What did you do today?

[Tom Picciani]

Zannej,

I didn't look at the couch yet. I have oval sliders that I'm going to put under the feet and leave them there. But I think I'm going to put the dollys under the couch to move it around because it will have to be moved several times when putting down the floor. I bought one of those furniture moving kits with the little lever and pads. It has sliding pads on one side and wheels on the other. But I don't think I'm going to use those little things on the couch. I'll use them on the TV stand. My plan, for painting at least, is to push the TV stand, minus the TV, against the couch and cover with a tarp. Then I'm going to remove all the carpet I can reach so I can remove the baseboard. That way I don't have to cut in at the bottom.

Then I sand the ceiling and walls. Then mask. Then paint.

Also thinking of changing the color to tan/beige. I like the Tudor look of tan walls and dark brown stained trim. Also going to remove the 3/4 round edging on the drywall and replace it with new 3/4 round that's been stained.

And I'm still not sure of the flooring. Coretec is so expensive compared to Pergo. I'm not sure it's worth it.

Tom P.

 

[zannej]

Going with a dark wood stain sounds nice. I'm one of those people who gets upset when I see people take perfectly good stained wood furniture & paint it & distress it. I absolutely hate it. LOL. I still remember there was a TV show called "Forever" about a guy who was a few hundred years old who ran an antique shop. There was an antique desk for sale & he overheard a potential buyer talking about how she wanted to paint it & beat it up to distress it & he became irate & said there was no way he was selling her a beautiful antique just so she could "desecrate" it.

My friend's fiance keeps avoiding me rather than just admitting to me she doesn't want to come over & clean. As soon as I got there she suddenly made an excuse to leave & go hang out with a friend. I didn't even mention that she was supposed to come over to my house. She waited until I left to pick something up at home to come back (I guess she noticed my truck was gone and figured the coast was clear). She still calls me & talks to me on the phone & stuff so I know it's not about not liking my company. I was telling my friend that he can let her know that if she can just tell me she doesn't want to come over rather than saying she will & finding an excuse not to. My friend is annoyed with her over that, but I find it a bit funny.

My friend got Mom's computer running-- got a new video card in it-- & Mom did her taxes. My bro never bothered to dig up his 2018 taxes so he's s.o.l (she was going to do his for him since he's never actually done his own taxes before).

While she worked on that, I was helping my friend w/ the countertop & sink. We decided to scrap the cardboard template idea bc the cardboard box I brought was just a little too small. So, I had him mark the general size/shape with painter's tape I brought. Then I had him put the sink upside down on top of the tape & get the sink lined up where he wanted it. I traced around it with a pen to leave lines on the tape. Then measured 1/2" in & marked multiple spots & used a straight edge to connect the marks. The distance from the back of the backsplash to where the line needed to be drawn was just the right size to fit the level used as a straight edge. My friend was going to drill 1 hole & then try to cut from underneath. I convinced him to put 4 holes (one in each corner) and drill from on top since the tape was there to protect it. It was working great until the last leg when the battery ran out. My charger is borked so I had to go home & get another one. Got the sink in & hooked up the ugly faucet. My friend did all the hard labor but I handed him things, cleared sawdust away, held the countertop still, & provided the tools/blades. He still needs to cut the excess foot of countertop off so I'll help with that. I also got him some food.

Tomorrow (later today) I'll be going over to help him with the plumbing. He was going to do an S-trap but I'm talking him in to adding a vent. So I'll go with him to the hardware store & buy him the stuff he needs (since he's broke after the city screwed him over on his utility bills). If we have time, I'll help him stain the cabinet. Hopefully he won't need my tools after that so I can take them back home & next time he's free he can help me with my floor leveling.

 

[zannej]

Got up early & went over to my friend's house so we could get some stuff done before he has to go to work. I meant to come over at 7 but slept in. He had told me to come as early as I wanted but expected it to be around 9 or something.

I talked him out of getting an S-trap kit. He didn't want to run the pipe outside the house so he got a cheap AAV. It was the only kind they had. Picked up a new slip-joint double drain kit, trap adapter, S-tee, & the AAV. He was too tired to grasp what I was explaining as I was telling him how it would all go together. When we walked out of the store I saw the truck of one of the only two local plumbers (it's the guy who won't come out to my house). Apparently he was standing right next to me as I was explaining how it worked to my friend. My friend said I must have been right bc he knows the guy & the guy would have butted in to tell me if I was wrong. When we got back to his house I put it all together for him & showed him how to fit it in. I also marked where he needed to cut pipe (leaving an allowance for the difference with solvent weld). I also marked the countertop with painter's tape & marked where it would be cut so the fridge can fit next to the counter. He had previously hooked up his water supply lines but I forgot to tell him to purge the lines before hooking them to the sink. He tried to turn the sink on & nothing came out. I asked him if he had purged the lines first & he said "No. I never do that." I told him that even if he thinks the lines are clean, he should always run the water through the supply lines for a little bit before hooking the sink up. I asked him if he had a bucket & he said he had a pot. He went into the bathroom and was dumping a pot out when I noticed a bucket right at his feet & pointed it out. So, after detaching the sink, he turned the water on & cleared the lines. There were bursts of air & it came out muddy. He ran it until it was clear. Then hooked back to the faucet but it was still clogged. So we made a trip to Walmart to grab a new faucet (much better one than the fugly cheap one he had before). Got that one set up & running, and then we started staining the cabinets. Got one door done but his stupid ex called & wanted something for their kid (she of course waited until the last minute to spring it on him) so he had to go. I'll have to go back later to finish the staining. It takes more work for the look he's going for-- have to really rub the stain in so the wood grain still shows through it. I still have to take my mother over later to print her taxes (she said the program won't send her taxes electronically unless she also prints them at the same time).

After watching how much glue my friend uses when he connects pvc, I've decided that I will do the gluing when we work on the stuff at my house. I had to quickly wipe some of the excess out of the trap adapter so it didn't run it.

Edit: My brother finally found his tax paperwork so I took Mom over to my friend's house. She printed her taxes, did my brother's taxes & printed them while I finished staining my friend's cabinet. I think it could use a 2nd or even 3rd coat afterward. The toekick stands out so I think I will try to stain it next time I'm over. It's a different material so I'm not sure if it will take. Might need to prime & paint it instead (or just use some gray primer). The brush I used didn't quite get into some of the nooks & crannies so I took a watercolor paintbrush from a children's art kit & filled in the really small areas.

Stock photo of the unfinished cabinet:

First coat of gray ash stain (my first time staining wood in 10+ years). I think it turned out OK so far.

The doors obviously need a 2nd coat-- especially the flat panel parts.

 

[Tom Picciani]

Finally picked a color for the walls. BM 1046, Sandy Brown. Realized the green would not work because of things like flooring and fireplace tiles.

Ordered replacement Treads and risers. Lumber liquidators had them. $600 for 14 treads and 16 risers. Treads are 5/8 inches thick. Risers are 5/16.

Also got 80 ft of baseboard.

Color is bottom patch

 

[highup]

Which one? Not sure if my screen shows the same as yours, but the bottom one looks good.

 

[Tom Picciani]

When I was comparing colors from the chips, I chose that as my number one pick. But I tried a few others for comparison.

Will wire shed today. Then I’ll start peeling carpet from around edges to expose bottom of baseboard. Once I get that off, I cover everything and start sanding

 

[Ernesto]

When I was comparing colors from the chips, I chose that as my number one pick. But I tried a few others for comparison.

Will wire shed today. Then I’ll start peeling carpet from around edges to expose bottom of baseboard. Once I get that off, I cover everything and start sanding

I like taupe.

 

[Ernesto]

https://stairpartsusa.com/collections/steps

 

[Ernesto]

Got up early & went over to my friend's house so we could get some stuff done before he has to go to work. I meant to come over at 7 but slept in. He had told me to come as early as I wanted but expected it to be around 9 or something.

I talked him out of getting an S-trap kit. He didn't want to run the pipe outside the house so he got a cheap AAV. It was the only kind they had. Picked up a new slip-joint double drain kit, trap adapter, S-tee, & the AAV. He was too tired to grasp what I was explaining as I was telling him how it would all go together. When we walked out of the store I saw the truck of one of the only two local plumbers (it's the guy who won't come out to my house). Apparently he was standing right next to me as I was explaining how it worked to my friend. My friend said I must have been right bc he knows the guy & the guy would have butted in to tell me if I was wrong. When we got back to his house I put it all together for him & showed him how to fit it in. I also marked where he needed to cut pipe (leaving an allowance for the difference with solvent weld). I also marked the countertop with painter's tape & marked where it would be cut so the fridge can fit next to the counter. He had previously hooked up his water supply lines but I forgot to tell him to purge the lines before hooking them to the sink. He tried to turn the sink on & nothing came out. I asked him if he had purged the lines first & he said "No. I never do that." I told him that even if he thinks the lines are clean, he should always run the water through the supply lines for a little bit before hooking the sink up. I asked him if he had a bucket & he said he had a pot. He went into the bathroom and was dumping a pot out when I noticed a bucket right at his feet & pointed it out. So, after detaching the sink, he turned the water on & cleared the lines. There were bursts of air & it came out muddy. He ran it until it was clear. Then hooked back to the faucet but it was still clogged. So we made a trip to Walmart to grab a new faucet (much better one than the fugly cheap one he had before). Got that one set up & running, and then we started staining the cabinets. Got one door done but his stupid ex called & wanted something for their kid (she of course waited until the last minute to spring it on him) so he had to go. I'll have to go back later to finish the staining. It takes more work for the look he's going for-- have to really rub the stain in so the wood grain still shows through it. I still have to take my mother over later to print her taxes (she said the program won't send her taxes electronically unless she also prints them at the same time).

After watching how much glue my friend uses when he connects pvc, I've decided that I will do the gluing when we work on the stuff at my house. I had to quickly wipe some of the excess out of the trap adapter so it didn't run it.

Edit: My brother finally found his tax paperwork so I took Mom over to my friend's house. She printed her taxes, did my brother's taxes & printed them while I finished staining my friend's cabinet. I think it could use a 2nd or even 3rd coat afterward. The toekick stands out so I think I will try to stain it next time I'm over. It's a different material so I'm not sure if it will take. Might need to prime & paint it instead (or just use some gray primer). The brush I used didn't quite get into some of the nooks & crannies so I took a watercolor paintbrush from a children's art kit & filled in the really small areas.

Stock photo of the unfinished cabinet:
View attachment 9345

First coat of gray ash stain (my first time staining wood in 10+ years). I think it turned out OK so far.
View attachment 9346 View attachment 9347

The doors obviously need a 2nd coat-- especially the flat panel parts.

Im thinking you need a longer cabinet unless the fridge goes in the corner.

 

[Tom Picciani]

https://stairpartsusa.com/collections/steps

I looked at them. If I put 1 inch treads on the existing, my bottom step might get too high.

Started looking seriously at flooring. Leaning heavily towards Coretec. Looks like one of the 2 lighter oak products. $5.50/ sq ft is expensive. Ugg

 

[Ernesto]

I looked at them. If I put 1 inch treads on the existing, my bottom step might get too high.

Started looking seriously at flooring. Leaning heavily towards Coretec. Looks like one of the 2 lighter oak products. $5.50/ sq ft is expensive. Ugg

Its a thing with steps and height code. When coming down a staircase if one of the steps is off a half inch you'll likely stumble, the mind has memory.
Can't go wrong with coretec. Just make sure the wear layer is decent.

 

[zannej]

Im thinking you need a longer cabinet unless the fridge goes in the corner.

Fridge goes in the corner. Had to cut off some of the countertop for it to fit. The cabinet was 5' but the countertop was 6'. I did another coat of stain but it still needs some touch-up on one of the doors. Looks more like paint than stain now, but my friend likes it. Still need to tweak the cabinet position a little bit. He accidentally cut the counter at an angle bc he got off the line we marked & then had to cut off more to make it straight again. I think it can bump over 1/4" toward the stove.

There was a little damage to the bottom side of the cabinet in the store-- chunk came out of it-- so I advised my friend to patch it w/ fiberglass mesh screen & gorilla tape to keep mice out. We'll see if it works.

I got up at 5:30am & waited for my mother & brother to get ready. Left home around 6. Drove 3 hours to Bossier City to pick my sister up at a hotel, drove to W. Monroe (another hour & 30min) to visit a 94-yr-old friend. She'll be 95 in July. It was great to see her & her caregiver. They went to lunch w/ us at Outback. Then we went back to her apartment and hung out for a few hours before heading back to Bossier (stopping for gas on the way). Picked up Arby's in Bossier & ate in the hotel room. I managed to catch a 20min nap. My mother got at least 30min in. My sister has meetings at a convention tomorrow so we headed back. Another 3hrs. After 2hrs we stopped at a walmart for bathroom breaks & my mother & brother did some shopping. Got home after 1am. I'm about to go to sleep bc i'm exhausted. My cats seem to have missed me, one of them jumped on me when I walked in the kitchen. He's currently sitting on my arm.

I'm probably going to sleep a lot tomorrow & my friend has his kid so he can't come over. I may try the flooring mix without him & see if I can get it working ok. I need to grab some dry measuring cups though. Can't find the ones we had in the kitchen.

 

[Tom Picciani]

Stairs should come by end of week. Won't stain them until I decide on flooring. Like the 9x72 Highlands Oak from Coretec. Since I'm getting red oak, I need to match the stairs to the flooring to some extent. Just thinking ahead. I want the stairs to be darker than the risers but I would have a problem with lighting in the living room if the floor was too dark. Scratching my head on this one. Coretec Rocky mountain oak 5" is really nice but I'd never match red oak stairs to it. It's too yellow and light.

Should I look at Armstrong Luxe?

 

[zannej]

Tom, I'll leave the flooring choices to the experts. But I think it's great that you're getting things planned out & I hope you will post pics.

My cooktop I ordered from Lowes (that I went to pick up on the 5th & they couldn't find it) never got delivered. I got 2 e-mails from Lowes. One from a real person at CS saying delivery would be today and noting the conversation they had with the management. The other was an automated reminder for me to come get my item.

Called the store & they had no idea WTF I was talking about. Employee tried to put me on hold & I got transferred & had to explain things all over again to another clueless employee. First one had said my name wasn't on delivery list. 2nd one confirmed they had no record of delivery order & had no intention of delivering it & only way for me to get it would be to physically go there & pick it up. She did confirm that it's actually there & said she put her hands on it so when I get up there it should be there. I e-mailed the CS person back to update him on that & was waiting for my mother to go with me (she was playing a game on her tablet) bc she's better at raising hell with store managers & I'm too tired to deal with people. But she just backed out so I'm going on my own. She wanted me to go to another store and pick up heavy stuff, but my back & arm are not having it today. I pulled something in my upper arm & it's not wanting to cooperate.

 

[Floorist]

Ordered a trailer hitch from Amazon for my van. Postal service lost it. Now waiting for a replacement. Had some non-running push mowers given to me. Got one running today. Starts on first pull. Must be really old, it is a Western Auto.

 

[Ernesto]

Finally hit he last room for this 2,000 ft of vinyl plank. Ugh
Customer was not home - have garage code. So I went to turn on the lights and nothing happened. Saw there was a Amazon Echo Dot on the counter and a plugin on the wall for a lamp. I said "Alexa turn on the lights." Lights came on. I like it.
Then I got to thinking. I said "Alexa can you order me something from Amazon.com?" Alexa said "Yes, what would you like to order?" Noticed she got a shipment of pet food yesterday from Amazon so I said cat food. Alexa says " I see in your order history you recently ordered such an such cat food, I put it in your cue. Would you like to order it?" LOL
I said no cancel order.
I find it startling a stranger can come into your house and order stuff from Amazon. I asked if she could tell me my order history and Alexa said yes from what dates? WOW! No password or anything needed and I wonder if I could have changed the destination address but didn't try.
Before I asked Alexa to turn on the lights I texted my customer asking how the dang lights are turned on. She was on the road. But I told her I got Alexa to do it and she was surprised a stranger could do it. Apparently Alexa don't give a hoot who is asking what.
Then when she was in the room I said watch this and asked Alex to order me 500 cans of cat food. And Alexa was ready to do it.
Maybe I'll order her some diet cat food cus her 2 cats are way over weight.

 

[Nick]

20 20 had a special on a few weeks ago with FBI Agents Speaking on it .. Said Syria listens in on you and reports back to them , And they said not to use the flashlight on your phone, That to sends back what you say ..

 

[highup]

Syria? Dang, ya can trust any country.

 

[highup]

Ordered a trailer hitch from Amazon for my van. Postal service lost it. Now waiting for a replacement. Had some non-running push mowers given to me. Got one running today. Starts on first pull. Must be really old, it is a Western Auto.

Western Auto? Made of cast iron? I use non alcohol gas in the mower and pressure washer. Ran the mower out of gas last fall for storing it and the mower started yesterday first pull after a 6 month hibernation with the fresh gas.

 

[Floorist]

20 20 had a special on a few weeks ago with FBI Agents Speaking on it .. Said Syria listens in on you and reports back to them , And they said not to use the flashlight on your phone, That to sends back what you say ..

That Tapatalk phone app used on a lot of forums comes from mainland, communist,China.