What home improvement work did you do today?

Not picture worthy but finally got the freakin' ice maker working again. Long story short I had to replace the ice maker twice and the pump once. Made the mistake of buying a cheap ice maker off Amazon.

Sure I could have called the Man but I was already in this deep and it ain't rocket science.

I've had two cycles of ice so far after installing 4 hours ago. Think I'm gonna be ok.

 

geez!
how hard were you squeezin your caulk?!?!

 

It's all that forearm and wrist strength.

 

I mean, that doesn't exactly look like the Festool of caulking guns.

 

Made in China.

 

If you use a caulking gun a lot, I would recommend buying one of these sausage caulking guns. They’re a night and day difference, much more efficient and a lot cleaner to use.

 

A sneak peak on my latest garage build project. All the car lifts were installed last week. Storefront windows start tomorrow, exterior metal panel finishes are going on, tile installation started, new septic done, permanent power is done, garage doors are almost done, concrete curbs are done, and floating staircase is about to go in next week.

 

Too bad festool didn’t make caulking guns. But they’d probably cost 3x what a decent usa-made one does if they did

 

Decided to ruin my back and not wait to rent a Jack hammer tomorrow and go to town on my porch/walkway.

 

So this was as far as I got with a small 60lb Jack hammer. Thought it would work, which it did for most of the flat slab, but at 6-8” thick it was a no go.



Had my buddy bring in some reinforcements and will deal with it this afternoon.

 

You might as well dig yourself a lazy river / moat around your house while you have access to that beast.

 

Lol. It’s nice having a friend that works at a heavy equipment rental place. Once I procure the alligators I will get the moat and drawbridge setup.

 

Until then, you could just float around it in an inner tube with your shotgun.

 

Don't forget to have your floating beer cooler tethered to you.

 

I figured that was just assumed.

 

As it should be.

 

Due to current lumber prices and COVID I built the most expensive front porch I could afford!
But seriously those silly temp steps cost me like $100.
Now I’ve gotta wait a week for the concrete guys to come out but this is what I’m thinking unless someone tells me I’m an idiot and to do it another way.
Ground level porch
Two rounded steps up to the doors
Stamped

 

My only question is:
What’s the point of the little quarter circle by the corner of the garage?
That will likely cost more money in forming labor and working around the space when finishing than what the materials will cost to just fill it. You won’t want to plant anything large in s space like that, so consider some large potted plants or series of planters instead of making an odd small “bed” set down into the space.

 

I went back and forth on that and was gonna ask the concrete finishers opinion because if I fill it in I thought it would look weirder but maybe not…

 

Piggybacking on that, do you have the grade to bury a 3" pipe and run your downspout out towards the street?
That would be a slick spot during the freeze/thaw time of year.

 

finished off the fencing and gates at the WA property. added 4ft dual gates on one side so in the future i can put an insulated house matching shed back there to store moto's and other toys. maybe a small fishing boat. also being in the pnw, winterized the drip system. first time i ever did that. was sure to start using low pressure to not to blow out the connectors, etc. was a satisfying process. guess i'll know next spring if i did it right.

also trying not to feed this guy and get caught in that trap, lol. has a collar and i think he lives next door.

 

Ah! That was the other reason I wanted to not concrete it. I don’t know what grade I would need but it would be a lot of work :/

 

That solves that then!

 

I thought since it doesn’t get much sun there I would just do basalt and a water feature or something.