Quote:

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Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
I'm sorry Brenda. I feel ya.

Well... not really. So cold around here I seemed to have lost the ability to feel anything.



--------------------------------------------------

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

---

Quote:

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Originally posted by Brenda:
My computer temp is reading -2C and that means cold, cold, cold when I head out in a minute to my dentist appointment. Not really looking forward to it but the crown must be done.

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Quote:

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Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
1 degree outside right now and a high of 5 degrees today. It's like a freakin' heat-wave compared to the last 3 days. Sick of this shit.

At least we get up into double digits tomorrow and the pre-wind chill numbers are all positive going forward, but we've still got another 4 nights in the low single digits.


Yeah....

I definitely wish that I'd gotten to that kitchen door sooner. I didn't remove any of the nasty old weather stripping that was in there between the kitchen and the porch and knew I would be doing that in the springtime. But boy... I had no idea how much cold air bleeds through that door. It's a LOT. Like an insane amount. It must have been twice as bad before I got good windows up in the porch and insulated everything too. How did I not ever notice this before?

I'll probably save myself $20 or $30 a year in heating costs just by sealing that door well.





--------------------------------------------------

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

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Quote:

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
I'll bet you're saving a lot more than that!

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Quote:

---

Thanks for the pix! It's a night-and-day comparison.

Wow! What a transformation!

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Over here, getting a jump on the weed season in between managing daughter's illness and other household and paperwork chores.

At least I'm ahead of the game this year, and with the cardboard boxes and builders paper making the improvements semi-permanent.

Speaking of household chores... better get on with household chores. Got a lot to do over the next ... two years (?).


-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by second:
Your ambition is many times larger than your skill/knowledge.

---

Incorrect. This is how you learn to do stuff and how to make things. This is how you you take what is pictured in your imagination and make it come to life. Sometimes some things are going to be more challenging than other things, and yes... you are going to be limited by the tools you have in your arsenal if you don't happen to have a $100,000 worth of tools in your garage, but there's almost never a problem that can't be solved in a much more economical way if you have the will and the persistence to get it done. You are rarely ever limited by skill or knowledge, especially in the age of the internet where it's easy to learn how to do things.

I have plenty of free time, and I have a vision for this house. I'll get there, eventually. I've already got 4,000+ pictures more than the overlook you've posted.

You know this. You've already seen many of them since you're always lurking in the Garden.


In just the kitchen alone I've turned this...



Into this...


And this...


Into this...


And this...


Into this...


And this...


Into this...



Sure... the cabinet work took about half a year for me to complete, and wasn't even truly completed for another 2 years until I finally got around to building my own drawers that were missing on either side of the sink. But the cabinets you're going to buy today for $20k+ are garbage pressed wood everywhere but the faces and the doors, and these things are rock solid actual wood through and through from the late 50s. And they're perfect.

All the trim I bought was essentially free with clearance and rebates and the credit card I pulled at the time that gave me $250 back with $1000 worth of purchases in 90 days. The new flooring was a cutoff at the end of a roll that I got for 30% off, and my friend and his old man helped me install it because we were bartering a lot of work.

All in all, the huge kitchen remodel cost me way under $1,000 so far, and because I spent the time working at it I saved all of that great cabinetry from going into a landfill instead of spending 1/3rd of what I paid for the whole house to buy new cabinets.

You're not getting a kitchen remodel done for less than $30k in 2024, and if you were going to buy cabinets like the ones that I've restored, it might cost you $60k or more to do it.

Quote:

---

This Old House will show you how to build a less ambitious version of what you need:

---

My first thought was going to be to tell you that this was a video on how to build a hand rail on a porch and it didn't apply to my situation where I've got a rectangular box with no access from the outside, but I watched it and I might actually slightly modify how I was going to do this now. (Having an open mind is a good thing... I'd advise you to try it sometime).

I can't build the entire "baluster system" in one solid piece like they did. The problem is that I've already put trim and caulk up, and the existing construction was not perfectly level and plum. If I were to make one solid piece to install right now, there would be gaps in certain places at the top that can't be hidden anymore by trim, and I still likely have to make some minor adjustments on how the poles attach to the top because after 65 years of settling the floors in this house aren't perfectly level either. (It would have been interesting to see him put a level on the rail when he was done installing it, because I can almost guaranty you that the porch wasn't level and his hand rail is just as out of level as the porch was. If he accounted for that off camera, he didn't mention that step in the process).

I have mentioned that if I were to do this all over again, I would have changed the order of how I'd done things for this very reason, and I'm not about to rip out all the work I did and ruin my walls to start from scratch now.



But instead of drilling holes for the poles to slide through in both the top and bottom plates that I'm going to cut to fit and router a decorative edge on, I may now choose to instead just attach the bottom poles to the bottom piece, while still drilling the holes through the top piece so I can slide it up exactly where I need it to go so that all the poles are plum and any large gaps that would have otherwise existed at the top where the jamb isn't level would be minimized, hopefully eliminated.

But I still might go the route of putting holes in both the top and bottom pieces because this might be the easiest way of ultimately making all the poles plum and perfectly aligned.

Like I mentioned before, I'm going to leave as many options open as possible until I get to a point where final decisions are going to need to be made, and I've got plenty of scrap wood to test ideas out on to make sure they're sound before I do something I can't undo.


--------------------------------------------------

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

---

Wow. I've never seen the "before" before.

Can you redo our kitchen?

Im sure you'd be better at it than THUGR. Or SECOND.


-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Brenda:
My computer temp is reading -2C and that means cold, cold, cold when I head out in a minute to my dentist appointment. Not really looking forward to it but the crown must be done.

---

Oh, I'm sorry to to hear about your cold weather, BRENDA. I hope it warms up for you soon!

What are they going to do with your crown?


-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by second:
Your ambition is many times larger than your skill/knowledge.

---

Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:

Incorrect. This is how you learn to do stuff and how to make things. This is how you you take what is pictured in your imagination and make it come to life. Sometimes some things are going to be more challenging than other things, and yes... you are going to be limited by the tools you have in your arsenal if you don't happen to have a $100,000 worth of tools in your garage, but there's almost never a problem that can't be solved in a much more economical way if you have the will and the persistence to get it done. You are rarely ever limited by skill or knowledge, especially in the age of the internet where it's easy to learn how to do things.

I have plenty of free time, and I have a vision for this house. I'll get there, eventually. I've already got 4,000+ pictures more than the overlook you've posted.

You know this. You've already seen many of them since you're always lurking in the Garden.


In just the kitchen alone I've turned this...



Into this...


And this...


Into this...


And this...


Into this...


And this...


Into this...



Sure... the cabinet work took about half a year for me to complete, and wasn't even truly completed for another 2 years until I finally got around to building my own drawers that were missing on either side of the sink. But the cabinets you're going to buy today for $20k+ are garbage pressed wood everywhere but the faces and the doors, and these things are rock solid actual wood through and through from the late 50s. And they're perfect.

All the trim I bought was essentially free with clearance and rebates and the credit card I pulled at the time that gave me $250 back with $1000 worth of purchases in 90 days. The new flooring was a cutoff at the end of a roll that I got for 30% off, and my friend and his old man helped me install it because we were bartering a lot of work.

All in all, the huge kitchen remodel cost me way under $1,000 so far, and because I spent the time working at it I saved all of that great cabinetry from going into a landfill instead of spending 1/3rd of what I paid for the whole house to buy new cabinets.

You're not getting a kitchen remodel done for less than $30k in 2024, and if you were going to buy cabinets like the ones that I've restored, it might cost you $60k or more to do it.

Quote:

---

This Old House will show you how to build a less ambitious version of what you need:

---

My first thought was going to be to tell you that this was a video on how to build a hand rail on a porch and it didn't apply to my situation where I've got a rectangular box with no access from the outside, but I watched it and I might actually slightly modify how I was going to do this now. (Having an open mind is a good thing... I'd advise you to try it sometime).

I can't build the entire "baluster system" in one solid piece like they did. The problem is that I've already put trim and caulk up, and the existing construction was not perfectly level and plum. If I were to make one solid piece to install right now, there would be gaps in certain places at the top that can't be hidden anymore by trim, and I still likely have to make some minor adjustments on how the poles attach to the top because after 65 years of settling the floors in this house aren't perfectly level either. (It would have been interesting to see him put a level on the rail when he was done installing it, because I can almost guaranty you that the porch wasn't level and his hand rail is just as out of level as the porch was. If he accounted for that off camera, he didn't mention that step in the process).

I have mentioned that if I were to do this all over again, I would have changed the order of how I'd done things for this very reason, and I'm not about to rip out all the work I did and ruin my walls to start from scratch now.



But instead of drilling holes for the poles to slide through in both the top and bottom plates that I'm going to cut to fit and router a decorative edge on, I may now choose to instead just attach the bottom poles to the bottom piece, while still drilling the holes through the top piece so I can slide it up exactly where I need it to go so that all the poles are plum and any large gaps that would have otherwise existed at the top where the jamb isn't level would be minimized, hopefully eliminated.

But I still might go the route of putting holes in both the top and bottom pieces because this might be the easiest way of ultimately making all the poles plum and perfectly aligned.

Like I mentioned before, I'm going to leave as many options open as possible until I get to a point where final decisions are going to need to be made, and I've got plenty of scrap wood to test ideas out on to make sure they're sound before I do something I can't undo.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by second:

You are finding meaningfulness in wood. Good for you, but for those who aren't soulful artists, it is only carpentry, not the purpose of life.

---

Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:

Well... I do think of myself as an artist.

I've never made the claim to anyone that I was a carpenter.

At some point in my life I put down the sketch pad and graphite pencils and picked up a hammer, a saw, a drill and a paintbrush, and then I got myself the best canvas to work on that I'll probably ever own in my life.

Quote:

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Wow. I've never seen the "before" before.

---

Yeah. I still haven't found all of my old pics before I got that tablet, but I did manage to find a nice little cache of them after all this time looking for this stuff. I was looking for one photo in particular for my dad, but I still haven't found it.

I'm always down for a little bit of Serendipity.

Quote:

---

Can you redo our kitchen?

---

That depends. You guys willing to room and board me for the next year.

Quote:

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Im sure you'd be better at it than THUGR. Or SECOND.

---

Well... to be fair to them, and to you, and to anybody else really, I do get a lot of enjoyment out of this type of work and I've got more free time than most. That's a couple of real big motivating factors for me that most other folk wouldn't have when it comes to this type of stuff. I've always been a perfectionist too, so when things finally start coming together the way that I want them done and have visualized them in my head for so long it really becomes a great source of pride for me.

There's certain artistic touches that are going to be different from person to person and varying skill levels of course, but like my friend's dad always used to say to me about all of the work he did and taught me how to do "it ain't rocket science". (I always felt he was short-changing himself and his skills, but he was about the most modest man I've ever known despite the lifetime of skills he developed).

I'm sure Second and Ted could do it. Even if the end result didn't look like mine, most of the stuff that people pay to have done on their homes is done by skilled people but they're on a time frame and need to make that money so corners are always cut when they can get away with it and at the end of the day as long as everything is structurally sound nobody is ever going to notice any imperfections unless you're putting a huge spotlight on it and showing it to everyone. My friend's dad's one rule really was to make sure that everything at eye-level was perfect, otherwise don't sweat the details.

He wasn't wrong. Hell... Nobody ever noticed the last 2 years that my baseboard in the living room never got repaired and painted, and if I didn't mention it when people came over they might not have ever noticed that I finally got around to doing it.

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Quote:

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Originally posted by second:

Have we left the war completely?

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Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:

I've never been a part of it since the beginning.

It's a shame that you don't want to continue what might only be the 3rd actual conversation we've ever had and you'd rather cheerlead a war, but it's not surprising.

Quote:

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Originally posted by second:

I have seen all the house remodeling I want to see and heard all the conversations about paint colors and countertops I want to hear. Unless you have some interesting photos of replacing old with new natural gas piping for your house? That would fascinate me. Does Indiana allow flexible stainless steel covered with plastic gas piping?

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Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:

I've never looked into that seeing as how it's the one part of my crappy ancient heat system that seems to be in working order.

But it would appear that they do: https://up.codes/viewer/indiana/irc-2018/chapter/24/fuel-gas#24


I probably won't get to it this year, but my plan is to add a heat pump, and possibly two of them, in my basement to supplement the working furnace, rather than try to put another furnace on a slab in the crawlspace where it's apparent it had been pulled out at least once, if not several times by previous owners after flooding.

The heat pump(s) wouldn't have helped me out at all over the last 5 days with all the sub-zero temps, but my furnace does a reasonable job keeping the house warm even down in the basement and crawlspace where all the pipes are that haven't froze and burst, but with a heat pump or two down there it would keep the entire house at a reasonable temperature at an affordable price probably 85% of any given winter when the temps outside didn't drop too low for them to work properly. And with them being on the upper half of the wall above grade, they wouldn't be prone to any flood damage.



At one point I considered the possibility of having a generac installed, but my plan now is to install a 30 Amp plug outlet on the outside of my house where I can plug in my generator when the power goes out, after installing a load generator interlock switch on my breaker box.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Square-D-Homeline-150-225-Amp-Indoor-Load-
Center-Generator-Interlock-Kit-HOMCGK2C/202767243

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to bust out some of the wall around the breaker box to get this done, but I'm not going to let that stop me from painting that nearly-finished room down there in the meantime. I can always touch that paint up after fixing it up, and paint is cheap.


Right now I have a solution in place where I can keep the sump pump running if the power goes out, but with only one $100 extension cord rolled up and mounted just inside the crawl space, it requires me to throw the cord out the window closest to the garage, no matter the weather outside which is likely to be bad during a power outage (with a wet and filthy cord coming back inside when the power comes back on), and the only thing I'm powering with my generator is the sump well.

With that switch in place, there's still no way that I could power even half my house with my current generator, but I have a map of my circuts through the house and I could keep a couple of them energized so I could also keep my fridge with the insulin running, as well as maybe a few lights and the TV/Computer. I wouldn't have to keep a window cracked for the plug out the window anymore either.

Hopefully I get that done this spring.


I'm also going to run more electric down in the crawl and put in a 2nd well and pump. I want to be able to control the power to each pump with a switch outside of the crawlspace, with the existing pump that is already going into the sewer and the other pump dumping out above grade and taken away from the foundation, and both of them eventually with battery backups installed.

We haven't had a weather event now for nearly 4 years that gave me any cause of concern, although I have had to get the generator running for the pump 3 times. If I had that all in place, I wouldn't have even needed to do anything with my generator those 3 times and the battery backups would have done the job I needed since the outages were only a few hours each. I probably would have fired up the generator out of sheer boredom though, because they all happened late at night in the dark, and I was really left with nothing to do to pass the time while I was waiting for the power to return since I'm not likely to sleep much while my power is out.

My eventual goal here is to be able to get the place set up so that even if I wasn't home when the power was out it should run itself for at least a few hours until I got home to take care of business. I never want to be up all night mopping up water into buckets or crab walking with a 3 gallon bucket from my sump well to my basement toilet for hours again. I'm getting to old for that shit.




Yeah... I'm not big on the gas. That's not to say that I don't love having natural gas service, but short of putting a new flex line on my stove when I redid the kitchen and taking my neighbor to the hardware store to get the correct cap for his line when we removed his stove right before they got their kitchen remodeled, I don't have any experience with it.

I'm much more comfortable working with electricity and I'm quite capable with it. My garage is awesome now that I've added all that additional light and outlets in there, all hard-piped and way above code in these parts. Same with my porch, the porch attic and the attached shed. And I even installed 2 outdoor outlets in the porch and the garage that are protected with GFCI, so it's nice being able to do things like weed wack and power wash without having to have my front or back doors open for the extension cords anymore. I even put switches from the inside on the outdoor outlets so nobody can even use them unless I turned the power on first.



Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:

Here's a video on what I plan to do with the generator, the 30 Amp power box and the interlock kit...

I'm going to move these last two posts to the Garden where they probably belong.

If you ever get board of always arguing and want to talk to other human beings like a human being yourself, you've always got an invite.




--------------------------------------------------

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Thanks for putting this all in one place!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
They say it got to over 20 degrees here, but with that wind I don't believe it.

Stay warm, Brenda.



--------------------------------------------------

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
Good luck at the dentist, Brenda.



It's a stifling 26 degrees for the high here today.

I think I'm going to head on up to the hardware store today. They've got a lot of stuff on sale and things that are free after rebate again. Gotta figure out what I want to get and make a list.

I've also got to start comparing it to things I've already gotten. One of the things that was cheap but not free was composite speed squares, but when I was looking for a tool I needed yesterday in the basement I saw a box where I'd bought stuff like that previously and I already had 2 of them.



I actually have an inventory list on my computer of all my tools and stuff that I got great deals on. I've got totes and totes full of tons of things like blades for all my tools that I've got practically for free (I have so many wood and metal cutting blades for my multitool and blade sets for my reciprocating saw that I'll probably never have to buy another one in my life).

But that list doesn't help me if I don't use it.

--------------------------------------------------

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:
I feel sorry for your sister.

My aunt gave me a scare and told me I was getting 10" by me tonight. I had to look it up right away and no... only 1 to 3" in the forecast and no mention of lake effect here.

Still... more than the zero inches I thought we were going to get tonight.


My new toy is coming. I can't wait.






Got a bunch of free stuff today. Rebate receipt was about a mile long, but still not the longest one I've had. Some cool things for me and some things to give away to other people.



--------------------------------------------------

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Brenda:
Out in a bit in the rain and still snow on the ground. Got things to do like hopefully get my partial back today. I am sorely missing it.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Brenda:
Out in a bit in the rain and still snow on the ground. Got things to do like hopefully get my partial back today. I am sorely missing it.

---

Oh, I hope you get your partial today! Fruitless doctor/ dentist visits can be so frustrating!


Is there any way to call to confirm they're ready to do that? Yanno, before you schlep all the way out there in the rain?

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Brenda:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Brenda:
Out in a bit in the rain and still snow on the ground. Got things to do like hopefully get my partial back today. I am sorely missing it.

---

Oh, I hope you get your partial today! Fruitless doctor/ dentist visits can be so frustrating!


Is there any way to call to confirm they're ready to do that? Yanno, before you schlep all the way out there in the rain?

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

---

I did that yesterday(Thursday) and I was told they would be waiting for me today and low and behold they were. Yaay!

I have them in right now as I had lunch out before I came home. Buses are running better than the last couple of days but the city needs to work on cleaning the bus stops.

But walking is a wet and slushy mess for sure. No massive puddles of water where I am thank goodness.

---

Quote:

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Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Brenda:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Brenda:
Out in a bit in the rain and still snow on the ground. Got things to do like hopefully get my partial back today. I am sorely missing it.

---

Oh, I hope you get your partial today! Fruitless doctor/ dentist visits can be so frustrating!


Is there any way to call to confirm they're ready to do that? Yanno, before you schlep all the way out there in the rain?

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

---

I did that yesterday(Thursday) and I was told they would be waiting for me today and low and behold they were. Yaay!

I have them in right now as I had lunch out before I came home. Buses are running better than the last couple of days but the city needs to work on cleaning the bus stops.

But walking is a wet and slushy mess for sure. No massive puddles of water where I am thank goodness.

---

Well, between the partial, a lunch, and groceries, today sounds like a fruitful day!
Yay!

-----------
"It may be dangerous to be America's enemy, but to be America's friend is fatal." - Henry Kissinger

Loving America is like loving an addicted spouse - SIGNYM

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
Still dealing with dear daughter's ongoing health issue. I wrangled an appointment for her this Monday by talking to the triage nurse, and right after that ... and in the building next door... I have a routine follow-up echocardiogram bc one of the cancer treatment drugs can be cardiotoxic. They should have ended last October, but I developed last-minute calcification on one of the heart valves.
If there are no changes from the last one, I think this will be my last.

I'm managing to carve out maybe three or four hours a week for important projects, and am making progress, slowly. Since it will be raining this weekend (they say) it's time to devote to indoor work again. Right now I'm tackling my paper filing, weeding out old stuff and filing recent important stuff.

And speaking of weather... I looked up CA snowpack conditions and we're tieing for "lowest ever" since snowpack conditions started being recorded. Tomorrow will be only our second rainfall of the season.

Well, on to "TV time with the family"!

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Brenda:
Speaking of rain that is what is happening right now where I am. Rain and it is washing away the snow we got.

So, another quiet Sunday around me and I will get some music on after a bit.

---

Quote:

---

Originally posted by 6ixStringJack:

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Brenda:
Speaking of rain that is what is happening right now where I am. Rain and it is washing away the snow we got.

So, another quiet Sunday around me and I will get some music on after a bit.

---

Nice.

That's still a few days off for us, and it was still cold today and a low of 17 degrees tonight, but they pushed up the sleet to tomorrow with the actual rain on Tuesday with more on Wednesday and Thursday. The forecast looks a lot warmer after than than it did a week ago overall, so good times ahead hopefully.

--------------------------------------------------

Political correctness is just tyranny, with a smiley face.

---