Number Tew's First House Build Thread

[Number Tew]

Thanks man!  I was doing some shopping for speakers just because.  It will take a while before I get the go ahead from the boss on those.  The ones I looked at cost more than I paid for my entire setup

[Number Tew]

11 hours ago, Evilcw311 said:

Are you doing ceiling mount speakers that you actually cut in, speakers that have mounts, or free standing speakers?

 

you know I’m not on here much so just text me if you want any help picking and possibly pricing some. 

 

It will probably end up being mounted speakers, but we are a ways off of that

[Number Tew]

hmmmmmmmm, I might need that.  But the boss will shoot me

[Number Tew]

We may have to talk.  I am assuming it's a more upgraded version.  The Onkyo speakers I have are obviously the entry level plastic units.  Are these a step up?

[Blackmage]

man i hate running wires for speakers, but that definitely turned out nice.  

[Number Tew]

Thanks man!  I cut out the centers of the shelves and put grates to add a bit more airflow yesterday morning.  pics to follow.

 

Also, my neighbor helped, and he couldn't see the lines so they aren't exactly super straight, but they will always have something on them so who cares.  For air flow only!

[Number Tew]

Some quick updates on the house.  Finally got around to getting my remote switch done in the living room, then purchased a universal fan remote and set it up the same way, and mounted it to the wall.  This was much easier than rewiring the room to add a switch by the bedroom door, and it works exactly the way I hoped!  Anyhow:

 

 

 

 

I guess I don’t have a shot of the old ceiling fan, but I replaced it with this one since it was making noise.  This one is a 60 inch monster, and it looks pretty good.  The one I took out had a hefty 4 bulb light kit with full size bulbs.  I put 100W LED bulbs in, so it was like turning on the sun.  This one uses Candelabra bulbs (all the fans I looked at did) but I was able to put LED bulbs in at least to help with output.

 

 

I added to the ventilation a bit in the cabinet, and did some rearranging.  I now have the receiver on top since that it was everyone recommends.  That alone cut heat down considerably.  These Airplate fans are neat.  I also bought one of their Aircom fans for on top of the receiver.  If I turn that on, I can shed about 20* in a matter of minutes, I would say that is pretty incredible.

 

The shelves are all about function.  If anyone is picking up my A/V equipment and judging my shelves, we have more of an issue.

 

 

 

 

Since I rearranged I needed a new hole to pass wires through, and I couldn’t get to my drill in the garage and did not feel like moving the cars around.  So, don’t be a chump.  Use a hole saw with your hands!  It actually worked quite well lol.

 

 

 

Here it is as it sits.  I have a credit at Monoprice, so I may look into a 4K receiver unless I find something else that they sell that I really need.  We will see what the near future holds.

 

 

 

I let the system stretch its legs a bit watching all of the Terminator movies.  Definitely enhances the viewing experience.  I am really happy I finally did it!

 

I have been trying to get a tree company out to do the last few trees and help me with stump removal.  I need to get on it quick, since my neighbor just had all of this delivered:

 

 

 

So, immediate priority is getting all of the trees finished, then I will knock out the fence ASAP.  Then I can put my new shed together, and get some pavers in the back yard for the red car to park on!  It’s getting there.

 

Thanks for looking!

[Blackmage]

Fake fencing put in by fake productions?   

[Number Tew]

1 hour ago, Blackmage said:

Fake fencing put in by fake productions?   

 

That's his company.  I think he's some kind of supervisor or something.  But he borrowed their trailer, fork lift, and a couple workers to bring it all in!

 

They do a lot of really neat stuff.  They build a lot at Universal Studios

[Shifty]

Great progress so far Tew!

[Number Tew]

On 12/19/2017 at 6:59 AM, Shifty said:

Great progress so far Tew!

 

Thanks buddy!  January should bring a lot of good stuff

[Number Tew]

Over the last few days my dad and I really went to town.  Finally got all of the trees taken DOWN!  Now it’s just some clean up.  I have booked a mack-daddy stump grinder for the weekend to go ahead and knock everything out, then hopefully get the fence up!

 

Here are some pics, they should speak for themselves.

 

 

I finally pulled these ugly scraggly bushes.

 

 

 

This was the biggest pain.  This pic has most of the “scary” branches taken down.

 

 

The most scraggly oak trees ever!  (Dad made an appearance!)

 

 

Our intricate pulley system, we did this to keep constant pressure on one of the trees near the shed to avoid taking it out (again).

 

 

Woo!  Shed Clear!

 

 

 

 

So you can really see how crazy the branches were on these trees.

 

I decided to make a big fire out of some of the brush, it ended up working out quite well.  I wish I would have done this for some of the other branches, it would have saved on pickup costs!

 

 

 

Will have some updates with the rest!

[Number Tew]

Alright so all of the trees are officially dealt with.  I rented a big stump grinder and in total ground 20 stumps, including a couple large oaks for my neighbor.  Really excited to have my yard back!  Here are some pics:

 

 

 

Dad running the beast!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I believe the largest tree was about 22” in diameter, so nothing too crazy but not tiny.

 

Next up is to finish up the fence and gates.  Then I will start worrying about getting grass and such down.

[Prokiller]

good job getting all those out of there and smoothing out the area.  even though you got them all out of there, be aware that you will probably see divots form where they were as the leftover roots decay away.

[Number Tew]

On 1/24/2018 at 1:16 PM, Evilcw311 said:

Same thing I posted in other place in case you see it here first. Plus others on here might like........

 

http://www.cabinlife.com/diy-advice/projects/how-to-make-a-long-burning-bonfire-log/

 

Believe me, this thing burned forever lol.  And HOT too!

 

On 1/25/2018 at 8:41 AM, Prokiller said:

good job getting all those out of there and smoothing out the area.  even though you got them all out of there, be aware that you will probably see divots form where they were as the leftover roots decay away.

 

I am expecting it.  The neighbor apparently has someone who will deliver a dump truck of dirt for basically nothing, and he wants to split the cost with me.  I have a lot of filling in to grade out back which should help out.  I didn't realize until yesterday that i have class all week so I am on a normal schedule, I might be able to get the fence up!  I have done a few here and there things, but I will update those later!

[Number Tew]

Alright, I have a few small updates, still working on a few bigger things.

 

First, something very menial was getting the guest bathroom a bit more up to speed.  This old shower head had to go:

 

 

In favor of one of these:

 

 

Like most things the previous owner mounted, this towel rack was pulling out of the wall since day one, so:

 

 

 

Here it is removed, one of the mounting brackets installed, and I had to do some spackle/paint.  Since it was just a touch up you can tell but it is not too bad.  Luckily the only time you can see it is when you’re on the pot.

 

 

Next, this bottle opener has been sitting around since August, we bought it on vacation.  It says:

 

Woman:  “You never listen to me, you only hear what you want to hear.”

Man:  “Sure, I’ll have another beer.”

 

Finally got around to mounting it, I think it’s funny!

 

 

We’ve had this car model sitting around for a couple years, along with the decals to do it up, so I finally took on the task:

 

 

 

Finally cut out the foam on this thing!  There’s “more to come” still on that.

 

Next is what I have been working on the past couple days, and the reason I am very sunburned right now:

 

 

This is the fence between me and the house behind me.

 

 

Behind the dilapidated fence there was also a small chain link fence that I had to pull out.  It was cemented, but luckily not very well.  Next to it is a bougainvillea plant.  If anyone has ever dealt with one, you know my pain.  Monstrously thorny, and of course, vine like.  This plant is not mine, or I would have completely gotten rid of it, like I did the one I had right when I moved in.  But some trimming took care of it.

 

On our first day, this is about how far we got.  Be reminded there were some 15 trees of mine in that corner, plus all of the neighbors’ trees.  It was root city back there.  The side yard should be much quicker.

 

End of day one, I made a little fire with a bunch of the old fence and some of that plant.

 

Today, we finished up the back section:

 

 

We typically shy away from cementing in posts around here, but because I plan to have a healthy sized gate between my neighbor and I, we cemented a 6x6x8 into the ground for a good sturdy anchor.  I think a crane would have to remove the thing.

 

 

Then, I burned up all that was left of the old fence, and whatever other debris.

 

 

The plan is to build a small deck in the back for the new shed.  I am also planning on building a back porch deck.  The boss says she is going to handle the front yard, so we will have to see what she comes up with!

[LWARRIOR1016]

Hell of an update, for sure! Everything is looking real good. I bet your neighbors are happy to have you in there doing all this clean up, youve raised their property values lol.

 

Also, for the post that you cemented in the ground, next time you should give pea gravel a shot. Dig your hole and toss a layer of pea gravel in the bottom. Set the post down and pour some gravel around it, shake the post and poke the gravel with the back of the shovel. Continue that until the hole is almost full of gravel. It will surprise you how sturdy the gravel will make them and taking them back out of the hole is much easier, just dig one side and pull the post over then out. I put my mailbox in the ground like that and someone hit the horizontal part that the box sits on, it twisted the post off about half way up. The ground wasnt even disturbed and it was easy to replace.

[Psychorugby]

Quote

We typically shy away from cementing in posts around here

 

We do?  Every fence I've built here had cemented posts... and I know everyone we build at work does too.

[Number Tew]

On 2/19/2018 at 8:15 AM, Psychorugby said:

 

We do?  Every fence I've built here had cemented posts... and I know everyone we build at work does too.

 

Haha, all of the posts i pulled up weren't cemented.  I think it helps with ease of replacement.  Especially with wooden fences that only last so long unfortunately.

 

On 2/19/2018 at 7:32 AM, LWARRIOR1016 said:

Hell of an update, for sure! Everything is looking real good. I bet your neighbors are happy to have you in there doing all this clean up, youve raised their property values lol.

 

Also, for the post that you cemented in the ground, next time you should give pea gravel a shot. Dig your hole and toss a layer of pea gravel in the bottom. Set the post down and pour some gravel around it, shake the post and poke the gravel with the back of the shovel. Continue that until the hole is almost full of gravel. It will surprise you how sturdy the gravel will make them and taking them back out of the hole is much easier, just dig one side and pull the post over then out. I put my mailbox in the ground like that and someone hit the horizontal part that the box sits on, it twisted the post off about half way up. The ground wasnt even disturbed and it was easy to replace.

 

I might have to look into that in the future!  It's a little late on that one now

 

As far as I can tell the neighbors are very happy with my improvements as of yet!

[Psychorugby]

13 hours ago, Number Tew said:

 

Haha, all of the posts i pulled up weren't cemented.  I think it helps with ease of replacement.  Especially with wooden fences that only last so long unfortunately.

 

You're doing something wrong if that wooden fence "only lasts so long."  The one my dad and I put in 20 years ago still looks brand new.  The one I built 10 years ago still looks brand new.  They need to be maintained (cleaned and sealed) like anything else; they're not set it and forget it.

[Prokiller]

15 hours ago, Evilcw311 said:

Problem is is most people get lazy and don’t want to clean and treat the wood regularly. 

that's what she said

[Number Tew]

On 2/20/2018 at 11:11 PM, Evilcw311 said:

Wooden fences will outlast all of us if they’re properly maintained. Most people don’t seal them every 5-10 years as they’re suppose to which causes them to twist and warp and such. I’ve seen fences that are old as hell and still look great. 

 

Problem is is most people get lazy and don’t want to clean and treat the wood regularly. 

 

On 2/21/2018 at 11:21 AM, Psychorugby said:

 

You're doing something wrong if that wooden fence "only lasts so long."  The one my dad and I put in 20 years ago still looks brand new.  The one I built 10 years ago still looks brand new.  They need to be maintained (cleaned and sealed) like anything else; they're not set it and forget it.

 

Good points, and I am a maintenance weirdo so I will be maintaining it, certainly much better than the previous owners!

 

On 2/21/2018 at 2:18 PM, Prokiller said:

that's what she said

 

lololol!

[Number Tew]

Alright so here’s a little update.  My dad and I built a service gate on the right side of the house.  It was kind of a pain because of the steep grade between my neighbor and I, so I had to do quite a bit of earth moving.  But here are some pics:

 

 

 

I’m just trying to show the grade in that pic.

 

 

So, here is my dad helping me take care of business.  We built the two halves out of 2x4, and yes, we built them exactly different on accident.  Luckily the pickets will take care of it.  We used three hinges on each side to help mitigate some of the weight.

 

                                                                                                               

 

The gate all put together.  Really excited to finally have the yard boxed in!

 

This weekend I decided to snatch the hedges out of the front.  It looks much better, I hate hedges.  We built a quick border out of spare 4x4s, but it may change in the future.  I just wanted to have a proof of concept.  Anyhow:

 

 

 

 

Hedges are gone!

 

I did hang some shelves in the garage but no pics just yet.  Thanks for looking guys.  I still need to build a new gate on the other side, but it should not be as much of a process.

[Number Tew]

Not house related but something we whipped up for the work truck.  Dad and old neighbor helped with this a lot since they are much better wood workers than I, and the neighbor has the equipment to do it!

 

 

 

 

I just need to find a way to add lights to it so I can what's going on at night!

[Prokiller]

and...uh...what do you do again that you need to carry that much artillery AND a sledge/bolt cutter? 

[Number Tew]

3 hours ago, Prokiller said:

and...uh...what do you do again that you need to carry that much artillery AND a sledge/bolt cutter? 

 

That's why I posted it in this thread and not out in a new thread.  I am in law enforcement lol.

 

[95riosnake]

I assumed by that picture that you were in law enforcement, lol. Otherwise, I doubt you would have publicly posted that picture, haha.

[Number Tew]

On 5/24/2018 at 6:19 AM, 95riosnake said:

I assumed by that picture that you were in law enforcement, lol. Otherwise, I doubt you would have publicly posted that picture, haha.

 

I try to keep it on the DL.  Only people who like me look at this thread, so I figure you guys can know haha.

 

On 5/24/2018 at 5:30 PM, Evilcw311 said:

 

Did you ever think maybe he works in pest and animal control?!? Obviously you’ve never seen how big the gators, anacondas, and squirrels get in Florida. 

 

Hell, that Disney place has a mouse walking around that’s as big as me!!!!!

 

jeremy knows that I know he’s a cop. 🙂

 

I have found an alligator at the local McDonald's before lol

[Number Tews Boss Lady]

We're slowly becoming less of "those people" on the block...My garden is almost complete, just need one more row of flowers and then to deal with the rest of the front yard =/

 

 

So pretty

[Number Tew]

Someone just posted on "Nextdoor" looking for some work for their 17 year old for the summer.  I imagine cheap labor for a kid will help level the front out a bit and maybe we can have some actual sod laid down!

 

Hoping to tackle the gate on the other side this weekend, and maybe build a platform for our new (well, it's old now but still boxed up) shed.  In the coming weeks we will be trying to level the back yard off a bit so we can finally build our deck!

[Shifty]

lol hire the kid! get it donneeee

[ttocs]

I thought that finding someone for general labor in FL was as easy as it is in AZ, just takes a trip to the local home depot and you can get as much help as you want there.  

[Number Tew]

Bwahahaha you can sometimes find help that way, but I would rather employ a kid for mindless labor.

 

We did a metric ton of work over the weekend out front - 

 

20180609_175132

 

Once I get the irrigation fixed up we will be looking at some sod.  I made us up a to do list so we can tackle things without distraction!

[Number Tew]

Alright, so a little bit of an update. We’ve been busy:

I conned some friends into coming over to help. I worked on their truck and they let us use it to bring a bunch of stuff to the house!

So, we built some borders around the palms. They are not perfect, but they look better than what was there. I don’t have any pics of all the flowers the boss lady has done though.

Anyhow, a little before/after:







We also did some pavers around the other little garden, but no pics of that. Man, I am slacking!

Basically, the front yard is “getting there” – this weekend I finally got around to doing the gate on the other side! I realized, I did not have any pics of it before, and I forgot to take any before taking it down. The next two pics are about as close to “before” pictures as I can get:





Nothing too special, just a crappy old gate that would no longer latch, so it was obviously time for a replacement!

Decided to make this gate a little larger than the old one, it’s about 68” wide. We built it out of 2x4 for strength. Anyhow, here’s an in progress shot. We are 4 pickets shy of it being complete so I don’t have a finished shot of that either! Maybe this is not much of an update lol!



So, with the gate being a bit larger, I need to do some more land leveling. I am laying pavers under the area where the gate opens to prevent grass from growing there and limiting my ability to open up.

I just got started on that and felt like I was going to die from heat exhaustion, so I turned in for the day. We went to pick up the new Mustang from the tint shop though. Paint correction, ceramic coating and a film, along with tint obviously. I will let her have the glory of posting those pics though. I must say, it came out beautiful!


Anyways, onto the important part of this update:

I bought and ran the surround sound setup last year as a proof on concept. The TV I have is 4K, but the receiver can only handle 1080p, so I was missing out!

I had a credit to Monoprice, and found a good deal on a 2017 Onkyo receiver from Amazon. So I bought the Monoprice premium speakers, which are apparently just knock offs of much more expensive speakers, and apparently compete just fine with speaker sets that cost $1,000 or so. I am no audiophile, so I am sure they will do just fine!

Anyhow, basic shopping list for this update:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XVFY3M8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 – Onkyo TX–NR575 - I paid $280

https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Premium-Channel-Theater-Subwoofer/dp/B00EOZFUYI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1531100562&sr=8-3&keywords=monoprice+5.1 – Monoprice Premium 5.1 speaker setup - I bought these from Monoprice because I had a credit to their site. Monoprice does charge shipping so just be aware if you notice any major price differences. When I purchased my speakers, Amazon had them for $210 and Monoprice had them at $190 or so. It looks like Amazon has them on sale right now for $165 with free shipping!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076X89GRW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 – Bias lighting - $25

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JE9LD4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 – Belkin 4320 Joule surge protector

https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-5-Port-Unmanaged-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B01KYD0L3I/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1531101080&sr=1-4&keywords=monoprice+ethernet+switch – Five port gigabit switch - $15 or so from Monoprice

Also, I had some cables and such around the house, but I needed some banana plugs and an RCA splitter.

So, on with the setup:







I started with the bias lighting because it’s simple. I wiped the back of the TV down with some alcohol wipes. Plug in the lighting to the USB port on the TV, figure out a route, and run it. 

For those who don’t know what bias lighting is – all others can skip:

The idea behind bias lighting is that it takes strain away from your eyes when looking at a bright screen in a dark room, based on the way your eyes work. It’s supposed to make your darks look richer as well.




In the pic above, the center bar is the same shade the whole way through, but it looks much darker with a light background, it’s the same concept. If you get headaches from looking at screens for too long in dark rooms, this is supposed to alleviate that immensely. I will report on that later.

Anyhow:



Pulled out the entertainment center, and plugged in the cable.









Bias lighting!

Then I set up the beast:





I picked this one because I really like the option for 6 HDMI inputs. Plus all that other stuff lol!

And here is a shot of one of the Monoprice speakers – I will include a pic of the Onkyo it is replacing for comparison:





The quality is MUCH higher on the Monoprice units, not that the Onkyo ones were bad, but you can tell the difference.

This new system has way more features than I will ever use. It’s a 7.2 setup, so I am working on getting two more speaker for it - probably going to stick with one sub for now though. The receiver can connect to the internet, hence the switch. It can play Spotify, Pandora, etc straight from the box. Or you can connect via bluetooh. Dolby Atmos. I am just excited about it, woo!

I feel like I half-assed this update. In every part, I gave you just enough to wonder what the end result was, and never gave the end result!

Sorry, stay tuned!

Next couple things are to re-sod the front, build the deck and the shed out back. I am also planning to update security, so I will certainly be in touch with Logan for that.

[Number Tews Boss Lady]

My beautiful flowers and herbs!

 

 

[Shifty]

really coming along guys! well done and it is looking great!

[Number Tew]

On 7/24/2018 at 11:30 PM, Shifty said:

really coming along guys! well done and it is looking great!

 

 

Thanks bud!

 

We got a new dinner table, with a bench style seat to save some room in our little kitchen.  I laid some pavers behind the gate in the side yard to keep the gate opening flawlessly for a while.

 

Hoping to do a new storm door out front and start on the deck this weekend!

[Number Tew]

Alright pretty big update:

 

Here’s the easy stuff – new kitchen table.  Much better than the Wal-Mart table we had in here:

 

 

Here are the pavers I laid down in the side yard.  I need to get rid of the major grade behind it, but that’s another day.  For now, this works and will keep the gate happily opening:

 

 

 

The gate all squared away.

 

 

This was buried under the old gate.  I have no idea what it is.

 

Unfinished project:  Storm Door:

 

 

Here is what we started with. 

 

 

The new door is a Larson model.  The top half has a screen that slides down.  This way we can open the front door and have some air blow through, but we don’t need to worry about the animals getting out or destroying the screen.

 

I forgot to grab pics of it mounted.  We still have not finished it though, but right now it is at least hanging in place.  We need to get the strike plate sorted out so it hangs on a bit better.  While working on this I also replaced the weather strip on the door, it makes a MUCH better seal now.

 

Next, the deck in the back yard – its 20’x20’ – built out of 2”x8” and 6”x6” posts with normal 1”x6” decking.  I was going to do composite decking but it’s 8 times the cost.  If I planned to live in this house forever, maybe.  At this house?  No sir.

 

So here are some pics:

 

 

This is getting it laid out for the first time.

 

 

I imagine most people can figure this out, but we did the classic truck unloading method – drive quick in reverse and slam the brakes.  It got all the wood out in one shot, which sure beats unloading.

 

 

Here is my neighbor helping me out.  My dad was also there helping! 

 

 

Framed out and digging for the stringers.

 

 

We were initially planning to have 10’ on each side with a gap in the middle.  But because the consistency of the boards is so, well, inconsistent – we went with a staggered approach the following day.  It looks much more “professional” and might be stronger, who knows.

 

 

Here is how it sits this evening.  Note the grill.  Tonight was the FIRST time we used it since I bought it last June.  It will be nice having a good place for it.  Some people think we need seating/railing around the edges, and that might be something we add eventually.  Right now I am just so happy to have a porch.  This should help mitigate the dirt from tracking into the house anytime I step out the back door.

 

So, that’s it for now.  I will try to get some updated pictures soon!

 

 

Thanks for looking!

 

 

[Det_Riot]

Looking good Jermy! You made the right choice of staggering, unless you had bought fancy schmancy lumbar, there's no way to get around the inconsistencies 

[Number Tew]

12 hours ago, Det_Riot said:

Looking good Jermy! You made the right choice of staggering, unless you had bought fancy schmancy lumbar, there's no way to get around the inconsistencies 

 

I priced out the PVC stuff, there is no way I could justify 8X the cost lol