A RockSolid Polycuramine Garage Floor: What We Learned
We recently refinished our 50-year-old garage floor with Rustoleum’s RockSolid Polycuramine Garage Floor Coating kits, and now we are experts. Riiight. Like most people, a DIY garage floor is, hopefully, a one time project. However, we did learn a few things that might help you if you decide to tackle this kind of project.
If you’re in a hurry, here’s the summary. Read on for all the highlights and lowlights.
- It’s going to take more than one weekend
- Prep starts with evaluating your garage floor
- You need a partner. You. Yes, I’m talking to you.
- A one-car kit covers 150 square feet. That’s it.
- You need some additional equipment to do the job right. Nothing fancy.
- Use a good concrete patch.
- Thorough degreasing is essential
- Etching is easy
- Stop and make sure everything is ready BEFORE you start.
- Plan out the application process with your partner BEFORE you start.
- Apply the polycuramine slow and steady.
- Practice your chip sprinkling technique.
- Do not, repeat, DO NOT, walk on the floor 8 hours later.
Why we went with RockSolid Polycuramine
We chose this product because, while the reviews were mixed, they seemed to be better overall than the other mass-market DIY garage floor products. The summary seemed to be that you could get good results if you followed the instructions carefully. In the final analysis, we agree, but you also must set your expectations appropriately. This article at AllGarageFloors provides a great review of the pro’s and con’s of Rust-Oleum RockSolid versus other mass market DIY garage floor coatings (including RustOleum’s EpoxyShield).
The RockSolid product is called “Polycuramine” and is a proprietary blend of polyurea, urethane and epoxy. Rustoleum actually bought the company that invented this and the product is similar to some professional formulas. One of their main selling points is that it is 20 times harder than epoxy — after doing some research we found out that this is a little misleading because the comparison is to epoxy paints, not epoxy floor coatings. It probably is harder than an off-the-shelf epoxy kit, but we doubt it’s better than a pro epoxy job. For one thing, it’s thinner than a pro epoxy job. You’ll get a thickness of about 3 mils (thousandths of an inch) vs. 10 or so with a good epoxy job.
Another factor in the plus column is ease-of-application: the product comes in a well-designed “burst pouch” with two separate compartments that you mix in the bag and then pour directly on your floor. It also cures quickly and you can move your stuff back on it in a day (though as you’ll see below, the promise of walking on it after 8 hours is a tad optimistic).
In the end, what do we think? We’re very happy with the garage floor and it seems to be rock solid (hehe). Is it perfect? Hell no. There are plenty of flaws if you look close, and in particular we made some serious mistakes on the first section. That said, the garage floor looks 100 times better than the old floor. I like to say that a pro job probably would look 1000 times better, but would have cost 10 times as much.
So, let’s go through this and share what we learned at each step.
1. This is not a one-weekend project
If you think you can get this done in one weekend, even with a small garage, you are going to be disappointed. Yes, the product does cure quickly, but unless your floors are already pristine you will need to spend a couple of days cleaning, patching, and drying your floors. Our floor was so dirty that we had to thoroughly clean it before we could see some of the issues that needed to be addressed.
The weather also has to cooperate. The individual steps don’t necessarily take a long time, but you have to wait a day in between steps. If you are able to move your stuff to another secure location for a couple weeks (or split your project into two or more sections like we did), then you can work on this an hour or two at a time and then lay down the coating when you’re confident it’s ready. If your project needs to be done quickly, then bite the bullet and hire a pro.
Finally, if your garage is big enough, and you don’t have too much junk, you can do this in sections without having to move stuff out of the garage. We were lucky to have a garage that’s spacious enough that we could split this into three sections, move everything off of one section at a time, and improve our technique as we went. Make sure you have a plan to relocate your stuff for awhile.
2. You must evaluate your garage floor
There are a ton of different issues you can encounter with your garage floor, from pitting and cracking, to mystery stains, moisture seepage and efflorescence. You’ll want to wash your floor at the beginning so you can see if water does anything weird. You may have invisible sealants that need to be removed, well-disguised cracks, or white powdery efflorescence that signals additional prep work is required. Survey every inch of your garage and carry around a wire brush and scraper to “pre-treat” stuff you find stuck to your floor.
3. You need a partner
When it’s time to lay down the coating you will have at most one hour of working time with the product, and putting it down carefully is critical, so you don’t want to be rushed trying to cut in edges, roll out product, and sprinkle flakes. Figure out your workflow before you start and rehearse a little bit — you don’t want to be banging into each other or, god forbid, stepping in your newly coated floor.
4. Buy enough RockSolid kits to cover your garage floor
One of the more common complaints in consumer reviews is that Rocksolid polycuramine does not come close to the coverage that Rustoleum advertises. Rustoleum says that coverage varies significantly with garage conditions, and in our experience, a one-car kit would safely cover about 150 square feet. We bought two double kits (meaning four individual bags of polycuramine) for our 450 square foot garage and we had plenty of leftover polycuramine after each stage. If you try to stretch this to save money, you’re likely to put it on too thin and overwork it.
5. You need more supplies than what comes in the kit
This will come as a surprise to no one, but you will need some other tools and supplies to do the job right. The Rustoleum 2.5-car garage kit comes with two foam rollers, etching mix, some chips (that we didn’t use), and two burst paks of the 2-part polycuramine compound. Here’s our list of 18 other things we needed.
6. Use a Good Concrete Patch
Our garage floor had some extensive cracks and pitting, along with some large divots left behind when we removed a wall that had been nailed to the floor. We used two of Rust-Oleum’s Concrete Patch kits and were pleased with the results. It’s a two-part soft putty mix that’s designed for patching underneath epoxy and polycuramine floor coatings. Mixing and application were pretty easy, with plenty of working time once you’ve mixed up a batch. The cured patch was smooth and very hard, and ultimately the patch did a great job of hiding all the defects in our floor.
There are a couple of things to be aware of with this patch:
- Depending on temperature and humidity, it may take longer than 24 hours for a patch to cure.
- Plan on two layers for larger or deeper divots.
- The stuff is messy — be careful not to cross-contaminate the part A and part B
- go slow when applying. Key is to spread the stuff slowly. I like the 6 inch knife …pull the compound over the pitted area slowly so that it fully gets into the pits.
- Have rubbing alcohol on hand to clean up your putty knife and any errant drips.
- It does not sand easily. You’ll want to sand within 24 hours. I used 100 grit, but most recs are for something from 40 to 80. Second pass used 60 grit…much better. Don’t worry about getting it perfect, just get the high spots. The coating will eliminate a lot of issues.
7. Thoroughly Degrease
There’s no magic secrets to this step — just use a good product, follow the directions, and scrub every nook and cranny of your floor. We figured our best bet was to use Rust-Oleum’s floor degreaser (diluted 1:1 with water). You’re supposed to sprinkle the diluted product evenly over your floor and let it sit for about 30 minutes. After trying a garden watering bucket to put down the first batch, we realized that the container that the degreaser comes in makes a great applicator. We just drilled some holes in the lid, poured the diluted mix back in the container, and screwed the lid back on. Depending on how much your floor slopes, you’ll need to use a squeegee or bristle broom to keep it from flowing off the section you’re cleaning. Note that if you are trying to save time, you can etch immediately after you’ve rinsed and squeegeed the degreaser off (the floor will still be wet, which you want when putting down the etching).
8. Etching is Easy
The etching solution that comes in the RockSolid kit is citric-acid based and is much milder than muriatic acid, which used to be the go-to concrete etching acid. Still, to be safe, you should wear safety gear (mask and gloves) when mixing it and putting it down, particularly if you’re sensitive to chemical smells. As with degreasing, just follow the directions for etching and you should be fine. We did allow the etching solution to sit on the floor for about 10 minutes after vigorously brushing it in with a bristle brush.
Based on some of the background reading we did, it is possible to over-etch your floors for the RockSolid product, so resist any temptation to use a stronger etching product. Lastly, when you’re done etching, be patient! We had some cool, foggy days during the project and did not feel that our floors were dry after 24 hours. If you have high humidity or damp and cool weather, then wait an extra day to be sure your floors are completely dry before you start applying the RockSolid polycuramine.
9. Prepare and be sure you’re ready to go
Once you complete all the prep steps, you’ll be raring to go. Take a deep breath and doublecheck that you’re prepared:
- Make sure the floor is dry
- Check the weather. Time your start if it’s dicey.
- Assemble your tools
- Tape your edges
- If you blocking off your entry door, make sure to unlock the front (or back) door to your house. Similarly, make sure you won’t need access to anything in the garage that you’ll be blocking off, such as tools or a laundry sink.
10. Plan the application process with your partner before you start
Basically, you and your partner need to do about six different things during the application process. Before you start, make sure you have all your tools ready, figure out who’s going to do what, and decide where and what order to roll in sections. Once you mix the burst pouch, the clock starts ticking and you don’t want to get in each other’s way. During application, you’ll need to do all of the following:
- Pouring the material one section at a time
- Cut in along walls, etc. with a brush
- Roll out the coating
- Double-check what you’ve rolled and fill in thin areas
- Sprinkle chips
- Pulling tape
Rust-Oleum recommends working in 4-foot-by-4-foot sections, but we’d recommend working in 3-foot deep sections so that sprinkling the chips evenly is easier.
11. Apply RockSolid polycuramine slow and steady
Because the “pot life” of RockSolid polycuramine is only 45 minutes to an hour, you will naturally feel rushed. Take a deep breath when you start and slow down when you roll. If you roll too aggressively then it may go on too thin, or worse, you’ll get bubbles that will leave craters in your finished floor. The polycuramine is much thicker than paint, so it flows more slowly. Your roller should smoothly push and pull the product over the floor. You will feel your roller bump over the product if your speed is too fast.
We learned this lesson the hard way on our first section of floor. We aggressively tried to work the product into the heavily pitted areas of the floor, pushing the roller back-and-forth repeatedly over the surface. This created bubbles in the uncured floor, which turned into little craters when the product cured. We improved our technique and virtually eliminated the craters on the next two sections. The craters in the first section aren’t visible from far away, so we can live with it, but we may go back and redo this section one day.
12. Practice your chip sprinkling technique
Practice makes perfect! Well, sort of. The general instructions for sprinkling chips is that you cast them by hand on a freshly rolled area, leaving the leading edge clean so the next section can be overlapped. What you’ll find is that it’s hard to sprinkle consistently and it can be difficult (if not painful) to reach the back of a four-foot deep section. Our advice: open a bag of chips and try sprinkling them on your old floor a few times so you learn how thick you want to put them on, and how far you can easily reach. Here are some more tips:
Buy chips separately — Yes, you get chips in the kit, but only enough for a thin coating. You don’t want to be stressed about running out of chips 3/4 of the way through the job. You can also pick different color combinations this way.
Make a chip sprinkling device — We used a small plastic plant pot that already had holes in the bottom.
Be aware of chip crumbs — we realized late in the game that smaller chip pieces settle to the bottom of the bag, and these went through our chip sprinkling pot faster and thicker than the regular chips. Either mix the bag up real good before you start sprinkling, or sift out the little pieces entirely.
13. Your new polycuramine floor is probably NOT ready to walk on in 8 hours
Okay, this goes back to the major theme of this article: your biggest mistake is being in a hurry. According to Rust-Oleum RockSolid cures enough in 8 hours to walk on, and in 24 hours to drive on. That’s marketing folks. We finished our last section at exactly 1 p.m. on a day, and I went and walked on it, in my socks, at 9 p.m. The first step or two, where we had started, felt okay, but each step felt tackier and then I realized my socks were sticking to the floor. I took my socks off right there and walked barefoot back. The result: I deglossed a spot at each of my steps, and left a bare footprint that’s visible in certain light angles. It’s not noticeable to the casual viewer, but I sure as hell know it’s there. Sure, if your temperature and humidity conditions are perfect, you might be able to walk on it in 8 hours, but why chance it? Just be patient, wait overnight, and check it out the next day. I’d recommend the same approach for driving on it…wait an extra day.
So that’s about everything we learned on this DIY project. We’re glad we tried it, and it’s gratifying to look at our glossy floors every day. By the way, here’s a great article on how to clean and maintain your new garage floor. Did you try coating your own garage floors? Let us know what you learned in the comments section below.
Turn an Old Toybox into a Garden Tool Storage Dream
We upcycled an old plywood toybox into a functional garden tool storage box with wood scraps and dollar-bin paint. The box features top plates with two hole sizes so you can easily see, store and access your common tools. The areas in between the plates provide ample space for large and bulky tools like a gardening pick.
It’s always gratifying to rescue something old and neglected around the house. In this case, there’s a sentimental attachment too. The toybox was built and painted by our kid’s godmother more than a quarter century ago. After it was finished holding toys, it stored a pile of sports equipment, and then it moved to the garage and haphazardly held our yard tools. When we started sprucing up the garage, we decided to improve on the basic box a little bit.
As usual, scrap wood plays a big role here. The corner posts came from some forklift timber left behind from a delivery. We split the wood into pieces that are 2¼” by 1 1/8″, but you can use regular 2×2 or 2×4 lumber.
The rails are scrap trimmings from old 2 by timbers we pulled from a staircase remodel. Finally, the top plates came from some old garage shelving we removed. Most every part had a previous life.
There are two things that really makes this garden tool storage box stand out though: the turquoise paint and the button plugs on the top plates. We’re the kind of people who buy the $1 quarts of paint on the hardware store’s return shelf. We’d been looking for a good place to use this color — “San Jose Blue” — and it pairs perfectly with the painted scene on the toybox. The button plugs cover the screws in the top plates and are a cheap, easy way to upgrade the look of just about anything you build. Countersink bits make it easy to install these. Go get a set if you don’t already have them — they’ll make all your projects look better.
Tools
A drill, bits, and a chop saw will make this project go quickly, though a handsaw and miter box would be fine. If you need to rip your posts from larger stock like we did, you’ll need a table saw. In addition, you will need
- 2″ and 1½” hole saws [Shop on Amazon]
- ⅜” (#10) countersink bit [Shop on Amazon]
Garden Tool Storage Box Materials
| Item | Quantity |
|---|---|
| 2×2 posts 30″ long | 4 |
| 2×1 rails 33″ long | 2 |
| 2×1 rails 12¾” long | 2 |
| ¾” plywood or whitewood 14¼” by 3½” | 3 |
| 1½” diameter dowel 2″ long | 4 |
| 1½” felt furniture pads [Buy on Amazon] | 4 |
| ⅜” button plugs [Buy on Amazon] | 12 |
| Paint: San Jose Blue by Benjamin Moore (interior latex, eggshell) and Gloss Black by Rustoleum |
Garden Tool Box Construction
We already had the plywood box, so we’ll assume you do as well, but you’ll need to adjust dimensions to fit your box. We chose to make the posts 30″ high — you’ll need to consider how much overhead clearance you have in your garage and ensure your posts aren’t so tall that it becomes difficult to get a tool in and out.
Screw the posts to the inside corners of the box, then screw the rails flush to the top of the posts.
Next, cut your top plates to length and determine the sizes you’ll need for your tool holes. It helps to have the posts and rails already assembled because you can lay the plates out and make sure your holes will be properly positioned. We drilled 2″ holes on one of our plates for our larger-handled tools, and 1½” holes on the other two plates. Measure and mark the centers for each hole. Our holes are centered 3½” from each edge and 2½” apart.
Before you screw the top plates to the rails, carefully mark and drill pilot holes ⅜” from the edge. Use a #10 countersink bit to make a ⅜” hole deep enough for the button plugs.
The rails are thin, so clamp each top plate in position, extend the pilot hole through the top plate in to the rail, and then carefully screw each plate down.
Cut the feet 2″ long from a piece of 1½” diameter dowel. Drill a pilot hole in the center of each foot, and countersink the holes. Turn the box over and screw the feet to the bottom corners with 2½” screws. Stick a round felt furniture pad on the bottom of each foot. (These are the same pads we used on our pool cue rack, so it’s handy to have a big pack of them.)
Paint the frame, paint the wooden plugs and, once the paint is dry, glue the plugs in place. Now the fun part…start organizing your pile of garden tools!
Trading (Fire) Places—A Weekend Fireplace Makeover
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Okay, I admit it. It was my fault it took 10 years to finish our fireplace makeover. I was nervous about putting paint on brick. Fortunately, Vag is persistent—very persistent—and I finally relented. The whitewash looks beautiful and maintains the character of the brick.
Not counting the guitar and Japanese wood block print, this cost us around $100. You probably can’t create this fireplace look as cheaply as we did, but you can have fun trying. We got lucky at our local recycled building supplies yard and found some old timber with big enough dimensions to use for the mantel.
Anyway, the point is that you can completely transform the look of a tired fireplace with used lumber, a little paint, and elbow grease.
This is what we started with: a functional, 40-year-old red brick fireplace surrounded by painted wood paneling. Ugly, but lots of potential.
Four Steps to a Fireplace Makeover
While it took us 10 years to do all this, the actual work could have been accomplished in a weekend, so go for it. The makeover boils down to 4 simple steps:
Step 1: Side Accent Panels
We painted an 18-inch (46 cm) wide stripe on each side of the fireplace, and defined the space with a vertical piece of LWM 266 lattice molding.
Paint: Behr Premium Plus Interior Satin Enamel. Color: Dark Ash. [Shop here]
Total cost: $25
Step 2: Clean and Whitewash Brick
Cleaning and whitewashing the brick. Dick was nervous about painting brick, but check out Vag’s post on how she did it.
Paint: Behr Premium Plus Interior Semi-Gloss Enamel. Color: Gallery White [Shop here]
Total cost: $15 (assuming you have cleaning supplies on hand)
Step 3: Build a Rustic Mantel from Reclaimed Wood
Building a rustic mantel from lumber we scavenged at our local recycled building materials yard. Check out the post here on how we built it.
Total cost: $10
Step 4: Decorate the Firebox
While our fireplace could be functional, we live in a mild climate and wood fires contribute to air pollution, so we don’t have the desire or the need to build fires. Because the inside of the fireplace was already naturally black from a few decades of fires, we had a ready made backdrop for a warm and comforting lightbox.
We saw the retaining wall brick used to display plants this way at one of our local home and garden stores. The brick cavities are perfect for holding 4-inch pots, making it easy to rotate in a fresh look whenever the plants get tired. Just make sure to choose muted lighting and good low-light houseplants. Your cost will vary depending on your choice of plant, ranging from about $10 to $30.
Shop rattan ball lights
Shop retaining wall brick
Total cost: about $40 (depending upon your choice of plants)
Other items shown in our fireplace makeover
Yamaha acoustic-electric guitar
More Details on This Project
Easy DIY Pool Cue Rack
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About 15 seconds after we got our pool table set up, we both looked around the room and realized something was missing. We had made sure to get everything we needed to shoot pool, right down to the chalk, but danged if we hadn’t thought about where we’d put the cues. Fortunately, the old scrap pile was just a few steps away, and about an hour and a half later, we had the stain drying on this beauty.
This pool cue rack is easy and cheap to build, plus it’s simple to install with standard plastic drywall anchors. If you choose nice wood for the project, you’ll have an elegant-looking piece of furniture for your billiards room. I happened to have the cap moulding laying around, but you may not be able to find it at your local big box hardware store. Try your local lumber yard or recycled building materials store — you only need 28″ of material, so you’re likely to find it in a leftovers bin.
Pool Cue Rack: Materials
| Part | Qty. |
|---|---|
| 1×6 whitewood board | 3′ (92 cm) |
| header cap moulding* | 28″ (71 cm) |
| 1½” (38 mm) felt furniture pads | 6 |
| plastic wall anchors | 4 |
| ~2″ (5 cm) wood screws | 4 |
| red mahogany stain | |
| semi-gloss polyurethane | |
| wood glue |
Tools
Jigsaw |Router and bottom-following ogee bit | Drill with standard bits and a 1½” (38 mm) spade bit | Table saw or circular saw (optional)
Construction
- Cut two 17″ (43 cm) long pieces from a 1×6 board for the top and bottom shelves. Using a table saw or circular saw, trim he shelves to 5″ (12.7 cm) wide (this is optional if you don’t mind a slightly wider rack). The rack will hold six cues, and you can use a whitewood board or any hardwood you prefer.
- Set a compass to a 2½” radius, or exactly half the board width. Draw a half circle at both ends of each shelf and then cut out the curves with a jigsaw.
- Choose which board will be the top shelf and which will be the bottom — you’ll be looking at the underside of the top shelf, and the topside of the bottom shelf — and mark the center points of the cue holes. Space the holes 2½” (63 mm) apart, and 1½” (38 mm) from the front edge. The holes are closer to the front, leaving space behind the cues for your ball rack, brush and chalk.
- Use a 1½” (38 mm) spade bit to drill holes through the top shelf. Use the same bit on the bottom shelf to make a depression about ¼” (5 mm) deep. Note that you can’t use a hole saw for this!
- With an ogee bit, rout a decorative edge on both shelves. You want to rout the edges that will be visible: the bottom side of the top shelf and the top side of the bottom shelf. Do not rout the back edge of either shelf.
- Cut a notch with your jigsaw in the front of the top shelf to one of the holes. This is for your bridge. The notch needs to be slightly wider than the narrowest part of the stick. That way, the bridge will not fall out of the rack, but can be removed by lowering it until the stick fits through the gap.
- Now cut two 14″ (35.6 cm) pieces of the header cap moulding and glue them to the bottom of each shelf. Mark the locations for your wall mount screws on the moulding and drill pilot holes at each point. Use a 3/8″ drill bit to create a shallow hole, about ½” deep in each hole. This allows you to “hide” your screws in the moulding. If you like, you can cap these holes with wooden plugs after you mount the rack.
- Finish the rack. I used Minwax Red Mahogany and semi-gloss polyurethane here.
- Place 1½” round felt furniture pads in the depressions on the bottom shelf for the cues to rest on (check your kitchen junk drawer — you might already have them).
Mounting the cue rack
The shelves are spaced 47″ (1.2 m) apart here — that’s as far apart as they could go and still hold the short cue. The bottom shelf needs to support about as much weight as a light bookshelf, so hollow wall anchors rated at 50 lbs. (22.7 kg) should be sufficient. (If you’ve got rugrats who’re liable to be rougher on the rack, then upgrade to sturdier anchors). Also, make sure to use wood screws that are long enough — they’ll need to go through the header cap moulding and deep enough in to the wall for a good hold. 2″ (5 cm) screws should do the trick.
Now, stop staring at the beautiful cue rack you just made and go shoot some pool!
Retro Arcade Cocktail Table
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Retro gaming arcade machines are all over the place, and they are relatively cheap and easy to build. If you’ve got an old monitor lying around and you never throw away your scrap wood, then you just need to buy a Raspberry Pi and some cheap controller parts and you can build a sub $100 arcade. This one cost a little more, largely because we added trackballs and high-quality joysticks. This project was a lot of fun because a) I’ve always wanted a “cocktail” style arcade table, and b) it gave me a chance to work on a few new skills and design something a little different than the rectangular boxes you usually see.
Okay, full confession: This is a big nostalgia trip for me. I was a pre-teen in 1980, and we weren’t drinking cocktails on these tables. It was more about the smell of pizza — first going to Pizza Hut and playing Space Invaders while we waited, and then later in high school heading over to a strip-mall joint named Stubby’s after school with my buds. We hardly ever bought a pizza, but they had a Ms. Pac Man tabletop game and the staff didn’t care if we sat there dropping a few quarters.
Here’s where I also need to mention that many of the classic arcade games are obviously copyright protected, but if you want to stay fully above board and play free games, check out this article.
Key Features of the Arcade Table
Now, the distinguishing feature of this kind of arcade table is that two players can sit opposite from each other, and the screen will flip on each player’s turn. It’s more social than a standup cabinet. This is called “cocktail mode” and you can easily configure it in arcade emulator software like RetroPie, however it’s not available for all games. When it came to this design, I wanted to make something that would look a little more cool than a rectangular box. This project includes:
- An oval tabletop with an acrylic “plexiglas” inset and vinyl edge t-molding. See the post on how to make an oval arcade tabletop.
- A trapezoid-shaped cabinet that houses the computer, monitor, controller wiring, speakers and a power strip. The cabinet has magnetic access panels and a safe shutdown button for the Rasperry Pi. See how to build a trapezoid box cabinet for a retro-gaming arcade.
- Game controllers for two players with trackballs, joysticks and lighted buttons. See how to build controllers for a cocktail-style arcade cabinet.
- And finally, some arcade configuration tweaks so you can play games in true cocktail mode.
Another crucial consideration in a tabletop system is your video screen. Many computer monitors aren’t designed for this kind of viewing angle (in fact, some monitors are designed so that you can’t see from this angle). I used a spare 24″ RCA television that happens to work great, but make sure to check your viewing angles before you buy something (and before you start designing or cutting).
Project Breakdown
I’ll break this project down into several sub-projects and give you a rough idea of how to make something similar. I’m going to focus mostly on the construction and assembly. I’ll mention a couple of aspects of configuring your Raspberry PI, but there are many great articles out there that will walk you through that in detail (starting with RetroPie). For the cabinet and tabletop, you’ll need a router, miter saw, circular saw (with bevel adjustment), and a drill. For the wiring, you’ll need a soldering gun. I had to buy a couple of special tools I didn’t already have:
- A 1/16 inch slot cutting router bit, for installing the vinyl T-molding
- A 3 ¼ inch hole saw for the trackball
- A 1 ⅛ inch Forstner drill bit, for installing the buttons
In addition, I had to make a couple of tools to complete the oval tabletop: a big compass to draw the oval, and a router trammell to cut it. I’ll explain these in the section on the tabletop. I also had to solder a fair amount of wires, mostly because the wiring that came with the game controllers was not long enough. If you don’t want to solder, you may be able to figure out (or find) alternatives.
Finally, before I dig into the design and build details, let me point out a few things I screwed up:
- I used cheap plywood that I had laying around. With a fair amount of sanding, filling, and painting, the end result is presentable, but I recommend that you get cabinet grade (or better) plywood, that’s exactly ¾ inch thick. MDF is also an option.
- We really wanted to have trackballs on the controller panels. This will add some complications to your design and setup. The Ultimarc trackballs that I bought are, in theory, plug-and-play, but the housing underneath the control top is huge, and so the joystick and buttons all had to be squeezed over to the side. Whether you install a trackball or not, you’ll want to spend a fair amount of time thinking about your controls layout, and mocking up some alternatives to make sure you have a fun and comfortable design.
- The 2″ x 2″ rails that I designed provide a great stable base for the monitor, electronic components and the game controllers; however, the position of the rails also constrained the layout of the controls. If I was doing this over, I think I would devise my control layout first and then design the rails to accommodate.
Want more details on this project?
Build a Hardwood Hanging Pot Rack: Awesome for Beginners
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This hanging pot rack is one of the first pieces of furniture I ever built. I was in college, living in a studio apartment on the upper floor of a Victorian house: The ceilings were tall and the place was small. It turned out to be so practical and beautiful that we’ve been using it ever since — more than 30 years and half a dozen homes now.
If you like to cook, or just cook a lot, you can’t beat a hanging pot rack — it keeps your equipment in plain view and right at hand when you need it. You just have to find a place to hang it — ours hangs over the fridge because it’s out of the way but still easy to access (and it keeps you from putting a bunch of junk on top of your fridge).
Tools and Design
The hanging pot rack’s design is driven by simplicity and functionality. Everything is made from 2×1 poplar and the rack is held together with ¼” dowels and glue. It is strong enough to hold heavy pots and pans, including cast iron. Each of the “T” hooks can be easily moved to any position along the rails, allowing you to customize your rack exactly the way you want.
This project is doable even if you live in a tiny apartment and don’t have the space or money for more tools. All of the cuts are straight and can be done with a handsaw and miter box. You will need a drill and a set of drill bits to make the holes for the dowels and install the hardware. If you’ve got a miter saw and clamps, you can build this more quickly, but I wanted to recreate the build with just the basics to show you how it can be done.
Materials List: Hanging Pot Rack
You can choose any hardwood you like for the rack. Poplar is one of the cheaper hardwoods, and at the time of this writing, you should be able to build the entire rack for less than $50.
| Item | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Poplar Hardwood 1×2 | 24 ft. |
| Stainless Steel Chain | 1 ft. |
| Swag Hooks | 4 |
| #12 Screw Hooks | 9 |
| ¼” Screw Eyes | 4 |
| S-Hooks | 4 |
| ¼” hardwood dowels | 3 ft. |
| 1¼” #6 wood screws | 14 |
| Wood glue |
Construction and Assembly
Step 1: Cut wood
Carefully measure and cut the following pieces from 1×2’s. The total length here is 265 inches. If you buy three 8-foot lengths of wood, you’ll have plenty.
- Rails: 5 pieces 28” long
- Frame long edge: 2 pieces 29.5” long
- Frame short edge: 2 pieces 10.5” long
- End caps: 2 pieces 12” long
- T-hook horizontal: 7 pieces 2” long
- T-hook vertical: 7 pieces 1” long
- Dowel pieces: 28 pieces 1.25” long
Step 2: Mark reference lines
In this hanging pot rack design, the rails are oriented horizontally while the frame is oriented vertically. The most challenging aspect of this build is getting the pieces lined up properly, so drawing some guide lines on the short edge pieces (the 10.5″ pieces) of the frame will help. On one side of each edge piece, draw a line down the middle. This is outside edge and the line ensures that you drill in the exact center of the wood. On the other side, draw two lines, each ⅜” from the edge. This creates an area in the middle ¾” wide, which is where you will align the rails.
Step 3: Assemble the frame.
Mark your drill points 3/8 of an inch from the edges of the long sides of the frame. While holding the long side firmly in place against the short side, drill a pilot hole 1.5 inches deep. Obviously, clamps will help with this, but you can manage on any flat surface that’s up against a wall. Next use a ¼” drill bit to widen each hole. Repeat this for all four corners of the frame.
Apply a thin coat of wood glue to two dowel pieces and gently tap them into the holes on one end of a long piece. Align the long piece with a short piece and tap the dowels into the short piece until the dowel ends are flush with the wood. Repeat for each corner of the frame.
Step 4: Assemble the rails
Once the glue on the frame has dried, lay the frame on one of its long edges so that the short edge is vertical. Take one of your rail pieces and set it in the bottom of the frame so that it is within the double lines you drew. Using the same process that you used for the frame, attach the rail to the frame with dowels, making two holes centered on the rail, ½ inch from the edge.
To attach the next rail, use two of your small pieces of wood as ¾ inch spacers. Place the spacers on top of the first rail and then position the second rail on top. Attach the rail to the frame with dowels as you did before and continue for the remaining rails.
Step 5: Attach the end caps
The end caps provide some extra rigidity to the frame and cover the dowels on the end of the frame. Glue them to the frame. If you don’t have clamps, find something heavy to set on top while the glue sets.
Step 6: Assemble the T-hooks
The T-hooks consist of a 2-inch top piece that slides along the top of the rails, and 1-inch “leg” that sits in between the rails. A cup-hook is screwed in to the bottom of each leg. I used screws to attach the T pieces, because I wasn’t sure if dowels would be strong enough to hold weight vertically. Drill pilot holes for the screws and the cup hook.
I’ve called for seven T-hooks here, but you can make more or less as needed.
Step 7: Finish your hanging pot rack
Remove your pencil lines, sand any rough edges, and apply a food safe oil or wax. I used tung oil, but you have several options.
Step 8: Attach eye bolts to frame
Attach an eye-bolt to the top of the frame at each corner. I recommend attaching to the frame piece rather than the end-cap. (As you can see, in my original build, I attached the bolts to the end cap pieces. This held up just fine for 30 years, but one of the pieces did eventually separate.)
Step 9: Install swag hooks and hang
Decide where you want to hang your potrack, and mark the locations for your swag hooks on the ceiling. Your swag hooks will have a screw attachment and a toggle-bolt attachment, which allows you to screw in to a joist, or to hang from drywall. If you’re not sure what you’re drilling in to, start with a pilot hole. If you hit wood, you know you’re on a joist and will need to use the screw attachment.
Now, hang a length of chain from each swag hook, then use an S-hook to connect each eyebolt to a chain. Note that most hardware stores (including the big box stores) will cut chain for you. You might want to buy chain with a few extra links so you can adjust the height of the rack.
Hanging Pot Rack Update
As fate would have it, the pot rack broke a few weeks after I published this post, when one of the four end cap pieces with a screw eye separated from the rack. Fortunately, it was not a catastrophic failure because the other three pieces kept the rack hanging. I don’t think this design “feature” was intentional — I originally added the end caps simply to cover the dowel connections, and I didn’t have enough wood left to make a single piece on each side. The fix was quick: I sanded the old glue off, re-glued the pieces, and 24 hours later, we were back in business.
I’ve updated the instructions to attach the eye bolts to the frame, rather than the end caps.
What else you’ll need for your DIY garage floor
If you’ve just decided to give yourself a new garage floor, congratulations and good luck. If you’re careful and follow the instructions, you’ll get a great-looking, long-lasting floor that your neighbors will envy. Part of the fun of a diy garage floor is choosing which product to use. We settled on Rust-Oleum’s RockSolid polycuramine, for reasons that we’ll explain in a different post. Here, we just want to give you a useful list of all the other stuff you might need before you begin.
The RockSolid garage floor kits come with a several items that are necessary to do the job, including the 2-part polycuramine pouch, etching material, chips, and a foam roller. However, as we learned in our project, you’ll want to have a few tools and other products on hand to get a good (and less-stressful) end result. Now, depending on your own garage floor’s actual condition, you may not have to get everything we did, but here are the 18 items we needed in addition to the kit.
We’ve organized this list into items you’ll need for concrete repair, floor prep, and product application. The first item, however, is something you’ll need for all phases:
- Nitrile gloves — Protect your hands! There are a number of chemicals in this project that you want to keep off your skin.
Concrete repair
Things you’ll need to patch cracks, divots and pits in your old floor.
- Concrete patch and repair — As with the degreaser, there are multiple concrete patch products. But, we did not want to take any chances, so we went with Rustoleum’s brand for patching. The two-part patch gave great results: it provided plenty of working time to get the material in place and smoothed out, was extremely hard once dry, and had virtually no shrinkage. (The package literature does state that you may need a second coat over larger patches, so be prepared if you do have large and/or deep areas to patch). Try to do a good job of smoothing the patch with your putty knife to minimize post-patch sanding.
- Drill with wire-brush attachment — We had extensive cracks in our floor that had previously been filled with a mystery substance. The wire brush attachment made it much easier to thoroughly clean out the cracks so we could come back and fill them with the right stuff.
- Narrow putty knife — We used a 1¼” putty knife to apply patch to floor cracks
- 6″ putty knife — A wider knife was necessary for patching larger divots and pitted areas.
- Rubbing alcohol — This is for cleaning your tools of the concrete patch. You’ll want to clean in between every round of patching.
- Random orbital sander with 60-grit pads — The cured patch material is sandable, but not easily sandable, so a random orbital sander makes it much easier to smooth down any imperfections in your patches. We also did a light sanding over the entire surface of our patches to improve adhesion.
Floor prep
Things you’ll need to clean and etch your concrete floor
- Floor Degreaser — There are several different brands that you can use to thoroughly degrease your floor. We went with Rustoleum’s product, assuming that it was our best bet to ensure we did the job right. We needed two gallons, and it’s pricey It did not let us down.
- Stiff bristle-brush broom — This is essential for both the etching and degreasing step, to ensure that you get to all of the dirt and grime, and that the entire floor surface is properly etched.
- Wire brush and scraper — While the drill attachment made for speedy work on our cracks, we kept noticing new paint spots as we worked on prep, so it has helpful to have a hand tool to quickly do spot scraping.
- Squeegee Pole— This is super helpful for getting water out of the garage after cleaning, degreasing, and etching. It will allow your floors to dry more quickly, so you can get the job done faster.
Product Application
Things you’ll need to get your floor coating down.
- 9″ roller carriage — The kit includes a 9″ foam roller, but of course, you’ll need to put that roller on a standard roller carriage. Tip: Make sure to remove the foam roller from the carriage as soon as you finish applying the product. Otherwise, you’ll wind up with a roller that’s permanently attached to your carriage.
- Extension pole — In order to apply the polycuramine while standing, you’ll need an extension pole that screws in to your roller carriage. Before you buy one, check your yard tool handles…you probably have something that’s compatible with the roller carriage. We used the handle from a push broom.
- Extra Chips — we didn’t like the blue color in the chips that came with the kit, but you can buy bags of chips separately in several different color combos. The individual bags also have more chips than the ones in the kit, so this also eliminated running-out-of-chips anxiety.
- Plastic 4″ planter pot — You can sprinkle chips on to your floor with your hand, but we found that shaking them through the bottom of a plastic plant pot made it easier to get an even distribution. You can come up with your own improvised tool for this. Just make sure to practice your technique beforehand, and mix your chips so that the smaller flakes don’t all wind up at the bottom of the bag.
- Painters tape — Get decent tape because you’ll need to tape a clean-looking line at the entrance to your garage.
- 5-gallon bucket — You have to be careful not to get the RockSolid product on to anything besides your floor. Having a bucket nearby gives you a place for holding the bag of polycuramine while you are rolling, and to rest your roller on while pouring the product.
- Foam brushes (multi-pak) — Rust-Oleum’s instructions call for a nylon bristle brush for cutting in edges, but we found that mineral spirits would not clean a brush, and disposable foam brushes worked great. Having narrow brushes also made it much easier to get into tight spots.
Hope this list helps with your project. To learn more about our DIY garage floor experience, check out our post on what we learned putting down a Rocksolid polycuramine floor. Did you find something missing on our list? Let us know in the comments section below.
Orchid Training is Super Fun & Easy
Hey, DIY Warriors! Welcome to another Vag-tastic installment of what not to do and when not to do it. Ain’t this easy? Did you buy a Phalaenopsis orchid from TJ’s, HD or maybe Lowe’s? Or, the worst guilt, from a fancy-schmancy nursery for big bucks? Now 3 months later and you have no blooms left and a funky bare branch.
Me too! And what would I do every time? Cut that funky bare branch off of course…
Wrong-o! Oh, so very wrong-o. They send out brand new branches outta those old stems!
Look at this new-growth beauty. I left the old bare stems in place and gently trained them into curvatures with these nifty clippy-dippies & ties and support stakes. Just a gentle tuck here and there.
My biggest tip on training your orchid is to let the plant do most of the work. I use the room’s ambient sunlight from nearby windows to guide the new growth’s direction. It’s as simple as rotating the pot so that the new growth reaches for the light. I rotate weekly (or more) only an inch or a centimeter. It’s really depends on how much I want to guide the new growth in the direction I want it to go next.
I feed every 4-6 months with Miracle Gro Orchid formula. Some people prefer the stakes but I use the water soluble formula. I water once a week using a shot glass, roughly 4 shots will do the trick. Once a month I wet wipe the leaves to remove dust build up. Gotta keep that photosynthesis going!
And I hope that you keep going too, DIY Warriors!
Make the world you want to live in,
If you liked this article and playing with nature’s bounty, check out these links!
A Cool LED Shelf Anyone Can Make
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This wooden LED shelf was an afterthought. As in, I built it after spending way too much time thinking about the shelves for this closet. It’s astonishingly simple, and because I used scraps to make the oak shelf, the total cost was only about $40.
Originally, I planned for this space to be a bar and media closet in our game room. I wanted something to complement the design of our retro-arcade cocktail table, and I had funky lighted bar shelves in mind. I made some designs —and even a prototype — for an LED shelf with underlit glass tiles. It was clunky and eventually I, uh, shelved the bar plans. Once COVID-19 hit, and we decided to put a retro freezer in this space, I came up with a much simpler design. The result is a nice, subtle lighting effect that sets a great mood for the game room.
Tools
- Biscuit joiner
- Table saw or circular saw
- Drill/driver
Materials
- Clear adhesive bumpers (½” diameter) [Buy on Amazon]
- 8′ (2.4 m) LED light strip [Buy on Amazon]
- Scraps of engineered red oak stair tread [Buy it at Home Depot], or solid wood scraps of equal thickness, enough for a final dimension of 23″ x 29″ (58 cm by 74 cm)
- 1″ x 2″ furring strip boards, approximately 7 feet (2.1 m) total length [Buy it at Home Depot]
- Shelf support anchors*: toggle bolts, hollow wall anchors, and/or construction screws [Buy on Amazon]
*choose an appropriate anchor based on your type of wall and the load the shelf will carry
Scrap Wood LED Shelf
I made the shelf from pieces of engineered oak treads left over from our stair remodel. The pieces are slightly more than an inch thick and, because they are designed to be stepped on, super sturdy. The biscuit joiner is a fast and easy way to attach the pieces to each other and create a strong joint. You can use this technique on any solid wood scraps you have, provided all the scraps are the same thickness.
Your scraps can be various lengths and widths, but must be big enough to handle at least one biscuit joint on each side. I used eight pieces of tread in two rows of four. Each piece was 11½ inches (29.2 cm) wide, with varying lengths. I glued up each row, then glued the two rows together.
Next, use a table saw to cut the shelf to it’s final size. You will need about a ¼” (6 mm) gap around the shelf edges for the light strip, so cut the shelf about half an inch shorter than the width of the closet. The final dimensions of this shelf are 29″ by 23″ (58 cm by 74 cm).
Finish the shelf by sanding, staining, and sealing as you like. I used Minwax Colonial Maple stain and a satin polyurethane.
LED Shelf Supports
The shelf supports are 1×2 furring strips that are attached to all three walls with heavy-duty hollow wall anchors and screwed into studs where possible (the closet walls actually hide two metal poles that support the fireplace above, so there are no wooden studs in the sides). The stair treads have a nice bullnose edge, so I cut the side supports an inch shorter than the shelf.
As you can see in the picture above, I also cut two decorative end caps out of furring. These hide the gap between the shelf and the supports and are a nice finishing touch.
Create the Lighting Effect with Clear Bumpers
Clear bumper pads create this lighting effect. They are cheap, easy to find, and you can use this technique on any shelf that sits on wooden support rails. Just put two bumper pads on top of each shelf support. This raises the shelf and creates a small gap underneath for the light.
Now, put the shelf on the supports and check that you have a big enough gap for the LED light strip. Starting at the front of one of the sides of the shelf, tuck the strip down into the gap, all along the edges. When you reach the front of the other side, double the strip back, so that the power supply winds up at the back of the shelf.
You’re done…except for playing with the remote control to dial in the color and lighting effect that floats your boat. By the way, if this shelf isn’t what you’re looking for, here’s another cool LED shelf you can make with a raw wood edge.
Other items shown in this post
- 6-cubic foot retro freezer by Classic [Buy it at Home Depot]
Prostrate Rosemary on the Retaining Wall—Part 2
Now you’re probably wondering, More? What the heck does Vag hafta’ say on this topic Again!? I mean she just went into length on planting and training prostrate rosemary on her ugly retaining wall…
Well, it’s Spring time, DIY Warriors! And, guess what? The new growth on your prostrate rosemary, aka, Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Prostratus’, looks like squirrel tails in a high wind or that showdown between your doggie and the neighborhood skunk.
Why is it growing upward? I mean, geez, “prostrate” means trailing downward last I heard…
But, behold, like any good woody plant the new baby branches are softie sweet. Have no fear and hold off on yielding those oh-so-fabulous Felco pruning shears, Warriors! These sweet babies will harden and become woody over the next few months and droop down all proper-like.
Voila, you have a new layer of prostrate rosemary on your gorgeous retaining wall. Easy peasey, lemon squeezey!
Happy DIY-ing, Warriors…
Make the world the place you want to live in,
Turn a Retaining Wall into a Truly Living Wall with Prostrate Rosemary
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Hey, DIY Warriors! Welcome to another Vag-tastic installment on Manatee Pants. Got an ugly retaining wall? Here are some retaining wall ideas. From your couch to the Beyond…
And away we go! Here is our 5′ tall concrete retaining wall which we have lovingly bedazzled with prostrate rosemary, aka, Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Prostratus’.
As always, let’s knock the pants off this manatee and get on to our next oh-so-fabulous DIY project to inspire you to live in the world you want.
We wondered what are some good retaining wall ideas? Prostrate rosemary! Dick & I love the blueish-purple flowers and the glossy deep-green leaves. It softens the hard grey concrete wall into a lovely living wall with delightful visual interest to enjoy year-round, especially from the hot tub with a tasty adult beverage. Oh, the joys!
Feeding & Watering Prostrate Rosemary
In our climate we can rock our world with year-round blooming. Gotta do it with regular feeding and watering, so I use the super-duper easy, time-released granular food Miracle Gro every 3-4 months.
As to watering, during your dry season water 1-2x/week. We suggest doing so in your fluffy robe with one of Dick’s Bloody Mary’s but we hear pj’s and a mimosa are also a nifty-doodle option. Of course you could just install drip irrigation and not traumatize the neighbors. Options abound!
And during your wet season? Just sit back and relax. As our ever-so-wise Uncle Jeff once told me, “Rain. That’s liquid gold, girl, let it do its thang”. And who could complain about that, right?!
Growth Patterns & Pruning Tips
A few notes on your choices for the growth pattern. As always think about the look you wish to achieve over time. Prostrate rosemary is quite delightfully prune-able thus you can tweak it to your desires. If you are wanting it to trail down the wall in an arching manner then prune the dead growth from underneath every 2-3 months.
A little pinch here and there but if you wanna get all fancy-pantsy then order yourself a pair of Swiss-made Felcos. I swear by my #2 Felcos for all-purpose pruning in the garden year-round.
If you want the trailing to spill down the wall in a flatter manner then just let it be. Simple-dimple, Warriors.
Nature Abounds in Prostrate Rosemary
Prostrate rosemary is an excellent attractor of nature and brings even more delights to your outdoor living space. Small space gardening is epic fun.
Honey bees and other insect pollinators adore collecting the pollen and lapping nectar as the hummingbirds equally do. I mean who doesn’t like a good sugar buzzzzzz?
A Safe Haven — Peaceful & Calming
Many different small birds, both migrating and local residents, gorge on the fine seeds and find safety in its woody undergrowth. I may unabashedly covet my neighbors cat but no eating the cute birdies, Sylvester!
Aging Gracefully
Speaking again of growth patterns, here are my lovelies at 10 yr growth and 5yr growth. All of them began beautifying our living wall from a typical 1 gallon size plant ‘cuz I’m cheap that way. Regardless of what Dick says…
Natural Health & Beauty with Rosemary
Not only is our living wall beautiful and provides for the critters passing through, it also provides us humans with all kinds of DIY natural products for our everyday lives. We can just pinch a little or a lot and then bring on the cooking, cleaning and natural DIY health & beauty products like Homemade Natural Men’s Deodorant from our very own Jax.
So grab your yoga mat and breathe. Visualize. This is your shared world. Make it what you want it to be and how you want to share it.
Happy DIY-ing, Warriors!
Homemade Natural Men’s Deodorant
I looked down at that last bit of bright blue antiperspirant while I gripped the pungent stick’s iconic red case. There were itching rashes under my arms to match and my white shirts were turning yellow. I was smelly and tired of spending money on the over-fragranced deodorants that left me uncomfortable and didn’t hold up to a day of heavy adventuring. There had to be a cheaper, natural solution. Little did I know; natural homemade deodorant would be more effective and super easy to make.
The result of this recipe is a natural homemade deodorant paste that spreads easily when applied under the arms. You can apply it with a wooden applicator like a popsicle stick, or just use your fingers to gently rub on about a pea-size amount.
The best thing about this recipe is that you can make as much, or as little as you want.
The measurements listed here will fill a BALL 4oz canning jar.
Ingredients
- Bob’s Red Mill Arrowroot powder: 1/2 cup (4 fl oz)
- Unrefined Coconut oil: warmed 5 Tbsp (75ml)
- Essential oils: Approximately 20 drops (10 cedar and 10 lavender)
- For this recipe, I used cedar and lavender. You can also try rosemary, grapefruit, spruce, or your own blend of scents.
- Baking soda: 1/3 cup (78ml)
- Mixing bowl
- Whisk or fork
Instructions
- Mix the arrowroot powder and the baking soda together
- Add the coconut and essential oils. The coconut oil should be slightly above room temperature. You can sit it in a bath of hot water for 10 minutes, or just put it in a sunny window.
- Stir ingredients well and adjust scent intensity how you prefer.
- Scoop the deodorant into a clean and dry air-tight jar for storage.
Notes
This homemade natural (vegan!) deodorant will store up to 6 months in an airtight BALL canning jar.
You can use cornstarch instead of arrowroot powder. However, I prefer the non-gmo option of Bob’s Red Mill arrowroot powder. I got mine from Whole Foods, but it is easy to find in the baking aisle of most supermarkets.
Store at room temperature. If the deodorant becomes too solid, warm the jar in hot water or bring the sealed jar into the shower with you. The mixture will be the perfect consistency by the end of your shower ballad tribute to Whitney Houston.
This is not an antiperspirant; you will still sweat! But this stuff keeps me smelling good and feeling good all day long; so I can enjoy one of Dick’s Bloody Marys without wondering if it’s the Worcestershire sauce or my B.O.
I like to use less baking soda for my sensitive skin. Feel free to add more, and experiment with your own ratios.
The Best Time for a Bloody Mary is Now
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I like a good Bloody Mary, but I’ll drink a bad one too. I’m drinking one now as a matter of fact. It’s a Saturday morning. What the hell?
I’m not a snob. In particular, I usually want one whenever I’ve got time to kill in an airport in the morning, and that’s where I’ve had some of the worst Bloodies. It’s also where I discovered that you can’t get a Bloody Mary at JFK on a Sunday morning, thanks to New York’s ridiculous liquor laws. Sunday mornings are the best time to have a Bloody.
The thing is, I don’t like to make a lot of fuss about them. I’ve made quite a few Bloodies with what you might call alternative ingredients — things like fish sauce and pickled jalapeno juice — that were just damn fine. It’s about making a good Bloody Mary from what you have on hand.
Now, I don’t drink them often enough to clog up my refrigerator with a big jug of mix or tomato juice. I like keeping the small cans of Spicy V-8 or Clamato on hand because a) they don’t need to be refrigerated and b) one can is perfect for two drinks.
Here’s how I’m currently making my bloodies:
Dick’s Bloody Mary
(serves 2)
- One 5.5 oz. (163 ml) can of Spicy V-8 [Buy it on Amazon Fresh]
- Half a lemon
- Worcestershire sauce [Buy it on Amazon Fresh]
- Olive brine from a jar of garlic-stuffed green olives [Buy it on Amazon Fresh]
- Tabasco [Buy it on Amazon Fresh]
- Celery Salt
- Ground Black Pepper
- Vodka or Tequila (For a Bloody Maria. Whatever tequila you like, but for god’s sake, make sure it’s 100% agave)
- Ice cubes
- Garnish (if you’re so inclined) — celery, olives…maybe even pickled green beans or okra.
Divide the V-8 between two glasses and squeeze the lemon into each glass. Put a generous few dashes of Worcestershire in each glass, followed by a splash of olive brine, and a shot of alcohol. Add a dash of the salt and pepper, and 3-4 squirts of Tabasco (as much as you like). Add the ice, stir it up with something, and, if you’re inclined for a snack with your drink, add garnishes. No toothpick necessary. Missing an ingredient? Improvise. You’ll figure something out.
Build a Rustic Mantel from Reclaimed Wood
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(This article is part 3 of our Fireplace Makeover series.)
We built this mantel entirely from a few pieces of rough-sawn lumber pulled out of a recycled building materials yard. Part of the fun of building it was deciding how to combine the pieces while keeping the rustic charm of the wood. Our local yard is great, and you can probably find lots of reclaimed wood sources in your area to build your own mantel.
Build Notes
The mantel is composed of three pieces of reclaimed wood:
- A 6 x 6 post, cut in half to make the legs
- A 2 x 12 board, with a piece cut out to fit around the brick. We then used the cutout as a cross-piece below the top, and
- A 4 x 3 post, to run underneath the shelf, for another cross-piece
Keeping The Rustic Look of Reclaimed Wood
We chose to preserve the rough look of the wood — there were holes, gouges and visible saw marks that provided lots of character. The wood needed some cleaning, but otherwise we only performed a little sanding areas that would be dangerous to the touch. before putting a dark stain and some polyurethane on the wood.
Use Lag Screws for Solid Attachments
We attached the mantel to the wall on either side of the fireplace with lag bolts. Those bolts sit an inch or so deep in the post and are covered with a decorative dowel. The top shelf is also attached to the posts with countersunk lag screws. The two cross-pieces are attached to the shelf through the bottom of the pieces, again with recessed lag screws. Finally, we put some felt furniture pads on the bottom of the posts to protect the floor. With all the hardware, this was still less than $10 to build. It’s been in place for more than 10 years now and we still love it.
Making the Cutout in the Top Shelf
In order to make the cutout, you’ll need to make a plunge cut with a circular saw, then finish the corners with either a handsaw or a jigsaw (and you’ll want to sand down the inside corners afterward). A plunge cut can be a little nerve-wracking if you’re not used to holding up the blade guard of your saw while you lower it into the cut. Lining it up to start is also critical — if you’ve got a laser guide, that’ll make it easier to check your line before you drop the blade into the wood. Otherwise, clamp a guide to the piece and set the nose of your saw’s base plate against the guide while you lower the blade.
Last bit of advice: Know where the back of your blade is going to hit! It’s easy to drop the blade in and wind up cutting past the corner. It’s better to start with plenty of room behind the saw to avoid this mistake. You have to finish the cuts anyway.
Don’t Stop with the Reclaimed Wood Mantel
The mantel was just the first step in a very satisfying fireplace makeover. Read our other posts on the rest of the process: