Below 265 SQ/FT DRIVESITFAR IS GETTING ORGANIZED in his 9x15 portion of 2 car garage. DIY’s & COOL VI

[mike93lx]

I probably should have picked up another jb weld last night when we went to HD to pick up 30% vinegar, but I know I have a new tube somewhere in my small garage.

Here’s the recipe and ingredients for weed killer if anybody needs it. Of course I learned that just because a jug says vinegar that it’s not the only ingredient. I bet this 30% version could really knock the rust off of old steel and tools but make sure to rinse and dry good because the 6% version used to work ok.

1 gallon 30% vinegar and 1 gallon regular vinegar with 1-2 cups if cheap salt and about 1/4 cup dawn detergent. I had a bottle of red vinegar on the shelf forever so hope it’s ok to use in my recipe.

Have a grand day!!

Why mix 30% with regular (2.5%?) instead of just water?

 

[drivesitfar]

Good question and just following recipe that a freind just used to kill her parking strip weeds in a few hours. Also cause I’m tired of looking at this old red vinegar on our shelf.

Just an fyi my red is 5%.

Have you mixed and tried this recipe cause I’ve heard about it for years but seeing the results in person and hearing HD is selling 30% ( $20 per gallon) made me try it. I still have bottles of concentrated round up but trying to be more environmentally friendly.

 

[Jayman17]

I probably should have picked up another jb weld last night when we went to HD to pick up 30% vinegar, but I know I have a new tube somewhere in my small garage.

Here’s the recipe and ingredients for weed killer if anybody needs it. Of course I learned that just because a jug says vinegar that it’s not the only ingredient. I bet this 30% version could really knock the rust off of old steel and tools but make sure to rinse and dry good because the 6% version used to work ok.

1 gallon 30% vinegar and 1 gallon regular vinegar with 1-2 cups if cheap salt and about 1/4 cup dawn detergent. I had a bottle of red vinegar on the shelf forever so hope it’s ok to use in my recipe.

Have a grand day!!

If it wasn't for the Dawn, I'd say you were trying to kill some salad greens not weeds.

 

[drivesitfar]

Too funny but not far off. I’m learning that dandelion and other so called weeds are actually full of good stuff to eat

Thanks for stopping in and I’ll post my results.

 

[drivesitfar]

My garage is in let’s call it an organization mode cause when I moved out my old black Hamilton flat files and 6 foot steel bench to move in bigger tan flat files and a 5 foot bench with a couple of my old cabinets I had in storage. When I did that a lot of stuff ended up in boxes that still need to be put away and I recalled seeing a new jb weld in one. Well I found it so I’ll give it a try on my lawn roller do I can fill it up with 30-40 gallons of water and get my lawn a bit flatter.

I’m guessing I wire brush off the surface where my hole is on the edge of my roller and apply JB? I’ll read directions and hopefully it will work

 

[drivesitfar]

Since my old metal lawn roller needs to hold water I ended up buying JB marine weld epoxy that comes in a tube. I’ll cut off about a half an inch and squeeze it together and apply to my wire brushed surface and see how it works and hope there isn’t another hole or two. No new grass yet but I’m watering 2-3 times a day. I am pretty sure the grass seed is a great product but I did add a lot of garden mix and also grub killer and my regular fertilizer so crossing my fingers I won’t need to buy another $50 bucket of seed.

The weed killer solution is a winner and everything my bride sprayed is dead as can be. I’ll try it on blackberries to give it a real test soon.

I had this small about 5x6 foot area under our deck that I have weeded a few times and even put a few inches of gravel on but weeds still grow. I spent a couple days weeding it and since I have a few extra bricks I decided to brick it in. I think it looks a lot better now and I’m sure it will get the cracks sprayed with our new weed killer to keep it looking good.

My granddaughter is getting better at hammering nails too and I’ll need to get her building something soon cause she’s ready.

Have a grand day everyone!!

 

[zanyad]

That brick looks good, drives!

 

[drivesitfar]

Thanks Z!! I forgot to mention I put 2 bags of HD masonry sand ($7 per bag) on top of the bricks and brushed them in a bit. Since this sand has some small rocks in it I left more than a little on top of the bricks to let dew and rain help settle it in. I’ll spray the cracks with weed killer about every month that should keep the weeds to a minimum.

All: either I’m growing a putting green, new lawn or fine moss by watering the new grass seed 2-4 times a day I’m pretty sure I have grass growing now.

Not sure you can see in pic but thought I’d post a sort of where’s Waldo one for you.

 

[mike93lx]

Thanks Z!! I forgot to mention I put 2 bags of HD masonry sand ($7 per bag) on top of the bricks and brushed them in a bit. Since this sand has some small rocks in it I left more than a little on top of the bricks to let dew and rain help settle it in. I’ll spray the cracks with weed killer about every month that should keep the weeds to a minimum.

All: either I’m growing a putting green, new lawn or fine moss by watering the new grass seed 2-4 times a day I’m pretty sure I have grass growing now.

Not sure you can see in pic but thought I’d post a sort of where’s Waldo one for you.

Are you familiar with polymeric sand? It's made for that purpose and cures hard to both hold it in place and help stop weed growth

 

[drivesitfar]

Mike: good question again and wondering if you’ve used it and how were your results? I’m not positive this brick solution is permanent cause thinking of putting a raised bed for more planting of good eats or maybe something else later. If it was permanent I’d probably mix 1 part Portland cement with 2 parts sand and mortar the bricks in place. The stuff you mentioned I think might cost me $50+- cause it’s spendy and I’ve heard mixed reviews.

I can’t tell you all how nice the weather has been here in the PNW but is been amazing. We even had a couple days of about 80 degrees a few days ago. Here’s the 10 day forecast and last week they predicted a couple days of a bit of rain and it never happened.

We start our days now with warm lemon water and tumeric with a touch of honey and this is the second Norwegian pancake I’ve made. I quit putting on powdered sugar but still squeeze on a lemon wedge or two or three along with good maple syrup and raspberries if we have some like I did today

 

[mike93lx]

Mike: good question again and wondering if you’ve used it and how were your results? I’m not positive this brick solution is permanent cause thinking of putting a raised bed for more planting of good eats or maybe something else later. If it was permanent I’d probably mix 1 part Portland cement with 2 parts sand and mortar the bricks in place. The stuff you mentioned I think might cost me $50+- cause it’s spendy and I’ve heard mixed reviews.

I only used it once, on a walkway not too long before I sold the house...maybe a year or so?

Especially for a possible temp solution, I am sure what you did will be fine. The most important thing, regardless of what you spread on top, is the base prep

 

[drivesitfar]

It already had a few inches of 5/8 minus gravel but weeding it a few times probably churned up more dirt near the top. It’s much better than it was for my current use while I finish resurfacing our old deck.

Thanks for stopping in and asking good questions or giving me (us) something yo think about.

 

[Prospecter]

That Norwegian pancake looks delicious. Any similarity to Yorkshire Pudding or popovers?

Your homemade brew for weedkiller seems like a good choice if you are considering taking up the pavers later to put in a garden. Should be pretty easy to avoid ill effects on vegetables.

 

[mike93lx]

Good question and just following recipe that a freind just used to kill her parking strip weeds in a few hours. Also cause I’m tired of looking at this old red vinegar on our shelf.

Just an fyi my red is 5%.

Have you mixed and tried this recipe cause I’ve heard about it for years but seeing the results in person and hearing HD is selling 30% ( $20 per gallon) made me try it. I still have bottles of concentrated round up but trying to be more environmentally friendly.

I've only gone after weeds with glyphosate in varying concentrations, although I only really use it for stuff I need really dead, like poison ivy where the kids play. My lawn guy does a little spraying in the mulch beds at times, but I've never asked what it is.

Vinegar is definitely better for the environment than glyphosate

 

[drivesitfar]

P: I’ve posted the Norwegian pancake recipe a few times on GJ which is 4-5 eggs, 2/3 cup whole milk and 2/3 cup non glyphosate flour. I’ll get you cooking directions if you’d like to make one. It takes me about 2 minutes to whip up the mixture and about 10 minutes to get 12 inch cast iron pan and oven warmed and another 18 minutes to bake.

I can’t recall the last time I actually spread grass seed cause I usually bought sod, but watching it pop thru the dirt is just damn exciting.

Another couple pics of the new grass popping out without the sun glare cause it’s sitting behind a few clouds.

Mike: Speaking of glyphosate some of you might not know this but probably one of the ingredients in most of your flour products. We buy our flour from small farms that grind it the day we order it. It costs a bit more but we are 70 years old and we have no allergies and don’t take any meds.

Hope you’re all having a great weekend.

 

[drivesitfar]

Happy Mother’s Day everyone.

I told my bride I’ll be her handyman today which got a big smile so pretty sure I’ll be working on our deck but who knows.

 

[drivesitfar]

My bride had her day chatting with all our kids and some of the grandkids from afar while she actually helped me put in more blocking in our old deck. It’s a slow process cause I didn’t hurricane all the old joists equal distances apart while I was leveling everything. AND I’m screwing the blocking in with structural screws.

Progress is progress and it should be finished before the end of summer.

Also I’m getting a ton of new grass showing and since this is seeded over old sod I probably will make my first manual mow tomorrow with the grass catcher attached cause the old grass is getting pretty long. The last pic is how our lawn looked last year before I killed it when we went on our cruise and adventures in Europe. I think I was hoping my bride would let me plant ground cover or I’d make a golf course like sand bunker (that could end up a mess with all the cats around here).

Hope you all had a nice weekend and here’s to another grand day above dirt.

 

[drivesitfar]

Since it’s already 70 degrees and new lawn needed watering (again) I decided to use my old craftsman push mower and give it a haircut. Unfortunately my old Scott’s basket catcher didn’t fit my craftsman so I decided to let the clippings lay and I watered everything in again.

 

[drivesitfar]

I’ve been making steady progress on the deck but the next 4 days it will be raining so I’ll find other stuff to do.

I also don’t have to water the lawn that is growing in nicely.

Weed killer works maybe better than commercial weed killers too

Have a grand day while I maybe do some puzzling or organizing while my old sore body heals.

 

[drivesitfar]

The good thing about living in PNW is the weather people really don’t know when it’s going to rain and where. Yesterday ended up being sunny (and cloudy) and dry so my bride grabbed her G tape to tape tops of blocking while I installed a bunch with our friend that just had another hand surgery.

One handed I bet our friend can out work most people. We have a new show coming soon It’s on a DIY channel and it’s title is
“2 Mensa gals and a man”

At least I have control of the saws.

And we all put this little 500 piece puzzle together.

Have a grand day.

 

[drivesitfar]

Hoping you all had a great weekend. While it was supposed to rain we did get a couple mostly decent sunny days so I was able to finish up the lower deck blocking with the help of our 62 year old one armed gal friend. Shout out to her.

The lawn got another haircut and while it’s still pretty thin in several spots it’s getting greener by the day.

I’m not sure puzzling helps with DIY skills but it’s sure fun and we completed another one.

I’ll get back to documenting our trip last fall in the Mediterranean and Ireland and see if it helps anyone even though things might have changed some in the last 6 months.

 

[drivesitfar]

I finished up all the blocking on our lower deck so now I can run the new timber tech boards east to west. Our old treated wood deck boards were nailed on a diagonal pattern. We could have maybe been ok screwing new deck boards on a north to south pattern with 16 inch on center 2x8 joists but even though new boards are solid 1 inch thick my research showed that 12 inch on center was much better. So a bunch more time and a fair amount of help from my amazing Mensa gals and I think I’ll be decking soon.

Shout out again to my bride for doing most all of the taping except the 12 inch wide roll we used to cover the wood fascia board before we cover it with a 1/2 inch by 12 inch timbertech fascia.

The weather for May here this year has been amazing too cause I usually don’t work outside in the rain now cause at 70 I do need to pace myself a bit better and rainy days give me a little break.

Fig tree is staring to show some figs and this little planter has 3 sun gold tomatoes plants (golden cherry tomatoes) should produce another good crop this summer.

Hope you all have a grand day.

 

[Prospecter]

Homestead is looking great! Love the deck work. That will create a nice base for the decking. Gardens and lawn are coming along.

We are just getting our spring forsythia, lilacs, etc.

 

[don long]

Your yard is sure looking great. every time you post the work on your deck my back starts to hurt. Man that looks like a ton of work. smiled when I saw that you like puzzles. I do about 1 a month for relaxation.
I just stopped in to see what you have been up to lately. I don't brose the GJ much these days. Have a nice weekend

Don

 

[drivesitfar]

Me and the old Mensa gals made good progress on the deck the last 3 days. I rebuilt the wobbly concrete block steps after attaching a couple pieces of 12 inch wide and 1/2 inch thick timbertech facia.

Cutting the 20 foot boards into 8 and 12 footers made a mess with my 12 inch dewalt compound miter saw but edges of boards with my 80 tooth carbide bread look better than factory cuts.

After showers and a little food we started another puzzle and this Thomas Kincade 1000 piece one is super tough.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

P: I can’t imagine owning and caring for all the cage and stuff you own cause I’m only on a 1/3 acre so keep yo the great work.

Don: thanks for the visit big guy!!!! Yep my entire body is sore but thanks to my 5 minutes a day hanging in my inversion table my back is ok.

Also for anyone that wants to follow the best guy and garage stuff on GJ you would be there if you finds Don’s threads. He is amazing!!!

Have a grand evening!!

 

[drivesitfar]

I picked up another French drain man leaf collector and attached it to my downspout. I put several on my parents house last year and they work great if you have downspouts running into drainage pipe.

The Mensa gals also managed to almost finish the new puzzle with minimal help from me.

 

[drivesitfar]

Here’s the tools I used to repair and cut the 4 inch and 8 inch concrete blocks. It’s. Not perfect but it’s good nuf for now.

 

[mike93lx]

Looking good.

On decking, I like hitting the cut end with a round over that matches what comes on the long edges. Really makes it look nice. A cordless trim router works excellently for this.

 

[drivesitfar]

Thanks for the reminder and that is the plan. I also need to install a nice black aluminum timbertech railing once I finish installing the decking.

 

[drivesitfar]

The girls almost finished the puzzle last night after a decent days work on the deck while I help occasionally with a piece here and there.

today is a rain day (no work for us) so I’m figuring out the railing plan.

I’ve seen several videos and have directions in the kit but if anyone has suggestions or tips on installation please share if you have time. Our deck is 9 inches over 30 feet and we bought 5 sections of 6 feet railing that includes the post to make 6 foot sections. So we were planning on bringing in the railing posts 4.5 inches on each end. Our other option was to get 4 8 foot sections but we like the look of the 6 foot sections a bit better.

Our weather for May this year has been amazing and I am actually pretty happy about a rainy day to let my soreness heal a bit and have a rest day.

 

[drivesitfar]

It’s been raining a bit more the last few days but we had a good day of sun and high 70’s so we finished laying the timbertech decking in the main deck. It’s far from perfect but working with all the original 30+ year old joists and beams and all the new blocking cut and screwed I’ll call it a win. My bride is definitely smiling more now.

Next phases include building the steps, adding more nailers and some blocking on upper deck and then screwing the decking down and then putting in the railing. There might be a few more things on the list like fixing the siding and a few other things but it’s getting done.

The grass is filling in nicely but it will need a little more topping and seed soon to really look great again.

Have a grand day everyone and hope you are learning something new today.

 

[Prospecter]

Your deck looks great. Any imperfections are in the eye of the contractor.
I reseed spots in our lawn. . . usually from winter damage. Nothing as beautiful as yours, though.

 

[jon72vega]

Nice work on the deck!

 

[drivesitfar]

P: thanks as always for the good words. Considering how much blocking I cut and we screwed in I’m pretty happy with the deck overall but if I would have slowed down just a bit and added a few shims it could have been better. Just saying my little piece of grass is getting better but with all the land you’re responsible for you are doing far better than I am. Keep up the great work.

Jon: thanks!!

All: I bought 12 inch x 1/2 inch 12 foot timbertech facia boards and at nearly $200 a board we decided not to rip them down to fit our 9.25 inch boards and we like the way they look now.
We used the cortex hidden fastener screws for the main deck and they are coming out with a similar product for fascia too but it’s not available in our area yet. So instead of just buying timbertech English walnut colored cortex screw heads Simpson makes screws that let the fascia board move a bit with expansion when got and cold sort of like wood does. Anyway I picked a color very close to matching and pre drilled and set in the screw heads too and we think they look awesome.
Another little project was to clean up below our fig tree that is usually a weed patch so I made a decent start on it with these 20 inch concrete 2 inch thick blocks we picked up at Home Depot. This sure made it easier screwing in the fascia not having to be on dirt and weeds.

Hope you all had a great weekend and enjoy another day or many above dirt.

 

[drivesitfar]

I built a little 7.5 inch high and 39 inch wide step to get on the deck from the fig tree area on the south end of the deck. It’s built with 2x6 treated lumber and wrapped with timbertech decking. I used a couple scrap 2 inch wide pieces to keep the wood off my concrete pad and with the deck being at 14.25 inches it’s close enough to half the height without having to rip every board. I did rip one 5.5 inch board to 3.5 inch with my old 6.5 inch black and decker skill saw with a 60 tooth blade that worked great.

The sunsets sometimes around here are amazing and tonight’s was a keeper as you can see. Tomorrow its supposed to be 83 degrees so I’ll have to keep up with watering the gardens and lawn.

 

[drivesitfar]

After our glimpse of warmer weather (85 degrees a couple days ago) I brought out our 3 tall fans. Since we’ve owned our home for 40 years we have NEVER had an air conditioning system whether it be window unit, mini split or a heat pump cause we just don’t have that many hot days.

When we do get a few days or a week of over 95-100 ish we usually plan outdoor activities, a long drive or late afternoons at a movie theater.

My question to you all is since I have an old non working bbq that is next to our barely ever used fireplace that has its own chimney is there an AC unit I can buy and set up that can vent 10 feet up and out the unused chimney?

Have a Grand Day everyone!!

 

[mike93lx]

You definitely can't just vent it into the chimney, but maybe you could run the hose all the way out, although I suspect it will well beyond the recommended or max length. You really need a window nearby to run the hose to

 

[drivesitfar]

Mike: that’s what i found out years ago but haven’t researched in a while and hoping a non venting or something decent is an option now. Thanks for looking in and posting a few things.

 

[mike93lx]

Mike: that’s what i found out years ago but haven’t researched in a while and hoping a non venting or something decent is an option now. Thanks for looking in and posting a few things.

Portable a/c's are generally terrible anyways. You really only want to use them when you have no other choice

 

[drivesitfar]

That’s why he haven’t bought any in the 40 years here. If I find a solution that isn’t 10-20k I’ll post it up and until then 3 fans will have to do.