My house and my projects

Building Bag End? Did your front fall off? More leaks than a Chinese steamboat? Show us your pinterest projects!
User avatar
Dbest
Meat Patty 1st Class
Meat Patty 1st Class
Posts: 829
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 3:20 pm
Drives: Built 4Runner & Pontiac Vibe
Location: Colorado
Contact:

The basics - It’s a single family home just a stone throw outside of Boulder Colorado (where your money will get you twice as much as a buying literally a mile down the road). It was built in 2006, 2,700 sq/ft, 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom, 2 car garage. It’s on a small dead end street with dirt single track mountain bike trails in front and the house backs to open space with paved trails and wide open panoramic mountain views.


When we first bought the house and moved in.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
Last edited by Dbest on Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
www.aguyagirlandatrail.com
instagram.com/aguyagirlandatrail
User avatar
Dbest
Meat Patty 1st Class
Meat Patty 1st Class
Posts: 829
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 3:20 pm
Drives: Built 4Runner & Pontiac Vibe
Location: Colorado
Contact:

We did some small things:
-I changed all the door knobs and hinges to brushed nickle.
-I got rid of the white appliances for all knew Kenmore Elite stuff in stainless steel.
-I installed garage storage.
-I blew cellulose insulation into the garage ceiling.
-I installed a high end Chamberlain belt operated quiet drive garage door opener with MyQ, nylon garage door rollers with bearings, garage door springs, and insulated the garage door.
-I setup a Samsung Smart Things smart home monitoring, automation, and security.
-I put in new heavy duty sump pump with water level monitoring linked to the smart home.
-I added a 2'x4' tub sink in the laundry room area of the basement.
-I'm sure there were some other odds and ends I'm forgetting.



The first big job was redoing the exterior this past summer. Getting rid of the shutters (since wasps were constantly building hives behind them), installing window flashing and resealing the windows, replacing a couple pieces of the concrete siding that broke during the removal process, and then having painters come in to do the exterior of the house. Once the painters were done I replaced all of the exterior light fixtures and the storm door.

Image

Image

Image
www.aguyagirlandatrail.com
instagram.com/aguyagirlandatrail
User avatar
Dbest
Meat Patty 1st Class
Meat Patty 1st Class
Posts: 829
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 3:20 pm
Drives: Built 4Runner & Pontiac Vibe
Location: Colorado
Contact:

Next up was my chair lift project. Chair number 116 is my small piece of Boulder Colorado local history.

This 1971 triple chair was manufactured by Hall Ski Lift Company out of Turin, New York. It was originally installed on Bald Mountain at Sun Valley in Idaho where it ran as the “River Run” lift through the 1970-1992 ski seasons before being relocated to Eldora in Nederland, Colorado where it ran as the “Challenge” lift from 1992 until 2017.

April 9th, 2017 was its final day of service before retiring after 47 ski seasons! On May 5th, 2017 I picked up my chair from Eldora and brought it home to repurpose it. After a brief stay in my backyard while pondering exactly what I wanted to do with it work started on it. The chair was welded into a single solid piece, the brackets for the non existent lap bar was cut off, and bench height legs were added, it was media blasted and powder coated bright red to tie it in with the front door of the house.

After getting it right off my local mountain it was important to me to not change the character of the chair so the welds were not up and ground down, dents and dings were not fixed, imperfections and inconsistencies were not corrected, the mounting arm was not cut down and shortened to accommodate a regular height ceiling, the original brass bushing and grease fitting were cleaned up and reused.

Once the metalwork and powder coat was complete I brought this 10 foot tall giant home and started on the finishing touches. I replaced the warped and swollen plywood seat base with a new piece I cut from 3/4” birch and painted it black. I shaped the seat bottom to get a more secure and precise fit and made some brackets for a neat clean installation that you’ll never see. The final step was a new cushion heavily inspired by the original but hand made by my mom (a former seamstress) with a much higher degree of craftsmanship and detail in the fit and finish from very high quality Crypton upholstery.

Image

Image

Taking her home.
Image

Sitting in the backyard.
Image

It was in need of some TLC.
Image

The legs are on.
Image

Picked up from powder coat.
Image

In the house.
Image

shaping the seat base for nice precise fit.
Image

The seat base in place.
Image

This guy was very interested in what dad was doing.
Image

Painted seat base mounted.
Image

The underside and mounting mechanism of the seat cushion.
Image
www.aguyagirlandatrail.com
instagram.com/aguyagirlandatrail
User avatar
Dbest
Meat Patty 1st Class
Meat Patty 1st Class
Posts: 829
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 3:20 pm
Drives: Built 4Runner & Pontiac Vibe
Location: Colorado
Contact:

At this point the chair was done but what started with the bench, an entryway bench, spiraled into a major home remodel because, well, you can’t have an entryway bench on carpet right?!

My wife was going to be heading out of town for a business trip, she'd be gone Wednesday to Wednesday and since I a few months notice I started planning to do things while she was gone. Originally I was thinking I'd throw laminate in that front room and surprise her with that. Well 3 different floor surfaces on one level would look weird, so I might as well do the whole floor and if I’m going to do the whole floor I might as well do actual hardwood and add some value to the home. But the main floor bathroom has a big ugly vanity that sits empty, I'd like to replace it with a pedestal sink so I should pull that out before the floor goes in rather than flooring around he vanity then changing it later. Since the bathroom sink is coming out I might as well do everything in there. If the bathroom light fixture is going to be replaced with a brushed nickel one I might as well to all of the light fixtures and the ceiling fan on the main level. The baseboard has to come off to do the floor so I might as well replace it with more modern 5 1/4" hard pine. With the baseboard off that's the perfect time to paint. Adding some color with paint means it’s time to change up the window treatments. Since there is new paint and window treatments we need to add in decor pieces like some throw pillows and an area rug to toe it all in.

A bench turned into a whole hell of a lot more.

I left to take my wife to the airport and the flooring crew was at the end of street, as soon as I drove off they got to work. I decided to go with red oak hardwood. They had a crew of guys that were going to demo, install, fill, sand, fill, sand, stain, seal, buff, and reseal the floor plus cut install all the primed baseboard. They had 4 guys and a week to try to get it done, in the mean time I was going to paint at night and work on the bathroom. What I was not anticipating is how much work it it really is to do a brand new installation of sand and finish hardwood. The amount of dust and debris and the fragile state of the fresh wood made me change my mind on the painting. I’d rather get the floors done right than potentially cause a problem and a setback all because of some paint.

Demo
Image

Image

Install started.
Image

Image

Image

Image

I decided on a 9:1 DuraSealstsinn mixture of Classic Grey and Provincial.
Image

It's very hard to get this color to show up accurately in a picture, this was between seal coats but this is the most accurate representation of the color I’ve managed to get.
Image

So my wife ended up coming home a day early from her trip and ruining her surprise! She came home tuesday a few hours after the final coat of sealer went down. The original plan was once it could be walked on Wednesday morning they would come do the baseboard and move the furniture back in before I picked her up from the airport. Instead I had to pick her up Tuesday night. So I acted like everything was normal, I picked her up, brought her home, let her open the door so she could see it and be surprised... and then we headed over to her parents for the night because we couldn't actually go in or walk on it.

So with the cat out of the bag and a delay in sourcing the baseboard I had a couple days before they were going to come install the baseboard and do some final touches. I had a few late nights working on stuff, my wife took a day off of work to stay and work on it with me and we started knocking out all the painting.

Image

Image

With the baseboard issues we ended up with unprimed bosrds. I had to keep the garage door open and crank the heat to get it to warm up in there enough that I could start painting the baseboard. I wanted a nice consistent finish so I primed, sanded, painted, sanded, and repainted, I used a short nap roller with continuous end to end strokes. They came out great.

Image

Image
Last edited by Dbest on Fri Dec 22, 2017 9:16 am, edited 3 times in total.
www.aguyagirlandatrail.com
instagram.com/aguyagirlandatrail
User avatar
Dbest
Meat Patty 1st Class
Meat Patty 1st Class
Posts: 829
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 3:20 pm
Drives: Built 4Runner & Pontiac Vibe
Location: Colorado
Contact:

Paint, floors, baseboard were all finished. I had a rent a 14' step ladder from Home Depot to get the light fixtures changed on the 17.5' ceilings, and we got the rest of the decor related items. Getting close to Christmas some decorations went up before we had a chance to get everything buttoned up but here's the completed pictures.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
www.aguyagirlandatrail.com
instagram.com/aguyagirlandatrail
User avatar
Dbest
Meat Patty 1st Class
Meat Patty 1st Class
Posts: 829
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 3:20 pm
Drives: Built 4Runner & Pontiac Vibe
Location: Colorado
Contact:

The bathroom remodel.

I didn't take before pictures but it was a big cabinet vanity with counter top that matches the kitchen, cheap fake chrome fixtures, one of those standing cabinets around the toilet tank, a big rectangle mirror bolted to the wall.

I got everything test fitted and ready for install. When I was fitting the sink all of the plumbing sticking out of the wall was to long and hit the base before the base could be positioned correctly.
Image

I cleaned up and flush mounted the plumbing.
Image

There was some fuckery like this that needed to be addressed.
Image


To properly mount a pedastal sink you need to cut out an area of drwall, notch the 2x4s in order to flush mount a 2x6 sideways inside the wall under the drywall to give the sink a firm strong structure to bolt to and then replace the drywall. There were alot of holes to fill from things that got removed, the wiring to the lighting, the cut out panel from placing the board, and dents like these from the countertop.
Image

After I got everything ready I brought in a guy that came highly recommended by local realtors for his ability to match the existing texture on drywall repairs to make them blend. He nailed it, totally worth the $150 he charged for a Saturday morning of work to make all the repairs seemlessly blend.
Image


My wife painted the bathroom and I did the final installation and buttoned it all up. It feels so much bigger being opened up and uncluttered.
Image

Image

Image
Last edited by Dbest on Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:54 am, edited 1 time in total.
www.aguyagirlandatrail.com
instagram.com/aguyagirlandatrail
User avatar
Acid666
Senior Chief Patty Officer
Senior Chief Patty Officer
Posts: 3349
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2016 9:47 am
Drives: 02 Z06/95 Meowta/05 SilveraDOE

Pimp flooring is pimp. That blue pops like woah too.
User avatar
MexicanYarisTK
Senior Master Sirloin
Senior Master Sirloin
Posts: 9978
Joined: Tue Nov 08, 2016 9:14 am
Drives: An Okinowa Cruiseship
Location: 6 miles north of Sleepy Joes House & 5 miles from Bosphorus Channel

looks good. that ski lift really compliments the xmas tree.
Nephew of a :plac: a few first gen immigrant on DFD, resident turk, and ex nazi egg lover now driving a middle class mom mobile.
User avatar
wap
Chief Master Sirloin of the Wasteful Steak
Chief Master Sirloin of the Wasteful Steak
Posts: 45156
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2016 11:52 pm
Drives: Blue Meanie
Location: Pepperland

:notbad: :like:
:wap: Where are these mangos?
Detroit wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 1:19 pm I don't understand anything anymore.
User avatar
goIftdibrad
Chief Master Soft Brain
Chief Master Soft Brain
Posts: 16746
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2016 9:01 am
Drives: straight past the apex

Dbest wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:57 pm Originally I was thinking I'd throw laminate in that front room and surprise her with that. Well 3 different floor surfaces on one level would look weird, so I might as well do the whole floor. If I"m gonna do the whole floor I might as well do actual hardwood which adds value to the home. Well the bathroom has a big ugly vanity that sits empty, I'd like to replace it with a pedestal sink so I should gut the bathroom before the floor goes in rather than flooring around he vanity then changing it late. Well if the baseboard all has to come off I might as well replace it with 5 1/4" hard pine. While the baseboard is off that's the perfect time to paint. With new paint and some color added that's the time to change the window treatments. Since the bathroom sink is coming out I might as well do everything in there. If the bathroom light fixture is being replaced with a brushed nickel one I might as well to all of the light fixtures and the ceiling fan on the main level. Since there is new paint and window treatments we need some throw pillows and an area rug. A bench turned into a whole hell of a lot more

dat homeonershit slippery slope.

5/7 writeup, enjoyed reading. Thanks.

The before and after's are :mindblown:

Before was :disgust: but the after is :fuckyeah: :millennial: :yesth:

[sarcasm] but making it pretty adds zero value, total waste of money and effort :mahtroy: [/sarcasm]
brain go brrrrrr
User avatar
Apex
Chief Master Sirloin of the Wasteful Steak
Chief Master Sirloin of the Wasteful Steak
Posts: 29815
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2016 10:36 pm
Drives: Abominable
Location: NJ

:fuckyeah: that looks awesome!
User avatar
Dbest
Meat Patty 1st Class
Meat Patty 1st Class
Posts: 829
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 3:20 pm
Drives: Built 4Runner & Pontiac Vibe
Location: Colorado
Contact:

Next up is our views!

Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park as seen from the backyard.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
www.aguyagirlandatrail.com
instagram.com/aguyagirlandatrail
User avatar
Dbest
Meat Patty 1st Class
Meat Patty 1st Class
Posts: 829
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 3:20 pm
Drives: Built 4Runner & Pontiac Vibe
Location: Colorado
Contact:

Acid666 wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2017 8:28 pm Pimp flooring is pimp. That blue pops like woah too.
I wanted an accent color, it really does pop. I love the result.
www.aguyagirlandatrail.com
instagram.com/aguyagirlandatrail
User avatar
Dbest
Meat Patty 1st Class
Meat Patty 1st Class
Posts: 829
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 3:20 pm
Drives: Built 4Runner & Pontiac Vibe
Location: Colorado
Contact:

MexicanYarisTK wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2017 9:27 pm looks good. that ski lift really compliments the xmas tree.

Yeah I think I found what will be our annual Christmas card tradition
www.aguyagirlandatrail.com
instagram.com/aguyagirlandatrail
User avatar
Dbest
Meat Patty 1st Class
Meat Patty 1st Class
Posts: 829
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 3:20 pm
Drives: Built 4Runner & Pontiac Vibe
Location: Colorado
Contact:

Big Brain Bradley wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2017 7:54 am
dat homeonershit slippery slope.

5/7 writeup, enjoyed reading. Thanks.

The before and after's are :mindblown:

Before was :disgust: but the after is :fuckyeah: :millennial: :yesth:

[sarcasm] but making it pretty adds zero value, total waste of money and effort :mahtroy: [/sarcasm]

Ha, thanks. I'm really happy with the "end" result for now. I still have to paint the doors, door casings, window sills, and I want to do something with the railing. Either paint it trim white or replace it with metal.

It was a realtor friend of mine that convinced me to do the hardwood. He convince me laminate wasn't the way to go with homes in this price range. I love the way the wood came out, I'm glad I didnt do the prefinshed hardwood.

On the bright side the total cost of everything that snowballed (the etire bathroom, paint, supplies, decor, light fixtures, ceiling fan, changing every bulb to bright white LEDs, the rug, ladder rental to the tall ceiling fixtures, the guy to finish match the drywall texture, etc (basicaly everything minus the floor and the unpainted baseboard) added a grand total of $2106.33 to the whole project. When you're able to do almost everything on your own the money spreads pretty far.
Last edited by Dbest on Fri Dec 22, 2017 10:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
www.aguyagirlandatrail.com
instagram.com/aguyagirlandatrail
User avatar
Dbest
Meat Patty 1st Class
Meat Patty 1st Class
Posts: 829
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 3:20 pm
Drives: Built 4Runner & Pontiac Vibe
Location: Colorado
Contact:

Apex wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:58 am :fuckyeah: that looks awesome!
thanks
www.aguyagirlandatrail.com
instagram.com/aguyagirlandatrail
User avatar
Apex
Chief Master Sirloin of the Wasteful Steak
Chief Master Sirloin of the Wasteful Steak
Posts: 29815
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2016 10:36 pm
Drives: Abominable
Location: NJ

Dbest wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2017 10:46 am
Apex wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2017 8:58 am :fuckyeah: that looks awesome!
thanks
And the added view pics? :mindblown:

:jelly:
User avatar
Acid666
Senior Chief Patty Officer
Senior Chief Patty Officer
Posts: 3349
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2016 9:47 am
Drives: 02 Z06/95 Meowta/05 SilveraDOE

Dbest wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2017 10:41 am
Acid666 wrote: Thu Dec 21, 2017 8:28 pm Pimp flooring is pimp. That blue pops like woah too.
I wanted an accent color, it really does pop. I love the result.

We wanted darker grey walls, but decided against dark colors because we heard from everywhere that it would make the areas look smaller. We went with bright white accents (baseboards and trim) and a slight grey with a hint of blue.
In the master we put a dark accent wall, but I think we want color next time we redo things. We may look into a blue like that.
User avatar
Dbest
Meat Patty 1st Class
Meat Patty 1st Class
Posts: 829
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 3:20 pm
Drives: Built 4Runner & Pontiac Vibe
Location: Colorado
Contact:

Apex wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2017 10:47 am
Dbest wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2017 10:46 am

thanks
And the added view pics? :mindblown:

:jelly:
Yeah the location is truly what sold us on the property. we wanted a 3 car garage and a finished basement but we couldn't pass up the view and have single track out the front door.
www.aguyagirlandatrail.com
instagram.com/aguyagirlandatrail
User avatar
Dbest
Meat Patty 1st Class
Meat Patty 1st Class
Posts: 829
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 3:20 pm
Drives: Built 4Runner & Pontiac Vibe
Location: Colorado
Contact:

Acid666 wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2017 10:47 am
Dbest wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2017 10:41 am

I wanted an accent color, it really does pop. I love the result.

We wanted darker grey walls, but decided against dark colors because we heard from everywhere that it would make the areas look smaller. We went with bright white accents (baseboards and trim) and a slight grey with a hint of blue.
In the master we put a dark accent wall, but I think we want color next time we redo things. We may look into a blue like that.
That's a bit too generalized. Dark colors definitely shrink a space when they are warm colors, its not nearly as drastic when using cool colors. Our gray isn't super dark but ts not light either and we went kind of a dark gray with the floors but it look bigger and more open then it ever did before now that the spaces aren't divided by breaks in the flooring. Big bright contrasting baseboard helps elongate the appearance of walls as well. I used Bear Marque semi gloss for all the interior wall paints, the blue is calypso blue
www.aguyagirlandatrail.com
instagram.com/aguyagirlandatrail
User avatar
Dbest
Meat Patty 1st Class
Meat Patty 1st Class
Posts: 829
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 3:20 pm
Drives: Built 4Runner & Pontiac Vibe
Location: Colorado
Contact:

Here's singletrack in front of my house. It's literally a 45 second ride from my garage to the trail head.

Image

Image

That's my house right in the center above the trail.
Image

Please we have the paved trails
Image
www.aguyagirlandatrail.com
instagram.com/aguyagirlandatrail
User avatar
stripethree
Chief Patty Officer
Chief Patty Officer
Posts: 1273
Joined: Sat Aug 26, 2017 3:01 pm
Drives: '04 R32, '90 Miata, '17 CB300F
Location: Austin, TX

Dbest wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2017 11:28 am Please we have the paved trails
Image
Oh fuck off with this pinshit view. And by that, I mean, :fuckyeah: that is awesome. Mad :jelly:.
User avatar
Dbest
Meat Patty 1st Class
Meat Patty 1st Class
Posts: 829
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 3:20 pm
Drives: Built 4Runner & Pontiac Vibe
Location: Colorado
Contact:

The single track is fun but it is small. There’s only like 4 miles of trails but it’s setup nicely. There is the east side and the west side. The west side has a handful of trails that run long way from north to south that loop around and insect each other so you do have a nice variety of routes you can take that keep it fun. The east side has 4 trails, the red line, green line, blue line, and black line. The redlin is your uphill to ride to the top then green blue black are downhill that get progressively harder. Green is easy, wide switchbacks lots of trail that’s side to side to keep speeds low, small banked corners, some rollers, stuff like that. Blue is a fast flowy high G force roller coaster of a route down. Black is basically the jump line. There fire road that connects the 2 sides. It’s certainly isn’t a destination compared to typical Colorado riding but you can’t ask for more when you can see it from your house.
www.aguyagirlandatrail.com
instagram.com/aguyagirlandatrail
User avatar
goIftdibrad
Chief Master Soft Brain
Chief Master Soft Brain
Posts: 16746
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2016 9:01 am
Drives: straight past the apex

Dbest wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2017 2:34 pm The single track is fun but it is small. There’s only like 4 miles of trails but it’s setup nicely. There is the east side and the west side. The west side has a handful of trails that run long way from north to south that loop around and insect each other so you do have a nice variety of routes you can take that keep it fun. The east side has 4 trails, the red line, green line, blue line, and black line. The redlin is your uphill to ride to the top then green blue black are downhill that get progressively harder. Green is easy, wide switchbacks lots of trail that’s side to side to keep speeds low, small banked corners, some rollers, stuff like that. Blue is a fast flowy high G force roller coaster of a route down. Black is basically the jump line. There fire road that connects the 2 sides. It’s certainly isn’t a destination compared to typical Colorado riding but you can’t ask for more when you can see it from your house.
yea, id mtb errery day if that was in my neighborhood
brain go brrrrrr
User avatar
Dbest
Meat Patty 1st Class
Meat Patty 1st Class
Posts: 829
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 3:20 pm
Drives: Built 4Runner & Pontiac Vibe
Location: Colorado
Contact:

Big Brain Bradley wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2017 6:23 pm
Dbest wrote: Fri Dec 22, 2017 2:34 pm The single track is fun but it is small. There’s only like 4 miles of trails but it’s setup nicely. There is the east side and the west side. The west side has a handful of trails that run long way from north to south that loop around and insect each other so you do have a nice variety of routes you can take that keep it fun. The east side has 4 trails, the red line, green line, blue line, and black line. The redlin is your uphill to ride to the top then green blue black are downhill that get progressively harder. Green is easy, wide switchbacks lots of trail that’s side to side to keep speeds low, small banked corners, some rollers, stuff like that. Blue is a fast flowy high G force roller coaster of a route down. Black is basically the jump line. There fire road that connects the 2 sides. It’s certainly isn’t a destination compared to typical Colorado riding but you can’t ask for more when you can see it from your house.
yea, id mtb errery day if that was in my neighborhood
Before having a kid that’s what we did. Get 30-40 minutes of dirt in afterwork before dinner. With a kid it’s cycling has become pretty much limited to paved paths with my son in a trailer. It’s goong to be awesome for him to grow up with that outside the house though.
www.aguyagirlandatrail.com
instagram.com/aguyagirlandatrail
Post Reply