Very nice.
What are you gonna do for landscaping up front?
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What are you gonna do for landscaping up front?
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The Monkey's house build thread
- Thread starter g36 monkey
- Start date
OP
OP
The boss has a lot of stuff planned out. We were planning on doing boxes around the palms, but she is debating on that now. Maybe if we do just do some borders and fill them with gravel or something.
We are gonna do custom curbing all around like our last house and fill it in with solite. Easy to maintain and looks great forever if you maintain it properly.
Do they do custom curbing down by you?
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Do they do custom curbing down by you?
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OP
OP
I have no idea about any custom curbing by us lol
https://www.google.com/search?q=cus...AUIEigC&biw=375&bih=635#imgrc=6UCSFbFamldRWM:
This kind of stuff. Really good looking, really durable.
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OP
OP
I am sure I could get that done
Well worth it my friend. Last forever and looks awesome. Only maintenance is your suppose to seal it every 5 years just like anything that’s concrete.
lil secret though, at my last house I never sealed it in the 10 years I had it and it still looked like new when I sold the house.
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OP
OP
Like anything, if you take care of it it takes care of you 
We will see, I think she wants to do rocks and stuff still. I need to build the gate on the other side and get a deck going first. I've just been working so much lately trying to get caught up.
We will see, I think she wants to do rocks and stuff still. I need to build the gate on the other side and get a deck going first. I've just been working so much lately trying to get caught up.
We need updates on awesome stuff, audio video, cars, rings on chick hands, more car stuff, whatever you got!!!!! ;-)
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OP
OP
I brought the red Mustang home finally lol. Doing some shake down on it.
OP
OP
Not house related but something we whipped up for the work truck. Dad and old neighbor helped with this a lot since they are much better wood workers than I, and the neighbor has the equipment to do it!
I just need to find a way to add lights to it so I can what's going on at night!
I just need to find a way to add lights to it so I can what's going on at night!
OP
OP
Alright, so a little bit of an update. We’ve been busy:
I conned some friends into coming over to help. I worked on their truck and they let us use it to bring a bunch of stuff to the house!
So, we built some borders around the palms. They are not perfect, but they look better than what was there. I don’t have any pics of all the flowers the boss lady has done though.
Anyhow, a little before/after:
We also did some pavers around the other little garden, but no pics of that. Man, I am slacking!
Basically, the front yard is “getting there” – this weekend I finally got around to doing the gate on the other side! I realized, I did not have any pics of it before, and I forgot to take any before taking it down. The next two pics are about as close to “before” pictures as I can get:
Nothing too special, just a crappy old gate that would no longer latch, so it was obviously time for a replacement!
Decided to make this gate a little larger than the old one, it’s about 68” wide. We built it out of 2x4 for strength. Anyhow, here’s an in progress shot. We are 4 pickets shy of it being complete so I don’t have a finished shot of that either! Maybe this is not much of an update lol!
So, with the gate being a bit larger, I need to do some more land leveling. I am laying pavers under the area where the gate opens to prevent grass from growing there and limiting my ability to open up.
I just got started on that and felt like I was going to die from heat exhaustion, so I turned in for the day. We went to pick up the new Mustang from the tint shop though. Paint correction, ceramic coating and a film, along with tint obviously. I will let her have the glory of posting those pics though. I must say, it came out beautiful!
Anyways, onto the important part of this update:
I bought and ran the surround sound setup last year as a proof on concept. The TV I have is 4K, but the receiver can only handle 1080p, so I was missing out!
I had a credit to Monoprice, and found a good deal on a 2017 Onkyo receiver from Amazon. So I bought the Monoprice premium speakers, which are apparently just knock offs of much more expensive speakers, and apparently compete just fine with speaker sets that cost $1,000 or so. I am no audiophile, so I am sure they will do just fine!
Anyhow, basic shopping list for this update:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XVFY3M8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 – Onkyo TX–NR575 - I paid $280
https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Pr...&qid=1531100562&sr=8-3&keywords=monoprice+5.1 – Monoprice Premium 5.1 speaker setup - I bought these from Monoprice because I had a credit to their site. Monoprice does charge shipping so just be aware if you notice any major price differences. When I purchased my speakers, Amazon had them for $210 and Monoprice had them at $190 or so. It looks like Amazon has them on sale right now for $165 with free shipping!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076X89GRW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 – Bias lighting - $25
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JE9LD4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 – Belkin 4320 Joule surge protector
https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-5-...080&sr=1-4&keywords=monoprice+ethernet+switch – Five port gigabit switch - $15 or so from Monoprice
Also, I had some cables and such around the house, but I needed some banana plugs and an RCA splitter.
So, on with the setup:
I started with the bias lighting because it’s simple. I wiped the back of the TV down with some alcohol wipes. Plug in the lighting to the USB port on the TV, figure out a route, and run it.
For those who don’t know what bias lighting is – all others can skip:
The idea behind bias lighting is that it takes strain away from your eyes when looking at a bright screen in a dark room, based on the way your eyes work. It’s supposed to make your darks look richer as well.
In the pic above, the center bar is the same shade the whole way through, but it looks much darker with a light background, it’s the same concept. If you get headaches from looking at screens for too long in dark rooms, this is supposed to alleviate that immensely. I will report on that later.
Anyhow:
Pulled out the entertainment center, and plugged in the cable.
Bias lighting!
Then I set up the beast:
I picked this one because I really like the option for 6 HDMI inputs. Plus all that other stuff lol!
And here is a shot of one of the Monoprice speakers – I will include a pic of the Onkyo it is replacing for comparison:
The quality is MUCH higher on the Monoprice units, not that the Onkyo ones were bad, but you can tell the difference.
This new system has way more features than I will ever use. It’s a 7.2 setup, so I am working on getting two more speaker for it - probably going to stick with one sub for now though. The receiver can connect to the internet, hence the switch. It can play Spotify, Pandora, etc straight from the box. Or you can connect via bluetooh. Dolby Atmos. I am just excited about it, woo!
I feel like I half-assed this update. In every part, I gave you just enough to wonder what the end result was, and never gave the end result!
Sorry, stay tuned!
Next couple things are to re-sod the front, build the deck and the shed out back. I am also planning to update security, so I will certainly be in touch with Logan for that.
I conned some friends into coming over to help. I worked on their truck and they let us use it to bring a bunch of stuff to the house!
So, we built some borders around the palms. They are not perfect, but they look better than what was there. I don’t have any pics of all the flowers the boss lady has done though.
Anyhow, a little before/after:
We also did some pavers around the other little garden, but no pics of that. Man, I am slacking!
Basically, the front yard is “getting there” – this weekend I finally got around to doing the gate on the other side! I realized, I did not have any pics of it before, and I forgot to take any before taking it down. The next two pics are about as close to “before” pictures as I can get:
Nothing too special, just a crappy old gate that would no longer latch, so it was obviously time for a replacement!
Decided to make this gate a little larger than the old one, it’s about 68” wide. We built it out of 2x4 for strength. Anyhow, here’s an in progress shot. We are 4 pickets shy of it being complete so I don’t have a finished shot of that either! Maybe this is not much of an update lol!
So, with the gate being a bit larger, I need to do some more land leveling. I am laying pavers under the area where the gate opens to prevent grass from growing there and limiting my ability to open up.
I just got started on that and felt like I was going to die from heat exhaustion, so I turned in for the day. We went to pick up the new Mustang from the tint shop though. Paint correction, ceramic coating and a film, along with tint obviously. I will let her have the glory of posting those pics though. I must say, it came out beautiful!
Anyways, onto the important part of this update:
I bought and ran the surround sound setup last year as a proof on concept. The TV I have is 4K, but the receiver can only handle 1080p, so I was missing out!
I had a credit to Monoprice, and found a good deal on a 2017 Onkyo receiver from Amazon. So I bought the Monoprice premium speakers, which are apparently just knock offs of much more expensive speakers, and apparently compete just fine with speaker sets that cost $1,000 or so. I am no audiophile, so I am sure they will do just fine!
Anyhow, basic shopping list for this update:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XVFY3M8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 – Onkyo TX–NR575 - I paid $280
https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Pr...&qid=1531100562&sr=8-3&keywords=monoprice+5.1 – Monoprice Premium 5.1 speaker setup - I bought these from Monoprice because I had a credit to their site. Monoprice does charge shipping so just be aware if you notice any major price differences. When I purchased my speakers, Amazon had them for $210 and Monoprice had them at $190 or so. It looks like Amazon has them on sale right now for $165 with free shipping!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076X89GRW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 – Bias lighting - $25
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JE9LD4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 – Belkin 4320 Joule surge protector
https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-5-...080&sr=1-4&keywords=monoprice+ethernet+switch – Five port gigabit switch - $15 or so from Monoprice
Also, I had some cables and such around the house, but I needed some banana plugs and an RCA splitter.
So, on with the setup:
I started with the bias lighting because it’s simple. I wiped the back of the TV down with some alcohol wipes. Plug in the lighting to the USB port on the TV, figure out a route, and run it.
For those who don’t know what bias lighting is – all others can skip:
The idea behind bias lighting is that it takes strain away from your eyes when looking at a bright screen in a dark room, based on the way your eyes work. It’s supposed to make your darks look richer as well.
In the pic above, the center bar is the same shade the whole way through, but it looks much darker with a light background, it’s the same concept. If you get headaches from looking at screens for too long in dark rooms, this is supposed to alleviate that immensely. I will report on that later.
Anyhow:
Pulled out the entertainment center, and plugged in the cable.
Bias lighting!
Then I set up the beast:
I picked this one because I really like the option for 6 HDMI inputs. Plus all that other stuff lol!
And here is a shot of one of the Monoprice speakers – I will include a pic of the Onkyo it is replacing for comparison:
The quality is MUCH higher on the Monoprice units, not that the Onkyo ones were bad, but you can tell the difference.
This new system has way more features than I will ever use. It’s a 7.2 setup, so I am working on getting two more speaker for it - probably going to stick with one sub for now though. The receiver can connect to the internet, hence the switch. It can play Spotify, Pandora, etc straight from the box. Or you can connect via bluetooh. Dolby Atmos. I am just excited about it, woo!
I feel like I half-assed this update. In every part, I gave you just enough to wonder what the end result was, and never gave the end result!
Sorry, stay tuned!
Next couple things are to re-sod the front, build the deck and the shed out back. I am also planning to update security, so I will certainly be in touch with Logan for that.
ttocs
Post Whore
I like onkyo but not sure I would buy them again. Back when I was still in the stereo gig and just before I moved up to intel I used my discount to get their flagship model receiver and dvd player. They both sounded and looked great but I only got a few years out of the dvd and less then 10 from the amp.
OP
OP
I doubt I will keep this setup for ten years honestly, but if I do, and I got ten years for 280 bucks, I'd consider that a win. I do have all the fans and such in my cabinet which should help keep everything cool which will add to longevity. The fan that sits atop the receiver has not yet gone over 74*.
Logan may have just talked me into hanging speakers in the ceiling for the Dolby Atmos
Scott, onkyo makes great receivers. Sorry to hear yours didn’t last. I have one of their bigger receivers and it’s been going strong for 8 years with no issues.
Just like anything else, theirs bound to be that one occasional piece that fails when it shouldn’t.
And Jeremy is gonna love the gods voice setup once it’s done!!!!!!
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Just like anything else, theirs bound to be that one occasional piece that fails when it shouldn’t.
And Jeremy is gonna love the gods voice setup once it’s done!!!!!!
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OP
OP
Lol I started looking into it more. Just come take your kid to college so we can figure it out lol
All that time policing an empty parking lot and a good conversation and now I got the wheels turning in your head!!!! Lol
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OP
OP
Thanks a lot lol!
OP
OP
Even if you don't have a 4k TV, I would recommend getting a 4k receiver and upgrade the TV later. I was shocked at how much better the picture was with the 4K receiver, just in the menu for my Android box!
You've got all kinds of money, you can upgrade
