The big dream of many of us is to move into our own home. However, having your own home does present a few problems. When we used to rent and something went wrong or was broken we would just ring the agent or landlord and get it fixed. Now we have our own house we have to fix it ourselves or pay expensive tradesmen prices. So like it or not we soon become instant handy persons as we fix things.
That is not the only problem with owning your own house. After the initial high has worn off you start to see little things that you could do to make your house better and more livable. That is perfectly normal because we are all different and this is called added you personal touch. The house is still a house until you have added your own little bits and then it becomes your home. An individual home that reflects your own personality in style.
This could be as simple as a coat of paint but usually will involve adding a cupboard here or moving a door there or adding a pergola outside or a garden shed etc. There are innumerable things that you can do to your house to create your dream home.
You will probably sit down and work out what you want to do and prioritize each project so you start at the beginning and work your way through all the ideas. You will soon realize that to do it all is going cost you a small fortune especially if you employ builders who are not cheap. The other alternative is to do it all yourself.
That is not impossible and actually can be quite fun if you have the right tools and guides. You can get plenty of designs available now that will give you step by step plans and instructions. You will need to have a few tools of course and the idea is not to skimp here.
If you buy good quality tools now and look after them they will last you a lifetime and are well worth the investment. You will find that the first project will cost a little extra as you collect your tools but once you have them you will use them for every project into the future.
To look after your tools is very necessary and you will need a safe and secure place to store them. That may be your first project because you will need a work and storage shed. That way your tools are always hanging there where you can find them. There is nothing worse than getting up early on Saturday morning to start your project and you end up spending the first couple of hours trying to find all the tools.
So don’t forget. Before you are to become a DIY expert first acquire some good tools and a set of guides or plans. Some of the guides available now have thousands of plans and step by step instructions so you will find everything you need.
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Cheap Pergola Woodworking Patterns Ideas On a Budget
Things are starting to get desperate in the energy department. Our power charges are increasing all the time forcing some to look for alternate ways to power their home. Solar is a good option if you get a bit of sunshine but it is so expensive to set up.
Maybe you can sell some energy back to the power grid each month but it will take many years to recoup your outlay. Various other options like wind etc. are really not viable yet as alternatives but usually only as a back up system or auxiliary system. Is there a way to save on those ever increasing power bills. The only other alternative is to cut down our power usage but how do we do that and still be comfortable.
All very well to turn the thermostat down but do we want to be watching TV dressed in overcoats and wrapped in blankets. On the other hand in summer we can cut out the air conditioning but we all know how uncomfortable that would be on a hot sticky day. Why does our house get so hot. Have a look outside on a hot day and see where the sun is.
If it is shining onto your house of course it is going to get hot so how do we stop it from doing that. A couple of big shady trees on the sunny side of your house will lower your inside temperature quite a lot because the sun is not directly on your house. Get them planted now and try and pick advanced ones that are fast growing. Give them plenty of water and fertilizer to push them along.
In the mean time check out some woodworking patterns for some pergola or arbor type plans. If we build a pergola along the sunny side of the house and grown deciduous vines over it of say grape etc. then in the summer the foliage will keep the sun off the house.
In the winter when there is no foliage the sun can shine through and help warm our house. When it is hot you need to have opening shutters at the bottom of the wall with the pergola so the cool air from under the grapes can flow into the house. At the opposite end of the house have the same opening shutters at the top of the wall so that the hot air can flow out.
A few little techniques like that can reduce your house heating and cooling bills by quite a bit so check out some woodworking plans now and get building and planting. It will be worth the effort in the long term.
Cheap Woodworking Bridge Project Ideas On a Budget
Do you ever stand and look out over your yard and think just how plain and unexciting it is. Are you always looking for ideas to try and spice up your garden. Some trendy additions that don’t cost much but with a little imagination can turn your garden into a show piece.
There are lots of landscaping ideas you can choose from but one of the most attractive features in a garden is water in some form or another. As water is always moving and changing it becomes a focal point of attention especially if the water is moving. As water moves it creates sound and that little trickle noise it makes seems to give your garden some magic appeal.
The ultimate is a garden pond with a small waterfall and a wooden bridge so you can get close up and personnel with the pond. Does that sound good or what, and it is not difficult to create. Get your creative juices moving here and try and picture the finished project. The pond is easy. First dig a shallow hole of reasonable size and make it a random shape so as appear natural.
Use the dirt round the outside to create a garden. Line your hole with some heavy duty plastic sheeting and cover with a couple of inches of concrete render troweled on. Add a little black color in the render so it appears more natural. When it is set it will need a couple of coats of waterproofing to hold water.
Around the top of the hole place some landscaping rocks of various sizes so the pond appear as natural looking a you can get it. Pile the rocks around at random so they look natural too as you will not find rocks placed in a straight line in nature.
This is where your creative bits come into play. At one end pile the rocks a little higher and arrange them so that water will trickle down into the pond. You have a small recirculation pump in your pond with the lines hidden under your concrete. The water is pumped up to the rear of your pile of rocks and trickles down as a little waterfall creating a wonderful tinkling sound.
Then find some woodworking plans and patterns for a nice little wooden bridge for over your pond and you are done. You have created a beautiful feature for your garden at minimal cost and the whole thing has been fun. If you want to have goldfish just make one end of your pond a bit deeper for them to breed and add a few water lilies etc. So go for it and have fun.
Cheap Woodworking Glass House Project Ideas On a Budget
So you have a green thumb and a beautiful garden established and want to take it to the next level. A glass house would be an ideal addition to your garden allowing you so much more scope with your plant production.
The glass house can be combined with a potting shed so you can produce lots of free plants. Your garden can grow and flourish as you produce lots of plants and keep them coming on out of season. If you design the glass house well it can enhance your garden and become an integral part of it.
Of course these days glass house does not necessary mean glass as in the traditional old style glass house. There are many suitable plastic sheet style coverings available these days so your green house building becomes relatively easy.
These building techniques allow you to have a nice size green house so you can grow a large variety of plants as well as propagate those that need to have some shelter to get started. Combined with your potting shed you can produce lots of lovely plants ready to fill your garden in season.
Your green house will be handy for producing those vegetables that struggle out in the elements. Veggies like tomatoes love the glasshouse environment so you can grow all you can eat. Of course while you have the facility you will need to make room for some exotics like orchids that struggle to survive outside a controlled environment.
You will soon find that no matter how large you build it is not going to be large enough. You will want to have a potting bench where you can strike cuttings into seedling trays and somewhere to plant seeds for your flowers and veggies. As the seeds strike and grow you will need room to pot some of them on into bigger pots until it is time to plant them out in the garden.
You can see that your glass house will never be big enough and you will always find plenty to do in there. Because in your glasshouse you are changing the climate so you can garden out of season which means you will have gardening to do all year long.
If you love getting your fingers in the soil a greenhouse is a must. Check out some glasshouse plans and patterns now and select the style for you. Get building and you will catch the next planting season.