I dig getting my hands dirty and I know a few others do as well. Our friend @Bwax had a great idea to start a thread about it! So I did it before he could!
I’ll start! Currently remodeling my deck and replaced the decking with Trex. Everything went wrong and I’m all good with that!
Lots of small stuff left to do but I’ll knock them out this week. Then the stairs. Have to add a stringer and redo all the posts. Can’t wait!
Before:
After:
Of course with all my projects, no levels allowed!
Might be a slow moving thread. I’m guessing if people are in the middle of projects they are tired and stressed. Maybe some people will start to trickle in after they wrap things up, post photos, do a write up.
I’d like to see some studio builds too. Even just soundproofing, building furniture, stands, acoustic panels, etc. Personally, I’ll be building some acoustic panels and shelving for my studio sometime this year.
I’d post something if I had anything going on right now. Next big thing will be some DIY exterior siding replacement/repair this fall. Not too sexy but needs doing.
I’m having a hard time not making “deck” jokes. This is a mature community and I know we don’t appreciate low brow humor.
I’m going to build a counter in the corner of my kitchen starting this weekend. I dont know how to, but I went to the library and got some old Time-Life reference books and have clocked at least 2000 hours of This Old House over the course of my life so I feel confident. I’m pretty sure its just a box that you hang from the wall.
As for your nice big deck, looks lke it can hold up even the heaviest freeloaders?
Good luck on the counter!
When we bought the house, the deck didn’t have any lag bolts installed to the house and was incredibly unstable for us and the freeloaders. Insane for a second story deck!
The deck was also covered in screening and looked like a chicken coop! Their poor decisions made the house very affordable!
No sexy projects at the moment, but I have a huge list of maintenance jobs to do.
Mortar repairs, painting and re-varnishing, bits of rotted timber to replace, bits of yard fencing to keep rabbits out, lots of small irrigation and drainage fixes.
We’re slowly building a paddock shelter for some sheep, and I will eventually get around to building some possum-proof raised and raised enclosed vegetable garden beds.
Me too! I so procrastinate with the small stuff! Dive head first into the big projects but ignore all the shit that should have been done first!
replace damaged siding with Hardieboard
roof budget replacement
landscaping front and backyard
pool resurfacing
kitchen remodel
Here’s my home improvement origin story. 
House is a 1956 fixer-upper. 3/2 single-story ranch. Already done a ton of work but have a ton left. We pay cash for everything so it’s been a several year process of fixing things as we get the money. Doesn’t help that real life also happens and creates more projects/expenses as you go - appliances breaking, trees falling on the roof, septic system going kaput, etc.
I have damaged siding to replace as well. House was originally all brick. Sometime in the 90’s there was an extension added (larger kitchen, laundry room, and screen porch). They went with T1-11 plywood siding - not the greatest choice, imo.
The tricky part is, only a couple of walls have some water damage, rot, warping. But most of the siding is still in decent shape. I’m currently debating if I should just replace a couple of the T1-11 panels ($), or if I should upgrade the entire siding to Hardie or vinyl and thus future-proof things ($$$$). I would do Shou Sugi Ban if I had my choice!
Other than that my list looks like:
And the “larger projects” aren’t just solely for aesthetics - things are actually damaged and in need of fixing (non-working fireplace, water damaged ceilings, several broken screens on the porch, broken sink, damaged tiles, etc.), so might as well do a total update of those areas while I’m at it.
Just finished up this pedalboard that I wanted to sit on top of the new amp.
Also had to make the unfortunate decision that the 3d printers must stay in my music room because the garage gets wayyyyyyy too hot. So I whipped up this two tier stand hoping to reduce their footprint as much as possible.
It’s pretty rough so I’ll be squaring everything up with a belt sander, filling and painting to make it look all nice and fancy.
Looking good!
What timing, I was gonna ask what everyone’s DIY projects are right now, but this is close enough.
My favorite drum shop here in Osaka is moving locations next month after 40 years in their current one. They built a brand new soundproof drum booth for trying out drums and cymbals so I asked them if I could have the door, window, and any materials from the old one. They said have at it, so now I’m in the planning phase of how to use the materials to build a drum booth at home. The door and window saved me a lot of money, but I’m not sure if the padded wall covering is salvageable… Who knows, 40 years being in one spot could have all kinds of funk behind it. We’ll see. Either way, it’s gonna be a loooooooong road ahead, but hopefully ending with me being able to play drums pretty much anytime.
Other than that, I bought this house 4 years ago and had it renovated, but there are still some projects to do. I have several boulders in the yard I want to get rid of, I also need to plant grass in some spots where it’s just weeds and soil. The yard gets pretty overgrown quick so I need to plant some grass otherwise it turns to weeds…
Also, the pantry doesn’t have enough shelves, so I need to build more. Need to add shelves in my studio, and need to add more shelves in my game room… “Poor” me. LOL.
Been a good summer for home improvement in our little apartment. Redid my keyboard space, and my wife was able to make a little nook for herself with a water feature and some plants. Got new window ACs too.
Next up though, I think I have to form a tenant union because our landlord is terrible, our super is terrible, and it seems like half the apartments in this building are leaking. I hate meeting people, I hate remembering names, and I hate taking on new responsibility. But I’m really good at confrontation and initiating projects. So I guess here I go!
I sometimes wonder how different my life would be if I lived in an apartment.
I would guesstimate I spend on average 10-20 hours per week in maintenance and upkeep on things that wouldn’t exist for me if I lived in an apartment, and probably the equivalent time in thinking, planning and daydreaming about said tasks.
I’m curious if there’s any correlation between living in a detached house vs apartment and things like creative hobby output etc.
Which is a segue, because in recent years I have probably spent as much if not more time on building desks, stands, racks and a pedalboard to support my music hobby as I have actually making/playing music (guitar playing excepted).
There are other more specific threads you should cross post these projects to. If I was being pedantic I would say these are a bit off topic to the thread, but then show me a home that isn’t improved by DIY pedalboards and furniture and I’ll eat a tophat.
Agreed on all accounts, just getting movement in the thread as the homie @Bwax suggested. Also correct, as a matter of loopholes, this is all in an effort to improve the dojo.
I will say, in posting this, it dawned on me that we don’t actually have an all encompassing Pedals and Boards thread at least not that I’ve seen. Would be dope!
One thing I like about DIY and home improvement is that thing where you mull over a detail or problem with a project for ages and you don’t get started because you don’t know how you’re going to deal with it, and then all of a sudden the solution just comes to you out of nowhere when you’re not even really thinking about it.
I’m planning on building some raised vegetable garden beds using roofing sheets. I have an existing enclosure with round treated pine poles which will form the outside of the garden bed (it will be a big U shape). But I couldn’t figure out how I wanted to deal with the corners. The roof sheets will go on the inside face of the poles for strength, but then how do you deal (simply and easily) with two sheets joining at 90 degrees on the inside of a round pole?
The solution that came to me is to run boards around the inside of the poles that are offset at each corner so there’s a flat right angle where two sheets meet. And then use some right angle flashing vertically to seal or at least make the corners neat.
Nothing crazy or ingenious in that solution, but between the last time I had been thinking about it and now I had been looking at flashing in the hardware store for a different purpose, and seen something with latticed(?) boards, so those new bits of information had been percolating away until wham! kapow! solution to my problem flashes in my mind out of nowhere!
My wife is out of town so I thought I’d surprise her by doing the closet project we keep putting off- sold our old wardrobes, got ikea delivered same day and spent today putting together the korpuses. New Paxes are crazy tho, they just…unfold? and then you slot in some pre-configured panels and you can get an entire one done in about 5 minutes if you have help. The corner unit was the old style, and took me two hours 
tomorrow i do the interiors
Looks great!
Kyiv, Ukraine.
not willing to invest a cent in any home improvements until the war is over.
I mean, voluntarily.
because you never know where the next drone or rocket strikes.
(four drones stroke somewhere in the neighborhood for the last hour)
My home improvement budget fund goals:
Stay safe my friend! It’s absolutely awful what you are dealing with. Wishing you the best!
