New Generation Homeowners

Ever wanted to just hammer a bloody nail into the wall but couldn't cuz it wasn't your house? Just a cute little picture frame of your kid was all but no, it's not happening cuz it AIN'T YOUR HOUSE!

Anyway, there are some pretty obvious pros & cons to owning your own place, but perhaps the biggest difference in favor of owning lies in your freedom to pretty much go nuts on your property and make whatever the hell kinda improvements you want.

The key word here is "improvements", so it's important that this somewhat describes the end-product, if you know what I mean. And if you live with others, things would need to be counseled about.

I've invested substantial blood, sweat, & tears in rented houses only to see them torn down and rendered back to their original state. To me, it's not the tearing down of personal projects that makes me unhappy, but the feeling that steps backward were taken &/or immense time was wasted.

Family Carpenters

I find that there are 4 main pillars to construction/carpentry that make up its core(not in order of importance):

1. Looks.
2. Strength & durability.
3. Functionality.
4. Cost & time spent building.

The hard part is finding the right balance between the 4. As Family carpenters, we often consider certain factors more then others when embarking on projects, such as cost & time spent etc, and neglect other crucial aspects of the job.

B-day Package

October 14th was a very special day for many of us, a day on which my love, Kari, was born into this world. I used this as an excuse to make something that she had been wanting for quite some time. Don't look too close, it's not perfect.
It's a custom laptop hard case made of wood, varnished with mahogany, some simple detail work, and souped up with some pretty awesome hardware. This is possibly the most intricate project I've worked on (maybe not too hard to beat).
Well, all she was really asking for was a computer bag...but I guess I went the extra mile. It's just so hard to find a nice computer bag for a reasonable price these days.

Plumbing for Homeowners

We've had to call our local plumbers on more then one occasion since moving here - talented chaps they are - as our hot water line has been springing leaks left & right. Apparently, whoever laid the original pipes did a pretty shoddy job, using inferior materials, and the result is that several years down the line, nothing short a' geysers start springin' up all over the place.

You can learn more then a thing or 2 from these guys as they like to use state of the art equipment to fuse plumbing together. That's right, fuse. -All the joint connections have pins, with one end embedded into the wall that makes contact with the adjoining pipe, and the other sticking out. You then make electrical contact from the business end of the pin to the machine, effectively melting and fusing the 2 plastic joints together.

We've found that you can get a 50% water bill reimbursement if you have all the right paperwork together. They subtract 50% of the difference from your last water bill, so although you don't get everything back, it's better then nothing. Anyway, it pays to know where your pipes are and to know that leaking mains make a distinct noise that the sooner noticed, the better - obviously.

Another way to catch a leak early is by occasionally checking the water meter when you know people are out or late at night. If the dial is spinning when no one's using anything then you know you're dealing with a geyser. A spinning water dial and an unusual noise coming from your sink areas are telltale signs. The higher pitch the sound, the smaller the leak, and if there are error displays on your boiler or other such abnormal behavior, the leak is probably hot.

I've dealt with these problems 1st hand, and they're no fun. Of course for me, dealing with it just meant calling the plumbers, but you may have other options. One thing I do know though, is, if you don't know what you're doing, don't try it! It'll cost more initially, but it'll be worth it in the long run. Or, start studying and making friends among professionals, who can vouch for your work, so you can do a safe & reliable job.

Shoddy Characters

I could seriously write a book the size of an encyclopedia on the short-comings of some Japanese carpenters! I certainly don't hold even a candle to many excellent carpenters out there, but for those whom this may concern, I have somewhat of a beef against you.

When you ask for a square, you want a square! You want a shape that has 4 nice, razor sharp corners - not a circle! I'd say that once you start cutting the corners that comprise the heart & soul of your trade, you've gone 4 steps too far. Here are a few examples:

-(Extremely)Crooked light switches and wall sockets.
-Floor joists that are meant only to support the delicate footsteps of our late grandparents, resulting in dips in the flooring after several years of use.
-Ceiling panels that flutter up and down like bedsheets, supported by nothing but a couple of funny looking nails resembling fishing hooks.

Yup, little things are big things in the bigger scheme of things, and I believe if you're gonna do a job, then it should be done well. Amen? -Don't get me wrong, next I'm gonna make a post on the good points of Japanese carpenters - of which there are many. See ya there.

Bye-Bye Dingy Farmer Genkan

I had to use the little buzz saw to cut all the way around the floor as the plywood extended under the door frames surrounding the landing.
I then smacked on the new flooring - after thoroughly reinforcing the floor joists of course.
And here's the new floor.
This is the wall to the left while facing the direction the above photos were taken - we are facing the opposite direction in this photo explaining why it's on the right side. Note the totally awesome t&g boards lining the walls.

Local Supermen

You're old, helpless, and just ran your car off the shoulder of the road. Imagine the look on your face when it dawns on you that there won't be any tow trucks on call today. This was December 31st of 2007. That's right, New Years Eve my friends.
Maybe it was boredom, or maybe it was our inborn instinct to save, but as heroes to the rescue, we were at the scene of the tragedy in the blink of an eye.
But ttl, we can never do anything unselfishly without getting rewarded in some way. The dear, sweet old lady promptly gave us the bag of McDon's she had just bought for her and her family's lunch, and slipped us an envelope containing 5 figures besides.

What a way to end the year! Isn't the Lord good to us? I just dug this photo up and thought it would be great to let ppl know about it. The pic was taken right after pushing the vehicle out.

Offensive-Friendly Parking

We had been battling with crowded and inconvenient parking for quite some time, but tx to my grandfather, who sponsored this project, we were able to do something about it. Our first idea, thinking it would be cheaper, was to make a wooden bridge with a concrete mold built over it. But after calculating the cost of over a thousand liters/1 cubic meter of concrete, as well as the effort required to mix it, we changed over to concrete "U" channels. See below.
The upside-down concrete "U" channels are strong, the right size and shape, and provide the air-pocket needed for gutter maintenance. - Probably the better choice in this situation.
Here's how it looks after leveling and gravel. We want to eventually get some nicer looking gravel, as well as put up a nice hedge and fence, some nice garden lights, tire stoppers etc, but this'll do for now. A big THANK YOU to my grandfather for his help!

Shelf Experiment

Experimenting with new designs is always fun and this time was no exception. I used some funky log splits for the verticals giving it the log look, and ripped down an old 10x10 to make the frame with flooring as the platforms. The wood was so old with bug holes everywhere, I sanded it the best I could and just splattered it with the blackest paint I could find. -A fairly universal solution to such a problem. Of course if the bug is still in there you'll have a problem down the line, but what the heck, I only spent 2 days on this thing.

TSC Garbage

Things were gettin' just a tad too unhygienic in our previous garbage situation - I reckon we ain't the only ones with this dilemma eh? Anyway, after checking things out with "the Carpenter", I grabbed my trusty ol' partner Ob and got to work making this new one. Whaddaya think?
The backside of this 200 kg shed is resting on a 3 cm ledge protruding from the concrete wall you see in the back, with stakes and angled stabilizers latching onto the wall to keep it stable etc. 3 cm might not seem like much to rest so much weight on, but because the stakes are driven so deeply into the ground, and the stabilizers are made out of such hefty wood as well as tightly joined to the main body, I'd say it would take a serious act of God to make this thing budge.
Check out the finished product! With the tarp stretched across the front, our garbage is now safe from prying eyes.