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#2138216 2-Dec-2018 19:07

It took about four weeks for Bunnings to get more drawer runners so I could get my last three drawers installed:

I have ten drawers on the left side and two currently on the right.

I installed a piece of ply under the bottom drawer and I'm using the space to store things:

I can move the ply down if and when I make and install more drawers.

I've made some shelves in the remaining space to the right:

DarthKermit

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#2139380 4-Dec-2018 18:58

I forgot to mention I purchased three extra pairs of runners for future drawers. I've got some more recycled rimu now to make some more drawer fronts.

Onto another project. Our house has a lot of rising damp. I've not been successful at stopping it, so I've been collecting large pieces of corflute as a vapour barrier. I've laid it out and overlapped it to minimise gaps. I've used duct tape to hold the pieces together. Our house is a simple rectangle, 110 metres square.

I don't think I need to cover all the bare ground as some patches aren't damp at all. In the worst parts, if you leave something non-porous on the ground it'll be covered in moisture in a day.

Corflute seems a better idea than polythene as it's a lot tougher and thicker.

DarthKermit

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#2148514 20-Dec-2018 18:56

My lovely old shed is probably 60 years old and some of the floor joists have sagged badly. I was under there checking it and noticed in a corner a joist end has rotted and sunk about 20 mm down onto one of the bearers.

I've attached a second joist onto the rotted one then used a car jack (rated to 700 kg) to lift it up enough to slip a piece of rough sawn 100 * 50 tanalised wood between the new joist and the concrete pile. The piles all look fine (all nine of them) and don't appear to have shifted.

There's probably no way I could ever get that corner of my shed perfectly level again. That would likely cause everything above in the room to become mis-aligned anyway.

The joists are made of 5" * 2" native timber and have some rotting and borer issues. The bearers appear to all be in better condition.

DarthKermit

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#2148670 21-Dec-2018 07:59

This won't make the shed level again, but it will prevent it from sagging any further.

mdf

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#2148707 21-Dec-2018 10:29

Garage lights are in:

*Super* happy with these. Make such a difference, even during the day.

Garage is now also pre-wired for a 32A circuit (6mm cable - sparky said it was higher spec than necessary but didn't cost that much more per meter). Unfortunately the wiring from the switchboard to the garage will need upgrading to support that but that's a problem for another day when I actually own a BEV.

mdf

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#2153868 3-Jan-2019 14:30

Santa bought me a thickness planer (I knew he wouldn't be checking that list twice!):

Works really well, but so much mess with wood chips everywhere! This is my homebrew chip filter cyclone system. Notice the copious amounts of taped joins as various pipes and hoses I had on hand were made to fit one way or another:

Occasional plug-ups with the narrow hose but overall pretty impressed with how well this works. I will eventually get around to sizing some pipes properly.

MikeAqua

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#2153898 3-Jan-2019 15:10

mdf:

Occasional plug-ups with the narrow hose but overall pretty impressed with how well this works. I will eventually get around to sizing some pipes properly.

Is the hose corrugated internally?

Hose that is smooth walled on the inside would be less likely to clog.

The challenge might be finding some that bends well and isn't too heavy ...

Mike

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#2175113 8-Feb-2019 16:54

Now I have my drawers built and installed, I'm looking at ways to improve them. Starting with the first drawer I made (this is it before I installed its front):

I've improved it by installing a divider to separate my larger screwdrivers from my stubby screwdrivers, and another divider to separate my screwdriver bits.

I've made a lift out tray to store all my screwdriver bits. This is 510 * 180 mm. The dividers are removable so I can make extra space if needed:

So much easier to find the right bit now! ☺️

Fred99

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#2176763 11-Feb-2019 20:46

I just (a few days ago) finished replacing our concrete driveway. It's quite steep, and about 120m2. Quotes to get it done were all in the region of ~$20k.

So, I DIY. No readymix concrete trucks, I did the lot the hard way using cement/builder's mix in a ~200l approx mixer I bought for $600 at Topmaq. I use 4.5:1 mix, 15 square shovels of builders mix to 1/2 a 40kg bag of cement. I used my trailer to lug two scoops of mix, set up the mixer with a chock to keep it level, then worked my way up from the bottom, slab by slab - so I could shovel the mix straight from the trailer deck into the mixer then dump it - avoiding double-handling. Hmm - so I guess I've mixed about 12M3 / 30 tonnes, shovel by shovel. No gym fees - and I didn't get a hernia. The mixer is still going, but looks a bit worse for wear, was reasonably rugged, cast ring-gear drive.

The drive looks quite okay - I've seen better, but seen worse.

nickb800

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#2176915 12-Feb-2019 09:21

Fred99:

I just (a few days ago) finished replacing our concrete driveway. It's quite steep, and about 120m2. Quotes to get it done were all in the region of ~$20k.

So, I DIY. No readymix concrete trucks, I did the lot the hard way using cement/builder's mix in a ~200l approx mixer I bought for $600 at Topmaq. I use 4.5:1 mix, 15 square shovels of builders mix to 1/2 a 40kg bag of cement. I used my trailer to lug two scoops of mix, set up the mixer with a chock to keep it level, then worked my way up from the bottom, slab by slab - so I could shovel the mix straight from the trailer deck into the mixer then dump it - avoiding double-handling. Hmm - so I guess I've mixed about 12M3 / 30 tonnes, shovel by shovel. No gym fees - and I didn't get a hernia. The mixer is still going, but looks a bit worse for wear, was reasonably rugged, cast ring-gear drive.

The drive looks quite okay - I've seen better, but seen worse.

I've often thought about this, as the materials that go into a concrete driveway are relatively cheap. What sort of area or volume did you do at a time, and how many mixer loads at a time?

trig42

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#2176956 12-Feb-2019 10:11

^ I remember 'helping' my father do our concrete driveway up a steep hill (and the driveway was huge - over 100m long) in about 1980. Took weeks I suppose. All done in a mixer, section by section had to be boxed up, laid with reinforcing steel and laid. I think he did about 2 or 3 sections in a day, scooped out a drain down one side (using a piece of PVC pipe).

I remember getting $5 for my help. Which to a 7/8 year old in 1980 was a huge amount of money.

Here it is from street view, still going strong:

Bung

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#2176974 12-Feb-2019 10:44

The advantage of doing it by mixer is that it you aren't overwhelmed by quantity. The disadvantage is that many modern vehicles would be severely overloaded taking that amount of builder's mix home. My neighbour did his steps by mixer and I can still hear his van coming up the hill with a trailer load. When his van stopped being someone else's company vehicle subsequent work was ready mix @ ~$200 m3.

nickb800

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#2176985 12-Feb-2019 11:08

Bung: The advantage of doing it by mixer is that it you aren't overwhelmed by quantity. The disadvantage is that many modern vehicles would be severely overloaded taking that amount of builder's mix home. My neighbour did his steps by mixer and I can still hear his van coming up the hill with a trailer load. When his van stopped being someone else's company vehicle subsequent work was ready mix @ ~$200 m3.

The readymix industry seems to be quite competitive at the moment so when I ordered Firth were pretty relaxed about sub 2m3 loads (sub 1m3 loads would probably still get a surcharge). Makes it more feasible to get say 1.5m3 each Saturday morning for a few weekends until the job is done

Fred99

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#2177284 12-Feb-2019 18:50

nickb800:

I've often thought about this, as the materials that go into a concrete driveway are relatively cheap. What sort of area or volume did you do at a time, and how many mixer loads at a time?

The mixer had a bowl about 200 litres, realistically you can only mix less than 100 litres. I did it slab by slab, each slab about 0.6m3 - so 6-8 loads. So, one trailer load of mix, about 4 bags of cement. If you can work it to avoid double handling the mix and barrowing the concrete, then that part of it is actually pretty easy. It's not so easy placing and screeding out a relatively dry non-slump mix though. One slab I poured isn't so great, it was a hot day, and for some reason my edging trowel vanished (I still haven't found it). By the time I hunted for it, realised it was gone, drove to the hardware store to buy a new one and got back, the concrete was a bit far gone to edge it neatly.

I think the cost of mix and cement per M3 would work out at about $250. Mesh probably cost $1,000, so I suppose all up material cost worked out at around $40 per M2.

I think doing a new flat driveway or paths etc should be relatively easy - but OTOH it would be much less expensive to just get a contractor in to do it.

As each slab was poured with days between, it still looks a bit patchy. Concrete I poured months ago looks better, it evens out as it ages/cures.

Edit to say, FWIW, I'm in my 60s - if I can do it, then...

nickb800

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#2177299 12-Feb-2019 19:24

Fred99:
nickb800:

I've often thought about this, as the materials that go into a concrete driveway are relatively cheap. What sort of area or volume did you do at a time, and how many mixer loads at a time?

Snip

Thanks, really helpful. So that would be about 2m long cells in my 3m wide driveway. Great idea mixing and pouring off the trailer.

I was amazed how cheap ready-mix is, I think it comes in below the cost of cement and aggregate for the public. Just depends if I can finish a ready-mix minimum delivery of 1.5m3 in one go

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