Backyard Patio Structure: Patio

After the fireplace and posts were finished, I started framing, but right as I started framing, the patio contractor was ready to start. First up was remove the existing concrete patio, and once that plus the steps were gone and they laid the stone foundation, it became clear how big of an expansion the new…

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Backyard Patio Structure: Fireplace

Once we had all the preparation complete with the water line, electrical, and speaker conduit, it was time for our fireplace! We talked about what we want, and our mason laid out the elevation in conjunction with our patio paver, who wanted to have a specific pitch from the house. Initial layout was an exciting…

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Backyard Patio Structure: Preparation

After settling on a design for the patio structure, we had to seek folks to put in the patio pavers, and most importantly build the fireplace and stone columns. We reached out to several folks, with varying degrees of response, and widely different estimates. Suffice to say, part of what we were doing was somewhat…

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Backyard Patio Structure: Modeling

As I was thinking about what kind of patio structure to build, we had used an Ez-Up canopy the summer before to think about the shade patterns to determine where and what shape to create. I knew that I had to keep the size under a certain limit to comply with our towns regulations, so…

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Light Panels and Magnetic Wall

Next to our basement home theater wall, we have an interesting alcove under our eat in kitchen area, with an interesting shape. Considering how to use that space, our boys wanted a place they could draw and mark up. I explored marker board paint, but after seeing several negative reviews on the long term appearance,…

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Home Theater Wall

I had wanted to put in a theater screen and finish part of the basement. As part of the process, I also wanted to do something interesting with the alcove below our kitchen eating area. This project started with research on how to insulate in a basement. Although I encountered much difference of opinion, I…

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Metal and Reclaimed Wood Entertainment Console

Once I finished the basement entertainment wall with the home theater screen, we needed an entertainment console that would hold all of the gear. I had wanted to create something that combined reclaimed wood and metal. I found someone that had torn down an old barn in Iowa and had these interesting oak boards. These…

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Master Fireplace

Our Master bedroom fireplace was originally finished with marble tiles. Some of the tiles were cracked, and we wanted a new look. We found a good mosaic, and I wanted to try tile work. I pulled off the original marble, and rented a wet saw, and figured out how to lay tile, apply grout, and…

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Laundry Room Sink

We had one of the standard plastic molded laundry room sinks, and wanted something a bit nicer. I decided to make a new sink stand and put in a new laundry room sink. I used oak wood flooring stair tread bullnose to create the frame around the sink, then created the apron using paneling and…

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Maple Kitchen Console Table

We had an old console table in our kitchen, and liked having it there, but when we refinished the table and added the new chairs, we wanted a new console table. This table leverages tapered legs using a tapered leg jig I made. This jig holds the maple stock perfectly so you can make the…

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