Talk about DIY house renovation
 

Please, this is a bass site . Absolutely no discussion of DIY.

Glad to see someone else is willing to grab the bull and do some home repairs himself. I've learned a lot of stuff working on my 30's-vintage plantation house here on Maui. Been doing so for ten years now; almost finished! :rolleyes:

Bought my own house to do up about 5 years ago. It hung like a millstone around my neck for 2 years until I sold it (finished) and gave me a permenant dust allergy.

I converted (with help) two garages into rooms at our place. Also redecorated the rest of the house. It cut into bass practice time.

I'm about to invite the circus to town (tent fumigators) for the first time since we bought the house. I hate to see the termites undoing all our hard work. I guess a ten-year run isn't too bad... most people here seem to have to tent every 5-6 years.

Rob went to the doc and the doc gave him some pills and told him to put them up his back passage. Rob took them home and put them in the passage near his newly renovated bathroom.
Later Rob complained to the doc, saying,
"For all the good those pills did, I could have shoved them up my... "
sorry about that!

Hey Robert... I was cleaning out my workshop/ storage shed yesterday, and found our old portable shower that we used outside for a two months while I totally redid our one bathroom (I've since added a second). It's a sort of tall, skinny popup tent, into which I ran hot and cold water feeds... it stood in the middle of our backyard. I have to say, my wife and two daughters showed admirable pioneer spirit during those two months. But when I showed it to my wife yesterday, I said "whattya think, honey... keep it or toss it?", she gave it a BIG thumbs down. :D

Learn the bass and try playing them a bass solo. Everyone talks through my bass solos!

Had a little bit of a NZ vernacular problem for a minute there.... I wasn't sure what "gib" was... so I looked it up in the online Webster's dictionary, and it told me that a gib is "a castrated male cat". Presumably, that isn't what you are screwing and gluing......:eek:

Anyway, those gib lifters are great if you are doing a big job. They make the job a whole lot safer, and save a lot of wear and tear on your neck and shoulders. The last time I hung a ceiling, we just muscled the panels up (two guys), it was not fun.

Young Rob, you weren't listening. Both gib screws and nails are fine and should be used in the same way. The glue is a good addition that also helps to keep the gib in place. In NZ you can borrow a gib lifter from most hardware stores so that even a small job can be made easier. Yes Marcus, I've tried muscling panels up too... certainly no fun!

A job which is no fun . . .
 

Speaking of a job which is no fun, I tried to save money last year by buying the cheapest wall-to-wall carpet I could find and installing it myself with a knee kick.

I didn't think about wearing knee pads until after I was done.

Ouch!

Needless to say, the carpet is basically destroyed now. We won't get a new one until after all of the potty training's done, though.

I hope it's just the kids who are doing the potty training Stan.
The worst job I've done lately was when I tried to put some fibreglass insulation (they're called Bats down here) just beneath the floorboards under the house. I had to wriggle along on my back. I got fibreglass dust from above and animal droppings etc. from below.

That's okay 2nd. DIY is all about making things (up).

I can relate to that one! (though not nearly so eloquently). I am no stranger to the house jack experience. :eek:

Right now, I'm hand-nailing cedar shingles to the exterior of my new family room. Although the pace is relatively slow,I find it kind of relaxing.

I does look nice, it's durable, and in my case, it matches the rest of the house , which was built in 1935. There are certainly easier sidings to apply, but I didn't feel like redoing the whole house, so I'm matching the new section to the old.

I had to install a toilet on the roof of a yacht once in case it capsized. Hard getting the water to stay in... had to use ice in the end. Gosh, that wouldv'e been one cold seat!

Robert, sometimes you are very funny!
Why didn't our mother conceive you second, instead of me?

I don't know.
What?
Don't string a mandolin with fishing line?

A wise man actually goes to a fish 'n chip shop.

One weekend later I have a sheet to go around the shower and bath taps.

Know what you mean. I've got a grandson staying over night soon so the pressure is on to fit the bath and get this shower up and running this weekend. Hope that Zinser isn't lead based!

You've fixed it all now Rob, haven't you?

20,000!
20,000!

do it yourself!
 

yesterday i grouted the tiles in the bathroom. i did this for the first time in my life. first i was a little afraid because i was not sure if it would be ok, but when i finished i was very proud of myself.
it´s a great experience to do some technical things you have never done before, expand your comfortzone and be successful.
:)





(but we had a professional to do the tiling :o)

Anselm, my friend, I am very proud of you!
Tell us more - where were the tiles laid?