Cheapskate

• August 3rd, 2008 • 0 Comments • cleaning, construction •

When I lived in an apartment, it really cheesed me off that I couldn’t hang laundry out to dry. Think of it! All that FREE hot air outside, and me running the dryer and the air conditioner at the same time. Now that I’m something resembling and adult homeowner, I can put whatever I want in my backyard, so I rigged up a fancy-schmancy clothes dryer!

Cost of materials was less than $10. I’ve looked up readymade clothes dryers online, and man! Are they expensive! Upwards of $200, apparently hanging clothes on a stick has progressed when I wasn’t looking. This contraption consists of some 2×4 scraps, a 1x.5, two large shelf brackets, wood screws, and some machine screws I had hanging around the house. Assembly was super easy and fairly evident from the photo.

I also mixed up some homemade laundry detergent with borax, washing soda and a bar of ivory. Hell yes, doing laundry is super cheap now! (I could work out how many kilowatt hours I’m saving plus cost per load, but that sounds suspiciously like a lot of work I’m not interested in, haha.)  I shouldn’t even have to mention the fact I don’t have to fold shirts; just cram them in the closet when they’re done. Hooray for free energy!

Whew!

• September 9th, 2007 • 0 Comments • cleaning, construction, studio •

So I’ve been busy! In addition to trying to get the studio in order, I’ve also been maintaining other bits of the house. This week involved:

- mowing the lawn
- edging the lawn (I don’t think it’s been done in, oh, a few months!)
- sprinkler repair (Ran over a head with the mower. Oops.)
- installing new ceiling fan
- moving old ceiling fan to room without a fan
- crawling up into attic to inspect electrical box for fan (Oh god hot.)
- patching up hole to plumbing in master bath
- lining garden with rocks hauled up from Austin

Ah, learning to own a home. I love it. I was filthy for most of the week and my hands are covered with calluses and a blister. I think I’m making up for years of apartment life.

Studio-wise, I’ve built two new table-tops/storage units out of old furniture, and set up a darker area for taking photos. Pictures to follow when I’ve put more things away.

A bunch of my larger paintings and whatnot were in storage at a place with a dirty garage, mice, and spiders. I had to clean a lot of it before moving into the new studio. Fortunately, no mouse-related damage has been done to the actual art, just to its coverings. UNfortunately, there is spider poop on everything. Lots of cleaning to be done to repair THAT mess.

Bench

• August 17th, 2007 • 0 Comments • construction, studio •

Great googly-moogly it’s hot outside. It rained a bit last night and today so the air is like a sponge. Nevertheless, I finished my new workbench today!

The whole thing cost me under $30, not including the generous supply of screws I keep on hand. For my first bench, I must say I’m pleased with myself. I had the chipboard cut while at Home Depot (There’s a Home Depot only a minute from my house!) and cut all of the studs myself. Sawing lumber on a muggy August day by hand outright sucks. But I did it! I even managed to cut the shelf supports at an angle without a miter box. He ain’t the prettiest thing in the world, but nice and sturdy. And cheap. Take that pre-fab workbenches.

Baby Steps

• August 15th, 2007 • 0 Comments • cleaning, construction, studio •

I think I sweated about 2 gallons of liquid today. It’s pretty damn hot in the new garage studio. Unfortunately, my father brought to light a development I hadn’t considered in my endeavor to climate control the place. The walls of the garage aren’t insulated. Heck, the house was built in 1974, I don’t think people were so big on spending time in the garage back then. Nowadays you can buy whole furniture sets to spend time in your garage with your beloved vehicle; I reckon in the 70s folks didn’t see the point of that when you had an entire living room in which to spend time.

While I wasn’t going to live in there, I was at least hoping to tack a window-mounted A/C unit in the window. My ultimate scheme was to insulate and seal the garage door thus ensuring my sanctum sanctorum was bearable in the Texas summer. After speaking to dad on the phone last night, I chopped a hole in the wall and disappointedly stared at the emptiness within. Ah well. Just means my drafting and computers must stay inside.

Meanwhile, I’ve been ripping down the ancient and poorly-built cabinets mounted by the previous tenent. One can admire how he built them out of scrap wood, but they were curiously overbuilt in places, while left dangerously underbuilt in others. For example, the framwork was constructed out of 1/2 inch fiberboard with five countersunk screws holding the shelves in place. But the entire structure was affixed to the wall by only four 1 1/2 inch screws that were attached to the cabinet framework with cheap wood paneling. It almost makes my head hurt to think about them. How they stayed up all those years is a mystery.

Of course, before all of my shelving and whatnot goes up on the wall, I must give the walls a coat of Kilz. Structurally the walls are ok, but guh-ross! My shop will not look this disgusting.