.

Uhm...not sure about where you guys live, but here, if it's a rental, you're probably not allowed to undertake renovations without the landlord's permission, and doing so can make you at fault for 1) failing to report and 2) making it worse by trying to carry out work yourself, while also being unauthorised to do so. >.> I.e. you fill it with foam and because the wall wasn't properly repaired it cracks and falls apart due to the increased pressure from the foam (especially if you mess up your application).

Jus' sayin'.

This was assuming the wall doesn't fall apart. Confidence in repair skills is required at all times. And nothing is breached in the contract if nobody ever finds out.

EDIT

My experience with landlords is that they barely do the bare minimum maintenance on their properties, if that, and wouldn't fix an issue like that if their lives depended on it, knowing most tenants are transient and will just tolerate it until they move out.

Cheaper to let it fall apart and have insurance buy them a new rental unit afterward anyway.

But maybe that's just my skewed experience with landlords.

This post has been edited by cerveza_fiesta: 22 April 2013 - 01:10 PM

[Macros]

Nah that's par for the course, the problem is most tenants don't know their rights. Transient or not a landlord is legally obliged to look after their tenants welfare in regards of habitable environs. If you are unhappy with the property and have signed a contract then hassle the landlord daily, he's legally obliged to fix any problems that compromise a buildings integrity. In the case of the window frooky has (were he renting) he could easily argue that the windows, and therefore building, are not properly sealed and as such he needs them fixed or recompense for increased utility bills.

[cerveza_fiesta]

Oh yes, you guys are right for sure. I'm not arguing I'm right in any way shape or form and probably should have kept my mouth (fingers?) shut from the get go. Didn't mean to turn this into a discussion on tentants rights. It is a thread about building awesome things.

I respectfully defer to others who have advised against doing shit w/o landlords' permission and retract all past statements and advice to do the opposite.


========================

On a happier note:

I am now working on the greenhouse project for my wife's garden. Gothic arch style, with engineered wood trusses

http://www.lsuagcent...rGreenhouse.pdf

The gothic arch shape is nice because it's super easy to plan out. To plan the arches just center an arc having a radius equal to the base at one end of the base. Trace the arc. Do the same thing centering the arc at the opposite end of the base. Where the 2 arcs intersect is the peak. Scalable to any dimension that works for you (12' for me). Your mid-span height is equal to 0.86 times the base. This was a bit high for my liking, so I intersected 2 ellipses instead, making a mid-span height of 9' instead.

I have taken the truss construction plans in the link above and more or less scaled every dimension down by a factor of 0.6, for my 12' span, including the spacer blocks and all the spaces between spacer blocks. I kept the 1/2" thickness for the inner and outer wood strip for added strength, but I probably could have gone down to 3/8" without any problems. It would certainly need to be thinned if the arches were smaller...I broke a lot of strips trying to get 1/2 inch strips to conform to the curve I have.

Final dimensions should be 16'L x 12'W, with arches on 4' spacings.

No pics yet but will post some when I have more progress. So far I have 3 of 5 arches made and probably will need a solid day to complete the other 2 and erect them on the base boards. When finished it should look about like this:



*img from http://www.gothicarchgreenhouses.com

This post has been edited by cerveza_fiesta: 22 April 2013 - 05:13 PM

[Morgoth]

cerveza_fiesta, on 22 April 2013 - 01:06 PM, said:

And nothing is breached in the contract if nobody ever finds out.

I know this isn't the thread, and it has sort of been sorted out already. I just want to inject that this is terrible, terrible advice! I just. No! Christ.

Lets just remember that your responsibility for the changes and repairs you make do not just disappear when you move to somewhere new. No, they can find you years later and since it was not done professionally and not overseen by the owner, all sorts of other damages will be tagged onto the claim.

Yes.. umh.. carry on.

[cerveza_fiesta]

Ok, continue piling it on....I already retracted my statement. Yeesh.

[Macros]

YOU ARE A TERRIBLE PERSON CF!!!!

[cerveza_fiesta]

Someone is wrong on the internet...

[Morgoth]

cerveza_fiesta, on 22 April 2013 - 10:36 PM, said:

Someone is wrong on the internet...

Not someone. You. You are wrong on the internet.

Thankfully we saved the internet from your folly so all is well.

[Captain Petepants]

We discovered that whoever was in the house before us had wallpapered straight onto plasterboard, which is a bit lazy.

Cue first of several weekends spent skimming walls!

The more DIY we do, the more it feels like it's actually OUR house, so I can't complain overly much.

But still.....lazy.

[cerveza_fiesta]

Greenhouse is coming along nicely. I have the end walls built and all the arch trusses complete. Ridge board is ready to install, sills are cut and ready to go. I just need some help with standing it all up!

Luckily dad will be up this weekend. I will be making use of his heavy lifting skills to complete final assembly.

[Traveller]

I'm moving into a new house 3 weeks today! Contracts all signed, completion on the 20th May.(Barring disasters).

Well, I say it's new... it's not old, but it still has all the original fittings in it, and has hardly been touched, decorated or updated since it was built. So whereas now we have a small 3 bedroom place that we can't really improve anymore having done the kitchen, bathroom and floors, we're now moving into a significantly larger 4 bedroom place, that needs...well, everything doing to it.

Kitchen, bathroom, ensuite, cloakroom... mismatched floors, dodgy timber conservatory i'll decide whether to keep or not - theres a ton to do. The structure is fine, and it's a great size - it just needs some care and attention. I don't know how people can live for a few years in a house and not only lack the desire to decorate, but neglect to maintain anything. Makes it easier to gut it and start again though, we looked at some places that had been recently fitted out, but not how we would have done - I'd feel pretty bad ripping out something new just because it wasn't to our taste. I'd still do it though!

It's all good for us, as we got it for a good price, and it will be amazing once we sort it out. Best thing is the villlage location - shop, pub and school all about 5 mins walk away.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 29 April 2013 - 01:42 PM

[cerveza_fiesta]

Greenhouse 99% complete.

Just waiting for the plastic to expand and contract a few more times in the heat and then I'll re-stretch it before attaching the rest of the nailing boards to the end-walls.

Turned out not to be too bad to put together. Trusses went together in a weekend, another afternoon for assembly into arches, a morning with my Dad to get the frame erected, 2-3 evenings to complete the bracing and stretch the poly film.

Then a fucktonne of dirt shoveling to level things up inside and we are now planting the first of the veggies!


Le outside

 20130528_071222.jpg (326.22K)
Number of downloads: 0

And Le Inside

 20130528_071237.jpg (296.82K)
Number of downloads: 0

This post has been edited by cerveza_fiesta: 30 May 2013 - 07:10 PM

[cerveza_fiesta]

I love resurrecting this thread.

Gave the sewing machine a good work out this weekend. Made myself a beach umbrella tarp-thingy very similar to this (no pics of mine....sorry), along with a bag for tent pegs (c/w drawstring) and a big carry bag for the tarp itself. UV-proof outdoor fabric, 50% off at fabricville (bought with my elite club membership...most worthwhile club card ever), and stays up using driftwood, trees, rock piles, decking, or whatever happens to be around. I like the design a lot better than the standard beach umbrella because it's fully guyed at all 4 corners, which means no blow away umbrellas! It is also much bigger, weighs about 1/10 what a normal umbrella weighs, and it stuffs down into something about the size of a 1" spine 3-ring binder.

Seams are about 5/8", double folded. Haul loops at the corners are 2x pieces of decorative satin ribbon (which is unbelievably strong by the way) sewn into, and protruding from the corner seams. Broke a few needles trying to punch through all that fabric, but eventually got it done. Chose ribbons instead of grommets because buying a metal grommet tool and grommets just for this project is kinda silly.

Plans are to find something I can make poles out of and have them collapse small enough to fit in the bag...cos when you go to big popular beaches there's often not much in the way of driftwood to be had.



Off to the beach next week!

This post has been edited by cerveza_fiesta: 29 July 2013 - 03:35 PM

[Darkwatch]

One day I will have my own place and I'm building myself some nice and proper bookshelves. For now though I'm pretty shit when it comes to any handy work and I don't have my own place in which to put stuff anyway.