Tag: DIY

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An Easy DIY Garden Bed

Screwing the fasteners in place. An easy DIY garden bed.

Have you seen those cedar garden bed kits at Home Depot or Lowes? Or the really fancy ones on Amazon? Yeah, I did, too. Then I saw the price tag. Yikes! But cedar garden beds don’t have to be outrageously expensive and you don’t even need a full set of tools. I’m here to give you pointers and tips for an easy DIY garden bed that won’t break the bank, either.

person digging on soil using garden shovel

You’ve seen the simple garden beds I made the first year of my garden in it’s current location. In 2022, I expanded the veggie garden even more and really gave it an upgrade. Yes, I have some fancy tools, but you don’t need anything out of the ordinary to make your own garden beds. It’s a straightforward process to make these easy DIY garden beds, and I know you can do it, too!

The best thing about doing it yourself? You can customize it into a one-of-a-kind piece that works for you and the space you have. Below you will find an example of an 18″ tall bed I helped a friend make with minimal tools and the 6″ high beds I built in my own garden. Let’s get started!

The basic supply list:

  • Cedar fence pickets
    • Garden stakes
  • Fasteners
Cedar fence pickets
Wood garden stake

Cedar Fence Pickets

Head down to the home center and pick up some basic cedar dog-ear fence pickets. They are cedar and usually less than $3. They come in 6-foot lengths, which is great for a bed. It’s the cornerstone of this easy DIY garden bed and the piece that is often the most expensive in those kits.

So why cedar? For decades, vegetable gardeners have avoided pressure-treated wood products when building their beds, thanks to a 1991 paper from Cornell (the agricultural experts!). It brought to light the use of arsenic in the pressure-treating process. By the early 2000s, the manufacturing process changed and arsenic is no longer used. So is it safe to use? The risk is significantly diminished since then, but cedar is a fantastic, natural alternative. Cedar is rot-resistant and keeps bugs away.

Personally, try to avoid using any kind of pressure-treated wood in a vegetable garden. If it’s for flowers only, then I do recommend opting for pressure treated boards.

Garden stakes

In my previous post, I recommend some garden stakes like these 1×2 stakes. I also like these 2×2 stakes, which I used because my garden is on a hill and the soil is sand. I didn’t want them to move at all!

Garden stakes like these are great because they come in multi-packs. The length you need will be dependent on how tall you want your beds. Technically speaking, you don’t need to make them very tall, but, the beauty of a custom build is a custom design. I believe, for the most part, the garden stakes commonly available are untreated. If you can get your hands on cedar stakes, awesome. It’s possible you might have to replace the stakes at some point if you purchase the untreated stakes, but certainly not by the next year.

Fasteners

First of all, what are fasteners? It’s an all-encompassing word for things that fasten to or fasten things together – aka nails and screws.

As you will see in the next section, the type of fasteners you buy will depend on the type of tools you have access to. One thing that you do need, regardless of tool, is galvanized fasteners. These are designed to be used outside and in all weather. Screws are not the most ideal for this type of board, as it is quite thin and brittle, but it will work if you do nbot have access to a nailgun.

Below I have a couple of examples of ways to build your beds; regardless of your final design, the basic concept remains the same.

Galvenized brad nails
Exterior screws

Before You Start:

Safety First

As always, take appropriate safety precautions. Gloves, glasses, and ear protection (with power tools) is a must. Take the time to scope out where you want your bed to live.

Recommendations

  • It’s very likely that the spot is not 100% flat so using a level is key to really making the beds look nice.
  • Having a garden shovel or trowel is a great tool to have on hand to help find level.
  • A mallet or heavy hammer will help make driving the stakes into the ground go by much faster.
  • If you do not have a saw at home, most home centers and lumber yards will gladly make cuts for you for free.
  • Measuring tape – you can attempt to eyeball it, but you might end up re-doing a lot of your work. Trust me, I know.
  • A second pair of hands! Many hands make light work and if you can find a friend to help it will make finding level a lot easier. BUT it’s absolutely possible to do this on your own.
  • Don’t be intimidated! This is an easy DIY garden bed and once you get the first board set up, you will fly through it. Take your time and if you mess up, then your garden will look like mine! A little wonky but totally authentic and made from my two hands.

Choose Your Adventure

If you don’t have a lot of tools:

Supplies:

  • Galvanized screws
  • Garden stakes
  • Fence pickets
  • Screwdriver or drill
  • Hammer or mallet
  • Level (optional)
  • Speed square (optional)
  • Saw (optional) – any kind will do if you have it

Step 1

Start by hammering in the first stake for one of the front corners of your bed. Take it slowly and keep checking that the stake is going in straight, or plumb. To do this, use your level by lining it up vertically alongside at least 2 sides of your stake. Hammer it in approximately as far down as the height of your bed.

Measuring the depth of the stake
Measuring up the depth of the stake

Step 2

Measure out the location of your other front corner stake. Before hammering it all the way in, you will want to see if it is squarely in line with the first stake.

Begin by pushing the stake into the ground far enough that it can just stand on its own. Then carefully hold up your board against both stakes. You can use a speed square or even your level to check for square – do both sides of the right angle on your square touch the wood perfectly? Then you are square!

The bottom board right before use it to check for square corners
Getting ready to check for square

If not, you can make an easy adjustment by moving around the garden stake that is not completely hammered into the ground yet. Once you know you’ve got your stakes lined up, sink that sake into the ground exactly as you did in Step 1.

Step 3

Take your board and place it right up against your stakes. It’s time to check for level. Using your level, look to see if that little bubble is right in the center. Depending on the size of your level, you may have to move it around to be absolutely sure that the board is completely level across the top. The smaller the level, the more you will need to move it around.

Use a level to be sure that your boards are, in fact, level.
Leveling with the level

This is where the trowel comes in handy. If you notice a gap between the board and the ground at one end, you can use the trowel to move around the dirt. Either dig into the ground where the board already touches the ground and slightly bury this end or transfer some dirt to fill in the gap.

Step 4

If you’ve opted for a short, single board bed, this part will be easy. If you are going for several boards, you might need some extra hands.

In Step 1, you made an approximate guess as to how far in the stakes needed to go for the height of your bed. You may need to push one or both of the stakes just a little bit further into the ground in order to match the top of your level board. This might mean that one stake is 6″ above ground and the other is only 5.5″. Once the tops of your stakes are in line with the top edge of your top-most board it’s time to fasten.

Screwing the fasteners in place
The top of the stake is at or slightly below the top of the board

Step 5

When fastening, use 2 screws, one above the other. This will help ensure a good fastening but comes in handy in a minute.

Begin with your bottom-most board and check again for level. Slowly, screw in your first fastener; ideally the top one first. Try to avoid getting too close to the edge of your board in order to avoid splitting it entirely. Going slowly allows you some control but also helps to prevent massive splitting of the dry board. Typically, this is why brad nails are the better option, but not everyone has access to a nail gun.

Start with the top screw; if your board goes out of level at this stage, you have essentially created a hinge that allows you to move the board up and down with ease.

demonstrating where to apply the fist fastener in order to create a hinge
Apply the top fastener first to create the hinge.

Step 6

After fastening the first screw, go to your other stake – this is where you will use that hinge you created on the other stake to confirm your board is level. Once it is, you can fasten both screws on this stake and go back to the first stake to fasten the board completely. If you have additional boards to install, you can repeat this process. All subsequent boards should be level after ensuring the first one is, but it’s always a good idea to check. If one board was cut crookedly and then sits funny, it might make the board after it also not level.

Step 7

Repeat this process again from Step 2 all the way around your bed! If you have lengths of board that are longer than 2 feet, add at least 1 additional stake to the middle. This will strengthen the board(s) to hold the dirt and also will help prevent any warping. And just like that, you’ve build this easy DIY garden bed!

View from the inside
A view of the boards from the outside of the bed
Remember to screw these in, too!
View from the outside

If you’ve got access to a lot of tools:

Supplies:

  • Galvanized screws/brad nails
  • Garden stakes
  • Fence pickets
  • Drill or nail gun
  • Hammer or mallet
  • Level
  • Speed square
  • Circular saw

Step 1

Start by hammering in the first stake for one of the front corners of your bed. Take it slowly and keep checking that the stake is going in straight, or plumb. To do this, use your level by lining it up vertically alongside at least 2 sides of your stake. Hammer it in approximately as far down as the height of your bed.

Measuring the depth of the stake
Measuring up the depth of the stake

Step 2

Measure out the location of your other front corner stake. Before hammering it all the way in, you will want to see if it is squarely in line with the first stake.

Begin by pushing the stake into the ground far enough that it can just stand on its own. Then carefully hold up your board against both stakes. You can use a speed square or even your level to check for square – do both sides of the right angle on your square touch the wood perfectly? Then you are square!

The bottom board right before use it to check for square corners
Getting ready to check for square
Nice and snug

Step 3

Take your board and place it right up against your stakes. It’s time to check for level. Using your level, look to see if that little bubble is right in the center. Depending on the size of your level, you may have to move it around to be absolutely sure that the board is completely level across the top. The smaller the level, the more you will need to move it around.

Use a level to be sure that your boards are, in fact, level.
Leveling with the level

This is where the trowel comes in handy. If you notice a gap between the board and the ground at one end, you can use the trowel to move around the dirt. Either dig into the ground where the board already touches the ground and slightly bury this end or transfer some dirt to fill in the gap.

Step 4

If you’ve opted for a short, single board bed, this part will be easy. If you are going for several boards, you might need some extra hands.

In Step 1, you made an approximate guess as to how far in the stakes needed to go for the height of your bed. You may need to push one or both of the stakes just a little bit further into the ground in order to match the top of your level board. This might mean that one stake is 6″ above ground and the other is only 5.5″. Once the tops of your stakes are in line with the top edge of your top-most board it’s time to fasten.

Slightly above the top board
Screwing the fasteners in place
Slightly below the top board

Step 5

Regardless if you are using brad nails or screws, plan to use at least 2 per either end of each board, stacked vertically. This will help ensure a good fastening but comes in handy in a minute. With any project using thin, brittle board and screws, be sure to go slowly and don’t place your screw too close to the edge, in order to avoid as much splitting as possible.

Begin with your bottom-most board and check again for level. Start at the top of your board and place your first nail; if your board goes out of level at this stage, you have essentially created a hinge that allows you to move the board up and down with ease.

demonstrating where to apply the fist fastener in order to create a hinge
Top fastener first
Applying them vertically

Step 6

After applying your first fastener, go to your other stake – this is where you will use that hinge you created on the other stake to confirm your board is level. Once it is, you can apply additional nails to this stake and go back to the first stake to fasten the board completely. If you have additional boards to install, you can repeat this process. All subsequent boards should be level after ensuring the first one is, but it’s always a good idea to check. If one board was cut crookedly and then sits funny, it might make the board after it also not level.

Step 7

Repeat this process again from Step 2 all the way around your bed! If you have lengths of board that are longer than 2 feet, add at least 1 additional stake to the middle. This will strengthen the board(s) to hold the dirt and also will help prevent any warping. And just like that, you’ve built this easy DIY garden bed.

View from the inside
A view of the boards from the outside of the bed
Remember to screw these in, too!
View from the outside

If you’re feeling creative and are looking for inspo:

Read about my vegetable garden upgrade or follow me on Pinterest!

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Tap That …Tree

Before Sugaring Season

I can’t believe it is almost time for sugaring season. My husband is the one who grew up in the US’s #1 maple syrup producing state (i.e., Vermont) and he did some sugaring on his own as a kid. But once we purchased our home nearly a decade ago, we always intended to tap the meager 2 sugar maples on our property. It didn’t actually happen until 2021, when our daughter was old enough to participate. It started off as just something fun and science-y to show her, but it turned into a great little hobby for both of us. I’m so excited to tap for the second year and take what we learned the first time around into this year.

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Modern plastic sap bucket, traditional metal sap bucket, and traditional metal taps

Getting Ready

Like I said, I didn’t grow up sugaring and my husband picked it up when he was in high school as a hobby (despite living on a ton of acres, it wasn’t something his parents did before he started). I got to experience my first sugaring when I went to visit him during a college spring break week some March many, many years ago. Little did I know, it was peak sugaring season. He spent that week boiling outside from sun-up to sun-down and then a little longer indoors after dark.

I learned that they boiled in March because the days were “warm” (think above freezing to mid-40s F) and the nights were “cold” (below freezing). This got the sap running. You knew it was sugaring season by looking at the snow around the base of the tree; if it started to pull away from the trunk, it was time to get those taps in and boil. As we all know, the climate is changing and winters aren’t quite so predictable as they once were. We also live a little bit further south of where he grew up, plus we are not at the same altitude and we are river-valley adjacent. That means our winters can be more variable in temperature. Not something we really paid attention to until it was our first sugaring season!

Our First Season

In 2021, we just went by the rule of thumb that we knew from sugaring in Vermont. Come March, it’s time to boil, so we didn’t put our taps in until the beginning of March. That was our first mistake. Whether it’s the changing climate or our geography (likely a combination of both!), we were already behind the 8 ball by the time we got started.

As is typical in the Capital Region of New York, we experience a bit of a deep freeze at the end of January/beginning of February followed by a bit of a thaw. This time of year is also very tumultuous and can result in quite a few Nor’easters. But it can also mean that sugaring could start in February. By the time we drilled our first taps, we had already seen a few of those warm days/cold nights that indicate sugaring season is upon us.

We did well for our first year – just shy of a gallon of sap from only 2 trees – but we probably could have had more if we drilled at the start of February. Ultimately, we probably had about 10-14 days of sugaring before the nights stopped dipping below freezing on a daily basis.

Take Two

This year, we made a point to start as early as we could in February. After a ridiculously cold stretch where the worst day saw a high of 11 degrees, we pulled out the buckets and tapped the trees the first day above 32 degrees F – February 5th!

Now this is far from a how-to post on sugaring. I’m certainly no expert, but I do highly recommend getting a sugaring book if you want to give it a go yourself. We use the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual by the Ohio State University Extension in Cooperation with the North American Maple Syrup Council. I have no idea where this book came from, but a quick Google search showed me that there are lots of options out there and I’m sure your local library can also help!

Getting Started

Last year, we ended up with more taps than buckets; my father-in-law had procured these buckets in late spring 2021 and this was the random assortment that he had obtained. We purchased a fourth bucket from Leader Evaporator Company. Tapping the trees is a fun activity for kids, so we also invited the neighbor kids down to use the power drill and hammer to hang the buckets. They have all claimed their buckets and regularly debate whose bucket is producing more.

That Escalated Quickly!

Looking ahead at the weather on tapping day, I knew we would probably start to see some sap, but I expected boiling wouldn’t happen until either the following weekend or even the one after that. Yikes was I wrong! It was the perfect sugaring weather. Even when it was cloudy, the days were above freezing and definitely below at night. On Wednesday, it was particularly sunny and around 40 degrees. I had a sneaking suspicion that the trees would be producing well that day, especially our big tree with the two taps.

That’s a lot of sap coming out

By 2pm that day I had at least a gallon in each of those two buckets and a bit less in the third – I didn’t check on the random other maple we tapped this year. Sure enough, I had 2.5 gallons. Normally I wouldn’t think we’d need to boil right away. The storage bucket is a 5 gallon one from Home Depot and we stuff it in the snow in a shady part of the lawn to act as an outdoor refrigerator during the week. The problem? There was rain forecasted for Thursday and the day and night temps were expected to stay in the 40s. My natural refrigerator was going to melt and if I didn’t boil, I was also going to have more than 5 gallons of sap on my hands with nowhere to put it.

Here We Go

I can now say it is the start of our sugaring season. I had plans to host a maple open house-type day with our friends in late March, but at this rate we will be done by then. I was so unprepared, I had to use the propane from our grill and I used some large 16″ tiles to create a wind buffer because it was also quite windy.

Photo of a pan of sap over a flame with brick tiles serving as a wind barrier
My thrown together boiling situation
Up close shot of sap boiling and a candy thermometer
That rolling boil
Some fancy grade A

As you can see, my thrown together boiler worked out just fine but I do want to put together something that blocks the wind a bit better. I started out with my sap in a turkey roasting pan, to get as much surface area exposed for evaporation.

After I went through the entire bucket of sap, I then reduced down to a large canning pot where I sat and watched (essentially) water boil for another hour. Now, it’s been a year and I forgot how the sap can stall out temperature-wise right before it turns to syrup. So I made the mistake of bringing it into the house to finish at around 215 degrees Fahrenheit. It boiled indoors for another HOUR. You might think, at least you were inside. But the steam that comes off of the pot has sugar in in it and I was not interested in coating the kitchen in a thin layer of maple syrup.

I was also hoping to use the hydrometer to determine when the sap had finally become syrup, but we didn’t have the skinny cup to actually use the hydrometer. I quickly placed an order for one, but we were going to have to rely on the thermometer for this one. In the end, we were able to boil down 2.5 gallons to just shy of a pint. Got some lovely sugar sand in there, too. This is just some crystallization from the boiling process. While we do filter the syrup at a couple of different stages, it just happens sometimes. While aesthetically not desirable when selling commercially, we aren’t fussy and we will still enjoy this tasty Vermont gravy.

End of season update

It was a very successful sugaring season for us this year, with nearly 40 gallons of sap boiled down to a gallon of syrup. I love how the color of the syrup darkens as the season goes on, making a lovely little maple syrup rainbow on our storage shelf. I can’t wait for next season!

Four jars of maple syrup in different shades
Maple syrup rainbow
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The Main Bathroom Remodel – Part 2

main bath remodel

Who Doesn’t Love Avocado?

If you recall, a couple of weeks ago I shared the story of our avocado green bathroom remodel and the demolition process. Let’s get back to where we were!

As a delightful reminder, the before photos:

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Tiles…
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Tiles…
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And More Tiles

The new plan

main bath remodel
New insulation
main bath remodel
keeping things quiet
main bath remodel
and warm!

Since our options for real change were limited to the footprint and layout of the bathroom, I had to come up with a vision for a modern galley bathroom. I knew that I also had to think of some solutions for storage, since we were removing the closet by the entryway. We also kept a short column of drawers by the toilet and we liked the storage it provided, but that had to go. Pricing out a mini counter turned out to be much more than anticipated, so we went with an over-the-toilet hanging cabinet that more than gets the job done.

main bath remodel
New storage by the toilet

After the new insulation and dry wall were installed, I had to make a quick decision on paint colors. I swear by my technique with paint chips: hand them up in different parts of the room and visit the spot throughout the day and with different lights on to make sure that the colors are right. I definitely nailed the neutral color I wanted, but I really, really struggled with the green. In the end, I still am not 100% happy, but it will do. And who knows, maybe someday I will fine the color I had in my head.

Hooray for Jack and Jill

Priority number one was getting a counter top that have us two sinks. As I mentioned before, it was getting to be a challenge to share the space with two other people. I also hated the top/over mount sink from before and, fortunately, Central Heating also sold the single piece countertops by Bertch in the exact same style as the downstairs. While I was looking to tie the two bathrooms together, I didn’t want an exact replica, so we went with the same finish (matte) but a different pattern (Vanilla Bean).

We like to shop and support local businesses and our carpenter gave us the name of a new place that we didn’t know of when we remodeled the downstairs bathroom. In fact, it was a new place to him, too and he was impressed when he went there once day to pick up a fixture for another client of his.

We decided to go for a visit to check out their showroom and (hopefully) get a little inspiration. After meeting with the consultant and walking around, I knew that we’d be working with Central Plumbing and Heating out in Glenville, NY. The name does not do it justice – it’s not only a place to buy boilers and fixtures – it was a full design company! In an effort to keep some continuity between the two bathrooms, this business also carried some of the same brands as the other company and we were sold.

main bath remodel
The New Countertop and Vanity

Linen storage

I gambled on a linen cabinet with drawers and I won big. It turned out to be even better than expected. It even provided more storage than the sizeable closet that we used to have. Plus, with the drawers underneath, I now had my own drawer storage, which I previously did not have in the old vanity. I was using plastic drawers from the early days of our marriage back in the stone age. The mini drawer on top was absolutely perfect as a make-up drawer, too!

The tub

The shower/tub was something we did end up buying from a big box store (Home Depot). It was a bit surprising how much more expensive these tubs are at local companies, even when they are nearly the exact same product. Normally we don’t have a problem paying a little more for something unique, but in the case of a plain white tub that was going to be hidden behind a curtain, we just couldn’t justify the expense. And since we bought our downstairs shower from Home Depot, too, we were able to find a matching shower/tub combo for the upstairs – a Delta Classic 400 style.

main bath remodel
The New Tub going in!

The floor

We had some tiles leftover from the the downstairs job and, again, in an effort to tie the two rooms together we decided to buy some more. These also came from a great place that is a smaller chain – Pro Source. We’ve purchased pretty much every new floor from this place.

The final result

I was literally blown away by the final result. I was going for a modern and clean bathroom and I got a beautiful hotel spa as well! We saved up for this room for an incredibly long time and we made an effort to do as much as we could on our own to save money there, too. But we also recognize that an updated main bath is a huge investment that can only increase the value of our home. While this house is intended to be our forever home, you never know what life will throw at you – so you might as well enjoy every part of your home, too!

main bath remodel
main bath remodel

<<The Main Bathroom Remodel: Part I

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The Main Bath Remodel – Part 1

Main Bath Remodel

Who Doesn’t Love Avocado?

I do, but this was a bit much. Welcome to my Avocado Bathroom. Sister to the Harvest Gold bathroom. This main bath remodel wasn’t our physically largest project, but was the most anticipated and *cringe* most expensive one to date. There is a reason why they say bathrooms and kitchens sell houses – and our main bathroom felt like a spa when we were done!

This glorious almost original bathroom featured floor, wall, and ceiling tiles. They were identical to the 4″ tiles downstairs…but in more abundance. We were also aware of the fact that the ceiling was being pulled away from the joists in the attic. We made this fun discovery while up int he attic one day. The weight of those tiles over the course of 40+ years was literally going to collapse into the bathroom. This job was not only a “want to do” it was a “must do” job.

main bath remodel
Tiles…
main bath remodel
Tiles…
main bath remodel
And More Tiles

The Plan for our Main Bath Remodel

We lived with this galley-style bathroom for about 5 years before we finally could make changes. It’s our largest bathroom and the most used, as it’s on the main living floor. Changing the footprint wasn’t really an option, since our bedroom was on one side and the kitchen on the other. The challenge was how to make this long and narrow space into a more efficient and roomy space. There were some things on the list to go right from the get go:

The single sink situation

Woof, this was a challenge to live with, especially after our daughter became big enough to stand at and use the sink. My husband didn’t think a Jack and Jill sink was particularly necessary (but he has since re-canted his statement!). I appreciated the long counter space to the right of the sink, but the rest of the counter didn’t make much sense. There were no drawers under the right side (possibly because of the baseboard heater likely would have overlapped) and the mirror was clearly not original to the bathroom, because it didn’t take up the whole space. You could also see where the original mirror was installed.

Old Counter
The Old Countertop

The linen closet

While the closet storage was useful, the location of said closet was terrible. It made the entryway into the bathroom much narrower. The door to the closet and the door to the bathroom constantly would tangle. If someone was in the closet it was inevitable that someone entering the bathroom would bang that door into the closet door. We’ve literally bounced off of each other trying to pass by each other. The storage options in this bathroom were just impractical.

The Linen Closet
The Linen Closet

The tub

I did like the size of this shower-tub. The walls were a bit curved to give the illusion of space. But that’s all that was going for this shower-tub. There was barely any shelving or storage to hold soaps, shampoos, etc. I couldn’t even hang an under shower caddy because of how the tub came out from the wall. A caddy just wouldn’t stay hanging. Plus it was avocado and very much so an original to the house. Amazingly, the toilet had been updated right before we moved in, so that was not avocado.

Green Tub
The Green Tub

The floor

In addition to feeling “squishy” in parts, the itty bitty mosaic tiles were starting to pop up off the floor. We had to glue quite a few down over the first 5 years int he house. Honestly, we were terrified of what we would find under the tile.

It was oh so satisfying to bring up when it was cooperating

Demo

As per usual, we took care of the demolition ourselves. While this particular home reno job needed the skilled hands of a professional, we aimed to save money where we could. That meant doing demolition and painting on our own. The wall tiles were a bear to bring down. I had to channel all of my stress into swinging my hammer to break into the wall. The mosaic tiles came up incredibly easy in some places and were also a challenge in other areas. The sub-floor was (miraculously) not in terrible shape. We never did figure out why the floor was squishy, but it probably had something to do with the tile.

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The ceiling tile. Oh that ceiling tile. We made sure to put on hard hats for this part. As soon as my husband took down the single over-head light fixture, the ceiling visibly sagged. He swung the hammer twice and the whole thing came down like a cartoon. The tub also came into the house during the build phase, so the only way to get it out was with our trusty reciprocating saw in pieces. The whole demolition took about 3 days to take down and clean up.

Just a few more taps and it was down

The Main Bathroom Remodel: Part II>>

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Strip that down for me

Stairs Update

I hate the stairs in my house. Like nearly every bit of wood trim in the house, they were stained a very dark, very dated brown. It’s hard enough to bring natural light into our home, living at the bottom of a hill in the woods. When we first moved in, I attacked nearly every bit of dark brown trim with off white paint (Swiss coffee). As we’ve remodeled, all of the new trim starts out as this color. Doors are painted (campfire ash) before they are even hung. But now I am ready for a DIY stair remodel.

The way before

Initial improvements made – you can see in the mirror at the bottom of the stairs the full extent of the brown stain.

I wasted no time painting the side trim of the stairs, but everything looked dark and dingy. While the sellers were aiming to do some quick and cheap improvements, most of them were superficial and just looked awful. I figured a little paint certainly wouldn’t make it look worse.

For some strange reason, the upper half of the stairs had been poly’ed. I have no idea if that was new or old, but in addition to being ridiculously unsafe (duh) it made the lower stairs look particularly like garbage.

The semi improvement

Painting the risers and the spindles made a dramatic improvement

Painting the risers and the handrail spindles certainly improved matters. Whenever anyone is looking for a nice, dramatic improvement, painting the risers and spindles always looks great. This served us well for 6 years.

My current mess

Downstairs on the left, upstairs on the right

The cheap carpet that was put down right before we moved in. In the past 6 years it has quickly become matted, stained, and no longer truly cleanable. I am counting down the days to a new floor. Before we did that, I decided it was time to attack the treads on the stairs. If I couldn’t rip them out and replace them, I was going to do my best to make them look completely different.

The lower stairs were fairly easily stripped. I bought this varnish remover from Home Depot. This stuff is no joke, so be sure to wear gloves, glasses, and ventilate your space. It probably helped that there was no finish on top of the stain. The second set of stairs proved to be much more difficult and it is an on-going saga. I was able to successfully remove the poly, but not much of the stain. That will be the next “step” (haha) in the project. So stay tuned!

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A Kitchen Spruce Up

The Backstory

The kitchen hasn’t been touched yet – but it was time for a kitchen spruce up. When we moved into our home in 2015, it was from a very tiny apartment and so the kitchen felt enormous to me. The new kitchen had about 5 times the counter space (I may have about 6 usable feet right now, so don’t be too impressed). We bought an island from Bed Bath & Beyond and we had a bookshelf that had been used as a pantry from two apartments ago.

The bookshelf was helpful; it housed some pantry items, but also cookbooks and other non-food items. When our daughter was born, we had to stop using the bottom shelf for storage for obvious reasons.

I thought it was finally tie to up the ante and make some floating shelves for the kitchen for storage.

DIY Kitchen Shelves

I ordered brackets on Amazon that look like pipes – I thought it would be an interesting aesthetic to bring into the kitchen. Plus all of the fixtures in the kitchen are a dark, bronze-y color. I purchased these.

I then went down to my favorite lumber yard, Hankle’s, out in East Nassau, NY. Last time I was there I saw these maple boards and I knew I wanted them for something. 2 x 12’s were ideal for my needs and they were kind enough to cut them down to size for me.

After bringing them home I sanded the heck out of them; I purposely chose rough cut because, well, I didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg while lumber prices were soaring. If you decide to save yourself the effort, definitely go for a more finished board.

Making sure everything is square and fitting properly.

Because of the width of board that I chose and the brackets I picked out, I did have to run it on the table saw to make sure it fit properly in the bracket.

After sanding, I conditioned the wood and then went with my favorite Danish Oil as a stain. I took extra care on these and let them dry out for a few days before applying my clear wax. I’ve become a huge fan of the clear wax finish this past summer. As time goes on, it hardens and protects.

Install time

When it was time to install everything, I had to double and triple check every measurement. I did NOT want my shelves to be crooked or out of level. I drew all over the walls. This was an instance where my 4 foot level really came in handy. I also made sure to drill right into the studs. This was going to hold quite a but of weight and I wasn’t going to mess around. As a result, it is a touch off center, but as time has gone on, it’s not even noticeable now.

I started out by finding my studs and marking the center of the first two. Then I repeated the process down the stud at each desired shelf location.

Moment of truth

I confirmed each pair of markings was level by using the 4 foot level and drawing right on the wall. Then, I grabbed the flange piece of the bracket and lined up the holes onto the stud and marked those. Some of the holes did go beyond the stud, so I drilled those out and installed anchors; but I made sure that as many holes as possible were lined up on the stud. I checked for level one more time!

Then the fun part – I screwed on the “pipes” and plopped the board on top, making sure everything fit properly. I checked for level again. Once all of my boards were loosely on the brackets, I took my 4 foot level and made sure they all lined up together. They may not be centered on my small stretch of wall as a whole, but I was absolutely going to make sure they were off-center together!

The final product!

After securing the boards to the pipes with the included under-mount hardware, I took a step back and admired my hard work. Good luck and have fun!

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DIY Room Renovation

Utility Room Makeover Edition

How it Began

We bought our 1977 raised ranch back in 2015. At the time of purchase, some of the rooms had been spruced up, but others not so much. Being a raised ranch, there is no dedicated basement space (the whole lower level is considered a “basement”). Thus began our DIY room renovation experience!

Now, when we moved in, we were just barely 30 and had spent the previous 5 years moving on an almost annual basis. We owned the bare minimum of stuff. But we also made the assumption that this would be our forever home and if our parents were any indication, we’d begin amassing “stuff” sooner rather than later. Thus, the need for a dedicated utility space. The junk drawer of the house, if you will.

This was our very first reno job. B had worked in home construction for a small contracting company in the summers from late high school through college, so he had some basic knowledge of putting together a room. My experience involved watching episodes of Ask this Old House and other home improvement tv shows.

The Before

This room had the least updating to it. Just a little bit of new carpet. That’s it.

I get the cheap white carpet and the disgusting brown trim – the owners were looking to sell the house quickly with a minimum of $$$ spent on a little facelift.

The photo above may look like a nice little room with some wood paneling, but you would be wrong. That “paneling” was glorified cardboard on the wall. And it was glued, stapled, and nailed to the drywall. Effectively destroying the drywall behind it.

The During

I really had no idea what I was getting into here.

Safety first! With hardly the right tools, we took to demolishing the room in mid-January 2016. I foolishly thought this might only take a few weeks. It was just us back in those days, so I also didn’t feel like I had to get it done quickly either.

The aftermath of the wood paneling take down
A complete gut
Replacing hoses and such

We took this bad boy right down to the studs. Good thing, too, as we found evidence of mold (which would continue to haunt us for the next few years as we renovated more and more of the downstairs).

Pro tip: when taking apart the baseboard heater, or anything that you may have to put back together, take photos of the process. You’ll thank me (and yourself!) later.

These heaters are tricky to take apart and those fins are very touchy

Our raised ranch has an exposed foundation half wall all throughout the downstairs. I think keeping it exposed was a stylistic preference of the 1970s and 1980s because I see it in other homes like this. At the time of this project, we decided to keep the wall exposed, as it does indeed make a good shelf. In our den, however, we covered over it.

Drylock for the win!

With every renovation downstairs, though, we’ve make sure to pay special attention to this feature. Each time we took the time to paint over the cinder blocks with Drylock. This helps prevent moisture and seals everything up. Vapor barrier and insulation was also added.

In fact, we insulated the heck out of this room. Both on the outside walls upping the R-value and also on internal walls. Eventually we started using the green, sound-deadening insulation in future renovations. Highly recommend!

The regular pink stuff. Works fine for sound-proofing, but the green stuff is better!

When it came to choosing paint, I knew I wanted a bright utility room. It was so dark in there; back of the house, one window looking out under the deck, on a piece of property without much light to begin with. I went with Behr “Bit of Sugar” and “Hidden Sea Glass”

I also recommend always taking a picture of the can top for reference

Pro Tip: When choosing paint colors, grab a lot of the paint chips and take them home. Hang them up in the room in different places and check the paint color over a period of a few days. Lighting will change in your room throughout the day and it’s a great way to see how the light in your space interacts with the paint chip. This method has never steered me wrong! It takes some extra time, but you won’t regret it.

The After

Eventually, time caught up with us and I was expecting; All the stuff that had been in the utility room originally had been moved into the downstairs spare bedroom. The upstairs room was the office/spare bedroom and everhting in there needed to go downstairs. I was due in December and by October I called in for reinforcements.

Vapor barrier and insulation. We were able to save a lot of the framing on this side of the wall, but we had to build all new framing on the other side.

My parents came and helped moved the furniture downstairs and helped to paint the utility room.

We turned the far wall into a workbench space

One of te very final steps was painting the floor. We didn’t see any point in replacing the carpet, especially if the room was going to be our basement room. We picked up some garage floor paint and it turned out great! Pretty stinky, though, so make sure to open up all the windows and wear safety gear.

It’s also easy to clean, too!

We finished with a month to spare. Whew! I’d say it was a successful first attempt at a DIY room renovation.

Voila!

Check out my other home improvement projects here!

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DIY Garden Bed

Looking to up your gardening game this summer? Cedar garden beds are the way to go – and they can be easy to create and pretty affordable. Step away from the fancy kit and build your own in a day – for a lot less. Let’s DIY a garden bed!

Up close image of the garden dirt
Watch out for surprise roots!

Our backyard is a pretty steep hill. But it’s also the sunniest spot in the summer and our veggies grow best up there. I discovered this by accident last summer when a mystery squash started growing like crazy on the hill. I already planted some potatoes and carrots before I had the idea to build a terraced cedar garden bed into the hill.

Supplies

Head over to your local home store and pick up some cedar fence pickets. There is a reason why people use cedar for fences – they are durable, last a long time, and are rot-resistant. Thus making them ideal for garden beds.

Grab some wooden garden stakes while you are there, too.

In terms of tools, you’ll need a shovel, mallet, circular saw, tape measure, level, and nail gun (or any tool that can join two pieces of wood, e.g, screwdriver, drill, or hammer)

Prep

I wasn’t looking to make anything particularly fancy. It was a Sunday morning and I had a lot of other jobs to do. Cedar fence pickets are ideal also because they come in 6 foot lengths. That seemed like a reasonable width to my garden bed.

I started out by deciding where my very first board would go. Keeping things simple, I went with a 3 foot depth for the beds. Gearing up to dig, I measured out 3 feet up hill and started digging until I was close to level with my starting point. Once I had dug out most of the soil, I started to check for level. I wasn’t looking for a perfect level, but I also didn’t want to have any major sloping.

Then, I repeated this step for the next tier until I had a rough area to work in. Next, I stacked two boards and checked to make sure they lined up with the next tier. This became the rear retaining wall of the bed.

Build

Here’s where I started to work with the wood. I took the two retaining wall boards and placed them on my work surface. Using the nail gun, I affixed two garden stakes to the back of the boards. This was to join them together and give the wall something to grab the earth below it.

Two boards joined together
The back retaining wall

I then proceeded to hammer them into the ground and checked for level.

Checking for level.
Love it when it finally levels.

It was a quick job to measure out the halfway mark on the board to cut the sides of the bed. For the sides of the beds, I only used one row of boards. I cut the additional garden stakes down into shorter lengths and nailed one to each end of the 3 foot board.

When I installed the 3 foot boards, I hammered them level and then nailed the front board to the garden stake that was already nailed to the 3 foot board.

Attaching the boards to each other
This adds stability and keeps everything together.

And just like that I had made two tiered garden beds before lunch! Make sure that you line the bottom with weed barrier and bring in some compost and soil for your beds. Enjoy your beautiful garden and impress your friends with a DIY garden bed.

Almost finished product
Just about finished

Because I use our own compost, I will be letting this bed do it’s own thing this season. I am sure some mystery plants will pop up!

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Building the Fire Pit, the Fire Pit Adventure Part 5

We are finally at the pièce de résistance, time to build the DIY fire pit. While the patio might require more skill and patience than the average homeowner may posses (although everyone is capable!) the fire pit itself is easily achievable by anyone.

The Stones

I chose these stones from Home Depot. I am a fan of the tumbled look and because of the shape, they easily form a circle. These were also an affordable option; if you are looking to just make a pit, these stones are a good option to make a professional-looking fire pit for under $100.

If you recall, early on in the project I dug down about a shovel’s depth into the ground. I added gravel to help with drainage. If you find that you have a more dense soil, such as clay, I recommend a few inches of gravel to help with drainage.

Fill the pit with gravel for drainage

In addition to your choice of stone for the pit, you’ll need to grab some construction adhesive. I bought this Loctite brand, but after I ran out I found some more in the house, but actually in the right color this time. Make sure you pay attention to the color listed on the bottle; I didn’t and I bought white – and the stones are gray.

The Build

Start out by laying out your first row; take the time to level the stones out as best you can. If you are using even bricks, this will help keep everything level as you work up. Tumbled bricks will make it a little more of a challenge to be perfectly level, but it works well enough.

Level out the bottom row

After laying out your first row, dry fit your next row. Lay each brick on the joint between two bricks of the row below. This helps to keep the wall of bricks strong. Dry fitting the bricks is a good way to be sure that you have enough bricks (hint: I didn’t do this on my last row and I was short 4 bricks).

This is the color I should have gotten the first time around.

Use a healthy amount of the construction adhesive and let the bricks sit for a bit before poking at the bricks. Once everything has set, you will find that the bricks are pretty immovable.

Dry fitting the next row

The Liner

I decided to line the inside of my fire pit with a galvanized fire pit ring. For some reason these are ridiculously expensive at most home improvement stores. I did a quick Google search and I found this one at Ocean State Job Lot for about a third of the price.

My DIY fire pit is a bit of an odd size and not a perfect circle, either. A second lesson I learned in this part of the process: perhaps use the liner as a template for your circle. To be honest, I didn’t think I was going to use a liner, so it was a last minute decision. To make the liner fit, I assembled the four pieces together, but I overlapped the final joint.

Happy campfire season!

I decided to fancy it up a bit with 6 bags of black river rocks and boom, hot dogs for dinner tonight!

<<Part IV: Set in Stone

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Set in Stone – the Fire Pit Adventure, Part 4

Creating a diy paver patio is the newest learning experience for me as a Weekend Warrior. I’ve seen it enough times on Ask This Old House and YouTube, but this was the final exam. And let me share with you what I did right and what I did wrong.

Close up view of the paver joints in a diy paver patio.
The concrete sand base came up too high in some sections. Lesson number one.Close

Lesson One

Choosing the stones and laying them out was the easy part. But there is one thing I wish I paid a little more attention to during this stage – keep the joints free and clear and at least half an inch to an inch deep. This would be important to the success of my paver set. More on that in a minute.

After making sure everything is nice and level, I brought out my polymeric sand. This is key in a diy paver patio. I was pretty intimidated by this product at first. It’s basically designed to act like a grout, joining the pavers together and binding them in place. Short of masonry mud, this is going to keep everything together – so no pressure.

I went with the gray to blend in, but it comes in other colors.

Lesson Two

I initially started out with just two 40-pound boxes, but four were ultimately necessary. And in all honesty, here is the second lesson: don’t skimp on the polymeric sand. Having some depth in the joints is key to a good, solid set.

The instructions are simple enough, clean the work space, dump the sand, push broom it into place, tidy it up, and water it like your lawn. The water is what jump starts the binding agent. It takes about a day or two to set. It’s important to follow the instructions specific to the brand you buy.

Using a push broom to get the paver set into the joints between the stones.
Pushing the sand into the joints.
Applying water to set the polymeric sand
Growing a patio this spring.

Lesson Three

And here is lesson number three; the instructions on my brand specified using a leaf blower to clear out dust and debris in the work space. I wish I had been a little more aggressive with the leaf blower to help clear out those joints.

Up close of the broken sand joint. The lessons of a diy patio.
In the places where the sand was too thin, it flaked right up.

I ultimately had to go through some spots, dig out the paver set that was too thin and re-do some sections. I made sure to have at least an inch of depth between those joints and I filled them generously. To be as efficient as possible, I recommend using a funnel to get the sand right into the joints, where needed.

If you have the ability to rent or buy a compactor to vibrate the sand into the crevices, definitely use that. Otherwise, plan to tap on every paver to make sure that the sand gets into every area around the stone.

It was really exciting to water the stones and check the progress the next day. Even with a few mistakes, it’s coming together really well! I’m thrilled that I am done with the diy paver patio portion. Come back next week for the final part of my adventure with the fire pit. See you soon!

<<Part III: Bringing in the Flagstones

Part V: Building the Fire Pit>>