Home Improvement Projects this summer

[TheBEast]

So what's everyone working on this summer for Home Improvement Projects this summer?

For me I'm in the middle of painting my kitchen (last room in our house to be painted) after living with an awful two tone green for 4 years! Also helped my brother-in-law tile his kitchen.

So what's everyone up to??

 

[Greg]

I moved 20 yards of top soil (by hand) in the spring to extend/improve my back lawn a bit and add a new flower bed. The only other items I want to do this summer are seal the driveway and stain my deck. Haven't gotten around to either yet. After last year's 6 month long masonry project, I vowed not to take on another big project this summer. Been enjoying spending more time with the kids and mountain biking.

 

[Beetlenut]

Finishing my storage shed, which is a small barn complete with a hay loft and access door. Also serves as insurance in case I need another place to sleep after I piss-off the wife!

 

[TheBEast]

The only other items I want to do this summer are seal the driveway and stain my deck. .

So this is my first time with a paved driveway (well my first house any way) and I haven't figured out the whole "sealing the driveway" thing. Any insights? I was thinking about doing it, but really know nothing about the process or pros/cons.....

 

[eastcoastpowderhound]

moved into a brand new house at the end of March...so growing grass (no, not THAT kind), planting trees, flowers, veggies, cleaning brush, building retaining walls, pulling weeds, painting, hanging towel bars, tp holders, blinds, curtains, etc...blank canvas when we got there...empty wallet now.

 

[Greg]

So this is my first time with a paved driveway (well my first house any way) and I haven't figured out the whole "sealing the driveway" thing. Any insights? I was thinking about doing it, but really know nothing about the process or pros/cons.....

It's really not that expensive to have it done, but I'll probably just do it myself for the self-gratification factor. I don't think it's that difficult. My main motivation is I got a lot of mortar and cement on the driveway while doing the masonry. I'd like to cover that up and freshen up the look of the driveway since it's starting to grey after 3 years. Better snow/ice melt-off too.

 

[Greg]

moved into a brand new house at the end of March...so growing grass (no, not THAT kind), planting trees, flowers, veggies, cleaning brush, building retaining walls, pulling weeds, painting, hanging towel bars, tp holders, blinds, curtains, etc...blank canvas when we got there...empty wallet now.

I was in the same boat three years ago. We moved into a new house on a dirt mound. Nothing. Nada. The landscaping is just about complete. Lots of work.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

I fixed my mini-blinds with duct-tape..

 

[Marc]

I just moved into a 250 year old house of somewhere between 3500 and 4000 sq ft of liveable space. Yeah, I've got my hands full. I've rewired 1/3 of the house (the part I live in) with Romex, it was nearly all knob and tube before.

Re ran the coax cable, of course, and have done some cleaning/moving. I hope to have one of the four chimney's lined with the Golden Flue refractory cement before the fall, and have a woodstove for this winter.

I also need to put a zone valve in the hydronic heat, since the whole house is only two zones now. Not the most efficient. I wanted to start replacing windows this summer, but that might not happen. Fookin busy as all heck.

 

[tjf67]

So this is my first time with a paved driveway (well my first house any way) and I haven't figured out the whole "sealing the driveway" thing. Any insights? I was thinking about doing it, but really know nothing about the process or pros/cons.....

Some thought about sealing drivways. It does make the driveway look better but I dont think it extends the life. After sealing it a couple of times it becomes brittle. The edges will begin breaking apart.

 

[deadheadskier]

I just moved into a 250 year old house of somewhere between 3500 and 4000 sq ft of liveable space. Yeah, I've got my hands full. I've rewired 1/3 of the house (the part I live in) with Romex, it was nearly all knob and tube before.

Re ran the coax cable, of course, and have done some cleaning/moving. I hope to have one of the four chimney's lined with the Golden Flue refractory cement before the fall, and have a woodstove for this winter.

I also need to put a zone valve in the hydronic heat, since the whole house is only two zones now. Not the most efficient. I wanted to start replacing windows this summer, but that might not happen. Fookin busy as all heck.

just you in a 3500 sqft house?

 

[Greg]

Some thought about sealing drivways. It does make the driveway look better but I dont think it extends the life. After sealing it a couple of times it becomes brittle. The edges will begin breaking apart.

How do you mean? The asphalt becomes brittle? Do you think it wouldn't have crumbled anyway without the sealant? Sounds like bad prep work on the driveway.

 

[Marc]

just you in a 3500 sqft house?

Probably a few mice too...

 

[deadheadskier]

Probably a few mice too...

poor mice

 

[Marc]

How do you mean? The asphalt becomes brittle? Do you think it wouldn't have crumbled without the sealant?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the whole idea of sealing the driveway is to make it last. It keeps water from getting into the asphalt and underminding it, or from freezing in there and creating cracks.

 

[o3jeff]

Not a lot of summer projects other than replacing the windows and in the next few weeks I need to install the pellet stove that I picked up a few months ago that is sitting in the corner of the dining room.

 

[drjeff]

So far this summer has included, prepping a portion of my basement for finishing for the "pool room" since I picked up my parents pool table when they did the house down size move this past spring. I've installed gutter guards (yah I know big whoop ), prepped the driveway for sealing (I had some decent sized depressions and cracks that formed as a result of the heavy construction I had at my house a couple of years ago when I had an addition put on) - Now I just need a rainfree weekend day when someone in my family isn't having a birthday/anniversary party to seal the thing! And lastly I've done quite a bit of tree cutting/pruning so that maybe I'll be able to grow some grass for more than a couple of months in the spring in part of my yard.

 

[eastcoastpowderhound]

I was in the same boat three years ago. We moved into a new house on a dirt mound. Nothing. Nada. The landscaping is just about complete. Lots of work.

This is our second time around too...we bought land and had our first house built, a cape, only had the 1st floor finished, lived there for a year before we finished the upstairs, then I built the deck, did all the landscaping...spread 42 yards of loam...had a baby...after 5 years we were pretty close to where we wanted it other than finishing the basement...then I got a new job a state away, time to start over. But we prefer working on a new house to rennovating an old one...fewer variables.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

You guys are freaking hardcore..Bob Villa would be proud..

 

[Hawkshot99]

I need to clean my room.