His & Hers Closets

The master bedroom, with attached bathroom, has a lot of potential. Long-term we plan to double the size of the master bath by removing the adjacent closet. Of course, this begs an obvious question: where will all the clothes go, once the closet is removed?

Answer: into new his & hers closets.

To begin, think about something that makes you angry, and begin smashing at the wall violently.

Next, remove the remaining chunks of drywall, along with any remaining nails or screws.

As you can see, on the opposite side of this wall is the office, which already contained two huge closets. We simply have to reverse them into the master bedroom (note: always have a plan before smashing holes in your walls).

Using 2×4s, build a roman numeral “III”.

Fill-in the old closet doors (office-side) using your III’s.

Once the old holes have been filled with fresh 2×4s, build two frames for the new closet doors. A standard sliding closet door is 60″ x 80″, but you’ll want to leave a few spare inches for shims and molding.

With these new frames leaning against the bedroom wall, we can space out the new closets symmetrically before making any cuts to the original wall. (note: always make sure the wall in question is not load-bearing prior to removing it)

With the office-wall framed securely, it is now safe to remove the bedroom wall. The new closet door frames are nailed directly into the ceiling beam, and the new closets begin to take shape. Make sure to fill-in the gaps of the “III” with horizontal beams: these will add support, and more importantly, slow any fire within the wall itself. Without these horizontal beams a fire can easily spread up into the attic (heat rises), and then throughout the entire house.

Before we continue, we should consider the use of a closet: to store stuff, usually clothes. Isn’t it annoying when you find yourself rummaging through a dark closet, unable to find something? I think so. The solution: lighting. At your local Home Depot or Lowes you will find a variety of battery-powered lights, most of which can be easily installed into a closet without any wiring required. Although convenient, I find most of these lights look cheap, break easily, and require a steady stream of replacement batteries. In my opinion, an old-school solution is worth the extra effort.

We are going to turn a standard electrical outlet into recessed (high-hat) closet lights, complete with dimmer switches. (note: always cut-off the juice at the breaker box prior to working on anything electrical, 110v/10a probably won’t kill you, but it hurts like a bitch)

This top wire originally ran to the (now removed) outlet. Cut it, strip the ends, and pull it into a junction box. Then, take two new wires (standard 110v/10a grade will do fine), and connect them with wire nuts. Black-to-black, white-to-white, and connect all grounds (usually green or bare wire) into the beam with a screw, thus allowing it to ground into…the ground.

To complete the wiring, connect the wire from the new junction box to a switch. Run a second wire from the switch into the attic. At the switch box, connect white directly to white, and each black to the switch itself. Once again make sure to ground.

From the attic, run directly to the first light, and then run another wire from the first to the second light. Thus completes your circuit.

In ASCII, your circuit should look something like this (starting from the original wire):

(black) — {switch} —– {first light} ——- {second light}
(white) — {wire nut} — {first light} ——– {second light}

Repeat for the second closet, and viola:

You now have a his & hers closet, complete with recessed lights. Each closet is controlled by its own switch. Better still: add translucent closet doors, dim the light, and you have an instant, built-in night light.

Now, simply add drywall to your frame:

As you can see, each closet light runs independent of the other. Simply slide to whichever light level you wish.

For the final touch, we need to mud, sand and paint. However, being that I have the office wall open (opposite the closets), this presents a unique opportunity to add the ultimate accessory to any 21st-century home: a complete cat5e network.

Behind the left closet (in the office), I have run cat5e cables to the rest of the house. This will allow for some very excellent features that I intend to add at a later time. This will also require me to add cat5e outlets in the master bedroom, guest bedroom, and five other rooms of the house. Needless to say, I have a good deal more wiring to complete before I am ready to paint.

However: as a total amateur, I strongly encourage do-it-yourselfer’s to embrace lighting projects.

• its easier than it looks
• its cheaper than you think
• it makes a significant, visible difference when all is said and done

Just make sure to follow these 3 simple rules:

1. ALWAYS kill the power before you start working
2. ALWAYS ground properly
3. When in doubt, call an electrician

Anyone with a basic understanding of circuit design, and the ability to turn a screwdriver, can do this. As you can see for yourself, a few $20 recessed lights can make a world of difference.

Irrigation 101

This is our irrigation pump. It is approximately 300 years old, and still in surprisingly good condition.

In theory, installing a new sprinkler system is easy work. The pump draws water up from the ground, and then sends it along a PVC pipe to wherever it is you want it to go. As a lifelong fan of LEGO, I found designing PVC systems to be fairly easy and fun.

Indeed, setting up the PVC piping is rather easy. The hard part is getting those easily-assembled pipes 24-36 inches into the good earth.

After digging the various trenches to install the irrigation system, our lawn has been left in a disastrous state.

This patch of lawn has been missing for quite a while.

This is the front lawn on one of its “good days”. The soil is extremely sandy, so once a small patch of lawn is removed to make room for irrigation pipe, desrtification quickly sets in and the dead spots grow quickly.

You might be thinking to yourself: “Josh, after digging all those ditches, how does your lower back feel?”

Short answer:

Tomorrow I am having the irrigation experts come by to install a new digital controller, and new valves, according to the new sprinkler layout. This will allow us to run different zones (front lawn) more often than others (around the pool). This way, we can keep the lawn super-saturated without over-watering the palm trees around the pool.

We are almost ready to re-sod the yard, with Hank Hill-approved St. Augustine. Before we can re-sod, there remains a single palm tree in the front yard. It is a ratty old Queen palm, about 25′ tall. I’m not yet sure how I’m going to remove it (hint: call someone with a clue). However, once that tree is gone, and the surrounding bushes, we will re-sod the front lawn and plant a new palm tree. But what kind?

Option A: The Silver Bismark

The Silver Bismark is a pretty blue-green color, and can fill out a front yard nicely.

Option B: Coconut Palm

The Coconut Palm is the “classic” palm tree, and when grown in double or triples, the trunks form a nice wavy pattern. The downside: those coconuts end up all over the front yard, and rot unless you pick them up.

Option C: Bronze Statue of Myself Wearing a Toga

I think this would make a statement, but Mo is not convinced. We shall see.