DIY Life

This is the second part of my article on installing beadboard in a kitchen area, after the demolition of some '70's era wall tile. You may see the first part here. We now move on to the carpentry work itself, and I'll show you a couple other things I did in the ongoing process. Take quick look at the gallery to see where I'm going.

Gallery: The beadboard installation.

I recently had a great opportunity to install a bunch of bead board in a kitchen; that part of the work was reasonably easy, and a lot of fun. The difficult part was demolishing the old wall tile that was on top of the sheet rock. I want to cover both aspects, but I'll do it in two segments -- demolition and construction.

If your project will ultimately end in hanging some tile, look here for some hints.

Take a look at the gallery; it will provide a sense of the process in removing the tile from the sheet rock wall structure.

Gallery: Trade your wall tile for beadboard.

Weed block is good stuff. It has a myriad of uses, from keeping weeds down to backing a wall, to stabilizing soil, to, well, a bazillion things -- more than you'd think; we'll get into them. It's a material that will keep weed and grass seeds from germinating while allowing air, moisture, and nutrients to pass through to the soil and nourish the roots around your plantings.

Gallery: Types of landscape fabric

I have built a number of ponds and water features. In so doing, I found that the biggest concern my customers had was about water clarity. With proper planning and foresight as to the location and type of the water feature, the size and amount of rock, the kind of filter media, and the addition of fish and plants, I was able to allay their fears. It's a lot less terrifying than it sounds.

Let's go through the stuff noted above. You can then proceed with your pond construction and enjoy the process, without worrying that it will be a pea-soup green bog at the finish.

Since I have found that siting of the water feature is of primary importance, take a quick look at the gallery to note different locations and conditions for the ponds, and we'll continue.

Gallery: Very cool ponds!

I rebuilt my back deck about three years ago, doubling it in size, pouring new footings, enlarging and reinforcing the support structure, adding a steel roof, and making provisions for a future screening job. At the conclusion of the work, I coated the wooden parts with what I thought was a high-quality finish in order to repel water and maintain the color.

Instead of lasting for the better part of the five year warranty, it made it about a year and, although it never evidenced failure by peeling, checking, or overt color loss, it just kind of went down hill. The consequence is that it's been sitting there for the past two years, baking in the north Georgia sun, while I was otherwise occupied.

Take a look at the gallery to see what I did to rehab the deck and, after the jump, press ahead for the details. Thanks to my DIY LIfe colleague, Kelly Smith, for other information on refinishing a deck.

Gallery: Construction Chronicles: Stain, seal, and protect your deck.

We are finally at the end of our five part project: the transformation of a backyard into a very nice landscape.

This part covers the construction of a very cool little water feature. The initial design did not envision a pond, but there was a highly suitable area just off the deck patio, and it really called for something that wasn't a plant or a brick. Voila!... a water feature, with the splash of a waterfall that is amazingly efficient in helping to mask the background sounds of the neighborhood.

If you've kept up with the project thus far, here, here, here, and here, you know the story of the construction. This part wrapped up our efforts, and we could begin to enjoy the finished work.

The gallery will give you the inside story on the construction of the water feature; after the jump, we'll go over the details.

Gallery: Build Your Own Patio - Add a Pond

This is Part IV of the five part series (getting close to the end!) of a backyard transformation at the home belonging to my son and his wife. You may see the first three parts, here, here, and here. They covered the initial stages of design layout, prep, and paver installation.

Because the paver work was the biggest part of the project, we want to back up just a bit and look at the detail involved in the installation. It'll be helpful, especially if this is your first experience in laying pavers. Check out the gallery for some good information and we'll get started.

Gallery: Build Your Own Patio - Detail Work

As a DIYer, you likely feel comfortable tackling any number of projects. Depending on your experience, you may satisfy every conceivable code requirement in effect today (or not). This feature will touch on the most common construction violations.

Clearly, codes vary depending on your particular neck of the woods; as a bonus feature, they are constantly in flux, so sometimes it's difficult to know where you stand with the local building code folks. On the premise that it's better to do the right thing, especially concerning safety, here are some no-no's and some helpful hints. If you have a doubt as to what you are building is safe, check with someone who knows.

Look at the gallery to get a leg up and we'll get started. There is no particular order, rhyme, or reason to the situations depicted, aside from the fact that they might possibly give you fits and, certainly, delays in getting your final occupancy certificate. Forewarned is forearmed.

Gallery: Construction Chronicles: Common building code violations -- a primer.