Sil-bronze Sink!

Disgusting is what it is.

 

I just paid $82 per 4 x 8 sheet three-quarter thick for a basement flooring job. Three sheets. Last year at this time they were $56. The thing that blows my mind is a 2 x 4 x 8' last year at this time was $3.90. This year they are $9.45. Pressure treated lumber has also gone through the roof almost 250% in the last year. I know, because I have quoted a small 30boards 2x6×16 foot last fall at $10,000. And I got the job. I usually just double my material cost to cover labour. So I'm laughing in this market. I will literally be able to take my time, do everything right, not cut any corners and make over $70 per hour.

I have a bad feeling that once people get used to the shell shock, this will become the norm. It's going to drive housing prices up through the roof.

In my area I took on a home last year, late August, for $550,000. I'm putting it up for sale for in 2 weeks $799,900 and I totally foresee a bidding war going up to $950,000.

If you are interested, I will put the listing up here for shits and giggles. I don't care what I make on this flip... As I only have $70,000 invested so far. The highest bitter will take possession.

 

My heart bleeds for the first timers hoping to get into the housing market. what's going on these days is insane. A neighbour three doors down from me put her house on the market in March for $849K, it sold for $1.1M. There are so many people that will be royally screwed if interest rates ever again reach anything approaching historic norms.

 

People might move to rural areas where things are cheaper and teleconference to work to make ends meet.

Covid certainly turned things around.

I do hope wood goes down soon. I've got projects to do but just can't justify so much for wood. Even steel prices are up.

 

Scrap prices are up too. I scrapped a washer/dryer combo and got $7.50/1oo lb yesterday. Last time it was under $3.

 

If it goes much higher, stealing cars might become popular again! Lock those door fellows! Better if you have a standard transimisson! Today's thieves are too dumb to drive a stick.
Best built in anti theft device ever made!

 

You might be right, I learned to drive in a 1966 Ford F100 with a three on the tree, one of the easiest vehicles in the world to break into and to hotwire but I'm pretty sure that gear shift would dumbfound most thieves today.

I did a little googling and found that 98.7% of new passenger vehicles sold in North America last year had a automatic transmission up from 96.6% in 2010. Perhaps, we should retire the term "standard transmission" and refer to them as a manual transmissions because the automatic transmission has been the de facto standard for quite a while now. In terms of drivers, 66% of American drivers claim they know how to drive a stick, but a recent study says only 18% can actually do it and I'd image the number for drivers under 40 is much lower still.

Useless fun fact: July 16th is National Stick Shift Day.

 

I hope wood goes down soon too, as have a deck to do this summer personally. But I'm not holding my breath. Copper and aluminum prices have gone up for scrap.
One of the houses on the street, that I'm working on the house (about 10 doors down) just sold today for $1 million. $151,000 over asking price. I'm absolutely fine that real estate prices are going through the roof. But, I have a lot of meat in the game. I've been properly poor my whole life. I love the fact that the multi millionaires want to leave their Multi million dollar high-rise condos, at a loss, and move out to the suburbs. Let me clean up one of my vacant properties and I will sell it to you.

I'm getting calls from the banks that they are scared at the purchase price, even with 25% down. It is a new world. And I'm enjoying it.

If the value of your property's in the last eight months almost doubled, how would you feel?

The crappy part is, the two properties in Florida, I can't go to, one of them, I wish to sell that needs 60 or 70 hours of clean up. It is hard to rent, and the home owner associated fees are $700 a month USD per month.

If anybody is living in Port Charlotte, looking for a part-time job I might have something for them.

Here is a video to in my blob.

 

I just noticed that someone just down the road from me has a fairly large stack of lumber in his driveway, the stack is shaped like a pickup truck and covered with a large tarp, unless you're really paying attention, you'd never realize that it's not a truck. I wonder if he did that to dissuade thieves?

 

probably.

 

What a big job! 1/2" birch drawer parts cut out.



These are pretty good jigs.. Once dialed in, it's really easy. You have just gotta remember the flat board is ALWAYS the fronts and backs of the box and the vertical is the sides! Inside up and out.
Tear out was bad at first and then I backed up with some thin plywood. Problem solved.





Much cheaper to make boxes, this one would have set me back 60bucks at barker. The 2 large drawer boxes would have been near 200bucks a piece!
I figured what I saved easily paid for a new bosch router and the jig.




Getting there..


A large drawer sitting on the table saw.


That middle drawer is 32" wide!


I had some mahogany left over from the shutters and thought why the hell not! This is the slide out that will be right below the
sink. Dovetails are so nice on proper wood.



Now ready for drawer fronts and doors. I'm going to be sneaky on this. If I put 2 doors over the sink opening, it would look stupid
with such short doors. So the fake is the center doors will also cover the top large drawer. Not a big deal, but it will be more
visually appealing. You just don't store crap in that one you need everyday.



Full extension and soft close. I better never hear my wife doesn't have enough drawer space for her shit. I get the top left
drawer and that's all I'm allowed.


Now here is the real issue I have now. This is the door and drawer fronts we picked out. They run 50-75bucks a pop and I'm ok with that
as they are real wood, finished and ready to install. Trouble is, the company that makes this door has disappeared! Might have to look elsewhere.



If I can get some time outta the sky, I can tear into the wall for some serious plumbing work.
There is no way I could afford to pay some jackass to do all this work only to watch them make a pigs ear out of it. I tell my wife, just be patient, the wait will be worth it.

 

Wow, what a project. Looks heavy AF. I suspect you're on a slab. Otherwise you might need a jack post in the cellar!
Looks really good.

Pete

 

Thanks Pete.. Yeah the drawer slides themselves weighed 43lbs! I'm on a slab, you're right, it's getting very heavy.

 

Very nice work man. Impressed. Those joints are tight! I'd like to give that a go sometime and see if I can make some cabinets.

Wood is still expensive though so maybe I'll wait haha.

 

Zap if you every try dovetails, it is critical your parts are the same thickness. Not an issue with plywood, but anything else, you plane to a dimension.

 

Thats another tool I need. Maybe I'll get one soon.

 

That looks great, You could almost go with the lacquered blonde finish of the ply topped with cast silicon bronze across the top of the plywood with some kind of integrated handle to pull open. I'd imagine a bronze channel like an extrusion (but cast) to cover the top edge of the plywood.

 

That's sharp looking Mark, but a little too modern for us. If I cant find some cool looking drawer pulls, I might just cast them.

 

If you learn to cut Dovetails by hand parts of different thickness are not an issue.

 

Yeah, that's not happening for this guy. I'm no Gipetto.. But look, I found him in real life!