Progress and Setbacks in the Turtle Tank Build

I would love to say everything goes as planned when doing DIY projects of this nature.  They don’t!  It doesn’t matter how many You Tube videos you watch in preparation.  No amount of due diligence keeps you from making mistakes.  The plain truth is that if you have never done it before, you will have issues.  I did…

Painting the Back of the Aquarium for the Turtle Tank

In the past, I have tried using ClearView solution to affix the paper background to the aquarium.  This always looks fantastic for about 3 months, then it starts to dry.  Then you get lines or air space gaps that make it look horrible.  I have tried background clings, which are fantastic.  The problem with the clings are that there are limited choices and they have yet to make a beautiful blue background.  Which leads us to painting the background…

While I consider this progress, there is a debate going on within the family on the color blue that we ended up using.  There is talk about stripping the color and trying a different color.  This is progress with the potential of being a setback.

Turtle Tank Water Lines are Back In

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I couldn’t find a way to run the water lines to the laundry room through the attic.  The main issue was the weird configuration of our attic and the space in which I would have to crawl.  It hit me that I was looking at it all wrong.  I was pretty sure that there was a large space in the attic above our master bedroom, I just didn’t know how to get to it.  Then I realized, that I could cut an access hole in the master bedroom.  I could then run some PVC pipe across the gap and I would be able to run the tubing through the pipe to the other side.  Sure enough that worked…

As mentioned, I watched as many You Tube videos as I could take on cutting an attic access door and patching a hole in the ceiling.  I took note of the tools, the products and the process.  I know in my head how, but the execution is for the most part a beginner’s attempt.  Of my many mistakes, the first was using 20 minute dry time mud.  It dried in the container way before I could get it up on the ceiling.  I also tried mixing my own this time.  Next time it will be premixed out of the bucket.  Which by the way is this weekend coming up…

In the other entry I mentioned that I had no business being in the attic.  Sure enough, I fell when a board broke in the attic and stuck my leg right through the ceiling in my daughter’s room.  You will know it by the pink ceiling in the pics below.

So, progress on having water lines, but set back because I ruined the ceiling in my daughter’s room.

The Real Takeaway

DIY Projects can be messy.  They can be unpredictable, and in some cases, they can be outright dangerous.  So plan, prepare and practice.  When working in the attic, it is probably not a good idea to work alone.  Have a friend help you.  I may have been able to avoid putting a hole in the ceiling, if I had someone helping me.  Today I am soar from head to toe, and I have a slightly sprained ankle to boot.  Leti is a little upset with the mess and cleanup, but I had fun the whole time.

So the takeaway is to be safe and have fun.  It will almost never go as planned.

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