Fireplace Mantel Started

This weekend I began creating a fireplace mantel.  I've never done this before and I was a little worried about creating it.  My wife and I wanted the mantel to be made out of a hardwood like cherry.  Years ago I made an end table for the room out of cherry and liked the look of the wood.  When I started to calculate how much the mantel would cost out of cherry I got even more worried.  I toyed with the idea of making it out of pine first as I saw a woodworking show do that.  It would have allowed me to work through any kinks and cut down on mistakes.   I didn't go that route just for the sake of time.  

I started by drawing up a few designs for the mantel profile.  I knew I wanted a cove detail.  Once I found a design I liked, I knew I would have to mill the cherry myself.  No way was I going to pay some lumber company to mill the wood into moulding; that would cost a fortune.  

For the cherry I used on the end table I went to Pittsford Lumber.  They have a great facility, every wood species imaginable.  A few months ago a friend told me about another place he uses for work, Lakeshore Hardwoods in Victor.  I got their website up and found their price list for wood.  They were two dollars per board feet cheaper.

Lakeshore Hardwoods had a very good selection of wood.  It was clean and organized.  As it turned out, for shorter lengths the price per board foot was lower.  I purchased 5/4 x 10 x 60 for the actual mantel and 5/4 x 7 x 24 for the moulding.  Looking back I should have just purchased another longer board but it was my first time.  All the cherry was rough cut so I had to run it all through my planer.  I planned it down to 1 inch thick and it came out beautiful.  

Next I purchased a half inch cove bit for my router.  That bit ran me $30 but I made all of the moulding for this project.  $30 might have covered one board made out of the cherry.  Doing it myself I could cut the thickness of the moulding to what I needed.  

It took me a little over three hours to build but our mantel is almost finished. Next is the finishing.  Filling nail holes, sanding sealer, sanding, a light stain and then wax.  It should be nice for years to come.

The bookshelves are next!

  

Rough cut cherry I purchsed at Lakeshore Hardwoods

Close to finished.  No real super design with the moulding but I'm happy with it.

Garage Side Door Added

Today I installed a prehung side door on the garage. Our kids are using the garage batting cage every day so I wanted a way for them to get in easliy and/or for me to get in.  When the batting cage is open the garage door can't be raised up without pushing it back.  The door has a window which will let in some light and also allow us to look in on them too.

To install the door I had to remove the plywood inside to expose the studs.  I only had to take off two pieces so it wasn't that bad.  Next I moved one of the pressure treated studs I installed a few summers ago to support the wall.  I bought a prehung metal door 30 x 80.  It was for a rough opening two and a half inches bigger on height and width.  With my new rough opening I had to cut the old wood sheathing from the inside out with a reciprocating saw.  I removed the siding from that side just to make the cutting easier.  The cutting of the opening was a little hard to do but I got it.  

I made what could have been a huge mistake when I meaured.  I measured and thought a standard size door would fix.  I measured from inside the garage.  Outside the garage, the eaves I built years ago extend lower than the walls inside the garage.  Inside I had the room, but outside I was short almost two inches.  The door with the brickmoulding would not fit vertically.  I removed the brickmoulding and cut the sole plate out.  This gave me the room I needed.  I cut the moulding the fit.

I purchsed a lock set with dead bolt and that was a snap to install.  Tomorrow I will repair the siding I took off and do some work in the L-screen I built last weekend (I got some real fencing--the boys are just pounding that metal every time they hit--real fence would be stronger).

Window Trim

A late day, Columbus Day project completed yesterday, the small windows in our front room needed to be trimmed out.  It has been a long time coming.  I ready to design and build the fireplace mantel.  I had to have the windows trimmed out before I could start the mantel--placement of the top shelf could have interfered with the underside of the window.  All of the trim in the house looks like this so I just had to go to one of the other windows and copy what I did to make the ones out in the addition.  

I used pine as the trim will be painted (the mantel will be cherry).  I used a lot of the scrape wood I had in the basement for this project.  Nice to be able to use all that wood up and still make it look nice.  I had to buy corner moulding and miter cut that around the corners.  Funny how I forgot all my tricks to do this quickly and accurately.  The second window went much quicker than the first.  

Batting Cage is Up!

For years I've wanted to create a place for all three of my kiddos to practice hitting.  I built a place in the basement for them to swing but it wasn't the best set up.  A batting cage would be ideal.  I looked on line for a batting cage and discovered if I wanted to spend a thousand dollars, I could get a really nice one.  At the end of this summer I came across a website, www.ondecksports.com that advertised a custom batting cage.  I entered the dimensions of the new place I wanted to set the kids up in, our garage, and the website spit out the cost.  I wanted this batting cage to be eight feet high, ten feet wide and fifteen feet long.  I wanted to strength of the twine to be the toughest I could afford.  The site spit out the price of two hundred and thirty dollars!  I couldn't believe it.  All the other sites, for the same dimensions, would have been hundreds more.  So I called the company to confirm the price and the quality.  Turns out, the site was correct. In fact for five dollars more, the salesman told me, I could up grade to the quality purchased by real batting cage places (#36).  

To use the batting cage the kids have to get in the garage and close the door.  No problem as they will be using this during the winter and will want the door to close anyway.  The way I designed it was the entire cage is held up by D-clips (spring loaded ones).  The clips are attached to a wire that the kids and I put up this morning in about an hour. Here's how we did it.

I purchased three twenty foot lengths of 1/4 plastic encased wire for $.59 per foot.  I also got wire six wire clamps, six lag eye bolts and three adjustable wire (I don't know what they are called but they allowed us to pull the wire tighter once it was up).

First we drilled the holes for the lag screws eye bolts at the height we needed.  Then we took a laser level and shot that across the garage to the other side.  We tried to measure but the garage wasn't square enough to get it accurate.  We then attached the wire to both side and clamp the wire through each eye hook.  We then used the adjustable part to tighten up the wire even more.  We did that on each side of the batting cage as well as on wire down the middle.  

Hanging the cage was easy.  We attached four large d-clips to the corners and then hooked them on the wire.  We then took several other d-clips and attached them along each side and down the middle to the wire to tighten up the cage.  Done! 

When the kids are using it they can pull it out, once the door is closed.  They have to push it along the cables to put it away so they can exit the garage.  The whole thing can be pushed against the far way out of the way when the are done.

Let There Be Light!!!

After years with no power out to the garage- we now have the power!

When the foundation to our addition was dug, the UF 12gauge electrical wire was severed.  That killed all the power to the backyard.  Then we built our back patio and installed a pool which cut the backyard off.  Last summer, Ryan and I dug a trench from the house, around the pool and to the garage.  We finished the siding of the garage.  I had just enough time left in the fall to run all the electric for the garage, then the snow came.  I never knew if the wire I installed underground would work.  

The wiring sat all summer.  I installed a light above the basketball hoop but it wasn't working yet.

Today was the day.

I started by drilling a hole into the side of the house for the underground wire from the garage. I encased it in electrical piping.  Then I spent some time wiring the fuse box out in the garage with two 15 amp breakers.  I also wired two switches on the garage wall, one for the inside lights and one for the outdoor lights.  The work inside the house was to install a new breaker for the garage.  This is always nerve wracking because of all the power going to that fuse box.  One slip with the wire and I would get lit up.  Thankfully, that didn't happen.  I installed a 30amp breaker to cover the garage.  

First time, hit the switches and they worked!  We are one step closer to setting up the batting cage in the garage--now that we can see!

Stained Old Playset

Today I spent a few hours staining an old playset we got from my brother in law.  I used a solid stain and am brush to apply it. Didn't think it would take long but their are a lot of surfaces to cover. I also had to make sure I got everything from above as well. Our windows on the second floor can see the top. 

Solar Cover Holder

Our first summer project was a solar cover holder to attach to the pool. We have never used the cover because when the kids get in to use the pool they can't do anything with the cover. They end up pushing the cover to one side which takes a lot of room.  I looked up this project on Pinterest and then made it. Works pretty good. 

I added a bar across the middle. This new version holds the cover up better by not allowing the cover to sag through.  

Made from 2 inch PVC pipe screwed directly into the plastic pool columns.