Built
This is not foster care related. Feel free to skip! :)
A few weeks ago, we had our contractor come out to the house to give us an estimate on finishing the basement bathroom. We wanted a shower down there, and our washing machine and dryer are currently down there so the space would have to be reconfigured to allow room for everything. Basically after looking at options we decided that we would go ahead and move the washer and dryer to a different room (currently a pantry/storage area). Then he showed us how if we lifted our washing machine up onto a pedestal we could tap into an existing drain pipe so we wouldn't have all kinds of pipes running across the floor (which is what we currently have, and I stub my toes on a regular basis).
He said we could just build something, or they could build something for us, or we could buy the pedestals that were made for our washer and dryer. He said they were probably about $200 each. We CAN afford that; but didn't really want to. I figured if we had them build something for us it would cost an arm and a leg - they do excellent work and it is seriously perfect every time, which is good, but we just didn't want to spend that much money.
So I started looking up how to build your own pedestals. My idea was to find one, and have my husband make it.
Then I found this: http://ana-white.com/2011/01/sausha%E2%80%99s-washerdryer-pedestals?page=1
So I thought...hey, if this lady Sausha or whatever her name is can build it, then why can't I? There was that, but also the fact that my husband didn't really seem to keen on getting this done and, um, sometimes it takes him a really really long time to get around to that "honey-do" list, if you know what I mean! (love you honey!)
So I measured everything and made some changes to her plan to fit our needs - I made the stand deeper because our washer is apparently deeper than hers is, and also I made the posts taller (14 inches instead of 11) because I wanted more room underneath.
Turns out Home Depot will cut your boards for you for the low low price of .15 each, so I had them cut the MDF that I bought. I brought the leftovers home, thinking maybe we can use them for some other project...or they can just sit around in the garage collecting cobwebs. You know, whatever. :) Anyway, I cut the 2x4's and the 4x4 posts myself with my husband's very awesome big saw thing. Seriously, it's cool and super easy to use. I also wore these really awesome safety glasses too, just in case.
Here are my materials (and one of our cat's butts):
After cutting my boards I had to take a short break to remove a dead snake AND a dead mole from the back yard. Seriously. I don't know why this stuff happens to me.
Here is the first floor I built. Turns out I kind of did a crappy job of measuring my 2x4s, and also Brian had to help me with the screwdriver and showed me how you have to push down with the strength of a 200 pound man to get the 3-inch screws all the way in. Also I learned the lesson that nailing a nail into the wood and pulling it out is not equal to pre-drilling (I couldn't get the phillips bit out of the screw driver so I tried to improvise - didn't work).
And here is another view.
And here is the finished product! OK it's not actually finished. I bought this fancy trim to decorate it with and also I am planning to paint it. And it hasn't been put to the ultimate test of having the weight of the washer and dryer put on top of it. Honestly I'm a little nervous...those things are so heavy that I am not physically capable of helping my husband move them.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little bit vertically challenged so I might have to use a stool to access the controls on the dryer because they are at the top of the machine towards the back of it. But I'm OK with that because look at how nicely those laundry baskets fit under there! Oh yeah, that's nice.
So that's what I did today. I am physically very tired, and this was really good experience. I surprised myself today, not gonna lie. :)
A few weeks ago, we had our contractor come out to the house to give us an estimate on finishing the basement bathroom. We wanted a shower down there, and our washing machine and dryer are currently down there so the space would have to be reconfigured to allow room for everything. Basically after looking at options we decided that we would go ahead and move the washer and dryer to a different room (currently a pantry/storage area). Then he showed us how if we lifted our washing machine up onto a pedestal we could tap into an existing drain pipe so we wouldn't have all kinds of pipes running across the floor (which is what we currently have, and I stub my toes on a regular basis).
He said we could just build something, or they could build something for us, or we could buy the pedestals that were made for our washer and dryer. He said they were probably about $200 each. We CAN afford that; but didn't really want to. I figured if we had them build something for us it would cost an arm and a leg - they do excellent work and it is seriously perfect every time, which is good, but we just didn't want to spend that much money.
So I started looking up how to build your own pedestals. My idea was to find one, and have my husband make it.
Then I found this: http://ana-white.com/2011/01/sausha%E2%80%99s-washerdryer-pedestals?page=1
So I thought...hey, if this lady Sausha or whatever her name is can build it, then why can't I? There was that, but also the fact that my husband didn't really seem to keen on getting this done and, um, sometimes it takes him a really really long time to get around to that "honey-do" list, if you know what I mean! (love you honey!)
So I measured everything and made some changes to her plan to fit our needs - I made the stand deeper because our washer is apparently deeper than hers is, and also I made the posts taller (14 inches instead of 11) because I wanted more room underneath.
Turns out Home Depot will cut your boards for you for the low low price of .15 each, so I had them cut the MDF that I bought. I brought the leftovers home, thinking maybe we can use them for some other project...or they can just sit around in the garage collecting cobwebs. You know, whatever. :) Anyway, I cut the 2x4's and the 4x4 posts myself with my husband's very awesome big saw thing. Seriously, it's cool and super easy to use. I also wore these really awesome safety glasses too, just in case.
Here are my materials (and one of our cat's butts):
After cutting my boards I had to take a short break to remove a dead snake AND a dead mole from the back yard. Seriously. I don't know why this stuff happens to me.
Here is the first floor I built. Turns out I kind of did a crappy job of measuring my 2x4s, and also Brian had to help me with the screwdriver and showed me how you have to push down with the strength of a 200 pound man to get the 3-inch screws all the way in. Also I learned the lesson that nailing a nail into the wood and pulling it out is not equal to pre-drilling (I couldn't get the phillips bit out of the screw driver so I tried to improvise - didn't work).
And here is another view.
And here is the finished product! OK it's not actually finished. I bought this fancy trim to decorate it with and also I am planning to paint it. And it hasn't been put to the ultimate test of having the weight of the washer and dryer put on top of it. Honestly I'm a little nervous...those things are so heavy that I am not physically capable of helping my husband move them.
I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little bit vertically challenged so I might have to use a stool to access the controls on the dryer because they are at the top of the machine towards the back of it. But I'm OK with that because look at how nicely those laundry baskets fit under there! Oh yeah, that's nice.
So that's what I did today. I am physically very tired, and this was really good experience. I surprised myself today, not gonna lie. :)
Love these! Great job.
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