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Big project and a learning experience.; Taking on new things, learing alnong the way.
Topic Started: Sep 1 2015, 11:43 AM (13,090 Views)
ZXTjato
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bass heads

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so as some of you know my girl friend and i have been getting into a new home. We are first time home buyers and we looked at many many many homes around the phoenix aria. After many failed attempts to get into a home, and a few things going wrong on another, here we are. A new place to call home in Apache junction. quiet place with no side walks no street lights no HOA and wide open sky. perfect for me because i hate city life.

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since we have a dog i had to build a fence on the side of the house, where i wanted my posts to go there were water lines, so after some careful digging by hand for this post i found out there was a leak under ground. Turns out who ever did this used 4 compression couplings in a row...geez whats up with that? so got the pipes fixed under ground so no more leaks, got my post hole dug and sunk in. i had to make a wood form that way the concrete would not get into the pipe space, looks great under there now 2 joints 3/4" and 1 elbow.

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here is 2 of the compression fittings the other 2 are some where out side, but you get the idea, joint to pipe to coupling to pipe to coupling to pipe to coupling to pipe to coupling to pipe to joint to elbow to threaded male plastic nipple to copper female threaded....no wonder it leaked :banghead

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this 8 foot section of fence is removable, its hung on 8" long bolts that are bolted onto the 4x4 post. each corner gets a bolt and when i need to remove the section of fence i undo the 19mm nuts and washer then i can pull the huge piece off and set it aside. now you may ask why not build a gate? well i am not that skilled and gates cost a ton of money, i will only use this removable part a few times to roll cars to the back yard. we all know how geos go, get em home and hide them in the back :hiding my fence is 6 foot tall but 2" off the dirt. cedar planks looks great smells great and lasts a long time :)

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this part is the little aide leg of the removable gate section that you can see laying down. this section is made from scrap lumber that was here at the house, super dry rotted and just old splintery wood. so i did an experiment here and stained it with old used oil. the dark stain matches the fence next door and the oil soaked right in, after about a day or 2 the oil is soaked up and you can touch the wood with no residue on your fingers. so i am hoping this preserves the old planks for a little while. i just brushed it on with out spilling it all over.


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here we are! a finished fence, the removable section is the new wood and the old wood is the short part on the left. my first ever fence build :) took me a while but i did it. and its decent enough to look alright.

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here is the other side of the house, this side has a cement slab that is MY work shop B-) so i used some wood planks to make a frame on the metal frame that has a wheel on it. this gate swings open super wide for a vehicle or 2 in Geo terms :)


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so here i trimmed up the bush tree whatever that prickly thing is and set up to build this section of fence, 1 4x4 was set in place for the hinge on the gate and the other 4x4 was 5 foot away. that was perfect because i had a new section of fence to fit that spot exactly BOOM in it went. i used 3 screws per beam all pre drilled then on the chain link side i used angle brackets with pre drilled holes to the metal pipe then wood screws to the beam for extra extra strong to hold my makeshift gate :evillol

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here is the gate, on the left i sunk another treated wood 4x4 post in 60 pounds of cement 3 foot deep with 1 foot of crushed stone for drainage then used angle brackets and screwed them to the foundation then to the slab. this post is where the lock will go around. crime is super low round here but when i have thousands in tools i can never be to safe. so the fence is also an out of site out of mind type of deal, keeps my project hidden and provides a wind and sun protection.

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here is my side of the yard what i see, yea there are 2 cars here but the white GT goes on the other aide where the gate mentioned early in my post, that's where the gt goes is back there. i cant park it yet because of a large palm tree stump i need to dig out. then i can have a 1 car work space.

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here is what it looks like the other way. right where that spa is i am building another fence with a man gate, under the shady porch is where my bench and shelf units go. that way i can use my shop and have a small tool work space. yea its all open but its so hot here open shops are not bad. the roof on my car port is large tin plates in the shape of /\/\/\/\/\/\/\ etc. so i wanted to run LED strips in each /\ part for a great white work space. also i am going to do lattice work with screens to help reduce fly and bug intrusion as best i can. more pics later :)


Edited by ZXTjato, Sep 1 2015, 11:48 PM.
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idmetro
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Congratulations on the new place. As you say, there is a lot to learn...
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arudlang
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Andrew

Congrats! :thumb

The little shack I bought a couple years ago is nothing fancy but it sure it great to have a place to call your own and not deal with any BS from a landlord!
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doviatt
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Don't let it lead you. YOU be in charge and tell it where to go.

....oh wait. I think this advice might only be helpful for driving a horse.....you implied house.
:lol


congrats!
Edited by doviatt, Sep 1 2015, 11:51 AM.
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Freeman
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The Family Man

Every woman is different, so advice is hard to give. :rofl

Seriously, good luck! :congrats

My wife and I have lived in our home together for about a year now. We don't own it and are still looking for a place of our 'own', but this was my first time living with a spouse and it has been interesting to say the least. Owning a house is definitely a huge leap. I can't imagine how excited you are and what kind of projects you have in store!

PS, 2 post lifts are about $1,500-2,000 delivered and installed if you have a garage space. That is one of the first things going in when I own a place.
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Murf 59
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I was offered a job with the last corp I worked for to move down to Gila Bend to the new carbon plant. Hell no. Lived in the desert to many years.
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ZXTjato
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bass heads

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so here is what i think of harbor freights drill. i tried to take good care of it, but it all started with the cord or trigger having a bad wire or connection when i needed it most during my blue car project, after fixing that it was fine. when building my fence the magic smoke came out of the back :O cloud of magic..... so i got the thing to spin again and it was fine but had half or less power :news so i was swapping the drill bit to screw drive bit pre drilling the holes to make it easy on the drill, all the swapping back and forth wore out the chuck and it started giving me issues :banghead so i was even more gentle with it using my hand to tighten the chuck and not the drill while holding the chuck. that was working for a little while then te trigger started to act up again, i dealt with that but when it started to strip screws and be all crazy with intermittent power. so i did what any loving citizen would do.... i took it out back and killed it. say hello to its replacement :thumb

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a dewalt 3/8 chuck 8 amp full ball bearing drill. THIS will last me a long time i suppr happy with it. because i have one just like it but its probably 30 years old and its worn out BUT it still works! so new drill like my oldie but goodie :wub:

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while i was at homo depo i purchased some lumber for more building. some guy in the parking lot said "hey nice truck" i reply, it gets good gas mileage ^o)
Edited by ZXTjato, Sep 1 2015, 08:24 PM.
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David95237


That new drill will probably last you a life time.
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Otey13
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Geo Nerd

ZXTjato
Sep 1 2015, 08:18 PM
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so here is what i think of harbor freights drill. i tried to take good care of it, but it all started with the cord or trigger having a bad wire or connection when i needed it most during my blue car project, after fixing that it was fine. when building my fence the magic smoke came out of the back :O cloud of magic..... so i got the thing to spin again and it was fine but had half or less power :news so i was swapping the drill bit to screw drive bit pre drilling the holes to make it easy on the drill, all the swapping back and forth wore out the chuck and it started giving me issues :banghead so i was even more gentle with it using my hand to tighten the chuck and not the drill while holding the chuck. that was working for a little while then te trigger started to act up again, i dealt with that but when it started to strip screws and be all crazy with intermittent power. so i did what any loving citizen would do.... i took it out back and killed it. say hello to its replacement :thumb

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a dewalt 3/8 chuck 8 amp full ball bearing drill. THIS will last me a long time i suppr happy with it. because i have one just like it but its probably 30 years old and its worn out BUT it still works! so new drill like my oldie but goodie :wub:

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while i was at homo depo i purchased some lumber for more building. some guy in the parking lot said "hey nice truck" i reply, it gets good gas mileage ^o)
Dude...I need to send you some good hatch struts..Nice home :thumb But like our Metro's it is a fix or repair daily thing.

Otey
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ZXTjato
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bass heads

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its kinda hard to see BUT here is what i have, 1 brand new toilet with the 26" chair height and elongated rim. 1 bathroom mirror ,1 tripple drawer with cabinet under sink bathroom vanity and 1 counter top with sink that fits the vanity. so this vanity was originaly 200 bucks but i found one that was open box for 149 after looking at it it was more than open box, had some dings and a chip about the size of serving spoon in the bottom. Nothing i cant fix up and make nice again, so my girl and i asked a manager about maybe taking a little more off the vanity he said 130 BOOM done :D so a 200 vanity for 130 because of a chip a few dings and no cardboard :thumb while at the depot my girl was able to get me her military discount on the drill wood and hardware i bought earlier today :cheers shupwr score! got $18 back from that hells yea! so it looks like i will watch some you tube on toilet replacement and read some articles then drain the toilet and tackle that job. :banana

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here is the items, all this fits in a geo, yea, id say the geo is one hard working car.

Edited by ZXTjato, Sep 1 2015, 11:28 PM.
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econoboxer
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I am the one on the left.

wowsa- looking good Tanner
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mt999999
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Self-Declared "Genious"

Pretty cool! :thumb Although, it was a little hard to read, considering the width of the page is nearly three times as wide as my laptop screen... :lol

I don't think I ever told you guys the story of my house. I am 20 years old, and I actually own my own house. I surely don't live in it, it's pretty scary. But, I got a house for the price of the $600 survey to get the land transfered, plus a couple hundred more for the attorney fees. Gotta love East Liverpool! :lol I'll make a post with some pictures on here some day.
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Freeman
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The Family Man

Oooooh! DeeeeeeWALT! That's a real drill. I have two of those. I also still have my black and decker Walmart drill from 10 years ago, but I now have a load of Dewalt drills.

These photos are ridiculously wide. Any way to make them smaller?
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geo4thewin
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Awesome looking place man!

ps picture size is good on my end ?
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ZXTjato
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bass heads

:smackface i checked the pics on my phone AND my computer and it was all good, i forget that a few members have some issues with my picture size. im sorry guys ill remember to make them smaller in the future, trust me there will be plenty of pictures to come, new tile new tankleas water heater the works. plenty of pics....plenty of smaller pics :rofl
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