Where's your next home improvement project going to be?

Ferrous you have a really energetic lists. How long do you estimate you projects will take and are you going to hire contractors for any of this work?

My next project will be to get the glue-traps out of my bedroom without adhering myself to them permanently!

I had a mouse problem and since I have recently been gifted with some cheap sickly perfume I have had no furry visitors for a couple months (last one died under the floorboards and I think became embalmed when my perfume bottle accidentally spilled between the cracks in the floorboards).

Heeven embalmed critters that smell sort of good that does not sound so wonderful. But better than furry critters I guess.

Painting all the rooms.

Painting is my project as well New Haven but will wait for springs to I can keep the windows open.

I've got to start painting another room this week. Not the weather for working indoors right now either.

JoanneDorel
My father was a carpenter, So as a child, I learned to do most types of residential repairs and remodeling. I sub-contract out, for large framing, sheetrock, and roofing jobs. My career has since moved on to large commercial applications.

I am universal certified in HVAC, so I can do all types of heating and air conditioning.

As for electrical, I just finished installing a 10kv emergency generator on an automatic transfer switch. The generator is powered by either natural gas or propane. The generator, automatically sense when there is a power failure, times out a 20 second time delay relay, will then start the generator and transfer the emergency power to the house, while locking out normal power. I have installed UPS batteries on our computers so as not to crash them during the initial outage and transfers.

Since I installed the generator, we haven't had a single power outage. I can imagine, that when the first one happens, and the neighborhood is plunged into darkness, it will cause quite a stir among the neighbors, that my house will be lit up like a Christmas tree.

I recently watched Kevin Kline in "Life as a House." I can relate to George in wanting to build my final house, from the ground up. Hopefully, right after retirement (2 years, 1 month, and 8 days), I can see it built, and have time to enjoy it.

EXTERIOR: Gardening! Gardening gardening gardening!

Boy oh boy did I get bitten by the gardening bug yesterday. It was 75f here in Fort Worth and the trees are starting to thicken, you know what I mean? They are still bare but budding. I was thinking if I was still in D.C. the forsythia would have bloomed. So any way I had to go to Lowe's for something other than plants and ended up with Johnny Jump Ups and Pansies. Today I will be putting them in pots for the deck. Spring is coming soon.

We're still far from spring here, but I have started thinking up a plan for a yard I'll be planting this year.

Yeah, I'm starting to think about Spring, too. We have an enormous indoor spider plant and I think I'll finally take it outside this year. I'll clip the babies and leave them indoors. We also have all sorts of leaf-clearing to do and stuff like that, but it'll be a while from now as more snow has fallen today.

Oh, and I'm going to see if I can paint the wall unit without having to strip it first, and there's another room we want to paint. And, and, and ....

I just want to put everything away.
Just have a place for it all. That's all.

So I'm building an attic! It's only 19 inches tall,
but it's a good space, a fine attic, where no one can see.
It will fit 54 boxes with a system of sliders and ropes.

Then I'll be done, I'll be ready and set.
I'll be able to face life with a clean and comfy place.
Without tripping on things.

Please don't tell my landlord that I'm inside the ceiling.
The dust I'm finding is from 1904, almost a hundred years old.
The wiring is rotten and the bricks are crumbly up there,
and it's hard to hammer behind my shoulder with a headlamp on.

But he'll probably never know. Come to think of it,
I haven't seen him around since ... a distant recollection
of whiskey lost in time. Memories belong in the past.

Or at least in 54 boxes.







True, really. True.

The siding around my mobile home deteriorated to the point it must all go - or, I could put an addition on the front to give much needed space and just incorporate the bad siding wall into the design. Just by putting a new wall against the old one I avoided much demolition, plus did not have to open up the mobile home to the elements too soon. I have a roof on it, joists installed - about ready to start studding in the walls. It's about eight feet by forty-two feet, will include a bathroom and the rest will serve to enlarge the other rooms. On the rear of my home I have installed temporary patches til I can get to that bad siding.

I heard guys walking all about the outside of the house this am....had my hopes up..thought perhaps the landlord would at least finish the paint job that was started oh I think its 7 years now

no luck..I think it was the crocodile hunter exploring the backyard for a new series installment, this could be exciting as well.

Wow, CodeBorg. Sliders, ropes. Cool.

This is teeny, but I'm looking forward to it. My old (1900) house has been renovated a few times, and there is a big window in the kitchen that used to be an outside window, but there was an addition, covering stairs going down to the basement instead of one of those flat "there's a tornado coming!" cellar doors. So there is a big hole, no glass or anything, about 20 inches off the ground, and quickly descending stairs on the other side. Since my kid's a little monkey, we have a safety gate filling up the bottom part so she won't climb up there and fall.

The safety gate is atrocious -- gray plastic, bulky, yucky. It's such a nice, light-filled window, and then... blech.

SO -- I had an idea. I'm going to build a rail (dowels and 1 X 2's), possibly with a ledge/ shelf on top. Then I'm going to custom-make some simple rectangular planters at my pottery class to fit the space. (Thought of one long planter, but don't know if it will fit in the kiln.) The rail will be at the inner edge, leaving about 6 inches on the other (outside window) side. So put the planter(s) there, and plant climbing vines -- probably sweet peas. Can also use it for a kitchen herbal garden or any number of things.

Would be SUCH an improvement.

<giggle> Q, sounds exciting!

Cborg - that's verra cool. And verra sneaky!

I am in the middle of a project to cover the pipe that was left exposed and partially above ground in my little garden. I started it 2 weekends ago. Thing is that I wasn't going to stain the wood, but comments from various people have made me feel I should. So, I stopped midway of filling a little raised area with gravel and am waiting for a day without rain that coincides with a day I have at least 4 straight hours free. Hasn't happened in 2 weeks and prolly won't happen for another 2. Yes, yes, I know, I should have stained it BEFORE I put it together in the garden.....

Wow, soz, that's sounds like a fun project! I can't quite picture what you're talking about, but I get the general gist.

Yeah, it's harder to describe than I expected. Main point is ugly gray plastic -- bye bye. Wood + flowers -- hello.

Good idea to cover the pipe! Will you be planting anything there, or just the gravel?

I can't really plant anything there. The pipe is to big and unsubmerged. The utilities meters are back near the end of the pipe, so I figured I'd just make it a raised gravel pathway - straight as a friggin arrow, but whatever (still bitter).

Oooh, pathway. Sounds good.