Manly Task #3 & 4

We have started transferring our office that is currently located in the master bedroom into the basement.  It's a slow process but it's moving.  I started to back track what needed to be done to clean out the office and realized that the drum set room closet needed to be done to make the transition a ton easier.  So I jumped into the drum studio and did some cleaning and attacked the closet.  I put the door knob on and spent a couple hours in the closet swearing, measuring, and hammering (not in any particular order).  After everything was said and done I have three huge shelves hung and level.   So here is the pict... with all my crap in there.  Manly task #3 & 4, done.

Time - 3 to 4 hours (including painting shelves last summer)
Cost - Scrap wood (free), Paint - $20
Difficulty - Medium (mounting of shelves was tricky to get them level and secure)


Here is the link to "Bookie's Manly Tasks to do... Eventually - The List" if you are curious about other to-do adventures I have done or have in plan.

Manly Task #23

About 3 years ago the light bulb above the stove burnt out and I of course went to change it. Like with most jobs it should have been an easy quick switch but it didn't turn out that way. The glass of the bulb broke off and the metal part was left inside the socket (what I didn't know is that they glue the bulb so when the microwave/vent is in transport the bulb doesn't loosen up). It took some serious force using pliers and some swearing but eventually it came out. After the new bulb was installed I decided to change the other light as well since the bulb pack was a two pack and I now knew there was glue on it so lets just get it over with. So I went to change out the other bulb and it popped as I unscrewed it. I thought the light was off and I thought... hmm I must have blown a fuse since the lights didn't come on after that. I couldn't find a fuse and the lights didn't work anymore. Everything else was fine, just no lights. Come to find out, there is no fuse on the lights, there is just the circuit board and if you blow the board it costs about $160 to order a replacement. I didn't find out this last bit of information until just recently. So I felt pretty bad breaking the stove lights. You don't realize how handy lights are there until you don't have them. Recently we took a trip to Traverse City and Michele cooked and made a comment about the light above the stove and I knew I really needed to get ours fixed. I felt bad breaking it so I decided to figure it out. 

After some serious research, I decided that it wasn't cost effective for me to buy a replacement part that would cost almost as much as a new microwave/vent system. A few years back I had set up a lighting system using under the counter lights for a cool desk system we used in our apartment for my computer that closed into a large hutch. I checked into prices and I could fix our stove lighting for about $40 using these same lights and they would have 3 different brightnesses as well. The trick would be rewiring the venting system for these lights. I went to good old Home Depot and found the lighting system needed and went to work. I took apart the light system and wiring under the microwave and began to run the wiring for the new lights. The hard part was running the wiring from the plug above the microwave down into the underside of the appliance. There was just enough give between the microwave and the cupboard to drop a line. I applied a new switch next to the cupboard and the microwave on the right hand side. It is a touch sensitive metal disk. The puck lights were place in the spot where the original lights were (I had to do some cutting of the metal light cover inside to fit the round light casing but it fits like a glove now). After the wiring below was done I set up the dimmer control in the cupboard and hooked up all the wiring. Plugged it in and we now officially have lighting above the stove again. It works great!

Repair time: 3 1/2 hours (or 3 years 3 1/2 hours but who is counting)

Cost: $40 (and a broken wine glass...oops)

Difficulty: Medium

Here is the link to "Bookie's Manly Tasks to do... Eventually - The List" if you are curious about other to-do adventures I have done or have in plan.

Manly Task #31

Two years ago we finished our basement so that Michele's sisters could live here while they went to GVSU.  With that being said, we were in a hurry.  I spent the entire summer (with huge help from Luke) putting walls up, wiring, carpeting, plumbing, HVAC, and dealing with inspectors (blog to come soon hopefully).  The night I put on the last coat of paint was the evening before Lillian was born and the girls moved in right after that.  So there were some loose ends down there that needed to be finished.  The girls moved in and two years later have moved out and those loose ends are still down there so we are chipping away at them.

 The fusebox door was a custom cabinet door I ordered and it took about 4 months to actually get it in.  Once it was in I painted it white and brought it downstairs to mount and discovered that I didn't pick up the right kind of hinges.  I tried to use cabinet hinges and because of the small amount of space on the left side next to the wall it wasn't going to be possible.  I leaned the door against the wall and the Jess decorated around it and there it has sat for 2 years.  So today I picked up a hinge and mounted the door.

Cost: $60 custom cupboard door, $5 parts
Difficulty: Easy
Time: 15 minutes (plus a drive to the hardware store)

Here is the link to "Bookie's Manly Tasks to do... Eventually - The List" if you are curious about other to-do adventures I have done or have in plan.

Manly Task #1

So, I can't take credit for this one.  My list is always open to anyone willing to finish a project.  This one goes to Michele!  She put the shadowbox together a couple days ago and hung it up.  It's really cute.  For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, Michele put together a shadowbox for Avery a couple years ago while she was pregnant with Lil.  The box contains the outfit Avery wore home from the hospital when she was born as well as some pictures and other miscellaneous things like a birth announcement.  It's really unique and I look at it every time I go into the laundry and smile.  We had hung a box for Lillian and stuck an ultrasound picture in there to tide it over until she was born with plans to do the same thing after she came home.  Lil is now two and the box has been empty (to my mother-in-laws dismay).  So Michele kicked it into high gear and put it together this past week.  I like it.  Here are some pictures.  Task #1 is in the books.

Here is the link to "Bookie's Manly Tasks to do... Eventually - The List" if you are curious about other to-do adventures I have done or have in plan.

Bookie's Manly Tasks to do... Eventually - The List

Here is my list of tasks around the house that needs to be done that I explained in my previous post, "Bookie's Manly Tasks to do... Eventually - The Explanation"  This list will be updated as needed and will never end... ugh.

1. Make shadow box for Lillian - DONE 11-10-11
2. Transfer the office to the downstairs "New" office. - Done 11/13
3. Put the door handle on the drum studio closet. - DONE 12-2-11
4. Put the shelving in the drum studio closet. - DONE 12-2-11
5. Clean out / set up the drum studio.
6. Clean out the garage and prep it for Fall/Winter
7. New carpet installation for master bedroom.
8. Paint / prep the master bedroom.
9. Move our bedroom to the master bedroom on the main floor.
10. Paint / prep Lillian's new bedroom.
11. Paint / pad Lillian's bench for her new room.
12. Move Lillian into her bedroom.
13. Paint touchup / prep Avery's bedroom.
14. Build Avery Bunk Bed / Lillian Big Girl Bed - DONE 1-23-12
15. Hang wall pictures on main stairway.
16. Set-up entertainment center in basement.
17. Sort/organize wiring for cable/phone box in storage room.  Done 11-23-13
18. Clean up/organize storage room.
19. Refinish/stain the deck. (Part 1 Completed 6/2013)
20. Power-wash the house.
21. Paint/touchup the front porch - Done 7/2010 but I want to post the picts in a blog.
22. New perimeter / extension on the swing set play area in back yard.
23. Fix Stove Range Lights - DONE 10-22-11
24. Total landscape makeover for the front and back yard.
25. Hang Christmas lights / Decorate exterior DONE 12/2013
26. Master Bathroom Paint / Makeover
27. Fix venting in master bathroom. - Done 12-8-13
28. Fix heat fan in downstairs bath.
29. Deep cleaning on all of downstairs rooms.
30. Paint/touchup on downstairs entertainment shelving. - DONE 1-27-12
31. Install fusebox door cover. - DONE 11-12-11
32. Install basement quarter round.
33. Repad all kitchen chair feet.
34. Thoroughly clean all vent intake covers.
35. Fix Dining room vent.
36. Fix Shoe Chest/Coat rack hinge.
37. Print/Hang new family Picture
38. Paint Vanity for Avery's Room.
39. Install garage attic ladder-door.
40. Install flooring in garage attic.
41. Fix the grass barrier around the rocks under the deck. - Done 5-26-13
42. Patch/Paint holes and marks on walls around house.
43. Repair Play Kitchen - DONE 2-1-12
44. Repair broken kitchen chair. - DONE 1-25-12
45. Build landing and stairs off back deck. - Done 9-27-13
46. ... more to come

Bookie's Manly Tasks to do... Eventually - The Explanation

So I've decided to make a list of things that need to be done around the house.  This list is going to be the basis for a series of blog postings that I will do when each one is accomplished.  The posting could be as simple as a "done" all the way to full detail of what went down with pictures even.  Please note... This is more for me, than for you and geared to keep me motivated and organize my thoughts.  I also figure if let's say, "mow the lawn" or "build a bigger deck" is on the list and it magically happens because you read it and had some free time, I'm not going to stop you.  You may also know people who could help or have opinions about certain daunting tasks like, "add a ladder-door and flooring to the garage attic."  None the less, there is nothing like public admission of crap that needs to be done to help get it done.  The list will be a running tab and I will check off things as they are completed.

On a side note... I know that it says, "Manly" in the title but don't give me a hard time if there is something like "give the girls a mani-pedi".  Come on folks... we are living in a society where men and women can do anything... Just ask my mother-in-law, she is the destroyer of ALL tasks!  ;-)

Wish me luck.

Here is the list.  Bookie's Manly Tasks to do... Eventually - The List