Zen Garden

Everything I post on here is my own handy-work, so this post is a little different as I didn't have a hnad in this at all. Gardening is really out of my wheelhouse and skill. The front porch area, fashioned by my counterpart, was definitely a step up from what it was (here's the initial work to pretty it up). After a few years it was looking a little tired however and something new that worked better for the space was in order. In only a day, a new Zen garden was whipped up and completed. I think it looks pretty awesome, and with a new bench that was created from a 6x12 beam scrap that we found on the side of the road - the seating is more appropriate and isn't so cramped.  

Before

Looking a little empty now.

After with added plants.

Old seating still there

A close up.

Some nice little mosses in there.

Little gnome enjoying the space.

With more appropriate seat... and bonsai tree.

Another look.

Scrapin' n' Painting

I started back on the nightmare that is the back of my house. Paint baked by the sun over decades, falling off the wood; looking terrible. Extensive scraping and sanding was needed to remove as much of the decaying paint as possible to prepare the surface for new paint. Over the last months, here's the before and after photos, and as it stands, it's not all completely done.

Windowed section all ready for paint.

Just starting on the west section.

You can see the "sanding line"

All done east section (although only one coat so far).

Everything put the hardest the reach sections.

And next, for the toughest, hardest to reach sections. I had to fashion something so that I didn't slide off the roof to my death/limb damage. I call it the roof hook and step. Patent pending...

It kinda worked...

Shed all done

To complete the last post of mass outdoor activities - here's a look at the finished shed. I painted it the same color as the studio, or at least it's supposed to be, but they don't match. First time I've ever had paint color codes not match, but oh well.

Added trim all around and roof has proper drip edge.

Can see the door catch on the inside of the door.

Large shelf added that's 2 foot deep. Will add another little one up top.

Outdoor Exploits

I haven't posted anything for a while, but not because I haven't been up to much. Spring and Summer has been a busy one this year, and well, blogging was forgotten about. So, here's a quick rap-up of what I've been attacking in the garden and outdoors as that's where the majority of projects have been this year.

First off, I had to move the raised planter box to a different spot. When I first put it in, it had a decent amount of sun, but the tree grew... and grew... and then it was in a mostly shaded area.

Digging out all the dirt took a while.

Split in two and moved.

Fed irrigation to them via an existing sprinkler top.

Inside pipes of the first box.

Connection to drip line at the top.

Plants are in and ready for the year.

Plants seem to like the new boxes.

Next up, I had a shed at the side of the house that was fairly small (6' x 3') and was just used to dump unwanted stuff. The chipboard walls of it were starting to show their age too, and it was looking sad and weathered. My goal was to get it into a more useable state.

Only shot I could find of the original shed.

Rough framing done.

Paneling added and door.

Mostly done.

And finally, the never ending task that I started years ago and never finished - repainting the back of the house that's falling apart. As mentioned before, the sun cooked off the existing paint/stain. A lot of it just pulled straight off, then a fair bit of scraping and sanding was necessary to remove loose stuff and blend the bare wood to paint.

Starting to paint. Certainly makes a difference.

Fancy up the Stairs

After years of having no official stair treads, I finally got around to cutting them and almost installing them. Can't remember if I mentioned the purchase of them in a previous post, as it was a while ago now, but I got the "retro" stair treads at Floor and Decor. They are red oak, super solid, and the price was really reasonable. 

Before. Raw wood steps with overhangs cut off.

Test fit of steps (not glued/nailed yet)

I used the "washer technique" to match the contour of the uneven edge.

Special tool to template the boards for the correct cut.

Steps dry-fit.

Turns out the stairs have been in their unfinished state since 2017 and this post. Shame on me. In my defense, I was waiting until the kitchen floor was done so I could match the stairs with the same wood / stain as the kitchen floors. Since then, however, I decided fairly recently not to do wood floors in the kitchen, so I'm just going to poly the stairs now, which won't match, but will complement the floor I've picked out for the kitchen.

Poly painting.

Assembly line.

Nice and shiny.

Glued and nailed down.