Today we’re going to be running power to an outdoor shed. I’ve done quite a few electrical videos, so if you need any other tips, check out my website!

Step 1: Locate the Breaker Box and Drill a Hole for an LB

This process could be use for anything in your yard that you want to get power to whether it be a pool, or an outdoor kitchen, or even a yard feature like a pond. Just consider if you have enough space in your breaker box and of course all your local codes. I’m comfortable tackling this project on my own, but if you’re not then there is never in any shame in hiring a professional. Lets go ahead and get started.

The first thing I need to do is locate the breaker box so that I can figure out a path to get to the outside of the building I am wiring. Quick change of scenery here but this is the outside of the wall I was just referencing. I’m using a hole saw bit the size for an LB fitting to go through.

Step 2: Placing the Conduit

To get to the inside, the piece isn’t even all the way through the wall. So, you can just cut a piece of conduit to get you all the way through. Know that they do make a different cement for electrical conduit instead of the regular PVC one that you’re used to. I’m going to be adding in an outlet so I’m going to be adding a straight piece of conduit and then put my outlet up high so that it’s easy to access. Then from the outlet I’m going to be going into another straight piece of conduit that will go down into the ground from the outlet, then go into a 90 degree fitting.

According to code, the sharp edge on the conduit is still too sharp. To get around that, you need to put on a male fitting to protect the wiring. After gluing the joints together, I secured the outlet box to the building, then also placed a strap near the bottom. A great thing about conduit is the flex it has so I used my boot to push it into the building as I was securing it.

The purpose of an LB is so that you can go around a tight corner in two steps rather than one, meaning you can take off the back, pull through your entire amount of Romex and then feed it back down. You can make this tight corner really easily.

Step 3: Trenching to Code

Okay lets talk about material you’re going to need for going in the ground and the depth of your trench. It all correlates to one another. In my case I am using a PVC conduit but if I were to use metal conduit I can get away with (by code) only going 6 inches into the ground. I didn’t want to deal with bending or anything like that so I went with PVC conduit meaning that I have to go at least 12 inches into the ground.

The minimum depth of my trench has to be 12 inches with the stipulation that a GFCI needs to be on the circuit somewhere. That is the reason I am adding an outlet. Not only is it handy to have outlets anywhere you’re going to be doing electrical work but it also means I can go the 12 inches whereas if i didn’t add a GFCI the minimum I would be required for my trench is 18 inches.

Just be aware that there are stipulations on how deep you have to go with your trench depending on what you’re using.

Step 4: Feeding the Power Line into the Trench

This line coming out is my Romex that’s coming in from the breaker box but now I’ll be feeding in my direct power line which is rated to be buried directly in this trench. I’m trying to feed it in with my right hand and pull it through with my left and I’m using my boot to keep the pipe down.

I fed through enough power line to go down the trench then whatever length to get me to where I would install my first outlet. Now that I have my wiring over here it’s the same song and dance. You need some sort of hole to now get you through to the inside for a LB to fit, again stubbing through to go all the way to the inside. From here, you have a straight piece of conduit and this will all be glued. Down here I’m going to have another 90 with that fitting in order to make sure that it meet code. Once you glue it up then you can feed it in.

Step 5: Securing the Power Wire and Closing up the Trench

A little prebend goes a long way. Also note they make lubricant for chasing wires and it really does make it easier. Again, taking off the back of the LB to make chasing this wire up and in quick and easy. I attached another clamp to the bottom of the conduit then buttoned up the back and called this project done.

Well, other than filling in the trench, which is the easy part. There. Like it never happened except it did.

I hope that you enjoyed watching this project, I’ll leave you a link in the description to the many other electrical videos I’ve done incase any of those are useful for what you’re doing.

Things I Used During the Power Project

• Gloves In A Bottle

Thinking about putting in your own DIY floor electrical outlet? Check out this fun DIY how-to project where I did it myself! Not easy, but not that hard!

With so many outlets in my house, why is it that I never seem to have power where I want it? I recently bought a turn table and I’d like to have power for it in the center of my living room. So now I’m trying to figure out, “How do you get power in the center of a room?”. Check out the video above to see.

Things I Used in This DIY Floor Electrical Outlet Project:

• Leviton Pop Up Outlet
• ISOtunes Hearing Protection (use code APRIL for 10% off)
• Stealth Mask Respirator (use code APRIL for 10% off)

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to sign up at the top of this page for my newsletter so you don’t miss new projects!

(Most of the links listed above are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for supporting me in this way.)

Today we’re discussing the DIY electrical wiring basics! I walk through how to choose the correct wire and what is inside, as well as the connectors available. You’ll definitely want to check out the new, easy push in connectors and the outlets that make side wiring so much easier…. and more! Watch this video, quickly learn the basics and you can wire your next switch or outlet without the cost of an electrician!

Check out my other electrical videos here!

Things I Used In This DIY Electrical Wiring Basics Tutorial:

• ISOtunes Hearing Protection (use code APRIL for 10% off)
• Stealth Mask Respirator (use code APRIL for 10% off)
• Crescent 2-In-One Pliers
• Wire Nuts
• Direct Bury Wire Nuts
• Push In Wire Connectors
• Aluminum/Copper Wire Connector

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to sign up at the top of this page for my newsletter so you don’t miss new projects!

(Most of the links listed above are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for supporting me in this way.)

Thinking about putting in your own DIY Outdoor GFCI Outlet? Look no further and check out this project where I show you exactly what to do!

This week, I’m showing you how to very easily install an outdoor GFCI outlet from an existing interior outlet. It’s a fast DIY project for anyone that needs an exterior outlet in a new location!

Things I Used in This Outdoor GFCI Outlet Project:

• ISOtunes Hearing Protection (use code APRIL for 10% off)
• Stealth Mask Respirator (use code APRIL for 10% off)
• Lufkin Tape Measure
• Electrical Box
• Outdoor Weatherproof Electrical Box
• Crescent 2-In-One Electrical Pliers
• Wiring Push Connectors

For more outlet related content, check out my other video where I added indoor outlets in my garage!

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to sign up at the top of this page for my newsletter so you don’t miss new projects!

(Most of the links listed above are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for supporting me in this way.)

Trying to figure out how to add an electrical outlet? Check out this easy DIY project where I added one to an existing wall as easily as possible!

My garage is short on outlets. In this video I’m showing you how to add new outlets to an existing wall, without damaging or repairing drywall! This is a very easy project and a great solution to adding outlets to a room.

Also, check out my video where I install 220 in my garage.

Things I Used in This How To Add An Electrical Outlet Project:

• ISOtunes Hearing Protection (use code APRIL for 10% off)
• Stealth Mask Respirator (use code APRIL for 10% off)
• Triton Multitool
• Double Gang Electrical Boxes
• Nail Plates

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to sign up at the top of this page for my newsletter so you don’t miss new projects!

(Most of the links listed above are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for supporting me in this way.)

Trying to figure out how to get better WiFi? Check out this project where I walk you through how I got significantly better WiFi in my workshop!

I don’t know about you but the first thing I think about when building a new structure is how I am going to get WiFi here. With almost everything today relying on technology, why shouldn’t it be your first question? It can be a struggle. But in this video, I am going to show you two different methods on how to get WiFi outside of your home.

The WiFi coverage in my home has never been perfect; there were always rooms where I didn’t get a good connection. Then, when I built my shop and later added an outdoor kitchen, my wimpy WiFi coverage became an even bigger problem. Both of those buildings are far from my house and beyond the reach of the router. 

So this past week, I finally got full-coverage, super fast and reliable WiFi with some help from NETGEAR. I found that they have the top technology for any situation: large buildings, long distances or areas where traditional internet service isn’t an option. 

For my house, I went with the NETGEAR Orbi WiFi 6 Mesh System. My system consists of a router and two wireless satellite units. Together, the router and satellites form a network that reaches every corner of my house.

For the outdoor kitchen, I added a third satellite. Unlike the satellites in the house, I connected this one to the router using an ethernet cable.  

For the shop, I chose the NETGEAR Orbi 4G LTE Tri-band Router. It receives a cellular signal, just like a phone. Then, along with a satellite, it broadcasts a powerful WiFi signal throughout my shop. 

In my house, I installed the NETGEAR Orbi WiFi 6 Mesh System. Here’s how it works: The router is connected to my incoming internet cable, just like the old router. But instead of providing one signal that can’t cover the entire house, it connects wirelessly with the satellites that extend coverage to every corner and even outdoors to my porch.

Installing the system took about 5 minutes. The router is connected to my incoming internet cable, just like my old router. Once that is connected, now I can position the two satellites in different parts of the house to provide full coverage. It’s worth noting that one satellite can cover up to 5,000 sqft. And this will provide WiFi speeds of up to 6 gigabits per second for over 100 devices. That means I can upload my next YouTube video while streaming a movie, while taking a video call and have no issues.

Let’s do a speed test and test this device out:

The test says my internet is extremely fast. Thank you Orbi!

Next, let’s move on to my outdoor kitchen, which is about 80 feet from the house. Here, I installed another satellite.

At that distance, a wireless connection from the router in the house might have been good enough, but I wanted better than good enough—I wanted a connection fast enough to handle anything, including the ability to stream hi-def movies. Since the Orbi satellites can operate wirelessly or with an ethernet cable, I ran cable from the house. That’s a simple job, but here are a few tips:

• The minimum cable standard you should use is CAT5e. I upgraded to Cat7. It cost only an extra 20 bucks and I’m ready for higher speed demands in the future.  

• Before you run cable, test it for connectivity. Problems are rare, but its awful to find out you have a bad cable after it’s installed. You can test cable by plugging it into a device, but I picked up a cheap tester for less than $10.

• I used cable rated for outdoor use. My cable is also rated for direct burial, but since I live on rocky ground, I avoided hours of hard digging by fastening the cable to my boardwalk.

• Don’t run ethernet lines right next to electrical cable. That can cause interference. Even worse, it can lead to “voltage induction”. Basically, that means extra voltage can travel through the ethernet cable, damage devices or even cause a fire. When running parallel, keep electrical and ethernet cables at least 4 inches apart. When cables cross, make it a 90-degree crossing.

Let’s do a speed test!

Ok let’s move over to my shop, which is over 300 feet from my house.

That’s too far for a WiFi signal and a cable trench though 300 feet of stone wasn’t an option. But here again, NETGEAR offered an easy solution.

The Orbi 4G LTE Tri-band Router is perfect for areas where traditional internet isn’t practical—it doesn’t need cables. Instead, it picks up a cellular signal, just like a phone does. It works with most of the major phone networks’ data plans and basically converts a cell connection into a WiFi connection. 

Since my shop is so large, I also added a satellite, just like the ones in my house. Again, this whole job took less than 5 minutes. I just plugged in a couple power cords and slipped my SIM card into the router. Instantly, I had fast, reliable internet in my shop.

Here’s a speed test from my not-so-great previous system:

Now let’s do a speed test with my new NETGEAR Orbi 4G LTE Tri-band WiFi Router. Now that is more like it!

Before you go out and buy new equipment, a lot of problems can actually be solved by simply moving your router. So here are some do and don’t tips that you can try out before going out and purchasing new devices:

• Don’t hide the router. 
  Don’t place it in a cabinet or a closet. It’s bad for the router and the signal. In an enclosed space, the signal has to pass through extra barriers.

• Don’t put your router on the floor.
  Think of your router as a lamp that casts a signal instead of light. If set it on the floor, most of the signal is cast into the floor. Placed up higher, the signal spreads farther.

• Central location is important.
  The closer you are to the router, the stronger the signal. So if you place the router at one end of your house, it probably won’t reach the other end. For whole-house coverage, it’s usually best to locate the router on the main floor, near the center of the house, where the signal can reach all the rooms. 

• Not in the kitchen
  The kitchen is usually the worst place for a router. It’s full of obstructions, especially metal appliances that dampen the signal. Also, when the microwave is running, it can kill the WiFi signal.

Finally, one of the best ways to improve WiFi performance is to upgrade the service from your internet provider. Officially, you get better service by paying more. But if you call your ISP or check their website, there’s a good chance you’ll find a promotion that gives you better service without a higher bill.  

In my case, easy fixes like these weren’t enough. Like most people, I was relying on devices that were a few years old. A few years is a long time in the technology world and the systems I installed are vastly better than my old ones.  

I want to thank NETGEAR for supporting what I do and helping me get my situation here under control. It’s really overwhelming with so much technology on the market to go and find the solutions on your own. But knowing that they exist and can solve so many problems is worth its weight in gold to have good internet!

I hope this video has been helpful for you to solve problems as you are either planning outdoor buildings or just have current connectivity issues.

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to sign up at the top of this page for my newsletter so you don’t miss new projects!

(Most of the links listed above are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for supporting me in this way.)

Welcome to Part 9 of my Outdoor Kitchen Series! I’m showing you how I installed landscape lighting in and around my structure. I also installed pathway lighting and lighting for my trees. It looks amazing! Be sure to watch the video above to see how I did it. Stay tuned as next week I’ll show you how I built the boardwalk pathway.

Kichler Lighting Resource Links:

• Sizing Electrical Components
• Why You Should Hire A Pro
• Uplighting A Tree

Things I Used in This Project:

• ISOtunes Ear Protection
• Pathway Lights
• LED Spotlights
• Recessed Lights
• Honeycomb Light Cover
• Pendent Lights
• Accent Lights
• Ceiling Fan
• Flood Lights
• Hardscape Lighting
• Light Timer
• Smart Control Timer
• Transformer
• Crescent 2 in 1 Pliers

Outdoor Kitchen Build Series:

• Find Part 1 (building the deck) here.
• Find Part 2 (framing the roof) here.
• Find Part 3 (adding roofing) here.
• Find Part 4 (building an outdoor fireplace) here.
• Find Part 5 (wiring tips and tricks) here.
• Find Part 6 (concrete countertops) here.
• Find Part 7 (rain water collection) here.
• Find Part 8 (painting tips) here.

Big thank you to Kichler for sponsoring this video! Go to Kichler to learn more about their products, hiring a contractor or where to buy.

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to sign up at the top of this page for my newsletter so you don’t miss new projects!

(Most of the links listed above are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for supporting me in this way.)

In part 5 of my Outdoor Kitchen build, I’m going to show you DIY tips and tricks for running electrical wiring on a deck or outdoor structure, to get power for lights, sound and more. Check out the video above!

Stay tuned as next week I’ll be showing you how we poured the pour-in-place concrete countertops!

Check out the previous videos in this Outdoor Kitchen build series:

• Find Part 1 (building the deck) here.
• Find Part 2 (framing the roof) here.
• Find Part 3 (adding roofing) here.
• Find Part 4 (building an outdoor fireplace) here.

Things I Used in This Project:

• ISOtunes Ear Protection
• Kichler Lighting
• Portacool Jetstream 230
• Crescent eSHOK bits
• Crescent 2-1 Pliers
• DAP Dynagrip

Big thank you to Portacool for sponsoring this video! Find the Jetstream 230 that I have (and more!) at their website here.

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to sign up at the top of this page for my newsletter so you don’t miss new projects!

(Most of the links listed above are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for supporting me in this way.)

We’re now onto Part 4 of my Outdoor Kitchen series! In this video, I’m going to show you how we framed and built an Outdoor Fireplace with wood storage. We then add cement backer board and stone work. Stay tuned as next week, we’ll add wiring and electrical for lighting and sound, and then following that, concrete countertops and more!

• Find Part 1 (building the deck) here.
• Find Part 2 (framing the roof) here.
• Find Part 3 (adding roofing) here.

Things I Used in This Project:

• ISOtunes Ear Protection
• Diablo General Purpose Blade
• Stealth Mask Respirator
• Tough Built Kneepads
• Crescent ShockForce Tape
• Crescent Chalk Line

At the end of this series, I’ll have a fully functional outdoor kitchen, with a fireplace, kitchen space and much more for outdoor living and entertaining. Be sure to watch the video above to check it out!

If you haven’t already, don’t forget to sign up at the top of this page for my newsletter so you don’t miss new projects!

(Most of the links listed above are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for supporting me in this way.)

Wondering how you can build better workshop storage solutions? Check out this project where I walk you through each tip I have for better organizing your workshop!

Organizing a shop is never ending, but here are 16 very simple solutions that will help you get a head start. 

Instant Workshop Storage Solution Tip #1:

These electrical boxes are super cheap and a very quick way of creating a storage compartment on the edge of any workbench. 

Instant Workshop Storage Solution Tip #2:

Even cheaper is a picture hanger, hammer this into the side of any shop surface and automatically have a spot for a tape to be placed. 

Instant Workshop Storage Solution Tip #3:

Want a convent compartment to hold small parts without being on the workbench? PVC end caps just need a hole and one screw to become a very handy parts trey that’s quick to deploy but just as quick to stow away.

Instant Workshop Storage Solution Tip #4:

Here is a quick solution for a drill. Drill a hole in the side of a workbench then thread in a large hook that’s coated in rubber.

There, a quick holster to keep your drill off the surface of your work area but still within reach. 

Instant Workshop Storage Solution Tip #5:

Do you keep misplacing your drill press chuck key? Throw a magnet on the side so you’ll never have to wonder where you put it this time….

Instant Workshop Storage Solution Tip #6:

Now for larger items like a shop vac hose or extension cords, simply drive an eyelet hook in the wall with a short length of chain.

You can place the chain through anything rolled up and store it in place by just hooking the other end of chain to the hook. 

Instant Workshop Storage Solution Tip #7:

A perfect use for an old paper towel rack is to throw it on your shop wall and store all your rolls of tape. 

Or if you have an old towel rack, you can very easily screw it into the wall and have a spot for hand clamps. 

Instant Workshop Storage Solution Tip #9:

For a wide range of hand tools, you can grab some PVC pipe and use the miter saw to cut two 45 angles on the ends.

Punch a hole through one end so that you can screw it to the wall and have a place to quickly place your hand tools.

Instant Workshop Storage Solution Tip #10:

Same concept for this hack but using larger diameter PVC and mounting it on the wall with the angle facing the wall. Now you have a quick storage spot for tubes of caulking. 

Another way is to make a wooden shelf out of some scraps. Punch some holes with a forstner bit and then mount it to a wall. Now the tubes can store upside down.

Instant Workshop Storage Solution Tip #12:

This one isn’t the most elegant looking (although I guess PVC isn’t that elegant either), but a large shoe compartment is cheap, easy to install on a wall, and will hold a large assortment of items that are easy to see and grab. 

Instant Workshop Storage Solution Tip #13:

Instead of hanging things the traditional way on pegboard, a different way is to slip a piece of PVC onto the peg holders then store a variety of items in the center. 

Instant Workshop Storage Solution Tip #14:

Another unique but cheap solution for pegboard storage is shower curtain rings.

I particularly like these for sazall blades. Your whole collection can be stores on one ring then hung up for easy visibility and grabbing.

Instant Workshop Storage Solution Tip #15:

A simple solution for anything from pencils, to a router collect wrench is to screw a single tool pouch to your wall. 

Instant Workshop Storage Solution Tip #16:

A good solution for tons of things are these plastic J hooks. They are less than a dollar each but are super easy to mount to the wall and could be used to hold a boom for example, or rolled up cords, or even welding hoods. 

Bonus Tip:

The Smart Jars system has quickly become one of my favorite ways to organize hardware in the shop. The system is made of of these docks that fit into a standard pegboard. Inside each dock is a plastic container.

I love that you have the option to leave a container in a dock and grab what you need. Or, you can take the whole container to your workstation. All of the containers are laid over so the face of the container is facing you so you can easily see what you have inside of it. Of course a labeling system could also be added to the face of each container.

They are made in the USA. And, if you aren’t a fan of standard pegboard, they also sell plastic pegboard.

This is obviously useful in the shop, but could also be useful in the kitchen as a spice rack or even for arts and crafts supplies and legos. The options are endless.

Definitely give Smart Jars a look for your shop’s organization.

Even if these aren’t your permanent solutions, getting things off the ground and off your workbench is a great use of time so I hope you’re able to put at least one of them to use. 

I’ll see you on my next project.

Things I Used in This Workshop Storage Solutions Project:

• ISOtunes Ear Protection
• Wilker Do’s Plywood Workbench
• Armor Mobile Workbench
• Wilker Do’s Miter Saw Stand
• Electrical Boxes
• Saw Tooth Picture Hangers
• PVC End Cap
• Rubber Hooks
• Magnets
• Steel Cup Hooks
• Chain
• Shoe Organizer
• Shower Curtain Rings

Thinking about installing shop fans? Check out this fun DIY project where I installed Big Ass Fans in my now very cool workshop, pun intended!

With it coming up on the holidays, things are winding down for me in the shop. I’ll be taking off a little bit of time to regroup from my extremely busy year and spend time with family…..It occurred to me earlier today that I built a 4,000 sqft shop this year, which is just incredible. It seems like it was so long ago. 2018 has been outstanding and I hope you’ve enjoyed coming along with me this year as I tackled a large assortment of projects. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. But one last video for the year. As I was looking through footage I realized I installed fans earlier this summer in the shop but never released the video covering the process. So lets jump into it. 

Shop Fans That I Installed:

• Big Ass Fans
• Haiku Big Ass Fans

I installed two different kinds, inside the shop I installed a giant Big Ass Fan in the center of my woodworking space and four smaller Hakui fans on the covered porch.

If you aren’t familiar with the Big Ass Fan brand, they make crazy efficient and stunning looking equipment. If you watched the shop build you’ll remember that I installed their lights. Since I wanted to place this 7’ diameter fan in the center of my woodworking space, I first started by taking out the light that marked center of my ceiling then also removing a few ceiling panels where the fan would need to go. 

This size of fan requires a mount to be fabricated that will span across the bottom cord of two trusses which is why I’m having to take down the ceiling panels to expose the bones. If you don’t want or require such a large fan there are models that will allow you to attach the fan to one truss which would mean you wouldn’t have to expose the trusses. 

I fabricated my mount from two pieces of angle iron backed up to one another. I first cut them to the length needed to span two trusses then joined them together by drilling a hole dead center for a nut and bolt, using my Triton Super Jaws and a pair of vise grips to hold them in place for me. I repeated the steps in order to make two brackets at the same time. 

After getting those punched I moved the pieces down to the ground, separated them, and drilled two holes on the flat portion that will be sitting on the truss.

With those together now I grabbed the hardware that will attach to these mounts in order to hang the fan from. I positioned it in center and marked the location of the holes that needed to be drilled out. When punching through metal I always work up to the final size hole if it’s somewhat large. So for these I start off with punching a 1/4” hole, then step up to the final 1/2” size which is the bolt I’m using. 

Once I got those tighter I ran the wiring through the center tube for the electrical bits then dropped that down in the center of the mount. Now it was ready to set into place. To keep it from moving I temporarily clamped it in place while I crawled up top and attached it with lags to the bottom cord of the trusses. 

Something I really love about this fan is the wall mounted remote, it’s more of a speed indicator as it not only turns the fan off and on but also dictates how fast or slow it spins.

I didn’t want to run the wiring on the outside of my ceiling material so that meant I had to crawl up into the attic….let me remind you this during the heat of summer!….and get into the tiny tiny point on the far side of the roof in order to feed down the wire to Brian. My recommendation is if you are building a shop, even if you don’t install fans at the start, leave yourself a wire from where you’ll eventually want the controller to the placement of the fan. Just coil it up and leave it in the attic so you don’t have to do all this crawling around. 

Alright, next up was mounting the motor into place, which might take two people because it’s pretty heavy.

Next up was mounting the airfoils. These do come in different diameters but mine are 3’ long, which including the center hub span, makes this fan 7’ total. And let me tell you….it’s crazy how much air this fan can move, and also how still and quiet it is. Even when I crank it up all the way you don’t hear any sounds from it other than the air itself moving.

And that’s it for the installation part of the big fan, so next was throwing back up the ceiling panels that were taken down earlier. To get around the fan’s stem I used a rotary tool to make a cut around it. 

While I was mounting fans, next I moved to the porch. I love working on my covered shop porch when the weather is nice enough so having the option to get some moving air out there was a must for me. For this area I’m going with a smaller Big Ass Fan called Haniku. These fans have over 1000 options for finishing combinations but I went with Carmel and Black to match the cedar beams I have on the porch. 

These fans are ultra quick to assemble. It was honestly as simple as attaching the fan blades, attaching the center tube with the wiring in it, then adding both hubs that keeps the top and bottom ends of the tube looking nice once it’s mounted.

Haiku has won more than 75 international design and technology awards and one thing they strive for and hit, is ensuring their fans don’t wobble. I found out they have a 13 step process to hand balance each fan so you won’t have to be distracted by the repeated off balance rhythm so many fans make. 

After I mounted the bracket on the ceiling where I wanted the fan, I placed the ball into the socket, that’s what I’m describing it as at least, and turned it on. These fans also come with a remote and allow you to control the speed. Ha we were laughing because there is an actual “whoosh” button : )

Also, big high five on not only the quality of the fans, but also the instructions, and even making the remote magnetic. Just from head to toe, from aesthetics to function, everything on these products screens thought, effort, and quality. 

If you’re looking at mounting fans in the shop or even in your house I can’t recommend these enough. They are highly efficient, exceeding the Energy Star requirements for ceiling fans, extremely quiet, and have a customizable look for every space. 

If you’d like some of your own, check out the Big Ass Fan website here.

Ok, that’s it for 2018! Not only was I able to build my shop this year, I was able to put a big dent in my to-do list for outfitting and personalizing it. And that’s a great feeling. Thanks for coming along.

I’ll see you in 2019.

Thinking about trying to build your own tiny house? Check out this full DIY project where I show you how a couple of us built our very own DIY tiny house!

Things I Used For This DIY Tiny House Project:

• ISOTunes Bluetooth Hearing Protection
• Circular Saw
• Framing Nailer
• Custom Tool Belt
• Slap Stapler

There was actually two months time in between my first visit (when the first two videos were made) and this second visit when we made this video above. In that time, Anne completely cleared out the site by removing the old shed she knocked over prior to us starting on this one. She also leveled out the land and caulked and primed most of the tiny house. 

Bonus for this part of the build: George Vondriska came to help as well!

This week we started off with the electrical. First using a chalk line to mark the heights of the electrical boxes. Actually I held one end of the line but then while George started nailing on boxes, I started screwing down the floor. Anne and I used nails when we were putting it together, but adding screws will prevent squeaking over time. 

While we were keeping busy there, Anne was going around the studs drilling holes in order to run the Romex. Anne figured out where she would be placing her panel then we started routing the wire. She actually plans to do solar in the future but while figuring out that process, we stuck with the traditional method of power. The tiny house will have a few boxes along the lower walls, a few light scones above the windows, then 6 outlets in the ceiling for lights or maybe fans. 

Working as a team, George would work ahead and drill the holes needed, while I followed him running the wire. I’m not sure if you can see or not but Anne placed the level across both our ladders to hang the Romex wiring from so she could feed it to me as needed. This is a great solution if you don’t have a spool caddy. 

After getting all the wall outlets and switches wired in, we ran the wiring to the ceiling lights then started on insulation. We went with pre cut and faced batts and started on the ceiling as it’s the worst. What we found to work quickest is George and I would be on the ladders with Anne passing us the batts. I would feed in my end and staple it down. Then pass it to George where he would repeat on his end of the batt. All the while Anne would be cutting another batt to size to fit the wall cavity my ladder was currently positioned in front of. By the time I split the batt down the center and fed it behind the wiring in the cavity, George was done with his securing and would pass the stapler back to me. 

All three of us got a kick out of trying to perfect our timing on this. : )

When it came to the walls, it seemed to go even quicker as most of the bays were as easy as taking a batt out then stuffing it in the cavity. However, we were working with just a single stapler so we ended up with one person stuffing (making sure to split the batt and place half behind the wiring), one person stapling, then the third person measuring the odd ball size cavities and making those cuts needed. This kept all three of us busy and knocked the job out quickly. 

Alright, up next was drywall! Which I was stoked about as I’ve never done drywall before. With the ceiling going to be the most difficult, we started there. Also you want to start on the ceiling so your wall boards butt right up to it. 

We first made a helper in the shape of a T. This will be used to hold up the drywall sheet while we have time to secure it.

Now folks, I know this to be called a dead man, and George knows it to be an old lady……which are quite different. Either way, you can see how it works here. George and I are able to lift the sheet into place, then when we were happy with it’s position Anne could kick in the dead man which allowed us to rest our shoulders and start attaching. 

Before attaching the panel though, George would first cut out around the electrical boxes with a router and a bit called a roto zip. It works similar to a flush trim bit except it’s much smaller and is designed for this specific application.

Then using a collated gun, which is a drill that feeds screws off a magazine clip, I would start attaching my side to the studs. Since there was only one collated gun, George would use a regular drill to drive in screws on his side. At least enough of them to hold up the panel so he could hop down and start lining out the next sheet and I could finish up the attaching. 

A few other things I learned that are helpful on this step is to mark all your studs and rafters on the panels before setting them into place. This way you can very quickly go through and attach it. Stagger your seams just like with any other sheet application. When you start on a second row use a full panel and start in the center of the room then work your way out. Oh, and if you use a regular drill for drywall, look into a special bit for drywall screws that will prevent you from overdriving the screw.

You’ll notice that the drywall we are using is green, that’s because this is moisture and mold resistant. Anne noticed it was only going to cost $60 more to use this kind of drywall over the traditional kind and with it being in the forest and in Washington she decided it would be worth it. 

After getting the ceiling knocked out, we unloaded the rest of the drywall from the truck and into the tiny house so it would all be on hand to quickly throw up. The sheets come in a pack of two and just a tip, as you unload and stack them, peal off the paper ends and flip the outside panel so it faces the same direction as it’s partner. This way the entire stack is all facing the same way in the end and you won’t have to do a bunch of flipping around when you’re rockin.

With the ceiling done, next we repeated the process and knocked out the walls. We very quickly got into the groove of two people holding the panel up, while another attached….this was mostly my job because once I discovered the fun-ness of that collated drill I wasn’t willing to give it up…..When the sheet was attached enough to stay up, George would cut out for the boxes while Anne would measure for the next board and be prepping it with cutting it to length or height, then also laying out the stud lines….or going back with the regular drill and sinking any screws that didn’t properly seat with my gun. It is really important for the next step that you don’t have any screw heads protruding.

Now we were in Washington and dancing around rain the three days we had to work, so with a break in the rain, we decided to attach the roof before taping and mudding. 

You should remember from part two that Anne and I already progressed the roof to sheathing, roofing paper, and drip edge but were waiting on the metal roof to be delivered. So now it was as simple as passing the panels up, laying them down, and attaching them. While these panels are large, they aren’t that heavy so I was able to tilt it up to the roof then George was able to pull it up all the way and create a stack on the roof to use. 

One panel wasn’t long enough to have the overhang Anne was wanting so we started off by cutting a panel up to create a starter strip. Starting at the bottom of the roof we made a few spacers to make sure the overhang was even then another spacer to use as a guide on where to place our screws. This just keeps them in line and makes it look sharp in the end. 

After the starter row was complete we started laying down full panels, over lapping each one by one corrugation and again using a spacer to make sure the overhang was even along the top of the roof. This was my first time laying down a metal roof and I must say I’m a fan. It was easy and it looked very sharp afterwards. Total I don’t even know if the roof took us an hour to complete. 

Still taking advantage of the let up in rain, we continued on with the outside work. Moving over to the soffit. For this we used some plywood that Anne had on hand which happen to be some 3/8” material and cut it to size with a circular saw. And this wasn’t all that bad. Soffit on my shop was horrible and I think scarred me for life! Or at least my shoulders for life, but using boards only 8’ long made it extremely manageable. Tip for this step is to go through and mark all your studs on the siding before throwing up the soffit. If you forget it isn’t a big deal as you can just measure, but it does speed things up if you remember and mark. We attached them to the studs with a framing nailer.

It was in the middle of this step that George had to fly back to WI so we said our goodbyes but got back to work. Since Anne and I were already on ladders we went ahead and cut and threw up the remaining trim work needed. 

But after that, the only thing outside left to do was prime and paint but we decided to leave that and spend my last day in Washington getting further on the inside. 

Now Anne plans to do a nice reclaimed barn wood floor eventually but in the meantime we did a second layer of plywood for the subfloor. We tracked in a ton of mud through building so we made sure to sweep before laying these sheets down and also made sure to stagger the seams from the previous layer of treated plywood. 

That was of course a very simple step. Next we threw up a few sheets of cement board. This is because Anne is including a tiny stove in the tiny house. She will eventually plumb an exhaust line that will vent through the ceiling but for the mean time we just took care of the floor and walls by cutting a few boards then attaching them in place. Later Anne will cover these boards in stone and create an accent section that should look pretty adorable and cozy. 

Even though it’s far from ready to be installed, we at least wanted to unbox the tiny stove to set it in place and see how it would look. Pretty adorable and cozy if you ask me. 

Alrighty, now on to taping and bedding! Again this was a first for me and I will tell you now, that I loved this step. I wish I had more time to dive into it and get really good at it. Anne taught me what she learned from doing her shop build then we took off on it. It took us a second to figure out the best way to work efficiently but we eventually came to Anne going around and taping all the seams then me coming back and mudding. 

We used mesh tape for all of the seams but paper tape in all the corners. Anne was having a heck of a time with the corners, particularly on the ceiling, but a friend suggested wetting the tape before applying it and Anne said this made all the difference in the world. So just a tip if you’re new to drywalling. 

We made it a point to complete the first coat before calling it quits that day so that it could be setting up over night and allow us to apply a second coat before I had to head back home. The next day we started the day off with the second coat hoping it would dry by afternoon time frame so we miiiight be able to get a third coat on, but no such luck. With all the rain Washington was having when I was there, there was too must moisture in the air for it to dry quickly. No problem though. 

This last day was Anne’s actual birthday. We ended up eating two different kinds of birthday cake for breakfast, spent a few hours mudding together on this awesome little house we built together, then spent the rest of the time playing around her farm with her lovable animals. I just want to say that I feel very blessed to have found a friend who thinks this was a perfect day.

Be sure and watch Anne’s YouTube channel to see the rest of the progress of Tiny House and I hope you enjoyed this series.

The checkout process for this plan uses PayPal. You can use major credit or debit cards through PayPal. You do not need a PayPal account. To purchase the plan follow the link below. 

After you purchase the plan you will receive an email receipt from me containing a link to download your plan. Make sure to check your inbox and spam filter for the receipt. If you do not receive the email within 10-15 minutes or encounter any problems please contact me.

First came the AC and now comes the DC! This is another absolute must in the woodworking shop, this week I’m installing a dust collection system.

I am very fortunate to have partner with ClearVue Cyclones for this installment. 

ClearVue is a family owned business that is made right here in the US. They just released a brand new metal unit called Pentz EF5. I was excited about this because I wanted to store my unit outside of the shop, under my covered patio, to cut down on the noise inside the shop when it’s running and to also save on the footprint the unit creates inside.

The plan is to have one long main truck running across the north wall of my shop so I can have drop downs to all my larger machines that will require DC. Of course right now I don’t have that many, but I will certainly be adding to my collection in the future. 

Now even though I’m housing the unit outside, I’ll be keeping the filter inside so I will have a way to recirculate my heat or cooled air. If the filter were outside then I would be disposing of the air. I’ll get into more details on this later. 

To start the process off, we started on constructing the main truck on the floor. I’m going with an 8” main truck line then the down shoots will taper into a 6” line. I worked with ClearVue before hand to figure out where along this back wall my tools will be placed, both my current machines and my future machines such as a jointer. This allowed them to put together a diagram we could work off of and made this part of the process go very quickly. 

Of course everything can be moved around in the future should I need to move things around or add additional machines but the main components are the Ys that will create a down shoot from the main truck, blast gates to shut off different sections of the run, and elbows to soften the turns to keep a smooth track for the air to flow along. 

For the duct work, you can go with PVC which is what my good friend Jay Bates did and he published a great video covering his install which you can find here. I went with Norfab ducting for mine. It’s more expensive but it’s a reusable system that is not only very quick to install but it’s also extremely customizable. Instead of using adhesives or rivets, the components use a clamping system to join parts together. So we started off by laying out a dry run of an entire branch, once things looked good, we could very quickly start joining things by mating up the two ends inside a circular clamp. All in all I think it took two hours to put all the ducting together and the best part is, if I ever want to change up something in the future all I have to do is unclamp the section I want to modify and change out the component. 

With that done, we moved outside to set the motor in place because the placement of this will dictate the position of the main truck line inside. We placed it as high possible because I wanted that main line to be up and out of that highly useable zone on my shop walls. 

The unit I’m going with is a 5 horse power cyclone designed by the one and only Bill Pentz. If you aren’t familiar with the name, Mr. Pentz is widely recognized as the leading figure in dust collection technology and he solely works with ClearVue. The EF 5 is a 5 horse power unit with an 16” turbine.

Once the motor is mounted to the cyclone, it is pretty darn heavy. Two people can lift it, but since I went so high with the mounting position we had to bring in the tractor to assist in getting it up to it’s bracket.

While we get that installed let me circle back to having this unit outside. The big pros are the reduction in noise in the shop, and also the lack of an additional footprint. The disadvantage is if you have a heated or cooled space then this giant vacuum will be pulling out that controlled air and disposing of it outside. Which will make keeping your space heated/cooled not only harder, but also more expensive. 

The workaround to this is to have the motor outside but have the filter inside so that after the air goes through the cyclone and deposits all the large shavings and chips into the collection barrel, you have the option to route it through the filter and back into the shop. Keeping all that heated or cooled air in the space. 

And that’s what we started working on next. Drilling and cutting two holes in my brand new shop wall to route both the intake and exhaust lines. 

Incase you’re wondering, yes, it was nerve wracking. 

I used a bit long enough to punch through to the outside from the inside. Then I came back with a jigsaw to cut the hole exactly to size. 

The top hole will be the intake. So when the DC is turned on, it will pull air and collect sawdust as I’m making it at my machines. It will then come in through the intake of the cyclone where all the heavier particles will drop down into the 55 gallon barrel. Which is hooked up to the bottom of the cyclone. Then the air will be routed to the bottom hole of the shop which leads to the filter inside. This filter goes down to a .5 micron and it’s job is to collect all the fine dust particles that the eye can’t see, before spitting the air back out into the shop. 

The guys also included a Y on the exhaust port here to give me the option to vent the fine dust directly outdoors. This way if I’m not running my AC I can switch around the blast gates quickly and vent right outside instead of bringing it back in. And since I’ve been using it for a while now, I can tell you that it works so efficiently that even when I’m venting outside, I don’t see any dust coming out. 

Ok lets move back inside and get the ducting hooked up. This goes together very very quickly at this point. Each section is lifted up and it’s best to have three people on this job. One person to clamp it to the previous section, one for stepping the section to the wall with plumbers tape, and one supporting the branch with something like a broom. 

And man does it change the look of the shop once it starts going up. I had thought to paint it before installing it but I’m so glad I didn’t, I love the industrial look it gives the space. 

The main things to keep in mind when installing these sections is to make sure your blast gates and Y components are facing the correct way. Of course you also want to use a level so it comes out looking sharp in the end. We went through beforehand and made marks so we could quickly throw it up without stopping. 

Same thing when clamping on the down shoots, use a level to get them straight and plumb. This particular down shoot is for my future planer and jointer. Since they won’t be in use for some time, we placed an end cap on both. 

On the runs that go to a machine with a 4” port instead of 6”, such as this one that goes to my bandsaw, a reducer fitting is put into the line to taper the size down so that a flex hose could be connected with a hose clamp. I did the same exact thing on the line to my bench top thickness planer. Also on this tool, since I’ll want to have the ability to pull it out from the wall to run longer stock through, I made sure to leave myself a good amount of flex hose. 

The last run to make was the line to my table saw, which required the trunk to be suspended in the air so that it would stay inline with the main trunk against the wall. I found two trusses to throw in a few hooks, then use some paracord to capture the line and hold it in place. 

While I was working with Paul on getting the line up for the tablesaw, Cody was awesome enough to be working with James on handling the electrical for the collector. When I built the shop I planned for this installment and left a dedicated 220 circuit for the motor over in the north east corner. This 220 will be used to run the motor but since I wanted to run the unit with a remote, they also had to tie into a 120 line for that relay. 

So Cody removed the wall panel to run the wiring needed, shimmied it back into position, then connected and install the control box. Yet another hole was drilled through this wall to get the power cord to the exterior unit, although this one was muuuuuch smaller. 

And for right now, I think that completes my system. Ahhhh isn’t that so cool looking. Cody flipped the breaker, ClearVue gave me the remote and I tested her out. The first thing I did was see how much dust it sucked up off my hands. It worked quiet well. 

Next I opened the blast gate leading to the table saw and watch the flex hose as it removes all the sawdust that’s inside my cabinet! Incredible. 

I might look into automative blast gates in the future but right now I’m using a longer bar clamp to open and close the second half of my main line depending on if I’m using the bandsaw or tablesaw. 

Overall it took, not even a full two days to install everything I’ve shown you. So if you are committed to this hobby, then I recommend making dust collection a priority and protecting those lungs. Big thank you to ClearVue for coming down and supporting what I do.

The guys there were cool enough to give me a 5% off coupon code to pass along to you guys. If you use the code wilkerdos at check out you get 5% off of anything purchased at ClearVueCyclones 

Be sure and check out the video above for more of this install.

Thanks for coming along on this one, I hope you enjoyed it. I’ll see you soon. 

Wondering how to get electrical service set up for your new shop or even for the home you want to build? Check out this project where I show you how!

When building my new shop, bringing in power was one of those things I drastically underestimated the difficultly of. I figured it would be the case where the electrical company would set a new box with 200 amps, set a new meter, then run wires from it to my shop.

Nuh uh. It was a multiple step process that was time consuming and expensive. I documented the entire process so those of you looking to build a new shop or house or anything else that will require running power, can have a general idea of the process and learn from a few things from my go round. Keep in mind, I live in the country and not within City limits, so the process will differ if you live within a City.

Okay, lets start at the beginning.

Where I built my shop, there is an existing power pole about 500 feet to the North so we knew we would be getting power from that direction. With that, when the slab was poured, Cody placed a sweep 90 in the slab on the side of the shop that was pointed towards that existing power pole. So that later all the wiring would have a spot to enter into the building.

Lesson to learn here: Cody placed the conduit but when the concrete guys started pouring, it was shifted and dried in a position so that it was no longer inside the wall plate. Meaning some of it is exposed inside my shop. So be sure to check its position once concrete is poured as the concrete guys will not.

Another lesson to learn from my experience: this is a very long process, so I recommend as soon as you have your slab poured, call the power company to get it started. I waited until I was putting siding on, which meant I was finished with my shop weeks before I had power to it, which was frustrating.

First step in the process was to call the electrical company to send an inspector out to the property. He and I walked around the location and chatted about the different options for placing a new pole closer to the shop. His advice was to keep the pole within 100 feet or so to the building so I wouldn’t experience a voltage drop due to a longer run. I picked out a spot I could live with, then he staked it as well as the anchor’s location. This is the cable off-shoot that will be placed to counter torque the pole from the previous pole.

Once a location was picked, I had to clear an easement for them that ran from the existing power pole location to this new one. Thankfully, I only had cedars in the pathway so I wasn’t opposed to the clearing but this might be a factor to consider when picking out your new pole location.

Once the easement was clear, the inspector had to be schedule to come out again to take a look before he would write up an invoice for the job. I would be charged by the electrical company for the pole, the anchor, and the install labor which amounted to $4500. Once I paid the invoice, my job would be scheduled in their books.

The inspector told me at this point that it would be 6-8 weeks before they would get to my job, but they actually arrived just three weeks later.

A drilling crew showed up with an 18” diameter auger bit and starting punching the hole for the new power pole. This took roughly an hour. They were in and out real quick. This crew was only responsible for the hole punching. They said a different crew would show up later to set the actual pole but were very closed lip about the time frame to expect.

Fortunately I only had to wait another week for the pole crew. None of these crews call before showing up, so one day I looked out my shop window and was pleasantly surprised to see the guys with two brand new power poles, one being mine. It was awesome to see them stand it up off the trailer, but then I went back to work as they did all the concrete work and the aerial connections. Overall it was about a three hour operation.

Alright at this point, the ball was in my court to keep the process moving. There was a new rule that took affect this year that says meters can no longer be placed on the main pole but requires a sub pole. However, the electrical company doesn’t handle this bit. The homeowner does.

If I lived in a location where it wasn’t solid rock, then I would have punched a hole with my tractor and auger bit, but I do live in a place with solid rock. So, I hired a guy who had a rock bit to come punch this hole and actually got his name from the electrical inspector. He does this work all the time, so he knows all the requirements and best practices to make the electrical company happy. The contractor came out, not only to punch the hole, but also brought a fully equipped sub pole with him, so that after an afternoon’s worth of work, I was ready to start trenching from this sub pole to the shop.

And besides the part of finally getting power, this was the best part.

Again, living in an area of solid rock I had to pay a contractor with the right equipment to trench a line from my shop to the sub pole. This guy shows up with a 6’ diameter blade that’s 10” wide. It was a beast. It was incredible. He would get the blade started, it picked up momentum, then he dropped it down and it just started eating away like it was starving and the rock was the tastiest thing it ever touch. To do 100’ only took the guy 45 mins, so this was a pretty quick step.

Okay, so part of this contractor’s fee was to not only trench the line but to place the conduit from the shop to the sub pole, then fill the trench back in. Just a tip, it’s a good idea to place an extra sleeve of conduit for future use while you’re at it, in case you ever want to run other things like cable or internet.

Nearing the end of the process now!

The next step was to pull the feeder wire to connect the sub pole to the shop’s panel. I helped out a little bit here and there but I mostly just filmed this process while Brian and Cody did the work needed.

To start the guys first ran a flexible piece of conduit from the sub pole to the panel and tied a pull rope to one end, then fed it back through. This is now what they will tie to the end of the feeder wire and pull it through.

Lesson learned here: whoever sets the conduit in the trenched line, be sure to ask them to run a pull rope in it so this step can be skipped.

The feeder wire itself is a giant spool with all four wires need, in one. It’s called a Parallel reel. This is a huge benefit because instead of having four different spools of wire to try and consistently feed from, all are placed onto one and pulled off easily. The guys propped the spool up on some Southwire spool jacks to get it off the ground and allow it to rotate freely.

Another thing that really impressed me and the guys about this wire was the head Southwire made for it. They bundled all four wires together for you, making sure the loop on each end was was in line. They placed special crimped fittings on the end of each wire to make sure there were no snag points to get hung up once it was fed into the conduit, and they also staggered these fittings so the thickness of the pulling head was consistent.

It’s evident by looking at just this one thing, how much thought and effort Southwire puts into their products to make sure they are producing the best thing they can to make jobs in the field easier. This kind of attention to detail makes me proud to be working with a company who obviously has the field techs in mind.

Alright, now the pull tape was tied off to the head of the feeder wire and the wire pulling began. Brian stayed outside to push, and Cody took inside to pull. While Southwire makes this task easier by coating their wiring in a jacket that is crazy slick, it’s still a task.

The guys worked in unison to make their efforts the most effective, yelling out when one was ready to go. Cody, being on the inside stood on top of my tool box to get leverage and use a lot of his leg strength to help pull. He also used a handy trick I had never seen before, where he would wrap the pull tape in a pair of square nose pliers, squeezing it between the handles, then wrapping it around the head a few times. This allowed him to grip the pliers sideways and have something a little sturdier to grab onto than just the thin pull tape.

Since he was doing this every time, he would yell out to signal to Brian when he was ready then they would both react.

Once the wire was all the way through the panel, the guys switched since Brian has more height and pulled out about four more feet. This will leave plenty of wire to make all the terminations inside the panel.

The final terminations inside the panel were up next. Cody did the ones outside while Brian did these inside. However, he did save the last one for me to terminate to the lug.

At this point the power company was back out to connect the sub pole to the main pole and Lord have mercy that was the final step to the process.

Since I didn’t have power for weeks but still wanted to use my shop space, I had been using an extension cord ran down from the pump house on the property to power all my tools needed. I had three, one to keep the lights on, then two to switch around from tool to tool. It was such an exciting thing to roll up all the cords and finally plug all my tools in, at once, to the wall. Having power also means I can now run my 240 equipment like my table saw, welder, and plasma cutter. Woohoo!

I hope this video gives you a general idea on what to expect if you’re going to be building something where you’ll need to bring in new power. Of course, rules and processes will vary slightly.

Below is a cost breakdown of my job:

• Electrical company’s bill for pole, anchor, labor to install and wire to previous pole and sub pole- $4,500
  • *Note: the bill was actually $6,500 but they have a one time credit a homeowner can use that’s good up to $2,000. I have no idea why they have this rule but I of course applied it to this bill which brought it down to $4,500.
• Contractor to punch hole through rock and set sub pole – $1,100
• Contractor to trench, lay conduit, then fill back in – $1,500

So total I was out $7,100 to bring in new power.

Keep in mind that you might be able to save some money if you don’t have to hire two contractors to punch the hole for the sub pole or trench the line. However, if you aren’t comfortable with electrical work then an additional cost might be to hire an electrician to pull the feeder wire and terminate it to the panels.

Cheers – April

Thinking about adding lights, outlets, and a stereo to your shop? Check out this project where I’m building my shop electrical!

We’re in the home stretch boys and girls! This shop has been more fun than I can shake a stick at and I’m finally on the home stretch. This week I installed all the lights I received from Big Ass Lights. They’re the same company that make Big Ass Fans and their lights are equally stellar in quality. The lights put out 13,000 lumens of crystal clear light from one fixture…I installed 15 : ) . I was also able to get the outlets and the audio system installed since my last upload. There wasn’t much to the outlets  other than keeping my head down and sticking with it over the course of a couple of days of repetitive wiring. My fingers were worn smooth out! The audio system went in without a hitch other than determining which wire went to which speaker. In the video below I share a sneaky trick I learned from one of my pro-audio friends. If you haven’t already, check out the video below to see how all this came together. Additionally, feel free to check out the previous build videos here.

Thanks for dropping in guys! Cheers – April

Things I Used For This Building My Shop Project:

Big Ass Lights
ISOtunes Bluetooth Hearing Protection
Southwire Wire Strippers
Southwire Square Nose Pliers
Southwire 9 in 1 Screwdriver
Titebond Wood Glue

Triton Drill
Titebond Titegrab
Speakers
Receiver
Superjaws

(Some of the links above are affiliate. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you!)

Thinking about adding in some 220 volt outlets? Check out this DIY project where I show you how I added some outlets in my garage!

I know plenty of you can relate to the struggle of not having any 220 volt A/C outlets in your garage space. Same here. The new place we just moved to has only one 220v outlet and it is dedicated to the water heater. This week I am adding in 2 outlets (or “plugs”) to the garage.

Some quick lawyer language: I am not a professional, I do not claim to be a professional, and I am not encouraging anyone to do any work that is not legal, permitted, inspected, or unsafe. If you do not feel confident or qualified to do electrical work, I strongly encourage you to hire a professional. If you recreate any of the work shown here, you are operating solely at your own risk.

Things I Used For This 220 Volt Outlets Project:

Bluetooth Hearing Protection
Drills
LB Connection
Bandsaw
Spindle Sander

SO Cord
PVC Conduit
Conduit Straps
Junction Box
3/4″ Male Adapters

Lock Nuts
Gang Box
Fish Tape
THHN
30 Amp Breaker
Fluke Meter

Here’s the plan: Add 2 outlets to the garage; start by running all of the conduit for the wires, mount the plug boxes, pull wire through all the conduit, terminate all of the wires inside the plug boxes, route the wire inside the panel, then finally wire in my breaker.

Here’s what I’m starting with: I have a large 200 amp service panel inside my garage. This is where the main line comes into the house from the pole.

This panel only contains 220v breakers which supply things like the air conditioner circuit, the water heater, the furnace, and another 110v sub-panel inside the house. Fortunately there are multiple vacancies inside the garage panel for more 220V breakers which I intend to use for this job.

Getting started: I plan to use these two outlets for my table saw and the plasma cutter or welder. Between the two of those tools, the MAXIMUM current draw would be about 21 amps. This number determines the size of wire, conduit, and breaker I will be using. According to the NEC, a 30 amp 2 pole breaker and 10 awg THHN wire will do the trick while giving me some room in the circuit (and the conduit) to run a bigger load if I need to. Lastly, all of the wire will be inside ¾” conduit mounted directly to the dry wall.

The work: First things first – KILL THE POWER! Our place has a large main disconnect at the pole so it got turned off first. Once the power was off, I started cutting in an access hole in the drywall at the top of the breaker. This is where the wires will feed in. I cut the access hole so I can easily make a removable board to put in its place in case I ever need back in the top of the panel.

I then started running the conduit. This part is pretty self explanatory – as long as you know where you are ultimately going, it’s just a matter of piecing together sweep 90’s and straights until you get to the outlet location. The first piece on the wall is called a ¾” LB. As you can see, unlike the sweep 90, this fitting allows me to come out of the wall then keep the conduit tucked nice and tight to the wall.

From there I pieced together some straights and 90’s until I got to the other side of the garage where I mounted the junction box and first outlet. At the junction box, I broke out of one side of the box and ran my conduit over to where the next outlet is mounted. All of the conduit is held to the drywall using one whole conduit straps and drywall anchors. Note: I like to use a level while running the conduit to make the job look nice and clean.

It’s important to note that I did not use PVC glue when putting these pieces of conduit together. Since this is an indoor job, I do not need a watertight seal that the PVC glue would provide. Additionally, in case I ever want to remove this conduit, it will be much easier without being glued together.

Time to pull some wire! I used a fish tape to pull the wire from the electrical panel to the first outlet box. I was sure to pull a little bit extra out of the outlet box so that I could make wire terminations on the back of the outlet as well as inside of the junction box.

The fish tape is connected to the bundle of wire using a small lasso as you see up above. Typically you would tape the wire up with electrical tape, but since I did not have any, duct tape will do. Once I was happy with it, I cut the wire to length. Lastly, I pulled a short leg of wire from the junction box to the second outlet box. Same story here, I left myself plenty of slack to make the wire connections.

Now that all of the wire is pulled, I can start making all of the connections at each of the ends. I started with the farthest plug outlet keeping track of which wire terminates to which side of the plug so that everything is uniform throughout the circuit.

Same story for the junction box – all the colors were matched to one another then wire nutted together using the appropriate size wire nut making sure the wire nuts were nice and tight…….not just snug, but TIGHT.

Finally, I made the connections at the electrical panel.  I am using a 2 pole 30 amp breaker made by “Square D”. I had to remove a knock out at the top of the box to access the inside of the panel with my wiring. Once it was removed, I neatly routed the wire through the conduit, around the box with plenty of slack in the routing, then terminated two wires into the back of the breaker and the ground wire to the ground block of the panel. To get from the LB to the top of the panel, I used a short section of “seal tight” conduit and a seal tight 90. Code specifies that conductors of this type get placed in conduit all the way to the box.

Before installing the breaker into the breaker box, I used an electrical meter to measure the continuity between each one of the legs of my circuit (1 leg of ground, and 2 legs of 120v). This is simply a safety check to ensure that there are not any shorts in the circuit. After everything checked out just as it should, I mounted the breaker in the breaker box.

And for the grand finale, I got to energize the circuit! I left the breaker in the “off” position when energizing the panel from the pole. I did this so that I could flip the breaker “on” and energize my new circuit while standing in the garage, and not far away from the house where the main disconnect is located. After turning on the breaker to my new circuit, I measured the voltage at the outlets and sure enough……240 VAC between the two hot legs and 120 VAC between each hot leg and ground. Success!

And that pretty well does it folks. To wrap up all these sparky bits, I installed my new access cover then reinstalled the panel cover and called it good. Finally, I can plug in my table saw and start making some saw dust : )

Thanks for stopping by and learning more about the process. If you take on a similar type of job at your own place, please be careful, work smart, and do not take any chances with your work and/or the safety of others. Always have your work inspected by a qualified electrician to ensure everything is installed according to your local building/NEC guideline. And just for clarity sake……if you use any of this information for the purpose of your own work you are strictly operating at your OWN RISK. Thanks again.

Take care – April

Thinking about building your own custom steel fire pit? Check out this cool DIY project where I built my own fire pit for my backyard!

I cant stand our current fire pit. I mean, it’s ok….but I didn’t make it and it’s also too small for the amount of wood we burn when we start a fire so I would really like to build one myself. This week I am going to do just that. I have been itching for another steel project and some under the hood time with this welder and plasma cutter of mine. I  think that a custom outdoor fire pit is the perfect fit for the job. After browsing the internet and shamelessly looking at other designs for inspiration, I decided on a simple hexagon shaped fire pit made from steel plate and some sturdy steel feet. Lets get it done…

I recently visited Matt Cremona up in Minnesota and had the chance to drop into a place know as “discount Steel”. It just so happens we have a location in my neck of the woods and they have a huge selection of different material. Once I got there to pick up my material, I felt like a kid in a candy store  They have everything from large plate steel all the way down to little 1$ right angle gussets. Stocking stuffers anyone??

Things I Used For This Custom Steel Fire Pit Project:

Drafting Kit
Discount Steel
Revmarker
Welding Gloves

Welding Hood
Plasma Cutter
Welding Cart
Angle Grinder

Magnets
Triton Work Center
Dark Safety Glasses
Large Compass

I called in an order for the steel and had the side and bottom pieces cut to the size that I needed. I used 14 gauge steel for the sides that make up the body and 10 gauge plate for the bottom. After getting the steel to the house I started making a cut pattern for the sides. I went with a geometric pattern but you can get really creative with this and do whatever you are personally into.

I kept it simple and used some generic drafting tools to draw up the pattern of diamond shapes. After drawing the pattern on the first piece of steel I went straight to cutting it out…..big mistake. Unfortunately, the steel began to warp slightly due to all of the heat from the plasma cutter. So I decided to change directions.

I switched gears and started welding the body portion all together with the plates and then cut the pattern after the hexagonal body is built and attached to the bottom. This will give the plates a lot more rigidity when the pattern is cut away and warping should not be an issue.

After beating and pounding on the first plate to get it back to nice and straight, I attached it to another plate with the help of a jig. I made a couple of jigs to hold the plates 120° apart from one another and make joining these together easier. The first one was for the bottom and it was made from scrap 1″x2″ material. I cut the ends at a 30 degree angle then used two pocket holes to attach them together. This jig could rest on my work surface then I could slide my two pieces up against it. To handle the top was harder since there is no work surface to support a jig, so instead I made a smaller version of the 30 degreed cut jig but this time used a forstner bit to countersink to magnets on either end. This way I could place the jig at the top and my two plates were held in place for me to tack together.

Note: If you are working with straight stock like I am and need to make a 120° wooden jig, simply cut two pieces of material at 30° using something like a miter saw. You can join the 30° ends together with pocket holes or toe-nailed screws. Remember: (30° + 30° = 60°) and (180° – 60° = 120°).  This is the measure of the inside angle of the hexagon shape I’m building…..and all others for that matter : )

I positioned the first two pieces of material together with the two jigs I made. Instead of going with a butt joint, I used what is called an open corner joint. This joint does a little bit better job at holding two plates together than a typical (single sided) butt joint.

At this point, I am only tacking the material together. After repeating this process for the remaining pieces I completed the hexagon shape. With all of the pieces tacked together, I went back and completely welding all of the joints.

Rather than weld one full seam at once, I would spread out the welds and only weld a small amount on each joint at one time. This helps keep the material from distorting and changing shapes on you. So I would weld a small length along the top, then stop and do the same to the bottom of the same joint. Then I would move to the next joint and repeat. Once I went fully around the body I came back and completed the weld in between the top and bottom to seal it completely.

As I mentioned above, the bottom is made from 10 gauge steel and the top is made from 14 gauge. The bottom piece is by far the heaviest out of everything. To cut the bottom, I laid the top hex on the bottom plate and traced out the inside shape onto the bottom. This trace line will be my cut line for the plasma cutter but since I traced the inside of the shape and I am wanting this bottom to fit snuggly in the body, I made sure to make my cut on the outside of the line. Once you trace the bottom onto the bottom make a mark on both the body and the bottom so you can realign them again later in the same orientation.

Tip: as I said before I had my steel place cut this bottom plate to size for me. I did this so I wouldn’t have to haul home a bigger sheet than needed. I would recommend asking your steel place if they offer the same service. I knew I wanted my fire pit to be 30″ across (from flat side to flat side) so I had my guys cut the plate at 30″ x 40″.

I used the plasma cutter to cut the hexagonal shape out of the plate. Since it’s thicker material I had to slow down my cut rate a lot and also turn up the current. Be mindful of your feet! These cut offs are heavy and will break toes without blinking an eye if they get ya. I always try and hold onto the cut off so it doesn’t fall off.

The fit was pretty snug but it took the help of a hammer for the body to go on around the bottom. I made the bottom edge of the top piece flush to the bottom face of the baseplate. Once it was in position I moved to the inside to weld the top to the bottom.

I did the same here as I did before when making the top and spread the welds out so that I did not dump too much heat into the plates at one time. This may have been unnecessary but I figured I would be safer than sorry.

When I was done, the inside corner joint of the top and bottom plate was completely seal welded. At this point my fire pit was beginning to take shape and actually look like something.

Now it was time to focus on cutting in the pattern to the three sides of the fire pit. My original plan was to cut one side then use it as a stencil, however since I had a change in plans and that was no longer an option I went ahead and made a stencil out of quarter inch wood instead of drawing the pattern on each individual side. I use the same pattern as before cut the pattern out with a jig saw, and then traced the pattern onto the remaining sides that I wanted to cut.

Note: I first started this project using a red sharpie. A good friend of mine stopped by and gave me a silver sharpie which is intended for writing on metal. It worked much better when looking through dark safety glasses and using the plasma cutter.

Tip: I find it best to pull the cutting torch toward your body as you make straight cuts. Pushing the plasma torch makes it more difficult to keep a nice clean cut line. If you are not comfortable “free handing” cut lines or absolute straightness is a concern, a nice straight edge will do the job. I personally prefer either a piece of flat bar or a large framing square.

I came back for a little bit of post-process grinding to clean up all of the edges from the plasma cutter and while I had the right angle grinder out, I also cleaned up the the welds on the side joints.

After all of the edges were cleaned up, I focused on adding some small drain holes to the bottom so that the fire pit does not hold water. With the fire pit upside down, I traced out a simple pattern for the drain holes by first using a compass to draw two circles, then coming back with a roll of electrical tape so that I could trace the inside diameter.

I don’t even know if this next step is necessary but I wasn’t sure if these drain holes were large enough for embers to fall through or not so I decided to use some expanded metal as a screen for the underside. I simply cut a large circular shape with a cut-off wheel to cover the entire drain-hole pattern.  The expanded metal screen was then attached with small tack welds.

At this point I focused on making some legs to hold the fire pit up off of the ground. I used my current generic fire pit as a gauge for how high I wanted my fire pit. The legs are made from 1-1/4” square tubing with a 30° cut on each end….one end for welding the leg to the base and one end to weld on a small “foot”. This is just to give it more surface area so it doesn’t want to sink into the ground.

I used four of the diamonds cut outs (from making the sides) to make some small feet for the bottom of the legs. I simply cut a small diagonal off of each corner to create the octagon shaped foot and welded them to the leg material.

I attached the legs on a square pattern that was larger than the circular drain pattern. I made sure to weld the legs on so that they do not stick past the edge of the top.

After some clean up, the final step was to paint the entire fire pit with high temperature automotive paint. This paint is used for high temperature exhaust manifolds which see temperatures above 1500°. I am hoping this finish is strong enough to hold up on this fire pit so that corrosion does not set in. If it does, I suppose I will be forced to take the next step and send it to powder coating.

That pretty well completes this project. I had a lot of fun with it and though some portions were challenging, overall the project was pretty easy. As always, I managed to learn a lot during this build and look forward to adding some additional features in the future. I am considering a small grill section that will rotate over the fire so that I can cook meat and vegetables on it and maybe some type of “trim” such as small square tubing around the very top edge. For now, I’m going to turn my attention toward building a nice sitting area in the back yard to place this fire pit for my family and I to sit around on cool evenings.

Thank you so much for taking the time to learn more about this build and supporting what I do.  Have a great day and stop back by to have a look at the outdoor sitting area I’ll be releasing soon.

Cheers – April

Connect your compressed air line system from your shop to your garage (underground) with this tutorial. Outlined steps needed to trench line for a conduit!

My husband is always stealing my air hose out of my shop. To be honest with you, it drives me nuts. Lol. It does so because the one hose reel I have is in the middle of the shop and in order for him to use the air, the hose has to be strung out in the middle of the shop floor, out the shop door, and all the way around to his garage on the side of the house. It’s kind of a pain in the butt and today I’m gonna do something about it!

My plan is to simply dig a trench from the barn to the house, lay in some conduit, and then use the conduit as a raceway to push the air line through to the house. I already have a compressed air piping system in the shop, so I’ll basically be tying into my existing system with some hardware I have left over from the original installation earlier this year.

Things I Used For This Compressed Air Line Project:

Sharp Shooter
Conduit
PVC Glue

Pipe Cutters
Drill
Hole Saw

Jigsaw
PEX Line

 NOTE! Before breaking ground on your own digging operation it is a good idea to have all of the underground utilities located. After locating mine, I found that I would basically be crossing over the main electrical line that goes to my house and my barn. However these lines are not only in conduit, they are also about 18” deep in the ground which means I’m safe to dig a shallow trench between the two structures. Just a heads up!

Digging the trench

I’ve never dug a trench before. Since I tend to get excited over things I’ve never done before, that’s exactly where I started. My father-in-law happens to be a “professional ditch-digger” and was happy to train me up on the techniques of operating a shovel.

I know this might sound kind of silly, but like any other tool, there is a right and a wrong way to use to use a shovel. Fortunately for me, the trench is not really that long (maybe just over 20’) and the sandy ground was recently rained on so it was pretty forgiving. The shovel I’m using here is known as a “sharp shooter” or a “spade” depending on who you’re talking to. What doesn’t differ is the fact that this thing is the go-to tool for trenching jobs like this and is fairly easy to use.

I started up near the barn by digging about 10” into the ground. I made the starting hole a bit deeper than the rest of the trench. The rest of the trench is about 8” deep. The starting hole is a bit deeper just to ensure the conduit comes out of the ground nice and straight.

Moving along with the trench is pretty easy with this soft dirt. I would simply line the shovel up in the direction I was heading, break up the ground a bit by pressing the shovel in with my boot, then levering the top of the shovel handle backward to scoop it up. I made a mark on the shovel to make sure I was going in the same depth each time.

Occasionally, I would back track and clean the trench out real good from a bit of a different shovel angle. I motored along at a pretty steady pace until I got near the house. I knew I would be crossing the incoming cable line to the house and did not want to cut it. Consequently, I was sure to not be too heavy handed with the shovel and just take my time. Once I got to the house, I did the same thing that I did at the barn; dug the hole just a little bit deeper than the rest of the trench.

Conduit

I ran my PEX compressed air line through grey PVC conduit. Although the PEX line is rated for direct burial, I decided to put my airline inside of 3/4 “ grey PVC for added protection against future “diggers”. I used a sweep 90 to come out of the ground at the barn and the house.

Once all of the PVC was glued together in the trench I covered it up with dirt and stomped it all down the best I could. I know it looks rough right now but come spring time the grass will grow back just fine.

Passing through the wall

Passing the conduit through the wall was certainly the most challenging part and it really isn’t too bad at all. I decided to use 2 sweep 45’s to pass through the wall. On the outside of the barn I lined up my fitting where I needed to make my hole. I basically cut an oval slot into the exterior siding. Using a hole saw, I was able to cut a lower and upper hole and then cut out the middle with a jig saw making an oval.

For the inside hole I measured out the location of the hole based on the cuts I made outside the building using the foundation as a reference. Once I got it drawn out on the wall I just repeated the same steps as before using the hole say and the jigsaw. After the 45’s were installed, I used clear silicone to seal up around the hole.

Looks pretty sweet huh? : )

Installing Air Line

 With the conduit almost complete, I was ready to push the air line through. Although the conduit was not installed onto the house, I still needed to get it pushed through to the farthest sweep 90. I used a little WD40 to spray down the conduit to help glide things along. It was a bit challenging, but I got it pushed through to the other side.

Connecting the to the existing airline was very easy with the help of the left over fitting I had from the original install earlier in the year. I did have to buy some extra tubing for this job but that’s really about it for the compressed air part. I installed a ball valve at the connection point where the new addition comes into the building. This will allow me to cut off the air supply to my husbands shop if needed….like if he make me mad and I wanna sabotage his air tool usage : ) lol….jk

Over by the house I had pushed out enough airline to feed up into the attic. I installed the last piece of conduit onto the remaining sweep 90, fed the airline through the conduit and then inserted into a hole I drilled in the eave. I used one hole conduit straps anchored in to brick to hold the conduit to the house.

Moving inside the attic, I fashioned up a reaching device (AKA coat hanger duct tapped to a broom stick) to reach and grab the airline which was tucked over in the corner of the attic.

I removed the Roller plate you see here on the hose reel and used it as a simple template for my access hole. After making sure I was clear on the back side, I used my jigsaw to cut the hole.

Lastly, I mounted this hose reel up in the attic and made the final connections to the hose reel using some basic fittings I already had in a storage bin. After the connection was made, I checked for leaks and called it a wrap!

And that’s it! My husband now has his very own air hose in his garage and no longer needs to drag my air line through the middle of my shop, out the shop door, and into his shop. The over all cost of this project is about 100$ for the flexible air lines and some miscellaneous fittings.

Thank you so much for stopping by to learn a bit more about this project and support what I do.

Have a great week – April

Thinking about how to build a patio cover? Check out this DIY project where I walk you through the whole process!

This second part tutorial covers all the final touches to the ceiling, electrical, and trim work of my covered patio build.

Welcome back! hopefully you were able to get a lot of useful information out of the first little write up on building the awing in my back yard.  If you haven’t already, check it out part 1 of how to build a patio cover.

The second part of the awning sums up all of the remaining bits like electrical work, ceiling paneling, trim work, and building out some boxes at the base of the awning posts.

Things I Used In This Build A Patio Cover Project:

Tool Belt
Drill
Circular Saw

Miter Saw
Roofing Nailer
Brad Nailer

ROS Sander
Lights

Lighting

Before moving forward with finishing the ceiling I needed to decide on how I wanted to do the lighting. Fortunately the side of the barn already has power which I temporarily disconnected at the breaker while i built this awning. I chose some shallow mount recessed lighting since I only have 2×4 ceiling joist. These lights are LED’s and have a really low power consumption.

I decided on six lights evenly divided as pairs over the length of the awning. My husband will spend a lot of time under this awning in the evening cooking on his grill so I figured six lights ought to do the trick. After figuring out the mounting locations, I mounted all of them to the rafters.  These come with nails already installed in the plastic so installation was super fast.

I began pulling wire by cutting a short 4’ jumper to jump from the first box to the second box and just left about 8” or so of wire stuffed through each box. The second light box gets a wire pulled from the existing building wire to the second box.  To make the junction at the building, I used yellow wire nuts and secured the wire junction inside of a junction box which was already installed inside of the wall of the barn.

The remaining two sets of lights got the exact same treatment.  However, the remaining sets required the wire to span from one set to the next. Which basically means I now needed to drill a hole through each of the ceiling joist in order to route the wire. This went pretty quick with a 3/4” paddle bit.

Ceiling Panels

Once the wire was pulled to each light box, and the wire connections at the barn buttoned up in junction boxes, I focused on the underside paneling. I went with a 3/8” paneling known as “Plybead Paneling”. It is a light panel type of tongue and groove plywood that has a bit of texture with the long groove lines in it

Installing the panel was really a 2 person job so I had to call in my husband from his shop and help out with lifting some of this stuff up to the overhead. This is where good project planning and craftsmanship really paid off during the framing. With all of the rafters exactly on a 16” layout, the panel material went up very fast.

After the panel material was cut to length, it got slid into place at the barn wall first, then pushed up on the short side, and finally held in place with a nail gun.  I used 2” ring shank nails to ensure they don’t have a problem backing out.  They’re probably overkill but that’s what I had on hand : ) When putting it up, just make sure the edge of the panel material falls on the middle of a rafter.

TIP: If for some reason your material falls short of or even goes past a rafter, you can easily attach a small scab board on the side of your rafter so that you have something to nail to.

Cutting around the light boxes is the most challenging part of paneling the ceiling.  I’ll be honest, this part is very easy to mess up if you’re a “newb” like me. I say it’s challenging because you have to map out the cut locations of the plug boxes on the ground, then, after cutting them out, put the tongue and groove material together, and hope that the cut outs line up correctly! lol…maybe the pros have a trick for this but I don’t know any of them : )

Mapping out the cut outs for the light boxes goes exactly how you might already imagine.  You basically have the measure the location of the plug from the edge of the plywood paneling already nailed to the ceiling and from either the cross beam or the building wall…basically an “XY coordinate”… It helps if you have an extra light box so you can trace around it once you have the location plotted out on the plywood. Once it’s all laid out, you can simply cut it out with a jigsaw.

The very last panel went in pretty smooth. It only needed to be ripped down the length of the panel since the awning length wasn’t perfectly divisible by 48” wide panels. With the awning just over 30’ long and only about 6’ wide, I used a total of 8 panels.

Final Touches

I wanted to keep the trim easy and straight forward.  I chose 7/16 x 11/16 quarter round trim for all of the trim between the ceiling panel and the new awning materials. 

I have limited experience cutting trim for so many corners so I was sure to take my time and keep the order of my miters in check. I used a brad nailer with 1-1/2” brad nails to attach all of the trim. On the wall side of the awngin I used 1×4 cedar for the trim. I wound up going with paint on the wall trim so I could have just used regular ‘ol yellow pine here.

Following all of the quarter round trim I came back through and caulked all of the seams in order to be ready for paint.  I took a small sample of paint from the trim and the main wall of my barn for paint matching up at the big box store. Call me crazy but I really enjoyed rolling on all of the paint on the overhead ceiling and the wall of the barn. So far, I’m really liking the way this awning is coming together.

After about a day or so of the paint drying, I could finally button up the lighting.  If you recall from above, I left about 8” of romex wire hanging from each light box for hooking up the lights. Some of the lights went easier than others. The connection end of the job is very easy; just color matching the wires, connecting ground, and twisting on some wire nuts.  Because of the “sleek and shallow” mount design of the light, there is not very much room for stuffing in this thick solid 12 gage wire, which made the install portion kinda difficult.  I found that carefully stuffing the wires in with needle nose pliers really helped rather than using my hand strength.

TIP: Sometimes threading on a wire nut can be kind of difficult.  I do not have a lot of hand strength and find it easiest to use a set of pliers to really tighten the wire nuts down snuggly onto the wire connections. A lose wire inside a wire nut can be hazardous so pay special attention if this is the kind of thing you plan on repeating

With the lights wired up I took the time to double check everything electrically before throwing the breaker on.  Fortunately, everything checked out and all the lights worked just as they should.  Now for the final installation of the lights – lemme tell you, these things were a real pain. The lights come with a bracket which screws into the light box and then the light basically “snap fits” onto the bracket…..yeah right lol.  After fighting with each light mount, I finally got them all installed nice and tight.  They look good, but man were they a bear to install. : )

Posts

As I mentioned above, I needed to build out the bottom of the posts to give them a proper finished look.  Additionally, the posts are mounted to the deck with posts mounts which need to be covered up. 

There are a million and one different ways to build out the bottom of the posts to give them a finished look. I’ll be totally honest with you, I wanted something that was simple and nice looking but not too much.  I kept it easy and went with some 2×8 material to trim out the bottom with a 1×4 on top to give it a “boxed” look.

Because the deck is sloped, I had to make a small angled cut on the bottom so that when the 2×8 rested on the deck, the top edge is level. I had to use a bit of spacing material between the post and the 2×8 in order to clear the post bracket but that was really only the “tricky” part to it.

Last but certainly not the least is the sanding and staining.  I used an orbital sander to knock down all of the hairy cedar which will splinter into your skin very easily if you’re not careful.  I did not go too rough on the material and really just wanted to knock the “fuzzy” stuff off of the wood.  After the cross beams, rakes, and posts were sanded, everything got a coat of stain/sealer to match the fence I recently installed.

All and ll I am super happy with this build.  I am not a professional contractor by any means but like you I am hungry to learn from others around me and take pride in whatever I build.  Ultimately, if you take the time to do the proper research, you can build almost anything your little heart desires.

I hope you enjoyed this write up and appreciate you taking the time to learn more about my journey.  Take care and happy building.

April

Thinking about trying to install a Harbor Freight dust collector? Check out this DIY project where I installed my dust collector outside!

Because of one thing or another, I just haven’t gotten around to finishing it, but this week I finally finished hooking it up outside of my shop and piping it in to my tools. I hooked up a remote so I can quickly turn the unit on and off when needed. I’m storing my unit outside of my shop because I didn’t want to take up any floor space with the unit and loved the idea of killing some of the noise. I ended up building a small lean to shed on the backside of my shop just for this unit (and eventually my air compressor). If you missed the posts where I built the shed they can be found building a shed part 1, building a shed part 2, and building a shed part 3 . Also, if you missed the video showing how I turned my one stage dust collector into a two stage then you can find that video here.

The first thing I did was set up my trash can, thien baffle, and the collector of the HF unit. I took a measurement from the ground up to the intake port of the collector. Then moved inside my shop and went up that same distance. Note: This isn’t going to be exact since the level of the shed floor is slightly different then the level of the shop floor, however it will get me close enough. I was wanting to get this short section of hose as straight as possible. 

Once I marked the height on the inside of my shop I took a stud finder to the wall to check for studs. You do not want to drill a hole where a stud is. Also be mindful of where outlets are because it’s an indication on where wiring might be and that is something else you don’t want to be cutting into.

I am using a product that Rockler makes called a Through the Wall Port Kit to go through my wall to pipe things together. I took the pipe out of the box and removed one of the end fittings so that I could hold the 4″ pipe up to my shop wall and trace around it.

Next I drilled a hole large enough for a jigsaw blade to fit into then cut out the entire circle. To transfer this hole to the outside wall, I took my drill and drilled four holes at different points around the circle (I went for the top, bottom, left, and right). I made sure that the shaft of my drill bit was up against the edge of the circle and tried to keep my drill as straight as possible.

This way when I went out to the shed I could use the same 4″ pipe I used before to hold up against the wall, and make sure the four holes were inside the pipe, then trace around it. This gave me my circle to cut out with the jigsaw. I again drilled a hole big enough for a blade to fit into then cut the circle out. 

I inserted the Through the Wall Port. The fitting doesn’t come with a way to attach it to the walls, and it would probably be alright if I left it alone….however I went ahead and used four screws to attach it to the wall.

To connect this fitting to the collector I used a 4″ coupling on the Through the Wall Port then a 5″ to 4″ reducer fitting from the collector. I’m using the 5″ hose on the collector that came with the unit. Note: reducing the unit down to 4″ right away reduces some of the efficiency but I’m not worried about it because I have very short runs in my set up, but this is something you might want to consider while designing yours.

Now I mounted the motor. I had to get my husband to help me hold it while I used some lag bolts to secure it to some 2x4s I placed on the wall. I placed the motor so that it is right above the collector, again just trying to make straight lines where I could.

I originally was thinking of rotating the exhaust around 180 degrees so that I could cut a hole in the side of the shed and exhaust what little fine dust comes out directly into the yard. I’ve seen others do this and the amount of dust that actually makes it outside is so small that it isn’t a problem. However, when I went through the effort of taking off the baffle to rotate it, the exhaust port fell right on a stud. I could have moved the motor but then I wouldn’t have enough hose to reach from the exhaust port to the collector so I ended up only rotating the baffle 90 degrees. I will either attach a bag to collect the fine dust or continue on the path of cutting a hole in the shed and just purchasing some hose to pipe it out.

I moved back to the inside of the shop and started preparing to cut the pipe in the wall down to size. As you can see in the below photo, they give you extra pipe so if you have thicker walls you won’t run into problems. However, I need this end fitting to be seated snuggly on my wall so I measured the inside of the end fitting where the pipe rests. Then I took a sharpie and made several marks around the pipe using this measurement. I came back with painters tape and lined it up with my marks so that it wrapped around the pipe. This will give me a guide on making a straight cut. You could always eyeball it.

Once the pipe was cut to size, I slipped the end cap back on and secured it with four screws like I did the outside cap.

Awesome, now that the connection was made, now it was time to start attaching hose to run to my machines. I’m only going to be adding my tablesaw, bandsaw, and a floor sweep right now. I am using a combination of 4″ flex hose. I went with regular flex hose for most of the run but with a more rigid flex hose for areas that I couldn’t add in a lot of support. Like around my bandsaw. The cool thing about this black flex hose is it’s keeps the shape you give it.

I added in a blast gate on both the floor sweep an the bandsaw, but I didn’t yet add one on the table saw. I think I want to change to a different fitting or configuration so I have more access to the floor sweep and it’s blast gate. We’ll see what I end up doing.

Ok now the unit is in place and hooked up to my machines but I didn’t have a way to turn it on. I ordered a remote off line that says it can handle 20 amps, which is what the Harbor Freight unit pulls on start up. This remote was more expensive then most on the market so if you have a different DC unit then check to see how many amps it pulls before you order a remote and you might be able to get away with a cheaper model.

The existing plug that comes on the DC wasn’t long for my situation so I had to wire in a new plug. I cut the existing plug off the DC and pulled out the wires from the electrical box on the motor. I drilled a new hole in my shop wall, right next to the other hole I drilled, and ran the new wire out to the shed.

From there I ran the wire up to the electrical box and stripped back the three wires so I could add on new terminal fittings to the black and white wire. I pushed these back into the electrical box then took the green wire and grounded it on the green screw provided. With all three connected I replaced the electrical box cover then went inside the shop and attached the receiver to the wall and plugged in the DC.

Now I can keep the switch on my pocket or table saw fence and simply push the on and off button when I need to control the unit. : ) I am very happy to finally have this project finished! I still have a few loose ends to finish but at least I can use the unit as it is now.

If you liked this project and want to stay up to date with what I’m building, then be sure to sign up for my email newsletter and you’ll get an email when I post something new. See you soon!

*Disclosure: Some links in this email are affiliate links meaning, I may get a commission if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support in this way!

Thinking about building your own DIY pullout laundry hamper? Check out this DIY project where I built my own for my laundry room!

I’ve been working to improve my master bathroom here lately. One thing that my bathroom lacks is a laundry hamper. I have very little floor space in my bathroom, but I do have a space in my cabinet that is intended to be used as a sitting vanity spot; however, I never use this and neither does my husband (of course) so instead of allowing this area to go to waste, I want to build a pullout laundry hamper to utilize this area. I’m going to be making this project from cedar which is a little bit pricier than pine but I’m choosing it because it is extremely lightweight. I intend to be able to pull these baskets out from the vanity spot and carry them to the laundry room and back. If you are needing some baskets for around the house I think these would be great for a kid’s room or even a closet.

I have a set of pullout laundry hamper plans available for these baskets if you would like to make some for your home!

Laundry Basket Hamper Plans

$5.00

Shop now

Before diving into the project, let me talk about my choice of material real quick. I already said I’m going with cedar because I want them lightweight but when I went to the store I realized that I could either purchase 12 1x3s ($42) for this project or 3 1x12s ($81). To save the money I decided to go with the 1x3s which mean I am going to have to do a lot of glue ups in order to get my boards as wide as I need them. This adds on some time to the project so if you don’t want to mess with it then an alternative would be to buy the wider boards for a little more money.

Ok now on to building….

The first thing I did was set up a stop block at my miter saw and cut all of the boards that I will need to length.

Once all of the boards were cut to length, I started doing all of the glue ups. I divided them out to start making up the individual boards. I placed these in clamps and then let them sit until the glue was dry.

To make the end post of each basket, I took two pieces and glued them face to face. I used the smaller quick clamps for these and let them sit until dry.

Laundry Basket Hamper Plans

$5.00

Shop now

After a few hours, I took all of my glue ups out of my clamps and I first grabbed the end post pieces and ran it through my table saw on two sides in order to get it down to the width that I needed it. I wanted it to be square.

I grabbed the end post and I swapped out my table saw blade for my dado stack and I ran each end post through the dado stack on two sides. At this point it doesn’t matter which two sides you cut in the dado just as long as they are adjacent to each other.

With the dados cut, now I can start planing down my slats. These slats need to be the exact thickness as the dado slot so keep one of the end posts readily available to test out the thickness and take off more or less as needed. I used my thickness planer for this.

While you are planing down the slats, also grab the four side boards and run them through to be the same thickness.

Now grab four of the slats, doesn’t matter which, and all four solid sides and run in a dado near the bottom. This will be used later to slip in a bottom.

Now take the four solid side pieces and cut in a handle. You can use whatever handle shape you prefer but the way that I did it was I used a forstner bit to drill in two holes then took a straight edge and connected the top to the top and the bottom to the bottom and then used a jig saw to cut along the lines.

An alternative way of making this handle would be to rip a cardboard handle off of a beer box and set it in place to trace. Then you can drill a hole using a drill bit and finish the cut using a jig saw. Once you have the first handle cut, use it to trace the other three. Note: Make sure you cut these handles opposite of the dados! I cut three correctly but wasn’t paying attention on the fourth and cut the handle on the same end of the dado.

Laundry Basket Hamper Plans

$5.00

Shop now

I decided to also put in a handle on the front and back slatted sides. This way I would have a way to pull/push the basket when it’s in the vanity. For this I tape four slats together (make sure to not grab the ones with dados already in them) then used the bandsaw to cut out a simple handle.

The next thing I did was make some spacers because I wanted the front and back of my basket to have slats that were not touching each other. In order to achieve this since these slats are in the dado, I grabbed a scrap piece of board and cut some very small spacers that will fit inside the dado in between the slats. To make these, I used my band saw; however, making such tiny cuts on the band saw is pretty dangerous so use a pencil as a push stick so that you can keep your fingers well away from the blade.

Next, I started looking at the end posts that I made and even though they looked fine, I really wanted them to be a little more rounded instead of so pointy and squarish. I grabbed my belt sander and clamped it down to my workbench then I took each end post and used a small, circular object I found in my shop (electrical tape), and used a Sharpie to trace around it to create a curve on both ends. I used this line as a reference to take away material. This might seem like a very tedious process but it wasn’t. Each post only took me right over a minute to complete so it was very quick. You have to really pay attention and constantly be moving the piece or you will end up with flat spots.

Next I took two of the end posts, one of the slats with a dado in it, and started assembling. I first put glue in one dado on each end post and started by attaching the slats making sure that the slat with the dado was on the bottom then I would add in a small spacer inside the dado on each end post then slide in the next slat. I repeated this process until I was at the very top. You will need four slats total for each side. I once again brought out my clamps and clamped them in place and let them dry overnight.

Laundry Basket Hamper Plans

$5.00

Shop now

Before assembling I grabbed the bottom and used a jigsaw to cut some material out from each corner. This is so the bottom doesn’t run into the end post when things are put together. It took a few times of putting things together then taking it back apart before I got it all cut perfectly so be patient. You want to make sure the bottom is sitting snuggly in the lower dados and the sides are sitting flush in the vertical dados (in the end posts).

Once things fit perfect, take it apart one last time then add glue to all joints! I found it easiest to join together the two solid sides onto one slatted side then slip in the bottom. Now you can just add on the top. I set both of mine in clamps just to make sure it stayed together nice and tight while drying.

I again let everything sit for a few hours until the glue dried. When I pulled the baskets from the clamps I went over them with sandpaper, making sure to get all the dried glue on the posts and slats. I put a coat of stain on my baskets so if I left the glue then those areas wouldn’t stain. To make this easier you could use a damp rag to wipe away the glue once things are clamped up.

Laundry Basket Hamper Plans

$5.00

Shop now

There are several options for a finish but I went with the stain color dark walnut.

To install the baskets so that they could slide in and out of the bathroom vanity, I pulled down some wood left over from a previous project. This happen to be a 2×4 ripped in half. I cut it to length at the miter saw then predrilled a hole near the top and bottom.

I took them inside and attached them to the inside of the bathroom vanity cubby. Tip: I installed the bottom rails first then set the baskets in place and placed a spacer (1″ tall) on top of the basket. This way I could just set the top rails on top of this spacer and screw it down.

I slide the baskets in and it did work, however I didn’t make these baskets the same depth as this cabinet so they wanted to push back until they hit the wall which placed them back further then what I wanted. To fix this I cut a few scraps down in the shop and screwed them directly on top of the rails in the back. This created a stop for the baskets so they would only go in as far as I wanted.  : ) Easy fix.

And that’s it! Now i have two baskets I will be able to use to throw cloths instead of on the floor. I know most people probably won’t have a vanity with a cubby like this but if you want to make the baskets for another use they are very light and also strong.

Laundry Basket Hamper Plans

$5.00

Shop now

For both baskets I spent a a total of $42 in material.

If you liked this project and want to stay up to date with what I’m building, then be sure to sign up for my email newsletter and you’ll get an email when I post something new. See you soon!

*Disclosure: Some links in this email are affiliate links meaning, I may get a commission if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support in this way!

Thinking about insulating a garage? Check out this DIY project where I added electrical outlets, insulation, and OBS boards!

This week’s project was planned for about four weeks because I wanted to do it as a surprise for my husband. My husband is a gear head and his shop is the attached two car garage, we plan to install a mini split in his garage but as his garage is right now, it would be pretty pointless because he has two walls that are not insulated. So I’m going to walk you through how to tear down the sheetrock, how to add in a few more outlets, how to insulate using pre-cut batts, and will also show how to install OSB panels instead of using sheetrock. : ) Lets get going.

Ripping Down Sheetrock:

For this step, I recommend using a dust mask and gloves.

Ripping down the sheetrock was pretty much the easiest part of this whole job.  First, you want to move everything off the wall so you have plenty of working space. Then make a hole using a hammer. LIterally, just smash the hammer into the wall until it breaks through the sheetrock, it’s pretty easy. Now you can just grab the edges and start pulling. It was surprising how big of sheets the sheetrock came down in.I also used a flat bar to work under the sheetrock and just kind of lever it off the sheetrock screws that are holding it to the studs. Just go through the whole garage, ripping down the sheetrock off the walls that you want to insulate and replace. I had a window in our garage, so I went ahead and ripped out all of the sheetrock off the bay window as well. After everything was ripped down, I loaded the sheetrock into the bed of the truck and then the next day, took it to the dump and off-loaded it.With all the sheetrock removed, I went through and used a hammer to take out all of the nails that were in the studs (from holding the sheetrock onto the studs). You need to make sure to get all of the nails, or when you go to re-deck the walls, you’re not going to be able to have the material sit flush on the studs.What I did was just rip the nails out and let them fall onto the garage floor, to make it go quicker, but then I came back at the end of the night and swept the garage floor really good so we wouldn’t end up with any flat tires then just threw the nails away.

How To Wire In Additional Outlets In A Garage:

I am not going to go through the entire process yet because I was not able to finish. I am not very knowledgeable yet on electrical work, so all I did was lay the ground work so that my husband can come back, (or me) and finish it up later. However, since the walls are already down to the studs, I wanted to go ahead and add in a few outlet boxes. I used this book for reference and it was very very helpful!

I went to the hardware store and grabbed a few blue, single outlet boxes and nailed them to the studs where I wanted to add the outlets. I ended up adding ten additional outlets total. Previously, he only had one outlet, which of course is not enough. The blue boxes come with two nails on the sides and a little gauge indicator, for you to get the depth correctly. My sheathing that I will be putting up, the OSB, is 7/16″ thick and this little gauge indicator is 3/8″, so I went ahead and used it.

You put the box against the stud and make sure that those indicators are resting against the stud. This will make sure the box is 3/8″ off the stud, then use your hammer and hammer down the two nails that come attached to the box.I placed my outlet boxes kinda high up on the wall, because I know my husband has a lot of dirt bikes, 4-wheelers, mountain bikes and a whole bunch of other things along the lower portion of the wall, so I didn’t want to put outlets down there and make it difficult for him to get to them. I also knew roughly the height of his workbenches so I made sure to place these outlets above his workbench height so he would be able to easily get a plug to them. So just think about how your garage is set up and make your outlets height accordingly.

Next, I grabbed some 12-2 Romex wiring and started in on the wiring. We only have one breaker, a 15 amp breaker running to the garage right now, so we will have to run new power from the breaker to the garage in order to accommodate these new outlets. In order to do that, I needed to run the wire somewhere that we will be able to splice into it later so I decided to do that in the attic. For the ten outlets, I created 4 different circuits.

I used a 3/4″ paddle bit to drill a hole through the top plate, in the wall, and this will allow me to run a wire up to the attic that will later splice into a line ran to the breaker box. I also used the same paddle bit to drill through the studs, so I’ll be able to daisy-chain the outlets together, with the Romex wiring. I left about 4′ of wiring up in the attic, so we will be able to use that later to make all of the connections. Then I came down into the first blue box and I left about 6″- 8″ of wiring sticking out of the box. Then I ran a new wire, through the bottom of that same outlet box, and ran it through the stud and into the top of the next outlet box over, again leaving 6″ – 8″ of wire. This will allow me to later come back and wire in the outlets. After finishing that, I repeated the process by going into the bottom of that same outlet box, cutting 6″ – 8″ then daisy-chaining over the next one to the right and repeating. All of these outlets here are going to be on the same circuit.Next I move over the next set of outlets that I want on one circuit and repeated the process. I go to the attic, leave about 4′ of wiring in the attic to use later, then I start cutting the different lengths of Romex, always leaving 6″ – 8″ of wire, to wire the outlets together.

And then on the very last outlet, I ran it from the attic, straight down to the outlet box, this way my husband has the option of putting a 240 outlet here. If you want 240 ran somewhere else, then just leave a single wire for that outlet, don’t daisy-chain another outlet to that one. Also, depending on what you ran on it, you might need to run a bigger gauge wire (like 10-2).

Adding Insulation:

This project was sponsored by Johns Manville and I did receive the insulation for free. I ended up using the kraft faced pre-cut batts to make this step go a lot quicker. My studs are on 24″ centers and I have 8′ walls so I used the 23″ X 93″ batts. Make sure you measure your walls before you go to the store to pick out your insulation. I bought three packs but I ended up only opening two and returned the third. If your garage is the same size then two should be enough.Here is a locator to find Johns Manville insulation near you.

This step went really easy, however for insulation it is fiberglass so you need to make sure you have a respirator/dust mask that is rated at an N95 and it will be on the face of the respirator in orange letters. You can find these on the paint aisle at your home improvement store. You will also need gloves, long sleeved shirt, long pants and safety glasses.

To start, cut the bag open without cutting the insulation inside and then what I did, is I started by insulating the panels that didn’t have any wiring or any electrical boxes to work around. That way, I could just take the batt and insert it into the panel without making any modifications to it.When you are installing these batts, the key is to not compress or squish the insulation, or it will reduce the R-Value. You want it to be a nice friction fit because on the other hand, you don’t want any gaps or it will again, reduce how well it’s going to insulate your space. So to get a nice friction fit, you put the batt into the panel and then just tuck in the edges. If the batt is too wide, then you’ll have to cut it down.  If the batt is not wide enough, then you’ll need to go get batts that are wide enough. If the batt is too long, then use a box blade and cut it down to where it fits nicely. All of my batts, even though they are for 8′ walls, they were about an inch too long. I used a box blade to just take off the very end, and then just tucked in the bottom.After I put two panels next to one another, I came back with a stapler that I purchased at the hardware store and stapled the paper flanges to the face of the stud. Now, there are two methods to stapling these flanges and I believe a lot of contractors go to the inside of the stud, instead of on the face so that it doesn’t interfere with the decking process. So you can staple these on the inside of the stud if you would like however I decided to go on the face. If you do that, just make sure the staples go in all the way and are flush.

For the panels with outlets, I would first put the batt in place then use my box blade to make shallow cuts for where the outlet fell. Then I would take the batt out of the panel and use a hard surface to finish making the cut all the way through the batt. Place the batt in the panel and just make sure that the hole you cut fits snugly around the outlet box. If it doesn’t, then grab a scrap off the floor and cut one to fit. If you have wiring, then you can either make a slit along the back, to compensate for the wire or you can take the batt and split it into two, then run the back portion of the batt behind the wire, then fold up the front portion to go in front of it. This is the option I went with. Then you can repeat the process by stapling the flanges to the stud. For anything that is kind of oddly shaped, I had a few squares and narrow panels around my window area, you just want to lay the batt on the ground and again use a box blade to cut it down to the size you need. I would first measure my space and then cut the batt to a 1/4″ larger than what it needed to be, so I could make sure it would be a nice friction fit.All in all, I’ve never done insulation before and I was working all by myself and it took me five hours to do the entire garage. I don’t think that is that bad but since you have to wear so much gear, I would try to wait until a semi cool day so you aren’t sweating like crazy.

Installing OSB Panels In A Garage:    

I decided to go with OSB panels instead of putting back up sheetrock because with OSB you can put a nail or a screw anywhere you want versus having to find a stud. If you do not like the way OSB looks, of course you have the option of painting it however my husband likes the way it looks so he does not want his painted.

When installing these, it is supposed to be the horizontal line side facing out and I accidentally installed four of the panels backwards but it’s not a big deal. Also, you can hang these horizontally and those vertical lines are supposed to line up with your studs whether they are on 24″ centers or 16″ centers. However, since I’m working by myself, there is no way I would be able to get the top panel on without any help. So that is why I decided to hang mine vertically. Either way will work.

So what I would do is I went to the store and I bought eleven panels of OSB for my garage then off-load them one by one. I would first measure my wall where it was going to be hung and then I would cut it down to size. If it needed trimming I would use my circular saw. If it had an outlet, I would locate that onto the board and then use a pencil to mark out the entire square, then use a jig-saw to cut out the rectangle. Moving these sheets by myself was a difficult job but it definitely can be done. I would move it into place and to get the height right, at first I would set it onto two 2″ X 4″s, then use two more 2″ X 4″s to kind of act as a lever so that I could shift it up into the height that it needed to be at.I actually ended up cutting off 1″ from the top of all the panels which leaves a gap when up on the wall however it is much easier to get into place, and it’s nothing that coming back and adding moulding, won’t hide. So I recommend doing this as well, to save yourself some time. It was a very difficult step because it is an older house and the walls are definitely not square.I went through the entire garage and just repeated the process. Once I had the panel in place, I would make sure I brought my drill and two screws with me (putting the screws in my pocket and my drill hooked on my back pocket). Once I got the board to the height that I needed it, I would tack it down in two places, then step off the lever, and finish tacking it down around the perimeter and along the studs.

These need to be spaced apart 1/8″ because they will eventually expand, so I used some nails tacked into the stud to act as spacers.All in all, it took me around 7 1/2 – 8 hours to do the entire garage with OSB, again working by myself.

Stay tuned for the finally wiring in this space as well as many future projects. Total I spent around $100 for the OSB, about $160 for the insulation, and $40 for the Romex wiring. : ) Not bad considering the benefit.

Here is a before and after shot:

If you liked this project and want to stay up to date with what I’m building, then be sure to sign up for my email newsletter and you’ll get an email when I post something new. See you soon!

*Disclosure: Some links in this email are affiliate links, meaning I may get a commission if you make a purchase. Thanks for your support in this way!

And when I say handyman, I’m also including handy woman in that term. ; )

There are so many little things that would make great stocking stuffers, but I understand how difficult it would be to think of things unless you work in a shop yourself…so I put together a list of different things you might consider if your spouse is a DIYer. Almost all of the below items can be found at Home Depot but the few that can’t are marked for you. Hope you find it useful!

1) Paint Brush Comb – $5

This is a great tool for anybody that uses a paint brush.

2) Painter’s Pyramid – $5

Something else for painting…they hold the object up off your workspace so you can paint the sides as well as the top. Very handy and perfect size for a stocking.

3) Ear Plugs – $3 – 20

1. 1. Traditional – If you purchase traditional style ear plugs, then I would recommend buying the ones with strings attached.

1. Surefire – These are my personal choice. They are comfortable and I like them because I can plug up the hole in the back when I’m working to cut the sound, but then unstopper it when I lay my tool down (instead of taking them out). You can actually buy these cheaper than a box of the disposable kind.

4) Pegboard Hooks – $9

You can buy a 51 piece pegboard hook set for cheap, but check to see how thick the pegboard is before buying any because they make hooks for 1/8″, 1/4″ and 3/4″.

5) Drive Guide – $5

By far one of my favorites. Regardless of what brand their drill is, this is the perfect drill accessory that will help with drilling in screws. It has a retractable sleeve that helps stabilize the screw while it’s getting started.

6) Sanding Block – $6

Very useful. You put a strip of sandpaper in both ends so instead of holding the paper while sanding, you hold the block.

7) EZ Mark Line Cords – $8 (Not found at Home Depot)

The simple things are the best! These are so useful and make a could be difficult job into something quick and easy. It transfers a line onto the backside of your work so that you know where you need to put in your nails/screws to join two pieces of wood. It’s one of those things where you might only use it once or twice a year (depending on what type of projects you do) but if you need it, you will be thankful to have it.

8) Abrasive Cleaning Stick – $7 (Not found at Home Depot)

Need. Must have. So handy. Again, one of those small things that will make you thankful you have it even if you only use it once a year. It makes checking square on a project a one person job and gives a more reliable reading.

10) Industries Calculator – $15

With this calculator you can plug in feet, inches, yards, fractions….everything. It’s handy and makes shop life easy.

11) Torpedo Level – $10

If they don’t already have this tool in their inventory, then it would make for a great stuffer. Buy one that has a magnetic strip so it can be stuck to a tool box for storing

It’s shocking how often I reach for this guy. Buy them one and I promise they will find a use for it.

13) Tape Measure – $10

I keep three tape measures in my shop, but Stanley LeverLock is the one I recommend and reach for the most. This one might not be a good item for all, but if they are just starting to build their tool inventory then this would be something good to throw in.

14) Replacement Saw Blades – $9 – $20

Any saw in a shop will have blades to replace so my recommendation for you is to take a photo of their jigsaw, scroll saw, band saw, hack saw, sawsall (not circular saw because those blades are too big for the stocking), and take it up to Home Depot and ask a sales person to help you find blades that go with the tool.

15) Auxiliary Cord – $5

Having an auxiliary cord allows me to plug my phone into my shop head unit so I can pick my own tunes. This is also called a headphone to RCA jack.

16) Pneumatic Blow Gun – $9

Love this tool. It’s one tool my husband is always stealing and I’m always stealing it back. I would say it’s a must have.

15) FeatherBoard – $11-$20

This is a great accessory to get anybody that owns a tablesaw. The price varies depending on where you purchase it at.

16) Nippers – $11

If they have a nailgun then this is a great tool to accompany it. Instead of coming to a point, it has a flat nose so that it can cut stray nails flush with the wood. It is a must have.

17) Red Caps – $7

These things are amazing to have around. They are little flexiable caps that can be placed over an assortment of things to seal or protect the end such as: capping off tubes of caulk, a pneumatic tool’s port, electrical wire, wood glue. The best price for these guys are through Amazon.

18) Restocking the Essentials
There are several things in a shop that a DIYer is always using up so even if they aren’t completely out yet, buying the below items can never be a bad idea:

• Foam Brushes – $2: You can find these everywhere but Big Lots has the best price at $2 for the large assortment pack. These are great for staining.
• Chip Brushes – $2: Again, best price is at Big Lots. These are great disposable brushes that are handy to have in a shop for jobs not requiring an actual quality paint brush.
• Nail Gun Nails – $5-$15: Find their bradnail/finish nail stash and see which lengths are getting low. Pay attention to the gauge of the nail (example: 18 gauge; 16 gauge) then go pick up a box or two.
• Sandpaper – $10: It’s like packages of diapers…you can never have too many given to you. ; ) If you buy the strips of paper or the sanding sponges then you can fit them into a stocking.
• Pencils – $1 – They break, they get lost….it’s just always good to have a few on standby.
• Screws – Check to see which boxes of screws are getting low and purchase another one.
• Wood Glue – $3: I use Elmer’s brand because Gorilla’s cap doesn’t hold up over time.
• GoJo Hand Cleaner – $4: (My husband jokes that I shower in this stuff)
• Off – $5: Yes, the bug spray. I always keep a can in my shop.

Halloween is one of my favorites and even though I don’t have kids to take trick or treating, my company does let us dress up and have a costume contest. Yeah…I work for some pretty cool people. So last year I went as a drilling rig, and this year I went as a green GI Joe from Toy Story. Check out the photos and the step by step instructions if you are interested in making your own.

                

 

WilkerDon’t: The spray paint ended up not liking the black so I had to use another (lighter colored) top in the end. So learn from my mistake and don’t buy black.
I paid $4 for the shirt and pants, then $5 for the shoes and $2 for the belt. Awesome.

2) Next thing I did was hit the Dollar Tree where I purchased a helmet, and grenade, dog tags and binoculars, and a little hand gun.

3) Last stop was Home Depot where I purchased 4 cans of green spray paint!

4) I set everything out and just started spraying. Ignore the wig in the photo below because I ended up not using it and just painted my hair instead.

5) I grabbed Cody’s Ka-bar but didn’t want to permanently paint the leather so I wrapped it in electrical tape first then gave it a good coating. To attach it to my leg I used duck tape (because it’s wide) and just went through the holster then around my leg. Remember, everything will be painted green in the end, so different material doesn’t matter too much. Plus…it’s just for fun. ; )

People will still get what it is but I thought the additions made it look cooler.

7) To make the stand, just stand on some cardboard and trace a shape around your feet then cut and paint.

This costume might look over the top but it was actually super simple….it’s mainly just spray painting.

8) I picked up a tube of green face paint from the Halloween store for $2 and applied it the morning of. After the contest I washed most of it right off with soap and water, then got the remaindered off with face wash.

• Buy clothes of light colored so the green will have an easy time covering it up. (The jacket I ended up using was baby pink.)
• The green makeup worked for my face and back of my hands, but I ended up having to use the spray paint for my palms.
• Paint the clothes a few days before you have to wear them so the smell will have time to die down.
• I ended up not attaching the foot stand to my feet because we were having a company lunch and I knew I would be walking around a bunch…so I just cut it out and carried it where I wanted to go then would stand on it to pose.
• If you don’t want to paint your face then look into a green bodysuit/face mask that you can just pull over but still see through.
• If you don’t want to mess with fabricating a bazooka then just grab a toy gun and paint it green.