What did you do today?

[highup]

What is that white stuff highup?

That's the paper side (bottom side) of some old Armstrong Solarian. I belt sanded the top side with 50 grit to remove all the gloss, so that the epoxy would bond better....... and it bonds good.
Under the linoleum is a fir floor, so I wasn't about to use floor patch..... besides, leveling evenly with floor patch would be difficult in such a tiny, irregularly shaped area.
Today I plan to do the actual surgery to complete the repair. I've got a cut loose a piece from under the stove to do this repair. I'm just hoping that piece comes loose fairly easy.. if the backing tears a little bit in the process I don't think it'll be a huge deal because I'll be gluing the piece in with epoxy and I'll be able to flatten out the floor with a hand roller to smooth out any irregularities. I also have some Masonite over at the house and I can lay that on top of the patch and put weights on it to keep it flat as the epoxy cures. So there is a method to my madness... and I hope it works.

 

[DarisMulkin]

39.9* here just now. Rain and/or snow in the forecast for today and night. If the temp drops, well we know what that means.

 

[zannej]

Highup, no idea if it's rebuilt or not. Will have to ask my friend. Hope he doesn't need a new motor, but it's just the kind of luck he's got. The poor kitty wouldn't have run in the road if the dog hadn't scared him and probably wouldn't have been hit if the vehicle hadn't been speeding and driving on the wrong side of the road. Do you have to test the flooring for asbestos before you pull older stuff?

Today would have been my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. Mom is a bit bummed and said she really misses my dad. We all do, but I know it's hitting her harder on holidays. I wish I could do more to cheer her up. Her sisters were commenting on Facebook about how lovely the wedding was and how beautiful the bridal dresses were. Funny thing is, my mom *hated* those dresses and doesn't speak so fondly of the wedding-- always focuses on things that went wrong- like the priest forgetting to lift her veil. She's the "glass half empty" type.

Since I installed a new latch on the doors to the front room my brother decided to let the kittens loose. They had a lot of fun running around. I got up this afternoon and saw the doors were open. My brother didn't secure them properly. I thought the kittens had gotten out but found them both sitting in a recliner. I made sure to secure the door after letting one of the older cats out of the room-- that room is his favorite and he considers it his territory but he got used to the kittens being in the kitty condo in there. We had only let them out while supervised before. They are enjoying their freedom.

Other than cooking for Mom, I didn't do much. It was raining hard which makes me sleepy. I really need to try to be productive tomorrow.

 

[highup]

Well, I got my patch done. I think I'm the only one that will know it's there.
The patch is the three same colored bricks in the center of the close up photos. You might be able to zoom in and see the actual seams. I don't know the the quality of the photo upload and if it can zoom in that far.
The repair is the walkway going between the kitchen area and the door at the end of this unusual entryway.

 

[Jon]

That's the paper side (bottom side) of some old Armstrong Solarian. I belt sanded the top side with 50 grit to remove all the gloss, so that the epoxy would bond better....... and it bonds good.
Under the linoleum is a fir floor, so I wasn't about to use floor patch..... besides, leveling evenly with floor patch would be difficult in such a tiny, irregularly shaped area.
Today I plan to do the actual surgery to complete the repair. I've got a cut loose a piece from under the stove to do this repair. I'm just hoping that piece comes loose fairly easy.. if the backing tears a little bit in the process I don't think it'll be a huge deal because I'll be gluing the piece in with epoxy and I'll be able to flatten out the floor with a hand roller to smooth out any irregularities. I also have some Masonite over at the house and I can lay that on top of the patch and put weights on it to keep it flat as the epoxy cures. So there is a method to my madness... and I hope it works.

It aint paper especially the way the new old vinyl is curled

 

[highup]

Not sure which of the new old vinyls you're talking about they're both really old. The Armstrong material used for patching behaves almost as if it was new. Usually old materials like that get stiff and brittle. It was nice to use for this purpose.
Once I had my final patch in place with the epoxy I kept rolling it lightly to keep the seam edges even. After about 20 minutes it was starting to set up pretty good and I thought I'd speed up the epoxy with a little heat from my hair dryer. Boy was that a mistake! I barely began to heat the patch when it started to curl on all edges. It was even shrinking. . I quickly cut four 3/8-in wide strips of vinyl and tape them directly over my seams, over those grout lines, then added a bunch of weight. I checked it 15 minutes later and everything was flat again, so I reinstalled the weights and let it set for another hour. The epoxy sets and cures in about an hour. Just before I left tonight I took the weights off cleaned it up and topically applied some sealer. It actually turned out really nice much better than I expected.

 

[Jon]

Not sure which of the new old vinyls you're talking about they're both really old. The Armstrong material used for patching behaves almost as if it was new. Usually old materials like that get stiff and brittle. It was nice to use for this purpose.
Once I had my final patch in place with the epoxy I kept rolling it lightly to keep the seam edges even. After about 20 minutes it was starting to set up pretty good and I thought I'd speed up the epoxy with a little heat from my hair dryer. Boy was that a mistake! I barely began to heat the patch when it started to curl on all edges. It was even shrinking. . I quickly cut four 3/8-in wide strips of vinyl and tape them directly over my seams, over those grout lines, then added a bunch of weight. I checked it 15 minutes later and everything was flat again, so I reinstalled the weights and let it set for another hour. The epoxy sets and cures in about an hour. Just before I left tonight I took the weights off cleaned it up and topically applied some sealer. It actually turned out really nice much better than I expected.

The brown piece you are putting in
Sent you an email

 

[highup]

Both pieces are brown, almost the same color too. That said, you can't see the underside of the patch material.
I've been bouncing around on the internet and deleting emails also but I saved yours I just haven't read them yet. I'll do that now and see what you came up with.

 

[havasu]

Jon's emails are great!

 

[DarisMulkin]

Jon's emails are great!

Especially the jokes.

 

[havasu]

Love the jokes!

 

[Floorist]

If I just spoke the same language.

 

[Floorist]

Jon sounds funny on the phone.

 

[highup]

The brown piece you are putting in
Sent you an email

Oh, I'm quite sure it is. The second layer and the lino too. Ask me if I care. The Solarian has the later fiberglass paper. Besides, I cut, not sand all 20 sq inches of the repair.

 

[highup]

If I just spoke the same language.

I could understand his language if I had decent hearing. . I have a hard enough time with my own.

 

[zannej]

I can barely see the seams and only know they are there because I knew where to look from previous photos and because you said they were there. If I hadn't known to look for them, I wouldn't have noticed at all. Looks great!
I still need to get up and do something productive. Still feeling tired.

 

[DarisMulkin]

Jon sounds funny on the phone.

Jon sounds funny in person. I've been lucky eough to meet him. Tried to pawn off some of his pretty money on me.

 

[zannej]

My uncle recently joined FB and saw me posting about how the 19th would have been my parents' 50th anniversary. My dad was his baby brother. My uncle is the oldest and is the only one of 3 to still be living. My aunt passed in her early 50s and my dad passed at 61 but my uncle just made it to 80. He was missing my dad and decided to call to check on us. Mom got offended when he started talking politics and hung up (but I was still on the line with my uncle). She said it wasn't so much the politics but that he has a habit of talking down to her, dismissing what she says, and talking to her like she's stupid. He just happens to disagree, but apparently for awhile he did treat most women as if they are stupid because he's not used to being around smart ones. His wife is dumb as a stump. The only reason she even got into college (much less graduated) was because she had a rich daddy who bought her way in and bought her degree. He had to make arrangements with the dean to exempt her from certain subjects that required anything but rote memorization. So no math or science or anything involving critical thinking. She could memorize words without understanding their meaning. Comprehension is not her strong point. I suspect his $ also ensured they passed her in some of the subjects she wasn't exempted from because her vocabulary isn't very good either. I suspect she's also somewhere on the autism spectrum as well. But, she was a good housekeeper throughout their marriage up until she became disabled.

We did discuss some fond memories-- at the wedding my dad had to kneel (Catholic church wedding) and his roommate had written HE on the bottom of one show and LP on the other so it spelled HELP. He didn't know his roommate had done that mom's mother slugged him in the arm. LOL. I don't think his own mother attended the wedding. I'll have to ask.

My uncle mentioned how my parents were the first babysitters for my uncles oldest son. My dad taught him to say "da da" when looking at pictures of monkeys-- which made for a hilarious moment at the zoo (although my aunt doesn't have a sense of humor and was furious).

Anyway, phone call side tracked me and I was having another day of anal glaucoma (couldn't see my a$$ doing anything).

Ok, I cleaned the toilet again and scrubbed the toilet seat and made Mom a baked potato. My brother had made pork chops and pork ribs in the pressure cooker.

Tomorrow I will force myself to clean litterboxes. I hope it won't be too cold outside. I usually have to turn on an outside faucet to spray out the litterboxes.

Kittens are still enjoying their freedom in the front room. I wore my fuzzy penguin pants and they sat on my lap earlier.

I went and looked at the vanity lamp we're going to put in the guest bathroom. I thought it was a 2-light one but apparently we got a 3-light one. We got it on clearance for like $20 or something.

Ooh! I just discovered it will let me paste images from my clipboard

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Portfolio-3-Light-Chrome-Modern-Contemporary-Vanity-Light/1000002924
Mom picked it, but it looks better in person than in photos.

My drawing of it that I used to plug in to my bathroom sketches

 

[highup]

There are some pretty cool youtubers out there.
This transmission shop wanted to help out a couple that needed a transmission. Viewers stepped in any tossed them money to help defray the cost...... too much money.

 

[zannej]

I went over to spot my friend some $ for his electric bill since they sent him a shutoff notice & he had no way of paying. His battery in his truck just died right after warranty expired so that was another expense. Also got him some Aleve and milk. I entertained his baby (who was being fussy) with the mele kelikimaka by bass singer with American Sirens video. Baby just turned 4 months old and he was trying to dance while watching it. So already he has better taste in music than his mom does. LOL.

I'm going to rest my back a little before I clean litterboxes.