kellan_the_tabby: My face, reflected in a round mirror I'm holding up; the rest of the image is the side of my head, hair shorn short. (Default)
I was GOING to get that shutter done today, since I'd finally managed to pick up the hinges from Home Despot on Friday, & I was REALLY excited, except that when I opened the bag, this is what came out.



Yep, that is one (1) hinge. Note the presence of two little baggies of screws, each of which holds enough screws for one hinge. But only one hinge.

I had to order the hinges (along with a couple other things) as ship to store, instead of getting them shipped here. The first time I tried to pick the order up they gave me part of the order but not the hinges & the block plane I'd bought, but marked them as already picked up. I had to call them about that stuff, which I can't do from the house, but at least they assured me that the hinges & block plane would be ready to go?

When I went AGAIN to pick them up on Friday I tried calling for curbside pickup, but sat there on hold for fifteen minutes before getting hung up on. So I had to wait in the long line in the sun for twenty minutes to get inside to get my stuff, & then I only get one hinge.

Lowes.com will ship things to me. That's where I'm going from now on, if I can help it at ALL.

I'm not mad that Home Despot had a line, that's how things go these days, & they had even put up a couple of sunshades over part of it, so they get points for that? But like, don't offer contactless pickup if you're not gonna do contactless pickup.

ANYWAY I went stomping back into the house & flailed around Lowe's website for a while until I found hinges I can work with. They should be here in a week. We'll see.

In the meantime, I put a couple coats of paint on the top & side of the door. Most of the little gaps in the particle-board-ish interior that was exposed when I cut the door down to fit in the doorframe are filled in with paint now, & a couple more coats ought to get the rest of them.

The side door is inside Tyrava, leaning against the wall. The edge has been painted dark purple.

In between coats of paint on the doorframe I also got one side of the cabinet sanded & ready to paint. I think I want to get a nice ocean blue to paint it, though, so that's gonna hafta wait until I can get the paint.

The cabinet's been turned so the side is facing up, & the wood veneer has been lightly sanded.

I was tired of waiting for functional hinges to even be able to put the shutters together, so I picked hinges that will work without me needing to do finicky measurements. They'll be boring hinges, but I can paint the shutter all pretty & that'll make up for it.

I got the boards lined up & the shutter put together, & that is kind of a relief.

A window shutter made up of several horizontal wooden boards held together by two boards fastened vertically.

I realized when it was done, though, that I'd only sanded one side of the boards, out of pure habit from doing the front inside wall -- but both sides of the shutter will be visible. So the last thing I did was plop down & sand the other side of the shutter.

The shutter from the other side -- just a bunch of narrow boards lined up next to each other. Atop them is a drill with a sanding wheel.

The outside will be painted the same dark purple as the trim. I'm waffling on the inside, between the pale lavender that I used on the outside walls, or the ocean blue I'm gonna use on the cabinet. Either way, I'm not gonna decide right now.
kellan_the_tabby: (wedding)
20200517_132723

I was GOING to get that shutter done today, since I’d finally managed to pick up the hinges from Home Despot on Friday, & I was REALLY excited, except that when I opened the bag, this is what came out.

Yep, that is one (1) hinge. Note the presence of two little baggies of screws, each of which holds enough screws for one hinge. But only one hinge.

Read the rest of this entry » )

originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

more door

May. 24th, 2020 12:48 pm
kellan_the_tabby: My face, reflected in a round mirror I'm holding up; the rest of the image is the side of my head, hair shorn short. (Default)
Tyrava's side door. It's painted a dark purple, & has matching dark purple trim down the left side. Also, the bottom is about a foot anna half off the ground.

I did get most of the trim on last Monday, but then there was Stuff & I didn't get back to it until the end of the week, so here is where I started yesterday morning.

The hinges were in the way of putting the trim on the right side of the door, but I wanted it off anyway to work on it, so that wasn't a problem.

The door has been removed from the doorway -- one corner is just visible inside -- & trim has been added down the right side. There still isn't trim along the bottom though.

I measured & cut a piece to go along the bottom ...

A piece of plywood sits on a table in the sun, with a cutting guide camped to it, which is the only way I manage to cut anything in a straight line.

... & traced a curve so that it would match the rest of the side trim.

My hand, holding the template with the trim pattern on it up to the right side of the piece of bottom trim.

Couple coats of paint.

A piece of plywood, four inches wide & a couple feet long, one short end cut into a curve. It's sitting on a table in the sun, & most of it has been painted purple.

While that was drying, I worked on the door. It had started to split a little, where water had gotten into the filling stuff, but I have gorilla glue & lots of clamps.

The short end of the door is being held together with a bunch of clamps. That's because the filling of the door is kind of particle board, which swelled when it got wet. I squeezed a buncha glue into the cracks & clamped it good.

I figure enough coats of paint over that & water will never get into it again.

In the meantime, I got that last piece into place. Looks good!

The door now has pretty purple trim all the way around!

Just had to fill in a couple gaps with caulk, & poof! It's a door frame.

The bottom right corner of the door frame. White caulk is visible where the framing boards meet at the corner, & where the trim piece connects to the frame piece. Much smaller gaps than last time!

Next up, painting the edges of the door & putting together the shutter for the front window!

more door

May. 23rd, 2020 10:27 pm
kellan_the_tabby: (wedding)
20200516_141614

I did get most of the trim on last Monday, but then there was Stuff & I didn’t get back to it until the end of the week, so here is where I started yesterday morning.

Read the rest of this entry » )

originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

kellan_the_tabby: (wedding)
P_20200510_150410

I’m as far as I can get on the front window until the hinges come in, so I moved on to the next bit. Tyrava’s side door gets a bit of leaking going on when it rains, so that’s my next project — or at least part of it, because the weather had opinions too.

The back yard, low scrub dotted with evergreen trees; the sky is grey, darkening to REALLY grey in spots

I worked outside on the trim when I could, ducked inside when it rained a bit, & wound up getting a BUNCH done.

Got the first piece cut out!

The trim piece, being held up along the edge of a deep purple door.

But then I hadda duck inside for a bit. I’ve got this great cabinet I picked up for squat-all at the salvage place, & I wanted to take out part of the back so the wall will show a bit when it’s open. Tom helped survey the scene.

The pressboard cabinet is laying face-down on Tyrava's floor. Tom is curiously sniffing the end of it.

I’d pulled out the tiny nails stuck in the back, but there were LONG staples holding it in place too. Fortunately I have tools, & I’m not afraid to use em.

An inch-long staple lays on the back of the cabinet, next to the hole from which it has been wrenched. Tom's rubbing his face all over the side of the cabinet. It's his now.

But even when I pulled out every fastener I could find, the back piece wouldn’t slide out of the slot it was in. I guess it was glued?

So I got cranky & had at with the jigsaw. (I love my jigsaw.) After a bunch of that, interspersed with ducking outside a couple times, this is what I achieved:

Most of the back of the cabinet has been cut away, except for small sections at the top, bottom, & middle, enough to keep it stable. Two pieces of cut trim have been laid across it.

I took a bit of a break & thought about being done for the day, but there’s still so much to do … so I went out twice more to get the painting done.

Both pieces of trim have been painted the same dark purple I've used on the door & the other trim.

Tomorrow’s my day to plan the week, clear the decks, & generally get things set up for the next week, but I’m gonna take a little time to duck outside & get these in place. It’s gonna look good!


This was posted originally to my Patreon, a little over a week ago.

If you want to see these posts sooner, & not incidentally help support me & my cats in our travels & such, the way to do that is to sign up as one of my Patrons for as little as a buck a month.

I’d REALLY like that.


originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

kellan_the_tabby: My face, reflected in a round mirror I'm holding up; the rest of the image is the side of my head, hair shorn short. (Default)
seen from above: a wooden table holding a jigsaw, a clamp, & a length of plywood cut into ornate trim

I'm as far as I can get on the front window until the hinges come in, so I moved on to the next bit. Tyrava's side door gets a bit of leaking going on when it rains, so that's my next project -- or at least part of it, because the weather had opinions too.

The back yard, low scrub dotted with evergreen trees; the sky is grey, darkening to REALLY grey in spots

I worked outside on the trim when I could, ducked inside when it rained a bit, & wound up getting a BUNCH done.

Got the first piece cut out!

The trim piece, being held up along the edge of a deep purple door.

But then I hadda duck inside for a bit. I've got this great cabinet I picked up for squat-all at the salvage place, & I wanted to take out part of the back so the wall will show a bit when it's open. Tom helped survey the scene.

The pressboard cabinet is laying face-down on Tyrava's floor. Tom is curiously sniffing the end of it.

I'd pulled out the tiny nails stuck in the back, but there were LONG staples holding it in place too. Fortunately I have tools, & I'm not afraid to use em.

An inch-long staple lays on the back of the cabinet, next to the hole from which it has been wrenched. Tom's rubbing his face all over the side of the cabinet. It's his now.

But even when I pulled out every fastener I could find, the back piece wouldn't slide out of the slot it was in. I guess it was glued?

So I got cranky & had at with the jigsaw. (I love my jigsaw.) After a bunch of that, interspersed with ducking outside a couple times, this is what I achieved:

Most of the back of the cabinet has been cut away, except for small sections at the top, bottom, & middle, enough to keep it stable. Two pieces of cut trim have been laid across it.

I took a bit of a break & thought about being done for the day, but there's still so much to do ... so I went out twice more to get the painting done.

Both pieces of trim have been painted the same dark purple I've used on the door & the other trim.

Tomorrow's my day to plan the week, clear the decks, & generally get things set up for the next week, but I'm gonna take a little time to duck outside & get these in place. It's gonna look good!
kellan_the_tabby: (wedding)

Remember how I glued everything ahead of time & that was gonna fix everything? HAHAHAHA nope.

Read the rest of this entry » )

originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

kellan_the_tabby: (wedding)
P_20200429_133132

Cutting the second piece of trim went MUCH better with all the loose parts glued into place!

Hahaha kidding, no it didn’t.

Read the rest of this entry » )

originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

kellan_the_tabby: (wedding)

I woke up this morning with a snuggly Hades. Eventually, though, it was window time.

Read the rest of this entry » )

originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

kellan_the_tabby: (wedding)
P_20200426_134151
On the left side, the window from inside, with housewrap covering it. To the right, the window from outside, with a pair of shutters bolted down over it.

I didn’t have ANYTHING like time to do stuff with the windows before Estrella, so I left the the housewrap over them & stuck shutters on the outside & left it at that. But now that the front wall is done, it’s window time! & I have no idea what I’m doing

Read the rest of this entry » )

originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

kellan_the_tabby: (wedding)
P_20200425_105207

First off this is how Loiosh spent his birthday. I gave thought to doing the same but I’m glad I didn’t, cos I finally got outside to work on Tyrava again for the first time since Estrella.

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originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

kellan_the_tabby: (wedding)
P_20200225_113504_vHDR_On

Heck YEAH I stopped there for the night, it was too sweet a spot not to.

I’m pretty sure that picture of Tyrava is an oops, but it’s nicely dramatic, so what the heck.

Read the rest of this entry » )

originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

kellan_the_tabby: (wedding)
P_20200213_203506_vHDR_On

I promise Tyrava didn’t look like that inside all week.

Read the rest of this entry » )

originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

kellan_the_tabby: (wedding)
P_20200202_133950_vHDR_On

(this was supposed to go up like a month ago & randomly failed, idek)

I THOUGHT I’d taken more pics while tucking in the tarp along the side, & here they are.

Read the rest of this entry » )

originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

kellan_the_tabby: (wedding)
P_20200201_151210_vHDR_On

One thing I was VERY careful to do when I put the plywood on the roof was NOT to put screws right at the edge of each rafter. I had a Plan. (This one worked.)

Read the rest of this entry » )

originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

alas, fail

Feb. 12th, 2020 03:33 pm
kellan_the_tabby: (wedding)
P_20200201_131910_vHDR_On

So the rafters do a GREAT job of holding up the roof, except for along the edges because there’s no rafter there, but that’s where the top of the walls hold up the roof, except they don’t extend past the end walls, & what I’m babbling about here is the part where the corners of the roof kinda sag a bit.

Read the rest of this entry » )

originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

kellan_the_tabby: (wedding)
P_20200201_122109_vHDR_On

Above: the problem!

Below: the solution!

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originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

kellan_the_tabby: (wedding)
3q71Ix6E

but she’s READY

posting unlocked because everyone gets to see this, real time

not gonna do any more construction posts til after I get home, because I am p00ped

but she GOES

she rides SO SMOOTH, brakes cleanly with no wobbling. i took her over a cattle grate at 60 & she shook … a little bit.

after much deliberation, & with many thanks to Diane Duane, she has been named Tyrava.

we pull out Friday.


originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

kellan_the_tabby: (wedding)
P_20200131_142237_vHDR_On

Hey Siliconshaman LOOK I remembered to mark the edges before I took the hinges off! (for which i MOST PROFOUNDLY thank you)

Read the rest of this entry » )

originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

kellan_the_tabby: (wedding)
P_20200128_144552_1_vHDR_On

I wasn’t feeling up to working on the roof today & everything’s still wet from the snow yesterday anyway, so it was a wall day.

& I was kicking ass until I ran out of screws.

Still, it’s more wall done, a bit closer to being able to put in the door. I’ll take it.

In the meantime, have some cool wood grain pics.


This was posted originally to my Patreon, a little over a week ago.

If you want to see these posts sooner, & not incidentally help support me & my cats in our travels & such, the way to do that is to sign up as one of my Patrons for as little as a buck a month.

I’d REALLY like that.


originally posted on Patreon; support me over there to see posts a week early!

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