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Official Pit Home Improvement/DIY thread

Planning to do a backyard upgrade next spring. Going to replace our old awning with a permanent roof structure, and planning to do a built in grill with a dedicated gas line running to it. Beyond that we are just in the ideas phase. Anybody here done the outdoor kitchen thing? Anything you wish you had added or done differently?
 
Planning to do a backyard upgrade next spring. Going to replace our old awning with a permanent roof structure, and planning to do a built in grill with a dedicated gas line running to it. Beyond that we are just in the ideas phase. Anybody here done the outdoor kitchen thing? Anything you wish you had added or done differently?

In my mind, "Outdoor kitchen" includes at least the following: grill, refrigerator(freezer), sink and countertop.

You will probably want some refrigeration capability, unless your indoor fridge is really close by. For keeping stuff before you cook, soft drinks, wine, brewskis, sauces etc.

I would have at least two separate circuits of electricity. That will mean two new circuit breakers in your breaker box. One for the fridge. One for doing other stuff. Make one easy to reach. Charging phone. Plug in blender. Outdoor TV. Life requires electricity. GFI on each circuit. GFI plugs are cheaper and easier to change than GFI breakers when the go bad (and they will).

Consider making the easy to reach outside a quad - 4 outlets- with a cover that is rated for in-use wet location. That means you can have an outdoor rated cord plugged while it is raining or snowing. I don't know what you have or will have to plug in. But, you are posting here and most certainly have something(s) you will want to plug in.

Sink and running water are very useful. Need to manage drainage. Directly to yard? Connect to house drain? Need to drain water lines for winter? A touch faucet, instead of one with handles can be useful.

Your countertop will be wet much more than in the house. Also hotter and colder than if inside. Make sure your chosen countertop is suited for the more extreme conditions. Same for any outdoor storage cabinets. You will want some. How much will depend on your level of use of the outdoor kitchen and your tolerance for hauling stuff. If you store any food outside, go with order coated steel or stainless steel. Otherwise you will just be feeding critters.

The stuff above was developed under the Jay Leno philosophy, "I'm president of the more money than brains club. Send me that."
 
Planning to do a backyard upgrade next spring. Going to replace our old awning with a permanent roof structure, and planning to do a built in grill with a dedicated gas line running to it. Beyond that we are just in the ideas phase. Anybody here done the outdoor kitchen thing? Anything you wish you had added or done differently?

Ceiling fan?

I'm mega jealous - would love an outdoor kitchen, but we don't feel like we're going to stay in our house long enough that we're willing to invest in one.
 
Ceiling fan?

I'm mega jealous - would love an outdoor kitchen, but we don't feel like we're going to stay in our house long enough that we're willing to invest in one.

I second the thought of a ceiling fan. With light kit. And switches to turn it on/off from both inside the house and outside in the outdoor kitchen. Separate switches for the light and fan. Or remote controls.


The "order coated steel" in my earlier should be "powder coated steel"
 
I'm most worried about the layout/design. I'm not very good at visualizing what a space will look like, and the best places to put for example, the grill/counter/bar, furniture, etc. Hopefully the contractor will help me with 3d renderings. It looks like this website actually has a free service that will do 3D renderings for you (presumably because they then think they can sell you on equipment and such). https://www.bbqguys.com/bbq-learnin...s/planning/bbqguys-design-services#3d-designs
 
We renovated our back area over pandemic and the original plans were to do a permanent overhead structure with a ceiling fan, but permitting was an issue due to exceeding lot coverage. We ended up going with a shade sail that has worked out great (it was previously unusable in the summer because of the constant direct sunlight and heat) and I found a wet rated oscillating wall mounted fan that has been great. Also ran the natural gas line to a new grill which was a game-changer, as was moving the a/c unit up to the roof, adding in additional lights and electrical outlets. We essentially added a new room to our house by upgrading the back since it was pretty much unusable before (we more than quadrupled the usable space).
 
We renovated our back area over pandemic and the original plans were to do a permanent overhead structure with a ceiling fan, but permitting was an issue due to exceeding lot coverage. We ended up going with a shade sail that has worked out great (it was previously unusable in the summer because of the constant direct sunlight and heat) and I found a wet rated oscillating wall mounted fan that has been great. Also ran the natural gas line to a new grill which was a game-changer, as was moving the a/c unit up to the roof, adding in additional lights and electrical outlets. We essentially added a new room to our house by upgrading the back since it was pretty much unusable before (we more than quadrupled the usable space).

Sounds like a great project.

Lesson here is that local authorities and rules can be a limiting factor in what can be done.
 
Question for the Pit home improvement pros:

I purchased a eucalyptus wood console table for our patio (outdoor, not enclosed; it's exposed to the elements and covered only by a pergola with a sunscreen). Should I seal it or use a teak oil to preserve it? The former will last longer and require fewer applications, but I'm not sure if the look will be as nice.
 
I'll likely talk to the fridge repair guy again very soon, but I figured I'd ask here anyway since I'm sitting in a 3 hr training.

My 2 year old fridge a couple weeks back started having everything inside sweat like crazy and then start to freeze a good bit. It eventually stopped cooling at all, so the compressor was replaced, and now cools again. However, I used to set it at 38 and never have issues, now if I set it below 41-ish, a lot of things start to freeze and I did have some periods of everything sweating again. Even at that temperature, things are a lot colder than I expect, and the compressor seems to just run nonstop (maybe not surprising given the freezing). Door seal seems to be fine as far as I can tell (passed the paper test, seals too tight to open for ~10s after closing). For the record, it's a pretty simple fridge mechanically, a Frigidaire single door refrigerator only with no touchscreens or anything like that.

Any thoughts? Or at least things to ask the repair guy when he hopefully calls me back today?
 
Question for the Pit home improvement pros:

I purchased a eucalyptus wood console table for our patio (outdoor, not enclosed; it's exposed to the elements and covered only by a pergola with a sunscreen). Should I seal it or use a teak oil to preserve it? The former will last longer and require fewer applications, but I'm not sure if the look will be as nice.

We also have a eucalyptus wood dining table on our deck. It's pretty exposed year round and as a result I've had to sand and treat with teak oil every year. To be fair, it's completely uncovered and subject to rain/snow/ice in the winter. All in all, it's held up pretty good. I can usually get it touched up in an afternoon so it's not overly burdensome from a maintenance standpoint.
 
We also have a eucalyptus wood dining table on our deck. It's pretty exposed year round and as a result I've had to sand and treat with teak oil every year. To be fair, it's completely uncovered and subject to rain/snow/ice in the winter. All in all, it's held up pretty good. I can usually get it touched up in an afternoon so it's not overly burdensome from a maintenance standpoint.
Thank you
 
We're in the midst of some updates around the house after 4 years of living here; the biggest update is new hardwood floors. We've got an old bungalow with the original floors and they are past the point of being refinished again, so we're going to be laying new flooring on top. Currently scheduled to do that in early December, but I think I'm going to ask the contractor to push to the beginning of January so we don't have to deal with a week of construction right before Christmas.

We've also been working with a designer to freshen up three spaces (kids room, kids playroom, and the office/bonus room) and that's all in flight - mostly just decor and some moving of furniture here; nothing major. One piece of the bonus room refresh involves framing a bunch of concert posters I've collected over the years and I've been using FrameBridge - really happy with the design services and overall quality of the product. I did some other stuff locally and it was done really nicely, but it was also nearly 2x the cost of FrameBridge so I can't really justify that extra expense just to shop local.
 
We're in the midst of some updates around the house after 4 years of living here; the biggest update is new hardwood floors. We've got an old bungalow with the original floors and they are past the point of being refinished again, so we're going to be laying new flooring on top. Currently scheduled to do that in early December, but I think I'm going to ask the contractor to push to the beginning of January so we don't have to deal with a week of construction right before Christmas.

We've also been working with a designer to freshen up three spaces (kids room, kids playroom, and the office/bonus room) and that's all in flight - mostly just decor and some moving of furniture here; nothing major. One piece of the bonus room refresh involves framing a bunch of concert posters I've collected over the years and I've been using FrameBridge - really happy with the design services and overall quality of the product. I did some other stuff locally and it was done really nicely, but it was also nearly 2x the cost of FrameBridge so I can't really justify that extra expense just to shop local.

What timeline did they give you for new floors? We are planning on doing the same. (We had planned on redoing the kitchen but don’t think that’s a good idea with an 11 week old and a 3 year old.). Trying to figure out when to get quotes.
 
What timeline did they give you for new floors? We are planning on doing the same. (We had planned on redoing the kitchen but don’t think that’s a good idea with an 11 week old and a 3 year old.). Trying to figure out when to get quotes.

Installer was 4 weeks out and the floor supplier varied depending on product. We went with a custom product (USA made) with a 5-7 week lead time, but the supplier had stuff that he could get in 2 weeks and stuff that was at least 6 months out, so it just depends.
 
I'll likely talk to the fridge repair guy again very soon, but I figured I'd ask here anyway since I'm sitting in a 3 hr training.

My 2 year old fridge a couple weeks back started having everything inside sweat like crazy and then start to freeze a good bit. It eventually stopped cooling at all, so the compressor was replaced, and now cools again. However, I used to set it at 38 and never have issues, now if I set it below 41-ish, a lot of things start to freeze and I did have some periods of everything sweating again. Even at that temperature, things are a lot colder than I expect, and the compressor seems to just run nonstop (maybe not surprising given the freezing). Door seal seems to be fine as far as I can tell (passed the paper test, seals too tight to open for ~10s after closing). For the record, it's a pretty simple fridge mechanically, a Frigidaire single door refrigerator only with no touchscreens or anything like that.

Any thoughts? Or at least things to ask the repair guy when he hopefully calls me back today?

Our fridge seems to freeze stuff all of the time. We try not to overstuff and keep things from being pushed to the back (which helps with the airflow).

Also, we had a gasket/valve ??? that was stuck open. Along the top back inside of the fridge, I took off a cover, and it was this part that opened/closed, which let cold air from the freezer on the bottom go into the fridge. The spring on this gasket/valve thing was stuck open, so even though we had the temp set, it kept letting in cold air.
 
I just got my detached garage to a level 4 finish and now have some gaps around the door and one of the windows before I paint it. Should I be caulking the door frame or attacking this a different way? Joint compound?

I think I'd basically need to square the door with a 1''x4'' after that to be done?
 
I just got my detached garage to a level 4 finish and now have some gaps around the door and one of the windows before I paint it. Should I be caulking the door frame or attacking this a different way? Joint compound?

I think I'd basically need to square the door with a 1''x4'' after that to be done?

If any of the gaps go all the way through to the outside, they need to be dealt with on the outside to make sure the weather proof envelope is intact. Gaps that would allow wind/rain etc. to get through the wall, around the window or door frame or anywhere else need to be addressed as part of the outside.

That said, I will take a guess and assume that the gaps you are discussing is small spaces (around 1/4 inch wide or so) between the drywall and the frames of the door and window where they were shimmed to plumb and square inside the rough openings.

If your garage is not insulated, then you have nothing more to do but put the inside trim around the windows and over the gaps. It's a dirty little secret that these gaps exist in many houses and garages. If these gaps are bigger than you can cover with the trim around the window and door, then you need to do drywall repair.

if the gaps are something else, please describe in more detail, specifically size (three dimensions) and location with respect to the door and window frames.

Hope this helps
 
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