Day 1114: experimentation

If there were only one thing we've learned from 3+ years of home reno projects (and hopefully we've learned more than one thing) it's that the way to get where you want is the same way you get to Carnegie Hall, "Practice, practice, practice." So as we embark on a new project to build a wall of bookshelves, we thought it might behoove us to try out the new tools previewed in the last post.

The tool in the whiter box allows you to join two pieces of wood together either side-by-side (say, if you wanted to make a tabletop) or an an angle while concealing the connecting screws. It does that by sinking the screws into the board and produces a really secure join. The first step is to drill the pilot hole using the bit that comes with the jig and then follow up with a screw, like so:

The jig allows you to install two screws without needing to move it. Since we were just playing around we did the simple thing and used them both. Here we've actually attached two boards at a 90-degree angle, it's a little easier to see in the second image. Even with only two screws attached in the middle of the boards the connection was pretty snug.

We plan to use that jig to attach the sides of the bookshelf to the four legs and to attach the fixed shelves (every bookshelf needs a few permanent shelves for stability even if all the rest are adjustable). 

With that mastered we tried out the other tool in the bluer box. This one will provide nice even spacing for the adjustable shelves. Step one is to start with a board, standing in for the future side of the shelves.

Secure the jig on top of it.

Use your drill and the special bit provided to create hollows of the perfect size and depth for the shelf pins.

We're going to take the practice concept one step further by building a small test bookshelf in the same design we want to use for the full-size ones to identify and iron out any kinks. Stay tuned for our baby bookshelf.

Day 1097: Happy Anniversary!

Well we've been enjoying a nice long break, hope you have too. Yesterday was our third anniversary in the house and it's warmed up the reno juices. We have a big project to tackle early in the new year, but until then it's about time to whip our library into shape. That means new bookshelves!

As regular readers are aware, earlier this year we converted the two perfectly fine bookshelves that were in the library into custom jobs for the studio. That's left the other books in quite a state of disarray and we can't have that.

Before tackling the job of making four shelves from scratch we needed to get prepared. That meant tidying up the work space, so we grouped all our spare wood by type:

added a new shelf:

and put some of the more interesting pieces on their higher pedestal:

 

Next we decided to invest in a few specialty tools. Building a bookshelf is pretty exacting and since we need to make four exact copies, it made sense to have a couple items to aid us. This first one will make the holes for removable shelves (which will sit on pegs) uniform:

This one, from the same maker, allows you to attach two pieces of wood with partially hidden screws or dowels:

The goal we're aiming for is a piece we saw at Crate and Barrel more than a year ago. You'll be able to tell us how close we come.

Day 1069: the grass is always greener

There are two good seasons for installing sod--spring and fall--largely because the temperatures are right, the ground isn't frozen, and Mother Nature usually provides some of the watering. A look at the calendar shows that we opted for fall.

In the background of all our house reno work, we've been trying to whip the outside into shape--cutting down unwanted trees, taking up overgrown bushes and plants, installing new bushes, pruning, weeding, etc. This also included regular work on a yard that had gone a bit to seed/weed. We figured that we'd try for a few years to dethatch, overseed, fertilize, etc. to see if we could increase the grass-to-crud ratio. Here's where we were at the beginning of November, after nearly 3 years of effort:

Suffice to say, we felt as though at best we'd treaded water. So we called in the professionals to turn this:

Into this (as a first step):

The backyard is where the best-laid plans went awry. This was intended as a two-day job that because of some rain got pushed back to Friday (tear up)-Monday (installation). The problem was that even after a weekend of drying out the backyard was still too wet to work properly. The crew used a trick of driving the Bobcat over the ground to drive out the water but even that didn't work.

The fact that the backyard was a swampy mess shouldn't have surprised us because when we get a heavy rain half the yard up to the fence becomes a pond. So the guys gave it another day to dry and added some new topsoil first thing on Tuesday before laying the sod. 

And what a lot of sod it was. Ten-and-a-half pallets of fresh cut rolls to cover our roughly 5000 square feet of lawn. It was a good thing that we'd parked our cars on the street!

One extra day and the extra topsoil, but it was all worth it. The front and left side back to the garage now look like this:

And the back couldn't look better. The guys improved the grade to carry the water from left to right (away from the garage) and back-to-front (away from the fence) to force runoff to run along the right side of the house. We haven't had a soaking rain yet, but we have been doing the required watering and haven't noticed any problems.

If you compare these to the picture at the top of this entry you'll also notice that we tore out the vegetable/flower garden that we inherited from the previous owner but never entirely knew what to do with. So we plowed it under and replaced it with grass for a nice, even lawn.

This closeup of the curb shows how lush the whole yard is. Now it's our job to keep it looking great.

Day 1041: nature's DIY

Since we're between projects right now, yesterday we decided to visit one of the bigger lumber yards around--the Calvert Cliffs State Park. It was a beautiful day for a leisurely drive and hike, so we took advantage.

Right from the parking lot the view over a little pond was breathtaking, and we knew we'd made a wise choice.

There are several trails that meander through the park, but we picked one that would take us down to the water. 

All around were spectacular sights, especially as we got close to the water and a marshy area developed alongside the path.

We were careful to adhere to all posted signs and placards...even when they contradicted themselves.

There were some that we found pretty easy to stay on the right side of.

The trail ended at a small beach that easily justified the "cliffs" in the name. Those in the first picture were inaccessible from the beach, but those in the second picture were walk up and touchable.

The view out to the horizon was beautiful, the lapping waves were hypnotic, and the water proved irresistible.

Day 1021: shelves complete

Didn't mean to leave you hanging for two weeks, but we ran into a bit of a snafu with this project last weekend.

We had intended to do the final painting and sealing but before that final step realized that the light really caught the flaws around where the pieces of wood meet. If there's one thing we've learned through these 1000+ days it's that if something bothers you during construction then it will bother you after completion. Apparently one thing we haven't learned is to spot potential problems at an early stage. Heavy sigh.

So we power sanded all the crossings (on what will be the front) to make them as smooth as possible. Here's what one side and one of the middle joins looked like after sanding.

And here's the whole thing, with all twelve joins sanded down.

That set us back a week, so this weekend we put our three coats (one white, two green) on the front and a coat of sealer on the whole piece. We also added some blocky feet from Home Depot to match the overall style.

Now all we need to do is figure a way to get this upstairs.