We finished our build of a Lifetime LTM 60005 plastic shed on April 5. It was the only sunny day squeezed in amongst some really crummy early Spring Rochester days. Thank goodness we started early because it took us all day to complete.

Raising the Walls
We started by laying down the plastic floor onto the very solid base we had already constructed out of stone. Then came the wall raising. Each wall section requires the strength and weight of a full-grown human to get to clip into the floor. When I say strength, I mean herculeanstrength. Every muscle in my upper body (my gluteus ribimus, or whatever) was pulled. This is, in fact reassuring because you don’t want your building separating from the floor in the future.

There were a couple of key things we learned at this stage that weren’t in the directions.

1. When putting up the first few walls, make sure to brace them with a 2×4 or something. We were doing this on a breezy day, and a few gusts came up and blew the house down.
2. You really need access to the outside of the walls to easily get them into the base. Since we had our shed up against the house we couldn’t get at the outside of the back walls. That made it much more challenging.

Tricia uses the force to install one of the sidewalls

Installing the Trusses and Roof
The next step was to install the trusses and roof. This was actually pretty straightforward by reading the directions. This building has a complex roof line, but all of the pieces went together with little trouble. The biggest issue was the carpal tunnel we got from screwing in hundreds of screws.

The trusses and roof installation signal the end is in sight

How Far Away From the House?
Once we got some of the roof on, I had an Aha! moment. I had planned the shed to butt up to the back of the house. I figured I’d save some yard space, and would not allow a haven for any critters to get behind it. When I saw my plan come to life though, I immediately realized the error of my ways. First, having it that close to the house left just enough of a gap to allow a mouse to make a comfy home. My second vision was that of ice and snow falling off the garage roof and piling up on top of the shed. Then it would probably dam up between the shed and the house causing my siding to buckle. Of course this could have been prevented if the directions would have advised against putting the structure too close to your house.

So, we stalled the project a little bit to add an additional 24″ of stone base in front of the shed. Then, we were able to pull it away from the house leaving an alleyway of stone between the house and the shed. This will allow a good amount of space for snow to go and actually give us a place to store some extra junk that will inevitably spill over from the shed.

An extra 2 feet of stone base allowed us to move the shed away from the house

Parking the Tractor
The rest of the shed construction was straightforward by following the directions. The trickiest part of the final stages is to get the doors installed and aligned. You end up using shims to raise and lower 2 corners of the shed to get the doors aligned. The latch that the doors comes with is not the best either. I had to grind off a little of the metal on the latch to get it to work without sticking. After all that, it was finally time for the moment of truth; the inaugural parking of the tractor…

She thinks my tractor’s sexy!

Pulling into the doghouse. Should I put a kegerator in here too?

We’re Not in Kansas Anymore
When my neighbor stopped over to look at our handiwork he decided to burst our bubble with a story. You see, back in the day, his old metal shed was lifted up and tossed across the neighborhood by a wind storm. He said he even had it anchored down, and suggested I do the same. The shed instructions do tell you to anchor the floor down. Think about it, though. If I put some anchors through the plastic floor into the ground, will that do anything more than having an 800 pound tractor sitting on it? In my opinion, nope. What I really needed to figure out was how to get the top of the building anchored to the ground. What I came up with was pretty simple, and I think (fingers crossed) going to do the trick in the heaviest of winds.

I bought ratchet straps at Harbor Freight.

I pulled the plug from 2 of the roof truss channels in the end walls of the shed, and hooked one end of the ratchet strap there. Then, I put a heavy hook into my landscape timber, and ratcheted the sidewalls down.

It makes me feel better to have the shed securely anchored to the ground

I cut the plugs a little bit to accommodate the ratchet strap hook, and then reinstalled them. I really didn’t want a hole in the side of the building.

A couple of cuts in the plastic plug allows the ratchet strap hook to fit underneath it

We are very pleased with the shed’s look and functionality so far. We’ll give it some time before we pass our final judgement.

It’s that time of year again. Just as the snow melts away in Rochester, NY I get the itch to get outside and start some yard-related project. Last year it was skirting my deck. This year I need to build a place for this to live:

Craftsman YS 4500 Yard Tractor, I bought to ‘manicure the grounds’

Knowing that I won’t be able to store it and my 2 cars in the garage, I decided to build a shed. I have been eyeballing the Lifetime LTM 60005 shed at my local BJ’s since last year. I liked that it was a center-entry shed that I could butt up against the back of my garage.

BJ’s carries these in stock right now for $999

Scoping out the Site
I wanted to make sure that this shed was going to suit my needs. It needed to fit my tractor, a snow blower, a push mower, all of their gas cans, as well as all of my yard tools. So, I did a quick scale drawing of my garage and the potential shed in Visio. I measured all of my lawn equipment and did scale representations of them as well. Then I could move around all of the pieces and move potential sheds in relation to my garage without breaking my back, or buying something that would ultimately be too small.

Visio drawing of shed in relationship to my garage (click for expanded view)

I did shop around a bit more just to be sure that this shed was ‘the right one’. Even through the mocking of my friend Andy who called my shed choice the “Tupperware Shed”, I just couldn’t pass it up. It’s sturdy, looks good with my house, and is a heck of a lot cheaper than the wood and shingle structures that professionals build on site. Be prepared if you do buy something like this at your local warehouse club, it weighs a ton! It took 3 grown men to shove the two 8′ boxes into the back of my SUV. And once I got it home it took 3 of us to remove it from the truck and put it in my garage.

Here’s the before photo of where the shed will go

Preparing a Level Surface
There are many ways to create a level surface to build a shed on. You can have a cement pad poured, but this would require me to call professionals or do a ton of back-breaking forming, mixing, and troweling. You can build a wooden platform, like building a deck on the ground. My issue with this approach is complexity, cost, and another potential haven for critters. I decided to choose the easiest DIY operation - stone. I started by going to my local Mr 2nd and buying ‘drainage stone’. It was $3.33 per bag and I needed about 45 bags for an 8′ x 10′ pad that’s about 4″ deep. Well, I poured it all on the ground and leveled it out only to find that the edges kept spilling outward. Yes, you need a barrier to stop the stone from going everywhere.

The solution for me was to buy some 4×4 pressure treated lumber and make a simple frame on the ground to contain the stone. I squared up the timbers, then used 6″ galvanized spikes to tie them together. After I leveled the frame by packing dirt underneath the low spots, I then drove 18″ long by 1/2″ diameter steel rebar through the timbers into the ground to anchor them.

Drill holes for the rebar with 5/8″ spade drill bit

Pound in the rebar with a maul. It goes in quite easily

After providing a good frame for my stone, I then took a 12 ‘ 4×4 with my trusty assistant and screeded the stone until it was level. This is done by laying the long board onto the wooden frame at either end and shifting the board back and forth to move the stone underneath it. After this was complete, I tested the plastic floor on the new platform. Everything felt pretty solid, although there’s a little bit of squish underfoot. I’m going to go buy a few bags of pea gravel to put on top of my coarse drainage stone. When I work in the pea gravel, it should make the surface just a little more solid.

With the site prepared, we will move on to building the shed. We have already spent about 6 hours putting together many of the pieces that will be used in the shed’s construction, like the trusses, gables, door hardware, and skylights. When we do start building the walls and roof, this pre-work should make the actual building go much faster. I’ll be sure to take some pictures and tell you how it goes.

They say that the finishing touches on any DIY project take the longest. Doing the trim on our basement workout room was no different. I started the top trim over the Christmas holiday (I had already done the baseboard) and I finished a full month and a half later. As with everything else in this project, I did wing it a bit. A smart DIY’er should curl up with a good resource on how to install trim, I just dove right in.

Buying and Prepping the Trim
My goal for the trim was to purchase molding that matched the rest of the house without breaking the bank (if possible). It is a basement after all. I also wanted trim that was easy to paint and transport home. This dictated that my maximum length should be 12′ long to fit in my SUV and be pre-primed fiber-wood material for ease of paint coverage. I ended up with the following from Lowes:

• Wood Composite Base 3 1/2″ x 12′ x 1/2″
• EverTrue Primed Wood Composite 442 Casing 2 1/4″ x 10′ x 5/8″

Because of my lack of finished ceiling and unconventional wall approach, I also had all kinds of weird rough edges to come up with solutions for, not the least of which was how to finish the windows. My answer came to me after a lot of meditation. a 1×10 pine board painted in white was the perfect width to cover over the cement block and make a nice finished look for the window. So, I measured the room and windows carefully leaving a little extra for practice pieces, then bought all of my trim. Next, I painted all of it in semi-gloss white paint. It is much easier to get a good base coat on the trim BEFORE it is installed. I like to touch up lafter installing the trim.

Installing the Trim
Using casing for my ceiling molding was WAY easier to install than my crown molding project. There’s no coping necessary. You just use your handy chop saw and cut all sorts of 45 degree angles. The best part is that the casing provides a very finished look to the drywall where it meets my super cheap painted ceiling. You do need to cut various slots and other creative workarounds for pipes and beams.

One of the more tricky areas to figure out the ceiling molding

As for the windows, all I needed to do was provide a nailing surface for the 1×10 to be installed onto. This was simple on the side and bottom of the window frame because I had installed furring strips all around the window opening to hold up the insulation. The top of the window frame was only a little more tricky. I used 2×2’s to add to the floor joists up above to provide a surface that would have the top of the window frame just right above the window opening. The end result of the windows after finishing was this…

The window frame allows the windows to open, while providing a finished look

After installing molding with a finishing nailer hooked up to an air compressor (DO NOT do this project without it) I went around with painter’s caulk and spakling paste filling in the gaps in the corners, and all of the finishing nail holes. I then touched up the paint.

Presenting the Training With Tricia Fitness Studio
The grand opening of the workout room (fitness studio sounds much more impressive) was yesterday as Tricia noted in her blog entry. The photos speak to any other details that I my not have explained.

The mirrored closet has pegboard to the right to hold equipment and act as a vent for the de-humidifier stashed inside

A curtain separates the fitness studio from the rest of the basement. A TV is mounted to the ceiling near the treadmill

At the base of the basement stairs is a doorway I installed (pre-hung doors are pretty easy to do) that leads to a future basement bathroom.

I’m glad that the project is now complete. It’s a nice place for me to workout in too. I especially like to flip on the pink Christmas lights Tricia installed on the ceiling and go for a long run. They just make me feel liberated

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DIY Basement Workout Room: Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5

In front of all that awesome Styrofoam insulation and furring strips, we needed to install dry wall. I should say right now that I hate installing drywall. I actually don’t hate hanging the drywall so much as mudding and taping it. If I were smart I would have Googled a bunch of different advice on how to hang drywall, but alas, I jumped in feet first. I was on a deadline and there was no time for deliberation.

Hanging the Drywall
I bought 4×8′ sheets of 3/8″ drywall, enough to cover the room laying the drywall sideways so that the long seems ran horizontally. I placed a furring strip on the floor to rest the bottom drywall sheet on while I attached it. This provided a 1/2″ gap beneath it, so if the basement ever does get wet the water will not immediately soak into the drywall. To fasten the drywall to the furring strips I used standard drywall screws and this ingenious drywall screw setter.

It is magnetic so that you can screw with one hand. Plus it sets the screw into the drywall with the perfect depression (dimple) for concealing the screws with mud.

I measured my cuts with a drywall t-square and cut the drywall by scoring it with a utility knife. I found measuring and cutting holes for electrical boxes to be easiest using a cardboard template the exact size of the desired outlet hole.

Mudding and Taping
At this point I should have stopped the project and hired a professional. I told myself this, but because of my impatience, I went and got what I needed to do the job myself. We used Fiberglass Joint Tape to tape all of the butting seems. It’s self-adhesive unlike paper tape which I think takes professional skill to make stick. For the corners we used steel corner bead tape. I thought this might make the corners easier to deal with. Probably the best choice we made was to purchase Sheetrock Joint Compound with Dust Control. This stuff was slightly more expensive than standard joint compound, but it made for much more clean sanding.

After getting up a few thin coats of joint compound, we moved on to sanding…

Tricia does her best impression of the Karate Kid training routine

As we sanded, we got more and more tired of the project. Days turned into a week, then 10 days, then 2 weeks… Finally, I called it quits. The mudding and taping came out nowhere near as flawless and smooth as a professional. But, it was good enough for a basement workout room. The only person who will be annoyed by all of the flaws is me. After finishing the drywall, we applied primer and 2 coats of paint to all the walls. This was great so that we could be messy instead of dripping on a brand new floor.

Sump Got You Down? Make it into a Closet
One of the more rewarding parts of this basement project has been our decision to build a closet around our sump pump area. We didn’t want to look at the well, nor hear the high pitched whine of the de-humidifier. Plus, we needed a place for storage. I framed a closet with the intent to put mirrored doors on it. This way we’d get workout mirrors as part of the deal. We also planned to face the part of the closet holding the de-humidifier with peg board, allowing the de-humidifier to pull water from the main room (not just the inside of the closet) and giving us a place to hang random straps and workout paraphernalia. We framed and drywalled the closet after doing the basement perimeter so that much of the inside of the closet was finished first. For the floor of the closet we used adhesive vinyl tiles that look like ceramic.

The closet provides a perfect place to stash a de-humidifier close by to the sump well

The Rubberized Floor
It took a long time to decide on what type of floor to put into the workout room. We considered carpet, hardwood, laminate, and vinyl tile. In the end, none of them gave us the durability and warmth we wanted on a basement workout floor. We wanted something easy to install directly on the concrete as well. What we ended up with was rubberized “Flexi-tile” that we purchased at Lowes.

Flexi-tile went down easy with its interlocking “puzzle piece” edges

To install the tile, we worked from the far corner of the room laying down tiles in both directions. The floor was laid right on the concrete without any adhesive. We used a rubber mallet to easily pound the interlocks together.

Tricia pounds the floor with a rubber mallet. Who knows what she’s thinking about?

Because of the weight of the the floor when tied together, it really doesn’t move. In 3 hours the main part of the room was done. All I then had to do was the trimming for pieces when we reached to opposite side of the room. For this, I used a simple t-square and utility knife. I cut the pieces on scrap wood to prevent my knife from getting dull. This part of the project was probably the easiest and most rewarding. When done, we knew that we had created a perfect surface for working out. The rubber provides great traction for stretching and aerobics, while providing enough warmth underfoot for and barefoot activities. Plus, it will be easy to clean with a mop when it gets dusty.

In my next posting I’ll have pictures of the finished room. We have moved onto trim work now, which is going slowly. Since we’re in the Fall and the kids are in school, we’ve begun to use the room in it’s current state of “almost finished”.

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DIY Basement Workout Room: Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5

With the wall insulation installed, it was now time for me to figure out the electricity for the basement workout room. I’m definitely NOT an electrician, so this posting isn’t going to give you any details on how to run circuits. I had a friend who knows what he’s doing stop by and help me plan out the circuits. Here’s a few decisions we made that might be helpful.

• We decided on some 20Amp outlets for the treadmill and other heavy-load equipment.
• The basement already had 1 lighting circuit, so we planned a second, new lighting circuit to be run from the box. We planned it as a 3-way circuit so that the workout room could be switched from 2 different switches entering and exiting the room.
• We created a dedicated circuit just for the sump pump so that there would never be a potential overload on that circuit

My advice to you is to Google the different things you need to install + circuit diagram, and you’ll get VERY useful resources like this 3 way circuit diagram. These diagrams, plus my friend’s advice lead me to the store to get all the wire and boxes I would need.

How I ran the Electric in the Styrofoam Insulation
First, we needed to figure out how we’d attach electrical boxes with the lack of studs in the walls. Sure, I could have attached the boxes directly to the block wall and cut the Styrofoam panels around them. I wanted to poke as few holes in the Styrofoam as possible to retain its insulation factor. So, we chose to use old work plastic electrical boxes. These are the kind that get attached via tabs to the back of the dry wall instead of to the studs. While you may argue this is a less secure solution for the electrical boxes, it ended up being far easier to install and secure enough for my needs when all was said and done.

The installation guide recommended running the electric wires behind the Styrofoam board. I wanted to be able to easily see my wiring paths so I chose to embed the wiring on the front of the styrofoam. First, I drew lines with permanent marker on the foam board to all of my proposed electrical outlet locations. I created a template out of cardboard that provided enough clearance for the electrical boxes and traced those in the electrical box locations.

Here’s where the job got messy. To be able to easily cut the paths in the Styrofoam, I purchased a 5/8″ bit for my plunge router. Then I went crazy routing out the paths. Luckily I had tarped off the other parts of the basement, because the Styrofoam bits went everywhere! Make sure to wear safety goggles and a breather because the bits are not kind to your eyes or lungs. Have a look at the pics of me in action to get a sense of the mess.


The paths were drawn in marker and I ran the router over the lines.


A router can make a huge Styrofoam cloud

To get the paths behind the furring strips just use a half inch drill bit and drill behind both sides of the furring strips. After all of the paths were routed out, I easily ran the rough wiring to all of the electrical box locations, leaving plenty of wire to finish things off after the boxes get installed with the drywall.

Painting the Ceiling with a Wagner Power Painter
While the walls were still bare it was time to make a crucial decision - how to finish the ceiling. We considered all of the various finishing options and finally arrived at an approach I’ve used once before; painting the ceiling with a Wagner Power Painter. Here’s why painting the ceiling makes a ton of sense for us.

1. It’s a LOT cheaper. A tile ceiling with all of its associated hanging hardware would have cost $600-$1000. Painting the ceiling cost us two gallons of paint, about 40 bucks.
2. It’s a lot higher. When I’m working out, I need all the space I can get for my monkey arms. Not having a drop ceiling saves us a precious few inches.
3. It’s a lot more accessible. No ceiling tiles to mess with if you need to get at wiring or plumbing in the floor joists.
4. It’s a lot easier and faster. Installing a drop ceiling takes a ton of time to install the grid work, cut the tiles, and soffet all of the irregular areas. Painting is a one shot deal that can be finished in a few hours.

Choosing Your Paint Color
Think of this ceiling method as the coffee shop, or industrial approach. We’ve all been to those trendy places with the exposed beams and pipeworks, same idea with your basement. I think the best colors to choose are anything dark. At my last house we used black. In this case, we used a dark gray. I’ve also seen dark brown and terra cotta - both look good. The ceiling just fades into the background not drawing your eye’s attention. What doesn’t look good in my opinion is a white or light painted ceiling. As soon as you enter a basement with the white painted beams, your eye is immediately drawn to it making it a lot more noticeable.

Ceiling Paint Supplies
If you choose this approach you’ll need a few critical supplies.

1. Wagner Power Painter. Mine is the Wagner 5.4 Wideshot
2. Floetrol or similar paint additive to thin your latex paint for spraying
3. Latex Paint. I used 2 gallon of Eggshell finish for approximately 600 Sq ft.
4. Rubber Gloves
5. Protective head scarf, safety goggles and high quality breather
6. Masking materials - tape, plastic, etc.

Make sure to mask off anything that you do not want painted. Tarp doorways and passages to other rooms in your basement. Turn off your heat and/or air conditioner so that the fumes do not travel through the house. Open any basement windows you have for ventilation.

Making the Big Mess
Prepare yourself…this is going to make a big mess. By the time you are done painting, you will have paint dust all over your floors. Put the hood on your head, your rubber gloves on, and put on your safety goggles. Then fill your paint container with paint and some Floetrol and stir it up. Then go nuts spraying that ceiling. I like to have a scrap board nearby to take my initial spray shots so that the paint is flowing smoothly. Have a look at the pictures of Darth Painter to see it in action.


I am your father…


This sure beats painting with a brush


Spray it on nice and thick to cover every nook and cranny

In my next entry I’ll catch you up on our mudding and taping fun, show you the closet that will contain the sump pump, and I’ll show you the rubber floor installation.

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DIY Basement Workout Room: Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5

Who knew that one of the most time consuming tasks in finishing the basement would be figuring out how to construct the walls. I agonized over the approach I would take, knowing that the wrong decision could cause me to tear down everything and start over. I hope my story here will help you make a good decision too.

The Walls I’m Working With
My house was built in 2005. We chose the particular lot we are on because it seemed like high ground with respect to other homes in the neighborhood. The walls are constructed of 12 courses of cement block which, despite my location, get saturated in different areas during heavy rains. I was shocked that a brand new basement could be so porous to water. I don’t get streams, but I would not say the basement is bone dry either. If we run a dehumidifier on high after a few days of dry weather the walls will dry out.

Last year I called EverDry in frustration, hoping that they could diagnose the water problem and propose a remedy. After the doom and gloom sales pitch of the dangers of deadly mold and crumbling foundations, their solution came out to a cool $17,000. It involved digging out around the outside of the foundation, trenching the interior perimeter of the basement and installing an industrial dehumidifier. This would guarantee dry block and also $17k less in my bank account. I decided to finish the walls without the massive expense, but the specter of water made my decision making far more stressful.

The Vapor Barrier Decision
The builder had originally planted the seed that putting a vapor barrier against the block walls (even if damp) leaving an airspace, and installing 2×4 studs would be a suitable way to finish the walls. I had a ton of questions about EXACTLY what to do though.

• What kind of plastic should I use?
• How far away from the walls should the studs be?
• Should I install fiberglass insulation between the studs?
• Do I need a pressure treated floor plate?
• The most nagging of all questions: Will the walls get wet on the inside if I use this approach?

To answer my questions I followed Google to this great forum entry on how to vapor barrier a basement. There were some differing opinions, but THE BEST resource was referenced; Building Science Corporation’s Basement Insulation Systems Guide. Hallelujah! This is the advice given to builders on how to insulate/finish a basement. It has detailed pictures of the effects of what my builder had suggested (putting up a plastic vapor barrier and insulation)…it retains water and mold. MY solution was found on page 13 of the guide which explains the use of extruded polystyrene insulation and furring strips.

The Dow Styrofoam Solution
With a solution in mind I went looking for where I could find this extruded polystyrene (EPS). Lowes saved the day again. I found 2″ thick EPS sheets in either 4×8′ or 2×8′ tongue and groove sheets. Then I wanted to know how to install the stuff. Lo and behold the Dow website has this very thorough Dow Styrofoam Wallmate XPS Installation Guide. It gave me the plan I needed to purchase the rest of my materials, which included 1×3 furring strips for every 2′ and plenty of Tapcon screws.

A Special Note on the Tapcon Screws
For my project thickness the right size Tapcon screw was the 1/4″ x 3 3/4″ HEX head Tapcon screws. First, they are the thick ones to prevent any chance of them snapping on me when I installed them. Secondly, you MUST use the hex head for ease of screwing it into concrete. Don’t even think of using a Phillips head or flat head. Finally, buy a LOT of them, and NOT at Lowes. Tapcon screws are insanely expensive there, and these big ones run out of stock. I probably used 6-8 boxes of 25 screws each to do my single room. Buy them online in bulk if you can.

The Right Mix of Tools and Technique
It took me a couple of nights to get into a rhythm of how to best install the stuff. Let’s start with tools because they mean the difference between extremely slow, and super efficient. You’ll need:

• Tape measure
• Drywall square
• Permanent marker
• Utility knife
• Spare 2×4′ board
• High power CORDED hammer drill for drilling concrete
• High quality masonry drill bit
• Another electric drill for drilling countersink
• Cordless drill/driver for installing Tapcon screws
• Hand ratchet for finishing off stubborn Tapcon screws
• Chop saw for cutting furring strips to length
• Level to ensure furring strips and styrofoam are plumb
• Ear protection
• Work gloves

A menagerie of Craftsman tools helped me efficiently install the insulation

Working from one corner of the room, you begin by cutting the styrofoam to the height of the block wall so that it fits underneath the floor joists. To cut the material I marked a line with a framing square and permanent marker, then scored the line with a utility knife. The final step was to break the styrofoam over a spare 2×4 as shown below.

Once a couple of pieces of styrofoam are dry-fit into place, you then cut a furring strip to cover the seem between them. Using a level I made sure that the furring strip was vertical, and had my trusty assistant hold it while I went for the hammer drill…

A Special Note on Hammer Drills and Bits
Not all hammer drills are made alike, and neither are masonry drill bits. Trust me. The first rig I used was my Craftsman 19.2V Cordless with the 3/16″ bit provided in the screw box by Tapcon. That was slow and painful. Then I thought I’d try my dad’s Black and Decker corded hammer drill from the 1980s thinking the electric power would help. Nope. I nearly burned out the drill. Check out the lean and grimace I’ve got trying to use that sorry rig.

So, I went to Kmart and bought a reasonably priced Craftsman corded hammer drill, and I went to Lowes and bought the toughest sounding 3/16″ masonry bit they had - the Bosch Blue Granite 6″ long Hammer drill bit. This combination cut through concrete like butta, and made this portion of the project take days not weeks!

Drilling and Screwing With Protection
I’m obliged to warn you that I used protection when hammer drilling and screwing. Muffs for the ears and gloves for the hands (padded for my pleasure). The sound reverbed throughout the basement and could have spread a WTD (Work Transmitted Disease). Without gloves, my hands would have developed some nasty sores. OK, enough with the stupid jokes…

1. I drilled into the concrete
2. I countersunk the hole
3. I drove in the Tapcon with the cordless drill and hex driver
4. I finished off the screw with a ratchet when needed

The end result is a securely fastened piece of Styrofoam insulation with Tapcon screws that are flush on the front so that drywall can be installed directly onto the furring strips without obstruction.

Closeup of furring strip with countersunk Tapcon screw

The insulated basement wall completed

This portion of the project took about 5 days, and the end result was actually really fulfilling. I could have very easily left the basement looking like this. It is now insulated, and the blue looks much better than block. Unfortunately I think there is some code that says you need to cover over the Styrofoamwith wall board for fire protection. Well…that and we can’t have Tricia’s clients working out in a half-finished room, now can we?

Next up…how I installed the electricity and painted the ceiling with a Wagner Power Painter.

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DIY Basement Workout Room: Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5

My web activities have slowed to a crawl as we have begun yet another home improvement project in the Rzepkowski household. This time we are finishing an area of our basement to serve as a workout room for Tricia’s personal training business. My web marketing strategery caused an inflow of clients a few months before she may have been fully prepared, so here we are in the middle of the best part of summer locking ourselves “down in the hole” to prep some much needed home fitness space.

I’m going to post a series of entries outlining the project. I’ll try to write down as many notes-to-self as possible so that I don’t make the same mistakes again the next time I go to do some DIY home improvement. If you learn from any of the choices I make, awesome! If you want to comment on what an idiot I am, go for it! I’m way behind on documenting the steps I’ve already done so your advice will likely fall into the too little too late department. Without further ado, let’s get going…

What Are We Going to Do?
This whole thing started with a simple wife whimper, “Honey, I really need a wall between this one part of the basement and the other part so that all the kids’ junk isn’t in the way of my workout sessions.” I said, “OK, a simple stud wall with a door opening will be no problem. Let’s just put it up. So, I got the car keys and just as I was stepping out the door to go to Lowes I thought, “Gee, maybe I should measure a few things.” I brought my expert consultant to the basement and we literally moved furniture around for an hour trying to figure out how to configure the space.

Visio 2003 Beats the Back of a Napkin
After we tired ourselves out, we decided a floor plan was in order. I popped open Visio Professional 2003 on my computer and draw up a plan of the space and the big items we needed to fit. That way the heavy lifting would be done on the computer, not with our back. The plan you see is by no means an expert architectural blueprint. I misused and abused Visio because I didn’t want to spend the time to learn how to do it 100% right. I wanted to get building the friggin’ basement, not become a Visio Jedi Master. Nonetheless here were a few brief tips on how I made a simple drawing above out of Visio.

1. Create a New Drawing by going to New > Building Plan > Floor Plan. This opens a ton of VERY helpful Visio shapes for creating walls, staircases, furniture, dimensions, etc
2. Set the Scale under Page Setup > Drawing Scale tab. Measure you long outside walls and fiddle with the scale so that the entire drawing will fit on 8.5 x 11. Trust me, you at least want to do the drawing to scale. This is extremely helpful!
3. Use the shapes in the Dimensioning - Architectural palette to show precise measurements on your drawing. These measurements allow you to measure on paper for everything from studs to wiring.

The left side of the drawing is what we are currently building. The rest (including the bathroom) are for a future phase. Learn about the tough decisions we made on insulating and waterproofing cement block walls in my next posting.

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DIY Basement Workout Room: Step 1 | Step 2 | Step 3 | Step 4 | Step 5

The year of the deck continued as we took advantage of more summer-like April weather to tackle the dreaded deck stain project. This came just a week after we completed our deck skirt to keep the critters out. We knew a year ago when we had our pressure treated deck built, that the time would come for sealing and staining it. After all, we saved 2/3rds of the cost of no maintenance Trex decking by having it built of wood. After a full year of aging, the wood has cured well enough to receive stain.

A friend of ours recommended our local Sherwin-Williams store for getting our supplies rather than Lowes or Home Depot. He said that the staff there could provide a lot more expertise about the right approach and products for a deck than the others. All I knew was that I wasn’t interested in sealing and staining the deck in 2 different steps. I wanted a product that would take care of business all at once.

Ask Sherwin-Williams
I had that commercial in my head as I went in to get a consultation. The professional behind the counter must have spent 35 minutes with me explaining all my options in deck stains. He explained that I actually did not need to clean my deck unlike most poor saps that are restoring some gray weather-worn disaster. I wanted to see the wood grain through the stain, so I knew I did not want a solid. The guy suggested an off-the shelf honey colored Deckscapes toner (I forget the exact color). There were many colors to choose from, but like regular paint, once a color is mixed you can’t return it. Then, he told me the best way to apply the stain - a 5 inch wide brush on an extension pole so I wouldn’t break my back. For the spindles and other hard to reach places, it was going to be good old-fashioned brush work and lots of it. Finally, he was able to estimate number of cans I would need to complete the deck and our playset - 5 gallons.

I brought the stain home and brushed it onto a test piece. We really didn’t like it. There was barely a discernable difference between the stained wood and that which was not. Tricia convinced me that if we were going to do all of this work that we had better notice the results. So, I wandered back to the store with a test piece in hand and a picture in my head of a much darker brown hue with a hint of red. I must have hemmed and hawed another 45 minutes about the color. I tested cedar which was way too orange. Finally I settled on DeckScapes Exterior Waterborne Semi-Transparent stain in a custom color - Riverwood. Once he mixed it, there was no turning back. I had almost $200 in stain on the table, and no place for it to go but on the deck, like it or not.

Railings are No Fun
We started first with the railings and spindles figuring that we would not want to be walking around on a drying deck surface trying to get at them. The stain had a knack for dripping, but we managed to get a good coat of it on without making too much of a mess.

Floorboards are Easier
Once we got to the floor, life got a little bit easier. My helpers applied stain with their smaller brushes, while I came in after them with the 5″ wide brush we affectionately called ‘The Beast’. Mason wielded the ‘mini-Beast’ (the 2.5″ brush) to help mommy and daddy for the first time with a big project. Anna stayed inside much of the day with her chicken pox.

Kris with ‘The Beast’ and Mason with the ‘Mini Beast’ staining the deck

We were putting the last touches on the first coat of stain in the darkness of day one. When we came out in the morning on day 2, we could see where the stain was uneven on the final few floorboards that we stained in twilight. I think it had as much to do with having painted ourselves into a corner (and switching techniques) as it did with the darkness. I made the call to put on a second coat on the floorboards only so that we had a nice even look to things. That only took about 3 extra hours to accomplish. We did not stain the deck skirt. We’ll likely wait until the fall so that the wood has time to cure. The deck looks awesome now. The stain will definitely give us a couple of good years of protection before we need to do it again.

Tricia staining the deck with the playset project looming in the background

After we completed the deck, we moved right into the playset. Because it was built of pressure treated 2 years ago, the wood was much more thirsty. This coupled with far more intricate surfaces to cover made the project last the rest of the day. When it was all over, we had a matching deck and playset that should last a lot longer now that they’ve been protected.

UPDATE AUGUST 6, 2009
I’ve gotten quite a few comments asking how the deck looks after a year. I’m sad to report that it looks TERRIBLE! Here’s a few pictures of the stain peeling off of the pressure treated wood.

The deck stairs, one of the high traffic areas, but not the only location where the stain is peeling

A close up shows that there is a significant amount of stain that has flaked off after only a year

Even the railings which receive no foot traffic are flaking

Anywhere on the deck that is exposed to the weather has some degree if flaking or peeling of the stain. The only place where the stain still looks good is under the deck canopy. The play set does not have nearly as bad of a problem. I’m going to guess that I damaged the stain by applying a second coat to the deck. The guy at the store only offered up this as a no-no AFTER I had come back for another can last year. He said that the first layer may repel the second layer of stain from sticking. I’m not sure. No matter what, I’m faced with figuring out next year how to prepare the surface of my deck for another try. I’m not sure what I’ll do then, but I’ll be sure to post when I do.

Winter has finally released its grip on Rochester, so we decided to attack an annoying outdoor project before we get to having any fun. Since building our deck last year, a variety of animals have found our deck to be the perfect place to hide out. We’ve provided refuge to a family of robins, a rabid possum, moles, mice, and bunnies. We decided to skirt the deck to take back our back yard from the wild kingdom. As a side benefit we thought a skirt would provide a more finished look. The rest of this entry will chronicle some of the decisions we made and steps we took to complete the project.

Our deck prior to building the skirt

Another angle shows the perfect haven for furry critters of all kinds

Day 1: The Shopping Trip
We took some measurements of the deck and made a quick napkin sketch to take to Lowes for some ideas. The maximum height of the deck from the top to the ground was around 32″. We headed first to the lumber department to check out lattice. We knew though that the holes would be big enough to allow mice, moles, and eager birds through it. This just wouldn’t do. When we costed out the number of board feet it would take to use deck boards instead we nearly had a heart attack.

Our epiphany came in the garden department where we found stacks of Dog-Ear Wood Fence Board. The wood is rough cut and intended for fences. The advantage of the material is how thin it is which would fit nicely under the overhang of the deck boards. At $1.69 for 6′ boards we figured we could get 2 slats per board. It would take about 70 boards to face the entire deck which would cost just under $120.

Fence boards and stones ready to be installed

Next we needed to figure out what to attach the slats to along the ground. I ended up with a very simple idea. We would stake 2×4’s horizontally into the ground. I purchased (6) 12′ 2×4’s for this purpose. To provide one more critter barrier I thought a bit of stone installed beneath the skirt might frustrate those trying to dig under the skirt. For this, we bought 20 bags of drainage rock.

I didn’t need to buy any screws because we had a ton of FastenMaster Deck screws from building the kids’ play set. These screws have square heads and will not corrode in the new kind of pressure treated wood.

Day 2: Figuring out the Technique
The first real day of construction took the longest because I needed to build the base plate into which we would fasten the bottom of the skirt. Using my chop saw, I first cut 18″ stakes to drive into the ground.

18″ stakes would hold the base plate

I used a plumb line to establish the face of the skirt and left 1.5″ of space behind the plumb line for the 2×4 to fit. After pounding the stakes in with a sledge hammer, I put stone underneath where the base plate would be attached. Then I attached the base plate to the stakes.

The base plate is installed along the ground.

With the base plate in place we were able to begin installing the skirting. We started under the stairs; working our way from the most complicated end to the least. Under the stairs we had to notch some boards to match the rise and run. The length of the skirt boards varied slightly as the distance between the top of the deck and the ground changed. We butt the boards against one another, knowing that as they dry they will shrink. At one point there looked to be a tilt to the boards left to right, so we began to use our level to ensure each board was true. By the end of the first night I had completed part of one side.

Days 3 and 4: Getting in a Rhythm to Finish the Job
The third day was a Saturday, so we could count on a full day of work. We set up our work site with an electric drill for pilot holes and a cordless drill to drive the screws. Tricia could bark the lengths of the boards to me for cutting while she was installing the boards. We made it through 2 sides of the project before we couldn’t bend over anymore.

Kris cutting deck skirt boards

Tricia installing deck skirt boards

Day 4 we rounded the last corner of the 20×25′ deck and installed the last board. To make absolutely sure that no animals would get through our fortress we plugged up any small holes between the skirt and the house with foaming insulation. Overall, we are very pleased with the project. It was straightforward, simple carpentry with very few challenges. The skirt makes the deck look clean and finished. We will give the wood a year to rest before we seal it.

The completed skirt provides a critter barrier and gives the deck a finished look

To call the finishing stage of the crown molding project all one day is a bit of a misnomer. The reality is that it took small parts of about 4 days to caulk and do the finishing touches, all adding up to about a day worth of effort. I went around the room sealing the gaps between the molding and the ceiling and the molding and the wall with DAP Alex Plus Caulk. It is a latex caulk that can be painted. I also needed to fill in each inside corner, and the outside corners so that there were no visible gaps between the pieces of wood.

Perhaps the most challenging part of the finish work were the 3 joints in the room where I had didn’t have enough molding length to span the entire wall. On those joints as well as every place I had nailed, I used DAP Fast N’ Final Spackle. I put many thin coats of spackle on the joints, then let it dry, sanded and applied it again so that it would in theory disappear. Well, after about 4 layers, I gave up trying to get them all perfectly smooth. In retrospect I wish I had made tighter joints to begin with, but we learn.

After all of the filling was complete I took out the trim paint and painted over the caulk and spackle. My last step was to take out the wall paint and touch up any spots on the wall where white caulk was too visible.

Finito
The best part of the project is that it is now done. The results are great. It looks like the crown molding has been there all along, and really provides some nice architectural detail for the room. The project wasn’t overly difficult. It just took patience and a tolerance for having the house and garage in disarray for about a week. The total bill for the project was probably about $250 which included molding, paint, screws, caulk, book, angle measuring tool, etc. It will probably be a bit before I do another room, as I want to let the memories of coping corners fade a bit, but I wouldn’t hesitate.

DIY Crown Molding Project: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4,5 | Day 6