My Latest Scores and Future Projects

The constant heavy rain yesterday and the heat today didn't keep me from picking up several great pieces for future projects.  

The first thing I picked up was a metal garden seat for $15.00.  It will get a coat or two of black spray paint in a satin finish to match my patio furniture.  I am also mulling over the idea of adding a top to make it more of a small table than a seat. 

My sister has this same garden seat in white.  I think the original price ran around 50 bucks. 

The second items that I picked up were two wrought iron candle holders.  The wrought iron matches the wrought iron details on the outside of the house.  I have several ideas for outdoor candles but will have to wait until I decide which type of candles I want to use before I can fine tune my ideas.  The candle holders were 5 bucks for the two of them.

Finally, I picked up some very heavy cast iron pieces for a bench.  It is missing the wood slats but that is not a big deal.  We can always use more seating out in the yard and this should be perfect.  Again, I will spray paint the cast iron parts in black spray paint in a satin finish.  The wood slats will be painted dark grey to match the house.  I am hoping that we can find wood in our scrap pile but the pickings are getting very slim when it comes to lumber in 1X thickness.  Also, I think it needs to be clear pine because any wood with knots will not work.  Clear pine in 1X4 is relatively inexpensive so that is a plus. The cast iron bench pieces were $40 for all of them.

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Before & After Work Mate Table Redesign Part 1

Last summer R bought two workmate type tables at a garage sale for 5 bucks each.  One was in good operating condition but the other one wouldn't clamp on one side.

Since we now own 2 working work mate style tables, we really didn't need a third one.  But what we did need was a very sturdy wide table to set the chop saw on when we hang cedar shingles.  This summer is the summer we finish the back of the house.  So that means A LOT of cedar shingles.

 We went to the barn to see if we had any 2X wide lumber that we could make into a table top for the broken table.  Right there by the door were two pieces of 2 X 12's.  One was 50 inches long and the other was 51 inches.  The boards had some splits and there were several holes drilled into them but overall they were in good enough condition to use as a table top on a work table. 

 First, we cut off that extra inch of length and made both boards 50 inches long. We ran the router, with a round over bit, on one long side and both of the ends, on each board.  The boards needed to be joined together so we biscuit joined the boards and clamped them together. But before we called it a day, we added a little glue to any splits or splinters.  Doesn't look too bad for two pieces of lumber that we could never use to build anything decorative.  R thinks these boards came from a used utility trailer that he bought for 80 bucks and resold for $750 after he replaced a handful of boards.

The next morning we removed the original top and nonworking mechanisms on each side.  We saved the bolts that held down the original top.  While I went to the hardware store to buy 4 lock washers, 4 nuts to fit the original bolts, and two large hooks for $3.26.

 R needed to drill new holes in the base to allow the bolts to pass through.  On the top side he needed to countersink the bolt heads using a larger drill bit.  

We flipped the table upright once the bolts were tightened.

 We decided to add the large hooks to hang an extension cord and the other one for something else because you know "there is always something else."

The table is still foldable for ease of storage.  We want to add a power strip underneath so that we can have multiple items plugged in without unplugging the saw.  Also, we will add a measuring tape for 'well measuring' of course.  R said he was saving a broken tape measure that wouldn't retract but we couldn't find it.  If it remains AWOL we will just get the free one from Harbor Freight the next time we buy sanding discs and remove the tape and attach it to the front edge.  

 The table is nice and sturdy and look it can also hold an R.  We will sand the top and add a couple of coats of poly if it doesn't rain tomorrow.

 Not too shabby for $8.26.  This should come in handy this summer.  I think a BBQ cover will fit this, so that we can leave the chop saw outside and not have to drag everything in EVERY day.   We lost an hour of work time every day because it took 30 minutes to bring everything outside and 30 minutes to put everything away.  AND of course we would always forget something and need to go get it.  This summer everything we need will already be there when we decide to get started.

Project took 4 hrs over two days.

How did we do?  Next time you see a broken work mate style table in someone's trash grab it and make yourself a saw table, project table, or maybe spray paint the base black (or any color) and add a couple of nice pieces of stained wood for an industrial style end table in a man cave, or if you really like to think out of the box, how about using the base to make an island in your kitchen.

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Hidden Window

We finished moving the upright video games so we could get to the wall where we will install the new windows.  I knew that there was a small window concealed in the wall but I couldn't see all of the window until now.

The ropes are still intact but the glass panes in the upper sash are broke. The shingle nails came through the sheathing and hit the glass.  That's an easy fix.

This window will eventually find a home in the walkout area of the basement where the current entry door is located.  That door will move to another more accessible location.

The photo doesn't show the original wall color very well but it's a great color of green, like a pale version of apple green.  This might have just solved my dilemma with picking a green color for the house.  

It looks like the room was originally the green color, then Mamie Eisenhower pink, and finally white. We also uncovered  some original base board.  That will come in handy when we do repairs in the living room.

This wall is the original plaster and has a lot of damage.  The rest of the room is drywall.  We plan to gut the room so that we can insulate and run new electrical.  But for the time being we will only remove this section of plaster and the drywall around the current sliding door so that we can add our two exterior lights.

We are all caught up on our mowing and we have 2 or 3 days of cool dry weather to get things done before we get 5 days of rain.  Let's hope the forecast is wrong because it's cooling off fast.

#wheredidsummergo

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