Category Archives: Home Improvement
Guest room painting and IKEA coffee table mod
The guest room project has been postponed for several years, finally Deb and I got some pressure to finish it because we have friends coming over in a few months. The cheapest and fastest way to renovate the room is to fill it with IKEA products!
BEHR Premium Plus Ultra (Paint + Primer in one) Review
Before visiting IKEA, we needed to paint. In order save time, we bought a new kind of paint from Home Depot which does NOT require primer. This new BEHR paint (see references section below) actually saved us quite A LOT OF TIME and it does exactly what it claims and covered the builder’s yellowish paint with 2 coats, but smell was quite strong though.
If you have read my old blogs, you knew that I used to love Benjamin Moore paint because of its thickness and I used to do 1 coat of primer + 2 coats of top coats. This new BEHR paint has the similar thickness as Benjamin Moore and it did save me so much time – I strongly recommend.
LACK Coffee table – It’s too high, let’s cut the legs
We bought everything from IKEA. After we assembled the LACK coffee table we found that it didn’t have the proper height. Originally Deb wanted to return it, but since it was so cheap I decided to shorten the legs to give it a try. Using the precision Japanese saw, I cut around 4″ in length (in 2 cuts). Well, I didn’t expect to find solid wood in IKEA products, however I didn’t expect all legs were hollow!!! At the bottom of each leg, there was a 1/2″ particle wood for reinforcement. No wonder IKEA can price their products at such a low price point, indeed I have to say it’s pretty smart since it’s very light weight and still strong. To re-assemble the strength of the original legs, I had to move the particle wood and hot glued them back to the shorten legs.
Finally, the room’s done and Mythos was having fun! Now, it looks like an IKEA show room. (Working in progress photos were taking using iPhone so quality were quite poor, but the final photos were taking using DSLR obviously)
Reference: (Total spent = $830 CAD)
- IKEA TULLSTA Armchair, Ransta dark gray $99 (601.008.79)
- IKEA GISLEV Rug, low pile, gray $29.99 (101.778.85)
- IKEA BEDDINGE LÖVÅS Sofa bed, Edsken dark gray $379.00 (798.853.80)
- IKEA Bedding cushion $39 x 2
- IKEA FILLSTA Pendant lamp, white $29.99 (401.550.09)
- IKEA LACK Coffee table, black $24.99 (000.950.36)
- IKEA ALÄNG Floor lamp, nickel plated, white $39.99 (800.291.51)
- Accent wall: 1 x BEHR Premium Plus Ultra, Base: 2753 U-260-21 Antique Tin (Eggshell) $49.99
- Other walls: 2 x BEHR Premium Plus Ultra, Base: 2754 U-260-8 Perfect Taupe (Eggshell) $49.99 x 2
Home Depot Clearance – Bought brand new sink for only $30 (Reg: CAD $234)
One night after having dinner, Deb and I went to Home Depot for a walk looking for some ideas on powder room vanities. At sinks and vanities department, something on the floor caught our attention – there were 2 unopened boxes with yellow clearance labels on it for $30 each. Out of our curiosity, we opened them and thought it was just some cheap sinks, we thought that the regular price would not be exceeding $50 CAD each. After checking the SKU on our cell phone, we were SHOCKED to learn that they were selling for $234 CAD at HomeDepot.ca and $182 US in the States.
We were a bit surprised that no contractors picked it up yet perhaps it was late that night, so I talked to an HD associate in that department and he told me that it’s a “Special Order” someone paid for the deposit and backed out from it. He said that the SKU was NOT even on their store computer, they just marked it whatever price to get rid of them – Nice! So we took both of them to the cashier and spent at least 10 minutes because the bar code or SKU was not found (not surprised). They ended up calling the manager to override it and we paid $60 CAD for both. What a deal! With tax, we paid $67.8 ($30×2) vs $525.5 ($234×2) value, saving of $457.65!!!!
Ref: AMERICAN STANDARD – Studio Above Counter Rectangular Vessel Sink in White (Model: 0621.001.020, SKU:1000678551)
Shopping for the Faucets
Since we got such crazy deal on the sinks, we wanted the same on faucets too. We looked at various brand names including Delta, Kohler and Price Pfister but they were way too expensive. So, we ended up buying the faucets from Costco for around $65 each, it’s made by “Water Ridge” which I have never heard of. One thing that looked promising was that it uses ceramic disk supposed to be more durable, but who cares since it looks good and it’s cheap. It also comes with 25 years warranty (if you are able to get hold of them).
Installation – 6 hours for 1st and 3 hours for 2nd
Installation was not that difficult, although there were some challenges. As you can see in the photo of 1st sink installation, because the new sink is 4.25″ above the counter top, I had to extend the copper pipes as well as the ABS drain pipes. On the copper pipe, I put additional shut off valves to make future maintenance easier.
My soldering skill was still pretty good, since I haven’t done it for at least 4-5 years, there was no leaking at all when everything was completed. It took me half a day for the 1st sink including 2 trips to home depot to get parts. It was a bit longer than I expected and for 2nd sink, it took half of the time. We are very happy with the result, we just love this contemporary above counter top rectangular sink design. Too bad it’s not on granite counter top, otherwise it would look even better. Finally, Rini jumped up onto the sink to examine it.
(All working in progress photos were taken using iPhone, so quality wasn’t that good – photos were mixed with both 1st and 2nd sink installation. Rini photos were taken using DSLR)
When to use Telfon tape or pipe compound?
The installation manual of Water Ridge said you need Teflon tape or pipe compound on the water line connectors - That is wrong. Since the flexible hoses come with rubber gaskets, it uses compression on the rubber to make it water tight, there is NO NEED to use tape or pipe compound on thread level, similar to your garden hoses or washing machine. Google it yourself, pipe compound on rubber gaskets will make situation worse. Note: With rubber gaskets, never over-tighten.
So, when to use Telfon tape or pipe compound? Basic rule of thumb: Anything without rubber gaskets. For example, if you are using olive brass compression fittings in toilet supply line (non-flexible one), then you would need. In the photos, I have shown the old faucet where it didn’t have any rubber gaskets, therefore pipe compound was used. Another example is that fittings without rubber gaskets I fixed in Rancilio Silvia V3 pump leaking on my espresso machine.
American Standard Overflow Flaw
As a Software Engineer, I love put stuff to the test and push them to the limit. See the last few photos? The water could not drain fast enough through the overflow hole, I think that’s a serious flaw because I tested my old sink and it didn’t have this issue. The problem was caused by the plastic decor thing where the hole is way too small, workaround is to remove that and no more overflow! Perhaps someone from American Standard needs to take a “Water Overflow 101″ course.
Tips:
- Since one of the copper pipes was way too close to the panel at the back, I wrapped a stack of wet paper towel with some aluminum foil. So the flame would not burn the back during soldering.
- Use Plumber’s Putty around faucet head to create watertight, anything else please use Silicone II caulking, including the drain. As you can see in one of the photos, Water Ridge has a YELLOW warning sticker telling you DO NOT USE Plumber’s Putty on drain pipe – Only Silicone can be used.
- For the tight space where the caulking gun couldn’t be reached, extend it using a small plastic tube, it worked.
- Water Ridge gives you a very unique tool to open the front of the faucet, there is a filter you may need to clean after several years. It’s a good idea to keep everything with the manual in a zip-lock bag and tie them under the sink. Also, wrap the hot water line with foam.
11×14 Spain and France Photos
After 5 years of having the Greece photos on the wall (from our wedding and honeymoon in 2006 – my first time of using a DSLR), Deb and I both feel that it’s time to have a change. We decided to replace them with a new Europe theme – Spain and France. With over 4000 photos from the 2 trips, I picked 6 of them which wasn’t an easy task. In Photoshop, I then tried to arrange them properly. To have ultimate balance, here is what I have chosen:
- 3 with very dark color (all indoor with strong shadow and highlight)
- 3 with bright color (all ourdoor, all HDR – 2 grass and 1 stone floor)
- 2 buildings – one facing left and one facing right
Next, I went to Costco Photo Center to develop 11″x14″ ($3.99 for 1 hour service), totally around $27 CAD with tax. The quality is pretty good!! It’s printed on Fuji photo paper with glossy finish, not bad.
Since the limitation is to select vertical photos, there were a lot of good photos cannot be used. Sigh! Compared to Greece photos back in 2006, I think my photography skills have improved a bit, right? Here are the best photos from both of the trips:
Japanese Maple leaves problem – turned brown
Problem: I have a 1 year old Japanese Maple which I planted last year, and this Spring (early summer) about 40-50 pieces of leaves started to turn brown. From the photos below, you can see there was no trace of insect bite and I could easily ruled out it was insect related. I looked up on the Internet and tried to find information about this. It almost came to a conclusion it was disease or fungus related, since I am no tree expert, all photos turning brown on Internet looked so similar to me.
Solution: I was about to go to local hardware store to pick up a bottle of Garden Fungicide, my friend told me he was going to a local nursery, so I bumped him a photo and asked him to show the nursery. When the lady at the nursery took a look, she said “It’s Leaf Scorch – it is due to improper watering techniques. You need to do deep watering to ensure roots have enough water. The idea is to trickle water for 15 min plus to let water seep to the lower layers”. The conclusion was that she didn’t think its a disease, but rather due to the hot weather/sun and lack of water at the roots.
Cause: I did more searching based on the “leaf scorch” keyword and found that her technique is actually the way to strengthen the root. Basically the idea is to avoid frequent light watering (just like treating lawn!!) and it should be periodically heavy watering to let the root develop better. Some articles also mentioned that the cause of the problem was actually due to clay soil and poor drainage. Part of the root system got rotten during last winter freeze, when the snow melted the clay didn’t drain the water fast enough and damaged the root. If it got stronger root, situation would have been better.
Of course, as usual I bumped into some products that captured my attention that could help solving this problem. So I bought 2 x deep drip water spikes from my all time favorite place, LeeValley. Does this fix the problem? It’s too early to tell, I will keep updating this article. Come back later for update.
- Deep Drip Watering Spike (LeeValley)
- Deep Drip Official Site
- Tree Root Feeder I.V (Saw this product online but didn’t buy)
DIY: Repairing the leaning fence post
Our fence is only 4-5 years old but because we hired some bad contractors that ruined the work, the fence started to lean badly away from my house. Please read my old article Fence Nightmere – Contractor drilled the hole and went away
There are a lot of articles and videos on Internet (even with specific repair products) to fix leaning fence post. Before fixing yours, you need to identify the problem because each case maybe different.
Don’t blindly follow what I did, my fix will ONLY work if:
- Your concrete base is still bonded perfectly to the wood
- The bottom of the fence post hasn’t rotten yet
- The direction of leaning – in my case, it’s leaning away from my house, so only ONE side of concrete is necessary and it saves a trip in ringing the door bell of my neighbor
Similar to my case, there is a video released from Home Depot:
How to Repair a Fence (@0:45 – 2:20) You can follow the video by using 2×4 and 1×1 to make the post level. However, I bought the Ground Anchor (Item#: 09A08.20) from LeeValley tools (one of my favorite places in Toronto) and I used them with the tie-down instead. It worked very well.
My addition: I was worried about the method provided by Home Depot wasn’t good enough because it was using the pure weight of the new concrete to secure the post. In order to secure the old concrete to the new concrete, I put 2 x Tapcon screws (see photos) into the old base. Then, I hammered 2 x 12″ galvanized steel nails into the clay soil at 45 degree, this helped securing everything.
Visit to Humber Nurseries
If you have read my last year project DIY Landscaping Project (Part 5), you know that the project wasn’t completely finished. There was an area I intentionally left empty on the right hand side of the front yard.
It’s a bit early to do gardening at the end of April, but it was such a nice day so Deb and I went to Humber for a walk. While we were walking, a “Manager Special” caught our attention. It was a “Dwarf Globe Blue Spruce Tree” on sale from $129.99 to $79.99!! I have been looking for similar tree to fill that area, this was just perfect. I talked to the tree expert there they guaranteed me that it’s totally fine to start planting despite it’s still a bit cold – Yes, it’s Canada.
The digging part requires no skills at all. However, there are 2 extremely points to remember on “How Deep” and “How Wide” to plant a tree. For depth, it should be no deeper than the soil in which they were originally grown. As for width of the hole should be 1.5 – 3 times the diameter of the root ball or container (depends on the shape of the ball or container, ball probably needs bigger diameter). This ensure the root system of the tree can be established properly.
DIY Bird Spike project – Prevent birds from building nests on front porch
In the past years, when the weather was warm enough in Spring, the birds came to our porch to build their nests. Even I kept destroying them, they left a lot of dirt and poop everywhere. After seeing the commercial buildings use “bird spike” to solve this problem, I decided to DIY myself. It’s extremely simple, only took less than 15 min.
All the materials were purchased from local Dollar Store: Epoxy Putty ($2), King Chain 14G wire ($1), total material cost was only $3 CAD! The photos are pretty much self explanatory, basically all I did was to cut some wires about 3″ – 4″ and sticked them to the putty ball while they were still soft (you only have several minutes do to it). After the putty hardened, then glued them using hot glue to the problem area on the porch. Done!
Total material cost: $3 CAD to make totally 4 of these and I did used up all Epoxy putty though.
DIY Landscaping Project (Part 5/5 – Front and Side Yard)
The excavation started 2 weeks ago when I fixed the drainage problem in the back yard (see Part 1/5). Similar to the back yard, I used the water hose to draft the shape that I wanted and then spray painted on the grass (special paint for marking). Then, I kept digging until the Rhino bag was half full. Finally, I dug a 2 feet hole for the Japanese Maple tree.
To save some money, I reused the sod I excavated to create a small hill on the right hand side, so that I could buy minimal top soil to fill the area. At the end, I only used around 10-12 bags of top soil for the new grading. The bamboo edging we bought from a local nurseries looks pretty decent, but they cost like $17 CAD for 3 feet. It’s very expensive.
The challenge – How to move large object?
The most challenging part was to move the huge Chocolate Armour Stone without machines. That particular stone weights around 900 – 1000 lbs and I wasn’t able to flip it easily by bare hands like the other stones.
I love challenges, and I do believe that if Egyptian could move 900 tons stones 2000 B.C. for the pyramid without machines. Me, one person should be able to solve this challenge by using basic Physics: Lever and Friction.
First, I used 2×4 as lever, slowly pried it up and put some flat wood underneath, this acted as the base (since you don’t want the stone to sink into the grass). Then, I looked for the shape on the stone which wasn’t totally flat, that’s the point you can make the stone turn – the less contact to the ground meaning there is less friction. In some cases, you can actually flip the stone if it’s going down hill. Well, it took me a while to get it out of the crate and landed on the flower bed which was less than 15 feet. I could have called some big guys for help, but I need to prove that it’s doable by one person, I always believe that there are always multiple ways to get from point A to point B.
(All Photos were taken using iPhone)
On the last day of my vacation, I worked on both back yard and this front yard project for 14 hours non-stop since 7 AM, under the 32c heat wave. I was so exhausted but managed to clean up all the river stones, big rocks and put them in the right place. There were some left over river stones, so I paved the side yard too. Finally, I covered the whole front area with the “color enhanced” black color pine barks. It started getting into shape.
We then bought a “Emperor I” Japanese Maple Tree for around $118 (tax included) at Sheridan Nurseries where they had 30% off on selected Japanese Maple. Honestly speaking, “Red Dragon” is nicer but it costs over $400 for the same size, so forget about it.
To Do List (Update in the few months/years):
- Plant some green plants and some ground cover
- Plant some flowers
To read all parts of this DIY landscaping project:
DIY Landscaping Project (Part 4/5 – Back Yard: Zen/Rock Garden)
After the stones got delivered, I took a day off so that I could have 4 days long weekend with Canada Day. Since we’ve ordered too much river stones (2 tons), I had to modify our original plan right on the spot.
If you have read Part 1/5, I had a weeping tile + dry well covered by 3/4″ clear gravel. The change of plan was to extend it become a larger area, so that I could use all 2 tons of river stones. To start with, I used those black landscape fabric to cover the ground. Well this is not the best material since I ran out of the grey color geotextile fabric. Then, I laid the water hose on the ground to draft the shape. The most difficult part was to move the 2 tons river stones from the front yard to the back yard manually without any machines, that took almost 2 days. The big rocks were not too bad, those can be flipped and rolled easily (average 500-600 lb each) except one weights 1000 lb (front yard). As you can see in the photos, Deb was helping to stack up the river stones.
To Do List: (update in next months/years)
- The interlocking stones on the edge is still not level yet, orange color rope was used for reference
- Buy a Japanese style Statue or Ornament
- Plant some small plants/flowers on the river rocks
To read all parts of this DIY landscaping project:
DIY Landscaping Project (Part 3/5 – Ordering stones and rocks)
We went to our favourite place Beaver Valley Stone, we only spent an hour and ordered the following. Yes, we were fast because we didn’t have a solid plan (only draft with no exact measurement, that’s my style as always) and we probably ordered more than we needed – but I do believe that if you are a good artist, you should be able to change your art work according to the situation.
Everything got delivered in 3 days at our door. Awesome! Total we spent is around $1100 CAD with tax.
- 2 pieces (1480 lbs) Chocolate Armour Stones
- 1 piece (840 lbs) Mica Quartz Stones
- 3 pieces (660 lbs) Granite Balder Stones
- 3 pieces (480 lbs) Iron Stones
- 2 tons of 1-3″ Pebbles River Stones
- 3/4 tons Alabama Gold
- 2 sections of Unilock NorthShore Interlocking stones 2″x10″
As you can see, Deb’s hand was in the photo. She was telling the Beaver Valley guy “That one, that one…” HAHA….
(All Photos were taken using iPhone)
To read all parts of this DIY landscaping project: