What home improvement work did you do today?

Yeah. That's why I'm doing it. Also for tax deductions

 

Interesting. I'll have to look into that.

 

https://www.energystar.gov/about/federal_tax_credits

Seems like you can still deduct

 

Project "bigger shed" commenced yesterday. Didn't have any time to work on it today, as I was helping a friend replace steering, suspension, ball joints, unit bearings and steering box on his '99 F350. But yesterday was a good time with my son....even though it was 94 degrees. Got the floor done.

 

FYI on digging up sprinkler heads!
We put in our yard (1500+ yards dirt) 2 years ago, and the yard ended up settling and half of my sprinkler heads (installed right after dirt was brought in) were all 2-3 inches above my yard. My wife kept whacking them with the riding mower. I fired my irrigation guy because he stole from us during the build, so I was left to figure out on my own.

I had to come up with an easy way to dig up 30 heads and push them further into the ground. I tried one with a small hand shovel, and about had a panic attack wondering how I would do 29 more.
I googled. Came up with the idea of using a pressure washer and spraying around the heads. Didn’t work as planned.
Then it happened.
I put one of those cheap brass twist hose heads on a hose, and just started blasting all around the sprinkler head (push brass nozzle into grass/ground to erode the ground) . I couldn’t believe how quickly it went. I put gloves on and while the hose was blasting all the rocks/soil/clay around the head I cleared around the heads and put the dirt in bucket.
I was able to blast under the heads (I think I have 8” heads - tall ones) and then back fill the hole once the heads were level with the yard.
Probably saved me 60 hours of work using the hose to dig up the heads vs a shovel.
Hopefully that helps someone in the future lol.

 

@mdavis - as mentioned before, Very nice Don Gardner Custom Home plan! Just a little partial.

 

Landscaped around the side of the house with some more antique brick. I planted different colored crape myrtles - I'm kind of a color nut. I can't wait until everything starts blooming.

 

looks good! how old is your house?

 

Thank you! We aren't really sure. We were told 1938 when we bought it but it's much older than that. There's a long boring story of me poring over maps and property records and we think it was one of the first crop of homes built here in 1893. It's been added onto over the years. Pretty cool house.

 

Thats awesome! I love old houses! My grandfather's law office is in an old house near down town Reno.... one of the first ones built. Kinda creepy at night or when you are there alone but so very cool!

 

Me too - we were talking to some of the older people in town and were told that our house was haunted at one time. Apparently somebody had it exorcised. Not sure if it kept because the cat gets worked up at times.

If there is anything here, I think it's friendly. The house just has a really good feeling, if that makes sense.

 

totally makes sense. There was a young kid that used to live in my grandfather's office when it was still being used as a house that blew himself up with his chemistry set and he died and we think that he is still there because one of the lawyers has bighorn sheep heads hanging on the walls and his office and he's come back to work from the weekend and they've all been on the floor leaned up against the wall hooks still on the wall the attachments on the back to hang them still totally and completely connected no issues nothing broken or anything like that so somebody had to have come and remove them from his wall. And there are only two people that have a key to his office him and my grandfather and my grandfather had never gone to the office that weekend and left on Friday as the other lawyer was leaving and they were the last two when they're so they think that it was this kid that took it off the wall

 

Yeah, that's a little freaky. I used to work in a bar in Northern Michigan that was haunted. It was a really old bar, the basement had a bricked up prohibition tunnel. The original owner hung himself in it (in the bar, not the tunnel). Some nights, after last call, he'd randomly play a song on the jukebox. Electricians checked out the jukebox and there was nothing wrong with it.

 

I think things like that are cool!

 

Yep - me too. I never see any damn thing though. I think I'm ghost repellent.

 

Really? Don't know if i should day you are lucky or missing out! I have had many experiences.... not just as a loud but as an adult too.... and recently

 

Very cool - I’d love to hear about them. I think we hijacked this thread...
I have to go to bed. I have a 0730 VA appt.

 

I have to be up at 0430 tomorrow for work.... have a good night

 

Oof, you win! Good night.

 

Nice house. Looks very much like a Queen Anne Asymmetrical architect design. Love the color. Definitely will go well with a colorful land scape.

I grew up in a Victorian. My mom was a garden nut too. Was an awesome home.

 

Thanks - we feel very fortunate. After coming from a cookie cutter neighborhood with a horrible HOA, it’s a treat to live in the historic area of a small town with unique houses. Austin is creeping this way though so I’m sure we’ll be searching for the next town when this one stops being so small.

 

Near CBBT

 

Nice!

 

NOTHING better than doing projects with your kid. My son and I did a shed a few years back and we had a blast. And, best of all, he learned things.

He did a time lapse video with his GoPro if you'd like to check it out. Might want to turn down the sound.

https://youtu.be/uyGGLma8eyc

 

Finished the last few punch list items today for a 150x100 arena and barn project. This was a fun project! I did the whole project from start to finish in just over 3 months. Several other projects in the works.

 

Looks damn good!!! Remind me to hire you when I finally get land and horses!

 

That's awesome!

 

Thank you! I love what I do! I love timber frame and large exposed beams. I cant wait to start building large horse equestrian centers like the ones shown below. Expensive but beautiful.