What home improvement work did you do today?

Those frames are OK at best. I used one for a 4’ grate at our chicken coop and it still sagged after a year. Honestly - Aaron’s welding skills would yield a much stronger assembly than that chinesium pot metal. Just make sure to square it and brace it diagonally. Triangles form the strongest frame

 

That sounds like an excuse to buy a tool to me…
Or buddy with one of the contractors on your mega construction site. You’ve been there long enough to learn the value of horse trading

 

The machine I want to buy is around $3000.

I tried the horse trading thing. Problem is, since I work for the government as one of the client reps on site, it's considered a "conflict of interest". Apparently I'm not high enough up the chain to where people look the other way when there's a bit of corruption.

 

that sucks.
For a gate, seems you could use a harbor freight 110v welder and get nicer beads and penetration than the chinesium gate frame.

 

Having a new deck built. Timbertech Tigerwood

 

I used these on 6’ wide gates and had good luck with them. To be fair, I also had 4x4 goat panel stapled to the framing. Probably have some additional support.

 

Anyone with a quick bit of advice?
I can figure out what or how i should do with this. I am going to cover the mantle with a hollow black walnut boxbeam but also wanna do built in bookcases on the sides. Being that the fireplace has rough sides and a hearth that sticks out I don’t see anyway of scribing the bookcases to butt up to the fireplace and hearth. Am I left with just floating shelves or bookcases that leave 6” or so between themselves and the fireplace?

 

What about some leaning shelves....

 

No!

 

Could you just cut the mantle and hearth to be even, and just paint it white like the rest of it?

 

He wanted 'quick' advice, so that's what he gets; he didn't ask for good advice; or quality advice; or trendy advice; or the advice of a professional home decorator; or even the advice of a non-professional 'female of the house' type....

So, I have to disagree, this was more than appropriate

 

I cut a tree down. Being a self respecting homeowner like myself, I possess a petrol chainsaw.

 

We've transitioned to foreplay, huh???

 

Shhhh, don't tell everyone!!! Our little secret, rememberrrrr?!

 

That rainbow was making me wonder...

 

Could you go with a vertical beam / post to match your Walnut hearth notched out at the mantle and hearth and build your shelves off of that

 

My bad, Mistress

 

That rainbow was bequeathed to me by the one and only @Outbound

The rest of that mess was via some dude that built a T3SLA shrine in his garage

...now let's have some quiet time so @CodyP can log onto IKEA and peacefully order up some book shelfs

PS>>> Do you have an OFs, so I can log on and leave you a little somethin'

PPS>>>

 

Rather than proper floating shelves, why not run your shelves without end panels? If it were me I'd have the first shelf starting at the same height as the hearth, if not higher so the missus can put some of that flowery crap under them, support the first shelf with two verticals, let's say for argument's sake that they are 1/4 of the distance in from either end. Then stagger the verticals as you go up so that you have some captured ends and some open (making sure that the mantel falls within an open end), presumably you'd be looking at loading them with ornaments as well as books which means you could get away without book ends. If you have a larger collection, toss some of the greenery and build a proper bookcase along a full wall space.

 

Negative ghost rider. The wife wouldn’t go for that and it’s not our style.

I would be too nervous that it would chip and then I’d end up having to replace one or both.

That sounds interesting but not sure how it would look. I’ll try and find some pictures.

IKEA always has a solution huh lol

I can’t picture this so could you draw it? I think I like this asymmetrical idea

 

Proper rough sketch and rotten scale but you should get the idea, I’d have both sides match symmetrically, If you have enough lumber a 3” hollow box section for both verticals and shelves would look good and you can cleat the shelves to the wall in the same fashion as floating shelves and just dowel the uprights into the shelves.

Edit: If you go to the ceiling you could run full wall width once you clear the fireplace. Just depends how big you are planning on and if you are mixing ornamental with books or trying to stash the Bodleian Library in your home.

 

Yeah I like that idea. It would be ornamental and for books.

 

Just Google asymmetrical shelving and select images for some better visuals. I've seen them in some of the swanky houses I work on and they can look very nice in a contemporary setting.

 

Highlighted #1 usually goes hand in hand with owners falling into the #2 category....

 

Spent several days dealing with a toilet issue. I ran a tape snake, a 15' spinning snake and got nothing. I pulled the toilet and ran the snake from the bottom and got nothing. The snake was making thru with ease. I snaked the sewer line and put a lot of water down it and got nothing.
I remounted the toilet and continued to have flushing issues for just water.
I removed all the water from the bowl and used a little mirror to look up inside the toilet. I could see something green and knew it was a bath toy. Used a wire hanger with a hook bend and was able to pull it out.
The snakes kept going thru the hole and not grabbing it.

 

More garage organization than home improvement, but I built a stand for my outboard motor with lumber I had laying around.