Home Improvement/Remodel Thread

[bigbadbuff]

51 minutes ago, Tugboat said:

 

I've definitely learned over the years that this sort of knowledge is really easy to take for granted.  People will always say stuff like, "just youtube it, there's a tutorial for everything!".  And generally, that's true.  But they almost always rely on some sort of baseline, background understanding of what you're doing, how to use tools and things properly, and just a whole bunch of unmentioned "common sense" stuff glossed over that you actually just learn from doing other similar things a bunch of times over the years.  If you try to tackle things based on a quick youtubing without that background knowledge and technique, you're going to end up with probably disastrous results that just make the problem worse.

 

Like...there's a core skillset that i've realized i take for granted at times.  Familiarity with a large breadth of "handy" stuff that i've picked up from growing up with a father who grew up as a farmer, shop, mechanics, electronics classes and stuff in high school, working my way through school doing a variety of labor jobs, working on my own car because poor.  Just picking up all these weird little skills and tricks and things without really thinking about it.

 

One thing i might suggest to remedy some of this though, if you're serious about becoming more "handy", is to seek out a local trade school/polytechnik.  I don't know about where you are, but the one here offers some sort of "open workshop" type things.  Supposedly you just go in for a Saturday or a few evenings during the week something, and learn from tradespeople in training, how to do general sort of stuff with tools and things.  Here at least, i guess it's part of the curriculum for the students, to demonstrate some mastery by "teaching" amateurs how to do a thing properly and safely.

Bunch of different "courses" like carpentry or welding or plumbing or whatever you want.  Obviously costs a bit of money to sign up, but i know the amount of money i've saved over my life already from being fairly "handy", adds up to something pretty darn significant.  So it's probably not a bad investment.  As a first time homeowner, it sounds like you're probably discovering exactly that.

 

 

I only know this because i looked into learning to weld at one point.  That's one skill i never did pick up in life.  And i don't really want to learn from my dad, because he's a kind of **** welder.  Which i know, because i have a bunch of welder friends who are pretty obsessive about their work and talk about/show it off a lot.  But also, hate their jobs and the last thing they want to do when they get off work welding...is teach somebody like me how to weld.  I'm also not really in the same city as them anymore anyway, and don't have the time to actually follow up on learning to weld these days.

 

But the sort of "open to public" casual trade school programs definitely seem like a good thing to look into in your situation.  You're not going to become a master at anything, but just learning the basics of a handful of things should start to give you a foundation to understand how to "self teach" on a variety of other random tasks that come up.  Which is really what being "handy" is all about.  Having that framework to sus out when one thing is kind of applicable to another thing, and working from there.  A proverbial "skillset tool belt" to go with the actual tool belt.

This is very good advice if i could find the time and desire to go to one of those classes haha. Like i get frustrated at simple stuff like reading directions for hanging sliding glass door blinds lmao. I’m so impatient 

[bigbadbuff]

5 hours ago, vike daddy said:

what are you good at? what skilld DO you have that others would want?

find yourself a buddy who's a good carpenter/fixer upper type and trade him with what you do and he doesn't.

 

you wouldn't have been able to buy a house without having some marketable skill that has helped you.

I work in sales, and i’m very good at it. 

[Tugboat]

18 hours ago, bigbadbuff said:

This is very good advice if i could find the time and desire to go to one of those classes haha. Like i get frustrated at simple stuff like reading directions for hanging sliding glass door blinds lmao. I’m so impatient 

Fair enough.  I didn't have time to learn to weld at this point either.  😆

 

But that's definitely the catch with becoming "handy".  It takes time.  There are some shortcuts, but they also still take time.  You have to really want to do it i think.  If you're playing catch-up.  It's a lot easier to learn things when it just accumulates over the years.

 

 

My whole life at this point basically revolves around drawing diagrams and writing instructions for exactly how to build or install things.  So i guess i'm kind of the opposite.  lol.  But i find that so many times, just having done stuff materially, gives me a way better perspective on how it works.  Saves me a lot of time and headaches compared to some peers, when i understand what makes something completely impossible on infeasible to actually do.

Edited November 9, 2022 by Tugboat

[RaidersAreOne]

Renovated 95% of our very, very original 1981 home. I am super impressed with it and added so much value.

After a year-ish away from major renos I have that itch to tackle the big unfinished basement. It has concrete walls + floors (no insulation/drywalling yet). Bare wooden rafters. Pretty much open floor plan, but has the utilities hub annoyingly against a wall but in the middle of the area.

Any ideas for making an unfinished basement look nice? We don't have the money or time to do a full renovation, but wouldn't mind spending a bit to spruce it up. I really like the looks of this:

Painting the floors/walls/rafters. Some new lighting. Curtain off the furnace/boiler, etc.

Any fun ideas/suggestions/photos!?

 

[Malfatron]

1 hour ago, RaidersAreOne said:

Renovated 95% of our very, very original 1981 home. I am super impressed with it and added so much value.

After a year-ish away from major renos I have that itch to tackle the big unfinished basement. It has concrete walls + floors (no insulation/drywalling yet). Bare wooden rafters. Pretty much open floor plan, but has the utilities hub annoyingly against a wall but in the middle of the area.

Any ideas for making an unfinished basement look nice? We don't have the money or time to do a full renovation, but wouldn't mind spending a bit to spruce it up. I really like the looks of this:

Painting the floors/walls/rafters. Some new lighting. Curtain off the furnace/boiler, etc.

Any fun ideas/suggestions/photos!?

 

Shop vac coozy

[vike daddy]

2 hours ago, RaidersAreOne said:

but has the utilities hub annoyingly against a wall but in the middle of the area.

 

build yourself a cabinet storage area covering up the gas meter. when all the doors to it are closed, it will just look like a regualr cabinet.

[Tugboat]

8 hours ago, RaidersAreOne said:

Renovated 95% of our very, very original 1981 home. I am super impressed with it and added so much value.

After a year-ish away from major renos I have that itch to tackle the big unfinished basement. It has concrete walls + floors (no insulation/drywalling yet). Bare wooden rafters. Pretty much open floor plan, but has the utilities hub annoyingly against a wall but in the middle of the area.

Any ideas for making an unfinished basement look nice? We don't have the money or time to do a full renovation, but wouldn't mind spending a bit to spruce it up. I really like the looks of this:

Painting the floors/walls/rafters. Some new lighting. Curtain off the furnace/boiler, etc.

Any fun ideas/suggestions/photos!?

 

Trying to paint joists Black like that, is going to go very badly.

 

So don't do that.

[Malfatron]

Dern, my glass storm door is off the frame

Might have to take the door off and try to reposition

[RaidersAreOne]

52 minutes ago, Tugboat said:

Trying to paint joists Black like that, is going to go very badly.

 

So don't do that.

How so? I've watched a number of clips and using a spray gun it doesn't look difficult. Good coverage and all.

[kgarrett12486]

9 hours ago, RaidersAreOne said:

How so? I've watched a number of clips and using a spray gun it doesn't look difficult. Good coverage and all.

If you get a lot of dust/cobwebs in your basement, the black is going to show everything really bad. So just be prepared for the extra cleaning associated. 

[Heimdallr]

paint each joist a different color and have a rainbow ceiling. that would be dope.

[vike daddy]

23 hours ago, Heimdallr said:

paint each joist a different color and have a rainbow ceiling. that would be dope.

only if it's glow in the dark paint.

[Tugboat]

On 11/16/2022 at 8:56 PM, RaidersAreOne said:

How so? I've watched a number of clips and using a spray gun it doesn't look difficult. Good coverage and all.

 

On 11/17/2022 at 5:58 AM, kgarrett12486 said:

If you get a lot of dust/cobwebs in your basement, the black is going to show everything really bad. So just be prepared for the extra cleaning associated. 

Not only this.  Which is just setting up for an endless nuisance down the road.

But also, black paint like that tends to really show off any imperfections and inconsistencies.  In the material/surface you're painting, and the consistency of paint application itself.  People always see images and examples of it looking cool and chic, but 95% of the time, painting things black just ends up looking amateurish and mostly awful.  Especially if you're painting something kind of rough and full of imperfections like floor joists.

 

Black is also just a real bad color for making an already low ceiling feel even lower visually.

 

 

I mean, if you love the look and think you're really going to enjoy it...go for it.  I just wouldn't recommend it.  Or at least think twice about it.

[Malfatron]

On 11/16/2022 at 9:21 PM, Malfatron said:

Dern, my glass storm door is off the frame

Might have to take the door off and try to reposition

I done did it

A lot of hammering and the door works now

[vike daddy]

13 hours ago, Tugboat said:

But also, black paint like that tends to really show off any imperfections and inconsistencies.  In the material/surface you're painting, and the consistency of paint application itself.  People always see images and examples of it looking cool and chic, but 95% of the time, painting things black just ends up looking amateurish and mostly awful.  Especially if you're painting something kind of rough and full of imperfections like floor joists.

Tuggie speaks the truth here. the only time a black finish really looks grand is when the material being painted is highly refined, and the paint is a high gloss.