What did you do today?

[zannej]

Excellent, Tom! I'm glad you're making progress.
It's been raining a lot down here so the humidity isn't conducive to drying.

Highup, I bet the customers thought it was cool that you'd done the carpet in that home before & you knew some of the history. Looks great.

Nick, Big hugs to you & I'm sending good vibes your way.

Got a tarp for my friend's roof (he can't seem to get it to stop leaking). Hopefully it will stop the leaking. I wish I was in good enough shape to help him spread some roof sealant on. I did that almost 15-years-ago on my workshop but now I'm not as steady on my feet & with my weight, I'd probably put a hole in the roof now. Still have a pulled muscle in my arm but I need to ignore it and do something productive. I'm mad at myself for continuing to procrastinate.

 

[highup]

I replaced all the nails with 5/8" and it nailed pretty well with the bar and a 2# hammer. It's got adhesive too.
If just one piece of strip popped loose, anywhere along that cabinet/bed side of the room it would take hours to pull that entire wall loose and nail or drill in more strip and put it all back and I'd have to remove and replace a piece of carpet bar too. I'd have to set up my stretcher to reset the long ends again. I stretched the room N>S then S>N I stretched the width both directions too because you can't (I can't) kick it onto the starter wall. I got 1/8" stretch in width, and that's all you can get.
It may be fuzzy, but it's woven carpet...... and woven behaves .........like woven.
I just wasn't gonna chance anything on this one because it has to be stretched tight in order to stay on the tacks.
If I convert my hours into yards it ends up at $13.50/yd That's about $700

 

[highup]

Yes Zannej, the customer was happy to know some additional information about the house. I think that's why she gave us a tour. The Dr is pretty crafty. There are hardwood floors in most of the upstairs. He made a system where the television is hidden under the floor. She pressed a button and the hardwood started moving upwards to reveal the TV You can hardly tell it's there. You wouldn't even know it's there unless someone showed it to you. It a large tv too. Really cool.

 

[Tom Picciani]

Got most of the cutting done. My work is under review. Hunter is under the hood!

 

[Floorist]

Bought a 3/4" CP impact for $5 at a yard sale this morning. Should bring $50 on a bid site.

 

[Tom Picciani]

First coat done. 6 hours including cutting in. Lots of doors and corners. Taking shower and hitting sack! It’s dark out and lights are out of their normal spots. Just showing the color

 

[highup]

Bought a 3/4" CP impact for $5 at a yard sale this morning. Should bring $50 on a bid site.

I'll give you $10. .......that's a nice profit.

 

[highup]

Color looks nice Tom.

 

[Floorist]

I'll give you $10. .......that's a nice profit.

Wife told me to keep it. It works good.

 

[Tom Picciani]

Color looks nice Tom.

It’s strange how it looks under different situations. The chip was fairly accurate. When i painted a sample on the wall it looked almost like silly putty. But when I painted an entire wall it started looking like the chip. I found that the most accurate look was from Houzz. I looked up the color and it was painted on a few walls. And that’s why I chose it

 

[Floorist]

Sure is quiet on here today.

 

[DarisMulkin]

Sure is quiet on here today.

Quiet other places also. Its Monday, everybody still thinking the weekend.
Today I attacked those yellar flowers called dandelions with one of those probes that cuts them off below the ground level. Not my yard but the neighbors on each side off me. I have lawn service but they don't but I mow their lawns because I have a rider. Makes it easier on me actually not having to turn so often. Things you do to stay busy when retired it is never ending.

 

[Floorist]

Working on my daughter's car between monsoons.

 

[Tom Picciani]

Pulled up a 4x16 foot piece of carpet and pad. Attacked the staples with a floor scraper. My staples look like 5/8 inch. Scraper got all but 5 of them. Painters multi tool got rest. I got on hands and knees to feel for any I missed. Then vacuumed 2x to make sure my dog didn’t find any. Probably run to Carpetmart by end of week.

 

[Tom Picciani]

Got a second piece up and went over rug and subfloor checking for staples. All clear I hope!

 

[Tom Picciani]

I now have 8x16 feet of subfloor exposed. Used my laser level to get the lay of the floor. I have a slope of 1 inch drop over 16 feet. The house is 41 years old. This cannot be fixed. So I checked flatness. From what I have available, I have a 3/16 low point as measured by a 6 foot level and a taper gauge. Can you smooth that sort of dip with leveling cement even if the floor drops 1/4 inch every 4 feet?

 

[zannej]

Highup, I love hidden things so the TV that rises up from the floor sounds awesome! Glad you got a full tour & that you were able to get that carpet in. Must have been a lot of work.

Tom, love the pictures! It's looking great thus far. I enjoy Houzz for some of the ideas that are posted there. Plus I got a lot of help from people on planning layout changes for my laundry room/bathroom reno.

I helped my friend out- spotted him some $ the other day bc someone skimmed the # off his tax return card & stole over $200 off of it (leaving him w/ only $4). His electric bill was due & they were going to shut it off if he didn't pay but had no $. Then AT&T cut off his phone service even though the payment wasn't due for another week. He pawned some stuff to get enough $ together to pay it to get his phone back on but then was going to run out of gas before he got his paycheck. So I spotted him some more $, bought him lunch, & he came out to help me fix some stuff. He changed out the bathroom faucet for Mom. Upgraded from an old Aquasource one that wouldn't stop leaking to a Moen one that was on sale. He had a hell of a time getting the old one off bc it was on tight.

It was absolutely boiling outside so he called a buddy of his to come fix the AC (I couldn't find the # for the regular AC guy & he sometimes takes a few days to respond). Guy took less than 5 min to fix it. Replaced the capacitor & put freon in it. Said the capacitor has a 6mo. warranty so if it goes bad before then, the replacement is free. But he said I need to spray the outside of the AC down very well to clean it thoroughly. So I will need to fix the water faucet there. Once it cooled off enough he helped me w/ the floor leveling mix. It came out a lot smoother this time. Filled in some of the pits & got it smoother. There are still some bumps from the first mix poking up but it's not nearly as bumpy. I think another coat or 2 might get rid of the bumps altogether. I'm going to mix & do a test area to practice my trowel skills in an unimportant spot- since my friend is the one who did most of the smoothing w/ the trowel. I tried to wipe it off afterward but apparently didn't get it as clean as I'd intended so I will have to figure out how to get the stuff off of it before using it again. I couldn't find one of the spreader things I got though so I need to figure out where I put it. I have an idea but I'll check in the morning. It's still a lot nicer than it was before. It also didn't have that horrible smell without the additive. I did use bottled water instead of tap bc every time I tried to fill the measuring cup with tap water it came out brown & I was worried the sediment might cause a problem with the mix. I'm still happy with the results & will try to get pics tomorrow. Once I have it flat enough, I'll get my friend to help me adjust the sheet vinyl (it will be easier to have 2 people move it so it won't tear).

Once the floor mixing was done & we cooled off a bit, I took my friend back into town, bought him a rt44 drink from Sonic, and then dropped him off at home.

Got back home & mom just wanted chicken salad sandwiches but tomorrow I will make stroganoff.

 

[Tom Picciani]

Contacted Ardex/Henry people. They suggest I use Feather Finish from Ardex. It goes on thin and can be troweled. No priming. No sand. No latex additive. Can go on 1/2 inch thick. I think I can put some down on the low spot and screed it with either the level or a scrap piece of baseboard that I check for true. Maybe this weekend.

 

[zannej]

Tom, I think the feather finish is Henry 549. It doesn't self-level & it dries in 15min. People use it to coat over laminate countertops to make them look like they are concrete. People who worked with it recommended working in small batches & quickly spreading thin layers at a time so it doesn't harden up on you before you have time to spread it. People also complained that if they did it too thick, it didn't dry properly & some of the deeper spots stayed soft. I almost got the 549 for my bathroom floor project but was worried about the drying time so I went with 547 which takes 2 hours to dry but doesn't have as smooth of a top texture. If the 549 is like the 547, it is not difficult to work with if you mix it right.

 

[Tom Picciani]

I took more carpet out and measured the right side of the living room. I now realize the floor slopes towards the center of the house where the center beam is. Not much I can do about that. The slope is 3/4 inches over 16.5 feet.

I did a better examination of the floor. The low area of the floor is wider than I thought. It always is, right. I checked flatness across the slope, from side wall towards center of room. Looks like I have an oval bowl, 12 feet long and 3 feet wide. Maximum depth is 3/8 but majority is 3/16 deep. My brain is telling me a self leveling product would be best.

The levelquick RSA’s seems to have better reviews. Word has it that 547 cracks if the floor has movement.


I don’t know yet what’s on the other side of the room. Need to know that before I decide on a strategy.