What did you do today?

[zannej]

Thanks, Daris!
Just to clarify, you mean cutting an additional strip of wood so it will fit on top of the existing joist to boost it up to the level of the new sister-joist? That's sort of what I was thinking of doing-- some kind of furring strips or something on top.

Tom, I remember that tidbit form Holmes, as well as from a guy I saw on Youtube who is now deceased but used to have a TV program where he showed how to build houses. He could plant a nail with one hit & cut accurately with his saws just by eyeballing. Trying to remember his name now, but he was awesome. Speaking of Holmes, I got the Eaton whole house surge protector off Amazon & when it arrived, the box had his picture on it. It's from the "Mike Holmes Signature Edition", which wasn't advertised in the listing, but was still cool to see.

Is there any time of the year when lumber is less expensive than usual or do you think the prices will continue to go up?

I think I watched American Woodshop once or twice but don't really remember much from it. I do like This Old House.

My brother woke me up at like 2am because he was looking for one of the cats, Senator Snugglebum. He was in my room sleeping on a pillow but my brother was worried about him because he normally waits for my brother outside his room. I had trouble getting back to sleep.

 

[highup]

Daris was saying attach another joist onto each existing one. Start at the highest point of a joist, then raise the other end up until it's level and screw it in place. Repeat as needed. Might have to do that to all joists.

 

[zannej]

Ahh. Ok. I was talking more about making the lowest joist as high as the highest joist. The joists run east to west but the floor slopes downward to the north. I need to check if it also slopes downward on either east or west as well. I think it may be a full inch drop, but am not certain. Are there special joist hangers for sistering joists?
I wish I could just get away with shimming or making furring strips into long shims or caps of some sort to build up existing joists.

I'm also alarmed that the lumber prices shot up so high & I'm trying to figure out if I should buy now before they go up even more or see if they go back down.

 

[Tom Picciani]

Ahh. Ok. I was talking more about making the lowest joist as high as the highest joist. The joists run east to west but the floor slopes downward to the north. I need to check if it also slopes downward on either east or west as well. I think it may be a full inch drop, but am not certain. Are there special joist hangers for sistering joists?
I wish I could just get away with shimming or making furring strips into long shims or caps of some sort to build up existing joists.

I'm also alarmed that the lumber prices shot up so high & I'm trying to figure out if I should buy now before they go up even more or see if they go back down.

Firring stripes would be crushed under the weight of a floor. I just had my joists shimmed with steel plates. Carpenter said nothing else would hold the weight.

 

[Tom Picciani]

Started working in hallway. Laminate is cut around 2 doors. The plank on that side of hallway is 8 inches wide leaving a 3 inch gap to fill. Will cut the locking strip off and superglue it.

Then I have 3 long plain rows of 36 feet each.

Getting close to putting up baseboard and trim.

 

[Floorist]

Holmes, Vila, etc. They all do things wrong.

 

[havasu]

Say it ain't so. Bob Vila is a fraud?

 

[Floorist]

Say it ain't so. Bob Vila is a fraud?

He was one of the worst. My father was a general contractor, so I grew up doing it all. Vila was a total joke.

 

[highup]

Ahh. Ok. I was talking more about making the lowest joist as high as the highest joist. The joists run east to west but the floor slopes downward to the north. I need to check if it also slopes downward on either east or west as well. I think it may be a full inch drop, but am not certain. Are there special joist hangers for sistering joists?
I wish I could just get away with shimming or making furring strips into long shims or caps of some sort to build up existing joists.

I'm also alarmed that the lumber prices shot up so high & I'm trying to figure out if I should buy now before they go up even more or see if they go back down.

You could cut long tapered wedges from 2x material and nail/glue those on top of the existing joists. That would be time consuming and hard to do accurately. Sistering joists would be far easier. You can level it in both directions.. just find the highest spot and bring everything up to that level. .......providing all the doors will function.

 

[highup]

Firring stripes would be crushed under the weight of a floor. I just had my joists shimmed with steel plates. Carpenter said nothing else would hold the weight.

The only weight would be the plywood. She's not jacking and shimming to level the house.

 

[Floorist]

Gas is $2.16 here. Paid $1.81 with my rewards card.

 

[highup]

Haven't checked today after those tankers got torpedoed yesterday.......... but it's about $3.45ish here.

 

[Floorist]

Haven't checked today after those tankers got torpedoed yesterday.......... but it's about $3.45ish here.

Have you figured out anything about a work vehicle?

 

[zannej]

Rusty, I'm curious about what stuff Holmes does wrong.
Sistering is sounding better. I read that construction adhesive is not good for adhering things side by side bc it allows too much movement, but that I could use some sort of gorilla glue & use 16p nails-- I'd probably use ring nails to make sure they stay in. I'll need my C-clamps from the workshop. Will also need to figure out how long the wood will need to be for sistering. I might still do some supports perpendicular to the joists just under where the washing machine, dryer, & tub. Only the closet door swings outward but it actually has a gap between the bottom & the floor. I'm going to remove the old exterior door & it's frame bc it's in terrible shape & the header is an entire inch lower on one side bc it is sloped-- and it shows with a gap on the door. I'm going too use flashing & possibly a plastic sill pan at the exterior door to protect the plywood, I want to make sure the plywood edge does not get ruined by moisture.

I decided to do massive cleanup again. Got more of the kitchen cleaned and re-cleaned where cats knocked stuff down & my brother dumped trash on the floor. I stacked the full trash bags in the front room and cleaned up a lot of the stuff that fell out from older bags ripping or falling open. I can only drag them a short distance before I get really winded (I'm so out of shape) & it is the one chore my brother is supposed to do. I cleaned up in the living room as well & finally found my pipe cutter!

Now I need a nap bc my back hates me & I'm exhausted. I'm a candy ass. LOL.

 

[highup]

Have you figured out anything about a work vehicle?

Nope. I've managed one repair in the past 3 weeks. Shop doesn't lioke using old slow people.
.......even tho my success rate has been nearly 100% for 44 years from that same shop. I've been pushed closer and closer to the curb every year. So far they've paid me $2700 this year, with $900 on one job, and almost everything else is from doing repairs and re-stretches done by other installers.
In fairness, Carpet One retailers guarantee installations for life, so even a 5 year old carpet gets fixed for free.
That said, nobody including myself has had to re-stretch any of my installations or fixed my own seams.
I persuaded/influenced one customer to buy their carpet there. They were thinking about looking at a different store because a friend new the owner really well. I brought up the lifetime Carpet One guarantee. Remember the 48 foot living room with angled walls? .........did anyone say thanks? Probably a $7000 sale not including me. Got em a 650 sq ft Coretec sale, a 75 yard carpet job last year. They don't even have to measure my jobs. I just tell em how much the customer needs.
It's not good to be at the top of your game. The idea of failure (complaints) scares me to death. Being young, fast and doing 'acceptable' work is where it's at.

 

[highup]

Here's the repair I did a week and a half ago. Installer didn't fill this 1/8+ inch deep depression. It was a 3 day job...... so he had time.
The lady sent photos of the problem to the shop. It looked to me like the 'depression' was caused by an overheated 6 inch seaming iron and the carpet being loose. When I got down there and opened it up I saw the real problem. This area was between a master bedroom and an office. Walls had been moved and someone made a fill with the wrong thickness plywood. This is a 1.2 million dollar home.
The carpet had a 5 inch diamond pattern. Only way I could repair this was stretching towards the seam on both sides, then removing 1/2" or so in the middle. The installer had loops stuck down in the seam tape adhesive and one side was cut across three rows.... obviously cut with a straightedge. Lucky that the diamond still looked about right when I got done. I was worried it would look distorted.
The other side of this narrow "hall" had a seam too, but it was better and stretching fixed it.
The guy was a staple jockey too. Stapled the rolled edge in the bathroom doorway, and stapled the carpet to the tack-strip, and stapled the tack-strip to the floor instead of double nailing it. 16 feet opposite this hall seam, on the outside wall, he stapled the carpet onto the tack-strip there too.
The lady told me the seam area looked bad when it was installed, 5 years ago.
A few years ago, the guy cost the store a 45 foot carpet in an A-frame loft............. looped pile, in a 29 by 18 foot L-shaped area and stapled to the tack-strip so hard you could see every divot. The single 14 foot long seam had a 1/8 to 1/4 inch gaps along it's length.
No, he doesn't do carpet anymore.

 

[Tom Picciani]

Hallway is coming along on my project but it's slow because I have 2 doors. But I got it. But then as I was moving down the row, I found a damaged edge on the previous row. Had to disassemble 3 planks to get to it. But it's fixed.

I have a second row mostly built into the hallway. Once I get that row complete I'll have 2 rows more then the headache of the other side of the hall. That will be 2 closets and 2 bedrooms. I'm going to lay an entire row of planks on the previous row and mark it with a piece of scrap. Just going to take time.

 

[highup]

Hallways are really slow because you spend so much time lining it all up, then only getting two or three rows that don't have cuts. You're doing great Tom.

 

[Floorist]

Rusty, I'm curious about what stuff Holmes does wrong.
Sistering is sounding better. I read that construction adhesive is not good for adhering things side by side bc it allows too much movement, but that I could use some sort of gorilla glue & use 16p nails-- I'd probably use ring nails to make sure they stay in. I'll need my C-clamps from the workshop. Will also need to figure out how long the wood will need to be for sistering. I might still do some supports perpendicular to the joists just under where the washing machine, dryer, & tub. Only the closet door swings outward but it actually has a gap between the bottom & the floor. I'm going to remove the old exterior door & it's frame bc it's in terrible shape & the header is an entire inch lower on one side bc it is sloped-- and it shows with a gap on the door. I'm going too use flashing & possibly a plastic sill pan at the exterior door to protect the plywood, I want to make sure the plywood edge does not get ruined by moisture.

I decided to do massive cleanup again. Got more of the kitchen cleaned and re-cleaned where cats knocked stuff down & my brother dumped trash on the floor. I stacked the full trash bags in the front room and cleaned up a lot of the stuff that fell out from older bags ripping or falling open. I can only drag them a short distance before I get really winded (I'm so out of shape) & it is the one chore my brother is supposed to do. I cleaned up in the living room as well & finally found my pipe cutter!

Now I need a nap bc my back hates me & I'm exhausted. I'm a candy ass. LOL.

Holmes main problem is that he over does things. A lot of the stuff he replaces does not need replacing. But he doesn't care, not his money. Vila just flat out did carpet and vinyl installations wrong.

 

[zannej]

Highup, it always bothers me that speed is valued over quality & accuracy these days. Although, some people are slow & still don't have good quality/accuracy. Describes the only two plumbers in the area. They do horrible work.

I went out this morning to start working on the plumbing to my pump & hit a few snags. Wasps are building their nests right in the doorway & on the far wall so the were swarming around. My calico Aminatu came to see what I was doing & at first she was climbing up on the pressure tank & putting her paws on me bc she wanted attention. Then she went and sat on the ground. A wasp was noisily buzzing around her until she swatted it. One of the buggers landed on my sleeve for awhile & I moved very slowly so as not to make it feel threatened. I want to spray them, but not while the waterlines are cut open. I really should have measured the distances first bc I thought it was farther. The 18" hose may be too long, but I can't get the right angle without it. The threads inside the pump's inlet felt jagged & rusty but I didn't bring a flashlight. I may have to use the trick with wrapping a string/twine around the male threads. I'm hoping the teflon tape & pipe dope will work. I may have to turn the elbows down a bit more so the hose won't go above the pump if I have to bend it, although, maybe I can bend it downward a little instead. I wonder if I can bend it into an S-shape. Anyway, another snag was I didn't notice that the pipe coming out of the shutoff is full of couplings so close that there's no space to attach anything after the shutoff. Which brings me to the fact that the pipe coming directly out of the shutoff was leaking. So, I have to replace the whole shutoff. But, I can't cut it off without the water coming out of the holding tank & flooding the room. If I had all 1-1/4" fittings I could probably get it all together more easily, but bc I have to reduce it takes more fittings. I think I can still get it to go together, but it's going to be a pain.

I have the water off now and am hoping the water in the holding tank will go down on its own like it usually does when there is no pressure forcing it in there-- unless it was all just draining into the lines & the shutoff is stopping it. The shutoff was open & I let water pour out for awhile & it percolated into the ground. I'm debating just leaving it open & letting the water come out in case the water level doesn't go down on it's own. I think I'll leave it until a bit later in the day when it starts to cool off bc it was so hot I could barely think. If I had 1-1/4" coming out of the holding tank first, I'd just have that size shutoff & a threaded piece coming out to attach the hose & it would be much simpler.