April 27, 2010
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Projects at my dad’s house
Dad built this water mill fountain. It took him a couple of years, but it came out beautiful. The shingles are cut from composite shims. The reservoir started to deteriorate since water is hard on plywood, so I lined it with fiberglass. That’s why it looks white instead of blue. Dad didn’t get around to repainting it.
While I was there last August, I did a little work to get it running smoothly. The wheel was rubbing against the chute, so I had to shave down the little beam under the chute and make some other adjustments.
We built a shelving system for Jan in the garage in December 2008. Here is a picture of it before it was painted. I added another two-foot section to the right last year. You’ll have to imagine it with all the shelves filled in, all painted white (including the walls and ceiling), and loaded with bins and boxes. The final dimensions: ten feet wide, eight feet tall, twenty inches deep. Holds a lot of stuff!
On that visit, Dad and I also trimmed out the garage windows: wood all around inside the openings, sills underneath, casing around the front, blinds. Last year they had the sheetrock taped and bedded, everything painted, and the garage door insulated.
You can see the nice smooth white walls in this picture of the wheelchair ramp I built after Jan fell last fall. I’m glad they found a painter to handle the walls; I hate painting and I’m competent but not great at sheetrock work. You can see they also got the floor painted.
Comments (35)
i love to see “hand”iwork … so wonderful you and your dad shared a love for making things …
Love the mill! And you sure are handy to have around! How far are you from Oklahoma???Lol.
@windupherskirt - Thank you, and for the rec. Someday I’d like to get to where I can make things just for pretty, like birdhouses and fountains.
@lupus_lady - Dallas isn’t far. What part of OK? Dad and Jan’s place is in Siloam Springs, AR, just across the border on 412.
@Roadkill_Spatula - that would be wonderful woodn’t it?
I see a hose sticking out the back, doesn’t that violate the carpenter’s code or something?
Aha, we are an hour South of Tulsa. So not inconceivable, lol.
@youandwhosearmy - It was Dad’s project, built according to plans he ordered. I would have routed the hose through the inside.
@lupus_lady - McAlester? I go through there on my way up 75 to get to Siloam.
i barely passed shop in jr. high. nice to see that someone can do nice work
My son is a carpenter, and just about the last thing he ever wants to hear is “can you come over and fix _____ for me?”
So I can really appreciate that you so cheerfully helped your dad out. I’m betting he was pretty pleased, as well. And my, but your father was a handsome man!
@Harpos_Mark - Handyman work is the funnest thing I do, next to being with my kids. At Dad’s it was never piddly stuff because he took care of that himself, it was just fun bigger projects.
I needed you with my Ikea stuff! I know you offered, but gosh darn it, Cincinnati is so far from Dallas!
Oh that fountain~ so charming~ what a treasure. And I love the ramp~ with the access to the fridge. I am so enjoying your father’s work~ and learning more about your relationship with him.
So now we know who you get your home building / engineering skills from. Hope you’re holding up
@StephanieWall - There was never any question about that. Thank you, I’m doing okay. I imagine it will hit hardest when I go up to visit Jan this summer.
@WildWomanOfTheWest - I learned all about ramps from a great internet site: the platform by the door had to be a certain size, the ramp has to have a certain slope, and so on. And then the issue of getting to each side of the platform and leaving room for the car. One thing I liked about working on my dad’s place is that it was only big projects, because he could handle the piddly ones. Not like my middle-aged single-lady clients (sigh).
you have some nice music going over here, too. : ) glad you enjoyed listening to moby.
@be_the_rain - I’ve had the same music for about three years, I think, from back when the search engines had an Audio tab. I just haven’t bothered changing it. But it is one of my favorites.
Great project…keep that great old house alive!!
You were a great blessing to Dad in those last years of his life, Tim. Those are memories to treasure–& you have modeled for your kids how to relate to elderly parents. Wonderful as it is to work with one’s hands, something much more profound than carpentry is reflected in these photos. I’m so proud of you.
I am very very sorry to hear about your Father! It does indeed leave a void that can not be filled.
Biggest hugs*
You were very close of your Dad so I imagine seeing those works you did with him last year is heartbroken .
I took my time to read and watch your two previous posts .
I ewpress to you my compassion .
In friendship
Michel
RYC : you ask about the kitchen floor . It is old technic coming from before the war .It is a kind of colored concrete with small stones polished in it . This is no more used or made nowadays . We made again the floor of the living at the side with new white tiles but I refused to change the kitchen floor . This is like history for me .
@fauquet - In Latin America they call that technique “terrazo” or “granito”, and it is still used. The most elegant is concrete with stones, as you say. The more common is tiles with the stones embedded in them. A grinder is used to smooth them after they are laid. I wish it were used here in the US.
@fauquet - I’m sure I will miss him when I visit my stepmother. Thank you for your compassion and for reading my posts.
I am about the same with sheet rock, my number one rule of painting is to do it badly enough that I am not asked again.
@ElevenStones - I don’t take painting jobs in my handyman business. There are hundreds of people around who can do it faster, better, and cheaper. I will occasionally paint what I repair or build, but I keep it to a minimum. I do paint my own houses, because I don’t want to pay someone else.
Tha water mill fountain looks like it would go on a putt-putt golf course…
RYC about granito . It is the word used in France for this type of floor bot I dare not say that thinking it was unknown from most of people , in America .. I believe we use too the word ‘ terrazoline ”
RYC about your mother . It seemed to me she had disappeared from the photos at a time . Sorry, she died so young .
it’s wonderful that you and your father could do so much together.
j.
@ofunlo - Yes, I am very fortunate. Thanks for the rec.
These projects are be wonderful memories of times spent with your dad!
@slmret - Yes, I am grateful for the memories and reminders. It was very satisfying to be able to work with him after learning so much from him, and to leave their house looking better than before.