Building Modern on a Budget Ep. 6 | Mini-Split A/C & Heat for the Shop

*This video is sponsored by Mr. Cool and contains affiliate links.

I know, I know! I've been terrible about updating you guys on the house progress. The good news is, if you follow me on Instagram or YouTube, I've been much better at posting updates over there. I've decided I need to finally catch up with our progress and give you some more information about our custom house build. 

Episode 1: Budget & Design
Episode 2: Foundation & Pad
Episode 3: Framing
Episode 4: Roofing & Windows 
Episode 5: HVAC, Electrical & Plumbing

Episode 6: Mini-Split A/C & Heat

Episode 7: Insulation, Drywall & Stucco

Episode 8: Glass Garage & Front Door + Painting

Episode 9: Concrete Floors + Fireplace & Interior Doors

Not only are we building a cool, modern house, we have also built a 1,200 sqft detached workshop for my husband and I to share. We live in a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona, so you can probably guess it gets pretty dang hot here. In fact, this summer has been brutal here (record breaking actually). The temperature inside the shop typically exceeds 105 degrees + from late-May to mid-September. In order to be able to work year-round, we really need some sort of air conditioning. 

How We Got Heavy Duty Shop Walls | The Home Depot Rentals

*This post is sponsored by The Home Depot Rentals.

I feel like the house we're building is trying to kill me. Well, maybe it's not the house. Maybe it's building a house during an Arizona summer. Also, it's just our luck that we would happen to be building a house and detached workshop ourselves during the hottest summer on record since 1895. 

Building Modern on a Budget Ep. 5 | HVAC, Electrical & Plumbing

*This post is sponsored by DAP Products and Simpson Strong-Tie. This post contains affiliate links.

The house is finally "dried in", which means the roof is finished and the exterior walls are wrapped with a water-proof membrane. It also means we can start working on the inside, bringing in more trades. As we talked about in my last post, we are dramatically over budget and we've been desperately trying to bring costs down. We decided Bryce and I are going to try to do more of the labor ourselves, splitting the jobs with contractors, like we did with the roof. 

The hardest part wasn't rolling up our sleeves and laboring, it was finding the right contractor who is willing to be patient enough to work with us. 

Building Modern on a Budget: Ep. 4 | Roofing & Windows

*This post is sponsored by DAP Products and Simpson Strong-Tie. This post contains affiliate links. 

It's getting hot here. Like, 105° by 11 am. I guess since it's June in Arizona I shouldn't be surprised by that. We were lucky enough to get a really mild May for Arizona standards, just in time to get the roof up on the house. 

New here? Did you know my husband and I are building a modern-style custom house ourselves? Check out the links below to get caught up on the series up to this point. 

Episode 1: Budget & Design
Episode 2: Foundation & Pad
Episode 3: Framing
Episode 4: Roofing & Windows 
Episode 5: HVAC, Electrical & Plumbing

Episode 6: Mini-Split A/C & Heat

Episode 7: Insulation, Drywall & Stucco

Episode 8: Glass Garage & Front Door + Painting

Episode 9: Concrete Floors + Fireplace & Interior Doors

Building Modern on a Budget | Ep.3 Framing

*This post is sponsored by The Home Depot, DAP Products, and Viewrail. This post contains affiliate links. 

It's getting hot here in Arizona. I know it's still technically Spring, but we've already crossed 110 degrees. I'll just say, I'm suuuuuuper happy we finished up the major framing of our new house and detached garage. 

If you're not up to speed, make sure you check out:

Episode 1: Budget & Design
Episode 2: Foundation & Pad
Episode 3: Framing
Episode 4: Roofing & Windows 
Episode 5: HVAC, Electrical & Plumbing

Episode 6: Mini-Split A/C & Heat

Episode 7: Insulation, Drywall & Stucco

Episode 8: Glass Garage & Front Door + Painting

Episode 9: Concrete Floors + Fireplace & Interior Doors

Building Modern on a Budget: Ep. 2 | Foundation & Pad

*This post is sponsored by Simpson Strong-Tie and The Home Depot. This post contains affiliate links. 

We are full steam ahead on the new modern house! We have been working our tails off and making good progress. I just shared the newest video, episode 2 of the Building Modern on a Budget. I'm talking all about getting the site prepared, building the pad, and pouring the concrete foundation. 

 Have you been following along with the series?

Episode 1: Budget & Design
Episode 2: Foundation & Pad
Episode 3: Framing
Episode 4: Roofing & Windows 
Episode 5: HVAC, Electrical & Plumbing

Episode 6: Mini-Split A/C & Heat

Episode 7: Insulation, Drywall & Stucco

Episode 8: Glass Garage & Front Door + Painting

Episode 9: Concrete Floors + Fireplace & Interior Doors

Although we are trying to DIY as much of the house as possible, we knew there were certain trades we didn't feel comfortable tackling ourselves. Our foundation was something we figured was best to leave to the professionals. 

Building Modern on a Budget: Ep. 1 | Budget and Design Q & A

We have a new house! Well, sorta. We have the beginnings of a house. We are in the process of building a custom home ourselves in Mesa, Arizona. We are producing a YouTube video series, walking through the entire process of trying to build a modern style house on a budget

(SPOILER: it's not easy)

Have you been following along with the series?

Episode 1: Budget & Design
Episode 2: Foundation & Pad
Episode 3: Framing
Episode 4: Roofing & Windows 
Episode 5: HVAC, Electrical & Plumbing

Episode 6: Mini-Split A/C & Heat

Episode 7: Insulation, Drywall & Stucco

Episode 8: Glass Garage & Front Door + Painting

Episode 9: Concrete Floors + Fireplace & Interior Doors

We officially broke ground in January of this year and I've been sharing the progress over on my Instagram. I've received an insane amount of questions (especially about money) so I decided to kick off the series with a budget and design Q & A. So, if you ever wanted to build your own home or are just curious to see how much it costs to build a contemporary house yourself, check out the video below. To see photos, the floorplans and get more juicy details, keep scrolling.

DIY Small Space Hall Tree | Video + Plans

*This post is sponsored by DAP Products. I have been compensated for my time and provided with product or payment in exchange. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. 

How are you guys doing? Are you hanging in there during quarantine? Are you staying home and going nuts like me? I'll be honest, trying to build a new house, keeping up with work and doing my best to home school the kids is a challenge for sure.

Speaking of challenges, my best friend Sam from Diy Huntress wants to make the most of her time at home and decided to get 15 of her friends involved (including me!). She challenged me to #BuildatHome using only scrap materials I have laying around. Check out the links below to see what everyone made!

HEAVY DUTY DIY Folding Sawhorses | Video tutorial + Plans

*This video is sponsored by The Home Depot. This post contains affiliate links.

Holy cow! Things are nuts right now guys! So since we're all currently on lock-down at home, I imagine most of you are like me and trying to be productive with what you have lying around. A few weeks ago I shared my SUPER SIMPLE garage shelves if you're in an organizing mood, but what if you need more work space? 

Cheap and Easy DIY Garage Shelves | Building Plans

*This post is sponsored by The Home Depot. I have been compensated for my time and provided with product or payment in exchange. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

I've shared with you guys a few times that we are building a custom house this year. I'll spare you all the drama, but it has taken us WAY longer to get started than we thought it would. We sold our home back in May of 2019 and have been in a rental ever since. The lease is up on the rental and we are now getting ready to move into my in-law's guest house during construction. In the meantime, we have struggled to find a place to store all of our crap. My in-laws cleared an area for us in their RV garage, but to make the most of the space I wanted to go vertical. It's time to build some cheap and easy DIY wood shelves. 

How to Build a Modern Cable Railing Bed | Building Plans + Video

*This post is sponsored by SawStop and The Home Depot. I have been compensated for my time and provided with product or payment in exchange. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. 

Remember a few weeks ago when I shared the waterfall edge plywood nightstands I made for my sister? (P.S. you can get the free building plans HERE) I mentioned that she was downsizing into a smaller home and needed new furniture to fit the new space. I told her I was happy to hook her up with a new bed to match her nightstands but the one catch is, she would have no say in the design. 

DIY Slide - Rule Wood Desk Calendar

 

*This post is sponsored by DAP Products and The Home Depot. I have been compensated for my time and provided with product or payment in exchange. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. 

Like I'm assuming many of you do, I love making handmade holiday gifts for my friends and family. Last year I made several wood candy machines and the year before that was easy DIY mancala game boards. 

This year, I found some gorgeous 3/4" x 3/4" hardwood square dowels / rods at my Home Depot. They were only labeled as "hardwood" and didn't differentiate between the species of wood. A group of darker colored, redish rods caught my eye and I was pretty sure they were mahogany. 

Holiday Gift Ideas for Tool Lovers and DIY Fans

*This post is sponsored by The Home Depot. I have been compensated for my time and provided with product or payment in exchange. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

Holy cow! How is this year going by so fast? How is it already December? I have a confession: I am a horrible procrastinator. I haven't bought a single Christmas gift yet. 

My twin boys are ten years old now and that means they are still super easy to shop for. We draw names for the extended family, so that means we only have a couple people to shop for there as well. My husband on the other hand, he's the tricky one. He's a super handy guy and possibly loves tools as much as I do. I combed through HomeDepot.com and made a list of gift ideas in every price range. Truth be told, it's really just a collection of my favorite tools and gadgets and several new items I'm itching to buy for myself. 

If you have a tool lover or DIY fan on your holiday list, keep scrolling and feel free to add those things you've been needing to the shopping cart as well. 

Ryobi 3/8 Inch VS. Ridgid 1/2 Inch Impact Wrench Head to Head

*This post is sponsored by The Home Depot. I have been compensated for my time and provided with product or payment in exchange. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. 

Alright guys, it's been a while but it's time to talk tools again!

Unless you do a lot of mechanical work or heavy duty construction, you might not be familiar impact wrenches. Easily confused with an impact driver, and impact wrench has a  male stud as opposed to a  female collet or chuck. They are designed to accommodate sockets, not bits. Traditionally, impact wrenches were pneumatically powered and often found in mechanic's shops. 

I own a couple impact wrenches and I actually use them WAY more than I thought I would. They are extremely powerful tools that can be used for a number of different jobs.

DIY Modern Plywood Nightstand | Video Tutorial + Building Plans

*This post is sponsored by Kreg Tool and The Home Depot. I have been compensated for my time and provided with product or payment in exchange. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. 

My sister is getting ready to move into a much smaller house and needed some new furniture to match the new home's more petite scale. Good thing she has a sister who loves to build furniture. 

I've been wanting to try a project with a continuous grain, mitered edge design that kinda creates a waterfall effect. It's traditionally a more advanced technique, but since I've been using my Adaptive Cutting System from Kreg  more and more, I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to test this tricky design element out. 

NO WELD Metal & Glass End Table | Brazing Aluminum

*This post is sponsored by The Home Depot. I have been compensated for my time and provided with product or payment in exchange. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.

I know. The idea of welding is scary. I think professional welders encourage that idea to keep people away from it and keep paying them for all their metal fabrication needs. The truth is, my husband taught me how to weld years ago and I was SHOCKED to learn that it's not nearly as hard as it looks. It takes lots of practice to get the feel of it and produce pretty looking welds, but it's not too hard to get two pieces of steel to stick together. Now, even with that being said, I'm sure many of you are reading this and saying "I don't care what you tell me Elisha, there is no way I'm ever going to try welding". Well, there's good new for you my friends. You have other options. 

Have you ever heard of brazing aluminum? Admittedly, it's is a lot more limited than welding and doesn't work on steel, but brazing gives you the option to join metal together without having to purchase an expensive machine or have lots of technical experience. I've been wanting to experiment with different materials lately, and that's what I just did on this modern aluminum pipe and glass end table.