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796 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#981691 7-Feb-2014 10:17

NZtimbo: So for the last year my main DIY project was "The deck"... First, clear and lower the ground somewhat to get a bit more clearance below the deck;

Then posts for the perimeter of the deck following the hedge line;

Gopher holes for piles to support the bearers;

Placing the bearers in their locations and pouring piles to support them;

Laying the decking timbres after the bearers were leveled;

And finished;

Well kinda finished, still have to finish the garden (left over pile of dirt from gopher holes), some more lights along the perimeter.

Tim

Well done, looks great !!!!

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DarthKermit

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#981692 7-Feb-2014 10:23

Yes, that's a good-looking deck you built there.

Thanks to everyone who has uploaded a pic or three of their projects. They may well give the rest of us ideas and inspiration.

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blackjack17

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#981736 7-Feb-2014 11:39

Bung: Consent or not any work has to meet the building code.

We found that our floor height was dictated by the depth of the foundation footings. Going deeper there would be a real mission.

My brother is a builder and while I might be tempted to cut corners he keeps me on the straight and narrow

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BinaryLimited

796 posts

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#981751 7-Feb-2014 12:11

blackjack17:
Bung: Consent or not any work has to meet the building code.

We found that our floor height was dictated by the depth of the foundation footings. Going deeper there would be a real mission.

My brother is a builder and while I might be tempted to cut corners he keeps me on the straight and narrow

Very lucky to have a brother as a builder! A good, reliable, trustworthy builder is hard to come by these days!

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www.binarylimited.co.nz

richms

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#981753 7-Feb-2014 12:14

Yeah all the good builders I used to know have either injured themselves with sport or buggered off to aussie for better pay for less work and red tape.

Richard rich.ms

Bung

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#981789 7-Feb-2014 13:05

They may get more for doing less but Aus regulators love red tape.

richms

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#981796 7-Feb-2014 13:12

Apparantly its nothing like what they have to deal with here where you get some guy from the council looking at what you have done and just say no.

Richard rich.ms

DarthKermit

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#981898 7-Feb-2014 15:38

Knocking bricks off the chimney is the easy bit. They come away very easy with a couple of whacks with a brick bolster.

The crappy part is hauling them down from the attic, cleaning up all the loose mortar, and knocking the rest of the mortar off them.

I got another 66 brickies to go to reduce the chimney to ceiling height.

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Fred99

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#995059 26-Feb-2014 19:33

Oh dear...
The building company I have been using for EQ repairs / restricted work has folded. I had a call from the GM to tell me the news a few days ago. The owner / MD didn't turn up for work, oops - all the company accounts had been cleaned out. He didn't turn up back home either - and was apparently last seen boarding a flight to Bangkok, final destination unknown. Damn - they had about 40 staff, but at least in Chch, they'll all find work easily. Wife and kids and several properties left behind.
I'm damned lucky - as I'd been project managing our work myself, so had direct control and payment of associated work, design, consent, etc. If they'd been project managing for me, I'd have been in very deep crap. As it is, there are a couple of loose ends, a bit of waste left on site - that I told them not to worry about taking when they were last here, as they could sort that out when they came back - no big deal.
I think I'm usually a good judge of character, I'd met the MD a few times, and thought he was a really decent guy. Either I'm wrong - or he's had some kind of major mental health episode (this wouldn't surprise me - there's a lot of that in Chch these days).

Good new is I think I found another good builder. Had him on site yesterday for a looksie, and we're on the same wavelength. I had a question about how he'd work around a concrete base which used to support the chimney, and was cast on top of the foundation, about 300mm high and 1.5m x 1m, which looked to me like it would be in the way of new framing etc. He confirmed what I thought anyway - it had to go, but I'd been procrastinating. Today I got stuck in to it - another horrible job. About 6 hours work with kanga and concrete cutters - it's done, but despite wearing work gloves, my hands are covered in blisters again. I need to toughen up.

DarthKermit

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#995075 26-Feb-2014 20:40

Chimney and fire place totally gone now.

I just have hundreds of bricks outside awaiting a clean up as bucket space allows.

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Dav4122

73 posts

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#1008335 18-Mar-2014 19:19

Dav4122: My list isn't as long as others

Finish smart wiring the house
Hanging tv cabinet to go under the wall mounted tv
Move bathroom wall for bathroom renovation (that's being done by a professional)
Re-Bark the garden

I'll have to start some more to keep up ;)

Well I have re-barked the garden and renovated the bathroom, even made a work bench

but now I have added making an electric brewery setup to my list of DIY

DarthKermit

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#1024410 13-Apr-2014 15:41

Another on-going project. I've been modernising our laundry for a while.

Originally, the tub was in the centre with space for a dryer on the left and the washing machine on the right.

We installed a wall-mounted toilet in the bathroom which is directly behind the laundry wall. Since this has to have a sewer pipe sticking out the back of it, it was better to have it protruding into the laundry rather than the outside wall.

This also meant that the tub and the washing machine had to swap places, otherwise the washing machine would have to protrude forward over 300 mm to avoid the sewer pipe. The pipe had to go where it is because there is a concrete wall directly behind and below it (a part of the old copper boiler concrete pad).

The existing laundry tub cabinet was old, ugly and rusty. I've kept the stainless steel bowl and am going to build a new cabinet out of wood and install a new single lever mixer above it. This will also hide away all those ugly pipes.

Also gotta finish gib-stopping the back wall. This is my first decent go at gibbing. Not going too bad so far.

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DarthKermit

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#1092547 20-Jul-2014 17:02

In another thread here in home workshop, there's a discussion on HW cylinders. That reminded me of a wee DIY project that I did.

I installed a floor drain under the HW cylinder shelf should the cylinder ever spring a leak. I've also installed these in the laundry and bathroom. I'll put one in the kitchen if we ever get it renovated.

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DarthKermit

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#1092552 20-Jul-2014 17:08

And one other. Our crawlspace access door is level with the sloping driveway. Rain water used to run down the drive and some would get under the house. I decided to install a 100 mm high concrete barrier inside, in case we ever get a huge flood.

Any other DIYers out there got any good projects they'd like to share?

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jimbob79

673 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#1100543 2-Aug-2014 11:16

My current mini-project is making a bathroom shelf using recycled Rimu skirting boards. The shelf is attached the to the rear back support using just biscuits and glue, no screws.

Finished shelf with four coats of danish oil. Just need to get the keyed holds in the rear and I can then hanged it on the wall.

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