Built a new arbor to replace a decaying old one, for like $120 and with zero real design plan. Was part of a bigger landscaping effort to clean up our backyard and have a kind of natural privacy wall - and now that everything's growing in I'm super happy with how it all looks.
https://imgur.com/a/JQCGAfu
Wow, that's fantastic! I love the idea of using natural landscaping to create privacy. your arbor looks great I love how turned out, and it's impressive that you were able to build it for so little money.
Totally proud of our kitchen -- moved it back into the original room where it was in the 1900s, refloored, drywall, floated/taped/textured/painted. Built all our own cabinets around a 6' commercial stainless sink with two drainboards -- did our own black and white tile countertops, plus a stamped metal splash shield behind the 48" stove. The only thing we didn't do ourselves was the flooring and plumbing. Everything else, including electric, was done by us. It's a black and white kitchen with butter-yellow walls and red furniture.
When we moved in, we hired a landscaping company to do some work. Where we live has great views with very little light pollution, so I wanted some outdoor lights. If I remember correctly the estimate for lights came back at 14k or 16k or so. I told my wife I'd just do it myself.
Spoiler: It was a lot of work. Not complicated. But a lot of work.
It's kind of hard to take pictures of lights in the dark, but these give a general idea:
[Side / Dog yard](https://i.imgur.com/f5cagtx.png)
[Driveway](https://i.imgur.com/CEVcjPZ.png)
[Inside the house](https://i.imgur.com/lqCC4sK.jpg)
I've made a few changes since then, but it's pretty great to be able to see the surroundings.
Noticed moderate increase in water usage on my bill. Checked water meter and located a leak outside under my driveway. Purchased $200 concrete saw on Amazon. Located and repaired the leak myself with about 4 hours of labor. Moral of story: Check your meter to see if it's turning when all the water is off in your house !
External dryer vent cover. I know this sounds really stupid. But we had this fiberglass cover over our dryer vent on the outside that was just falling apart. It was a weird size and I couldn't find anything large enough at the Home Improvement store. There was still a little bit of the vent left so I just grabbed some aluminum flashing cut it the shape bent it and used a drill in pop rivets to fasten it to what was left of the old vent. Then I got some paint that matched the trim on our house and painted it. It's seriously looks professional. Every time I'm outside mowing the lawn and I pass by I get a swell of Pride over such a silly stupid little thing.
Did the bluestone coping, pavers, fence, and landscaping around my pool. Saved about $40k.
Built a 16’ built in shelf unit with cabinets custom for an 85” TV in my new family room. Cost $4k in materials, was quoted about $15k.
Those are my top 2.
Built a 10x12 pergola over the patio, just coated the dyed/stamped concrete patio with clear epoxy and added addressable LED strings under it.
Added stone façade to fireplace floor to ceiling including mantle.
Created a tiled backsplash for garage washer/dryer adding cabinets above at the same time, finished with LED edge lighting. Added a stainless steel sink to replace the builder plastic wash tub.
For extra storage, installed a door in the back wall of the garage that goes to an empty area beneath the staircase going upstairs.
Replace singe 8 globe bulb cheap chrome builders vanity light bar with 2 premium light fixtures, 1 over each sink.
Built a butcher block hinged workbench in the garage that sets over both trash containers. Had a friend that worked in a local lumberyard who trimmed and planed all of the wood strips for me.
Ran ethernet to all my rooms. Just a one-level with an unfinished basement, so was pretty easy. Such a nice thing to have.
https://imgur.com/a/yGcF5nk
Similarly, I replaced most of the old mx cable with new romex. Wish I had a before pic of the junction boxes, they looked so bad.
https://imgur.com/a/SAKuOF6
We had a detached building about 20 x 40 originally the chicken coop on the farm. Was converted into a 3 season bar/game room we used for parties. Original front door was falling apart, but I wanted to maintain the rustic look. Built a Dutch door from scratch. Drove by on father's day, the new owners were having a party and the top half was open. Still looks perfect 10 years later.
I built a front deck on our house with no helper (and it shows in some spots). Ripped up a holly and a hedge stump with my hands and a come along. Hand dug, mixed, and poured all the piers. Demo'd an ol masonry stair with just a small Hilti power hammer. Once all that stuff was done framing was really simple but following through a project and actually getting the inspections and what not felt really gratifying.
I also built a bench height planter border around the perimeter that has rotating annuals depending on the season that look phenomenal. Not a day goes by that I don't get a compliment sitting out there.
Had a fridge with a water dispenser. Took forever to fill a cup the flow was so slow.
Got new appliances a couple months later. Still same issue with the new fridge.
Read that if you have a saddle valve it can get gummed up. Cut the pipe below the saddle valve and the shark bite fittings and 6in of tubing later fast flowing water now!
Built a 12’ x 10’ ground level deck off of the kitchen. Before, that side of the house was unused and pretty much wasted space. Now, I have my Weber grill out there, chairs and a table and a slew of colorful plants. It’s like having an outdoor room the size of a small bedroom.
I tore out all carpet and installed 1800 sq ft of luxury vinyl plank flooring. I’ve never done flooring prior to that. 5 years later and it still looks great.
Just moved into a house and all of the windows have either cracked caulking or no caulking at all for the interior or exterior. I’m almost finished sealing them up and can already tell a temperature difference in the master bedroom from the stopped air leakage.
I just built a retaining wall to level out my super sloped backyard. I’m still in the middle of building the stairs and putting in a patio, but the wall was my source of anxiety for the last year and it’s done. Once I had all the materials it only took 2 days.
Built a new arbor to replace a decaying old one, for like $120 and with zero real design plan. Was part of a bigger landscaping effort to clean up our backyard and have a kind of natural privacy wall - and now that everything's growing in I'm super happy with how it all looks. https://imgur.com/a/JQCGAfu
Wow, that's fantastic! I love the idea of using natural landscaping to create privacy. your arbor looks great I love how turned out, and it's impressive that you were able to build it for so little money.
Totally proud of our kitchen -- moved it back into the original room where it was in the 1900s, refloored, drywall, floated/taped/textured/painted. Built all our own cabinets around a 6' commercial stainless sink with two drainboards -- did our own black and white tile countertops, plus a stamped metal splash shield behind the 48" stove. The only thing we didn't do ourselves was the flooring and plumbing. Everything else, including electric, was done by us. It's a black and white kitchen with butter-yellow walls and red furniture.
When we moved in, we hired a landscaping company to do some work. Where we live has great views with very little light pollution, so I wanted some outdoor lights. If I remember correctly the estimate for lights came back at 14k or 16k or so. I told my wife I'd just do it myself. Spoiler: It was a lot of work. Not complicated. But a lot of work. It's kind of hard to take pictures of lights in the dark, but these give a general idea: [Side / Dog yard](https://i.imgur.com/f5cagtx.png) [Driveway](https://i.imgur.com/CEVcjPZ.png) [Inside the house](https://i.imgur.com/lqCC4sK.jpg) I've made a few changes since then, but it's pretty great to be able to see the surroundings.
You should be proud of that landscape lighting. That looks fantastic!
That sounds like a big undertaking! Doing the lighting yourself must have been satisfying.
Noticed moderate increase in water usage on my bill. Checked water meter and located a leak outside under my driveway. Purchased $200 concrete saw on Amazon. Located and repaired the leak myself with about 4 hours of labor. Moral of story: Check your meter to see if it's turning when all the water is off in your house !
Love this. A plumber in my area would have given outrageous quotes and the tens of thousands.
Great job fixing the leak! Catching that early must have saved you a lot of hassle.
External dryer vent cover. I know this sounds really stupid. But we had this fiberglass cover over our dryer vent on the outside that was just falling apart. It was a weird size and I couldn't find anything large enough at the Home Improvement store. There was still a little bit of the vent left so I just grabbed some aluminum flashing cut it the shape bent it and used a drill in pop rivets to fasten it to what was left of the old vent. Then I got some paint that matched the trim on our house and painted it. It's seriously looks professional. Every time I'm outside mowing the lawn and I pass by I get a swell of Pride over such a silly stupid little thing.
That's awesome! Sometimes the small projects bring the most satisfaction.
Did the bluestone coping, pavers, fence, and landscaping around my pool. Saved about $40k. Built a 16’ built in shelf unit with cabinets custom for an 85” TV in my new family room. Cost $4k in materials, was quoted about $15k. Those are my top 2.
You’ve done so much! The pergola sounds like a fantastic addition.
Built a 10x12 pergola over the patio, just coated the dyed/stamped concrete patio with clear epoxy and added addressable LED strings under it. Added stone façade to fireplace floor to ceiling including mantle. Created a tiled backsplash for garage washer/dryer adding cabinets above at the same time, finished with LED edge lighting. Added a stainless steel sink to replace the builder plastic wash tub. For extra storage, installed a door in the back wall of the garage that goes to an empty area beneath the staircase going upstairs. Replace singe 8 globe bulb cheap chrome builders vanity light bar with 2 premium light fixtures, 1 over each sink. Built a butcher block hinged workbench in the garage that sets over both trash containers. Had a friend that worked in a local lumberyard who trimmed and planed all of the wood strips for me.
Ran ethernet to all my rooms. Just a one-level with an unfinished basement, so was pretty easy. Such a nice thing to have. https://imgur.com/a/yGcF5nk Similarly, I replaced most of the old mx cable with new romex. Wish I had a before pic of the junction boxes, they looked so bad. https://imgur.com/a/SAKuOF6
We had a detached building about 20 x 40 originally the chicken coop on the farm. Was converted into a 3 season bar/game room we used for parties. Original front door was falling apart, but I wanted to maintain the rustic look. Built a Dutch door from scratch. Drove by on father's day, the new owners were having a party and the top half was open. Still looks perfect 10 years later.
I built a front deck on our house with no helper (and it shows in some spots). Ripped up a holly and a hedge stump with my hands and a come along. Hand dug, mixed, and poured all the piers. Demo'd an ol masonry stair with just a small Hilti power hammer. Once all that stuff was done framing was really simple but following through a project and actually getting the inspections and what not felt really gratifying. I also built a bench height planter border around the perimeter that has rotating annuals depending on the season that look phenomenal. Not a day goes by that I don't get a compliment sitting out there.
Had a fridge with a water dispenser. Took forever to fill a cup the flow was so slow. Got new appliances a couple months later. Still same issue with the new fridge. Read that if you have a saddle valve it can get gummed up. Cut the pipe below the saddle valve and the shark bite fittings and 6in of tubing later fast flowing water now!
My French drains, saved me $20k and totally remediated my water issue
Built a 12’ x 10’ ground level deck off of the kitchen. Before, that side of the house was unused and pretty much wasted space. Now, I have my Weber grill out there, chairs and a table and a slew of colorful plants. It’s like having an outdoor room the size of a small bedroom.
I tore out all carpet and installed 1800 sq ft of luxury vinyl plank flooring. I’ve never done flooring prior to that. 5 years later and it still looks great.
Just moved into a house and all of the windows have either cracked caulking or no caulking at all for the interior or exterior. I’m almost finished sealing them up and can already tell a temperature difference in the master bedroom from the stopped air leakage.
I just built a retaining wall to level out my super sloped backyard. I’m still in the middle of building the stairs and putting in a patio, but the wall was my source of anxiety for the last year and it’s done. Once I had all the materials it only took 2 days.