Posted: March 1st, 2010 | Filed under: Building Materials | Tags: floating stairs | 5 Comments »
I mean, for real. I get hard time because of our yet to be redone railings, but this post on Emma’s Designblogg got me thinking….
What kind of “favors” are the homeowners slipping the code inspectors for these houses?! I think these are stunning to look at…as an art installation. Scares the crap out of me to think of climbing them after cocktails.
Seriously, I LOVE the look, but, practical or safe…uh…no. How is this allowed?
I ask my architect (and lawyer for that matter) friends to educate me on how this is legal, when I couldn’t have 3 measly steps to the driveway without a honkin’ railing to meet code. REALLY. I need to know. Is there a waiver you sign that says “…whoever lives/visits here can be maimed/killed with a single misstep (heh), yet the stairs will remain blameless….”
via Stair Porn
via stair porn
From where I’m sitting, some code inspector must be planning his next vacation home purchase when he sees plans with these in them, cuz frankly, I don’t think a night out with some lap dances will suffice here. Thoughts? Insights?
Posted: December 10th, 2009 | Filed under: Building Materials, DIY, Shoppin' and Junkin' | Tags: modern interior firewood storage | 4 Comments »
It’s really cold today and I’m thinking fire. I’ve been looking for something attractive to keep the firewood contained indoors….
I LOVE THAT. Lurv it sumtin’ awful.
No idea who/where/how…I tore it out of a DWR catalog ages ago…probably a custom job. When the CC gets comfortable with his welding, maybe this can be the ultimate project? Although, that’s a lot of heavy metal…I don’t really think that’s DIYable for us. Paying a metalsmith to make it sounds great, but it will probably be $1000…so…dream on….
This is cool….but, since I’m too cheap to pay $475 for it on Remodelista, maybe we can mold some lucite in the same shape…we’ve had success with lucite molding in the past (with the heat gun-not the crafty one, the real one that peels paint). It would have to be thicker than anything we’ve done before though….hmmmm…
This doesn’t look like it holds enough wood to get through one night. I want something that can hold 2-3 evenings worth so when it’s raining, you don’t have to drag in wood from the wet. Blomus for a mere $355….ouch!
This is nice…and only $95, but again, impractical b/c logs drop stuff. Lots of little bits of dust and wood shreds. I’d have to vacuum under it daily. For outdoors…great, but I’ve got that covered.
I’m sorry, but I think this is just stupid….uncomfortable and stupid. You can’t keep the same wood in there because of bugs, you’d have to rebuild your chaise every time you had a fire. Really, AK47.
Fugly. But it’s all I got, so I guess I’ll just stick with this $15 bin from Lowes until we fire up the heat gun and see what happens in lucite land…..
Posted: December 1st, 2009 | Filed under: Building Materials, Exterior Siding, Landscaping, Our Projects | Tags: landscaping retaining walls modern | 2 Comments »
Well, I’ve been avoiding this hot mess post because I wasn’t sure how to bitch about it without sounding like a brat. Impossible. So here it is. It would appear that I won’t have a front door by Christmas. The Plan was not followed closely enough and now, our wooden stairway has to be rethought. Currently, the way it is designed will drop you on the first concrete step, rather than at the pad on the gravel patio…thus forcing you to step over a wall to get to the patio. I don’t think so. We’re screwed by about 16 inches. We may have to zig zag a bit to make up the difference which REALLY BLOWS. I think it will look weird and awkward and poorly planned…YA THINK?!
Just to make sure I get kicked when I’m down…the tree rats are getting a little revenge. Remember that new paint job? There’s about 4 boards of cedar left on the entire house since we haven’t replaced the door to the crawlspace behind the house yet. They’ve been going for it. Bastards.
I’ve never had a renovation surprise beat me before and I’m working hard to make sure this one doesn’t either. I’ve been a bit depressed about this development since I usually have an “aha” solution to these things by now. I know there’s been a lot going on…distracted…denial.
Today I walked around, looking at the old staircase lying in the mud …(my God all the mud…everywhere)…and realized it was time to walk away….at least until after the holidays. Stick it on the shelf…even though every time I come up the driveway it will scream “failure!!” to me…Talking to the CC, I was reminded of the big picture.
CC: Does it look better than it did…even unfinished?
ME: Sigh….Yes…
CC: Does it add value to the property?
ME: One would hope!
CC: Well, then. Whatever it ends up being, it will be miles ahead of where we were… AND we’ve added value despite the problems.
ME: You’re right. You’re ALWAYS right…..
That’s why he’s a keeper.
Bratty pants here is taking deep breaths and will revisit with a solution at a later date with a fresh mind. In the meantime, we need to fill the beds with topsoil, finish the patio with a layer of crushed stone and basically spend a lot of time shoveling and hauling. I’m still sore from Sunday and I barely made a dent.
So, do I put a wreath on a door you can’t get to?
Posted: November 30th, 2009 | Filed under: Building Materials, DIY, Our Projects | Tags: christmas tree platform | No Comments »
Since so many people have already started decorating for the holidays, I figured I’d better post this little DIY even though I haven’t joined the masses yet. These photos are from last year. Here’s the ModFruGal trick for stretching your Christmas tree budget.
I’m a live tree person (don’t hate me eco-cops), and I have high ceilings. I needed a way to give my tree better presence without having to throw $200 at the project. Instead of buying a 12 ft tree, I bought an 8-9 ft tree and put it on our “wedding cake” platforms. It creates a tiered surface area for presents, makes it nice and easy to get at them…and adds a few feet of height to a $65 Home Depot tree. The platforms took the CC about an hour to screw together with some scrap plywood etc.. we had in the garage. I wrapped it up in some burlap and called it a day.
Guess I’d better head to the attic and start dragging all the decorations down. eh…maybe tomorrow.
Posted: November 11th, 2009 | Filed under: Building Materials, Landscaping | Tags: landscaping | No Comments »
The first coat of stucco went on…and my heart sank. It looked pinkish brown…way too much red pigment, so I talked to them about mixing in a bag of black for the second coat….MUCH better. My goal is to match the color of the soil as much as possible so that the wall recedes into the hillside. When that first coat went on…all I could think about was how many hours I would have to spend staining it to tone down the color….very relieved I won’t have to do that now.
looking very Santa Fe scary to me here…..
Then the second batch of mortar mix…..
You can see the difference between the 2 colors below….
When will it end? Soon..we hope. Weather has been cooperating so MAYBE by the beginning of next week we’ll be done with all this mess….6 weeks and counting….
Posted: November 3rd, 2009 | Filed under: Building Materials, Landscaping, Our Projects | Tags: horsetail, landscaping | 1 Comment »
Things at ModFruGal Prison came to a standstill for 10 days…but we are back on track and moving forward with a reformed crew. (Long story…I won’t bore you with the details.) We’ve been calling it the prison since those cinder block walls are so cold and unwelcoming at the moment…seemed to fit.
Ugly….but I remain committed to the vision. The block will be capped and rendered with a dark brown mortar/stucco so that hopefully it will blend in with the soil. In the spring, I hope to soften the edges with modern plantings like Equisetum Hyemale or Field Horsetail.
photo from Grow Where You’re Planted
Posted: October 21st, 2009 | Filed under: Building Materials, Landscaping, Our Projects | Tags: breeze block walls exterior, cinderblock retaining walls, landscaping | No Comments »
So…the wall/s….were looking WAY bigger than the Plan dictated. I was a bit scared and freaked out, but I’ve been hangin’ with these guys for awhile now and I watch how they work..they seem to get it, know their stuff and best yet..are good communicators. Inspection time for sourced out jobs is most revealing when the crew have knocked off for the day and there’s still good daylight to see what the day has brought.
The day this wall was built had me a little unnerved, but I knew Rodger was with me…I watched as they shot the laser levels to make sure the grade was within centimeters of the plan…but it just looks SO BIG. It measured out accurately, but I envisioned the bottom step area more open, more welcoming, than the previous “rotten wall of go away” Just as I began to worry…I am reassured the following morning…..”all these tall blocks…they’ll be cut down at a sloping angle to act as a handrail to follow code”…and to be less visually intrusive. “Phew..I was a wee bit concerned.” Heh. Nah..I didn’t need an extra glass of wine last night..I was cool. Rock on Rodger.
See, I knew these boys were on my team. It may look bizarre and scary now, but I’m keeping the faith with my dudes. I’m imagining the final, SMALLER product… rendered in tinted concrete and filled with zen modern plantings…..and in the end…I just want to finally sit under my Sugar Maple without being smack dab in the middle of a termite eaten snake pit. It’s all good.
Posted: October 14th, 2009 | Filed under: Building Materials, DIY, Landscaping | Tags: hog panel railings, Texas Plat House Railings Lamidesign | 6 Comments »
So, the upper deck at the front door will remain, but all around it will be different. The access will be moved to the driveway side and the heavy railings will be replaced, hopefully, with something like you see below. These are hog panels…yeah, I know…my own pig pen!
The panels run, on average, $20 each. I love the idea of these budget railings since they can be DIYed easily. The owners of this house took all the photos below….with more here. A great solution that I hope to steal once the mudfest subsides. I’m thinking we’ll probably stain the wood which will (hopefully) add to the look.
Posted: October 14th, 2009 | Filed under: Building Materials, Landscaping, Our Projects | Tags: concrete footers, landscaping | 1 Comment »
The rain is just relentless. Moving all that dirt in combination with all that rain….yeah…my driveway is a muddy river. Yesterday, the gang managed to get the concrete footers poured right as the next wave of the Nashville monsoon moved in…so we have some wet, muddy concrete footers right now. If it ever stops raining, maybe we’ll get some walls built, but I’m not optimistic it will be this week. On the bright side…my Dogwood is handling the transplant pretty well with all that water to drink.
Posted: September 15th, 2009 | Filed under: Building Materials, DIY, Furniture, Landscaping, Our Projects | Tags: budget patio, pine straw patio, sawhorse dining table | 3 Comments »
I’ve bemoaned my current outdoor living situation…or really, the lack thereof, before. Until now…we only had 4 small chairs and 2 of my water heater tables on the small deck outside the kitchen. We hadn’t reassembled the back deck yet since Phil/lipa is STILL on the prowl (don’t EVEN get me started.) The point is, we had ample space, but nothing organized for outdoor entertaining. I had houseguests coming for a week and the weather here was unseasonably pleasant for late August/early September. We HAD to have a place for us all to hang comfortably outside and I only had a few days to get it figured out.
Since we were not yet sporting a new deck or patio…I needed to make one…fast and cheap, because anything I do will be bulldozed when the real landscaping begins. There was a flat area just beyond the deck off the kitchen that was nothing more than mud and stones with a few weeds thrown in. This, was the perfect spot for my poor man’s patio.
I bought 15 bales of pine straw for about $65 and started spreading it around to create the floor of my “patio”. I sprayed some weed killer before I put it down (and it needs another round already.) I loved it. It kept the mud from getting tracked in, and made a kind of “soft” floor for us to enjoy. I didn’t have an outdoor dining table anymore and we were adamant that we dine a-fresco in the glorious weather. I figured it was time to go for the industrial approach. Material list – very simple: Powder coated metal sawhorses ($25 each-adjustable height legs a MUST) and plywood picked up from Home Depot. My Crafty Counterpart connected 3 pieces of plywood together to get the length we wanted and bolted it down to the sawhorses for stability – they come undone just as quickly for disassembly.
In order to hide the lovely plywood, I get a big roll of chocolate brown burlap from JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts. I’ve been using burlap for outdoor table coverings for years…cheap, easy and customizable. If you buy a bolt of it ($3.00/yard) then it doesn’t matter how long your table is…just keep rolling it out and cut to size. If you want to get fancy, fray your edges by pulling out the last few rows of thread..it gives it a much more finished look. I ran out of time, so no fancy for me this round.
I found some chairs at the flea market last spring for $7 each and they’ve been sitting in the garage, waiting for their debut. They came from a church in Evansville, Indiana and they were perfect for the Regal Beagle’s yard. Plastic seats, metal legs and surprisingly comfortable – SOLD. I bought all 11 he had. Some have paint spatters, but luckily, I didn’t need that many right now so I could save that project for another day. That’s it. Instant dining area.
I had some furniture that needed work, but was still usable with a few cushions. I scrounged in the attic to find some old cushions to throw on the broken metal Woodards and then, we were ready to chillax in the yard. And chillax we did, while watching our friends the owls do a little evening hunting. It’s not pretty…it’s more like the Regal Beagle goes Redneck, but it was just the ticket. Sometimes function simply must trump form. As we sat out in the moonlight, listening to the cicadas in the forest, I didn’t care how ugly it was…and neither did my guests.
small amount of seating on deck
"patio" to be right under that tree at the top
straw over mud
spreading it out
plywood and sawhorses
all secured
burlap and candles then ran out of time
instant "patio"
Regal Beagle goes Redneck
