Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT 3rd time's a charm with a 3 car workshop

[loganb]

With the new baby we have some family staying with us for awhile to help out, we're very fortunate that the house is big enough to easily accommodate and we can each have our space but having a project list they can work on as time or interest allows helps all of us out!

The wife has been frustrated with lack of storage in the bathrooms so she found some cabinets at a big box diy she thought were acceptable and I said I didnt have time or interest in making them so order away! We picked them up this AM and should be installed this weekend...hopefully with limited effort from me and I can be doing other projects!



Nothing crazy, 3 cabinets for above the thrones, then a small "pantry cabinet" to use as a linen closet in our basement bath that has exactly 0 storage right now...so should be a nice improvement in usability and makes boss lady happy... bargain at 2x the price!

 

[nicholam77]

Love the Ode To The Miter Saw. It was fun seeing the pics and evolution. A miter saw station was one of the first things I made as well, similar simulated half lap joinery with 2x4's. Except I skipped the 45° braces. But I'm not an engineer.

I am intending to get a stop block setup on it....I'm not personally a fan of the fixed fences that sit on top of the table tops as I like having the option for unobstructed work surfaces for flexibility....it probably isn't worth it as it complicates things and encourages Flat Surface Disease...but maybe I'll get cured of that too?

Like you, FSD was a major problem.

I used it quite heavily to do a lot of trim casing work in my house. But after that was mostly finished, I ended up tearing it down to make room for the table saw cart and MFT rolling bench. The miter station was just too big, bulky, and single purpose for my smaller space. And I constantly put stuff on it!! It started to become my "lumber storage".

Now I just put stuff on my other bench



I had thought about building a lighter weight, floating version to replace it. Slimmer, and would allow the other carts to slide underneath.



But in the end I came to my senses and realized that my FSD was no joke. And I just figured out different ways to cross cut long boards when needed.

One thing larger miter stations are great for is storage. But mine wasn't serving that purpose. Looks like yours has a lot of nice drawers.

If you do keep it, I agree on fixed fences being less than ideal. Maybe embed a T-Track in the surface with some wooden blocks as stops?

Good idea on raising the MFT cart. Personally I love little projects like those that aren't glamorous, but make a real difference in usability.

Hopefully you don't mind the longer post in your journal.

 

[Bob Heine]

I credit Jack Olsen with the work surface height thing and I understand completely going the extra mile. I built a couple of cabinets in the workshop to mount the table saw and router table. The cabinets aren't the same size but the top of both tables is the same (as are all three benches in the shop). I'm thinking of making a third cabinet for the miter saw that can go between these, along with some wings.

 

[loganb]

Love the Ode To The Miter Saw. It was fun seeing the pics and evolution. A miter saw station was one of the first things I made as well, similar simulated half lap joinery with 2x4's. Except I skipped the 45° braces. But I'm not an engineer.

Just means you spent less time and effort "solving problems" that probably weren't problems...since those cabinets exhibit 0 issues in strength or falling apart after 4 moves and a dozen years...think it means they were overbuilt!

Like you, FSD was a major problem.

Substitute boring white back wall for yours and it would be indistinguishable from mine!

That is the same concept I'm intending for my next iteration. "floating" across that whole wall with "docking" spots for some of the major tools underneath

If you do keep it, I agree on fixed fences being less than ideal. Maybe embed a T-Track in the surface with some wooden blocks as stops?

I'm debating between routing in a T track or doing something similar to yours attached with a pair of pegs/dowels that would enable it to easily be pulled off when desired. If I come to my senses I'll do something exactly like yours and stop trying to overcomplicate it....

Good idea on raising the MFT cart. Personally I love little projects like those that aren't glamorous, but make a real difference in usability.

They're probably my favorite thing to build in the shop honestly....I get carried away with them at times and work on them instead of house projects...but that's why it's my shop and not my wife's

Hopefully you don't mind the longer post in your journal.

Mind...heck no! Welcome posts of all shapes and sizes....walls of texts or picture collages without captions from one and all! Appreciate you sharing your time and comments during you well earned break from work or the family...or maybe both?

I credit Jack Olsen with the work surface height thing and I understand completely going the extra mile. I built a couple of cabinets in the workshop to mount the table saw and router table. The cabinets aren't the same size but the top of both tables is the same (as are all three benches in the shop). I'm thinking of making a third cabinet for the miter saw that can go between these, along with some wings.

The 12 Gauge is definitely one that's made me think differently about how to make more efficient/flexible workspaces! And these little "useability" projects for me tend to snowball a bit and I'll hopefully get on a roll and knock several out in short order and wonder why I didn't do it earlier cause they were such an improvement....maybe that can be some mini-projects for next week! Thanks for spending some time here Bob!

 

[loganb]

Well so much for using the new pocket hole jig on this project, due to the c shape the workpiece hits the clamp handle...oh well it justifies why I didn't sell the basic Kreg one when I bought the new one.



Marking the end cap to length and chopping to length



The combo drill bit/countersink kit getting more exercise today



And all glued and screwed together
..see if I get them installed tonight or if it's later in the weekend

 

[nicholam77]

I'm debating between routing in a T track or doing something similar to yours attached with a pair of pegs/dowels that would enable it to easily be pulled off when desired. If I come to my senses I'll do something exactly like yours and stop trying to overcomplicate it....

The only reason I suggested ditching the fixed fences is I've heard it's best to just reference the miter saw fence and not have a long fixed fence touch the board in case it's curved or something. Plus if you want it removable you'll need a way to keep the scale / stop blocks calibrated, and it parallel to the actual saw's fence.

If you want to get fancy and spend extra money you could use some 20mm dog holes, some "fence dogs", and a piece of aluminum extrusion like 8020. That would be easy on, easy off, and locate it in the same spot every time. If you're willing to drill some 20mm holes in the top. Check out Alabama Woodworker's YouTube, he did something similar with aluminum extrusion fences. Or there's various MFT videos on "fence dogs".

My design was kinda rough but it was based off looking at Gregor's (MCMMM thread) Kapex station / Sysport station. With the torsion box tops, low profile drawers, and simple fences with the Kreg stop. It's relatively early in his thread. So I give credit to that, and I think it's worth looking at, too, if you're going to redo it with a floating version someday.

Well so much for using the new pocket hole jig on this project, due to the c shape the workpiece hits the clamp handle...oh well it justifies why I didn't sell the basic Kreg one when I bought the new one.

I love the MASSCA jig but I have to say having the clamp on the back can be quite annoying especially for large panels. For what it's worth, you can detach the drill guide and use it just like the Kreg K3. I kept my K3 for the same reason though... just easier to not take the bigger jig apart. Best of both worlds.

P.S. how do you like the Snappy countersinks? I've had those on my "wish list" for awhile

 

[loganb]

And all done....and hopeful my math was right as it was too hot to break down the MFT and put it back on top...will wait till tomorrow for the moment of truth



That minisplit probably needs to move back up the priority list...

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Nice work, but now I'm going to have to pick up some of those drill bits!

 

[loganb]

Yay, I didn't screw up the measurements!

Actually kinda like it sitting there....may have to consider that harder...

And the father in-laws project:

 

[loganb]

P.S. how do you like the Snappy countersinks? I've had those on my "wish list" for awhile

Nice work, but now I'm going to have to pick up some of those drill bits!

So I've got 2 sets...

The B&D set likely came from the orange or blue big box and is a tapered drill set to also work as the pilot into the "back" piece you're attaching too. I like these in concept better, however the quality control out of the overseas factory was atrocious and of the 3, 1 bit was attached to the shank at such an angle it had almost 3/8" runout at the tip! The smaller one is better but not great, about an 1/8" of runout and the largest is great....but I rarely use it as I don't use #10's very often.

Using those more got me to pick up the snappys at the local Woodcraft on an Xmas gift certificate and I do like them. The set is nice but probably only need the #6 and #8 personally.

When I find(or someone sends me a link) for a better quality tapered set bits like the B&D I will probably get them...or try my luck with another batch out of the factory next time I'm thru the box store

 

[loganb]

While I was in plywood and MFT mode, went ahead and redid the top of the "base." When I cut it before I made it too narrow so the MFT had to be perfectly centered. As I had a piece of decent 3/4" ply about the right size went ahead and fixed that oops


I left the sheet 48" wide and will likely narrow the overhang on the ends later as I figure out how I want it setup. I'm leaning towards screwing up the symmetric feng shui of the space and offsetting the MFT a bit to allow more space on the right side for hanging deeper attachments and not getting in the way of clamping anything vertically on the end




Hum... this looks like could be a nice space for some shallow pull out drawers



That's a "Future me" project I think

Used the tail of the plywood to mount an end cap on the racking, primarily for household stuff I think



And the cleanest the space has been just in time for disassembly of one of the car seats after an upset stomach caused the toddler to be sent home earlier this week... the mess in the truck was minor but still needed to wash the covers



That toddler is now better and likes all the screws at a handy height for her


Pretty productive day in the garage for me.... see if the rest of day and weekend continues the trend or not!

 

[loganb]

After 2.5 years of uninterrupted sleep thru the night...this 2am wake up for feedings is wearing on us. It wouldn't be bad if he would go back to sleep easily...but he's developed the nasty habit of staying up at least 2 hours after his overnight feeding(and only the overnight one!) so that's tons of fun....oh well. We are hopeful it's a couple more weeks then he can sleep thru the night and we can feel human-ish again.

Slow day after a particular rough night and morning with both kids so plans got changed and not much happened. Did start to take advantage of the extra in house labor and began assembly of the playset "several" weeks late...but it's started so wife is happy about progress on that front

Hot and pretty humid week up ahead has me seriously considering finally pulling the trigger on the mini-split this week. Likely the Mr. Cool DIY unit, need to do some measuring to validate layout of the lineset but have location pretty well finalized

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Here's some well wishing for sleep! I've got 2 left in the house, one in grade school and one just starting high school...their older sisters are in college. Sleep deprivation comes in other forms later on , and grey hairs!

 

[nicholam77]

After 2.5 years of uninterrupted sleep thru the night...this 2am wake up for feedings is wearing on us. It wouldn't be bad if he would go back to sleep easily...but he's developed the nasty habit of staying up at least 2 hours after his overnight feeding(and only the overnight one!) so that's tons of fun....oh well. We are hopeful it's a couple more weeks then he can sleep thru the night and we can feel human-ish again.

I'm right there with ya

Same thing, ours loves to not go back to sleep easily... but only at night. We get him down around 10:30, up at 2am, up at 5am, sometimes it's 1 hr+ or back-to-back feedings to get him to sleep again. My daughter managed to get a cold from daycare and get us all sick, too, so the other night she also woke up 3 times, and we've been wearing surgical masks around the baby trying not to get the newborn sick. I was so tired I fell asleep wearing a mask at some point last night. I'm back to work this morning... yeah, it's been a little rough!!

But I keep reminding myself it's only temporary! I've probably got a few months left until it's bearable but hope yours gets over the hump soon! My daughter didn't sleep all the way through the night consistently until 10 months, so I'm hoping the baby boy is a better sleeper.

I know DeWalt makes some tapered countersinks like those B&D, but no idea if they're any good or not.

I think I might pick up a few of the Snappy's. Like you, I don't need a full set.

 

[Trapps]

Ahh youth!

Wait until later in life when the nighttime wake ups are your issues and a function of the ageing process. Accompanied by sound effects.

Somewhere in between, you get real sleep.

In the meantime, at least there is a semblance of routine. Perhaps not a preferred routine, but a routine allows for planning, as in "it's your turn..."

My youngest graduated college this past May, and while it seems like a crazy long time away, I assure it will go by very fast - enjoy every minute.

 

[loganb]

Here's some well wishing for sleep! I've got 2 left in the house, one in grade school and one just starting high school...their older sisters are in college. Sleep deprivation comes in other forms later on , and grey hairs!

My parents keep reminding me that it doesn't change as they get older, just the reason for being awake changes!

I'm right there with ya

Same thing, ours loves to not go back to sleep easily... but only at night. We get him down around 10:30, up at 2am, up at 5am, sometimes it's 1 hr+ or back-to-back feedings to get him to sleep again. My daughter managed to get a cold from daycare and get us all sick, too, so the other night she also woke up 3 times, and we've been wearing surgical masks around the baby trying not to get the newborn sick. I was so tired I fell asleep wearing a mask at some point last night. I'm back to work this morning... yeah, it's been a little rough!!

But I keep reminding myself it's only temporary! I've probably got a few months left until it's bearable but hope yours gets over the hump soon! My daughter didn't sleep all the way through the night consistently until 10 months, so I'm hoping the baby boy is a better sleeper.

I know DeWalt makes some tapered countersinks like those B&D, but no idea if they're any good or not.

I think I might pick up a few of the Snappy's. Like you, I don't need a full set.

Schedule sounds pretty similar to ours, down around 10 or 10:30, he calls the shots on the overnight feeding but is ranging from 1:30 to 4:15, today was 3:15, hope he goes back down after but often doesn't...but either way next feeding need to be going by 6:15 as I normally do it and need to be able to get the toddler up starting about 6:45 or 6:50 so her and I can be out the door about 7:20 for daycare. Slowly sip my coffee on a slow drive back to the house in a bit of peace and quiet prior to having to battle the electronic "phoenix" that rises from the ashes every AM called the email inbox....

We were very fortunate that our daughter slept thru the night starting about 6 weeks....holding out hope that we can do that here as well! Doc is more than happy with his weight gain so 0 concerns about needing that overnight feeding to get the needed calories....so hopefully he cooperates???? We keep having to make mental adjustments to get back to his "adjusted age" which tomorrow is 1 week, vs his "actual age" which is 9 weeks and reset our expectations/comparisons vs what our daughter or others are doing at similar "age"

My next McMaster-Carr order I may add a couple of extra countersink or counterboring bits in my usual sizes:

https://www.mcmaster.com/drill-countersinks/drill-bit-countersinks-with-drill-bit/

Ahh youth!

Wait until later in life when the nighttime wake ups are your issues and a function of the ageing process. Accompanied by sound effects.

Somewhere in between, you get real sleep.

In the meantime, at least there is a semblance of routine. Perhaps not a preferred routine, but a routine allows for planning, as in "it's your turn..."

My youngest graduated college this past May, and while it seems like a crazy long time away, I assure it will go by very fast - enjoy every minute.

I hear you on the routine....even if I'm not thrilled it may be "my turn" it's generally preferable to attempting to decide whose turn it is with my "not a morning person" wife at 3am when we're both half asleep!

The longer I've had this title of "parent" the more I understand the phrase "The nights are long but years are short"...a few moments we wonder what were we thinking, but they're fleeting and quickly pass!

Forgot my most impressive accomplishment of the weekend....picking up 3 of these cabinets and 1 pantry cabinet and then being able to hand it off to the father in law for install of all. I helped unload and then cleaned up the packaging, but otherwise I did nothing....it was wonderful! Still need to go around and tweak hinges a bit to align the doors better, but wife's happy with them and I didn't do it so muy bueno!

 

[nicholam77]

Slowly sip my coffee on a slow drive back to the house in a bit of peace and quiet prior to having to battle the electronic "phoenix" that rises from the ashes every AM called the email inbox....

Same lol. I also get my daughter ready and take her to daycare in the morning, and since the baby has been born I've been making a coffee stop on the way back home. That extra 20min drive is the most peaceful part of the day!

We were very fortunate that our daughter slept thru the night starting about 6 weeks....holding out hope that we can do that here as well!

Woah! I've heard some babies can do that, but I think that's like best case scenario. Lucky. Ours was not a good sleeper or napper for the first year. With your new boy and the "adjusted age" I think one middle-of-the-night wake up is not bad!

My next McMaster-Carr order I may add a couple of extra countersink or counterboring bits in my usual sizes:

https://www.mcmaster.com/drill-countersinks/drill-bit-countersinks-with-drill-bit/

I always forget about McMaster for stuff like this. I only ordered from them once but it was a good experience.

To keep this mildly garage-related, the MFT cart is looking good. Probably a good idea to maximize vertical clamping. Not that you couldn't use the long sides but more options is always good, sometimes you don't want to have to move or turn the bench for access! I see the nice drawers for the screws and whatnot below, but what's on the back side of the cart? More of the same?

 

[loganb]

That extra 20min drive is the most peaceful part of the day!

We moved to a closer daycare this past spring....it's a sub 5 minute drive but I've been stretching it substantially recently!

Woah! I've heard some babies can do that, but I think that's like best case scenario. Lucky. Ours was not a good sleeper or napper for the first year. With your new boy and the "adjusted age" I think one middle-of-the-night wake up is not bad!

Agreed, we were very fortunate on the first so we'll find out with this one how much was luck and how much was the "system" we used....:fingers crossed:

I always forget about McMaster for stuff like this. I only ordered from them once but it was a good experience.

In my days as a manufacturing/process engineer I'd spend mid 5 figures on components from them so it's engrained in my "garage shopping" list! Their fulfillment and return experience is the best I've ever encountered in online ordering from anyone and their prices are fair and generally competitive

To keep this mildly garage-related, the MFT cart is looking good. Probably a good idea to maximize vertical clamping. Not that you couldn't use the long sides but more options is always good, sometimes you don't want to have to move or turn the bench for access! I see the nice drawers for the screws and whatnot below, but what's on the back side of the cart? More of the same?

Thanks! Backside is just 1/2" plywood, no drawer access there. Intention is more storage hanging for longer items commonly used with the MFT or plywood so will probably end up with a square or two, some MFT accessories etc....but right now a blank slate!

Did get the minisplit stand and lineset cover ordered last night...the unit itself isn't ordered yet but hopefully tonight. I've got a post in the HVAC section with the proposed layout and looking if there is any advice for those that have been there before in regards to lineset routing etc:

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/feedback-on-mini-split-layout.484960/

If I don't get it ordered tonight probably won't be here in time to install this weekend but I could get the lineset cover painted and maybe finish the playset install which would make the wife much happier...so that's what I should do....

 

[loganb]

After a mentally exhausting day topped off with a toddler meltdown I had a challenge tonight of what could I do to kinda feel productive from the comfort of the AC with a stiff drink....

Winner was to start printing 1" tall labels to stick on the 100' roll of strip magnet that showed up last week. Since I moved into this garage I haven't reorganized the tools as it makes sense for this layout vs the last and with selling my largest box and consolidating into wherever there was space its getting to be that time


Personally found it easiest to run off a roughly 4' long strip of labels in a continuous run, then stick it to the magnet and cut apart after it's smoothed out

Lots more to go, but it's a start!

 

[loganb]

Far from perfect, but with the kiddo's enjoyment for magnets I'm not going to spend a ton of time getting things well aligned as it'll last about 90 seconds after her next bit in the garage....which I'm ok with!

 

[loganb]

The hot and humid weather pattern broke so more comfortable to work on the playset so the father in law and I got the rest of the structural pieces stained this morning



The climbing wall has been stained since this was taken:



This afternoon involves helping a cousin try and lay out tile for a bathroom floor but hoping to get back to assembly of the playset after supper tonight

Also finally pulled this trigger:



Shows up Thursday...see how ready I can be!

 

[loganb]

An early start to the day after someone didn't go back to sleep after his 3:30 feeding. Didn't get squat done in those hours but maybe next time??

Did reinforce my dislike of tiling, but got the cousins bathroom floor done. Not perfect but big improvement over the previous flooring, it's off my list and the lady of the house approved so that's a win.



While I was doing that father in law was working on the playset and when I got back we set the last big pieces and stared at the remaining hardware and tried to recall what went where and cursed the "bolt monster" as my daughter was calling it that kept taking the hardware we needed but in the end made substantial progress



Also discovered the yard cart makes a nice tool caddy!

 

[jbrentd]

Ohh the days of building play sets. Not my favorite thing to do, but it’s nice if they enjoy playing on it.

 

[loganb]

Ohh the days of building play sets. Not my favorite thing to do, but it’s nice if they enjoy playing on it

She loves being outside and the playground at the local school which is really to big for her so so hopefully she enjoys this one for at least a couple years....:fingers crossed:

But yeah dang thing is a lot of work, and the 3 month delay between disassembly and reassembly didn't help...I took lots of pictures and they're helping but I'll be smarter if I ever do this again.... probably not smart enough to say no but will at least have a better idea of what I'm getting into!

 

[bradpac]

She loves being outside and the playground at the local school which is really to big for her so so hopefully she enjoys this one for at least a couple years....:fingers crossed:

But yeah dang thing is a lot of work, and the 3 month delay between disassembly and reassembly didn't help...I took lots of pictures and they're helping but I'll be smarter if I ever do this again.... probably not smart enough to say no but will at least have a better idea of what I'm getting into!

I am building one from scratch for our daughter. Nice, big ones popped up for pretty cheap on Marketplace but I got it in my mind it would be just as easy to build from scratch and just as cheap since i had some left over treated wood than go to someone else's yard and disassemble, move, and reassemble.... In hindsight maybe not so much... I still have to design and build the swing portion and of course make a play house underneath and a metal roof to match the garage and....these kids are hard work. But she loves the slide portion I have done, that makes it worth it.

 

[gearhead1960]

... so hopefully she enjoys this one for at least a couple years....:fingers crossed:

....there will be years of enjoyment...my kids played on ours till they were in their tweens.....

 

[slik560]

Excellent work. I hope you're doing well in my home town. We haven't lived there since 1976, but Omaha is still home.

 

[loganb]

Sneaking in a day or two of work mid week to get stuff done, this AM was getting the playset functional, this afternoon is family pictures..... much more excited about one than the other....

My cordless "Saws a lot" trimming off a couple legs





The tool caddy loaded up to return to the garage


And functional but not done... main deck needs stained still, a climbing wall handhold needs reattached as was rotted and a roof needs put on....but usable!

 

[nicholam77]

All that work is a wise investment. My in-laws got a used playset and my FIL spent like a year rebuilding / restoring it. Now the kids (my daughter + her cousins) love it. Will be worth it when you can just be out doing yard work or chillin' and they have something fun to occupy themselves.

 

[loganb]

I am building one from scratch for our daughter. Nice, big ones popped up for pretty cheap on Marketplace but I got it in my mind it would be just as easy to build from scratch and just as cheap since i had some left over treated wood than go to someone else's yard and disassemble, move, and reassemble.... In hindsight maybe not so much... I still have to design and build the swing portion and of course make a play house underneath and a metal roof to match the garage and....these kids are hard work. But she loves the slide portion I have done, that makes it worth it.

I watched Craigslist and FB Marketplace for several months before I got this one. Was too slow, couple were too big, many were well past their prime. I briefly considered buying several cheap, worn out ones and trying to make a "Frankenset" from them...then decided against it. Had it not been for the price of lumber this spring doing it myself would've been seriously considered.

And I'm still debating on the roof...part of me wants to do metal, other part says just order the tarp roof and plan on replacing it in 2 or 3 years

....there will be years of enjoyment...my kids played on ours till they were in their tweens.....

Thanks, after the hours that went in (which in GJ fashion far exceeded expectation) I hope so...based on my track record also confident it won't be my kids playing on them into their tweens....but hey that could change too!

Excellent work. I hope you're doing well in my home town. We haven't lived there since 1976, but Omaha is still home.

Thanks! 14 months into our tenure here....well it's my first official tenure and the wife's 3rd or 4th but it's treating us well. I make it down to your neck of the woods pretty frequently....have family on both sides of the state line but most over in the Shawnee area/DeSoto area

All that work is a wise investment. My in-laws got a used playset and my FIL spent like a year rebuilding / restoring it. Now the kids (my daughter + her cousins) love it. Will be worth it when you can just be out doing yard work or chillin' and they have something fun to occupy themselves.

I'm looking forward to it this weekend when she can be playing on it and I can be working on the overgrown weed beds I'm trying to get landscape fabric and then rock down on so I can stop mowing and trimming them!

 

[loganb]

Mini-split supposed to be here tomorrow so got first coat of paint on at least the parts on the lineset covers that'll be up high. Get a 2nd coat on first AM and maybe avoid needing to do any touch-ups from the ladder...maybe....

 

[loganb]

Hopefully a teaser for a post this weekend....but this showed up and install is underway....if life & work would stop interfering I might have it installed by now....but alas that is not the case!

 

[tj675]

Looking forward to your review on the mini split!

 

[jbrentd]

Nice! Is that one that comes precharged with refrigerant?

 

[loganb]

Nice! Is that one that comes precharged with refrigerant?

Yup... getting closer...

 

[iced98lx]

Oooh come do mine next!

 

[loganb]

Oooh come do mine next!

You're not that terribly far away....but so far it's not too bad....initial install writeup inbound....I say "initial" as it's not done yet!

Onto the install write up:

I ordered it from Amazon for a couple reasons:

• Cheapest price by a long ways
• Quickest delivery time
• Another 5% back thanks to their credit card

Other sources I looked at included Ingrams and Costco....Costco was actually cheaper by 350 bucks but was the old model from approx 2 years ago it appeared. Probably would've been fine for me, but I went with the current model and paid the extra $$$

I was concerned about shipping damage, but decided I would rather deal with Amazon on that then freight company damage claims from a 3rd party so went ahead and ordered, think it showed up 4 days later...father in law took the delivery so not sure what size of truck it showed up on but they did require a signature of someone 18 or older

Upon opening it, pretty impressed with the packaging. I hear about our packaging/damage reduction efforts at work so loosely familiar with some of the materials and common practices but it's obvious they've spent time working to make reduce shipping damage claims on this for the benefit of both the manufacturer and the customer. Air handler being more fragile with the plastic outer shell got more attention than the compressor but both were well done:



The hardware/instructions(not immediately thrown away this time)...didn't crop out the rest of the picture as what's in the background of many of your shots is often as interesting to me as what's supposed to be the focus of attention!



Ok....well guess it's time to punch a hole in my siding...what size again...3.5"....****

Don't have a 3.5" hole saw...it got damaged...so I have a 2.5" or a 4.25"....guess off to Orange Box to grab another Milwaukee unit to go with the existing arbor...chalk another one up for not as prepared as I thought I was

Ok, back from store...time to poke that hole...that blue X was on the siding course I thought it was going to come out...I circled the drill bit I poked the initial hole with. In reality I wasn't as far off as I thought, due to what's in the next picture I had to lower the hole for the lines vs where I initially hoped to have had it



Now we're getting somewhere! Interior unit mounted up easily enough with a metal "mount" you attach to the wall then set the air handler onto it. The plastic retainer "clip" on the bottom may be a bit chintzy for my taste but it's functional for what it is. Turns out the portion of the wall that is common with the house has 5/8" OSB behind the rock so got a couple screws into the studs and a lot of others just into the OSB under the rock.

Now to that hole...I originally wanted that hole above the unitstrut shelf deck...as you can see I didn't get what I wanted. Just wasn't able to get the air handler high enough, maintain recommended clearance(5.9" which is I'm sure 150mm converted as to who actually spec's 5.9" on purpose for that) to the shelf above and keep a downward slope on the drainage line so the hole moved below the shelf. Was a bit leary on how close to the corner I could put that hole and miss framing, I could've put it much closer based on the above picture but it'll work out fine where it is. I'll build a wood chase to cover it all up from the air handler to the hole and will be out of sight, out of mind



Ok so that's done...back outside...at this point I've got probably 2.5 hours into the install(not including the HD run for the holesaw)

With the thru hole in, started to mount the lineset cover kit I had prepainted....pretty straight forward other than awkward work area due to the main AC unit and the slope making access a bit of a stretch armstrong routine


I think this was where I stopped on Thursday...interior unit is up and mounted, most of the lineset cover is mounted and the lines are run out to the outside. The box where they're coiled around is where the power will come from and the stand there is what I'm intending to set the compressor on....but that'll have to wait till weekend

 

[loganb]

Ok back at it...it's now Saturday and first course of action is to get the base for the compressor and stand going. Didn't take many pictures but some work with a flat nose shovel, (4) bags of paver base, some landscape fabric then 2 bags of paver sand and we have this:



I wanted it off the ground as I live in Omaha and it snows, and there is rarely a snow here without wind, it just doesn't happen. Options then were either a wall mount or a stand, I saw a number of reviews and comments against wall mounting due to transferring vibrations to the structure so went with the free standing stand...I overthought that and if I had to do it again would've gone with the wall mount. The main AC compressor is wall mounted, it'd be mounted to foundation not wood framing and this pad prep was way more work then a couple wall anchors....oh well I'm here now. Plan is to get the grass cut back between the two compressors and run the pavers(basic 16 x 16 units) over to the wall on the right then put a quick 2 block high retaining wall around it. Another "future me" problem I mean project is also to put my generator plug in which will connect in that same 12 x 12 junction box and would have the genny sit in that space between the two compressors...again future me problem

On the topic of concrete anchors...for anyone still poking holes in masonry with your standard 18v combo drill/driver/hammer drill...stop. A real SDS shanked drill is so much of a better drill it's not even funny. I was introduced to the wonderfull-ness of Hilti's in college as I worked in a Civil Engineering lab and much of what we did involved concrete beams so we had several Hilti's in various levels of arm breaking ability. For my home use I didn't need that much and I opted for the cordless as I don't do that many anchors and liked not stretching out cords but I'd still rather deal with a cord on a used Bosch Bulldog or Hilti than poke another hole with the standard unit on hammer mode



For power it was pretty straight forward, this is a 240v unit and was going to be fed off the garage sub-panel and I had placed that junction box in to support this so didn't expect many issues here. Biggest problem I had was getting that wire pulled initially and the compressed air and shop vac trick with string didn't work so ended up with my fiberglass fish sticks and that was rigid enough it poked thru easily:




Hooray!


And then pull it back:



Somewhere I own (2) 8" torpedo/bullet levels and (1) 12" one....damned if I could find them yesterday though so wee bit overkill here once again mounting the AC disconnect:



And that's as as far as I've got for pictures at this time. I had got stuck as was short (2) sealtite fittings so did some more "cleanup" work on the unit, what's left for getting it fired up is to get the sealtite between junction box and disconnect then to machine run and that wiring done then make the connections back at the service panel and we should be functional and ready open the valve to charge the unit and leak test....hoping that can be done today...will see how life with a toddler and an infant with a 2.5 week adjusted age goes who is already practicing how to sleep on the job goes:



It was mid to upper 70's yesterday and gorgeous weather with slight breeze and we were in the shade so I had him outside with me for awhile before Grammy stole him back away

 

[OutlawDrifter]

You definitely had a great day for it yesterday. Good progress on the HVAC!

 

[loganb]

Well this will slow down install progress but make the wifey much happier....

Bonus points for any midwest folks who can name where we are...more details this afternoon