Post about your DIY projects

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Post about your DIY projects

1 | ... | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | ... | 66

796 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 80

Trusted

#1431924 20-Nov-2015 18:55

jonb:
BinaryLimited:
jonb: Nice setup for TV.

I'm having to replace a section of rotten chipboard flooring after stripping out the old kitchen ready for new cabinets. Cannot find a builder with short notice availability anywhere in Auckland so bought my first circular saw..

Ever tried buildersCrack.co.nz? Quite good and Def works...

Thanks, I had tried nocowboys but didn't get any real responses. Already have three interested from builderscrack.

NO worries, they are really quick on builders Crack, when u get the quotes...make sure u ask if it's Inc or excl gst.
Also, make sure you are extremely clear in the job description.....been caught out a few times where tradies were more interested in being paid than planning and completing the job 100%.

Binary Limited - Safe. Secure. Simple. ™
www.binarylimited.co.nz

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10018

#1432425 21-Nov-2015 21:03

BinaryLimited:
jonb:
BinaryLimited:
jonb: Nice setup for TV.

I'm having to replace a section of rotten chipboard flooring after stripping out the old kitchen ready for new cabinets. Cannot find a builder with short notice availability anywhere in Auckland so bought my first circular saw..

Ever tried buildersCrack.co.nz? Quite good and Def works...

Thanks, I had tried nocowboys but didn't get any real responses. Already have three interested from builderscrack.

NO worries, they are really quick on builders Crack, when u get the quotes...make sure u ask if it's Inc or excl gst.
Also, make sure you are extremely clear in the job description.....been caught out a few times where tradies were more interested in being paid than planning and completing the job 100%.

I used Builderscrack.
I'd advise caution with sites like that. The quotes I got were 2-3x what I knew the job was worth, and I got some hard-sell tactics thrown at me. Waste of time in the end. They might be really quick, but there might be a reason for that. It could have been bad luck, but I'm not convinced that "putting it out there" that you want work done - but don't know of anybody who can do it - is a good idea if you want a good price. I'd persevere with local builders - find someone that's had work done that they're happy with, and get contacts from them.

DarthKermit

5346 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3317

Trusted

#1432435 21-Nov-2015 21:49

Well I cut up some rimu planks that I had today on my mate's saw bench to start building my cabinet.

Should be a bit of fun getting it square as some of the planks are a bit warped.

Pics to follow when I get some of it done.

richms

29105 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10222

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#1432446 21-Nov-2015 22:31

I tried builders crack a while ago and only the most non professional tradies I've ever seen came to quote. Hint. Don't go to quote when you are blazed in a van that looks older than me.

Richard rich.ms

Hammerer

2480 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 802

Lifetime subscriber

#1432472 22-Nov-2015 02:06

richms: I tried builders crack a while ago and only the most non professional tradies I've ever seen came to quote. Hint. Don't go to quote when you are blazed in a van that looks older than me.

They might be unprofessional but the age of the van is not a measure of capability. The best builders I know have old vehicles. I know a lot of guys impress with their nice new ute or van. Unfortunately their cost structure is higher than it could be so they can't afford not to make a high gross profit.

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10018

#1433422 23-Nov-2015 17:21

Hammerer:
richms: I tried builders crack a while ago and only the most non professional tradies I've ever seen came to quote. Hint. Don't go to quote when you are blazed in a van that looks older than me.

They might be unprofessional but the age of the van is not a measure of capability. The best builders I know have old vehicles. I know a lot of guys impress with their nice new ute or van. Unfortunately their cost structure is higher than it could be so they can't afford not to make a high gross profit.

Some builder's vans are pretty disgusting - jeesh. You really don't want to be paying $65/hour for someone to be spending half their day trying to find things that they think they put back in the van last time they used them. Usually includes assorted nails, screws, half empty paslode cartridges, lunch, broken things which should have been tossed out long ago, plus a few sharp things for that element of surprise as you're trying to feel your way though a cubic metre of sawdust to find that 6mm drill bit you need.

DarthKermit

5346 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3317

Trusted

#1433491 23-Nov-2015 19:58

^^^

Not to mention a hitch hiking cat or two from a previous job.

DarthKermit

5346 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3317

Trusted

#1562372 30-May-2016 14:50

When I first installed a sump pump under our house a number of years ago now, I built a timer control box to run it.
This stopped working after I'd modified it several times and it remained out of commission.

We've had a week or more of solid rain and the sump hole has needed emptying twice a day (we get a hell of a lot of water getting under our house which I have been unable to prevent).

I came to the conclusion that I'd never get the control box working again while it was under the house, in an awkward uncomfortable location to work in.

So I removed the entire unit and its associated cabling, etc and brought it inside to work on.

The control box has a timer triggered by a float switch that is recessed in the concrete side wall of the sump. Once the water level rises above the float switch it's meant to trigger and run the pump for x number of seconds. This can be varied from 5 to 30 seconds by a dial.

I also installed a second timer (I cannibalised one of those 24 hour plug in rotary timers) so that the pump won't switch on at night. The sump hole is directly below one of our bedrooms.

I installed an overflow pipe from the sump trench to the drain outside should the pump fail to work or if the water gets so high that the crawlspace risks flooding.

chimera

563 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 199

ID Verified

#1562531 30-May-2016 18:17

Dig the hole 100 times larger and turn your sump into an under house swimming pool??? ??

SepticSceptic

2263 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 779

Trusted

#1563988 2-Jun-2016 09:46

DarthKermit:

The control box has a timer triggered by a float switch that is recessed in the concrete side wall of the sump. Once the water level rises above the float switch it's meant to trigger and run the pump for x number of seconds. This can be varied from 5 to 30 seconds by a dial.

Is the float switch a mechanical switch, or an optical switch ?

I would go with an optical arrangement using a variation of retro-reflector cube.

The idea is that when there is no water on the sensor, the light reflection is bounced back to the sensor. When there is water on the sensor, the angle of incidence changes and the light reflection is lost, signalling an alarm.

ZollyMonsta

3009 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 379

ID Verified

Trusted

#1564031 2-Jun-2016 09:57

Currently building a deck on weekends. This weekend Uncle who is a builder helping to build the Pergola. Then onto laying the decking phase...

Check out my LPFM Radio Station at www.thecheese.co.nz - Now on iHeart Radio, TuneIn and Radio Garden

As per the usual std disclaimer.. "All thoughts typed here are my own."

DarthKermit

5346 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3317

Trusted

#1565111 3-Jun-2016 15:16

SepticSceptic:

DarthKermit:

The control box has a timer triggered by a float switch that is recessed in the concrete side wall of the sump. Once the water level rises above the float switch it's meant to trigger and run the pump for x number of seconds. This can be varied from 5 to 30 seconds by a dial.

Is the float switch a mechanical switch, or an optical switch ?

I would go with an optical arrangement using a variation of retro-reflector cube.

The idea is that when there is no water on the sensor, the light reflection is bounced back to the sensor. When there is water on the sensor, the angle of incidence changes and the light reflection is lost, signalling an alarm.

I used one of these:

From Jaycar electronics. Kinda stuck with it now, as it's embedded into the concrete wall of my sump hole.

Willuknight

146 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 19

Trusted

#1568283 8-Jun-2016 21:23

Projects:

Front Deck

Build deck along outside sleepout, from pathway down side of house to driveway (about 3m + 5m to the driveway)
Using pallets as surface and concrete blocks as foundation. I managed to get my hands on 7 solidly constructed pallets, all the same size so using those for the most visible parts. They have 5 slats on the bottom and about 7 slats on top, so have been removing two slats on the bottom and adding them to the top to decrease gaps.

Progress: 4 of 7 pallets sited, levelled and in position. Probably another day to do the rest, including reposition the slats and then a bit more time to relevel everything into final positions and fix to blocks.

Home Audio Video Setup

I've always been frustrated by the difficulty of watching stuff in the kitchen, I used to have a TV and a WDTV box in there, but it was too annoying to copy stuff on to a flash drive and use it. I managed to get my hands on a 7 port HDMI repeater, so my current plan is to hook it up to my 3rd PC monitor output and use it to spread my 3rd screen's contents throughout the house so I can watch anything from multiple rooms in the house.

Progress: 2/4 outputs done.
Finally got around today to moving my TV setup to the wall on the other side of my main rig. Have run HDMI cable from Repeater to PC and from Repeater to Monitor and TV. Works perfectly, next bit will be to install a kitchen TV and cables from repeater to TV. Down the track, I will also add a HDMI Audio extractor and add speakers to the back deck.

Outdoor Lighting

My house came with a bunch of lighting, but I'm not entirely happy with it so am going to revamp it and add a bunch more.

Progress: 2/10

More Carparking

My house has a big long driveway but not much additional parking. Going to add about 3 carparking bays on both sides of the driveway. Currently have partially leveled the site to the left of the driveway in front of the door, but still need to remove soil, compact and add gravel and framing (already bought the gravel).

0.3/3

RUKI

1405 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 422

#1568563 9-Jun-2016 11:23

To-do list is endless and very much specific to High Voltage Battery Testing - i.e. Design and Creation of new Analysers, Loads and Chargers hence too boring to many to share.

However in preparation for the Tesla Power Wall Battery Installation was looking yesterday of how I can see what's behind the GIB in an area where normal Stud Finder does get confused for some reason in all modes - Wood, Deep & Metal. So visual check would be good.

Solution seems to be straightforward: "endoscope" made from USB camera plus bright LED on a flexible but still firm thick wire to look inside the wall cavity via small hole or through the dismantled AC socket.

The bunch of USB cams are lined up to be teared apart to see which one has smallest PCB inside.

Software to watch it on PC is: YouCam from HP - sp65795.exe or MS - LifeCam3.22.exe

I think that idea could help you in your renovation projects ..

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 10018

#1568665 9-Jun-2016 13:40

A couple of recent projects:

I wanted a cage for my trailer - so I could load hedge trimmings (part of offending hedge in background). I could have bought a mesh cage with the trailer, but from past experience it's a real pain unloading these at the green waste recycling station. Solution - buy a few 8m lengths of 25x25 galv RHS (about $40 each), some 20mm rod to slot down in to the open end of the 25mm RHS on the corners of the trailer (it was made to fit a cage), and some 12mm galv rod to cut and bend into drop-bolts. Panels are 6mm marine ply with a couple of coats of paint. I painted the steel cage black after welding and cold-galv, black and grey matches my old truck. Looks so pretty I'm too scared to use it for fear of scratching it.

The garden shed which isn't a shed:

Under the deck - this whole area used to be concreted - seriously munted in Chch quakes, I was going to resurface it after lifting and dumping about 30M2 of concrete from this area, but it's N facing, gets plenty of light - decided to grass it instead (planted a few weeks ago). Screens are 40x20mm kwila, ss screwed to 88x88 gluelam treated posts rebated corners to fit the slats by running through my bench saw. Slab is about 6m2 - I bought a concrete mixer to do this and some other jobs, and will sell it when I'm finished. Bottom plate is set clear of the slab by 20+mm, so the "shed" can be hosed out from all the dirt etc which used to fall off garden implements onto my garage floor - when SWMBO insisted on storing them there. Worst part about this job was that we'd demo'ed and replaced the original deck, needed to dig 400x400mm x 1.2m holes for footings for the new posts, this was in hard clay which sat in piles in this area for about a year - setting like concrete. I couldn't get a digger in to the area. I bought a mattock (instrument of torture) and broke it up by hand. Matching hardwood benches inside and hangers for tools/implements. I'll get 230v power and lighting set up later.

Vege garden etc:

That retaining wall was very rough, survived the quakes with no damage, but was unfinished uneven boxing. I've smooth-plastered then spattered the finish to match the rest of the house - it needs a coat of paint, but I'll wait until the render has been exposed for a bit longer. Those sleepers were very heavy. Coriander growing perfectly in Chch in June - the area is N facing, and we're about 200m above sea level, so very seldom get frosts - sheltered microclimate, typically 5 deg warmer than the flat areas of Chch on cold still nights (no smog either). Poured new steps and a bit of path, there were old steps - but they were very rough and awkward to climb.

Sun shade:

This is on the deck above the garden "shed". Those windows are N facing, as part of EQ repairs involving a full re-clad, we insulated exterior walls as well adding extra insulation in the ceiling, and I insulated the sub-floor. That's made a huge difference for heating, but a big downside on a sunny summers day - the lounge room turns into a furnace unless you open windows/doors and close curtains. My guess is that we'd have used as much power running the air-con to keep cool in summer as we'd have saved in winter heating.

I had this made up in acrylic canvas. The area is exposed to wind. It's quite big - about 4x3m. The steel posts are 75x75x3mm, but that's not quite enough, the wires supporting the shade are tensioned tight enough to bow the steel by about 15mm - yet it's not really enough to hold the shade flat enough to avoid rainwater ponding - bit of a shame if I'm stuck with that as the cloth is waterproof and it's a nice place to sit outside if it's raining. On the to-do list is to drop the wires about 50mm down the post and see how that goes, if that doesn't work, then I'm going to have to run some RHS from the top of the posts back to the soffit so I can tension it up more. You can see it's sagging a little in that photo.

It's set up with a series of blocks, so that the shade can be extended or retracted with one cord.

1 | ... | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | ... | 66