Let's build a trap door leading to a secret fish room under my porch!

[kenchilada]

Only machine I bought was the Supreme machine from their online store.

Years ago...

Wow! That's a pretty uncommon machine. Take good care of that one, it can be worth big money, even over original price.

 

[kenchilada]

nice man! love seeing stuff like this.

Thanks!

 

[nuxx]

Wow! That's a pretty uncommon machine. Take good care of that one, it can be worth big money, even over original price.

Sold it right away

 

[wjm6449]

Day 21.

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Trim? Seriously? I’d love to see the person who discovers this room after you sell the home when you’re gone or dead. You need to leave Halloween shackles and a skeleton in the corner to really screw with them with some shredded clothes and a bucket. (And when you go down there you have a friend!) I respect the work.

 

[kenchilada]

Trim? Seriously? I’d love to see the person who discovers this room after you sell the home when you’re gone or dead. You need to leave Halloween shackles and a skeleton in the corner to really screw with them with some shredded clothes and a bucket. (And when you go down there you have a friend!) I respect the work.

Without trim this thing would be full of spiders and mice. When I’m done it will be air tight except for whatever ventilation I choose to put in.

 

[wjm6449]

Without trim this thing would be full of spiders and mice. When I’m done it will be air tight except for whatever ventilation I choose to put in.

Guess your shooting down the prank skeleton, shame. Also even air tight isn’t air tight I’ve learned . Either way good job. Is that pvc trim or a wood based.

 

[JGT]

Just realized I left a pipe in the wall unconnected. I’ll cut a hole for a 4x6” access door so I can fix it. I knew this was going too smoothly.

View attachment 3150690

Rookie..

 

[wjm6449]

Also. Reason you didn’t do pressure treated? Or did? Just doesn’t have the color

 

[kenchilada]

Rookie..

Good fast cheap, pick two.

 

[kenchilada]

Day 22. Just more trim.

 

[WestMI-Reefer]

Day 22. Just more trim.

View attachment 3153523

Wow, what a transformation! And in only 3 weeks.
excited to see a tank in there!

 

[kenchilada]

Day 23. Only had an hour but still working through trim. PVC base boards and quarter round. The rest is mostly scrap. Treating this like I’m trimming a shed.

If you need cheap exterior trim, go to Lowe’s and find a damaged piece of PT lattice. I got this for $16, 8x4’. Just pull it apart with your hands, you can even reuse the nails and then just hammer it up and shoot some staples

If I can get another couple hours in I’ll be getting ready to paint.

 

[kenchilada]

I was going to just spray paint the whole thing but I’m kinda liking the bare wood beams and ceiling.

 

[C4ctus99]

I was going to just spray paint the whole thing but I’m kinda liking the bare wood beams and ceiling.

Varnish…?

 

[Kittypowpow]

I have a 220G reef and I want to setup automated water changes. This is the last piece of the puzzle to kick my reef into high gear since I really do not have a practical way to do water changes.

I don't really have anywhere to store water tanks though, so I have to get creative. I was going to build a small outbuilding next to my house to store everything, but then I realized just ten feet away from the tank there is an 8x40' crawlspace under my porch. This is perfect because the porch needs remodeled this spring anyway.

Goals:

• Easy maintenance so I can be as lazy as possible!
• I do not want to mix saltwater more than once every 1-2 months
• I want to change 2.5G of water per day automatically
• Must have one 75G storage tank for fresh RODI water automatically filled via float valve
• Must have two 75G storage tanks for saltwater
• Water changes must be done via a simple timer, with no float switches or fancy controller logic required
• Monitor TDS of RODI water via Hydros
• Monitor level inside saltwater holding tanks via Hydros (get notified when near empty)
• Keep it simple (because I tend to overengineer things)
• Everything must be hidden in a secret room under my porch!
• BONUS: Secret room should have it's own power and lights
• BONUS: I would like to be able to control which saltwater tank is being drawn from via Hydros app
• BONUS: Move existing ATO pump into secret room and pull from freshwater tank
• BONUS: Secret room should not be a regional mecca for rats or snakes
• BONUS: Secret room should be large enough to store "porch junk" in (pool toys, smoker, etc)

Let's see what we have to work with...
View attachment 3124382

Lovely! This part is sealed off from the rest of the house. I doubt anyone has entered this section in over 20+ years. The best part is there is a ledge around the entire foundation that is nice and level. I can rest floor joists on this.

I will post updates as I do things. I am going to "just do things" instead of try to plan this out to death, so it should come together quickly.

My wife will not be consulted and no permission shall be requested.

Thanks for following along, and please say hi in the thread, I would love to hear your ideas or comments about how crazy I am!

please do alllll the things and updates!!! im excited for you!

 

[kenchilada]

Varnish…?

Maybe tinted waterseal. But I’d only do the 2x8 joists because I don’t want to have to mask off a ton of stuff. I’ll have to think about it, I hate to drag this on forever.

 

[kenchilada]

Wow, what a transformation! And in only 3 weeks.
excited to see a tank in there!

please do alllll the things and updates!!! im excited for you!

Thank you!!

 

[Jinho]

Day 21.

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Man so much progress, makes me want to go back to my "shed" project. I've done most of work and made some storage boxes(mostly for hunting stuff like choke tubes, my 5 years of Beretta clothing from https://gritroutdoors.com/beretta/ and some other stuff for the truck...

Daym, solid amount of work in just 3 weeks. Have you planned which light source you gonna install? Some LEDing on the beams would probably look really cool!

 

[Projects with Sam]

Pretty nice water station setup!

 

[Amphibious Wallet]

I’m a software/cloud engineer. No pro building experience, I just like learning things and believe you can learn anything by doing a little homework and just getting started. These days you can learn everything on YouTube!

AND he's self-taught? You sure know how to break a mans heart.