What did you do today?

[zannej]

I saw some people from Louisiana posting a picture of a house covered in snow & describing it as "cozy" & I was thinking "You've never seen real snow in your life!" LOL. We get 1 inch of snow & they shut everything down. Not even exaggerating-- 1 inch & it's chaos. People can't drive on ice, can't walk on snow. There are no ice scrapers or snow plows or shovels sold here.

Snow was fun when I was a kid in Virginia & I could build a snowman, go sledding, have fun, & then go inside for hot cocoa afterward. I didn't have to shovel the driveway or scrape ice away & I didn't have to drive on icy roads. I wouldn't want to now.

Went to the grocery store, went to Samsclub, got a new monitor bc my old one developed lines down near the middle about an inch wide. Got the 3yr protection plan & had the receipt e-mailed to myself & kept the paper one in my wallet. The warranty had just expired on the old one-- they really don't make stuff to last anymore. Still trying to find the receipt for the 1st one to see if I had the protection plan for it. I'm not dishonest enough to take the old one back in the new one's box.

 

[Floorist]

I saw some people from Louisiana posting a picture of a house covered in snow & describing it as "cozy" & I was thinking "You've never seen real snow in your life!" LOL. We get 1 inch of snow & they shut everything down. Not even exaggerating-- 1 inch & it's chaos. People can't drive on ice, can't walk on snow. There are no ice scrapers or snow plows or shovels sold here.

Snow was fun when I was a kid in Virginia & I could build a snowman, go sledding, have fun, & then go inside for hot cocoa afterward. I didn't have to shovel the driveway or scrape ice away & I didn't have to drive on icy roads. I wouldn't want to now.

Went to the grocery store, went to Samsclub, got a new monitor bc my old one developed lines down near the middle about an inch wide. Got the 3yr protection plan & had the receipt e-mailed to myself & kept the paper one in my wallet. The warranty had just expired on the old one-- they really don't make stuff to last anymore. Still trying to find the receipt for the 1st one to see if I had the protection plan for it. I'm not dishonest enough to take the old one back in the new one's box.

We had a friend who moved here from California. First snow she wanted help getting out of her driveway. We had 1/2" of snow.

 

[zannej]

LOL. It really is all about what people are accustomed to. It rains in California & people can't handle it. We get a lot of rain here & we are used to it. I have driven through flooded roads and driven in severe rain where I could barely see, but I got used to that in Guam. My oldest cat doesn't want to let me type. LOL. It's getting cold in the house so he's clinging to me.
Meanwhile, the governor announced there may be another hurricane heading our way that would hit on Wednesday if it strengthens and follows the predicted path. Just what we need.... Ugh.

 

[Jon]

LOL. It really is all about what people are accustomed to. It rains in California & people can't handle it. We get a lot of rain here & we are used to it. I have driven through flooded roads and driven in severe rain where I could barely see, but I got used to that in Guam. My oldest cat doesn't want to let me type. LOL. It's getting cold in the house so he's clinging to me.
Meanwhile, the governor announced there may be another hurricane heading our way that would hit on Wednesday if it strengthens and follows the predicted path. Just what we need.... Ugh.

You will have to shift down here

 

[highup]

Darn.... Loved that song. Hadn't heard it for 20 years I'd guess.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/ente...nown-writing-mr-bojangles-dies-78/6021629002/

 

[highup]

We had a friend who moved here from California. First snow she wanted help getting out of her driveway. We had 1/2" of snow.

She was nuts. 1/2" of snow and you shouldn't even open your front door.... everyone knows that.
Naw, same here. Too many curves and hills. Snow sticking..... Once every 3 years. ....more than 4 inches, once every 15 years.
.....locals with chains or studded tires.... 10%
We don't get snow, so nobody knows how to drive in it.

 

[Floorist]

We get snow every year and people forget how to drive in it.

 

[highup]

Personally I don't have a problem driving in it but my car might have a problem because my car is a pickup and 90% of its weight is over the front tires and it's rear-wheel drive. I'm sure my S10 will be horrible in the slightest amount of snow. At the least I need 200 lb of sand in the back of the truck as weight to get some traction.

 

[zannej]

I have friends in New Hampshire who get several feet of snow & have to deal with plowing & all sorts of BS. Fortunately they are working from home & have good internet.
I wonder if my phone lines will go out again due to the rain from Zeta. I'm so tired of these storms. If we keep getting them we will have to move. My power company is the slowest in the state at responding & fixing things. I just want a 5 to 10 acre fenced in plot with a workshop, barn, same size or larger house & solar power. Hell, I'd be fine with wind power or both. Just so we don't have to worry about a crappy power company. I still wish that property we saw for $50k with a 5 acre plot, barn, workshop etc hadn't been in the middle of a neighborhood with 3 cartels. Yard was completely fenced in with 10ft fences & there was another brick fence inside the yard with holes for people to aim and shoot through. Plenty of room for the cows. Custom dog houses. But the neighborhood was so bad the real estate agent wouldn't even go there. LOL.
I'm currently waiting for my brother to wake up so we can go to the store & he can help me carry ice & dry food supplies.

 

[highup]

Ever have a job that just won't end? The job I'm still working at the log home with the big single room addition. It has radiant heat tubing embedded Gypcrete in the 12 by 14 foot dining room where the new addition joins the old part of the home.
I searched out the tubing locations with my infrared thermometer and marked the locations with a marker. I took measurements with photos showing the tube locations so I could avoid drilling into them when installing the tackstrip.
OK, got the floor marked and the map made...... Next was pouring five 50lb bags of self leveler, then five 10 lb bags of filler tho blend everything together.
What's next? ....of course, look at my photos and measurements and re draw all the tube locations.
This is the room again before the self leveler, but showing where it went. Green was 1/2 inch deep.
I'm fitting against the wood flooring in a 8 foot span, so here is where I mapped to avoid tubes when nailing in the strip. It's got zbar there now....... can't turn and tack into Gypcrete.
Along the walls, the tubing was installed as close as 2 1/2 inches. That was just plain stupid. No carpet dude should be expected to search for tubing in hopes he doesn't damage it.
I worked in a different room in this house 20 years ago. Same ignorant guy installed this room. Tubes are supposed to be at least 6 inches away from walls and door casings.... he did not know that.

 

[Floorist]

Will it still generate heat with all that fill on top of it?

 

[highup]

Double tackstripped the entire job because the addition is so large, 32 to 44 feet. Had them order 40 oz synthetic pad because the carpet is low level commercial loop with a pattern.
Got the 32 ft long seam done yesterday using a Koolglide seam iron. Couldn't have done this job without it because of the pattern. Very slow process, but results are very impressive.
Problem is trying to heat the room. Floor temperature didn't get above 66 by the days end. Way too cold to stretch. We've had two days with lows of 34 and 35......... and the floor is in the process of getting insulated.
Anyway, seams were finished yesterday. This morning, provided the main heat or pellet stove was finally operational, I planned to begin stretching this nightmare.
I just needed to drill an plug one doorway so I could install tackstrip with zbar.
Should have taken 1/2 hour to get the tackstrip location exact, drill the holes and install the tackstrip. Once done, I could begin the slow stretching process of these rooms. The pattern makes this process slow as molasses compared to the fuzzy type.
....anyhow, the day was soon shot.
I marked locations to drill into the cinder block foundation wall and the drill kept hitting hollow spots.
I removed all marks and a rubber carpet shim then vacuumed out the holes I drilled.
You know how they fill every third, fifth or tenth cinder block cavity full with concrete? Well...... It appears that the voids had sand in them.
......the guy that poured the Gypcrete let it flow into/ the sand to cover it up. Looked to me like the cinder blocks were filled and solid.
It's this doorway. (photo with arrows)
Well, my drilling ended up being mostly hollow spots.
1/8 inch to 3/8" of Gypcrete was all that covered the sand in a couple of those sections...
I broke out the thin Gypcrete covering the sand, the tightly fit some wood in it's place and glued it in place.
.....hours later, I'm ready to begin about the same point as I was today. What crappy workmanship!
Here's part of what I filled with wood that I had on hand. The owner didn't want me to open up the voids....... to me, that was a green light to go ahead full steam.

 

[highup]

Will it still generate heat with all that fill on top of it?

Yup. 1/2 inch max. The don't use the tube heat because it costs too much. It's a log home. They'd probably have heat bills exceeding $600 or more if they used it.
After buying the home, the researched and we're told that radiant heat flooring works poorly in homes with tall ceilings.

 

[DarisMulkin]

Hi how long have you had that old steel shanked hammer? You must feel the vibration all the way to your toes.

 

[highup]

1987

 

[highup]

Never noticed vibration.
......then again, I have nothing to compare it to. Brother had one, so I bought one. I like the length and it's in great shape after all those years.

 

[DarisMulkin]

Is it an Estwing? I had one and it killed me with the vibtation. Threw it out in a field somewhere where I was working. Got a
craftsmen and never turned back.

 

[Floorist]

Is it an Estwing? I had one and it killed me with the vibtation. Threw it out in a field somewhere where I was working. Got a
craftsmen and never turned back.

I have 3 Craftsman, I bought one for me, one for my helper and one for my shop. And most of the time, I still can't find one.

 

[highup]

Is it an Estwing? I had one and it killed me with the vibtation. Threw it out in a field somewhere where I was working. Got a
craftsmen and never turned back.

Yup. My brother has one too. His handle has a harder rubber handle than mine... Not much, but noticeable.

 

[highup]

Got my job done tonight. Got fed burgers afterwords.
Turned out great, but I am whooped. Over felt pad, stretching is harder, so because the room I over 30 feet long, I stretched the first 1/3 of the length and stay tacked it. Later, I stretched it another 1/3 of the way to move the wrinkle that formed ahead of the first stay tacks.
Then I finished to the far wall.
The owner wasn't home. I figured she'd freak out seeing this.