Dining Table - It Has Begun!

Today I started my next wood project - building our dining table.  Here's the wood:

Douglas Fir

I'm sitting at the desk that I built as I type this (start and completion).  It hasn't fallen down and still looks good!  That's given me enough confidence to take on this larger and more important project.

The big difference is the deadline - we are having family over for Thanksgiving and we need somewhere to eat dinner!  The pressure is on.

I decided to create the design on my own - I looked around online with Pamela for tables for sale that we'd like to imitate with our creation.  We borrowed a little bit from several designs we like.  I sketched out the layout on the computer and put together complete plans (well, not step by step).

I'll be sure to post with progress and the project plans.  Here's the wood cut into the pieces I'll need:

Looking good team!

 Wish me luck!

Home Ownership and Taxes

You are probably aware that the interest you pay on your mortgage and the property taxes you pay are both deductible.

If you go from being a renter to a homeowner, you should expect to pay lower taxes or receive a larger refund come April.  But how about boosting your monthly take-home pay to help your monthly budget?

By filing a revised W-4 with increased allowances, you will increase your net pay on each paycheck.  You could wait until you file your tax returns in April, but you are essentially giving the government a free loan (well, the government certainly needs it).

Each allowance on your W-4 is worth $3,700.  If you add your annual mortgage interest and property taxes, then divide by $3,700, you should get the number of allowances to file for (relating to your home; you may already have other allowances).  You can then use a paycheck calculator to estimate what your new net paycheck will look like.

Of course, consult a tax professional before you take the advice of a blogger.  Your individual circumstances will differ.

Free Credit Report (without the song and dance)

We've all seen the commercials on TV for various "free" credit report offers.  The truth is, if they are advertising, they aren't doing this out of the kindness of their hearts.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act enables consumers a free copy of their credit report once a year - see details here. The companies that are advertising will get you your credit report for free, but they are trying to sign you up for a monthly monitoring service or other services for a fee.

The FTC's link brings you to AnnualCreditReport.com which is hosted by the three major credit reporting agencies - Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.

You'll follow through the prompts on the site to fill out your personal information and then you'll have to select which of three agencies to get your report from.  Your credit report will show your various outstanding lines of credit.  The report will not provide you with your credit score.  You'll have the opportunity during the process to sign up (and pay) to receive your credit score.

Getting your free credit report once per year is a good way to monitor your credit, although if there are problems, a once-per-year report may not be timely enough.

If you are planning on looking for a house, you may want to pull your report before you begin.  If there are problems, such as fraudulent accounts, they can often take a long time to resolve.

Project - Building a Desk - Finished!

The desk I built sat in the garage until Saturday morning.  I moved it into the house just in time for our housewarming - at least one person commented positively on the desk without knowing I had built it.  For everyone else, I made sure they knew right away.

Victory!

Scorecard
Having made it through an entire project, I can confidently divide projects into a few different steps and grade myself:

1. Buying stuff - C or D - I didn't make a smart wood purchasing decision and I ended up making several trips to Home Depot.  For the next project, I think this'll be an easy A.
2. Cutting the stuff you bought - C+ - unfortunately, I let the 17 year old working at Home Depot make a few cuts so that the wood would fit in my car.  This led to some pieces which were shorter than they should have been.  Before I put together my saw jig, I think some of my own cuts with my circular saw weren't quite straight.
3. Assembling the cut stuff - B+ - I would give myself an A, but I can't do that on my first project.
4. Finishing the assembled stuff - B- - not terrible, but not great - see below.

Finshing - There's no such thing as too much sanding!
Once I had the desk fully assembled and the drawer was sliding well, I felt like I had reached the finish line.  How hard could it be to paint something?

First, you need to sand the project.  This helps smooth the project, but also create "grip" for the primer.  You could use a primer + paint, but I went with separate primer and paint.  Primer is generally white or gray.  It is suggested that you use gray if you are painting with dark colors.

So sand, then apply a thin layer of primer.  After it has dried, sand again, then prime again.

Next, sand again before applying paint.  It's really helpful to buy a "tack cloth" which is a cloth... that is tacky.  You bunch it up and wipe the project and it picks up all the little bits of sawdust.  I didn't do this at first, which was a mistake, because as I applied the primer, some spots looked gritty.

When I first applied the paint, I used a paintbrush.  This was also a mistake.  For a rookie, it seems that no matter how hard you try to keep from leaving brush strokes, they'll be there.  And they don't look good.  After a layer of paint, I bought a roller and the results were great.  The problem was that I had a layer of brush-strokes beneath which I couldn't effectively sand away.

In between layers of paint (and you want at least 2 layers) I sanded again.  At this point, you want to use a very fine sand paper and slide it across the project to again, create "grip" and to even out any minor bumps.

Once the paint has dried and you are happy, you'll want to apply a protective finish.  I read that a spray can of water-based polycrylic was the best / easiest.  Let me give you a tip to save you some headaches - you are going to be applying many layers of polycrylic, so spray the project very lightly, let it dry (30 mins) then do it again.

After my first pass with the polycrylic, I looked at the project and thought there were some areas I missed.  So I gave those areas a more focused spraying.  This only led to buildup of the polycrylic.  I tried wiping them with my finger or paper towel, but then the area looked smudged.

After layers of poly, you again need to sand with very fine paper.  Since I had created some smudges and buildup areas, I sanded with a bit more force - in at least two spots, I sanded away the poly and the paint underneath to expose primer.  Ugh!

So now I needed to re-touch a few areas with paint, then hit it all with poly again.  I probably should have re-touched with paint, let it dry, then done it again.  At this point though, the project had been out in the garage for a good week and I was running out of time to show it off at our housewarming.

Feet
As a final step, I drilled some small holes in the feet and added screw-in felt furniture feet.  This would also make it possible to adjust the desk if it wasn't level, although it was.

The feet did left the project off the floor by 1/4" which I felt took away from the look a little.

Summary
All-in-all, passing grades.  The big test was whether Pamela would let me try to build us a dining room table next, and I have received the go-ahead.  So, be on the lookout for dining table posts soon!