Bark Wars

Today I finally finished replacing Ben and Joanna's new stair rail.  There's still some trimwork to be finished up that I will hit tomorrow.  I have never installed a rail with newel posts and balusters, before.  Not a nice one, anyway.   I have done deck rails, but this one was for the inside of the house. With lots of technical advice from Dad we finally finished it.  I think I need a couple more of those under my belt before I feel like I know what I'm doing. 

I know I complain about my dogs, Abbey wan Kenobe and Chewbarka.  I've got so many names for those two I just don't know which ones to use in a given conversation.  I know only this:  I will most likely never use their real names.   Anyway, my dogs seem quite introverted and quiet compared to the pack that resides next to Ben and Jo.   Every time anyone nears the property line they go off, like some really bad alarm system.  Makes me appreciate my dogs a little more.  Then there was that pit bull in the yard next to a house I worked on last week.  That thing was mean.  Every time I went through the back gate I was hugging the side of the house when that thing tried to jump over the fence and get me.  He got so close one time he slobbered on my arm.  I wasn't afraid of him-  my hammer was on my belt, so I was pretty confident that if he got a hold of me the encounter would end pretty quickly.  I just wasn't in any hurry to get bit.

Well, I'm about to head back to bed.  I just woke up a little while ago and we had a sudden storm hit.  For a moment I thought we were in the path of a tornado, it was suddenly so windy and loud.  It wasn't normal.  I was just up trying to see if there was any weather news out of the ordinary.  The wind has died down, now.  That just such a sudden and powerful and loud incident I was ready to grab the family and toss them in a closet.  Makes me realize that I have no interior rooms or hallways that can be closed off.  Fortunately, the wind passed and quieted down, so I guess I was just paranoid.  Anyway, Good Night!

Noticeable Progress

Got a lot done, today.  The workbench area is taking shape.  Got the cabinets mounted and the top installed.  I might have enough wood to make another cabinet, but there will be a delay in the final assembly, since I will need to buy more wood and that won't be happening for a while.  You can sort of get an idea of what it will look like.  Above the bench section I did today I want to put a pegboard cabinet, which I might have enough to build.  I already have several sheets of pegboard in the garage, but I don't know if it will work.  I'll get to that later. 

The benchtop tool tower.  There will be slots on the insides to hold some of my bench tools when I'm not using them.

The base cabinets and tool tower in place.

Another shot all the way down to the corner. There is one other base component I want to make and put in between the cabinets you see here, but it's not critical.  I'll probably be working on shelves and doors next week, if I have enough wood for all of it.

One of the wall cabinets.  I made the tool tower to be 72 inches high, forgetting that I raised the height of the overall workstation to accomodate the pegboard cabinet I want to build.  So I'll need to add a little to the top of that cabinet when I add the cap to the whole thing. 

Final shot of the bench as it is right now.  I was doing a little more skimming of the drywall so I can paint it soon.  It's getting warm enough to do that, now.  The cabinets will be painted, too, but I haven't quite settled on a color, yet.  I'm thinking Rustoleum Black Hammered finish.  The benchtop will just get a coat of polyurethane.

The garage is slowly getting less aggravating.  Still has a long way to go, but I don't feel so disgusted when I walk in there, anymore. 

Want a laugh?  Check out the video below.

Rainy Day

It's been pretty rainy for the last 18 hours, or so.  My yard has actually flooded, again!  Didn't expect that.  The sump was pressed back into action.  Still works really well.  I was just clearing out some old job pictures and found a few that might be interesting to share.

The entrance to the drive of a mansion out in Crozier that I winterized.

A closeup of the mansion.  It's on 10 acres of land, has one really big master suite with a huge master bath, 5 other bedrooms, and three other bathrooms, and one half bath.  Been rather neglected, though.  The deck will need to be replaced.

BETCO's shop cat, getting her morning coffee.

Stopping at the ATM...with the backhoe.

Closeup shot.  Got a lot of funny looks from people walking by.

I've built a few more cabinets for the garage.  I'll be working on that again, this weekend.  I think the shop will be in good shape by that point.  I will still need to build the wall cabinets and shelves, but they will have to wait a little bit.  I've about run out of material.  Yet, in using the material, I have gained so much space in the garage!  I'm so happy!!

More Garage Stuff

Did more work in the garage, today. Picked up the sheetrock dolly from Dad, so I was able to load up that stack of drywall and move it out of my way. I built two more cabinets, today.

Another base cabinet, less the doors.

Drilling the shelf pin holes.

The base cabinet completed.  Still needs the doors, and I will be painting it, eventually.

A wall cabinet, almost completed.

The completed wall and base cabinet.  The base is notched to fit over the cinder block foundation wall.  The cabinets are made to hang from the wall so I can sweep under them easier, and to keep them dry in the event of a flood, or something.  I still need to make the doors and shelves, but those are easy.   I will also be making a base unit with drawers.