Category: Exterior Projects

This category displays examples and descriptions of past projects that we have completed. This should give you an idea of the quality of work to expect.

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Exterior Projects How To's

How to Prep Before Laying New Concrete Pavement

concrete preparation

concrete preparation

If you’re about to have new concrete poured, it’s important to carefully prepare the ground beforehand. A smooth, compact surface under the new concrete will help to prevent cracking of the new pavement due to unstable soil underneath. Follow these steps to prepare the ground surface before your new concrete is poured.

  1. Make sure the ground surface is the proper depth, and dig it out if it’s not. Generally speaking, concrete will sit about 1 to 2 inches higher than the dirt around it, and 2 to 3 inches of the concrete will sit below the surface of the ground, so the depth of the ground should be anywhere from 3 to 5 inches deep.
  2. Using a rake or a hoe, smooth out the dirt surface. Dig out any high spots and fill in low areas. Make the ground as even as possible.
  3. Using a hand tamper or a mechanical tamper, tamp the ground to pack down the soil. A mechanical tamper is much less work than doing it by hand. You should be able to rent one at a home improvement center or rental store. The finished, tamped soil should be completely smooth and firm.
  4. Spread a 2-inch layer of tiny rounded gravel on top of the tamped soil. This will provide for adequate drainage underneath the surface of the concrete. Tamp the gravel until that surface is as smooth as possible.
  5. Finally, spread a very thin layer of cement sand on top of the gravel. Slightly dampen the sand with water, then let it dry for at least one hour before pouring the concrete.

Making adequate preparations before your concrete is poured may take a little time, but it’s one of the most important steps in making sure that your new concrete pavement is stable and remains free of cracks for as long as possible.

Photo credit: Jessica Merz

Categories
Exterior Projects How To's

4 Inspirational DIY Ideas On Pinterest

Pinterest Projects

Unless you’ve been without Internet or TV for the last year or so, you’ve probably heard of Pinterest- the social networking site that allows users to group images and “pin” them to a virtual bulletin board. Many people use Pinterest to save pictures of their dream homes, but the site is also a great source for DIY ideas. With a little bit of creativity and the ideas below, you can clean and freshen your home, and update its look while saving money and time.

Use Baking Soda in the Garden and in the Home

Baking soda weed controlAdding baking soda to garden soil neutralizes its pH, preventing vegetation from growing. Sprinkle baking soda in a six-inch wide strip around flower and vegetable beds to prevent weeds and grass from creeping in. For a green floor cleaner, mix ¼ cup baking soda, ¼ cup white vinegar, a tablespoon of dish detergent, and two gallons of warm water. It will remove dirt and grime without the need for harsh-smelling chemicals.

Hide an Unsightly Shower with a DIY Curtain

DIY shower curtainIf your shower door has been taken over with soap scum, or you’ve got tile that’s been there since the 70s, you don’t need to break out your Teng tools to replace it. Make your own curtain like this: use white terrycloth (for easy washing), and accent it with grosgrain ribbon in a color that matches the rest of your bathroom decor.

Dress up a plain shower curtain rod with decorative spray paint, and buy some good drapery rings from your local home improvement store. There you go- you’ve brightened up your bath for less than $20.

Make Your Own Glow Sticks

Mountain Dew homemade glow sticks

Mountain Dew isn’t good for your waistline or your teeth, but it does have another use. Glow sticks!

Leave about ¼” in the bottom of the bottle, and add a small amount (about a teaspoonful) of baking soda. Add three capfuls of hydrogen peroxide, screw the cap on the bottle, and shake. This solution can also be used as glow-in-the-dark paint.

DIY Wasp Traps

home made wasp trap - capture waspsWasps can be a pest if you’re doing things outdoors in the summer time. To trap wasps without harming beneficial bees, here’s what you’ll need:

  • Empty plastic soda bottle
  • Sugar
  • Salt
  • Vinegar

Use your tools to cut the top from the bottle (you’ll end up with a funnel-shaped piece). Turn it upside down, and put it in the other half of the bottle. Mix the sugar, salt and vinegar together and pour into the funnel. The sweet/sour scent attracts wasps, which will crawl into the inverted bottle neck and be unable to escape.

Some people may view sites like Pinterest as a meaningless time-waster, but nothing could be further from the truth. We found all of the ideas above, plus many more on the site. Why not take a look- maybe you’ll find the inspiration for your next craft, gardening or home DIY project!

Categories
Exterior Projects

Pick From These 4 Awesome Fire Pits

brick fire pit plans

If you are a handyman, you are probably the guy (or girl) that people call when they have a 2 person project, or simply need a person with a truck to pick up material. Since that is the case, you might have come across a request to help build a fire pit. There is nothing better than a roaring fire (under control, of course) toward the end of summer. We have selected the following 4 fire pits that any handyman can build. In addition to that, there are stylish or simple designs to suit everyone’s taste and backyard / camp decor. I am laying out the list in the order of my personal preference.  Enjoy:

brick fire pit plans

brick firepit project

http://www.familyhandyman.com/DIY-Projects/Concrete—Brick/Brick/building-a-fire-pit/Step-By-Step

Build a firepit
http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-build-the-ultimate-fire-pit/index.html

Round stone fire pit
http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-build-a-round-stone-fire-pit/index.html

brick fire pit
 http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-build-a-brick-fire-pit/index.html

If you build your own fire pit, or have a plan for one, please comment below.  We will share your information with our readers.

Categories
Exterior Projects How To's

Simple Stairs – Just a Couple of Boxes

Box style steps framework

If you are like most people with a new build, you probably ended up with some simple construction stairs out to a patio.  Rather than using a stringer stair that only has 2 or 3 steps, you should consider a nice and simple box system that will double as seating.

We featured a stair stringer calculator in the past and it is a MUST if you are building /cutting a stringer. However, if you have low elevation change (about 30″ or less) consider stock materials with limited cutting required by building a series of boxes that stack.  This requires nothing more than straight cuts with limited marking/measurement.

For my box set of stairs I simply needed to utilize 2″ x 8″ lumber (western red cedar in my case) topped with 5/4 treads (true 1″ thickness). This provided me with 8 1/2″ rise.  My tread width is about 11″.  This set of stairs was simple to build, is easy to remove, and is a terrific place to have a seat (see the photo below of my son with his Grandpa playing with caps).

Box style steps framework

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Box style steps - Western Red Cedar
Box style steps – Western Red Cedar

 

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Box style steps double as a seat
Box style steps double as a seat
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Categories
Exterior Projects

Give a Kid Some Tools… A Tree Fort is Born

Tree House

Our neighbors 16 year old son (we’ll call him ‘T’ for short) has always been very industrious.  He is a self starter who appears to have the instinctive need to create.  I often refer to this as our inner caveman that creates the desire for many of us to swing a hammer, paint, landscape, woodwork, etc.

T took up bow hunting and ventured into the woods behind our houses earlier this year. He was looking to build his own tree stand and things grew from there. As it happens, there is a construction site nearby.  An extension of our subdivision is going in and there is always an abundance of discarded building material.  It is usually the cut off end of a 2×6, a split piece of lumber, scrap plywood, etc.  T gathered some of this material from the scrap heap and found a grouping of trees that he could use to nail a board into.  It began with a simple seat placed high up in a tree.  After that, the material available was able to span from tree to tree and a platform was built.

I love to see the initiative.  I am sure he will be building things for the rest of his life.  Not a contractor, but not someone who is afraid to pick up a tool and build.

Take a look at this awesome tree fort.  The upper platform is 10′ up.

Tree House

Tree fort

Categories
Exterior Projects

Closing a Seasonal Cottage

Lake Erie Cottage
Lake Erie Cottage

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Lake Erie Cottage
Lake Erie Cottage

We are about two weeks away from closing up our cottage for the season.  This is our first year with the place and the closing / opening experience should be an interesting one. Fortunately, we are about 1 hour away from the property, so an emergency trip is not a big deal.

When searching on closing/winterizing advice, I came across a couple of terrific resources and felt the need to share.  The first is from WikiHow.com and covers many aspects of a seasonal cottage and also discusses how to address a situation based on a cottage with the heat remaining on and the heat being turned off.

Our cottage has been seasonally occupied by the same family for more than 20 years.  Needless to say, they have the winterizing process down pat.  The prior owner was kind enough to provide us with about 4 pages of notes that discuss every aspect of the closing.  In addition to that, I had him walk me through each process and videotaped the whole thing as a reference.  There is something to be said for a visual cue.  Our cottage has well water, so some of the aspects of dealing with the well pump were very specific to our system.

The next resource that I found incredibly useful is actually an iPad application from “Cottage Life” magazine.  This is the Cottage Life Q&A app.  The application isn’t just about winterizing.  It covers hundreds of questions relating to a cottage. The questions are broken into categories and should provide any new cottage owner with a nice resource to call on.

If you are winterizing your own seasonal property we would love it if you could share some of your own tips in the comment section below.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]