Project "Thanos" Build

Awesome! I know you were really excited for this run -- can't wait to check out the article :)
 
Ever since the Jeep Experience in May, Thanos has been stuck in limbo. See, while summer was just ramping up for the world, my wife and I were headlong into the process of selling our house and building a new one.

With a July target for getting our 20+ year old home updated and on the market, and the bulk of the work to be done ourselves to save thousands, it meant converting Thanos into full time utility mode for hauling, and a concerted effort to avoid the myriad of Jeep events that would threaten to steal weekends and evenings of hard work away.

This is pretty much why I haven't been around to post much (same locally in TX) - the draw to say 'f-it lets strip the jeep naked and go wheelin' is just too great a pull, so I had to go celibate.

Now just look at the poor bastard:
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Well into the summer, hard top on, doors on, seats
down, a gd movers blanket. (The Squirt... is not mine.. but the dudes building my frame love the stuff so I bring em coolers of it)

So with Thanos having been pavement stricken for two months now, I thought I'd share some of the house mods I worked on over the past few months. I literally just thought of this, so the pictures below will be whatever I happen to have taken on my phone at the time.

Here we go. Let's start with the shitty tiling job a "friend of a friend" did early on. This was supposed to be a quid-pro-quo where he was the general contractor and I was the mechanic.. so I replaced shocks, struts, and tie rod ends on his Honda Element, and he in-turn was going to retile the master shower (I did all the demo work and cleaning, so he would literally just have to throw down backer board, membrane, tiles, grout)

Couple days later, his Element is driving like a dream, and I'm left with this:
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If you want something done right, eh? The nature of the friendships involved made it less conducive to causing drama and making him redo it, so I just decided to address the wonky tiles and poor grout job myself and be done with it. (I would later come to find out the problem is he used 1/4" backer board (meant for floors) rather than the 1/2" you're supposed to use for walls. )

Aaaanyways, the COOL part of this renovation was updating away from the standard crappy "cage" surround and flimsy shower door. We decided to go with a glass block tile and a frameless/floadting glass door:
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In the first pic above you can see how the blocks come together- they sell these channels that you anchor into the wall and the sill (or half wall shed in this case) and then the blocks "lock in" to the channel and are pushed together.

The second and 3rd pics show a little custom outline cut I did on the horizontal channel since the glass wall is coming out to a free-standing end. They sell end-cap blocks with rounded edges for applications like this so I wanted the lower channel to follow the rounded contour.

Next you see how the layers work- you use these long horizontal spaced pieces between rows, and shorter vertical spacers between the blocks. After cutting them to length, you apply silicone sealant to the spacers on both sides and then lock in the blocks. The spacers are bowed out on both sides so they pillow out to make good contact with the glass block surfaces.

I'm the last pic you can see how tall the wall is in the mockup- I was also running the strike plate for the glass door up alongside to make sure it would sit level against the glass.

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I guess I didn't take any more in-between pictures until I was done, but there you go. The floating/frameless door design is very cool and easy to install, the glass floats on a pair of pivoting clamps above and below that can be adjusted, and the bottom features a door sweep-like kick plate that does a good job of stopping water.

With that shower done (and redone) my next trick was to redo the upstairs second bath/shower. Here was the post-demo pic:
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It looks more horrendous than it actually was, the bathroom just had poor lighting and a lot of drywall and grout dust was still in the air :)

With everything gutted, I checked to make sure the tub was still level, and put up my backer board (1/2" lol)
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Next step was to run fiberglass tape between all the joints and apply a waterproofing membrane. I went with this red stuff everyone was recommending which paints on- but I later found out they sell these crazy rubber looking sheets you can just cut to fit and staple up... def would have been less work lol
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After that stuff set up it was time to tile. We went with larger 12" tile and 3/16" grout spacing, and I got to rock my hole-saw skills on a material other than metal for a change:
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Here's a pic of the tiles before the final complicated cuts for the window sill. Where's all the thinset, you ask? We actually went with this cool product which is a bunch of double sided pre-adhesive'd mats that bind the tiles to the wall. Worked really well, super strong, no mess.
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And here is the final outcome- not the fanciest thing in the universe but a thorough enough job that it passed inspection and is a moderate upgrade from basic tile with less grout care required.
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Another project was learning about and troubleshooting our sprinkler system. We
had a 7 valve system but only 1 zone (front yard) was working since we bought the house and I was too lazy to deal with it until now. This is one of my reference pictures I was using to go research:
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Thru testing I found out that the solenoids on the anti-siphon valves were just old as dirt and had gone bad on the other zones, so I bought and installed a set of replacements:
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Now all the zones work and I have sprinklers popping up for places I didn't even realize I had irrigation for lol

That's about all the major stuff I have pics for. We also ended up replacing all the light fixtures and door hardware throughout (going form ugly gold to brushed nickel), replaced a few missing shingles (original roof)... oh and a metric shitton of packing, cleaning, and hauling stuff to storage.

But that's all the boring stuff, in the mean time our new home build was underway, and that's much more photogenic, but the pics will have to wait for another post as in at the limit!
 
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So good to near from you again! "OMG!!!!" On the remodeling and building projects -- love the glass blocks, and it came out really pretty. Can't wait to see the pics of the new house. It was hard, though, seeing Thanos demoted from HF Wheelin' God to Joe Blow Haulin' Buddy.....but, hey, he took the hit for the team[emoji38].
 
I like that your irrigation valves are above ground. Mine are spread out throughout our 9000 sq/ft lot. In 3 years I have replaced 75% of the heads, the control panel and replaced a valve diaphragm (rather simple). Our backflow preventer was stupid high....like 4 feet off the ground. I cut that mofo down to 18 inches! These people had NO IDEA what they were doing when the installed the system, prior to us. Your upgrades to the house look great. We are on the same path...upgrading our 35 year old house to sell in a couple years. :thumb:
 
Damn man the bathroom looks good!

Welcome back George! The bathroom looks awesome! GREAT job!

Thanks y'all - good to be back among the living.

So good to near from you again! "OMG!!!!" On the remodeling and building projects -- love the glass blocks, and it came out really pretty. Can't wait to see the pics of the new house. It was hard, though, seeing Thanos demoted from HF Wheelin' God to Joe Blow Haulin' Buddy.....but, hey, he took the hit for the team[emoji38].

If Jeeps have feelings, I'm sure he feels like a freshly caught lion in the zoo for sure. Gonna run some maintenance and clean up Friday and see if I can't get out on the trails one of these next weekends.

I like that your irrigation valves are above ground. Mine are spread out throughout our 9000 sq/ft lot. In 3 years I have replaced 75% of the heads, the control panel and replaced a valve diaphragm (rather simple). Our backflow preventer was stupid high....like 4 feet off the ground. I cut that mofo down to 18 inches! These people had NO IDEA what they were doing when the installed the system, prior to us. Your upgrades to the house look great. We are on the same path...upgrading our 35 year old house to sell in a couple years. :thumb:

Valves above ground threw me for a loop not being a pro at any of this .. most of the vids I saw had em all under ground near the water main...but once I figured out the config it was for sure really convenient for testing the lines and swapping the valves having them all right there. Best of luck with your upgrades, I promise all the blood sweat and...money? is worth it in the end!!
 
Valves above ground threw me for a loop not being a pro at any of this .. most of the vids I saw had em all under ground near the water main...but once I figured out the config it was for sure really convenient for testing the lines and swapping the valves having them all right there. Best of luck with your upgrades, I promise all the blood sweat and...money? is worth it in the end!!

I would even prefer all our valves to be in one, large box underground with pea gravel in the bottom. But no. Maybe the next house since we will be building/buying new. We have a looooooong way to go before that ever happens but we are looking forward to it! :beer:
 
The build and the bathroom look awesome! I've been straying from my build to finish my basement. It's hard to be motivated on longer projects!
 
Project "Thanos" Build

As promised, here are some shots of the new place in progress!

Here's the earliest shot I have of the lot (65')
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The roughed in foundation. I think I'm standing roughly on my porch;
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Just before the foundation pour. It was interesting seeing the floating rebar weave, never even knew that was a thing.
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Slab!
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The very first of the the outer walls:
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This was literally like a day after:
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Couple days later they had the roof structures up and were already starting on insulation:
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Finally getting a sense for the front elevation and rear porch:
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This was just yesterday- they've got the lid on (pre shingles), windows in, exterior walls done, etc.
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One of the main features we wanted this time around was a 3 car garage. The thing I love about this plan is that the 3rd port is actually situated in the middle rather than the more common "tacked on" to the side of the house layout.
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The other nuance I wanted was in the double wide garage opening - with no garage opener overhead in either slot (since it would instead run centered/between) it means I can potentially install a 2-post lift in the center to work on the Jeeps!

The elevation we chose comes with a front covered porch
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Still kinda hard to portray a sense for what's going on interior-wise but here's a shot looking from the living room in the rear of the house towards the front:
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And an angle on the master:
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More later- the plan we went with was less around size and more around functional space. With no kids and coming from a two story place where we almost never saw the second half of our home, we instead decided on maximizing the spaces we and our friends actually DO frequent, hence the larger garage, covered porch & rear patio, larger master, etc.

I'll post another round once the interior is closer and more of the details become apparent :)
 
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As promised, here are some shots of the new place in progress!

Here's the earliest shot I have of the lot (65')
ATTACH]216705[/ATTACH

The roughed in foundation. I think I'm standing roughly on my porch;
ATTACH]216706[/ATTACH

Just before the foundation pour. It was interesting seeing the floating rebar weave, never even knew that was a thing.ATTACH]216685[/ATTACH

Slab!
ATTACH]216684[/ATTACH

The very first of the the outer walls:
ATTACH]216686[/ATTACH

This was literally like a day after:
ATTACH]216687[/ATTACH
ATTACH]216688[/ATTACH
ATTACH]216689[/ATTACH
ATTACH]216690[/ATTACH

Couple days later they had the roof structures up and were already starting on insulation:
ATTACH]216691[/ATTACH
ATTACH]216692[/ATTACH

Finally getting a sense for the front elevation and rear porch:
ATTACH]216693[/ATTACH
ATTACH]216694[/ATTACH

This was just yesterday- they've got the lid on (pre shingles), windows in, exterior walls done, etc.
ATTACH]216695[/ATTACH

One of the main features we wanted this time around was a 3 car garage. The thing I love about this plan is that the 3rd port is actually situated in the middle rather than the more common "tacked on" to the side of the house layout.
ATTACH]216696[/ATTACH

The other nuance I wanted was in the double wide garage opening - with no garage opener overhead in either slot (since it would instead run centered/between) it means I can potentially install a 2-post lift in the center to work on the Jeeps!

The elevation we chose comes with a front covered porch
ATTACH]216702[/ATTACH

Still kinda hard to portray a sense for what's going on interior-wise but here's a shot looking from the living room in the rear of the house towards the front:
ATTACH]216703[/ATTACH

And an angle on the master:
ATTACH]216704[/ATTACH

More later- the plan we went with was less around size and more around functional space. With no kids and coming from a two story place where we almost never saw the second half of our home, we instead decided on maximizing the spaces we and our friends actually DO frequent, hence the larger garage, covered porch & rear patio, larger master, etc.

I'll post another round once the interior is closer and more of the details become apparent :)

Awesome! :thumb:

Looks like they are marking good progress on the home.
 
As promised, here are some shots of the new place in progress!

Here's the earliest shot I have of the lot (65')
View attachment 216705

The roughed in foundation. I think I'm standing roughly on my porch;
View attachment 216706

Just before the foundation pour. It was interesting seeing the floating rebar weave, never even knew that was a thing.
View attachment 216685

Slab!
View attachment 216684

The very first of the the outer walls:
View attachment 216686

This was literally like a day after:
View attachment 216687
View attachment 216688
View attachment 216689
View attachment 216690

Couple days later they had the roof structures up and were already starting on insulation:
View attachment 216691
View attachment 216692

Finally getting a sense for the front elevation and rear porch:
View attachment 216693
View attachment 216694

This was just yesterday- they've got the lid on (pre shingles), windows in, exterior walls done, etc.
View attachment 216695

One of the main features we wanted this time around was a 3 car garage. The thing I love about this plan is that the 3rd port is actually situated in the middle rather than the more common "tacked on" to the side of the house layout.
View attachment 216696

The other nuance I wanted was in the double wide garage opening - with no garage opener overhead in either slot (since it would instead run centered/between) it means I can potentially install a 2-post lift in the center to work on the Jeeps!

The elevation we chose comes with a front covered porch
View attachment 216702

Still kinda hard to portray a sense for what's going on interior-wise but here's a shot looking from the living room in the rear of the house towards the front:
View attachment 216703

And an angle on the master:
View attachment 216704

More later- the plan we went with was less around size and more around functional space. With no kids and coming from a two story place where we almost never saw the second half of our home, we instead decided on maximizing the spaces we and our friends actually DO frequent, hence the larger garage, covered porch & rear patio, larger master, etc.

I'll post another round once the interior is closer and more of the details become apparent :)

Awesome! Looks like it's going to be sweet!
 
Today I picked up a 34R-PC1500T for the Colorado trip next week since my stock battery was starting to show signs of unreliability. So this weekend I'll be doing an instal of it and the SPOD I got a great deal on- will take pics as usual. Finally, an actual Jeep project!!!!
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The battery did get installed but I couldn't find the box for the sPOD, which means it probably got out in storage on accident. Oh well; Colorado next week!! Will post pics!
 
Colorado: Wheeler Lake

Didn't end up leaving for CO until Friday as they made enough progress on our house that they wanted to squeeze in the pre-drywall construction meeting, so that happened at 10:30, lasted until like noon, so we didn't hit the road until 3pm.

Drove straight through and made it into Monarch, CO by 4:30AM and crashed at my parents cabin for 4 hours, and rolled out of bed to head another 2 hours north towards Breckenridge to meet some good friends of ours to wheel. The target? Wheeler Lake.

Won't spend a ton of time on descriptions just yet here as we're about to head out but enjoy the pics - even got my pops behind the wheel for some of the obstacles (see last pic)
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