What did you do today?

Off an on for a month now, I got this old rental completed. Got totally cleaned up and outa-there about 9 last night...... the renter is moving in as we speak. No more flights up and down those 24 stairs........ my ass is whooped.
I'm still doing measuring and only work about 4/5 hours a day, so this job seemed never ending. Most by far was prepping and getting the floor flat.
(flat enough)

This is the upstairs of a 100 year old house that had been added on to at least once, probably twice? The floor was like an ocean. High here, then too low just 3 feet away.
The yellow line continues from the kitchen counter area all the way to the bedroom doorway, 24 feet away. This was a high area that immediately dropped to a low area that was just 4 feet away. The white is where I added 2 sheets of 1/2" plywood. It was kind of bowl shaped, so before installing the plywood, I added some vinyl flooring and roofing felt to flatten this low spot.
....and this was b a r e l y touching the surface at getting the prep figured out.

Here's the wide hall area leading to the living room.
The center was a hump (yellow ) varied from 1/2 to 3/4 inch too high. The worst, the 3/4 inch high is at the breakfast bar area. To the right an left was my zero or level mark, so we're talking a 3/4 hump in like 7 feet?
The yellow area was a hump and went from the bar, 24ish feet down and centering at a bedroom doorway. It was like a tent........ In the worst place possible for a click LVP.
This was mostly 3 1/2" by 3/4 fir flooring I was dealing with, so you couldn't just dump buckets of self leveled........ Ok, you "could", but .... You know
The white square is where I cut out some for flooring and replaced it with 1/2" plywood to start flattening this long area.
I sanded the yellow high spot, added 1/4" plywood along the right side then installed 3 sheets of 1/2 inch plywood in the funky room on the left side because it was a major low area.
I glued and stapled thinner plywood and sanded it so I'd use mostly plywood and less filler over the fir floor.
It was a total nightmare blending these areas together. My Huepar laser level was a faithful saint, helping the entire time.
I'm only describing a fraction of what happened and I'm so grateful the owner didn't set limits on my time. He trusted and didn't push me. He supplied, even delivered all the plywood.
It turned out really nice.
No more surfing on this floor. Paddleboarding maybe.

Did my Habitat Restore shopping today.
$2 does sound about right?

My last set similar to this, I paid $49.99 and this was 1/2 price!

Tell you what, I'll double your money. I'll give you $4, and pay to ship that set here. I already have 4 sets, so having a 5th set would be a great backup!

Glued up some cutting boards yesterday outta cherry and whatever miscellaneous leftover material we had to play with. Planed them down flat today. Prolly fill all the holes n shit with some black epoxy then give it a final sand before finishing them.

havasu said:

Did Fippy get a burger?

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yes. I got him a plain burger and Mom broke it up into pieces and fed it to him. He was very happy. He then sat on her lap for several hours.

highup said:

Glad mom is ok. Falling isn't good at any stage of life.
Funny thought came to mind when your brother came to help.....
....I thought you were going to say that he picked up the ice cream.

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LOL. He actually did pick up the ice cream. Mom asked him to though. And she went straight to eating it. Can't say I blame her.

Yesterday I picked up mail at the post office, stopped by Walmart for some groceries they'd been out of before but were back in stock, put seafoam in the gas tank, filled up the gas, refilled wiper fluid reservoir (truck was bitching at me about "wiper fluid low"), grabbed McDonalds breakfast, and then went home and took the meat off two rotisserie chickens.

This morning I got up early and got myself some soup. Walked into the living room and saw Mom was already up (or likely still up from last night). She asked what kind of soup. I told her what it was and she grabbed her lap tray and looked excited. So I took it back to the microwave to heat it up more (she likes her soup hot, I like mine lukewarm) then gave her the soup and I had salad for breakfast.

got two appointment auto calls from doctor's office so I called to clarify. Both for Mom. Today with the dr at 3:15pm and tomorrow at 2:45pm with the NP (diabetes specialist).

Got an e-mail from the dealership that had the truck I was interested in. They said it sold yesterday and invited me to see their other trucks. I said "Nope. Not interested". Glad I refused to give them a phone number. Truck is still listed online so they could be lying or they haven't updated the inventory yet.

Watching the latest Stud Pack video on Youtube now.

havasu said:

My last set similar to this, I paid $49.99 and this was 1/2 price!

Tell you what, I'll double your money. I'll give you $4, and pay to ship that set here. I already have 4 sets, so having a 5th set would be a great backup!

Click to expand...

I haven't even polished em yet.
I recall the Napa set I bought 40 years ago cost $30 or more back then..... it's a larger set.
Those stay with the tools in my truck, these will be the inside set.

zannej said:

yes. I got him a plain burger and Mom broke it up into pieces and fed it to him. He was very happy. He then sat on her lap for several hours.

LOL. He actually did pick up the ice cream. Mom asked him to though. And she went straight to eating it. Can't say I blame her.

Yesterday I picked up mail at the post office, stopped by Walmart for some groceries they'd been out of before but were back in stock, put seafoam in the gas tank, filled up the gas, refilled wiper fluid reservoir (truck was bitching at me about "wiper fluid low"), grabbed McDonalds breakfast, and then went home and took the meat off two rotisserie chickens.

This morning I got up early and got myself some soup. Walked into the living room and saw Mom was already up (or likely still up from last night). She asked what kind of soup. I told her what it was and she grabbed her lap tray and looked excited. So I took it back to the microwave to heat it up more (she likes her soup hot, I like mine lukewarm) then gave her the soup and I had salad for breakfast.

got two appointment auto calls from doctor's office so I called to clarify. Both for Mom. Today with the dr at 3:15pm and tomorrow at 2:45pm with the NP (diabetes specialist).

Got an e-mail from the dealership that had the truck I was interested in. They said it sold yesterday and invited me to see their other trucks. I said "Nope. Not interested". Glad I refused to give them a phone number. Truck is still listed online so they could be lying or they haven't updated the inventory yet.

Watching the latest Stud Pack video on Youtube now.

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I haven't watched Studpack since they were putting windows in the garage. I need to check em out. Great show.

C.J. said:

Glued up some cutting boards yesterday outta cherry and whatever miscellaneous leftover material we had to play with. Planed them down flat today. Prolly fill all the holes n shit with some black epoxy then give it a final sand before finishing them.

View attachment 19561

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I made a chess board and another one with sides for throwing dice....... a couple thousand years ago
They weren't remotely than nice. Chop saws hadn't been invented yet so I must have used dads radial arm or my brothers table saw.

highup said:

I made a chess board and another one with sides for throwing dice....... a couple thousand years ago
They weren't remotely than nice. Chop saws hadn't been invented yet so I must have used dads radial arm or my brothers table saw.

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Yeah, I don’t think it would be as fun if I had to hand plane all that wood.

Man we got a problem down here because I save anything worth saving. Butcher block sink cutout, it’s mine. Stove cutout, I’m keeping that too. It all sits in the cool stuff I’m keeping pile and collects dust until it is needed. We got all kinds of white wood, it’s usually the darker stuff I end up waiting on to come across my bench.

And where you're at, it doesn't rot

My new Pixel 8 is FREEKING scary.
.......and I didn't type "freeking" in caps.... IT did.
The photo program I finished loading for the phone today, came with the phone. It's like "magic eraser" on illegal steroids.
Here's a couple photos I downloaded, then had AI tweak the images.
I took a photo of a Buick Roadmaster alongside his shop. The first attempt using the program replaced the car with a white fence about 4 feet tall. Then I scrolled to AI's second creation, or "suggestion"
Here's the before and after.
All I did was"tap' on the car to select the part of the image that I wanted to disappear. The car then turned whitish, indicating it had been selected.
It outlined the car, then tried to make it disappear..... My intention.
I figured it would remove the car, then replicate the asphalt and create new doors in the empty space.
Instead, it removed the car and replaced it with a white fence about he correct size to the cars width and length. It looked real.
If you don't like the offering, you can scroll right for other suggestions and you will find another AI image.
Here's the car in the original photo, then the second AI created image.
This tech is scary awsum.

Here's the front counter at the store.
...vase, .....no vase.

Wonder if the back room would look larger without that counter?
...counter, .....no counter
Yes, that's the same image.

My friend has a friendly owl that occasional pops by to hang out.
...no he doesn't.
...owl, .....no owl
AI.......... Never again believe anything you see.

Here we go with the oil. We put a tape dam around the block so you can really flood it with oil and let it soak in. Did the same thing with the bottom side as well then hand rubbed the sides. You can see which individual blocks are thirsty and want more. We’ll prolly oil it again in the morning then step up to block conditioner and wax.

This block is going to be a birthday present for my coworkers mom. Think she will like it??





Then we get to this block. It was made with all the leftover leftovers. Didn’t notice my pattern goof until today. I musta been flustered because we ran outta dark pieces so I couldn’t make it any bigger. Anyway, it’s not like I’m gonna throw it away, so I hit it with a coat of natural and this is what it looks like so far. I’ve got a fancy piece of some reddish wood I bought a few years ago, think I might use that to inset some cherries . Or what’s more likely is I’ll rip the border off, cut the block open and fix my mistake. This is what happens when you drink beer while doing side projects. I’m not sweating it because I’m sure I’ll be having one while I fix it

What kind of oil?
The black epoxy gives it some age.
If the doesn't like it, that would make a nice weapon
What's it weigh?

highup said:

What kind of oil?
The black epoxy gives it some age.
If the doesn't like it, that would make a nice weapon
What's it weigh?

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Good ol mineral oil. The goofy block is maybe 12” x 19” x 2.5” thick. Not sure how much it weighs but it’s a chunk of wood for sure. I woulda sanded it a bit more but I kinda like the aged look too.

C.J. said:

Good ol mineral oil. The goofy block is maybe 12” x 19” x 2.5” thick. Not sure how much it weighs but it’s a chunk of wood for sure. I woulda sanded it a bit more but I kinda like the aged look too.

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Aged is a good look, especially so as you age. A little rustic is my preference. Even old tools look better than new ones after they're cleaned up.