The Thrifty Mom's DIY is built for those who want to do it all for not a lot of money. From home decor to functional updates and more, the Thrifty Mom's DIY is your go-to source for all things DIY.
As you may know, I love wood pallets. Make anything out of wood pallets and I will more than likely buy it. My husband is probably sick of seeing them in the house AND in the shop but that’s just too bad. lol I love reusing them and adding the rough element look and feel to the pieces we already have in the house.
And talk about reusing and recycling! If you’ve ever driven past a job site that has products delivered on a wood pallet, they have more than what they know what to do with. It’s really a problem. I picked up the wood pallet for this project at the local big box store when we were pouring a sidewalk around our shop. So it was free!
Pro Tip: If you’re ever in need of a wood pallet and don’t have a place you can get one from, call the big box stores and ask them if you can have some of theirs. If you’ve ever driven behind those stores they have TONS and usually want to get rid of them anyway they can.
Here’s What You’ll Need
Step One: Cutting the Wood Pallet Down to Size
I get my wood pallet clock project started by cutting the pallet down into more manageable pieces. So I don’t waste time on measuring I just cut it as large as I can and then take the pieces that are closest to what I need. In this case I did 15 inches.
Step Two: Cutting the Smaller Pieces to Fit
For my wood pallet wall clock, I really only wanted three of the widest pieces I could fine so I ended up using a 15 inch long piece that was around 8 inches wide. Since the pallet was cut down to the biggest pieces it could be, most were already close to this size. I just picked the few that were the closest and moved ahead!
Once I get the ones that are closes to the size I need, I use a miter saw to cut them down to where they are all uniform. I also take my 3/8 trim pieces that I bought and cut those down as well. They will hold the three pieces of wood together. Since I’m using a nail gun, I ended up doubling up my trim pieces because I didn’t have a nail that was short enough.
Step Three: Painting Your Wood Pallet Pieces
Once I had everything cut down, I went ahead and used some paint I already had in the garage. I wanted it to be bright white. I used it sparingly because I also wanted to see the wood grain and the rough texture of the wood pallet. If you apply the paint on too thick you can always sand it off once it dries.
Step Four: Creating the Wood Pallet Clock
Once everything dries I then start assembling the wood pallet. I use the 3/8 trim pieces on the back and nail them to each piece. As mentioned I had to double these up since I didn’t have a nail short enough. After that I used a speed square to mark where all of the numbers would go, starting with the 12, 3, 6 and 9 to give me sort of “land markers”.
Pro Tip: Be as precise as you can be in this step because clocks are all about mathematics. If you’re off in your number marking your clock won’t tell the right time or it will consistently be fast or slow and you’ll need to reset it constantly.
Step Five: Painting Numbers on the Wall Clock
Now that I have the locations marked, I go ahead and use my stencils to place the numbers out. I used a few different methods until I became comfortable with the step but probably should have taped them down from the beginning. I say this because I had to go back and touch up some paint after I was finished.
Step Six: Adding the Clock Mechanism
One of the last steps is adding the clock mechanism. I bought this at the local craft store and was able to get a very stylish one to match my decor. It was easy to install with just a few steps including drilling a hole in the center of my clock and attaching the mechanism to the back of the clock.
Pro Tip: Be careful when you are attaching your clock mechanism. If you push the hands to hard on to the clock, you’ll put it onto the wrong timing loop and you won’t be able to use the clock properly. Follow instructions TO THE LETTER.
I had a ton of fun making this clock and received a lot of helpful hints and tips that made the project very memorable. It’s a great thing to be able to make something on your own!
Overall I saved at least $50 to $100 because if you try to buy a clock like this in any store it’s at least $50 if not $100 depending upon the size. The only thing I spent money on was the clock mechanism and the stencils. Other than that I had everything I needed.
If you have any comments, thoughts or suggestions, let me know by leaving a note below!
Many people can be intimidated by painting a wall but it’s really nothing to fear! Once you get the hang of it, you’ll want to paint everything. To get you there, we’ve created this post to help you with some tips and tricks so you can tackle any painting project with confidence.
Here’s what You’ll Need:
Step One: Prepping Your Space
Whether you are a pro or a novice painter, you’ll always want to prepare your area for painting. This means taking down all pictures and curtains. You can take the quick way and not take everything down but you’ll only get paint on them and cost yourself possibly more time and money. It’s a fact!
I start by removing any and all pictures, decorative items and curtains. I also move back all of the furniture. Since we’re just painting one wall today, I don’t remove all of the furniture from the room. Even if we were painting all walls, I’d probably just move furniture around that’s in the way as I move through the room. No need to make this into a mountain of a project! This is where you can save some steps…not removing everything off of the walls isn’t a step that should be skipped!
Once that’s all done, I highly recommend that you place a plastic tarp or a cloth that won’t allow paint to soak through, down on the flooring. This will save you lots of time and headache should some paint drop or spill.
Step Two: Painting Your Walls
If you ask a pro, they’ll tell you to start by painting the edges and then doing the main walls. Depending upon what type of paint I’m using and how much time I have, I do either one. This time I was a bit excited to see what it looked like so I started painting the main wall first. Because I’m using a semi-gloss paint, you couldn’t tell that I did that first verses doing the edges first.
As mentioned in the video, the store you by the paint from should have a display of what each paint finish feels like. They also can have a indicator stating which finish works best and where. I love semi-gloss so I use it everywhere. It’s very versatile and feels great to the touch. But, depending upon your design goals, other finishes may work best for you.
Since I started on the main wall, I used my roller to get a good amount of paint on the roller. I then pressed the roller firmly down on the wall until most of the paint was used. If you try to push it too far the roller will actually start to take up some of the paint, making it to where you’ll need two coats, so it’s best to get more paint when you first notice it.
Pro Tip: Most paints, unless you’re using an oil based paint, are very forgivable. So if you happen to get some paint on the trim it can usually come right up with a wet paper towel or cloth. Just don’t let it dry!
Step Three: Paining The Edges
Once you’re done with the walls, you’ll want to then start on the edges. As mentioned before, some like to do this part first and depending upon the type of paint you have, it’s recommended. Be sure and ask when you purchase your paint. The big box stores might not know, but the local paint stores definitely will.
I like to use three things when doing the edges: painters tape, a angled brush and an edging tool. The painters tape needs to go on the trim of the baseboards, the window casing and anything else you need to paint close to but you don’t want to paint. In the image above, I didn’t use the painters tape and it cost me because I had to go back once the paint dried and touch up the white paint on the trim.
All in all, painting a feature wall just takes patience because you’re not painting the wall right beside it. The best advise I can give is to go slow and take your time.
Have you ever been in the middle of a cornhole game and the sun starts to set? It’s the worst! You want to finish your game but it just gets too late to see the board. Well, there is now a solution! Many companies make LED lights specifically for cornhole boards. I’ve gone ahead and put several sets on and documented how to install them. It’s super simple and can be done in about 30 minutes with just a hammer and a screwdriver/drill.
Make sure you have a flat surface to place your cornhole boards face down. You’ll need to move the cornhole board set around a little as you hammer in the nails but other than that it’s pretty simple!
Step Two: Installing the Power Pack
Once you have the board filled upside down you’ll need to install the power pack in the upper right corner per the instructions for the set I picked up. Be sure that’s what the instructions say for your LED light installation. You’ll need to install the clip first by screwing it to the board and the the power pack will snap in. This pack will take three AA batteries and will last quite a while. Next, you’ll want to go ahead and installed the lights for the hole, pre-drilling the holes, and using the provided clips and screws.
Pro Tip: Pre-drill your holes to save a lot of time and frustration! Also don’t leave the batteries in the power pack while you’re not using it. Otherwise they could erode and ruin the pack.
Step Three: Installing the Lights
Once you have the power pack and lights around the hole installed, you’ll need to start installing the LED rope light. In the pack I bought it was also attached to the power pack and looped around the leg to start (you’ll see this in my video). You’ll then start hammering in the light string using the provided clip. Mine came with the nail and clip combined.
I then systematically went around the board and put in a clip and nail about every foot. I used a informal measurement of the sides to make sure my nails were in roughly the same place on each side of the board so it would look nicer. Then once I went all the way around the board I just tucked the remaining tub into the beginning part of the set.
And that’s it! It’s super simple and easy to do but you’ll get tons of extra enjoyment out of your cornhole boards. We bought our boards for about $100 and added the paint and stain ourselves (years ago) then added these lights just recently so the total cost was about $120. To buy a fully stained and lighted set, you’re looking at $230-300+ depending upon the design you want. A savings of $100+!
As a sister post to How to Pour a Concrete Sidewalk Extension, we’ve created a short video to show how to mix concrete like a pro! It’s me against the hubby, the amateur against the pro. Who will win?!?
Mixing bag concrete is simple and with just a few steps, you can feel confident in your next DIY concrete project. Check out our video to see how!
Hello friends! After a brief pause to complete our latest project, I’m back! It took us about three days to pour this concrete sidewalk extension to our shop but it took forever to edit the video and put everything together. As we move along in this journey of DIY’ing, I’m learning more and more video editing tricks so I hope you enjoy the latest video!
Before we get into all of that, I wanted to detail out what all was done for our concrete sidewalk extension. I call it a sidewalk extension because it’s angled down and is on the side of our shop where a traditional sidewalk would be flat and open on both sides. The steps are still basically the same so we wanted to share our project with you!
Here’s What You’ll Need
Concrete Mix – 80lb bags – high strength (the yellow bag)
Wood for the forms (1x6s and 2×2 stakes)
Rebar for the strength, rebar wire, rebar pliers & spacers (small rocks will do)
3 inch screws or nails – buy a box of at least 100
We actually added our forms about a year ago but it’s rather simple. You really just want to make sure you have the 1x6s level from board to board and use the 2×2 steaks outside the form to secure them. That way, when the project is finished, you’ll have a clean smooth edge facing out when you remove the forms. We did ours on the inside because the hubs doesn’t want to remove the form so it was a moot point for us.
Step Two: Inserting the Rebar
Next you’ll want to place horizontally and then do vertical bars along the top of it about every 2 feet or so. In the corners they will be more around 1 feet apart and that’s fine. It’s all for strength.
Once you have your rebar grid laid out, you’ll need to tie each piece together with rebar wire and rebar pliers. If you can’t find pliers specific for rebar wire, regular ones will do. You’ll just need to wrap the wire around the concrete just like you would wrap a tie around a bread bag. There’s not actual knot, the wire is just twisted together and then once the extra is cut off (leave about 1 inch) you’ll need to push anything that’s standing up, down so it won’t stick up out of the concrete when it’s poured.
The next thing is to go back through and add in spacers. In commercial job sites the spacers are called “chairs” and sit up about 1-2 inches off the ground. We don’t need that kind of space so I just used the rocks that we found in our gravel driveway. The goal is to make sure no part of the rebar is touching the dirt.
Step Three: Pouring the Concrete
You’ll want to take your wheelbarrow and add some water to the bottom using your hose and water nozzle, about 5 seconds worth. Remember, It’s easier to add water than it is to take it out so be conservative until you get comfortable with the process. You’ll then take your hoe (image below) and mix it together like a big batch of cake mix. Except, don’t eat this!
Pro Tip: Try very hard not to breathe in the dust that will come out when you pour the cement out of the bag. It contains lots of chemicals you don’t want in your lungs!
Mix it until all of the dry bits and pieces are gone. It takes several minutes. Add water conservatively. You’ll want it to be a nice consistency. Not too dry and not too soupy. The dryer you make it, the harder it is to compact together. The wetter you make it, the longer it will take to cure. The perfect example is to get it to look like a nice bowl of stew that’s thick but not soupy.
Once you’ve got it mixed together, you don’t want to waste any time getting it into your form. You can either shovel it into the form or tip your wheelbarrow into the form (from the outside of the form) and pour the concrete in to the form.
Step Four: Finishing the Concrete
When you have the concrete in the form, you can give it about 5-10 minutes to set-up a bit before you start to finish it, depending upon how hot or cold it is outside. The concrete should not be hard but it shouldn’t be super thin either. It should be about the consistency of peanut butter when you go to smooth it out. Use a 2×4 to get the concrete flat and then use a trowel to smooth it out. (the video gives tons of examples of how to do this!) You can also use the trowel as a bit of a small shovel to move any concrete around if you have any divots. or use a shovel if you have bigger sections that need concrete
Pro Tip: Make sure you rinse off all of your tools after each use otherwise you’ll get dried concrete on them and it will ruin the tools. The wheelbarrow rinsing can be added as part of your water for the next bag of concrete. Just don’t add too much water!
Step Five: Saw Cutting the Concrete
Once the concrete has fully cured, you’l want to saw cut. This usually is about 24 hours after it’s been poured. Now, saw cutting concrete can be intimating but it’s really not any harder than using a saw to cut wood. It’s just A LOT dustier!
To saw cut, you’ll need a grinder with a concrete blade, a 4 foot level, a piece of bright chalk and a mask. The level is to make your line straight, the chalk is to mark it and the blade…well, that’s for cutting as you can guess. 🙂 Once you have your line down you’ll want to cut evenly about 1/4 to no more than 1/2 of an inch deep from start to finish, going as evenly as you can.
Pro Tip: Don’t forget to wear the mask. The dust is filled with chemicals you don’t want in your lungs!
If you feel that it’s too much for you, you can use what’s called a joiner. A joiner would be used while the concrete is setting up, not after and it would create those lines in the concrete like you see in sidewalks down any street. Check out our video which shows exactly how do a joint and a saw cut in concrete: https://youtu.be/ut3zsDp0YbE
Both of these approaches are made to give concrete a relief point for expansion and contraction. Concrete will crack, no matter what you do, it will crack, but this will give it a controlled place to crack so you don’t have spider cracks going everywhere.
Overall Savings
Total, this project cost us about $400 as we had many of the materials needed. The majority of the spend was for the concrete as we bought over 100 (!!!) bags of concrete at the local big box store. My husband is a Superintendent for a commercial concrete company and has 20 years worth of experience…and tools, so that saved us quite a bit. If we would have hired a company to frame and pour the concrete it would have been at least $1,500 if not more so we’ve got a savings of $1,100 right off the bat.
Watch our Video on How to Pour a Concrete Sidewalk!
Have you mixed concrete before? Let me know how it went in the comments below!
Like many other people, I inherited this wicker furniture set from my mother who didn’t want them any more. She asked and I, being thrifty like I am, said “Yes!” before she finished her offer. It’s not because this was a fantastic set. Frankly it’s not my style in any way shape or form but I’m a firm believer in taking something that’s still usable and updating it to fit your style rather than just going out and buying something new. I had seen the set before and I knew it was in good shape. I didn’t tell her I was going to paint it (whoops!) but knowing her, I knew she would be all for it!
What You’ll Need
Fine grit sand paper
Spray paint
And that’s it!
Step One: Prepping the Wicker
This step is pretty easy, you really just need to sand down the furniture especially if there are previous coats of paint. This enables the wood of the wicker to accept the paint better. Another aspect of the prepping stage is to tighten up any strands that have come loose or to completely cut them off as long as they don’t compromise the integrity of the furniture or the wicker strands as a whole. The below image is after I sanded the wicker chair down.
Step Two: Painting the Wicker
Once you’ve sanded everything down, it’s now time to go ahead and paint your wicker. First, I tried painting the wicker with a brush and paint that I already had. This took FOREVER. I would not recommend it in any way shape or form because there is just no way that a paint brush can get into all the nooks and crannies. I eventually turned to spray paint in the same color and took off like a rocket! I had to do several coats yes, but what would have taken days to paint, took maybe an hour for the first coat. After it dried I flipped the chair over and spray painted it from the bottom. Then, I just went back over it with more spray paint and hit those areas that were still white. This took several passes because it would look fully covered from one angle and then you would still see the white paint through another angle.
The overall color and look is exactly what I was going for. I’m not the biggest fan of the floral print but they were free and they are still in fantastic shape so I really don’t care! The new color matches the print (at least I think so) so I’m good! You can sit on them without the cushions as well.
I’m not finished with the love seat, as it needs the bottom painted and the legs painted again but it’s to a point to where I can at least get them outside. I also have a coffee table (I know, a three piece wicket set for free!) I just haven’t gotten there yet.
At the end of the day, I had to use 7 cans of spray paint at about $5 per can. That’s around $35. Buying a whole new three piece wicker set would have been in the hundreds of dollars so either way, I’m ahead of the game!
If you’ve ever lived in a home with drywall, you’ve had a hole in it at some point. Whether you are renting or you own your home, you will need these quick and easy steps to save yourself money by doing it yourself and not hiring a contractor.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Putty knife
Spackling/mud
Knockdown texture
Knockdown knife
Painters tape
Plastic tarp or bag
Step One: Prepping and Spackling
Make sure the area you are about to repair is clean of any dirt and debris. This will help you out in the long run when you are working with the mud and the knockdown texture. It also keeps the extra junk out of your mud, texture and later paint when you are applying each of them.
Once everything is clean you can get started with the spackling (aka mud). I bought a small jar of spackling compound at our local hardware store and I chose the the type that starts out pink and ends up white when it’s dry. It also doesn’t need to be primed so you can paint right over it. I will be adding knockdown texture then painting so I will still need to prime but the pink to white drying feature was a big sell for me. Why you ask? People, I’ve got kids, a job, a hubby, a dog, and on and on. I don’t need to waste time trying to guess when something is ready for the next step. Even if you have none, some, or all of those same responsibilities, who wants to waste time? Not me!
Step Two: Applying Spackling
Once you have the spackling of your choice, it’s time to get the spackling knife out. Some people may be intimidated by spackling but honestly, it’s really very easy. What I tend to do is take more spackling out than what I need and then go from there. If you put too much, you can wipe it off with the spackling knife or you could also use a wet paper towel. Even if it dries, you can still generally use a wet paper towel to remove any excess or any areas that are sticking out that you don’t want. Once it’s dry, sandpaper works as well to smooth out bumps and rough edges.
After you have it applied the mud to all of the areas you want it, it’s time to let it dry. Depending upon how big the hole is and how quickly your spackling is made to dry, you may be waiting 15 minutes to 24 hours. That’s why I love the pink stuff! The drying time is different for every repair so having something that turns white when it’s fully dry is a fantastic thing!
Step Three: Applying Knockdown Texture
Knockdown texture, like spackling, can be daunting for some if you haven’t done it before but it’s really quite easy to manage if you approach it conservatively. Like spray paint, the harder you press down on the trigger, the more it will come out. Additionally, unlike some spray paints, there is also a a light or heavy texture option. Most knockdown texture bottles will give you an example of what their product considers as light or heavy. You can gauge your wall texture level off of that. When you set the texture level, I highly suggest using some sort of test surface before you start on your wall to make sure you have it right. I used a couple of test surfaces which were a cardboard box and plywood. You could also, of course, use a spare piece of drywall.
Handy Tip: Shake the can for one full minute and continue to shake it throughout the application process after. This keeps the texture fully mixed and will allow for it to spray in the manner in which it is intended to. If you don’t, an oily liquid will come out first and the texture won’t be the one you can work with.
When applying the knockdown texture, after fully shaken, it’s best to keep at least 6-8 inches away from the wall and spray in short bursts so you can control the splatter. The knockdown texture will come out in a similar consistency to silly string, but just not in a string form. Another example is how whip cream comes out of a can, just with more stickiness and not as creamy, chunky would be a good example but not quite exact. As mentioned, continue to shake the can throughout the application.
The knockdown texture that I picked up suggested a wait time of 4-8 minutes.Through testing, and understanding of how much I’ve applied, around 6 minutes works out best for my uses. If you have more or less knockdown texture applied to one area, this time limit will be more or less. The way I knew 6 minutes was best for my general use, was when I went to knock it down.
Step Four: Using the Knockdown Knife
For those of you new to this “knockdown texture” stuff, it is where you take a material that comes out of the can in bubbly texture and make it flat. What you don’t want to do is make it a solid/completely flat surface, otherwise you would be negating the entire purpose of knockdown texture.
You can purchase a knockdown knife at your local hardware store or big box store. It’s really quite similar to the spackle knife but it has foam edge rather than a metal one. Mine has a white edge in the picture below, but that’s just because I’ve used it before. The foam edge is actually black.
While holding the knockdown knife at a 15-ish degree angle, as seen in the image below, it’s best to smoothly run your knife over the top of the texture but not press hard. Pressing hard will give you a smooth surface, which is what you don’t want. Just sort of pass over it lightly. If you find some areas have smoothed out too much, take the tip of your knockdown knife and dig in a bit, creating a little indentation in random areas. If you don’t get the texture you want right off the bat, you can add some more using short, controlled bursts of spray. Then let it dry and knock it down again. Do this until you are satisfied. BUT remember, you can always add more, it will be messy to remove.
For Mother’s Day my family bought me a small chiminea for our patio. When we got it home I noticed that the metal pieces at the top were rusting a bit as it was sitting outside at our local nursery. After a few quick steps, I was able to take care of the rust and rust proof it so that it would last much longer.
What You Will Need
Rust proofing metal spray paint
Fine grit sand paper
I went ahead and removed my metal pieces from the chiminea and in the garage I took my sand paper and started to gently sand the metal to get the current rust off of the metal. If I couldn’t get it all off, I just sanded it down to where any pieces that were sticking out were nice and smooth.
Once that was done, I took my spray paint that was made to cover metal and is good for either in door or outdoor, and started to spray. I sprayed the metal in short bursts to control the amount of spray paint that went on to the metal so I wouldn’t make the paint run. I then left it to dry for about 30 minutes and came back to check on the coverage. Spraying again the areas that needed it. I then left that to try as well and once it was finished, I placed it back on the chiminea.
Good Tip: If you are using this in an area where it might get very hot, like a chiminea, I suggest getting a high heat spray paint that can withstand the heat from the fire. It shouldn’t cost more than $10ish dollars at your local hardware or big box store.
After everything dried, I loved the overall look and really enjoyed the chiminea once it was all complete! The total cost was around $10 and would have cost much more if I tried to replace the metal, if I could have been able to find a replacement at all.
Hope you enjoyed this quick tip! Stay tuned for a short video showing you all of the steps and feel free to comment to let me know your experiences in DIY rust proofing!
Whether you have a full yard of dirt or you have just have some sports you need to fill in, laying sod isn’t something that is typically done every day or sometimes at all in the life of a homeowner. We’re here to show you how to do it yourself and save at least 50%, if not more, in installation costs! It’s not rocket science people, you can do it! And we’re here to help.
What You Will Need
Pallets of sod grass
Gloves
Sheet rock knife (aka Jab Saw)
Sprinklers (either in ground or manual ones)
When we first moved into our current house, it was a completely blank slate yard wise. Not a blade of grass to be seen. That’s because it was a brand new house and we negotiated the price down so the builder removed the landscape package to save money. Fine by me! That way I’ll know the type of grass that’s put in. Sometimes when you get those landscape packages from builders, it can be the bottom of the barrel grass. Not all the time, but sometimes. Here in Texas, grass is a luxury not a given. If you pick the wrong grass, it won’t stand up to the weather. We’ve got a great grass farm near by so we were able to chat with them about the different types.
Here in Texas, if you’re going to lay down sod, the best choice is Bermuda because it’s able to put up with such differences in weather from hot to cold from dry to wet. Texas has all of those, in abundance. In regards to the types of Bermuda grass, lets be honest, there are many different types. Those available to us are Tiff 419, Northbridge and Zoysia (Zoy-sha).
Good to Note: Different parts of the country have different types of sod grass. It’s best to check with your local grass farm to see which works best for your yard!
According to our local grass farm, Tiff 419, while a good Bermuda grass, won’t bounce back as well as the others if hit with extreme hot or cold temperatures or drought/excessive rain conditions. It will come back, but you may have grass that looks “dead” while it’s recovering.
Northbridge, which can be the same or just a little more in price than the Tiff 419 and will tolerate those extreme changes in temperatures and drought conditions a bit better. Meaning if you have a week of temperatures over 100 and you don’t water it, it will start to turn brown (as any grass would) but it won’t totally die on you and will return to it’s vigor in a quicker time. For Northbridge, and with Tiff 419 to be honest, the best bet is to make sure you water it as needed. Northbridge will also tolerate an overabundance of water as well without dying where the Tiff 419 may get waterlogged and won’t tolerate it as well.
Now to Zoysia (Zoy-sha). If you’ve ever watched the Masters golf tournament, you’ve seen Zoysia. It’s that green carpet looking grass that is green even in the winter. This is the Rolls-Royce of Bermuda grass and can cost twice as much as the Tiff 419 and Northbridge. But it’s worth it’s weight in gold, let me tell you. Zoysia can take anything you throw at it. Rain, no rain, sleet, hail, snow, hot temperatures, cold temperatures, you name it. We drive by the grass farm just about once a week as we’re coming home from our Saturday night date night and I swear to you, from January to December, you can tell where they have Zoysia planted because it is green almost all year long. It’s amazing.
What are these prices you say? Well, pricing is going to vary between every grass farmer but you should expect to pay anywhere from $125-500 per pallet depending upon the type of Bermuda grass and the size of the pallet. Pallets range from 450-500 yards per pallet.
We received quotes for a company to put the grass down for us and quotes of what it would cost to do it out selves. As you can imagine, you save A LOT of money if you can do it yourself…close to 50% if not more.
For us, we went the middle of the road and chose the Northbridge. We ended up getting 16 pallets at around $220 per pallet at 450 square feet each. They also delivered it for us for about $65. That was well worth it. We’ve since ordered several more smaller orders and we’ve never been let down! Overall the cost for the 16 pallets was about $3,500. If we would have had a company install it for us, we would have gotten less grass for more money. In this case, about only 75% of what we wanted for $7,500. It was a no brainier to do it ourselves.
Massive tip: The best time of year to lay sod is in the spring. If you lay it after that you are fighting with one hundred different things from heat, lack of or too much rain, weeds that are in it’s rampant growing stage, etc. Also, the grass itself is braced for the weather, not for cutting and the weather, so it can take a bit for it to bounce back if you lay it outside of the spring time period. This is another thing to consider when wondering which type you want to get.
Step One: What to do First
Depending upon who you ask, you may have different opinions on what should be done first to prepare your yard for laying down sod. Some may say you need to till up all of the dirt, others may say you need to add a top soil over all of it, some say to spray it to kill the weeds, some say nothing.
We had nothing but acres of weeds during our first run of putting down sod (literally acres of weeds), so we decided to rent a small tractor with a tiller and till up all of the weeds. Knowing what I know now, if you have mostly dirt with weeds, the sod pieces are so thick, you can just mow the weeds down as low as you can go and place the sod right on top and call it a day. The sod pieces are so thick (or they should be) that they will literally smother the weeds underneath and kill them. So no need for a top soil, no need for tilling or spraying. I really would not recommend killing the weeds with a weed killer spray. That will make your soil toxic and can harm the brand new sod you’ll be putting down.
Full disclosure, we are not landscape experts, we’re just do it yourself homeowners with some experience. We also hire a turf company to come out and spray the yard once a month for weed control during the summer months, then once in the fall and spring. BUT remember, let your crew know you have new grass so they can spray accordingly. Applying any type of lawn maintenance to sod that’s just been cut and laid could damage it because it might get a double dose of fertilizer. Your landscape crew, if told, should know how to handle the grass that’s less established.
Step Two: Laying Down the Sod
Once you’d prepared your base (or not) you’re ready to lay down the sod.
Steps to layout sod:
Pick up sod
Lay it on the ground
Pick up sod
Lay it on the ground
Rinse and repeat, times 100,000
Laying down sod is ridiculously easy, it’s just more laborious than anything else. Grass sod can also come in a variety of sizes from 2×4 feet pieces to 1×2 feet pieces. And I’m sure other grass farmers will cut them in different ways. The thing to know is that you can request them to be cut in a certain way. Why does this matter you say? Well, after a few pieces it doesn’t matter but after hundreds to thousands of pieces, it really really does. I have some back and stomach muscle issues so the 1×2 feet pieces are perfect for me because they are lighter and easier to manage. If you don’t have those issues, you can really knock out some square footage with the bigger pieces but know this, they will be heavy! Those 2×4 feet pieces, even when dry, will weight at least 40-45 pounds. If they’re wet, goodnight, they will been even heavier than that! The 1×2 feet pieces, even our kids were able to help which made the job even quicker. Granted I didn’t do those the first time but still, it’s good to know.
Once you start laying down your sod, you need to just keep going. Putting one end on the other. It’s not like flooring to where you have to square off and make it a perfectly straight line before you start. It’s not rocket science either. Just lay those suckers down. They will grow into each other making all of your planning for perfectness, unnecessary. The best bet is to just start at one point and keep going. If you get to a point where you need to cut your grass to make it fit, we’ve found that a sheet rock knife (aka jab saw) will do wonders for you. It takes a little elbow grease but you can cut the pieces exactly how you need them. Like butta!
The biggest tip I can give you once you are finished laying down your sod is to water, water, water! You will lose your grass quicker than anything if you do not water it right after it’s installed. Sure it’s resilient, but after it’s cut, it’s in what’s called a “trauma” stage. It’s traumatized from being cut from the ground and will pull back to protect itself. It is more susceptible to dying than ever before in this stage!!
We do not have an in-ground sprinkler system so we use the old tried and true oscillating sprinkler. It’s some work but if it keeps the grass alive, so I’m all for it. The best tip I can give you is to make sure you water your sod every day for the first week for at least 10-15 minutes in each section. Then after the first week you should be able to drop down to every other day watering. This all depends upon what time of year you put down your sod and your current weather conditions, but either way, watering should be a major element of your care, after installation.
To put down 16 pallets of grass, that were about 450 square feet each, it took us at least three full days, morning, noon, and night. We’ve picked up one pallet here and there and just a few weeks ago put six more pallets down. That took about three days as well but that was because my husband had to work and the kids had school so it was just me during the day and my husband and I at night. I forgot to tell the grass farm to cut them in smaller pieces so it was rough. But we got it finished!
UPDATE: Here is an image of the grass about 2 years later! We’ve had to water it several times as the weather got hotter but it’s been fantastic. We added a fire pit and just put grass down around it. Loving it!
I hope this helps you with your sod grass project! Please share, or leave a comment if you have any questions! We’d love to hear from you. Stay tuned for a short video showing you some fun time lapse video.
Hello! I’m so glad you checked in to see how we made our latest project: a towel hook out of leftover luxury vinyl planks!
When we were redoing our bathroom (I’ll be posting that story here soon!) we used a wonderful luxury vinyl plank (LVP) on the floor. However, just through the natural work process, you’re leftover with many scrap pieces that you can sometimes use for the floor but most of the time you can’t because the locking mechanism is on the wrong side or it’s broken, etc. So we had quite a few small pieces.
While we were finishing our work in the bathroom I noticed that we didn’t have a towel rack. Before we just hung the towels over the shower but now that we’ve installed a beautiful glass shower stall, we didn’t want to do that. So I came up with the idea of making a towel rack out of the leftover LVP. You can see the image of the finished product below. Now that I’ve gone through all of the trials and errors, I wanted to share the steps with you!
Here’s what you’ll Need:
Luxury Vinyl Plank – any type will do (just make sure you adjust for the thickness if it does or doesn’t have a padding)
Plywood – cut to the size that you would like the towel hook to be. I used plywood that was 3/4 of an inch and cut it down to 20 inches long by 6 inches wide.
Trim – I used a 7/8th inch flat piece of trim that was rounded on the sides
Miter saw, nail gun, power drill
Paintable caulking, a level, wood glue, black spray paint, painters tape, vinyl tile cutter
Coat/towel hooks and hanging hooks/wires
If you don’t own all of these items, there are links in the content below showing you where you can buy them.
Making the Pieces Fit
I knew from the beginning that I wanted to do a chevron type pattern with the pieces so I did some research to see exactly how they would be laid out on my plywood. After some trial and error I found that 2″ x 3″ pieces would be the perfect size and I could get a good amount of the pattern to show on my plywood board.
Pro tip: Using a vinyl tile cutter (pictured below) is the best way to get these cut down to the size that you need. I don’t have rights to show their product name in the image below but you can typically buy this cutter at any hardware store. You could also use a Roberts Vinyl Tile Cutter too. Also, when they are bigger pieces, you can use a miter saw but you must be very careful when using any sort of power tools. Either way, it’s not an exact science so I’ve come up with a way to get the cuts as close as you can but still getting the shape you want. Continue reading to learn how!
Before using the vinyl tile cutter, I had to layout my pieces the way that I wanted them. Unfortunately I deleted the picture I had with all of the pieces laid out before they were cut so I recreated it a bit with the image below. Just imagine all of these parts hanging off. I just used whatever I had that was small enough to slide under them so they wouldn’t keep falling off completely. Then I drew a line on top of the pieces, using a level and a red dry erase marker, representing the edge of my plywood piece. That in turn showed me where I needed to make my cuts. I also stuck little bits of tape on each of the pieces and numbered them, then took a picture (that I of course deleted…ggrrr!). I took a picture because I knew once I cut them, I’d need to know where each little piece went.
Once I cut them all down to size I then glued them to my plywood board using an all purpose glue that would adhere both the plastic on the back of my vinyl tile and the wood. You can use Gorilla Glue to get the job done. Just use it sparingly as this glue tends to expand when it dries.
Adding the Trim
Once I glued all of my pieces to the board, I then cut my 7/8ths in trim to fit all of the sides by using a miter saw. Our luxury vinyl plank was grey and black so I used a black spray paint on the trim to make a nice finished piece. I just used some black spray paint we had laying around but you could use Rust-Oleum spray paint. Once the pieces were dry I attached them to the plywood using my nail gun and the smallest nail the gun could take which was about 1 1/2 inches. Since the trim is pretty thin and small, make sure you set the gun to not shoot very deep, otherwise you will split the wood.
Making it Look Pretty
When you cut the vinyl pieces down they won’t be perfect. They will be either longer or shorter than what you actually want, because they’re not really made for this type of application or for being cut into small pieces. So you really just have to work with what you get. This is where the paintable caulk comes into play. I used GE Max Shield Painters Caulk as it was something we had leftover from another project.
Once I glued all of my pieces to the board and installed my trim, I then used the caulk in the areas that didn’t fully meet up. You can see in the image below where the gap is. This is why I chose to extend the black paint a little further onto the actual vinyl plank. I probably could have spent some more time using the caulking and filling in the gaps better but I really didn’t want to. lol
Even with the caulking you still have some gaps so I taped the entire inside area with painters tape. You can use Scotch Blue painters tape to complete this step. Once the area is fully taped, be sure and press down on all of the sides of blue tape. This will help make it to where your spray paint doesn’t creep under the tape. Once it dries you can remove the tape. If you get some that does creep under, use a utility knife (carefully) to scrape it away.
As a last step, I installed four coat hooks that we had laying around (I went through a hook phase when the kids were little, don’t ask!). These coat hooks are similar and I just spray painted them with the same black spray paint I used for the trim. I then installed them using my power drill. I could have pre-drilled the holes to make things easier but I didn’t. It took a little bit longer but it came out fine in the end.
All in all, this project was pretty easy to do. The most time consuming was figuring out the size of the pieces and the pattern. Once I got that done it was pretty smooth sailing. Also, painting the trim and just a little bit of the interior of the piece made the imperfections basically invisible.
Keeping it real with the shower soap scum and all!
I hope you enjoyed learning about how to make this towel hanger out of left over luxury vinyl plank pieces. If you have a comment or question, let me know!
Note: I am an Amazon Associates member which means I get a small commission off of any sales that take place from the Amazon links that are provided.
Thrifty Mom's DIY 