What did you do today?

[zannej]

I got my old mattress out and the new one in my room. My bro did most of the lifting on the old one to get it out and in place in the front room, but I did most of the lifting on the new one. Got the waterproof mattress pad down in case of cats. Kittens gave me hell trying to get the cover on the one in the front room. They thought it was some sort of game and kept trying to get underneath it and grab it every time I pulled. I asked my bro for help but he "helpfully" stood there and laughed at me-- but he did eventually distract the kittens enough that I was able to get it on. They are now rolling on it and playing.

Meanwhile, my unlucky friend's grandmother died last night. It really hit him hard because she raised him. She was more of a mother to him than his actual mother. His grandfather is disabled and needs a lot of care and I know it must have hit him hard. I think losing her son in November took a lot out of her.

 

[Nick]

Sorry to hear of your loss ..

 

[zannej]

My mother is getting dressed so we can go over and see him. He calls her "Gramma" because she treats him like a grandchild & bc of the times I was mistaken for his mother. At his father's funeral, I promised his grandmother that I would look after him. Funeral will be Monday. I hope that this time they will spend more than 2 minutes talking about the deceased and actually let the family say a few words. Also, my friend's half-sister said she is going to knock his ex's teeth out if she shows up at this funeral in her pajamas (she showed up to the previous one in pajamas and slippers). The great-granddaughter hasn't been informed yet.

 

[Nick]

You don't want to start anything at someones Funeral ..

 

[Jon]

zannel I am sorry to hear about friends grandmothers passing as well

 

[zannej]

Nick, I know-- that's why I didn't chew the biyatch out for wearing pajamas and slippers to my friend's father's funeral last November. My friend's half-sister was livid about it but still managed to not say anything to her, but she said this time if it happens she will confront her. Although, I really think the biyatch shouldn't even go. My friend's grandmother *hated* her. Meanwhile my friend's girlfriend is a mess because she just lost three family members in a single month, her adopted mother is going through heart failure, and she herself just got diagnosed wit a heart condition.

In other news, my mother has been buying junk from Wish. She got a pack 20k little rhinestones for $3. Why she felt the need to buy that many (or any at all) is beyond me. She also got some packs of 10k rhinestones for $1. She counts them to make sure they sent the amount she ordered. She had counted and set aside 1k and was moving on to the next amount when Fippy the dog jumped on her and spilled them.

Even though I slept well last night, I'm still tired.

 

[Nick]

That's cheap Entertainment .. LOL.. If she orders Golf Clubs, Time to put your foot down .. lol

 

[zannej]

LOL. Yeah.
And speaking of putting a foot down, my brother's boss went and totally blew it. While he did call to give a weak apology to my mother (undermined by a load of excuses on why life is so hard for him blah blah blah and he crap-talked the employees to my mother-- who was having none of it), he also retaliated against my brother for something he didn't do. I don't know who did it or why or if it was an employee who did it-- but someone unplugged half the computers and the phones after my brother locked up and left for the night. There were only 2 other employees on shift (both of whom despise the boss-- but one is his step-son) that night. Anyway, the boss blamed my bro for it even though my bro had no idea WTF he was talking about and had no reason to do it. But the boss took his keys away, demoted him, and sent a letter to the district manager accusing my brother of doing it. My brother has never even been written up before and he just got demoted for something he didn't even do and the boss lied to the DM. So, he's putting his foot down. His pay even as a shift-lead sucked. He's put in applications for multiple other places and is telling his boss to f- himself. Said he can go ahead and fire him. The other employees are trying to calm him down and saying that the boss will change his mind, but my bro is tired of the crap. He gives zero hours to people he doesn't like, fudges the books to make it look like everything is great on paper, and pays some employees under the table to come in so the store doesn't log their hours and the $ doesn't go to their SS. The dude is just an idiot. He complained that "When the boss is away, the mice will play". The store runs better when the jerk isn't there bc he is rude to customers, gets in the way, and screws up more pizzas than anyone else. He panics when they get busy and they have to tell him to STFU and get out of their way. I think the boss was trying to scare my bro into being more submissive to him, but all he did was piss him off to the point that he will no longer tolerate his crap.

Meanwhile he's going to Houston later tonight for a Baby Metal concert. I just hope his truck doesn't have any problems. He has a brake light that isn't working, his cruise control and VTM aren't working, and his headlights look like the bright are on even when they are in the lower setting. I don't want him to get pulled over. I'd want him to take the CR-V but the DMV didn't send us notice about the registration expiring and I thought it was this month but when I looked it was in March.

 

[highup]

Getting ready to head over to my Coretec install and attempt to get some floor down. Earlier this week, I ground 20 lbs of concrete from a high spot, then put down 6 or 7 bags of Feather finish. Wavy gravy slab. I went over to get the starter rows in yesterday and part way through, I discovered another small high area near the corner of the room. I labeled and pulled my 4 starter rows off the floor, did some grinding and filling, so today, I will begin getting some flooring down. I was hoping to finish today or tomorrow, but that put's me a day behind. Renters are arriving Wednesday, so it needs to get wrapped up.
It's going slow because I'm net fitting two tiled walls that both have 3 foot wide steps.... net fitting close enough for a little grout caulk.

 

[zannej]

What is "net fitting", Highup?

Also, I have a question about leveling floors-- I know you can do what you did with slab, but what do you do when you have wooden joists that slope and you want to make the floor on top level (but prefer not to pour anything over it)? Is there a way to shim up or sister up the joists somehow to get rid of slope?

 

[Nick]

How much is it out of whack ?

 

[zannej]

I'll have to put a level on it again, but there seems to be quite a downward slope from left to right. If I can get my washing machine and dryer level, it might not be so much of an issue. I'm more concerned with the spot where the shower/tub will be. But, I would like to get it to have less slope. I think over the years that some of the concrete supports sunk a little because there is a spot where water runs under the house and I think it has softened the ground. I'll try to find my level and get a picture at some point to see just how off it is.

 

[highup]

Net fit is where you fit a flooring material to the exact contour of the wall or surface that the flooring butts up to. Walls and tiles are not perfectly straight or smooth. In some areas, where you can't put on baseboards, the material needs to be fit perfectly ...........or as perfect as possible given the limitations of what you are working with.
Coretec plank flooring recommends a 1/4 inch space around the perimeter of the room. It has very little expansion or contraction, so 1/4"spacers around this single living room are overkill. Two walls in this room sit against the tile and will be net fit. The other side of the room will have an expansion gap, so the flooring can expand in those two directions. The room is 14' 5" by 17' 5", so it's obviously going to have a minuscule amount of movement. No sunlight ever hits the floor, so no expansion from that type of heating.
.......how's that for "what is net fitting?"

 

[highup]

I'll have to put a level on it again, but there seems to be quite a downward slope from left to right. If I can get my washing machine and dryer level, it might not be so much of an issue. I'm more concerned with the spot where the shower/tub will be. But, I would like to get it to have less slope. I think over the years that some of the concrete supports sunk a little because there is a spot where water runs under the house and I think it has softened the ground. I'll try to find my level and get a picture at some point to see just how off it is.

Was this room ever a back porch? I've seen old porches enclosed and made into laundry rooms. Whatever the reason, that water needs diverting. You never want water getting under the house.
Give the length and width of the room while you are at it.

 

[Floorist]

Building a work bench.

 

[Don Monfils]

I started a unique project today.
200 yards of vinyl with 95 sheets (4’x4’) of underlayment. Oh... and it’s on an island.
The biggest shot was 13’2”x47’
We got all the materials out there and 1/2 of the underlayment installed , today
I feel like I was run over by a truck.
I’m pouring a couple of heinekens on my aching bones as we speak.

 

[Floorist]

wow

 

[Jon]

You deserve a beer or three

 

[Nick]

Neat .. Is that the finger lakes Don ?

 

[zannej]

Highup, that makes sense for net fitting. Thanks! Sounds rather tricky and time consuming.

The laundry room, bathroom, kitchen, and my brother's bedroom were all parts of the original house. The living room may have been part of it since it has a fireplace. But, because it is wider than the rest of the original rooms, I suspect it was expanded. The water heater is inside but I believe it was originally on the outside. I think the hallway, two bedrooms, & their two ensuites were added later. I know for a fact that the front room was added later-- it is on the other side of the fireplace. The house is sort of L-shaped because of the front room. It made for some odd roof shaping so that the inner corner of the L has a LOT of water coming down and there were never any gutters or anything to divert the water away from the house. The front room has a sliding glass door going out the back and the area I'm modifying has an exterior door. There's a worn down brick pathway between the steps to both doors. In between and closer to the house the ground is sunk down from all the water pouring down.
This is a Sims 3 model of the house.

I went to the funeral for my friend's grandmother. Poor kid has a bleeding ulcer from stress. He made sure his ex actually wore something appropriate instead of pajamas this time. At one point his grandfather started crying so the great granddaughter went up to hug him and give him her stuffed bunny to comfort him. For the most part, things went smoothly. His ex tried to start crap with his current fiance, but it blew over quickly.

Took a nap after getting home but the cows kept hollering at me bc their waterer was empty. I turned the water back on for outside & then went looking for the source of the leak outside. Turns out it wasn't where I thought it was-- it was actually inside the workshop. I had to get a shovel and dig down to the shut-off valve for the broken line and turn it off. So, now the waterer can run and I need to go back in and mop up water later. The heat really got to me though so I'm still exhausted. Half of my barn on the back side has now completely collapsed and I saw that an exterior wall of the workshop has rotted away & insulation inside is exposed. I'm going to have to figure out how to fix it and hope that the studs aren't damaged.