What kind of projects can you do around your house?

I’ve got another odd one to add to the list now. I rebuilt my patio table It’s a rather large 5’x5’ bar height table. Had it for about 15 years but the shale/tile top had gone beyond repairing again. So I salvaged the ornamental iron legs and built a now steel frame and support and had it powder coated. But the pain was I poured a concrete top for it. Made a stainless steel pan only 3/4” high and filled it with 8800psi countertop concrete. Let it cure for 3-4 weeks, stained it and just put the fourth and final coat of epoxy sealant on it tonight. Every time I turned around on this project something went wrong. First I kept the concrete damp for about a week....should’ve kept it wet for the full three weeks. Let it dry out over a weekend (did it in my shop at work) and when I came in Monday morning it had curled upwards so that the 4 corners pulled up out of the pan.. Put wet towels on it and it would lay down flat within an hour but whenever let it dry it would curl back up. The staining was pretty uneventful but I intended to make it look like granite or marble.......wrong. It looks pretty cool and natural but definitely not like I envisioned before. Anyway, I cracked it across the middle when moving it but noticed that helped the corners sit back down flush so I cracked it the other way on purpose. Then the epoxy...FML. I rolled on the first coat like the directions said and got a ton of air bubbles that took about 1.5 hours to pop. Looked great when I left for the day. Next morning it had a ton of bubbles again, most coming out of the 4 major cracks but some inexplicably out on the flat surface. So I wet sanded it to remove all the bubbles and put another coat on. Figured Id use a flat flexible spreader to reduce the bubbles but still got quite a few just out of the cracks this time. It was looking pretty good but I had to sand out those bubbles and planned on one final coat of epoxy. Figured I’d brush on a thin coat just to shine up the sand marks and I’d be done. Well the stuff is supposed to kind of self level but I put it on so thin that the brush marks stayed in it. So tonight had to wet sand the whole thing again, used the flat spreader method and put the last coat of epoxy in it. It looks really good, finally, and I think I’m done with it.

My advice- don’t ever try to pour concrete that thin and you can watch all the YouTube videos you want but those guys typically know what they’re doing and make it look easier than it really is. It came out great in the end but it was a lot more work and there were little problems every step of the way. I originally wanted to get a pice of granite or quartz cut to fit it and just drop it in. The $1200 price tag for that headed me to the concrete solution. Still got about $500 in it but it should be very durable and last forever. I’m glad now I did it but it was about a two month process. One things for sure, nobody has a table remotely like it.

 
Comfortably Numb said:
I’ve got another odd one to add to the list now. I rebuilt my patio table It’s a rather large 5’x5’ bar height table. Had it for about 15 years but the shale/tile top had gone beyond repairing again. So I salvaged the ornamental iron legs and built a now steel frame and support and had it powder coated. But the pain was I poured a concrete top for it. Made a stainless steel pan only 3/4” high and filled it with 8800psi countertop concrete. Let it cure for 3-4 weeks, stained it and just put the fourth and final coat of epoxy sealant on it tonight. Every time I turned around on this project something went wrong. First I kept the concrete damp for about a week....should’ve kept it wet for the full three weeks. Let it dry out over a weekend (did it in my shop at work) and when I came in Monday morning it had curled upwards so that the 4 corners pulled up out of the pan.. Put wet towels on it and it would lay down flat within an hour but whenever let it dry it would curl back up. The staining was pretty uneventful but I intended to make it look like granite or marble.......wrong. It looks pretty cool and natural but definitely not like I envisioned before. Anyway, I cracked it across the middle when moving it but noticed that helped the corners sit back down flush so I cracked it the other way on purpose. Then the epoxy...FML. I rolled on the first coat like the directions said and got a ton of air bubbles that took about 1.5 hours to pop. Looked great when I left for the day. Next morning it had a ton of bubbles again, most coming out of the 4 major cracks but some inexplicably out on the flat surface. So I wet sanded it to remove all the bubbles and put another coat on. Figured Id use a flat flexible spreader to reduce the bubbles but still got quite a few just out of the cracks this time. It was looking pretty good but I had to sand out those bubbles and planned on one final coat of epoxy. Figured I’d brush on a thin coat just to shine up the sand marks and I’d be done. Well the stuff is supposed to kind of self level but I put it on so thin that the brush marks stayed in it. So tonight had to wet sand the whole thing again, used the flat spreader method and put the last coat of epoxy in it. It looks really good, finally, and I think I’m done with it.

My advice- don’t ever try to pour concrete that thin and you can watch all the YouTube videos you want but those guys typically know what they’re doing and make it look easier than it really is. It came out great in the end but it was a lot more work and there were little problems every step of the way. I originally wanted to get a pice of granite or quartz cut to fit it and just drop it in. The $1200 price tag for that headed me to the concrete solution. Still got about $500 in it but it should be very durable and last forever. I’m glad now I did it but it was about a two month process. One things for sure, nobody has a table remotely like it.
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I only read the first couple sentences and the last couple sentences and I know now not to try to do anything with concrete, ever. But I was already going in that direction.

Moiraine said:
It's a drinking fountain for buttholes.
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I was gross last year...

But the bidet is still awesome. I'm a lady, so I of course have no use for it. But I'm told it's awesome.

 
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I built a pergola summer before last over a concrete fish pond in my back yard.  It's pretty big, about 8' tall, 10' wide (rafters are a bit over 15') and 19' long.  I did it without any assistance.  The hardest part (since I didn't have an assistant) was getting the six support poles to stand perfectly upright while I bolted 2x6s around the top of them.  Now I'm thinking about expanding the fish pond and putting in a new filter system (--among about a dozen other projects I'm working on).  LOL   

Also, I  bought a full size bandsaw a couple months ago.  93" blade.   So I've been fooling around with little wood projects around the house.  

 
I'm a teacher so I have way too much time on my hands in the summer. My wife both loves and hates it. I've built a bathroom in our basement, ripped up tile and laid down engineered hardwood in the kitchen. I've put up backsplash in  the kitchen and turned a closet in the kitchen in to a pantry/closet. I've built a pergola over our deck and installed way too many ceiling fans and toilets. About the only thing that I don't like to mess with is electrical. We just moved in to a new house over Christmas break and I have way too many projects adding up already. We have a son with special needs, so I've also had to build gates up in various places in our house to keep him out of areas that he could hurt himself. My wife just informed me the other day that I need to build her a garden shed this summer.

 
Moiraine said:
I installed... a bidet.

I now know how toilets work.
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I have to ask, what/why did you need to install a bidet? That's pretty uncommon and most houses don't even have a spot for one.  Is it in your place and do you like it?  Don't worry, I'm not trying to be creepy but I've been thinking about installing one of those fancy bidet toilet seats that adds that functionality to a toilet. The better ones with warm water, drying, etc. Can run $350 or more so I've been dragging my feet.

 
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Comfortably Numb said:
I have to ask, what/why did you need to install a bidet? That's pretty uncommon and most houses don't even have a spot for one.  Is it in your place and do you like it?  Don't worry, I'm not trying to be creepy but I've been thinking about installing one of those fancy bidet toilet seats that adds that functionality to a toilet. The better ones with warm water, drying, etc. Can run $350 or more so I've been dragging my feet.
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She wants her and her man's private parts nice and clean!!!  Nothing wrong with that!!!

 
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Comfortably Numb said:
I have to ask, what/why did you need to install a bidet? That's pretty uncommon and most houses don't even have a spot for one.  Is it in your place and do you like it?  Don't worry, I'm not trying to be creepy but I've been thinking about installing one of those fancy bidet toilet seats that adds that functionality to a toilet. The better ones with warm water, drying, etc. Can run $350 or more so I've been dragging my feet.
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What Husk said and it also reduces TP usage.

 
Comfortably Numb said:
I have to ask, what/why did you need to install a bidet? That's pretty uncommon and most houses don't even have a spot for one.  Is it in your place and do you like it?  Don't worry, I'm not trying to be creepy but I've been thinking about installing one of those fancy bidet toilet seats that adds that functionality to a toilet. The better ones with warm water, drying, etc. Can run $350 or more so I've been dragging my feet.
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I've been trying to convince my wife we need a bidet for a few years now.

 
Moiraine said:
What Husk said and it also reduces TP usage.
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Curious where you installed it. In a new bathroom or in an existing bathroom that had enough extra space?  I'd love to put one in our master bath but there isn't a place for it without remodeling the whole room. Typically they install next to an existing toilet.

 
ColoradoHusk said:
I have never looked into them seriously, but there are plenty of bidets that can be attached to existing toilets on the market now.  I am not sure how effective they are at certain price points.
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I've been doing a little research on them. I know quite a bit about plumbing and the add-ons that are under $300 look pretty much like junk. Some of the bidet seats in the $350 to $700 range seem to have good user reviews and look to be quality built.

 
I want to do a "floating" deck this summer...basically about 12 inches high and I really just want to use deck blocks.  It seems like it should be easy...but then again I am a moron.

 
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