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Originally posted by 1kiki:
Yeah, Jack, Signy asked an important question that I really didn't want to get into, and that's that your foundation blocks should not be shifted out of place if they're part of the main structure. If you're just talking about the porch it's not so bad.

Structural foundations are really technical. They need to be engineered and checked for compliance with local codes. You need a footing - all engineered as to how deep (due to the frostline), how thick, how wide, what kind and how much rebar and where, what kind of psi concrete (it's the pounds-per-square inch compressive load capacity of concrete which is what pressure can it take before it fails structurally, normal is about 3000 - 3500psi; generally improved by adding more sand to the mix) ... and so on. And then there's the block walls!!

Way, WAAAAaaaaaaay above my pay grade! as they say.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
About the sealer/ primer

SIX, as much as people swear by the KILZ oil-based primer, it's not sold anywhere in theSouth Coast Air Basin (SCAB) so that's out of the question.

I think the problem happened because I used KLIZ 2 (Latex paint, probably a styrene/divinyl benzene/acrylic formulation) on bare plaster instead of KILZ PVA (polyvinyl acetate). KILZ2 works best on pre-painted surfaces as a stain blocker/matte finish, PVA is literally a matte-finish glue, much better at bonding to and sealing fresh drywall or plaster. The funny thing is, I had actualy used PVA on almost all of the fresh drywall, but I ran out and switched to the latex stuff instead for that part of the wall. Fortunately, it only failed in a few small spots.

The specialty primer that I painted over the other primer worked well, it seems very durbale and it did not fail, the KILZ2 did.

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
Hi Brenda!

BTW, I'm assuming these are 'machine' screws (fine threaded, flat-tipped) that fit into a metal threaded fitting, and not wood screws or sheet metal screws (coarse threaded, pointed tip).

A good salesperson should be able to match the screw thread and width (and head style, which may be important if it's a counter-sunk head

)

or merely cosmetic otherwise); and if the off-the-shelf replacement is too long, be able to cut it down to the right length without damaging the thread. Unless you have a preference either phillips or slotted should be OK if there isn't a match otherwise,



but stay away from anything else including torx if you are asked.



If you know something about its origins (time and place of mfg) it might be easier to determine metric v 'standard' thread. Sometimes a metric thread can look like a 'standard' thread. If you get one for the other, oftentimes you'll be able to get about 3 turns in before it gets stuck-ish. Don't force it if that happens, just back it out and get the right one instead.

That's why, when installing screws, bolts, or nuts, it's important to thread them down by hand ALL THE WAY - so you can feel if it's either starting cross-threaded or getting tight a few turns down. Use your tools to tighten ONLY after it's installed.

Very small, fine-threaded screws can be tricky to install ... hard to hold on to and easy to cross thread. Try PARTIALLY removing your 'example' screw, and then putting it back in all the way a few times for practice; then once you remove it completely, try putting it back in its original hole a few times for practice; and then in the empty hole (to check for bad threads in the MT hole) a few times.

I've had some very skilled people give me many of these tips, and also, too many times by my own self getting hung up on what should be an easy job because it was trickier than I thought!!!

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
Oh and Jack, I wanted to highlight what Signy said earlier, which is that you're probably dealing with surface water and poor drainage, not a high water table. I think that might have gotten lost in the mix.

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
Hey Signy

Thanks for letting me know !!! about the specialty sealer.

When I went to Lowes for genuine TSP I did look up oil-based KILZ, and you're right, it's no longer sold (according to them). I should check out Ace hrdwr b/c they're usually more on top of things. It might be available in small containers. (Many years ago I was looking for oil-based porch floor paint at Ace, and it was available in small containers but not large ones.) Just a detail to track down.

Lowes did recommend another product they said works even better than Kilz did. You know I have a particular reason to be looking for something like Kilz but my second pick was milk paint with maximum tung oil.

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Quote:

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
Hey Signy

Thanks for letting me know !!! about the specialty sealer.

When I went to Lowes for genuine TSP I did look up oil-based KILZ, and you're right, it's no longer sold (according to them). I should check out Ace hrdwr b/c they're usually more on top of things. It might be available in small containers. (Many years ago I was looking for oil-based porch floor paint at Ace, and it was available in small containers but not large ones.) Just a detail to track down.

Lowes did recommend another product they said works even better than Kilz did. You know I have a particular reason to be looking for something like Kilz but my second pick was milk paint with maximum tung oil.

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What works better than KILZ? Zinsser? Something else?

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Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake

You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
Top loading? If you're mterested in finishing, put something else in that sucks up a lot of water, like a couple of bath towels you don't care about. When it starts to spin and bonks out, open the washer and rearrange the bath mat on one side and the towels on the other for balance.

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
It sounds like these are wood screws, that go through a hole in a metal piece directly into wood, to hold the metal piece on? If so, then you don't need to worry about matching threads. That only counts when you're trying to fit a metal screw into a threaded metal fitting or nut.

ASSUMING it's a wood screw, once a wood screw comes out, it leaves a slightly bigger hole in the wood than the size of the screw, meaning the exact same size screw might fall out. Depending on how big the screw hole is, you can sometime insert a piece of a wooden toothpick to fill up the hole a bit. Or you may need to upsize the screw. Or you could put epoxy in the hole and put the screw in, and count on the epoxy to keep it all together.

Those are the 'fixes' I can think of offhand, but I'm sure google knows more!

I'd be happy to chit chat back and forth!

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Quote:

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
Top loading? If you're mterested in finishing, put something else in that sucks up a lot of water, like a couple of bath towels you don't care about. When it starts to spin and bonks out, open the washer and rearrange the bath mat on one side and the towels on the other for balance.

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:



Great idea!

I just happen to have a whole pile of towels that I don't care about suited just for things like this.



Loading it up with water again for the 3rd attempt. Probably not a bad idea to rinse it this many times either since it's super nappy and I bet it's still got a lot of detergent to get out.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Legit arcade machines? Always wanted to get one of those.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Originally posted by Brenda:

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Legit arcade machines? Always wanted to get one of those.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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They are but they aren't regular size. These sit on a table. They had one a little bigger than what I was playing with. They seem to be running at around $300 Canadian. I've seen them in my local Walmart as well. They had bigger ones there though.

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

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Originally posted by Brenda:

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Legit arcade machines? Always wanted to get one of those.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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They are but they aren't regular size. These sit on a table. They had one a little bigger than what I was playing with. They seem to be running at around $300 Canadian. I've seen them in my local Walmart as well. They had bigger ones there though.

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Oh yeah. I've seen those.

I've got the ability to play about 10,000 games on my XBox, including most arcades from the late 70's up through the early 2,000 and most console and handheld systems. Always wanted to either build my own cabinet or mod one of these newer systems to play all of them, but never got around to doing it and don't see that in the pipeline anytime soon. Plays great with a regular controller on a regular TV right now though (although purists would argue that now it isn't the same since I got rid of all of my old tube TVs, but I don't notice any difference).

I'd really love to have an original arcade in my home someday. I think if I had my pick, it would be Rolling Thunder. Probably my favorite arcade of all time when I was a kid... and I played a lot of them.

The music was just fantastic. Burned into my brain forever.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Yeah. I think Rolling Thunder would have been after the time you were playing them. I have some vague memories of playing games like Pac-Man and Galaga in an arcade back before my folks split, but by the time I was like 10-12 years old they had advanced a bit and games like Rolling Thunder, Gauntlet and Pyros were big. Then a few years later they even got better with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Simpsons, and fighting games like Street Fighter II, Mortal Kombat and Killer Instinct. Around that time I grew out of the arcades myself. Kids don't even play them anymore these days since the home systems are so advanced. I think the only reason there's a market for arcades at all is nostalgia. They've got arcade/bars all over my area, and those retro arcade machines have been around for about a decade but started going mainstream enough to hit WalMart shelves about a year or two ago.



I had fond memories of Galaga and Dig-Dug on my Atari 7800 when I was a kid. Almost as good as the arcade machine and you didn't have to keep pumping quarters into it.

Now I've got all of them and can play them anytime. You don't need to even buy a beast of a machine like an XBox or have a full computer to play them anymore these days either. With a little machine called a Raspberry Pi that is around 30 bucks and the size of a credit card, if you know somebody who can set it up for you, you could play all of them on your TV with any generic control pad that has a USB port on it. It's not easy to set up on your own though unless you really make a hobby out of it like I have.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Originally posted by 1kiki:
Hey Jack - yeah, I looked it up. The Argentinian ants here behave very differently from your various ant species up there. So ...

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Originally posted by Brenda:
Yeah, that would explain why I don't remember it. I do remember when the Mortal Kombat games came out but I never played any of those. Shortly after that the company pulled the games out of the shop.

My tv is too old to do stuff like that and I really shouldn't be thinking along those lines anyways. Seizure disorder and arcade games not a real good mix. But it is fun to think about.

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

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Originally posted by Brenda:
Yeah, that would explain why I don't remember it. I do remember when the Mortal Kombat games came out but I never played any of those. Shortly after that the company pulled the games out of the shop.

My tv is too old to do stuff like that and I really shouldn't be thinking along those lines anyways. Seizure disorder and arcade games not a real good mix. But it is fun to think about.

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If you ever wanted to, let me know. I'm not really in a place to help and most of my stuff is packed away now, but whenever I get my new normal down to a tolerable copaceticism, I'll have more time for these things. :)


Unless you have a super old TV where you had to use a screwdriver to put wires into it, your current TV is fine. They make cables for pretty much anything these days. If you have a tube TV instead of a flat TV, it would just require either a USB to composite or a HDMI to composite cable. We could talk about that stuff if and when we ever do this. As far as setting things up, the internet allows for such huge file transfers these days at a speed that is pretty unreal. All you would pretty much need to do is buy what I would tell you to buy (the credit card sized computer board, a plug to power it, a small aluminum heat sink that you'd just need to pull off some plastic and press onto the CPU chip, a nifty looking case to protect it, a few cables, a controller or two and an SD card), and I could direct you to an image I create that would have everything you needed to "flash" to your own SD card with a free flashing program. After that, you could just hook it all up to your TV, power the thing up and you should be good to go. The only thing you might have to do after that point is "calibrate" the controller you've got. I'd also recommend getting two controllers because it's always more fun to play the games with a friend.


All mine does right now is really list out games and play them when you pick it. I'm working on putting all sorts of other goodies in there like the artwork to the boxes and arcade cabinets as well as preview videos of all the games to check out as you scroll through the numerous lists.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Originally posted by Brenda:

I would say that my tv is about 12years old.

Never know but for right now I am trying to figure out to get a futon for a couch. That's really next on my agenda.

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Guess I don't have to wonder if it's going to rain while I'm gone. Woke up this morning to thunderstorms. Like 8 hours earlier than it was predicted we'd get them. Dorian must have everybody all f'd up right now.

Doesn't look as though I'm taking on any water right now anywhere, and the bare wood I put in yesterday and didn't paint yet hasn't gotten wet yet, but that's only because there's zero wind to go along with the storm right now. I don't expect that to be the case all day.

Anyway... see ya in a few.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

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Originally posted by Brenda:

I would say that my tv is about 12years old.

Never know but for right now I am trying to figure out to get a futon for a couch. That's really next on my agenda.

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I got ya. I'm not in any position to help with it right now myself. Most of my stuff is packed away since I didn't want to be tempted to work on it while I have all of this much more important stuff to work on, so I wouldn't have been able to help right now anyhow other than to give advice.

People working the last few decades on this stuff as well as advances in technology have made the entire process much easier than it was when I first got into 2 decades ago, but the barrier to entry is still pretty high unless you're pretty tech literate, and even then it requires a lot of work.

That is... unless you know somebody who's done a lot of the work already.


I think this is a good thing though. When something like this gets to be so easy that anybody with a smartphone can do it in 3 seconds it all tends to get shut down overnight.

Do Right, Be Right. :)

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