jasejase Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Next time I have to take down my pool, a nice patio with a built in fire pit is going in instead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firepuma Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Just built a firepit the other day myself as well. I really wanted square sad I couldn't find a kit that was sub~$400 to make one with so I built it instead out of things I had around the yard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el5y Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Firepuma - nice how much did that end up costing you? For the baserock of my firepit I used the cement from the jackhammered patio and rocks from around the yard and those retaining wall pavers were only $1.88 each x30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el5y Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Next time I have to take down my pool, a nice patio with a built in fire pit is going in instead the hardest part of building my firepit was digging out the hole for it. if you got a couple of buddies who don't mind working for beer you can easily get the ground excavated enough for the patio and firepit. Maybe this summer I will dig out the rest of the area and put down the patio around the firepit like my wife and I had planned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasejase Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 I'd be nervous about building my own fire pit with 'non-firerated' brick... or, without a metal sleeve insert of somekind to dissipate the heat from the brick. Â Brick/rock/stone can blow up from a fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el5y Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 I'd be nervous about building my own fire pit with 'non-firerated' brick... or, without a metal sleeve insert of somekind to dissipate the heat from the brick.  Brick/rock/stone can blow up from a fire. Some people get the small Weber grills and put them in the middle as the fire dissipation/holder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasejase Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 I have seen a few things... I think I like the 50 gallon drum cut down the best.. or washing machine basket! many options. Â they also sell the metal insert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el5y Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 yep thats true they do sell the insert separately. I'll post up tonight or tomorrow how mine goes without the insert. I would have used it last night but I had a soccer game and didn't feel like showing up to it drunk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el5y Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 That ceiling is hypnotic! Yes...yes it is. Its even more fun when you're drunk and decide to lay down in the middle of the living room floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasejase Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Two drunk related posts in a row... Brother from a different mother... lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firepuma Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Hahaha yeah the blowing up part. I had a bunch of seasoned brick from the fireplace I dismantled in the old house, I used that for the liner and concrete block with a layer of fire brick on top for the base, dug about 2 feet down into the ground. I then faced/stuccoed the brick liner with high heat mortar (7000degree rating) and heated that up with a blow drier to adhere it to the walls. The bluestone top is pushed back enough not to take direct heat. I'm looking for a square metal insert that's affordable to drop in but for now I've had over a dozen burns and it seems to be holding fine. I've got no problem rebuilding it in a few years if it begins to fall apart but I'm not too worried about it exploding on me. All in all I'm into it for about $125 bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el5y Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Two drunk related posts in a row... Brother from a different mother... lol You can tell what's been on my mind this week... Three interviews, a couple of offers, now its time to simmer and mull things over. Perfect thing to do with a beer in hand and a fire in the pit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasejase Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Absofreakinglotuely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el5y Posted July 22, 2013 Share Posted July 22, 2013 Firepit worked out well Used it the last three nights with no problems other than getting the fire started (I guess having freshly cut branches and leaves it takes a bit to get going...) The top blocks were cool enough for us to put our bare feet on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el5y Posted September 6, 2013 Share Posted September 6, 2013 (edited) getting more done, took out the firepit so I could excavate for the patio, you can see where the firepit will go back into. Digging took a week by hand through hard packed clay. Also added a step down from the deck to the ground. Edit: I don't know how long it'll be before I finish the patio...starting a new job on monday so my daytime working hours will be gone. Edited September 6, 2013 by el5y Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxkita Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 rewired my garage a few years back. The yellow wires are 12 gauge, the orange are 10. The electrician thought I was nuts. Its worked out great, though, never have to worry about overloading an outlet. Build my car Boxkita Track days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el5y Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 wow, nicely done boxkita! What is that smaller circuit box to the left? just another circuit breaker? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxkita Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 wow, nicely done boxkita! What is that smaller circuit box to the left? just another circuit breaker? box on right is panel for garage plugs & lights (6 x 4 fluorescent tubes). box on left is for computer rack (isolated grounds with individual surge protected plugs). The house panels are on the opposite wall.  With the hot-tub upgrade, there are 5 panels in the garage. Something like 120 possible circuits for the house & garage.  Those wires are still exposed from the top of the panel to the ceiling, seemed a shame to cover it up. The inspector had a cow on final inspection. Build my car Boxkita Track days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxkita Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 more wiring fun. In the days before wireless networking, you had to run cables. After numerous houses/apts with no network jacks, I never wanted to have a cable on the floor again. I may have over done it. Build my car Boxkita Track days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I'm not sure if you ever can overdo computer networking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxkita Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 that room has 96 taps, 12 catv taps, and 16 individual circuits. The consensus so far is overdone. Â I worked in a data center at the time and was building a home version. My wife shut that down after the wiring had been run. Build my car Boxkita Track days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasejase Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 (edited) When we bought our house 7 or so years ago, my buddy (who works in IT), talked me into gutting the phone and cable system prior to moving in (as part of many other renovations).  We ran all new phone wire, and wired the house for both CATV and SAT... The Satelite having home runs back to the 'panel' for each jack. The sat wires are the ones hanging there with terminated ends, but not hooked up. We then ran CAT5 to each room (1-4 jacks to each room) for network. It worked out fantastically, as a year later, UVERSE rolled into town, and our house was pre-wired.  Excuse the mess, as a couple wires need to buttoned up, as the gateway was recently replaced, and needs to be reattached to the wall. Also, sorry for the blurry shot.    http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/11/rynady7e.jpg http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/09/11/uje4ary2.jpg Edited September 10, 2013 by jasejase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxkita Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 (edited) I used 4" plastic conduit for the runs in the garage. And snakeskin (expandable flex) to hold the wires in place. do you get any interference from running the network cables so close to the electrical cables? should be at least 6" separation and cross at 90 degrees. Unless running true cat 6 wires (foil wrapped)? I had to make the home run in the same space as the electrical, so wrapped the 5G network wires in foil and ran a fibre duct for extra insurance. So far, the interference is minimal. Edited September 10, 2013 by boxkita Build my car Boxkita Track days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasejase Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 no interference. The majority of those wires are well more than 6" from the cat5 (a bit deceiving in that pic). The one spot, they are practically touching the romex, but that's a temporary thing. I had them clipped up higher, but moved it when I was tinkering. No interference nonetheless. Â Did all the phone lines in blue wire, and all the data in grey. I think we have 17 data jacks, and 12 phone jacks IIRC. Â All I remember is that my hands were raw after terminating all the quadshield LOL... The wire we used came with the extra ground (it was not needed)... A bit thicker than normal quadshield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasejase Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 What are you using ten gauge for anyways? hot tub? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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