Home Improvement Projects - Page 3

Clodfobble · 01-02-2005, 11:50 AM

Note: the "before" picture is from before we moved in, so the changes to the room on the other side of the doors all happened a long time ago.

xoxoxoBruce · 01-02-2005, 04:13 PM

Nice doors, I'm sold on those lever handles. Put one on the outside door for my Mom. Makes it much easier for us too.

Clodfobble · 01-02-2005, 08:22 PM

They're also really good for kid-hands. The littlest used to not be able to get through the sliding glass door without help (it doesn't get heat/AC so the door must stay closed except in ideal weather,) but now he's in and out of the playroom all day, like butter.

Clodfobble · 06-09-2005, 12:34 PM

Reviving this thread! BrianR, I want to see that furniture you were refinishing, and Griff, I demand pictures of that cherry flooring you said you were making. There was another thread around here where glatt (I think?) was installing new cabinetry in his bathroom, and we never got to see that finished either.

We've been continuing work on the backyard (ex-)pool. We got it to the point where all that remained was 8 metal uprights that had supported the pool structure, and a good 16 to 24 wooden 4x4s that had supported the deck structure, all sticking up out of the dirt surrounding the sandy pit. (Plus of course the now ragged edge of the deck at ground level, but that's almost a separate project. Pool first.) The sand isn't even just sand, there are layers of vinyl sheets underneath it, I guess to help it keep its bowl-like shape. Personally, I plan on just burying it with dirt when the time comes, since it's below ground level, but my husband thinks we need to dig around the sand and cut the vinyl out first, otherwise we'll have drainage problems. But we've agreed for now that the argument is premature and we'll ignore it for now.

SO! Our neighbor lent us a "farm jack," supposedly capable of pulling several tons upward. We tried it out on one of the metal uprights. It didn't even budge, and after pushing the lever with all our strength for several minutes, we gave up and pulled it away from the upright, to discover that we BENT the 2 inch thick solid iron rod that runs up the center of the jack. So we bought our neighbor a new farm jack. Then we decided we would dig some of the dirt out around one of the posts to maybe loosen it a little.

We dug.

And we dug.

Two feet down, we hit cement. Ah, excellent, now we've reached the little cement chunk that holds it in the ground, and we just need to dig outward to find the edge of it, and then we should be able to easily lever the whole thing out, right? (Ever seen an uprooted street sign? About a cubic foot of concrete at the base of the pole, usually all lumpy-shaped because they poured it straight into the dirt.) But as we spread the hole wider, we discovered that in fact this was no mere chunk of cement. This was a single huge RING of poured concrete that joined all the posts in a circle, like a freaking sidewalk.

So we rented a jackhammer. I had never actually seen one in person before. It was electric, and the tag said it weighed 55 pounds. I could barely move it around, and I certainly couldn't wield it when it was actually turned on. We worked for hours, him with the jackhammer and me with a shovel clearing out the debris he was creating. Finally, we cleared out all the cement on one side of the post (did I mention this shit is a foot thick??), towards the inside of the pool. Then we used a sledgehammer to knock the post out through this little passageway.

Congratulations. Only 24-32 more to go. Keep in mind, we dug for days around that post just to expose the cement in the first place. And the jackhammer cost $70 a day to rent. I've never been more demoralized in my whole life.

So we brought in a demolition contractor. We had brought one in several months ago, when we got our tax refund, but his quote was over $3000 and at this point we still thought it was POSSIBLE to do it ourselves, we were just toying with the idea of being frivolous. Now, the matter had moved far beyond what we "might" be willing to pay for. Fortunately, we told this second contractor not to worry about the remaining deck (which the first guy had included), we just wanted a price for removing all the vertical posts stuck in cement. His bid was less than half the other guy's, and miraculously included ripping out the entire RING of cement, not just the posts stuck in it.

Unfortunately we had a miscommunication about what day they were going to start, so I was awoken just before 8 AM by the superintendant ringing my doorbell. But for the last four hours, four burly guys in hardhats have been digging and jackhammering my backyard. It's so exciting!! One thing I noticed was their jackhammers are pneumatic. You can tell by looking at them that they weigh a lot less than ours did, and they're connected to a HUGE air compressor they dropped in my driveway.

I already went around and put notes of apology on my neighbors' doors about the jackhammering at 8 AM. But I mentioned that this was part of a continuing effort to remove what had previously been an awful eyesore towering above their own backyards (the original pool fence was around twelve feet tall.)

By the end of tomorrow, I will have nothing more than a huge hole in my backyard, plus of course the jagged ground-level deck that we told them to ignore. But we could cut that up and get rid of it within a day or two, we've only left it until now so we had something to walk on. I'm wondering if I could maybe even get them to take the dozen nasty-ass railroad ties in the back corner of the yard when they haul away all the concrete debris. We'd even load them into the trailer for them, if they've got the space.

Clodfobble · 06-09-2005, 12:34 PM

And the long shot:

wolf · 06-09-2005, 12:36 PM

You got a coupla chinese guys poking up outta that hole yet?

wolf · 06-09-2005, 12:39 PM

Quite a few apartment complexes around me have filled in their pools because of liability issues. They just back up a dumptruck to 'em and fill the hole. After a few years they have a lovely grassy area surrounded by a kidney shaped cement walkway.

glatt · 06-09-2005, 12:43 PM

My neighbor was removing his old chain link fence. He spent a day trying to get one post out. Then he bought a sawzall with a hacksaw blade and just cut the rest of the posts off just below the surface of the ground. Took him that day on the first post, and two hours on the rest of them.

01-02-2005, 04:13 PM	#32
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Nice doors, I'm sold on those lever handles. Put one on the outside door for my Mom. Makes it much easier for us too. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

06-09-2005, 12:34 PM	#34
Clodfobble UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 20,012	Reviving this thread! BrianR, I want to see that furniture you were refinishing, and Griff, I demand pictures of that cherry flooring you said you were making. There was another thread around here where glatt (I think?) was installing new cabinetry in his bathroom, and we never got to see that finished either. We've been continuing work on the backyard (ex-)pool. We got it to the point where all that remained was 8 metal uprights that had supported the pool structure, and a good 16 to 24 wooden 4x4s that had supported the deck structure, all sticking up out of the dirt surrounding the sandy pit. (Plus of course the now ragged edge of the deck at ground level, but that's almost a separate project. Pool first.) The sand isn't even just sand, there are layers of vinyl sheets underneath it, I guess to help it keep its bowl-like shape. Personally, I plan on just burying it with dirt when the time comes, since it's below ground level, but my husband thinks we need to dig around the sand and cut the vinyl out first, otherwise we'll have drainage problems. But we've agreed for now that the argument is premature and we'll ignore it for now. SO! Our neighbor lent us a "farm jack," supposedly capable of pulling several tons upward. We tried it out on one of the metal uprights. It didn't even budge, and after pushing the lever with all our strength for several minutes, we gave up and pulled it away from the upright, to discover that we BENT the 2 inch thick solid iron rod that runs up the center of the jack. So we bought our neighbor a new farm jack. Then we decided we would dig some of the dirt out around one of the posts to maybe loosen it a little. We dug. And we dug. Two feet down, we hit cement. Ah, excellent, now we've reached the little cement chunk that holds it in the ground, and we just need to dig outward to find the edge of it, and then we should be able to easily lever the whole thing out, right? (Ever seen an uprooted street sign? About a cubic foot of concrete at the base of the pole, usually all lumpy-shaped because they poured it straight into the dirt.) But as we spread the hole wider, we discovered that in fact this was no mere chunk of cement. This was a single huge RING of poured concrete that joined all the posts in a circle, like a freaking sidewalk. So we rented a jackhammer. I had never actually seen one in person before. It was electric, and the tag said it weighed 55 pounds. I could barely move it around, and I certainly couldn't wield it when it was actually turned on. We worked for hours, him with the jackhammer and me with a shovel clearing out the debris he was creating. Finally, we cleared out all the cement on one side of the post (did I mention this shit is a foot thick??), towards the inside of the pool. Then we used a sledgehammer to knock the post out through this little passageway. Congratulations. Only 24-32 more to go. Keep in mind, we dug for days around that post just to expose the cement in the first place. And the jackhammer cost $70 a day to rent. I've never been more demoralized in my whole life. So we brought in a demolition contractor. We had brought one in several months ago, when we got our tax refund, but his quote was over $3000 and at this point we still thought it was POSSIBLE to do it ourselves, we were just toying with the idea of being frivolous. Now, the matter had moved far beyond what we "might" be willing to pay for. Fortunately, we told this second contractor not to worry about the remaining deck (which the first guy had included), we just wanted a price for removing all the vertical posts stuck in cement. His bid was less than half the other guy's, and miraculously included ripping out the entire RING of cement, not just the posts stuck in it. Unfortunately we had a miscommunication about what day they were going to start, so I was awoken just before 8 AM by the superintendant ringing my doorbell. But for the last four hours, four burly guys in hardhats have been digging and jackhammering my backyard. It's so exciting!! One thing I noticed was their jackhammers are pneumatic. You can tell by looking at them that they weigh a lot less than ours did, and they're connected to a HUGE air compressor they dropped in my driveway. I already went around and put notes of apology on my neighbors' doors about the jackhammering at 8 AM. But I mentioned that this was part of a continuing effort to remove what had previously been an awful eyesore towering above their own backyards (the original pool fence was around twelve feet tall.) By the end of tomorrow, I will have nothing more than a huge hole in my backyard, plus of course the jagged ground-level deck that we told them to ignore. But we could cut that up and get rid of it within a day or two, we've only left it until now so we had something to walk on. I'm wondering if I could maybe even get them to take the dozen nasty-ass railroad ties in the back corner of the yard when they haul away all the concrete debris. We'd even load them into the trailer for them, if they've got the space. Attached Images

06-09-2005, 12:34 PM	#35
Clodfobble UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 20,012	And the long shot: Attached Images

06-09-2005, 12:36 PM	#36
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	You got a coupla chinese guys poking up outta that hole yet? __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

06-09-2005, 12:39 PM	#37
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	Quite a few apartment complexes around me have filled in their pools because of liability issues. They just back up a dumptruck to 'em and fill the hole. After a few years they have a lovely grassy area surrounded by a kidney shaped cement walkway. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

01-02-2005, 11:50 AM	#31
Clodfobble UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 20,012	Note: the "before" picture is from before we moved in, so the changes to the room on the other side of the doors all happened a long time ago.

01-02-2005, 08:22 PM	#33
Clodfobble UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 20,012	They're also really good for kid-hands. The littlest used to not be able to get through the sliding glass door without help (it doesn't get heat/AC so the door must stay closed except in ideal weather,) but now he's in and out of the playroom all day, like butter.

06-09-2005, 12:43 PM	#38
glatt ™ Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Arlington, VA Posts: 27,717	My neighbor was removing his old chain link fence. He spent a day trying to get one post out. Then he bought a sawzall with a hacksaw blade and just cut the rest of the posts off just below the surface of the ground. Took him that day on the first post, and two hours on the rest of them.

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