Both of my arms were too sore today to try to lift anything too heavy. I grabbed some groceries and mom's RX and came back home. I'm going to try to glue up some shims once I'm happy with how the boards sit with them. And, my bladder just started yelling at me.
What did you do today?
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Mitchell-DIY-Guy
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You bet! I’m targeting Friday for glass installation.
Sitting outside on the veranda watching the smoke from the wildfires in Canada making a mess out of things here in NoVA. Gee, I wonder, if I can use my stockpile of N-95 masks on this stuff or is the particulate too small to be filtered by an ill-fitting N-95.
Reminds me of 1960's level SMOG I'd see in the Los Angeles area of SoCal. By the way, has California cleaned up the SMOG as a result of all their pollution mandates or not?
Reminds me of 1960's level SMOG I'd see in the Los Angeles area of SoCal. By the way, has California cleaned up the SMOG as a result of all their pollution mandates or not?
It was common for "stage 2" smog alerts in So Cal for years. I can't remember any smog alerts in the last 10 years though. Whether is is due to the pollution mandates, or just because most factories have left the area, I have no idea.
I work in Winchester Va and live in Augusta Wv. It is horrible out this way.
I am driving from the Dulles Airport area to Syracuse and back tomorrow almost into the heart of the mess via I-81.
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I'm glad I'm not up near the smoke. I remember getting hit with really bad smoke when Malaysia had fires back in the 90s. I think it was Malaysia. I just know it blanketed Singapore and was horrible.
Took Mom to Golden Corral after taking her to the ENT so she could have a face-to-face and get approval to get CPAP supplies. It was relatively fast. There was some poor dude being escorted by two women. He had a white padded helmet on (not a football type) and what looked sort of like white boxing gloves but were straighter. Sort of padded mittens or something. They had his hands behind his back and I think his wrists were tied. He kept wailing and making weird noises. I'm guessing either TBI or severe autism. After he came out they had untied his wrists but someone still had to hold on to his arm and they were telling him everything was going to be OK.
At Golden Corral they thought I was a senior (60+) again. This time we didn't argue and just took the discount. I know I'm post-menopausal but I don't *think* I look that old. LOL. Food was good. I ate too much desert. They had chocolate cake, carrot cake, and pumpkin pie. Mom saw the carrot cake and wanted some. Her knee was hurting so I got it for her. I should've had another bowl of the clam chowder instead. That stuff was good. The waitress was busting her hump putting out clean plates, hauling away dirty dishes, clearing tables, bringing drinks, etc. I drew an elephant and wrote "Thank You" on the paper that is supposed to be displayed on the table and handed it to her with the tip. She went in the back and then came out to thank me for the drawing. She apparently loves elephants and thought it was cute.
Picked up mail and then went straight home. I had to help Mom get to the door. Her knee is bugging her. She racked out while I put stuff away and gave my brother his mail.
I worked on shims and stuff for my bathroom. I cut some cove molding for one of the corners because the miter saw couldn't cut what I needed to cut for the project. But, upon looking at it, I think I'm going to try my table saw to cut trim instead. I can find another use for the cove molding. I found my staple gun and used staples on some of the shims because the adhesive wasn't grabbing.
Discovered my miter saw was a hair to the right of 0 so that is why the cuts were all slightly crooked. I told my friend and he said he must not have seen it. I set it to zero, tightened the knob and it moved a hair to the right again. So, I determined there is some defect where it moves when the knob is locked down too tight. I let my friend know so he felt better that it was the saw and not him. As an aside, he didn't think I'd be able to get the saw & stand out of the pantry by myself. But the way it is designed made it pretty easy to do. I hope the table saw won't be too difficult to set up.
I got on a stool and got down what I thought was the brad nailer but it was the pin nailer so I will have to put it back and get the brad nailer down. Pretty sure its in the medium sized box. Will have to see if I'm able to get the compressor down. It weighs 32lbs and its off to the left on a high shelf. My left arm was being a b**** today. Oh, and I cut a piece to fill the gap at the end of one of the trim boards.
One thing I was pretty happy with was the baseboard I chose for the front of the tub. It looks nice. I did a dry fit with it and it looks so much better than the exposed wood underneath and it covers the gap to the sheet vinyl (although there is one blemish where mice chewed the sheet vinyl, but caulk should cover that).
I'm trying to remember where I put my head lamp thingy so I can use it to look in the closet again.
Took Mom to Golden Corral after taking her to the ENT so she could have a face-to-face and get approval to get CPAP supplies. It was relatively fast. There was some poor dude being escorted by two women. He had a white padded helmet on (not a football type) and what looked sort of like white boxing gloves but were straighter. Sort of padded mittens or something. They had his hands behind his back and I think his wrists were tied. He kept wailing and making weird noises. I'm guessing either TBI or severe autism. After he came out they had untied his wrists but someone still had to hold on to his arm and they were telling him everything was going to be OK.
At Golden Corral they thought I was a senior (60+) again. This time we didn't argue and just took the discount. I know I'm post-menopausal but I don't *think* I look that old. LOL. Food was good. I ate too much desert. They had chocolate cake, carrot cake, and pumpkin pie. Mom saw the carrot cake and wanted some. Her knee was hurting so I got it for her. I should've had another bowl of the clam chowder instead. That stuff was good. The waitress was busting her hump putting out clean plates, hauling away dirty dishes, clearing tables, bringing drinks, etc. I drew an elephant and wrote "Thank You" on the paper that is supposed to be displayed on the table and handed it to her with the tip. She went in the back and then came out to thank me for the drawing. She apparently loves elephants and thought it was cute.
Picked up mail and then went straight home. I had to help Mom get to the door. Her knee is bugging her. She racked out while I put stuff away and gave my brother his mail.
I worked on shims and stuff for my bathroom. I cut some cove molding for one of the corners because the miter saw couldn't cut what I needed to cut for the project. But, upon looking at it, I think I'm going to try my table saw to cut trim instead. I can find another use for the cove molding. I found my staple gun and used staples on some of the shims because the adhesive wasn't grabbing.
Discovered my miter saw was a hair to the right of 0 so that is why the cuts were all slightly crooked. I told my friend and he said he must not have seen it. I set it to zero, tightened the knob and it moved a hair to the right again. So, I determined there is some defect where it moves when the knob is locked down too tight. I let my friend know so he felt better that it was the saw and not him. As an aside, he didn't think I'd be able to get the saw & stand out of the pantry by myself. But the way it is designed made it pretty easy to do. I hope the table saw won't be too difficult to set up.
I got on a stool and got down what I thought was the brad nailer but it was the pin nailer so I will have to put it back and get the brad nailer down. Pretty sure its in the medium sized box. Will have to see if I'm able to get the compressor down. It weighs 32lbs and its off to the left on a high shelf. My left arm was being a b**** today. Oh, and I cut a piece to fill the gap at the end of one of the trim boards.
One thing I was pretty happy with was the baseboard I chose for the front of the tub. It looks nice. I did a dry fit with it and it looks so much better than the exposed wood underneath and it covers the gap to the sheet vinyl (although there is one blemish where mice chewed the sheet vinyl, but caulk should cover that).
I'm trying to remember where I put my head lamp thingy so I can use it to look in the closet again.
Made the drive to Syracuse in a bit over five hours. The smoke was really bad in Virginia around Winchester but the sky is actually quite clear and crisp here.
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secured materials for a water sewer and backflow job
My uncle lives up in Virginia and he said the smoke there is terrible.
I racked out last night and woke up thinking it was still morning but it was late afternoon. Once I got my body moving and cooked for Mom, I went and worked on the trim some more. I scrapped the stacked wooden slats because they were too thin. I decided to try cutting a scrap piece of 5-1/2" board into pieces that I could stack. I had to cut 5 because one was too thin and one was too thick. Got them all relatively uniform. Trimmed the very top and bottom to remove the slight bevel. Measured so I could cut to 16" and they were already exactly 16" when together. Put them all on a strip of painter's tape and glued the ends together. Tape helped hold them in place. I took the left side trim and taped it to the desired spot, marked where the L-bead trim ended, then took the stacked peices and glued them to the side-- doing my best to get the front face as level & even as possible. Then I taped them in place & popped in some 1/2" staples. I can use caulk on the seam and do some touch-up paint later.
I thought about using the same technique on the other side with 1/2" strips but I already have a trim piece cut to 16" that I'd prefer to rip to size.
If I can figure out how to load my staple gun and use my air compressor and the brad nailer, I can get all of the trim pieces secured. I'm mostly concerned with the top piece that the showerhead will go through. I think since it has been over 48 hours that it should be ok to drill from the other side. Worst case if something pops off I can push it back and secure it with the brad nailer.
I also need to get my table saw unboxed and put together.
I racked out last night and woke up thinking it was still morning but it was late afternoon. Once I got my body moving and cooked for Mom, I went and worked on the trim some more. I scrapped the stacked wooden slats because they were too thin. I decided to try cutting a scrap piece of 5-1/2" board into pieces that I could stack. I had to cut 5 because one was too thin and one was too thick. Got them all relatively uniform. Trimmed the very top and bottom to remove the slight bevel. Measured so I could cut to 16" and they were already exactly 16" when together. Put them all on a strip of painter's tape and glued the ends together. Tape helped hold them in place. I took the left side trim and taped it to the desired spot, marked where the L-bead trim ended, then took the stacked peices and glued them to the side-- doing my best to get the front face as level & even as possible. Then I taped them in place & popped in some 1/2" staples. I can use caulk on the seam and do some touch-up paint later.
I thought about using the same technique on the other side with 1/2" strips but I already have a trim piece cut to 16" that I'd prefer to rip to size.
If I can figure out how to load my staple gun and use my air compressor and the brad nailer, I can get all of the trim pieces secured. I'm mostly concerned with the top piece that the showerhead will go through. I think since it has been over 48 hours that it should be ok to drill from the other side. Worst case if something pops off I can push it back and secure it with the brad nailer.
I also need to get my table saw unboxed and put together.
My wife said the moon looks like it has an orange shade to it. Could it be the smoke.?? I have no idea.........
That’s the dip tube after it breaks down
I moved some water cases around, got my air compressor and brad nailer down, patched some gaps on my tub surround (upper part where some "mud" was exposed due to the center shower panel being taller than the wrap arounds on the side panels). I used scrap tear away strips from the L-bead trim over some caulk.
I'm trying to formulate a plan on getting more gaps filled.
Going to meet my friend in town and then go to Lowes and samsclub.
I'm trying to formulate a plan on getting more gaps filled.
Going to meet my friend in town and then go to Lowes and samsclub.
Yikes! Is that repairable especially by a ham-fisted hack like me? I've also got a six year warranty and need to have it looked at in any event.
I messed around with some of the trim pieces I got as options for my bathroom to see what would fit the best. I was only able to test it on the horizontal gaps because its' too tall to stand upright for the vertical. I've decided to go with the flat 3/4" for the top of the left side. Slightly curved strips (that seem to be slightly less than 3/4") for the back and right side. I will have to doublecheck that it fits the back side. I'll have to make sure it will be short enough to allow for cove molding in the corners. The trim will not be visible from below, but it will cover the gaps between the PVC boards and the walls.
I also stapled a piece of PVC scrap on to the left trim to fill in the gap even more and then took some of the scrap tear-away strip and cut it to size and glued it on to cover the gap even more. Need to make sure not to bump it for the next 48hrs. Friend won't be available again until tomorrow or Monday to help hook up plumbing and get my tablesaw setup.
Broke up a nasty cat fight and am relaxing today. My body isn't happy with me, but I will probably get out my miter saw later to make some cuts on the trim. I need to figure out where my stupid pencil walked off to. Either that or I need to find more pencils in general. They always disappear.
I also stapled a piece of PVC scrap on to the left trim to fill in the gap even more and then took some of the scrap tear-away strip and cut it to size and glued it on to cover the gap even more. Need to make sure not to bump it for the next 48hrs. Friend won't be available again until tomorrow or Monday to help hook up plumbing and get my tablesaw setup.
Broke up a nasty cat fight and am relaxing today. My body isn't happy with me, but I will probably get out my miter saw later to make some cuts on the trim. I need to figure out where my stupid pencil walked off to. Either that or I need to find more pencils in general. They always disappear.
The plumbing guy came out today and assessed the white stuff as calcium and/or calcium and chlorine deposits. In support of this he mentioned that A.O. Smith used dip tubes that are blue in color. Your thoughts?
Then we talked about toilets. He would replace the contractor grade round toilets with new Toto extended bowl comfort height toilets for $1,600 a pop. Is this price reasonable? I also asked him about using wax or synthetic seals. He said wax only and he uses two wax seals with every install. Sounds like the hack we've all come to know and love.......
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To much wax with block the drain hole of the toilet as it squishes down. There is a time and place for
two seals but not all the time. $1,600 for one toilet seems like a lot to me. There's other good toilets
besides toto. Nobody sells them around here except to order one. These are just my opinions.
two seals but not all the time. $1,600 for one toilet seems like a lot to me. There's other good toilets
besides toto. Nobody sells them around here except to order one. These are just my opinions.
Sorry, I meant to say “ anode rod “ after it breaks down
Anode rod break down, not dip tube. Sorry
Most Wax seals these days are really small. No problem using two most of the time.
Look up the model number being quoted and see what you can have it delivered to your door for. After you get that price, the rest is basically labor.
I’m not sure what labor rates are in your area. I charge about $1,000 for a Toto Drake handicap toilet installed with a seat. That’s total price.
