Home decor and renovation craftalong

I have yet to go into our shed…I hope that we don’t find any unwanted surprises like you did!

Take it easy…you have a lot on your plate so the shed will still be there…it ain’t going anywhere!! ha ha

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We have a whole groundhog community in my yard. Between them and Watership Down level bunny populations I just throw “proper gardening” off my wants list and have fun with whatever stays. Lol

Sorry about your shed. That’s stressful when already elbow deep in a reno project.

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When we moved in the shed was smack dab at the center back of a long grass lawn. And it was ugly. I steped in and right through the floor. We rebuilt the foundation in the corner from donated railway ties and thin plywood from a old temporary dance floor. Repainted and moved the shed. It’s still not beautiful, but it is useful.
The floor has held up for 17 years, so not bad. Not everything has been put back in. The fake window used to have glass but is falling apart. I still love it. I may paint fake muntins for fun


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The subfloor has been fixed and the new slider is in… temporarily. There was a defect in the door, so they have to order a replacement. They re-framed my little closet (attic access) to be a bit narrower and deeper, with a slight recess for the fridge.

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Something always delays things in renovations! Weather was our biggest culprit. They had to affix the stone steps 5 times now! Hope the last time was the end of it. The mailbox and grass are supposed to go in today, but I bet there will be another delay since the contractor is working three jobs all at the same time!

Anyway, here is the house that our painter (my nephew-in-law) took. He is headed back to work as the painter for the local college. Any touch ups will have to be done when he can get away.


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Hey @TheMistressT, I just got an email from CPSC regarding railing cables that are recalled. I know you special ordered for your deck, but wanted to pass along the link just in case yours are manufactured by the same company.

https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2025/Sanven-Technology-Recalls-Vevor-Cable-Railing-Kits-Due-to-Entrapment-Hazard

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Thank you for sharing this! This is not our brand, but I checked so see if ours had the same hazard and it did not. I feel better knowing!

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This is all we do now.




We’ve taken so much wood to the dump, it’s heartbreaking.
I’m trying to find takers for old doors, window, barn boards, etc but it’s time consuming & we’re busy.



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You all are doing so, so much work! It’s easy to see why it’s been standard operating procedure for people to just throw it all away AND why rescued materials can often cost more than new. It’s just so much more work to disassemble that the demolish and then so much more time consuming getting that material into the hands of people who might want it. That’s especially the case if you don’t have a used building material place very nearby to donate to, which is often the case outside of a city.

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People on marketplace are absolute dirtbags too. Just, ugh. ESPECIALLY the free groups. Free of cost does not equal zero value. No, I will not deliver it, lol. If we gotta drive, it’s going with the rest of the junk to the dump.

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Yeah, you hear all kinds of stories about folks not acting right with FB Marketplace or even Craigslist for those who still use it.

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Yes, it’s frustrating when I give stuff away for free on my Nextdoor app. So much ghosting. I now ask for an estimated time and day of pick up. If they don’t make it w/in 15 min of that commitment and have not contacted me with an updated timeline, I move on to the next person.

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Yes it’s such a hassle! About 50% is picked up instantly, but other stuff is a lot of work. And you can’t even predict which ones will be easy to get rid of and which ones aren’t. It’s quite expensive to take stuff to the dump here so I usually just keep listing them.

Our kitchen is in the middle of cabinet installation. Half new cabinets, half old. But all need to be leveled as the new area is higher than the existing side. And my DW and our handy friend are doing the work. She didn’t want to hire anyone to install. I protested and lost.
But they both work. I cannot do this kind of work anymore and it also drives me batty.
But after two days and likely a third, everything is in chaos. Unfinished. That means another week of chaos, and since schedules are tight. Another week.
This is why I was willing to hire.
I love her and get her desire to save money, but sigh, I am just barely holding it in. Turning a one day install into three weeks tries my patience. And if I hear one more “that’s just how projects go”, I will scream. No, that’s how DIY goes, not how professionals go. It’s my own fault, I guess.
And I get a stressed and exhausted wife plus all household chores, and a dirty house for weeks.
Than you for letting me rant, I don’t want to unlease on my sweetheart, but I do want to scream a bit.

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I’m sorry friend. Virtual hugs to you. Rant all you need.

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I feel this pain. We’ve done both, I prefer to pay for quick & clean!
That said, demo went well here. The 2 fake rooms are down!


And I managed to sell a set of doors, a very old light fixture, an elaborate wooden bird house, and 2 garden doors. Hopefully those windows get picked up today.
We did save some trim & 2x4s that weren’t absolutely prickly with nail gun spikes.
Can you believe we took these down ourselves? I am amazed!

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Thank you for letting me rant, it helped so much. It’s not fair to rant to my DW and helper friend, but my DW can feel the frustration surrounding me.
We are good though, just acknowledging our feelings helps so much.
Onward and upwards with the project!

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I know the feeling of being frustrated. Professional doesn’t necessarily equal fast and clean, though. The drywaller waited until the night before he was supposed to start to finally order the materials. So, we lost almost nine business days between waiting on the wall board and waiting for mud to dry (they did it on Thursday and finally sanded this morning at 7am). Not only that, but they gave me crap about putting a drop cloth back up after they ripped the one that was up to absolute shreds last week. Um, I don’t care if your sander has a vacuum, the last time I trusted a vacuum sander to contain the mess, it took two days to clean up the results. :person_shrugging:

I, too, am tired of not having a kitchen.

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The steps on our outdoor entrance have been redone 7 times by the pros…ad it has to be done again because they forgot to put concrete in the parts where the handrails and porch posts go. They also made the understair lights crooked. It is very frustrating as it has been ongoing since February!

I get that they have a lot of projects to do during nice weather (and to be fair, it has been thunderstorms almost every day), but yeah, even the pros can’t get it done quickly.

Timing is a nightmare because one set can’t finish until another group is done…so no handrails yet, making the stairs not useable by my husband and scary for me if I do use them.

I hate renos…but they are necessary.

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@tendstowardschaos and @AIMR, I agree that the “professionals” don’t always get it right. And I think that the work my DW is doing is good quality, it’s just so s-l-o-w.
I’m glad that I’m a camper and used to making meals with limited resources. We do have a working fridge and most days a working stove. The sink and dishwasher is in and out depending on the work being done.
I think I can order the countertops to be measured tomorrow. Another 2-4 week delay, then tiling. At least we’ll be able to get the upper cabinets and trim in by then.
We are going laminate counters due to cost. And then I read that laminate is trending because it can mimic so many materials and finishes. And we chose Taj Mahal…also trending. I just knew that if we waited long enough, all our choices would come back into style, I just didn’t expect it so soon! Try finding a copper color tile for the backsplash, it’s all grays, whites, and black. Some blue, and warmer colors are slowly coming in in our area. But copper/red/burnt orange? Few and far between. We found a beautiful tile called burnt red that varies from burnt red to a more orangy tone. Luck!

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