What did you do today?

[zannej]

Overthinking things and accumulating lots of stuff and having trouble letting go are two of my main issues. If I know it will get used by someone it isn't so bad, but I hate throwing things away.

Felt like crap today. I think I overdid it yesterday. It was also cold so my lungs felt bad. Kept coughing. Didn't go for a walk because it was too cold. Friend has decided Sunday is the day to work on my shower so I have to get all the stuff ordered ahead of time.

Tomorrow I will go over the full list with him of things we need and go over the plan. I have almost everything figured out but still need to figure out what thinset to get. I was hoping for pre-mixed but can't find any modified thinset that fits the right standards for cement board application in my area. If I have to do the powder, I'm hoping to not get a heavy bag. Anyone have recommendations? I need something that will set in 30min to an hour. Don't want it setting too fast, but also want to be able to move on with stuff and not have to wait too long.

I cleared out half of my bathtub in preparation. Lifting the dresser had me winded so I'm resting.

 

[highup]

After you pry the steps off the stringers can’t ya just use the old nail holes to realign the steps when you put them back? Stick a nail in them. Or pieces of the old nails?

 

[highup]

While they're still in place I just drilled a hole straight through the tread so I can drop in a 2" section of dowel and use that for alignment.
....A nail hole is pretty tiny and trust me, this worked out really well and it was extremely simple, easy peasy. It's a lot easier cutting a wide wooden dowel that it is cutting a nail. Nails, no matter how you cut them or going to be sharp and hard to feel as you try to wiggle the stair down onto them. If you ever do a set of stairs like these use a 3/8 dowels, promise?
On the back side of the tread instead of drilling a hole down through the carpet to attach it, I went underneath and drilled a 3/8 inch hole a half inch deep straight into the stringer. Then I drilled inside of that 3/8 inch hole with an 1/8 inch bit, but at a 40° angle upwards. Take a look at the images. See how far the 4 inch torx head screw extends above the stringer? That's going into the tread. I think one screw on each side should hold the back side of the stairs securely. If you look close you can see that I temporarily stuck a wood plug to fill the hole and hide the screw. I'll just put some dark walnut stain on there and it's good to go.
On the front side you can see the Simpson bracket that I used. It looks better than what I was going to do.
Anyway, I have one stair done and one steel baluster holder back in place and lined up using the laser. It lines up good, thanks to the dowels.
I've got this figured out now so maybe on Monday I'll finish the next three in this first run, then attempt to put the railing section back in place. If it looks like it's going to fit, then I'll be ready to take the railing off the next five stairs, the pies.

 

[highup]

I didn't even think of taking a picture of the top of the step but hey it's just a step.
Here's what the brackets will look like all painted nice and pretty in flat black. Three screws into the stringer on each side, the three into the tread. I think the homeowner is going to like these.

 

[highup]

The one problem I discovered today is a bit interesting. The square wood stair railing posts are shrinking.
This railing has been installed for a long long time.
In this picture you'll see a big foot that caps the steel pipe at the bottom of the baluster. It just slides down over the baluster and covers up the steel post.
Those might be okay.
The square posts however will not slide over this square tubing. It was on there and I removed them.
Now they won't fit back up inside the cavity in the post. It's too tight.
I think for years the wood has shrunk up but there's no place for it to move to. Now without that steel post snugly fitting inside of it, the wood has shrunk. When installed these posts fit the tubing rather well. Now that the post is out the wood has shrunk and the post won't fit back inside of it. That's not something I envisioned.
Using an angle grinder and my belt sander, I ground down two sides of a steel support bracket to make it thinner. Well it worked. One of these steel brackets now fits back inside the square post, the one shown.
I think I'm going to need to do this grinding four more times.

 

[zannej]

Could it be shrinking because of the temperature? I wonder if heating it up would make it expand a little. Like taking a hair dryer to it?

 

[C.J.]

I wonder if some soap or wax would help the wood slide back over the metal brackets a little easier so you wouldn’t have to grind and sand.

 

[C.J.]

@highup here’s a better look at the palm sander. The black piece around the off centered mechanism spins freely and if I take the belt off then the disc will spin at some crazy rpm, whatever the motor is spinning at. It appears as if the belt slows down and limits the rotation of the disc. I haven’t tried sanding without the belt so I couldn’t say how well that would work.

Have any of you noticed fibers in your multi ply? I’ve seen them before but never paid too much attention to them but I was quite curious yesterday. I think the wood we are currently using is Dragon Ply. Vietnamese? Philippines? It’s made in one of them countries. Better quality than the domestic ply that we can get. Only complaint I have is the same one I’ve always had, the top layer is toilet paper thin.

 

[zannej]

I've never noticed fiber in the plywood. Probably snagged on something at the store. Looks like some sort of synthetic fibers from the sheen. From afar it reminded me of cat fur- I find a lot of that on everything.

I finally cleared out my bathtub. I need to vacuum it out. I found a bottle of shampoo that was over 20yrs old. Found and re-assembled my rolling cart that I had in my bathroom in the 90s. It has pull out bins. It's in rough shape but can work for temporary storage for now.

I need to search through my drawers for a tub stopper to keep the sewer gases from coming up when I take that plunger out. I think I have one in my vanity drawer somewhere. Otherwise I have to buy one. I've got my material lists together for what I need to order.

 

[C.J.]

I've never noticed fiber in the plywood. Probably snagged on something at the store.

I thought it was a snagged fiber as well but it’s not. That was a cut edge that the fibers were poking out of. You can pull on the fibers and more come out. Is the fiber there to compensate for the use of less dimensionally stable wood cus it’s definitely there for some reason that financially benefits the manufacturer.

 

[zannej]

I wonder if it somehow accidentally got into the materials when they were being bonded. But it's possible it was used as filler on purpose. I removed the wall panels from my shower. It is a mess in there. I also scrounged up all of the parts and everything I should need for the installation. I need to get the tub spout and shower arm off to get that last wall panel off. I thought it was bare studs behind but there is plywood.

The glue-up surround was attached to printed wood panels. The one on the left was intact. The back wall one crumbled into pieces. Looks like termite damage. Some of it is still stuck to that messed up water damaged plywood. I'm going to tear it all out if I can pry it up enough. I need to do some cleanup and then more removal. My cats were desperately trying to get in there to figure out what the hell I was doing. LOL.

 

[DarisMulkin]

Z can't you just pour water down the drain and fill up the trap to stop gases from coming up out of the tub drain?

 

[JPfloor]

I thought it was a snagged fiber as well but it’s not. That was a cut edge that the fibers were poking out of. You can pull on the fibers and more come out. Is the fiber there to compensate for the use of less dimensionally stable wood cus it’s definitely there for some reason that financially benefits the manufacturer.

Maybe. Or maybe just some errant fiber got caught up during the manufacturing process… Or maybe you’re right about the financial benefits. Maybe it’s just cheaper than wood or glue and added in to increase profits. In answer to your question, I’ve never seen it.

 

[highup]

Could it be shrinking because of the temperature? I wonder if heating it up would make it expand a little. Like taking a hair dryer to it?

No, no changes, Zan. Imagine the railing being constructed in a guys shop. This isn't off the shelf railing. A local contractor built it 15 to 25 years ago. His shop probably wasn't acclimated to the same conditions this house is. I'm quite sure that's the case here. Picture the contractors shop being unheated and tho dry, it would have higher humidity than the home.
He comes in, and a day or two later, the railing is in place.
It finished drying or acclimating in the house.
My theory is that the square posts shrunk slightly and snugged up on the square tubing. I had a hard time getting one of them out.
Now that the steel is out, nothing can stop the wood from shrinking or should I say "relaxing" a tiny bit more. If it was snug before, it may be a couple thousandths smaller now. With such a snug fit, a couple thousandths tighter is a lot.
Crap, I even had my dial calipers I'm the truck.
Before grinding the steel, I could have measured it and the inside diameter of the wooden posts too. I might only have to do three more.
I'm going to do some measuring when I do the last section. I gots to know.

 

[highup]

I wonder if some soap or wax would help the wood slide back over the metal brackets a little easier so you wouldn’t have to grind and sand.

I was thinking silicone, but wax might be better on the wood parts.

 

[highup]

@highup here’s a better look at the palm sander. The black piece around the off centered mechanism spins freely and if I take the belt off then the disc will spin at some crazy rpm, whatever the motor is spinning at. It appears as if the belt slows down and limits the rotation of the disc. I haven’t tried sanding without the belt so I couldn’t say how well that would work.

Have any of you noticed fibers in your multi ply? I’ve seen them before but never paid too much attention to them but I was quite curious yesterday. I think the wood we are currently using is Dragon Ply. Vietnamese? Philippines? It’s made in one of them countries. Better quality than the domestic ply that we can get. Only complaint I have is the same one I’ve always had, the top layer is toilet paper thin.


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That little tool is very eccentric.
Never own one, never gave it a thought how they worked because they spin so weird.

 

[zannej]

Z can't you just pour water down the drain and fill up the trap to stop gases from coming up out of the tub drain?

I tried that. The water siphons right out because it doesn't have a proper vent.

Busy day. Prepped for my friend to come over and got all of the tools and stuff I figured we'd need that I had on hand. Moved stuff out of the way, unloaded stuff from truck, etc.

Waited for confirmation of orders being ready, woke my friend up and picked him up, went up to HD first to get stuff. Stopped at Taco Bell for him (he's almost always hungry), got stuff from Lowes, put air in two low tires while waiting for an order. Stopped by friend's house to grab more tools and say hi to his gf. He got the "I wasn't asking" pipe wrench. Thing is huge and heavy. I'll have to get a picture of it. It got that stupid tub spout off. That sucker was on there.

Didn't get too much done. Removing the damaged plywood took a lot of time and removing the old plumbing did as well. Measured, marked for new holes, etc. Decided to be lazy and use the old diverter hole for the tub spout (I wanted to raise it up). Center of the controls are supposed to be within 18" of the tub spout and moving it up let me put the controls a little higher so they are easier to reach when standing outside the tub. Got plastic sheets up on the walls to keep the cementboard from touching wood, test fit a piece, shimmed, etc, and then realized the flange and tub edge/top desperately need to be cleaned. I will tape the bottom of the plastic to the flange of the tub (I'm surprised there was a flange) so I don't want old residue there. I wanted to be able to get off as much grime as I can. Made a paste of white vinegar and baking soda. Slathered it all over and will clean it off tomorrow after my back has time to rest. I hurt myself lifting the bag of baking soda. LOL.

I took my friend home and sat watching youtube videos channel Norte of the Border. The guy makes models out of clay and they are awesome. Went to Walmart to grab food for mom. She'd been complaining about not having stuff she wanted to eat in the house. So I grabbed several things and she ate the most she's had since she got food poisoning. I've got a heated massage pad on my back and will probably take a nap soon.

 

[Floorist]

 

[highup]

...unless don't shoot is written in Chinese.

 

[zannej]

I sat under a pile of cats until I felt I absolutely had to get up. Cleaned litterboxes, scrubbed counters, and swept up the hallway. I need to sweep in the kitchen too but got overheated and am cooling off. I'm going to clean up the tub soon. I'm taking a little break right now. I got my shoulder exercises done. Arm is tighter than usual and was a bit sore this morning, but not as bad as it was in the past. I left the litterboxes too long so they were a mess. Cleaning litterboxes for 14 cats is not fun. I ran out of fresh litter so I need to order more.