Chris Bergeron's Blog » home improvement

Worked on the wainscoting in the basement

Chris — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 02:22:27 +0000

A few weeks ago Natalie and I found time to work on the basement wainscoting. Here’s a picture of the progress:

Basement remodel: finishing sheetrock / drywall

Chris — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 22:02:13 +0000

This weekend my friend Jeff and I worked on finishing the drywall in the basement. Natalie painted the stairway. Here are some pictures:

Security System: Added mysql integration

Chris — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:46:16 +0000

I wrote a program to read events from the security system and put them into an RSS Event Log . I have some logic in it so that not everything gets recorded. I wouldn’t want a would-be robber knowing when the system is armed or disarmed, of course!

An event is anything that is monitored by the security system, including door openings, windows being opened / closed, etc.

Theater Room: Installed carpet

Chris — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 21:25:15 +0000

I installed some carpet in the theater room. I don’t think it’s permanent, but it will have to do for now. I also found the tiles that I’m going to install in the wall arch. Here are some pictures:

Solar: Update 1

Chris — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:10:34 +0000

I just talked to my local utility, Sawnee EMC, and they’ve removed the administrative fees and meter rental fees associated with a net metered solar installation. A couple of years ago, when I was in the early planning stages of using solar, there was a $50/month admin. fee and a $12/month rental fee. These fees alone would have cost more per month than the savings from a 2kW solar array. Now that they’ve removed these fees, switching to solar is making even more financial sense. Also, instead of having to rely on my own battery array during darkness, I can use utility power via a net-metering capable meter. Great news!

Theater Room: Finished drywall

Chris — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:06:44 +0000

I put up the final wall of the theater room. I’ve also finished the design and layout of the proscenium (stage).

Theater Room: Added an arched opening

Chris — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 21:02:09 +0000

I framed an arched opening in the theater room. Ultimately, it’s going to be tiled, but for now it’s just framed in. It was pretty simple to do. I just used a string to draw a semi-circle on the drywall and cut it out. Then I built a simple wooden arch and placed it behind the drywall. I added a couple of two by fours for the lower shelf and to add depth. I’m going to add lighting and possibly build a water feature into it.

Theater Room: Installed can lights

Chris — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 06:23:37 +0000

I spent a good part of the day installing can lighting in the theater room. The room is slowly progressing from an unfinished basement into an actual room.

Homebrew emergency generator

Chris — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 00:56:25 +0000

A few years ago I built my own generator. I cobbled it together with some parts I had laying around the house. I found a free lawnmower on craigslist and I used the engine from it as a power source for the generator. I coupled the engine to an automobile alternator and a power inverter. The result is a cheap AC power generator. It only produces a few hundred watts of power, but it’s enough to power lights or emergency equipment in the event of power failure. I did this project for fun, not as a replacement for a real backup power generator. Here are some pictures: