Thread: Some home improvements

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No problems here. I thought it would be something other than a rail road. Is your rock there chunks of metal?

In other fronts, this morning the wife had another doctor's appointment so that meant no one was home and I could get some things done before work finally.

The other night Allyson put a first coat of poly on the floor. I keep telling her to quit trying to force the baby out early but I keep getting told to not worry about it. Uh, ok. So while she was away, I put the 2nd coat of polyurethane on. I think I'll do one more coat and call it good so we can get Izzy's bed in there and everything from her room back in there.

I ran out of caulking a while back so this morning I went to the local hardware store to get some and some other supplies. When I came back I put the ladder up and caulked around the left window, and also caulked all the way around the enclosure we built for it. I walked out in front of the garage to throw some paper towels in the recycling container when I noticed my truck bleeding out. Perfect! At least this truck gives you a warning before you are walking!

I went back to my regular work. I got the caulking put on and painted the window enclosure. Man, I'm going to have to get a taller ladder to do the other painting, finish sealing the RH enclosure, and put the shake shingles on. My ladder is 12' but is too short. I was standing on the 2nd to the last step from the top and stretching as far as I could to caulk and paint the top of the window and enclosure. I don't like heights, and I sure don't like to work like that. This fat kid won't bounce.

That floor looks great!!!!


.

Thanks Mike!

I'll echo what Mike said, the floor looks NICE! Are you steel wooling between coats?

The floor looks great, I love the look of that narrow hardwood, If the Mrs want's the baby out quicker a trampoline or one of those huge bouncy balls might work

Originally Posted by 34_40

I'll echo what Mike said, the floor looks NICE! Are you steel wooling between coats?

I haven't been. Should I be?

Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

The floor looks great, I love the look of that narrow hardwood, If the Mrs want's the baby out quicker a trampoline or one of those huge bouncy balls might work

Sssshhhhhh! Don't tell her that. I still have a room to mud, tape, sand, paint, blah, blah, blah. She's scheduled to be induced at 7:15 September 5th. That will be a long week and a half for her I'm sure.

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

I haven't been. Should I be? .

If you want to get it to look like glass, then yes. if you're going to do 1 last coat, then double 0 steel wool, on your hands and knees,

As you knock off the high points and dust, you'll see the floor lose it's gloss, you can also run your hands over the surface and feel the difference of where you missed and where it's flat. You'll need to vacuum often and then before application of the next coat, use a new tack rag and lift any dust. It does make all the difference.

When I was first out of school, I worked for a guy who only did floor repairs / finishing. It was less than glamorous, hard, bone wearing, dirty work. But the results were amazing.

Thanks Mike! I think i'll do that. I would really love it to look like glass but the wife likes the rustic look. I told her rustic stuff isn't shiny most times.

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

No problems here. I thought it would be something other than a rail road. Is your rock there chunks of metal?

Yep.
Or at least; that's what it's called in our language.
We're 750 ft up the side of a dormant volcano, so any metal (ie rocks/gravel,) are volcanic in origin.
And extremely hard.

Originally Posted by johnboy

Yep.
Or at least; that's what it's called in our language.
We're 750 ft up the side of a dormant volcano, so any metal (ie rocks/gravel,) are volcanic in origin.
And extremely hard.

I'm surprised, jb! You must have been looking at the girls in Latin class when they had the discussion on "metallum"

Gravel is known to have been used extensively in the construction of roads by soldiers of the Roman Empire (see Roman road) but in 1998 a limestone-surfaced road, thought to date back to the Bronze Age, was found at Yarnton in Oxfordshire, Britain.[23] Applying gravel, or "metalling," has had two distinct usages in road surfacing. The term road "metal" refers to the broken stone or cinders used in the construction or repair of roads or railways,[24] and is derived from the Latin metallum, which means both "mine" and "quarry".[25] The term originally referred to the process of creating a gravel roadway. The route of the roadway would first be dug down several feet and, depending on local conditions, French drains may or may not have been added. Next, large stones were placed and compacted, followed by successive layers of smaller stones, until the road surface was composed of small stones compacted into a hard, durable surface. "Road metal" later became the name of stone chippings mixed with tar to form the road surfacing material tarmac. A road of such material is called a "metalled road" in Britain, a "paved road" in Canada and the US, or a "sealed road" in parts of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.[26]

I recall you telling me we'd be driving on a "metal road", and then turning on a nicely maintained gravel roadway.

JB, do you happen to have any photos of your homestead? It sounds really neat to me.

This morning I went and got some steel wool. I was in the middle of scuffing the poly when my wife came up the stairs and asked what I was doing. I told her I was trying to get a couple of bugs out of the poly. It wasn't a lie, there was a dumb fly that got stuck on top of the surface. I got it out and vacuumed my mess. I laid down the last coat so we'll see how it looks tonight. I almost created a huge problem though. The poly from yesterday was pretty set up but not when a fat kid knelt down on it. I didn't kneel on it anymore after that. I'm not going to walk on it until Sunday.

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

JB, do you happen to have any photos of your homestead? It sounds really neat to me.

No, I have no photos. I don't even have a camera! Every time I've ever tried to take pics I manage to get a shot of the tip of my finger. Or my boots. Or the clouds.
But here's a Google shot of 107 Upper Ngariki Rd Rahotu 4684 New Zealand.

https://www.google.co.nz/maps/dir//1...9.336811?hl=en

Our house is to the left, to the immediate right is a four car carshed, above that you can see where I have put in retaining walls, drains, and about 150 tons of dirt to form a sunken lawn/garden. That's where I have just (yesterday,) finished putting in a flight of hardwood steps for access.
Right again is my main shed, (40ft x 80ft,) the balcony of the upstairs flat is at the top right corner.
Above that is the shed we call the Cell Block; it has six cells, each cell containing a set of bunks, plus toilets. At the moment it's full of #1 son's household effects. He's rapidly outstaying his welcome...the Bank of Goodwill is moving into overdraft after ten months...
To the right of my main shed there's a small concrete shed full of ugs. Unused good stuff. That shed was the original farm dairy, built about 1910.
To the right again is my top shed which houses the bus, tractors, and trailers. That doubles as a Conference Centre/hall/dining area with tables/chairs/stage etc. and is in the area we call The Cabbage Patch, as it's where we used to have our hydroponics set up.
The total area of the block is about fourteen acres in two titles.
(That's a caravan parked between the concrete shed and the top shed, and the four round things clustered together are our water tanks.)

Originally Posted by rspears

I'm surprised, jb! You must have been looking at the girls in Latin class when they had the discussion on "metallum"


I recall you telling me we'd be driving on a "metal road", and then turning on a nicely maintained gravel roadway.

Yup! Ego non amo latinum, et latinum non amat me!

...and that 'metal road' was the 'Forgotten Highway' from Taumaranui to Stratford when we abandoned you to lamin8er!