Have thought about it, but came to my senses. Being all in one place, easily accessible and visible means that they'll be more noticeable to my wife as well; not just me. She absolutely knows about the guns I own, but knowing it isn't the same as seeing it. I also have been thinking about paring down "stuff" in general lately, not just guns.
House build
2
Finally... Got the footings poured for our house yesterday. It's been slow going, but at least it's going, and doing the excavation/forming/etc work ourselves the way we have has saved us thousands already even at this early stage. Basically, saving money by spending time and effort instead. So far, the only labor we've paid for is for the contractor (really more consultant & overseer) over the course of the excavation, and some guys one day for the footing pour. Other than that, it's been all us except paying for materials like the concrete, gravel, drainage pipe, etc. So it's slow going, but it means we'll be able to have it paid off sooner than we would otherwise.
At the bottom-left of the pic, there's another line of footing that you can't see much of, because of the way the ground slopes. Because the house design is segmented the way it is, we have over 300 linear feet of concrete wall, meaning over 300 feet of 15x36" footings. Just the footings alone took 41 yards of concrete.
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The forming for the footings was a major project on its own. We used ~2350 ft of horizontal rebar, and over 300 three-foot vertical rebar ties bent at 90 degrees below the surface, to integrate poured walls into the footings. (Those bars sticking up out of the footings in the above pic.) All the rebar is the stronger Grade-60 stuff instead of the more commonly seen Grade 40. This isn't going to be a huge house, but it'll be a heavy house, and we intentionally erred on the side of caution in every aspect of the foundation.
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It's good to see something finally going INTO the hole, rather than just dirt & rock coming out of it.
At the bottom-left of the pic, there's another line of footing that you can't see much of, because of the way the ground slopes. Because the house design is segmented the way it is, we have over 300 linear feet of concrete wall, meaning over 300 feet of 15x36" footings. Just the footings alone took 41 yards of concrete.
The forming for the footings was a major project on its own. We used ~2350 ft of horizontal rebar, and over 300 three-foot vertical rebar ties bent at 90 degrees below the surface, to integrate poured walls into the footings. (Those bars sticking up out of the footings in the above pic.) All the rebar is the stronger Grade-60 stuff instead of the more commonly seen Grade 40. This isn't going to be a huge house, but it'll be a heavy house, and we intentionally erred on the side of caution in every aspect of the foundation.
It's good to see something finally going INTO the hole, rather than just dirt & rock coming out of it.
101 - 120 of 125 Posts
Been busy with outdoor work and misc family stuff lately, so haven't accomplished a lot, but did get the shelves & most of the handgun hangers in place in the gun closet. Not everything is there yet; been bringing them home a couple at a time from the safes at the shop:
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Not planning on keeping a bunch of ammo in there, but do like having at least one load with each gun. Really like having this extra, admittedly small space for locking up things.
Not planning on keeping a bunch of ammo in there, but do like having at least one load with each gun. Really like having this extra, admittedly small space for locking up things.
2
When I was posting that gun-closet picture above, I came across another picture in my photobucket album that I thought I'd share here. It was something that I made up for the house probably six months ago; something that's very simple yet solves a major storage hassle. Storing extra furnace filters usually either means keeping them in a cabinet so they're out of the way, but often forgotten about; or storing them out of a cabinet where they get easily damaged. I was looking for a solution for storing extra furnace filters used in the storm cellar air-intake filtration setup, but couldn't find anything I liked. Ended up making a simple holder, made out of some leftover ground wire that was laying around. I measured the filter dimensions, decided how many I wanted to keep on hand, did a hand-drawn sketch with dimensions notated, and simply (and carefully) bent the wire into shape. Attached it to the concrete wall with simple wire-retention clips and wall dog anchors.
Empty, it looks weird:
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But with the filters in place, it works extremely well:
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Originally I was using MERV14 filters with carbon in normal daily use, but dropped down to MERV13, with MERV14 & carbon in reserve. The price difference between the two is very stark, and MERV13 is still hospital-room rated filtration. This rack holds seven filters; five of the MERV13 in front for daily use, and two of the carbon-infused MERV14 wrapped in wide stretch plastic, to keep the carbon fresh.
Just thought I'd share it, in case anyone else has a similar storage conundrum. They're easy to find, up off the floor, yet out of the way, and all it cost was some left-over wire that was already on hand and a few screws & anchors.
Empty, it looks weird:
But with the filters in place, it works extremely well:
Originally I was using MERV14 filters with carbon in normal daily use, but dropped down to MERV13, with MERV14 & carbon in reserve. The price difference between the two is very stark, and MERV13 is still hospital-room rated filtration. This rack holds seven filters; five of the MERV13 in front for daily use, and two of the carbon-infused MERV14 wrapped in wide stretch plastic, to keep the carbon fresh.
Just thought I'd share it, in case anyone else has a similar storage conundrum. They're easy to find, up off the floor, yet out of the way, and all it cost was some left-over wire that was already on hand and a few screws & anchors.
When she found out that Kioti (the tractor brand) is pronounced 'coyote' just like the animal, my wife promptly named and adorned ours.
Meet "Wile E. Kioti"
:
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Modifying the SMV sign like that may be technically illegal if we ever take it out on the road, but if I get a ticket, I get a ticket. It makes her smile, and that's my litmus test for most things nowadays.
Meet "Wile E. Kioti"
:
Modifying the SMV sign like that may be technically illegal if we ever take it out on the road, but if I get a ticket, I get a ticket. It makes her smile, and that's my litmus test for most things nowadays.
Decided to be lazy a couple nights ago and instead of working when I got home, I sat out on the front porch and smoked a cigar while watching some netflix on my tablet. The deer there are getting so used to us that they pretty much ignore us as long as we're not being too boisterous. They'll make eye contact, you can wave to them & talk to them, and they only take off if you get overly loud or start moving around a bunch. The one on the right is a tiny little fawn; closer to the porch than he looks because of his size.
My wife can toss apples & junk to them, but they don't trust me that much yet. Not a bad place to live.
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My wife can toss apples & junk to them, but they don't trust me that much yet. Not a bad place to live.
What are you using for a de-humidifier in your vault? I would think moisture would be a problem. Ain't living in the country great?
Attachments
2
Starting to clear trails through the woods. Too much unused/unusable acreage going to waste.
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About 90 yards in two hours, including taking out some 3"-4"trees. Not truly finished, but at least passable & accessible. Never left the tractor seat, all done with the Ratchet Rake on the front end loader; it's turning out to be an impressive tool.
About 90 yards in two hours, including taking out some 3"-4"trees. Not truly finished, but at least passable & accessible. Never left the tractor seat, all done with the Ratchet Rake on the front end loader; it's turning out to be an impressive tool.
Front yard yesterday afternoon:
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Had three deer in the backyard when leaving for church yesterday morning also. Country is cool.
Had three deer in the backyard when leaving for church yesterday morning also. Country is cool.
The storm cellar and security systems have come a long ways. Have multi-megapixel cameras watching pretty much every area around the house and even one in the upstairs shop area; stored on dual hard drives. And a very good burglar & fire alarm system with dual-path communication and back-up power.
In the storm cellar, done with finishing and painting of ceiling, the one non-concrete (sleeping-area divider) wall & horizontal strip between upper & lower siding runs (where conduit & elecrical boxes are surface-mounted on concrete), wall insulation & paneling, furniture, and even a nice TV projector. Turning into more of a man-cave than pure storm cellar.
The pic showing the furniture & floor is a month old or more; the overall space is much cleaner now and all the walls in that area are finished with the insulation and horizontal siding. Those old cabinets were retrieved from a jobsite; just in there temporarily for workspace use, and are moved to another utility storage space now. Still have more to do, but it's now at least fairly comfortable & usable. Definitely slow going doing everything by myself this way, but we're okay with that for now. Only the two of us, so we're okay for space, and if/when we sell the business we'll hire a full-time crew to finish whatever I don't have done.
(Fwiw, Kurt Russell's "The Art of the Steal" - a great movie.)
In the storm cellar, done with finishing and painting of ceiling, the one non-concrete (sleeping-area divider) wall & horizontal strip between upper & lower siding runs (where conduit & elecrical boxes are surface-mounted on concrete), wall insulation & paneling, furniture, and even a nice TV projector. Turning into more of a man-cave than pure storm cellar.
The pic showing the furniture & floor is a month old or more; the overall space is much cleaner now and all the walls in that area are finished with the insulation and horizontal siding. Those old cabinets were retrieved from a jobsite; just in there temporarily for workspace use, and are moved to another utility storage space now. Still have more to do, but it's now at least fairly comfortable & usable. Definitely slow going doing everything by myself this way, but we're okay with that for now. Only the two of us, so we're okay for space, and if/when we sell the business we'll hire a full-time crew to finish whatever I don't have done.
(Fwiw, Kurt Russell's "The Art of the Steal" - a great movie.)
Attachments
Got the last of the electrical circuits run downstairs; all electrical on that level is done except for when I eventually tie in the upstairs subpanel and heavy-appliance circuits (oven, dryer, cooktop,etc) which are home run to the main panel downstairs. Also got the sheetrock divider wall and utility space room walls insulated & sided.
Pretty much done in/with the gun closet. Put an extremely heavy shelving unit behind the door (which is why it doesn't open quite all the way back now), giving a lot of bin storage for ammo, mags, holsters, etc. Has seven 12x36 shelves, each with an alleged 800-lb rating, which is a good thing for this kind of storage. Most of the ammo & mags in there are on the shelf unit, but I like having at least one load near most guns. I may put another, shorter shelf unit on the other side of the door. Don't want to crowd & clutter things too much in there, but it would be nice to have a place to set things other than the gun racks and tall shelves.
Having some photobucket issues, so can only post thumbnails at the moment. Clicking on it shows it full size. (Some of those guns aren't mine; they're other people's and I'm just storing them for them.)
Pretty much done in/with the gun closet. Put an extremely heavy shelving unit behind the door (which is why it doesn't open quite all the way back now), giving a lot of bin storage for ammo, mags, holsters, etc. Has seven 12x36 shelves, each with an alleged 800-lb rating, which is a good thing for this kind of storage. Most of the ammo & mags in there are on the shelf unit, but I like having at least one load near most guns. I may put another, shorter shelf unit on the other side of the door. Don't want to crowd & clutter things too much in there, but it would be nice to have a place to set things other than the gun racks and tall shelves.
Having some photobucket issues, so can only post thumbnails at the moment. Clicking on it shows it full size. (Some of those guns aren't mine; they're other people's and I'm just storing them for them.)
Attachments
Had an RGF Reme Halo air purifier installed in the ductwork, to help my wife's increased sensitivity to allergens & irritants. Works surprisingly well; some form of hydroperoxide generator, zinc ionizer, and iirc UV light as well.
https://www.rgf.com/products/air/reme-halo/
As far as visible changes & finishing, this pic isn't quite current, but fairly recent. Have since added just peripheral junk like a microwave above the mini-fridge, sound bar below the screen, etc. But pretty much current state of the storm cellar 'man cave'. The cabinets were damaged ones that I got at a surplus outlet and repaired & painted, the countertop is just two layers of plywood that I edge-banded and polyurethaned, and the projector screen is just a white 'blackout' fabric on a 2x4 frame I built & hung with concrete anchors. (Fwiw, the show on the screen is "Kim's Convenience", a very good Canadian comedy; possibly even better than "Corner Gas".)
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{Yes, the counches are raised. We're a clan of yeti-like oafs and normal furniture just doesn't fit... :unhappy: }
https://www.rgf.com/products/air/reme-halo/
As far as visible changes & finishing, this pic isn't quite current, but fairly recent. Have since added just peripheral junk like a microwave above the mini-fridge, sound bar below the screen, etc. But pretty much current state of the storm cellar 'man cave'. The cabinets were damaged ones that I got at a surplus outlet and repaired & painted, the countertop is just two layers of plywood that I edge-banded and polyurethaned, and the projector screen is just a white 'blackout' fabric on a 2x4 frame I built & hung with concrete anchors. (Fwiw, the show on the screen is "Kim's Convenience", a very good Canadian comedy; possibly even better than "Corner Gas".)
{Yes, the counches are raised. We're a clan of yeti-like oafs and normal furniture just doesn't fit... :unhappy: }
Nice job JohnHad an RGF Reme Halo air purifier installed in the ductwork, to help my wife's increased sensitivity to allergens & irritants. Works surprisingly well; some form of hydroperoxide generator, zinc ionizer, and iirc UV light as well.
https://www.rgf.com/products/air/reme-halo/
As far as visible changes & finishing, this pic isn't quite current, but fairly recent. Have since added just peripheral junk like a microwave above the mini-fridge, sound bar below the screen, etc. But pretty much current state of the storm cellar 'man cave'. The cabinets were damaged ones that I got at a surplus outlet and repaired & painted, the countertop is just two layers of plywood that I edge-banded and polyurethaned, and the projector screen is just a white 'blackout' fabric on a 2x4 frame I built & hung with concrete anchors. (Fwiw, the show on the screen is "Kim's Convenience", a very good Canadian comedy; possibly even better than "Corner Gas".)
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{Yes, the counches are raised. We're a clan of yeti-like oafs and normal furniture just doesn't fit... :unhappy: }
And I agree with vregards to furniture. Most give you the feeling of sitting on the floor. Couches in particular.
Got the last of the cabinets painted and mounted in the storm cellar / man-cave this past weekend. Took the easy way out on the upper cabinets and bought standard ones at Lowes instead of buying & repairing damaged ones as I did with the bottoms.
Should be the end of most everything in there; got the permanent generator service cable routed through the concrete, terminated & connected several weeks ago which is a good thing. The black cabinet on the wall looks odd & awkward but it's out of the way. It's full of dvd's & blu-rays and sat on top of the lower cabinets for a long time. This seemed the best place to put it permanently; even though it's aesthetically odd, it's close to the player and still out of the way.
Plenty of comfortable seating for normal 'man cave' family TV-room use, but also (for storm cellar purposes) has microwave, mini-fridge, half bath, inline (but isolated) water tank, wired-in transfer switch for the generator, MERV-14 filtered air intake, and extra folding chairs for additional people in case more people end up there in a storm.
This is just the front half of the storm cellar. It doesn't show the back half where the freezer and my wife's sewing stuff is set up, the half bath, or the separated sleeping area off to one side. (I love the face-palm lion wall hanging - it reflects my view of most people nowadays, a "why are y'all like this?" kind of thing.) So praise Jesus, done with this part of the house - at least until we furnish the storm cellar's sleeping area that isn't shown in the pic...
![13565]()
Should be the end of most everything in there; got the permanent generator service cable routed through the concrete, terminated & connected several weeks ago which is a good thing. The black cabinet on the wall looks odd & awkward but it's out of the way. It's full of dvd's & blu-rays and sat on top of the lower cabinets for a long time. This seemed the best place to put it permanently; even though it's aesthetically odd, it's close to the player and still out of the way.
Plenty of comfortable seating for normal 'man cave' family TV-room use, but also (for storm cellar purposes) has microwave, mini-fridge, half bath, inline (but isolated) water tank, wired-in transfer switch for the generator, MERV-14 filtered air intake, and extra folding chairs for additional people in case more people end up there in a storm.
This is just the front half of the storm cellar. It doesn't show the back half where the freezer and my wife's sewing stuff is set up, the half bath, or the separated sleeping area off to one side. (I love the face-palm lion wall hanging - it reflects my view of most people nowadays, a "why are y'all like this?" kind of thing.) So praise Jesus, done with this part of the house - at least until we furnish the storm cellar's sleeping area that isn't shown in the pic...
Doesn't seem like a whole lot, but finally getting a little momentum on finishing the upstairs. (After my wife got sick and our builder died with no warning, we just decided to live in the downstairs only, and it's been more than adequate for the two of us, but want to go ahead & get things moving again on the upstairs, albeit slowly.) Got what seems like small things done recently, like re-wiring between the main electrical panel downstairs and the subpanel upstairs to give the subpanel 100 amp service instead of 60, adding light kits to the garage-door openers (we used commercial wall-mount opener motors and they didn't originally have light kits), so now if my wife comes in after dark it isn’t to a dark garage. Got the permanent wiring done for the openers, the gable-mounted exhaust fan – previously they were just on extension cord power – and got some utility 120-volt outlets on the garage walls. Also mounted a heavy duty retractable extension cord in the corner of the garage, a 65-foot 12-gauge cord that will reach darn near across the house & garage both, so it should be pretty handy.
Also got the garage lights themselves finished, four 130-watt LED lights strung across the 40’ span on a chain.
![Property Wood Lighting Beam Building]()
For perspective, the horizontal wall purlins are on 3-foot centers, so the top of those windows are at 7½ feet, and the top of the gable fan is right at 18 feet. (The three-foot 2x4's between the horizontal wall purlins were just temporary, put as spacers between the wall purlins during construction to keep the purlins from sagging before the wall material was attached. They were in all the purlin cavities from floor to roof during construction; the few still in there are just ones that I haven't bothered to remove yet. Honestly don't even notice them anymore, until seeing them in this pic.) The lights are strung at 12 foot height at the ends of the chain, and the added vertical support chains (about 11 feet in from the front & back walls) run up to roof purlins at 18 feet up. If I get the scaffolding re-assembled in there someday, I may add another vertical support chain right at the peak, but may not either. It’s completely functional and stable as-is, and I don’t figure I’ll be living here ten years from now anyway, probably not even five.
Fwiw, the garage lights and the heavy-duty retractable cord were both woot.com purchases. (Woot.com is Amazon’s clearance site if you’re not familiar with it.) You never know what they’ll have for sale, but I’ve picked up a lot of things awfully cheap over the last 5-6 years there.
Also got the garage lights themselves finished, four 130-watt LED lights strung across the 40’ span on a chain.
For perspective, the horizontal wall purlins are on 3-foot centers, so the top of those windows are at 7½ feet, and the top of the gable fan is right at 18 feet. (The three-foot 2x4's between the horizontal wall purlins were just temporary, put as spacers between the wall purlins during construction to keep the purlins from sagging before the wall material was attached. They were in all the purlin cavities from floor to roof during construction; the few still in there are just ones that I haven't bothered to remove yet. Honestly don't even notice them anymore, until seeing them in this pic.) The lights are strung at 12 foot height at the ends of the chain, and the added vertical support chains (about 11 feet in from the front & back walls) run up to roof purlins at 18 feet up. If I get the scaffolding re-assembled in there someday, I may add another vertical support chain right at the peak, but may not either. It’s completely functional and stable as-is, and I don’t figure I’ll be living here ten years from now anyway, probably not even five.
Fwiw, the garage lights and the heavy-duty retractable cord were both woot.com purchases. (Woot.com is Amazon’s clearance site if you’re not familiar with it.) You never know what they’ll have for sale, but I’ve picked up a lot of things awfully cheap over the last 5-6 years there.
101 - 120 of 125 Posts
