Home projects during Shelter-in-Place

I posted about the landscape walls I'm building earlier.  I'm pretty much finished with the wall around the playground equipment and moving on to putting in the lawn.  This link is to the lawn irrigation installation.  I have 900 sq.ft. of sod coming Monday. 
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipPz4-ek-gbWYs0mAYR5lt7S8116otF9_ID-Tu-4ktBtrTI08up07HIB0ygzuI8r-Q?key=RzFLN0dpMmdXeTNPTHJnanh0SDA5Q0Nqd0tuQkNB

For those wondering about the wall, the link for those photos are here;
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNwj4xBaLCOfwewr0jxIfZIQlXpYtuo0PdmsJYH9tqN0k-i3O0p8FbbGRMlsNhm6w?key=LTNWWHFFQXhXTXJKNFNBcXVhc0FPaXJfVGtHcHdn

Wow!  .  Are you a licensed contractor Jerry?

No, just an old dude.  And old dudes rule!  Yea!  Ha!
I've been doing my own landscaping since I bought my first home at 27.  This is my third home and the biggest one yet.  Started on this home after a wild land fire that took everything down to scorched-earth.  Built the house in 2006-2007, then got going on the landscaping.  Started by planting over 500 plants; trees and bushes mostly.  Those are finally getting some size to 'em. 
My philosophy is; find what you like, do the research and learn all you can.  Buy the right tools to do the job right.  Don't be intimidated or limit yourself. 
To build the wall, I learned how to use a transit in order to ensure it was level, for example.  I bought it at a garage sale for $45 and it's a great tool to own.  I got my gas powered 14" concrete saw from a demo at Home Depot.  Talked to the salesman of what I wanted to do and he said to come back on Friday and he'd sell me the demo saw for 50% off.  Got the compactor off craigslist.  It had a bad coil/magneto.  Cost me $100 plus $9 for the new coil.  Ha!

If you liking this project, you might like the she-shed I built the wife 2 years ago;
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMqw5B8YWg-vzcKI2IQ6gkBXlKSCmaxoQZSs6MtJWpNeSdqAJ1C3j3GS3oioglgig?key=UUMxOEVpeXBoYlZlOVZyUU5sWFlFYnVDenVxZzNB

I cut in the driveway first, then the pad for the shed.  We have LOTS of rock as you can see.  I have a 4x4 tractor with backhoe, so that made it possible. The stone steps was pretty dangerous; bracing the stones with the tractor bucket as I shored up to make them level.  The timbers are from bark-beetle killed trees I had someone mill for me as are the ceiling 1x12 boards.  The brick pad from a salvage job on an old San Francisco building.  The tin roof from a dairy farm out of Oregon, etc...  It does look a little different now with the landscaping plants starting to fill in; Japanese maple, Chinese Pistachio,  Dog wood, etc.  If you look close in the WALL photo album, you can see the shed in the background on a couple of the photos. 

You have skills!  Thanks for sharing Jerry.

Doing the mix in stages so that it won’t sag on me.
Dug the space in the yard and able to use soil for my planters for seedlings (kale/mustard/okra etc..) that are beginning to sprout☺️

Nice going projects.  I like the plastic/pvc planter containers.  Where did you buy them?

Nice going projects.  I like the plastic/pvc planter containers.  Where did you buy them?

Got em for free from a guy in Vallejo giving them away.

Nice going projects.  I like the plastic/pvc planter containers.  Where did you buy them?

Got em for free from a guy in Vallejo giving them away.

Does he still have some left?  I don't mind pay him for them.

Hightide how did you pick the mix for the cement

I’m thinking about doing a pizza oven, the kits I looked at were like $3500 and you still have to do the build around them. I was thinking about clay but not sure what would be a good one or where to get it

Hung my spare kayak in the garage the other day.

10 dollar set up from Harbor freight. Didn't work at first, due to the rope falling off the pulley and jamming.

Drilled out rivets for pulleys. Replaced with bolts and tightened down till clearance was tighter, preventing rope from coming off pulley.

More then sturdy enough for the life time tamarack kayak I hung. Not sure id do the same for my Old Town PDL.


Nice pics and good work. Gave me some motivation for doing some yard work.

Thanks, Cheers.

Made the raised beds last autumn but made the tomato trelleses the last couple of days.  Each trellis will have two heirloom tomato plants (seed planted 2/1, grafted onto DR0141TX rootstock on 3/5)

Made the raised beds last autumn but made the tomato trelleses the last couple of days. 

them pix gave me mad backyard envy

In that there is no place to launch the yak north of Jenner near my favorite spots I had to settle for a visual experience of the area painted in SIP in the studio. Home project that is leading toward temptation.

Nice going projects.  I like the plastic/pvc planter containers.  Where did you buy them?

Got em for free from a guy in Vallejo giving them away.

Does he still have some left?  I don't mind pay him for them.

Sorry Sonny no more. He had 40 of them and I had my co worker pick up some for me not knowing they were this big and thick. Wish I got all of them😔

Hightide how did you pick the mix for the cement

I’m thinking about doing a pizza oven, the kits I looked at were like $3500 and you still have to do the build around them. I was thinking about clay but not sure what would be a good one or where to get it

I am just going by most of Youtubers  mix ratio which is 5:1 Vermiculite/ cement mix. I’m only using Portland Cement. Can’t find refractory cement in my local area. It taking 3 days to complete the dome. If you try to do it all at once it’s going to sag and crack.
This is going to cost me around $300-350
Most expensive item are the fire bricks from Lowes at $2.97. Needing 40 of them.