Home Improvement

Home Improvement

A large part of my DIY activities involves home improvement. In the past, I’ve completed many large as well as small projects. I renovated an entire kitchen. This was an interesting project as I elected to use granite tile for the countertop. That involved learning how to polish stone using abrasive pads. That was a great learning experience.

I have also installed a reinforced deck for a hot tub, as well as a surrounding “floating” deck around the tub itself. One of the most ambitious projects I have undertaken was putting in a KOI pond with a waterfall and stream.

The Pool and the Koi Pond

That particular project had an interesting history. When we first moved into this home we decided to put an above ground pool in. The only problem was that the entire property sat on a slope. I ended up putting in two retaining walls. One behind where the pool would sit and one in front. I had this filled in and leveled. We installed the pool and used it for a few years. Once the kids were in their late teens the pool fell into disuse so we got rid of it.

That left us with a big flat spot and two retaining walls which we had no idea what to do with. My wife had previously banned me from having any more fish tanks in the house. So I thought, why not put in a Hoi pond on the flat spot. That would give me an outdoor fish tank, so to speak and take care of the flat spot in the yard.

Home Improvement Koi Pond
Home Improvement Koi Pond

Naturally, I couldn’t just put in a pond. I’m inclined to overbuild my projects. So I ended up putting in an upper pong feeding a stream that fed a waterfall that fed the koi pond. Not exceptionally large (1200 gallons) but big enough that it was a MAJOR project. I’ll be writing some posts on that project as well as pond care and maintenance in the future.

Home Repair

Another big aspect of my DIY activities is home repairs. Sometimes it seems as if there’s a constant stream of things waiting to get fixed. Having had a house full of teenage boys, fixing large holes in the walls became a constant task. As a matter of fact, I got quite good at it and can patch in a large hole so that it is indistinguishable from the surrounding wall!

There are other numerous home repair projects that I will cover. You can expect to see articles on electrical wiring, plumbing and other “fun activities that always seem to crop up.