What did you do today?

[Tom Picciani]

Remnants are headed to southern Pennsylvania. Hitting overnight and all day Saturday. I’m high and dry but lots of places near me that flood.

 

[Floorist]

We only got 1/2" of rain. No wind.

 

[Tom Picciani]

Heavy weather coming our way out of Erie, through State College, and bullseye Lancaster.

 

[Floorist]

We get so much of that we don't pay attention any more.

 

[Tom Picciani]

Couple trees came down. One blocked a road and I had to make a uturn. Only 1/2 inch of rain. I always get a little anxious when I hear of hurricane remnants. In 72 we had Agnes. Dropped 12 inches on Lancaster County. Covered bridges got swept away. I would guess that would be 12 feet of water.

 

[Floorist]

Heavy rain and wind here. Not from the hurricane. High of 79 today, 69 now. Was 95 yesterday.

 

[Floorist]

I sent zanne an e mail. But towers are most likely down.

 

[Floorist]

Where did everyone go?

 

[DarisMulkin]

They went to sh$$ and the hogs ate them. But I be here at least 3 times a day. Other boards are slow also.

 

[Floorist]

They went to sh$$ and the hogs ate them. But I be here at least 3 times a day. Other boards are slow also.

Yeah, I noticed.

 

[highup]

Where did everyone go?

I got myself into an odd duck that wore my sorry arse out. A guy has a garage that he's revamping. It's 40 by 50. He removed a bunch of interior walls and a loft so now it's one large space. One crack went wall to wall through the center, then six more going from the center crack out to the opposing outside walls. That plus dozens of chips and craters from drilled holes and nails that held the interior walls. There was also a deep spauld area probably from a battery. I hit it hard with baking soda and no bubbles at all. I brought in the hose and used my shop vac to suck out the baking soda mess, the hit it with a stiff wire brush in my drill to clean out the loose aggregate.
Finished on day 4, but I told him it would take me two. Last thing I did was vacuum the entire floor. Let's see..... walking backwards with the vac wand.... 40 passes, 50 feet long.... that's .....plain nuts

 

[highup]

I used UZIN 170 self leveler for the cracks. He didn't want a wide swath of filler, so I made a custom brass nozzle for a plastic bottle to slowly pour in the self leveler, filling the cracks until they were full.
That's where I missed my time estimation. The cracks filled up, then 30 seconds later they needed another fill, then another and another.....
This Large garage isn't for daily use as a garage. He's storing a 30 foot travel trailer, metal shelving and it will be a bit of a man cave. The guy didn't want to go for the expense of a properly applied epoxy coating, so the paint store told him a solid body concrete stain would be his best shot at some sort of finish. It's a not so perfect slab made better and at least it will have a more even color. He's aiming at a medium to dark brownish gray.
Anyway, he's happy with what I did........ and I'm beat up from such a tediously slow process. I've probably walked 5 miles in that sucker.

 

[highup]

Finished my circle cutter last night for repairing vinyl floors.
Lots of trials and errors. The circles were either not perfectly round, or not exactly the same diameter. With every correction I made, it got better, but still not as exact as I needed.

 

[highup]

I made a brass lever to stop the lower edge of the blade from moving around. I decided to solder in some pins so I could adjust the diameter of the cut. Adjust the cutter position, then slide the lever to engage the pin to lock it into place.
This helped by stabilizing the lower part of the blade holder, but then I discovered the the top guides, the ones that slide to and fro were a lot more sloppy/wiggly than I thought.
I took the black plastic part off, drilled out the holes to accept brass tubing. The tubing made super close bushings that now slide over the two steel rails with zero slip. I used JB Weld to hold the brass bushings in place.

 

[highup]

Here's what holds the blade in place. I bought some large fender washers and epoxied them together for stiffness. I cut them into a half moon shape and tapped in a brass screw so this swing arm piece could be easily moved up and out of the way to adjust or replace the blade. Works really well.
To keep the base of this contraption from moving as I rotate the cast iron cutter, I put dabs of silicone grout caulk on the base. I added a bead around the perimeter also. To get the silicone smooth and flat, I set this base on a smooth granite sample covered with a sheet of heavy black plastic until it cured.
The silicone grabs onto the floor surface really well. If it moves at all, my circle cuts will not be round. It works great.

 

[highup]

Here's a test repair done with paper backed sheet vinyl. It's the floor my neighbor has..... The reason I made this cutter in the first place. She has a half dozen dings and gouges in her floor. The floor is in a modular home and it's loose layed. I'll glue in the plugs.
I wish Armstrong still made their topical sealer. Be perfect for this type of thing.

I used Dap adhesive caulk to do this test repair. Is there a better adhesive, maybe clear or white epoxy? A slow setting super glue?

 

[Jon]

Where did everyone go?

I am here
Had to lay vinyl planks in a bathroom and toilet today 40ks away
Not worth it

 

[highup]

Doesn't sound fun nor profitable.

 

[Floorist]

Doesn't sound fun nor profitable.

Everyone does some of those.

 

[highup]

I see too many of those kind of jobs.