Corona Virus Projects

[Duman]

I'm putting together a pre-fabbed bunk bed this afternoon with directions and everything. I suspect I'll screw it up.

Ouch!

[Jamnanc]

Chicken coop with the daughter. Not taking pictures until done since you guys? work is so on point. But it should look good when done.

plus I’m essential so it’s getting done in the evenings.

[Irving]

Ha, I'm sure you saw my chicken coop. Same thing in that it was not your standard construction method, but turned out fancy when it was done. You can buy mine for $500. We just might need a crane to get it out of my backyard.

[JohnnyEgo]

First thing I ever built, I'll call it an armoire. Was in the Navy making nothing as an E3. In the time-honored tradition of youthful bad choices, I decided to move off the ship and into an apartment with my girlfriend and my two best friends. But furniture was expensive on an E3 salary. So I figured I could just build something. I owned a hammer and a Philips head screwdriver, and I had a budget of $35. After pricing out a sheet of plywood and a box of screws, I had spent $30 of it. But then I saw a sign that said the first two cuts on the panel saw were free, and then it was 25 cents a cut thereafter. I looked at my plan, did some quick math, and realized I could pester the Home Depot employee into making all 20 cuts for me on the panel saw for the $5 I had left. It was not a happy day for him, and those last 10 cuts were not exactly on the mark, but it was still a lot cheaper than a Skilsaw.

Went back to the apartment and ferried my load of cut panels into the living room. Didn't own a drill. Twisted two screws in by hand and realized it wasn't going to happen. So I borrowed $5 from my buddy and went back to the Home Depot to pick up a box of nails. My two friends and I nailed that thing together until two cases of Natty Light and the clock striking 2:00 AM, much to the delight of my neighbors all around, I am sure. It looked... Magnificient! Sure, it wasn't exactly square, and in point of fact it had a healthy bit of lean to one side. And there were the jagged splinters that accompanied the un-sanded surface. But I had beaten the overpriced furniture monopoly with my own two hands, and the hands of my friends, and the tired hands of the angry Home Depot Guy who had to work the panel saw for an hour, but whatever, we still won. Until we tried to move it into my bedroom, where we realized it was too wide for the doorway.

We beat it apart in the hallway, and then hammered it back together on the other side of the door. The hammer marks really added texture to the design. For the next two months, I pulled splinters out of my clothes on a daily basis. It was a glorious mess, but every time I looked at it, I felt a sense of pride in what I had done.

So go ahead and swing a hammer at a random pile of wood and build something profoundly structurally unsound. You don't have to be good, you just have to be bold. And you may even enjoy it.

[Jamnanc]

Ha, I'm sure you saw my chicken coop. Same thing in that it was not your standard construction method, but turned out fancy when it was done. You can buy mine for $500. We just might need a crane to get it out of my backyard.

Is that the two layer dog house? Lol. Mine is supposed to look like a barn. That way my wife May allow us to keep my preps. I mean peeps.

[Irving]

Nah, I built a second one that got pretty fancy.

[CS1983]

I have vanquished the pre-fab bunk. They are sleeping fine and no one has broken an arm or leg yet in a failed attempt at, “Geronimo!”

However, I could not find my power tools due to the partially unpacked moved. So I have hand tool hotspots.

[Jamnanc]

Chicken coop with the daughter. Not taking pictures until done since you guys? work is so on point. But it should look good when done.

plus I’m essential so it’s getting done in the evenings.

[Jamnanc]

About $225 in cost with lots of scrap including the roofing. The shingles have been sitting alongside my house, I hope they lay down over time. I wanted the birds to have a run and coop combined. Last time we had chickens we got tired of poop on the porch.

[Frac]

Very nice! I couldn't tell from the bucket what you used to seal it. Was it Thompson's?
I have not done much in the way of outdoor furniture, but I do plan to get around to building a picnic table eventually. Have to figure out what will stand up to the direct sunlight best where it is going. I've got severe fade on everything in my back yard.

Thanks! I sealed the cedar with the same stain we put on the fence. It is a Sherwin Williams WoodScapes 5yr semi-transparent.


And that chicken coup is looking good!