Community Brag Posts

DIY Chicken Coop

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 10/30/2023 - 17:55

As a first time chicken farmer, I have four chickens now fully grown. It was 29 degrees in Iowa this morning, wondering if I should wrap the lower portion of the coop on three sides with visqueen, and should the roost windows be covered? I have straw bales to roost on and add where needed . I don’t plan to heat the coop . Any help will be appreciated.

[email protected]

Seasonal And Holiday

Basement Sofa Table Bar

Submitted by advanlente on Sat, 03/28/2020 - 12:04

My husband and I had been looking at many different stores to try and find a bar table for behind our new couch in our basement. We wanted something that people could eat and drink at when we entertained and/or be able to sit at and play video games. I should have known we were better off to build our own rather than look in a store. It was only $30 in lumber and took 3 hours to build. And another project in the books!

Estimated Cost
$30
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)

Comments

megs502

Fri, 04/03/2020 - 11:03

do you have the plans for this? i've been looking and looking for what i needed and this is it!!

mferrara

Sat, 04/04/2020 - 05:39

Hi - exactly what I've been searching for....do you have plans available? Please and thank you!

beckaroo

Tue, 06/02/2020 - 23:04

Hello,
I would also love to see the plans for this sofa bar table.
Thank you
Becky

Middle School Class Builds Picnic Tables for School Grounds

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 11/18/2023 - 12:59

Ana,

Thanks so much for your octagon picnic tables plans. I teach a Life Skills Class at Russell Christian Academy for middle school. This class of 18 students completed the build of 4 of these tables (with a little assistance from me) and are now being used as an outside dining area for all grades K-12. It was a great experience for the kids and I have received many positive comments about these tables.

Thanks again…

 

Dewayne Knight of Meridian, Mississippi

Comments

Stackable fruit and veggie crates

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 06/25/2016 - 23:31

 Love all of the projects on this website. I am just getting in to woodworking but am loving learning all of things that I can do with these wonderful plans. I used all 1x2s for my fruit and veggie crates since they didn't have what I was looking for here at my lowes. Kind of limited on lumber around these parts unless I drive an hour away. A good sanding and these crates came out great. Smooth and stylish!

Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
No stain, just a good sanding.
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Sectional from Crib Mattresses!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 04/28/2020 - 07:17

I modified the kids couch plans to make a sectional sofa for my apartment! We removed all but one of the arm rests. So when pillows are removed it doubles as a twin bed for our friends!

Estimated Cost
$200
Finish Used
Espresso minwax
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Hawkins pantry

Submitted by mlhawkins on Wed, 04/09/2014 - 08:21

I needed more storage for our TINY kitchen. I found the nursery armoire plans and asked my dad to help me build it for a pantry! We modified it some by making it taller and adding more shelves inside (sorry no pics of that). For the doors I wanted to do something fun so we cut lots (over 700!) of small pieces of wood and inlaid then in a herringbone pattern - IN LOVE! For the handles we used copper pipe and I am IN LOVE with those too! Enjoy!

~ Maggie

Built from Plan(s)
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Custom Step Stool

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 01/03/2024 - 08:40

I’m going to make a step stool for the son of good friends in Florida. The design I liked had dovetail joints, which I’ve never cut before. So I made this stool for my wife as a prototype. Walnut sides with Cherry for the steps. 12.5” front to back, 14” tall, and just about a foot side to side.

Mark Johnson

I HEART Ana White Outdoor Chaise

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 07/24/2016 - 19:57

THANK YOU ANA FOR ALL THE GREAT PLANS!!

 

I am in southern california (mild weather) so i just used pine and coated them with urethane. 

Estimated Cost
$60 each
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
Urethane
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Farmhouse console table

I have never so much has touched a saw before, but got a wild hair to build something. This is my very first attempt. I didn’t put the X on it, but I did the rest. There are soooo many flaws and I’ve since made several other pieces. But I wanted to post this to show that if you put your mind to it, you can do anything! I’m in love with this piece. Thank you so much for the plans!

Built from Plan(s)

OutDoor dining table

My wife and I were looking for a larger table for our deck and after searching and seeing that everything out there was 300 dollars and up for something decent I decided I would try building something. This table was perfect for our needs and looked easy enough for me to put together. The most time consuming part was staining all of the boards as I went but it was totally worth it in the end. I also deviated from using screws and used my nail gun along with some glue to put the top frame together and the slats on but I did use some 2inch deckmate screws to attach the legs. One problem I did run into was I was about half a board short on the slats which wasn't a big deal just ripped one on the table saw, not sure if I miss measured or what but either way. We love our table and will entertain around it for years to come.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
Around 80 Dollars
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
I used a Behr deck stain that was solid the color is called Russett and I did with a 3inch brush.
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Playset Addition

Submitted by Derek S on Wed, 06/10/2020 - 08:27

Decided our old play set needed an addition, landed on these plans of Ana's. Sat on them and mulled them over for months. Once the wife said something about adding on to it I made the purchases needed. Connected the two platforms with a bridge. I used 4"x4"x10' for the runners, same boards as the decking for the platform of the bridge(5/4"x6"), 2x4's and 1x4's for the railing. If you look at the 3rd photo, I had to chisel out the 4x4 post to get the 2"x6"x12" support to fit correctly. This should measure 2"x6"x13". Another change I made was to cut the bottom and top trim pieces longer on the front and back sections so that the trim would cover the framing of the gable end walls (see last photo). my son wanted windows so I faked in some windows with scrap 2x2's. I used 2x6's as supports from the 4x4's to the 2x6 framing (see photo 3) I added the monkey bars about a month before deciding to do the platform/deck and playhouse. The ladder is based loosely off of a couple of plans I found online. I was able to do all of this work myself except for the roof. Need my dads help to lift the plywood, he then helped me with the rest of the roof.

Estimated Cost
$1000
Estimated Time Investment
Week Long Project (20 Hours or More)
Finish Used
I used a dark wood stain fore the house, green exterior paint for the trim and white exterior paint for the interior of the house.
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate
Seasonal And Holiday

Willy Bookcase Library

Submitted by JLW on Mon, 08/06/2012 - 18:50

My wife wanted matching bookcases for our library rather than the hodgepodge collection we had assembled over the years. We looked at several different options but the trick was getting them to our house in a cost and time effective manner. We came across the Willy Bookcase plans here and, after pricing the wood vs. pre-built options, decided to strike out to build our own bookcases.

The library took 5 McMansions, 1 Highrise, and 1 3-Bed/2Bath bookcase. We liked Ikea's Billy corner bookcase set, so we purchased a corner bookcase bracket from them to create the effect and stabilize the Highrise between two McMansions.

We decided to do the entire length of the bookcase sides with shelf holes to allow for maximum flexibility in spacing of the shelves. We fixed the middle shelves across all units to match the top of the short 3-Bed/2Bath.

The simple design made the project simple overall - a single bookcase is an easy weekend project. Since we decided to use stain with wipe on poly, finishing took the vast majority of the time (four hours to cut, sand, and build, 44 hours to finish...) Purchasing a good shelf pin jig and making consistent measurements is a necessity for mass producing shelves with consistent spacing on the shelves.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$800
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Finish Used
Two coats of Minwax Dark Walnut with two coats of Minwax satin wipe on poly.
Recommended Skill Level
Starter Project

Umbrella Stand (in PVC)

Submitted by lewg on Tue, 06/10/2014 - 18:29

Great plans, Ana! I swapped out the wood for PVC trim, and used stainless steel screws to hopefully make this thing weatherproof.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$80
Estimated Time Investment
Day Project (6-9 Hours)
Finish Used
None. The PVC comes white, and I wanted a white table!
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate
Seasonal And Holiday

Chick Brooding Cabinet for Quail

My family has started raising quail recently and I built their first home while they were still in the incubator. I have never done any wood work before, so this turned out much nicer than I expected! I followed the suggestion of having the brooder part on the top instead of the bottom and omitted the extra shelf. Two 5-gallon buckets fit nicely below the chicks. Since the quail are so small when they hatch, I used 1/4 inch hardware cloth for the "floor" but it wasn't long before that was too small so we had to change it to 1/2 inch. I am going to make a tray with each size of hardware cloth on it to make it easier to change out for next time, because they really do need both sizes.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$75
Estimated Time Investment
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Recommended Skill Level
Intermediate

Garden Enclosure with Raised Beds

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 04/20/2024 - 07:39

I finished my first project. Although there are some cosmetic errors, I think overall it’s amazing. We had a lot of wood left behind by the builder of our log home. So, I was able to use a lot of that. I made some adjustments to the height of the boxes to help the back!

Michelle M - Jefferson, NC

Built from Plan(s)
Seasonal And Holiday

Led cornhole boards

Submitted by boneill on Mon, 07/06/2020 - 20:19

Made some cornhole boards and added led lights to make it super fun. We call it cosmic cornhole lol. Love it.

Estimated Cost
$60.00
Estimated Time Investment
An Hour or Two (0-2 Hours)
Finish Used
Unfinished
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner
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