If only

 

That's what she said?

 

Incredible Jason

 

He really is

 

I had a meeting with the builders last week, I feel we came out of it with a good plan, as long as we keep that plan in motion.



The day after that went out to walk 9 holes with a buddy of mine after work. When I got home, my girlfriend asked me if the floor in front of the sink had always been cupped and she had never noticed. No, that was new.





Well, apparently, we have a leak under the kitchen sink. Fantastic





Here is the culprit. This thing failed somewhere inside. When you run water through it, some of it comes out the motor at the bottom.





The cabinet floor, being particleboard, was already ruined. So, exploratory hole it is.





Well, that is another problem.





So I set up a box fan and left the cabinet open for 5 days to dry everything out.



In the meantime, on Thursday, some work got done on the garage. They came and ran the electric to the septic pump. Somewhat annoying to add conduit to the outside of a fresh build. Had this been planned properly, this would be in the wall, but at least it is on the one side of the building that I will rarely be on. I might paint it and you likely will never notice it again.

 

On Friday, the last piece of the lift electric puzzle showed up. I ordered the 2hp Magnetic Switch for Thermal Overload protection from Grizzly. It was honestly the only 2HP one I could find. I was thinking I would need to order two cable glands for it as it didn't mention including them, but it showed up with two, which is nice. I need to order a few 12awg spade connectors and then I can get it wired up.







I still have not fully decided on my countertops for the workbench yet. The plan was originally to have a black walnut workbench made and finish it with Rubio Monocoat so it would be easy to touch up when something happens to it. I have been trying to find places to cut corners here towards the end on the budget and this might end up one of them. I can find walnut butcher block for about 1/4 the price of the countertops I was going to have made. In the meantime, I split this sheet of extra OSB I had so I can at least sit and work on a few things in the garage right now.





The dogs are also starting to realize that the subwoofer next to their dog bed is not as scary as they originally thought.





By Sunday, I had gathered all the supplies needed to fix the sink and the cabinet. I went with some 1/2in finish grade plywood for a new floor in the cabinet. I put this over what was left the the original floor that wouldn't crumble in my hand.





Added a seam board for the two pieces with a center support.





Floor completed





Added a rubber water catch mat, which was on a long term list of To Do items that didn't get done before the disaster it was for actually happened.





I had never seen one of these screw together under sink pipe systems for a garbage disposal. Super easy to use.





The new disposal. Since I am on septic, I picked one that is made for septic tanks. This thing is also insanely quiet compared to the one it replaced.

 

Nice, I had similar happen at our old house. Badger disposal was passing nearly all the water out the bottom
Luckily caught it when it happened & no damage. Replaced with a Waste King 1/2hp, more power & quieter than the Badger.
Will likely do the same at our current house, eventually.

 

My recommendation for a countertop is use melamine in whatever color you want. It's durable, inherently flat, inexpensive, and things don't stick to it. I have melamine for my workbench top and it's awesome. Also easy/cheap to replace if/when it gets all fucked up.

 

Melamine is most likely what I will build the woodshop counters out of. It doesn't fit the look I am going for in the other shop. I understand form and function and all that but I am pretty set on a walnut wood work surface in the garage at this point.

At first I was considering downgrading to walnut butcher block but now I am actually considering building my own. It would be an ambitious project as I have struggled building smooth tops but I have also done all my work without a planer. If I go the route of building my own I would likely end up spending close to the same amount as if I paid someone to make them for me but at least I would have so great tools for future projects. I would likely try and get a planer so I can make it in only two 13in pieces before cutting it down to the 24.5in that I need. Then not sure which but either bisquit, domino, or dowels to align the two for the glue up of the two halfs. I would need to price out the amount of walnut I would need then as well but I figure I am likely close to $2500 in tools at that point since I would probably just start with a cabinet planer right away vs the DeWalt 735 to create something of this size.

 

You definitely don't need a big cabinet planer for something like this. I throw 13" wide boards through the 735 all the time without issue but it shouldn't matter since you will need a jointer or buy pre-flattened lumber to get this perfect anyway as a planer won't actually create a flat face. Good news is you can use your new track saw to joint an edge to glue together.

Do you have a domino now???

 

I don't need a cabinet planer for sure but it also seems they are significantly quieter than say the 735. I wasn't going super large either, mostly looking at 15in examples. Also seen issues people mention of snipe with the 735 vs a heavier cabinet planer with a better feed tables. Not saying I couldn't do it. I guess I am basically looking at this point is what tools could I add to the shop for similar or less total price than paying to make these tops for me. It would obviously delay my completion time on the garage but gain me tools for many future projects. I could buy pre-flattened lumber but that also comes at an additional cost no?

The track saw would be able to join the edges but that seems like a lot of work in building an overall 17 ft 6in x 24.5in counter top. I figure I am either using 5.5 or 7in boards to make this top before the cut down at the end.

I do not have a domino now. Everythign I have built so far has either just been regular wood joints or pocket screw connections. So basically free choice at this point on dowel, domino, or bisquit cutter. I know I am really going to need to increase my clamp collection as well for this project as I only have 4 pipe clamps and will likely want at least 8 for making the 84in long piece which would be the longest.

I guess the only reason I gravitate towards potentially a cabinet planer is I like to buy once and be done type thing. I have 3, 220, 20amp circuits in the shop so power shouldn't be a problem. I could get a 3hp Jet or Grizzly. The only reason the 735 is nicer is the price and being able to maybe build it into a flip top station on my main center table I plan to build.

In no particular order these are the tools I feel I want for the shop in the first year or so of getting it going.

1. Planer
2. Jointer
3. Drill Press
4. Dust Collection
5. Trim Router
6. Either dowel, domino, or biquest cutter

Things I already have
Table Saw
Plunge router
Table router
Palm sander
Track saw

I figure with each larger project I don't have to pay someone else for or buy something I can justify at least a tool or two along the way.

 

Nice work on the sink leak, been there as well. What a pain in the arse

 

See above for my thoughts, let me know if you want to talk more about tools, I could do it all day haha.

 

Remember that a planer does not flatten anything. It will just copy whatever is on the bottom onto the top so if you send a warped/bent through a planer, you will end up with a thinner but still warped/bent board lol. A jointer is necessary for creating a true flat face that you then send through the planer (with the jointed face down) so that the planer can copy the flat face to the top. Until you have that capability, you won't get really flat lumber without buying it that way. The 735 is loud but you can get a helical head swap that makes it a lot quieter. I plan on doing this once my current set of knives run out. Because the 735 has a 3 knife cutter it lasts a LONG time. IMO, save your money, put on some hearing protection, and get the 735 AND a jointer.
That is fair. Maybe a cabinet jointer and the 735 to start makes more sense. I wouldn't want to be limited to 6in or less board size, though for this project, so I would likely go 8in jointer so I never need to upgrade then.

Get some 110" tracks (or ability to assemble that length using connectors) and joint the edge of the boards you're using. It wouldn't be that much work and you would get much better results since I'm guessing you're not going to cut all 17ft in one go. Invest in a rip blade for the track saw (it's not expensive) before you do this, makes a YUGE difference.
I would not be making it as one piece. I have a set of 110in tracks already so that isn't a problem. The plan would be to build the countertop in an 84, 70, and 58in piece. This points the seams at the same place as the end of each section of upper cabinets which to me makes the most sense so they don't look out of place. The plan would be to use the inset length connectors to get these joints as seamless as possible as well. I was going to be ordering my premade counters with them already anyways. I think they have simple router templates for these.

I would not recommend a biscuit cutter, they aren't worth it. If you want to go dowels, a dowelmax is the only way to go as it's great quality and easy to use for great results. I'll even sell you mine (that has sat on the shelf for a while) if you want it because...a domino is the best option if you are willing to foot the bill. I used the dowelmax a for about a year and loved it but found a great deal for a domino and haven't used the dowel jig since but dowelmax is about $200 and the Domino is about $1100 so pick your poison.
What about a double dowel cutter? I mean it looks like a cheaper version of a domino? Definitely did not realize the cost of the domino tool. I can't say right now I have a ton of planned projects I would use it for but I think it would be worth the cost for this project alone and might be useful in my entertainment console build.

Save your money, get the 735. I do a LOT of woodworking, as you know, and have yet to cap out the capability of the 735.

In no particular order these are the tools I feel I want for the shop in the first year or so of getting it going.

1. Planer
2. Jointer
3. Drill Press (not worth it, I have one and don't even remember the last time I turned it on. I got a straight line drill jig from Rockler and use that all the time instead so will sell the drill press as it just takes up space and collects dust) - Not everyone finds the drill press useful but I have had several times in the last year when I was trying to fabricate something out of metal mostly where it would have made things much easier. Like I said, not high on the list but I know there are plenty of cases where I would use one.
4. Dust Collection
5. Trim Router (this should be #1 on your list, make sure it's a cordless one though!) - This is #1 on the list. Really just waiting to find a half decent sale on the M18 one since I don't want to start another brand of batteries at this point.
6. Either dowel, domino, or biquest cutter

 

i guess now i understand the comment in the chat group about coming here for more garage updates...

 

8" jointer is the right way to go. I have a 6" and consistently wish I had a bigger one but I don't have a 240V drop in my shop to run a bigger one...so here we are. I've been able to get away with it using planer and router jigs so it's not a huge issue but just annoying.

Double dowel cutters never took off because you can make a hole using a drill and dowel jig for WAY less money. The domino hole isn't really easy to make quickly without a domino tool like a dowel hole is. You can obviously do it with a router but it takes a while. If you want to go with dowels, get the dowelmax and be done for way less money.

If you're going to use a drill press then go for it but take a look at drill guides before you drop the money. You can get away with a lot using them and it makes for drilling holes in bigger pieces much easier.

 

So who is going to build the next mega garage since this one has no more updates...

 

Someone really should get on top of that.

Lots of going back and forth with the builder right now. Not going to get into details on those issues on a public forum. Because of this though, not much really to report. A meeting yesterday leaves me feeling hopefully that things will get back to moving again but I am hesitant to get my hopes up until action starts happening.

There has been a single metal worker on site that they hired to reinstall all my drip edge on the house from their two previous failed attempts. He has done three days worth of work and has about 90% of it finished. Another guy who actually cares about the job he is doing. Once that is done we can finally get the gutteres on the house which I have been without since July 2024.

The guys that did the wood walls were here for half a day to install the trim board on the bottom of the wood wall that touches the tile since that is done and install two interior doors. Not a lot to photograph though.

 

I have been slacking on some updates, but more of the updates are based on house projects than garage updates.



Two weeks ago, I had a break from things as the yearly East Coast NSX meet was being hosted in Charlotte this year instead of Raleigh. Although part of me kind of wished it was still in Raleigh, so it would have let me just get away for the weekend.



Used some sheets of OSB left over from the temporary garage door walls to cover up the worst of the red clay and try and get the car out as clean as possible.





I just tried and relax and catch up with some people I haven't seen since the last gathering. Shockingly, this year, these are the only two pictures I took.











They have finally been working on getting the crap drip edge job on the house roof replaced and done right. This happening means I will be getting gutters back on the house soon. This project to replace a few of the underground down spouts with PVC connections has been on my list for a long time, so I got to work on that last weekend.























The trim guys showed back up unannounced the other day. This meant the builder didn't have all the materials needed on site for them, so they didn't have a ton of work to be able to do. They installed the two single person doors, but the double door had not arrived yet. We didn't have enough of the prime regular trip on site so they couldn't trim out the shop closet door.





The storage room door in the loft was installed. This will get painted black or dark charcoal.





They also installed the last piece of the wood wall, which had been held off since I wanted the tile to go under it so I could run no baseboard. Really happy with how this came out, and it looks more modern.







I have been trying to figure out what color I was going to stain the steps and turns out the right color might have been right in front of me all the time. This is the top to my custom kegerator I built years ago. It was a custom mix of stain colors from Minwax to get the right tone I wanted for the project. I think it ties in well between the wood wall color and my paint color. Thankfully I had recorded this recipe on a can I made it in. I bought a white oak tread this weekend so I can start testing it since my kegerator was built out of cheap whiteboard as it is labeled from Lowe's

 

This past weekend, I got a lot more accomplished.



On Saturday, my doors for the woodshop showed up. I am likely playing with fire putting glass into my shop area but I hate the idea of solid doors in a space where I won't be able to hear someone walking up on me. It was impossible to find wood doors with clear glass that were modern looking. I just wanted a plain square seat for the glass. Nothing detailed. I found these on Wayfair but they are wrapped in some sort of black plastic over the wood frame. They are extremely heavy, though and exactly the look I wanted.





While I was waiting for those to be delivered, since I needed to be home to sign for them, I worked on getting the in-wall vacuum system up and running. The last major piece was putting a hole in the ceiling into the attic space. I was trying to figure out how to best seal this. I ended up going with a data center floor penetration seal similar to what I used above my network rack. If this doesn't seal well enough, I likely will just foam around the pipe with spray foam air seal in the attic. It was nice to check off another project in the garage.

















I also had one last gutter drain to finish. This one turned out to be a pain since it was in a planter bed with very mature plants.





We will find out if I killed my large holly tree, as I had to cut out a 2in+ root to get the new pipe in place.















Not sure what got into me on Sunday. After I did the last drain pipe and mowed the lawn I had apparently had enough of looking at the dead tree in my front yard that ants had finally killed, as it didn't come back after the winter.



I had a crazy plan at first, as I was worried how close it might fall to the house. I was going to use a ladder and a manual pole saw to limb the top down. That was a terrible idea.





I decided pretty quickly that I had measured plenty and to trust my skills in dropping it where I wanted. Added a safety rope just in case to give it a nudge on where to go if needed.

Been cutting down trees with a chainsaw since almost as long as I have been able to drive, so I think the only thing that was giving me a little pause was the house.









Couldn't have dropped it any closer to the line I was planning for it.









I always love tree work. It lets me play with so many of the tools I have acquired. Grapple, loader, and forks all get a workout.

 

Awesome!!!

Love those doors from Wayfair, I didn't know they sold those.

 

I was surprised how many thousand of doors you can buy through wayfair. It had the most reviews on the doors and the best deal as well.

I had meant to post the information on them yesterday. https://www.wayfair.com/home-improve...?piid=75684717

 

The cabinet guys were back here on Tuesday to finish up the cabinet install. They unfortunately have to come back as we were short a trim piece to hide the metal support brace but that will be a 2min job and doesn't hold up other trades.



I am really happy I did a finish end panel on the cabinets as I think it really completes the look vs us a smooth regular end. Went with some modern looking knurled handles for the cabinets.















The gutter company was back to finally put the gutters on the house yesterday after the drip edge repairs had been finished. Unfortunately, I swear that company is incapable of following directions. I even had a conversation with the installed who spoke some english and told him what I wanted done and he still just drove screws in the brackets randomly and not in the holes like the last time. I just don't understand that. Likely going to make them come back and redo it all at their cost all over again.



The trim guys are here today to work on finishing the loft trim and framing out the doors inside. Unfortunately, I guess the builder failed to tell them the one door needs to have the hinges cut in and I guess they didn't bring that jig with so I won't get my shop doors installed this trip.

 

freaking garage is nicer than most cribs...

 

Finishing touches are always the worst part of any project. hopefully things smooth out for you soon and can just sit back and enjoy the space.

 

I love the knurled handles.

 

Me too, where did you get those?

 

The great world of Amazon. My cabinet guy said he didn't want to sell me cabinet hardware cause everyone has their own preferences and you can actually get great stuff on Amazon.

 

The trim crew was back on Thursday. Apparently, the builder forgot to relay to them that the door and frame needed to have the hinges cut in, and they didn't have their jig with them for that. That will have to wait a few weeks, unfortunately. I was really looking to finally having doors to the woodshop so I could start doing more work in there and not worrying about dust getting out.



They were at least able to wrap up the last of the trim work so the glass company can come install the glass track soon. They also got the wood shop and storage closet doors trimmed out since we ran out of trim last time.







This white trim will get caulked and painted the wall color. We had a weird transition point when we had to frame down the roof when we decided against spray foam. The difference is only like 1/2in and will only be noticed from the working garage side.





It should look basically like this to anyone not looking for the difference. The two diagonals will have the black track against the ceiling. Everywhere else, the black glass track will be against the barnwood.





Finished off the trim around the back side of the wet bar. The sliver of 2x4 behind it is what the glass track will sit on and the granite butted right up aginst that track so using the glass wall as the backsplash.





This is a rough idea of how it will all lay out. A slightly different granite than what I went with in the end but same color profile.





Decided I finally want a working bathroom so got to work on getting the vanity in this morning. I need to go pick up a toilet, but once I get that in, I can hook up the cold water at least and no longer have to run to the house for the bathroom anymore.

 

I have been working to figure out a stain color match to a project I did a few years ago for the stairs. Last week, after playing with some more mixes, I finally got it to where I liked it.











The problem is, I don't think the guys staining the stairs mixed it well enough before they started. I also think they ended up pouring it into a second bucket so two guys could work before mixing it at all.



The main guy did a decent job, but he was working with the actual can of stain I had mixed. The color was still more brown than I wanted. The gray was lost a bit.





The second guy clearly had nothing mixed as it is basically all brown. He was also really bad at his job period as there are just completely missed spots.





They tried to tell me these spots just wouldn't take stain, and that is the way the wood was. Which is obviously BS as you can see part of it took stain, and it isn't a straight board line. Areas are also way too large to be glue up areas and even if they were it means poor sanding was done. Still going back and forth with the builder on how to resolve this. I am not sure how they do without just replacing some treads.









I had this great realization at the end of last weekend, that if I got the two locker cabinets bolted to the wall and the electrical outlet cut through, I could start using them and moving the staging point in the house garage and house for things still to get installed in the garage into them. So I got to work this past week.



My way of figuring out exactly where the outlet needed to be cut. Painters tape loop barely attached to the outlet.









Also added a hole for a cable grommet on the top of the locker with power so if I want to put a lighted sign or traffic signal above the lockers that I have an each way to get power for them.





Nice to get to move all this stuff out of the house.





I also got the Cox power cord reel mounted.





Finally unboxed the bathroom doors as well. Since this is a public bathroom the plan with this is to fill the bottom two windows with satin black vinyl so only the top has frosted glass.

 

The best tip I ever got for lining up outlet locations on a cabinet or whatever is to get one of those outlet extender bracket things, install in the outlet box, sharpie the outer surface of the extender bracket, and push the cabinet/trim/whatever up against the box. The sharpie will transfer exactly where to cut.

 

The trim crew was back to wrap up the last few things yesterday and this morning.



They had not finished the trim on the right side of the stairs the last time as we ran out of the wood but also the landing had not been installed. Since that has been finished, they were able to knock that out.





The doors for the woodshop have also been installed now. These are a piece I have been really waiting to get completed and they really came out exactly how I had hoped for. Really happy with the turnout. I know it is just one piece but really helps the place feel more complete.








I still need to attach the center cover, bottom sweeps, and install door bolts in the left door from the garage side to keep it locked in place. At least this will already keep most of the saw dust in the shop area, and I can start working on some of the things for the loft and wood shop that I need to build more easily. I also ordered a black diamond plate piece to cover the concrete that is left exposed from the garage side. I should have that in the next week or two.

 

Those doors are sick!

 

This weekend was rather productive. Finally, we have working cold water in the garage. I got sick of waiting for the builder to hook things up, so I just decided to do it myself. Just a little bit of pex work but I had never done it before. Was really easy, though with buying a nice set of iCrimp from Amazon.

Most of it was pretty straightforward with just putting the end valves on for the sink hookups. I did have to also add an extra valve for where the hot water heater will go as well for when the time comes to install that.

This was a bit more work, though. The water for my garage sink comes out of the slab. I then needed a valve for the sink but hen also needed it to pass through and plumbed into the wall. The in-wall lines are for my hot-cold hose bib and my wall mount pressure washer setup.





With all the valves in place, that meant I could finally get the bathroom working, which is nice to have.

The concrete guys did a great job. Maybe I should blame the plumbers, though, for not making it so the line would come straight out of the slab. Who knows. Either way it looks pretty bad. The camera is level on the floor for this picture.





It is amazing how hard it is to find a good non chrome solution for a pex stubout for a toilet. I did find one, though.





Another thing I needed in the bathroom was a hookup for my dehumidifier pump line. Ended up using an extra T in the drain line with a screw cap and a 1/4in ice maker compression fitting.









So the bathroom is coming together. Still need a mirror and a light. Only cold water to wash hands with right now but nice to have a working bathroom and not always go back to the house anymore.





I was also able to install the toilet paper holder my girlfriend had picked me up for Christmas.





I don't think I ever followed up on the rest of the repairs to my house from last year. I have been living with the drywall unpainted and the trim just hanging off the wall since the leak was repaired last June. I decided it was finally enough and I should tackle that project. I ran out of a bit of time and also was missing a piece of trim from what they had cut out, and couldn't find the same size at Lowe's or Home Depot. I will need to go to a lumber yard and try and get the right pieces. So the trim is still unpainted from the caulk and the wall needs another coat, but it looks loads better.

 

Looks awesome! I'm surprised the supply line to the toilet comes out of the slab vs from the wall. Usually they'll pull one big line into some inconspicuous spot the building and then run everything off of that such that the stub outs are in the framing vs the slab. PEX is flexible enough that it won't stay straight in the slab so that part makes sense to me.

 

I am honestly not sure why they didn't bring it out of the wall. The only thing I can think of is that the wall starts with block and that the line might have been too high for a toilet.

Here is a picture from earlier in construction, where you can see when the wall was open still.

 

Well done, man.
Funny how we put off certain things but we get to them eventually anyway, don't we?

 

It is indeed. I am honestly shocked I left it go for so long.

 

for manic people like us...
there's something to be said about therapeutic and systematic procrastination as a form of self preservation.

 

Doing your own plumbing work now? You are a badass my friend