Category: Home Improvement

Affordable ways to update your home.

You Say Suspenseful I Say Fenceful

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After this post, a lovely reader asked if we could write-up a quick post about our fence and how we made it.  Always happy to answer questions, here it is.

The fence is made up of 4 inch by 4 inch by 8 foot long posts and 2 inch by 6 inch by 16 foot long lumber from Home Depot.  Ben measured eight feet apart, used a post hole digger to make a 4 foot deep hole.  He did this for each post, 22 total on our property.  After setting each post, leaving it 4 feet above ground, we attached the 2 by 6 horizontals.  These are about 4 inches apart, for a total of five high.

We staggered the seams to keep the fence as strong as possible.  The gate took longer to finish because Ben couldn’t find strong hinges.  But, with the impending closing date looming, we knew it had to happen, sooner than later.  Ben bought a set of hinges and a latch at Home Depot.

To build the gate, Ben cut a 2 by 4 to the match the height of the horizontals.  Then, he screwed five 2 by 6 pieces, keeping the gate square as he went.

On either side of the gate we have a 4 inch square post and a 2 by 4, which is actually part of the gate.

Luckily, the hinges are perfect for the 2 by 6, so Ben installed one at the top and another on the bottom to hold the gate in place.

To protect the fence and keep it looking spiffy, we use Behr’s Solid Color Wood Stain, just like the rest of the fence.  So, that’s the simple fence we have and how to make one yourself.

Previously, we had a chain link fence, which Houdini, I mean Jack escaped from regularly.  We’re happy to report she hasn’t been able to get out of this one.  Also, this style fence can work for smaller dogs by adding 2 by 2 pieces between the 2 by 6s.

What style of fence do you have?  Why did you choose it?  To keep kids and pets in?  To keep neighbors out?

All the Fixings

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Now that we’ve sold our house, we’re working on it again.  Nothing major, just small projects we want to finish up.  Adding fascia to the exterior.

Installing and staining window trim.

As you can see, Ben had a little help(er) for this project.  I went into the house to get a paint brush for Ben, came back out, but didn’t see V.  Ben asked if he went in with me.  Then V popped up from the window well.  Scared the crap out of me!

One of the things we promised to finish was the fence on the ends of the house.  Ben didn’t finish the south end when he worked on the rest of the fence because the old posts were cemented in.  Finally, he had a reason to tackle this.  Simple enough, and I stained it to match.

Here’s what the north side looked like last summer.  The fence is done, but we lacked a real gate.

That’s done now.

So much better.  Jack approves, too.

For the past two years the French doors in my office have been without door handles.  We recently replaced a few handles for locking levers in the basement, so Ben retrofitted the old handles to work for the office.  He just removed the plungers and we’re good to go.

See the gaping hole below?

Here it is today, complete with closet doors.

Ben still has to cut a trim piece to hide the track, but we’re getting there.

We’ve done all this, but I have yet to pack a single box to actually move.  I’m afraid it will jinx the closing (our situation is slightly different than usual).  So, keep your fingers crossed everything goes smoothly and we’ll update you as soon as we can!

Stairway to Heaven

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Way back in December while in Minnesota for family Christmas, Ben worked on a not so little project at my sister’s house.  You see, she has an open staircase, similar to the Brady Bunch set, with slightly better safety features.

Brady-inspired stairs + over spaced balusters = safer than Brady stairs.

Where am I going with this?  Well, Ashley wanted bookshelves under her staircase.  Ben gets bored in Minnesota, so he offered to help her. Before he could make bookshelves that tie in to the stairs, he had to rework the treads.  He started by ripping the carpet off.

Then, Ben used L steel to build support brackets, cutting a long piece of steel into many 10 inch pieces.

Ben made a template and drilled holes through each bracket, screwing the supports in place.

Originally, Ben and Ashley agreed to plane down the original treads to reuse.  One tread later, the planer belt broke and they couldn’t find a replacement.  On to plan B.  Ben proposed joining two 2 by 12 boards together to make one thick and beefy stair tread.

Ashley told Ben to do whatever he would, so he bought enough wood to finish the stairs.  Careful cutting, lots of glue, and screws later, the new treads were ready for install.  Ash, the boys, and I left and came back to see this:

Oooh, ahhh.  Luckily, we still had a day left in Minnesota, leaving time for Ben to build some bookshelves.  He used the same process for building the stair treads to make the shelves.

Fast forward several months because Ashley and Arik have finished staining and sealing.

Isn’t that awesome?!?  All that storage and I love that it’s a small reading nook.  What do you think?  Do you have a fun staircase?  How about a little reading nook?

Stick a Fork in It

Published on by Our Humble Abode56 Comments
Because the kitchen is done!  All it took was a little sanding and painting on the ceiling.  Ben hates sheet rock work, hence the reason we just finished it.  And mostly pressure to get the house ready to sell.  But, it’s done, and that’s what matters.
If you recall, before we started work, the kitchen looked like this:
Almond appliances, orange oak cabinets, too small drawers and cabinets, and one large wall trapping the cook in the kitchen.  After months of work and tearing everything out to start from scratch, we’ve created this:
A warm, open, light filled, and functional kitchen.
Replacing the soffit with cabinetry has added even more storage.
A low profile vent hood keeps the focus on the wood counters and new cabinetry.
And I can’t forget the wall of marble tile.  Oh how I love thee.
We will definitely miss this kitchen, but it was such a learning process and we love how it turned out.
Because Ben built our cabinets, our total kitchen budget is about what our store-bought cabinet budget was.  Yes, that is the single most money-saving thing we did.  As you can see, our appliances more than made up for that savings.
So what do you think?  Every potential buyer has commented about the kitchen and how nice it is, which makes us happy.

P.S.  If you haven’t been following from the beginning, you can catch up on all things kitchen renovation in these posts.

Selling To Do List

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Over the last week, we’ve been furiously tackling projects because our house is up for sale.  Most of the projects are small, like touch up paint, adding a few pieces of trim, and swapping out items we want to take with us to the new house. Two bigger projects lingered.  In addition to painting the living room, we had to sand, prime, and paint the kitchen ceiling.  Yes, six months of procrastinating later, we finally got ‘er done.  Actually, Ben did with a little help from his friends Orbital Sander and Shop Vac.  See, he had the genius idea to duct tape the hose of the vacuüm to the sander dust output thing.

The result?  A nearly dust-less, quick, and smoothly sanded ceiling.  A little primer and more paint and our kitchen is officially done.  {Wrap up and budget post to come in the near future}  Just in time to sell.  Ha.

In other kitchen news, I swapped out the bubble glass knobs for plain Jane brushed nickel knobs.  Ben saw me mid-knob change and asked what I was doing.  I explained I planned  to use the knobs somewhere in the new house because similar knobs aren’t easy to come by.  He shook his head while explaining I was a crazy person.

He may be right.  I may be crazy.  At least I’ll be crazy with pretty knobs.  Oh, Ben also used his ingenious sanding solution on the counters.  Then we applied another coat of Teak Oil.  It might not seem obvious in pictures, but in person, these babies shine.

Another project we’ve procrastinated on is trimming out the laundry shelves.  Well, not anymore.  Not sure if I’ll have a chance to prime and paint, but it’s a step in the right direction.

And we finally bought closet doors for the small basement bedroom.  We’re waiting for the paint to cure before install, but we’re getting there.

I also spent a little time taking down more art work.  Everything in the stair gallery wall.

And most of the art on the ledge in the small basement bedroom.

Other miscellaneous touch up paint throughout the house and swapping out my home-made light fixtures in the bedrooms and my office has happened, too.  We’re hoping the weekend weather cooperates so we can finish up a little exterior soffit and fascia work and maybe some fencing.  Not the mask wearing sport kind either.

Yep, we’re getting there.  Bring on the showings!

Have you tackled any of your lingering projects recently?  What made you get your butt in gear?