What did you do today?

[Mark Brown]

No, that doesn't look like a giant pain in the ass at all...........
Well done sir.

 

[highup]

No, that doesn't look like a giant pain in the ass at all...........
Well done sir.

In the last picture, I showed the mismatch in the seam. The pattern has an 18 by 18 match. I thought it had a half drop with those four flamboyant wings emanating from the center of one pattern.
I measured and figured like I usually do but after lining up the dots and those wings that you see in white, I discovered I was half a pattern off.
I'm glad I discovered that by accident because we actually do not have enough material to shift it up one and over one. Had I known beforehand my brain would have been strained even more.
Just saying, it's a fairly forgiving material to work with. To add one small section that no one will ever see, we gave it a quarter turn and it was still virtually invisible.

This project would go four or five times faster if we could cut the material to fit the shape we wanted it and put the vinyl reducer on afterwards.
Because the rubber reducer had to be installed first, we have to fit the carpet to the trim. Normally with these type of moldings you might have a 15 or 20 ft run of carpet with a three or four foot doorway to far end that you fit the carpet to the reducer.
The carpet we are working with is stiff and the auditorium is cold and we have to fit the material into the vinyl reducers on all sides. Not to mention the pattern and seams.
We have one side completed and the second side has a very good start, we might even finish it tomorrow.
I billed out slightly over $1,000 for the first aisle. I'm guessing the second one will be closer to $600.
I have spent more time on this job measuring and thinking that I have actually installing carpet. There are just too many steps between pattern alignment and positioning the reducers as close as possible to the chairs.
I don't do much work with these vinyl reducers, mainly because I avoid commercial installations like the plague. To install these vinyl reducers, we used to use a product I believe called D-914?
It was a glue down carpet seam sealer/ contact cement. You could lay a bead of that down on the floor, then smooth the molding into it, then lift it up for 30 seconds or a minute and restick it. It held on like gangbusters. It was like contact cement on steroids.
That product is no longer available, so we're using contact cement. I discovered that two very thin coats of quickly applied contact cement on the floor and on the vinyl reducer, are much better than a heavier, single coat on each surface.
It cost so much to do the first aisle because we were short of materials and it was agreed upon that we were going to attempt to use carpet runners of the same material, that were designated for the balcony for this lower section. They were 4 inches narrower than we'd have liked them to be because of the wiring being fit into the vinyl reducer. The wires would have gone from the chairs, them traveling four inches out to the vinyl reducer on each side of the aisle. That would be unsightly and create a long-term cleaning issue to avoid damaging the wires.
They wanted the wire a short as possible between the vinyl reducer and the metal chair leg.

After wasting a bunch of time trying to make the 36 in runners from the balcony fit into this main aisle, I made a suggestion to eliminate one office so we could do these aisles properly. They agreed that would be best, .......so I pretty much wasted two days worth of time trying to make these pre-cut stair runners for the balcony, fit into the main isles of the auditorium. I feel bad that this is costing as much as it did, but I can't work for free.
This is a local historical theater that is being restored. It was built in 1924.
There are a couple hundred seats downstairs that were totally remade and only the cast iron end pieces were retained so that visually it is still the old theater.
Every seat in the auditorium has an engraved brass name plate of the local person that donated money for that seat. I know of one family alone that has purchased six of those seats. They're the same kind of fold up seat you'd see in a movie theater. They must cost 300 bucks a piece.
A local commercial transportation company paid for transportation from the West Coast, almost to the East Coast, to a facility that refurbishes these types of seats.
The transportation was donated.
It's amazing the outpouring of money that comes from small communities for a project such as this. I'm not a theater person and I don't even go to theaters to watch movies, so for me I don't have a personal attachment.
This theater doesn't do movies, it does plays. My mom was in the play, Annie get your gun, and The sound of music back in the mid-60s. I mentioned that to the vice president of this theater and when I began the job she came out with a newspaper photo with my mother and two other ladies from back in the 60s.
It's really cool to see a local community so concerned about an old building. The lady I deal with is someone that I know. she is a fundraiser like none others and has acquired tremendous amounts of money in donations from local businesses plus grants from the state to make this building virtually brand new.....
..... Actually it's considerably better.

 

[zannej]

Highup, that's a lot of painstaking work for a rug that will likely not be seen most of the time due to the dark. LOL.

CJ, my mother has been diabetic for over 30 years. I have numerous relatives with diabetes (it runs in the family). I am pre-diabetic and have insulin resistance. I spoke with my doctor about the symptoms & he said weight GAIN is one of the symptoms. Insulin resistance occurs when insulin levels are sufficiently high over a prolonged period of time causing the body?s own sensitivity to the hormone to be reduced.
Being resistant to insulin is similar to not producing enough insulin in the result-- sugar stays in the blood rather than being absorbed into cells. This can lead to fat build up.

I've cut back on carbs & sugar and am trying to walk more. It's an uphill battle since I'm tired all the time & get overheated/exhausted easily.

The other day I used my laptop to get Mom to order a new power supply for her computer. Old one is still under warranty so we need to figure out the RMA process. They wouldn't deliver the new one to our address so we had it sent to our friend's house & he put it in and also put in her new SSD. He told me how to link the two to make them act as one.

Yesterday, I realized we probably couldn't put Mom's computer back without breaking her desk (it halfway broke removing it) because of the massive trash pile she built up. My brother was supposed to be taking trash out but didn't. He promised to clean it up last year but kept putting it off & it got worse. It was up to my waist. I finally got him to help me by holding the bags up and open for me while I picked it all up. At first I sat on the couch and used my hands. When I got away from the couch I used a large dustpan to scoop it up and dump it in to the bags. When the bags were full my brother tied them off and set them in the kitchen. On about the 5th or 6th 50gallon contractor bag he started complaining about how he had the harder job (and he was being serious). I gave him side-eye and kept working. Mom came in as we were filling the 7th bag. She started criticizing how I was picking up & I was starting to overheat so we took a break after the 7th & hauled the bags outside. I rested a bit and then went back to it. Filled an 8th bag by myself (it's so much easier with someone holding the bag). Found 3 of Mom's slippers, her missing blood sugar test kit, some missing dice, one of her walking canes, some random stuff I don't even know what it was but it was hers, and a full 30 gallon trash bag from a time when I'd tried to tackle the pile before but my back gave out on me & my brother wouldn't take the bag out. For the record, I cleared this pile by myself twice before but it had not been this massive. I managed to clear up to the desk & get a clear path so the computer could be put back in. When I filled that 8th bag I stopped. I still have another bag or two worth to fill with Mom's trash. I think there may be a trash can still hidden in there. I'm going to make a mental effort not to let it get that bad again. Fortunately, I had taken naproxyn and the magnesium seems to be helping with my back so I was able to keep working. If I hadn't overheated I probably could have finished cleaning it up.

We then went to pick up the computer from our friend's house. Mom now has her computer back and is happy.

 

[highup]

Still working at the theater. Starting on aisle number 2. There was a void in the concrete on a wall by the steps. We discovered it too late so I added some filler.
Wow, doing some hack work is so relaxing and fulfilling.

 

[Jon]

highup the job is looking good to me
Rather you doing it than me as I wouldnt know where to start

 

[highup]

Jon......
No I wouldn't.
I'm not all that into travel and if I went someplace that wouldn't be it.

 

[highup]

highup the job is looking good to me
Rather you doing it than me as I wouldnt know where to start

Jon, the job is coming out wonderfully. It would be much easier if we had an abundance of carpet. The size of the pieces that we have to work with and the 18 inch pattern match makes my measuring ridiculously difficult. Aisle number two has three pieces. Is 6x7 piece at the top, then a 39 inch by 16-ft piece, and lastly a 42 inch by 9-ft piece which will be at an angle because of the positioning of the seating as it curves down near the stage.
Some of these pieces were cut to size before I started this job. I don't know if these pieces were intended to fit where I put them or if they were just scraps off of another part of the job. I can't explain why these pieces are so difficult. It simply because the pieces were not large enough to allow me to shift them right or left more than a quarter of an inch.
Anyway it's going to turn out perfect, or close enough to perfect.
We have all the reducer installed on aisle number 2 and the first section of carpet glued and the same edges between the first and second piece are trimmed. Monday we can put that seam together and while the adhesive tacks up for 45 minutes, we can cut the last piece that needs to be angled and get that ready. We should finish up the aisle on Monday.
We work last weekend and I don't feel like working this weekend.

 

[highup]

The theater has, if I have to guess, about 200 seats in the main part of the auditorium. Probably a third more in the balcony. This theater started a major renovation probably 10 years ago. They are trying to keep it as historically accurate as they can.
They removed all of the seats in the entire theater and had a company remake them. That means the entire seat sections are totally brand new. To make the seats look like they did before, the powder coated the cast iron in plates on the end of each aisle.
Each of these seats cost about $250 and every single one of them was purchased by a local donor. I'm not talking that they were all purchased by one person. Every single seat was purchased by someone in the community. And appreciation, each arm rest has a engraved brass name plate with the name of the person that purchased the seat for the theater. Pretty cool.

 

[Jon]

Jon......
No I wouldn't.
I'm not all that into travel and if I went someplace that wouldn't be it.

How would you go building it?
Maybe they needed some carpet?
For those who didnt get the email I sent
This is it

 

[highup]

I would build it using a helicopter. I'd to start on one side and fly to the other side with a length of rope and then fly back to the first side. I would do that dozens and dozens of times until the rope would become thick enough to walk on. The workers could use that to start building the bridge.
Then I would go home for a year and hike around on trails and roll over dead logs and go to the beach.
Then I would return to see the bridge all finished. That's how I would go about building the bridge. Hey, I did my part.

 

[Tom Picciani]

Yesterday I shoveled 2 cubic yards of topsoil in 4 hours. Guess that means I don’t have any heart problems!

 

[havasu]

Yesterday I shoveled 2 cubic yards of topsoil in 4 hours. Guess that means I don’t have any heart problems!

You should have gone to Home Depot and purchased a sheet of plywood. Now that is a real "ticker tester!"

 

[C.J.]

You should have gone to Home Depot and purchased a sheet of plywood. Now that is a real "ticker tester!"

$75 for a sheet of 3/4” sanded face plywood down here.

 

[Mark Brown]

thats what I pay for 1/2 inch cdx
it makes my heart sad

 

[Floorist]

$75 for a sheet of 3/4” sanded face plywood down here.

I hear it is $125 in some areas.

 

[C.J.]

I made this miter saw station for my 7.25” slider out of left over material I had laying around. At first I thought it was big n clunky but I find it’s my go to cut station now unless I have to break out my big saw for either capacity or accuracy.

I’ve been wanting to make one for one of my 12” sliders but I just can’t bring myself to pay for the plywood.

 

[Mark Brown]

Only you my friend would round out a saw hole lol.
You could have made an effective version out of half the plywood though dont you think?
You going to put a back plate on it?

 

[C.J.]

You know me, I’ve got my saw hood if necessary. That thing is awesome when we’re cutting a lot of MDF. I can hook my dust collector up to it and cycle it on n off with a foot peddle. Helps to cut down on the ol booger production.

 

[Mark Brown]

Sometimes buddy i think you spend more time dinking around on things for wood working than you do working with wood
I love that you stained it too lol
....table saw must still be set up in the kitchen?

 

[C.J.]

There’s only so much sitting around that I can do. I had the day off, waiting for materials to be delivered, so I decided to make something.

Weather was nicer when I made this one so I didn’t have to finish it in the house.