I picked up some stainable filler at the store yesterday before I started sanding. I just finished up with the 60.

I got to say, I'm feeling the difference between gym shape and handy man shape, my low back is angry. Respect to you guys who do this day in and day out.

You did the right thing... it really does look nice! Sunflower wallpaper, huh? LMAO Welcome to my world. There were 3 different wallpaper designs I had to remove on the North wall. Crazy crap too. One was a fairly modern floral pattern, another one was the gold box crap from the 60's or 70's, then the ugliest of them all... multi-colored swirls from the 80's. I had to scrape all of that crap, sand, patch, sand, patch, then apply Kilz.

That wasn't the toughest part of the remodel though. Gonzo was out hunting, and I had to remove the cast-iron sink so I could install a stainless steel. Holy crap, those things are heavy! I ended up losing my grip once and the damn thing fell and broke the shelf inside the cabinet. It damn near hit the water valves too. That would have sucked ass!

My mom is coming up in March to help me finish the kitchen remodel and we're going to do a complete remodel to the bathroom upstairs. The idiots that did the original remodel didn't use cement board in the shower and now we have tiles cracking and bulging. As it is, they didn't even use spacers for the tiles, so we're just going to rip it all out and start over.

Yeah, sunflowers. I'll attach a pic of it. Except for my son's room, the entire upper level of our house was wallpapered when we moved in. I stripped the entry, hallway, living room and main bath right away. Did the kitchen, master bath, dining room and sitting room a few years later. Still have the master bedroom and guest room to do, who knows when I'll get to those.

Good lawd! I can't believe for a second that someone found that sunflower wallpaper attractive! Well, I suppose they would in KS, but not NE. LMAO

My favorite was the gold foil and pine trees that went all 12 feet up my entry wall. That was ****ing sweet.

One of our bathrooms was splatter painted with a gold paint that they also splattered all over the tub/shower inset. :spock:

And it wasn't just a normal paint. It was some textured shit that was raised up from the rest of the paint/drywall.

Probably Zolatone or something similar, that was all the rage in the late 90s. I used to work for a guy who really pushed that crap, and people would pay his absurd prices for it. He never bothered to tell them that the surfaces we coated with it would never be the same once it was applied.

A year ago about this time, I purchased and had a Chaska gas insert fireplace installed in my home.

This weekend, for the 3rd time this winter and the 4th time since last march, the F'ing thing isn't working. Last month, I explained it would be the final time I was polite about it. Last night and tonight....won't work at all. A month ago, I watched the tech take it much further apart than the previous 3, replace the igniting mechanism and the faulty remote control.

It's not F'ing working again and I've found my anger button touched.

Monday during business hours, someone is going to have a really bad day.

What is my best chance at satisfaction at this point? I mean, I'm looking for something more logical(rip) than hooking onto it with my truck, dragging it to their location and driving it through their front door. Something more rational, but just as satisfying.

Kill it with Fire!


Oh, wait...

Yeah, I can't, because other than a big blue WHOOOOOF there is no fire available at this time.

This question is in regards to Antique Home lighting. I have in my possession some lighting that I believe to be late 19teens, but could be newer. I'm trying to determine if it is of any value. Any informed opinion on this matter is welcome and appreciated.

Thank you.

Is it brass?

I just happen to have a friend who's into Antique Home Lighting. I'll give him a call and have him come by and take a look at it.

http://www.history.com/images/shows/...on_475x240.jpg

And now for the serious answer, I seem to recall Dave Lane knowing a lot about antiques and collectibles, might shoot him a PM.

Yes It's brass. the glass is either etched or painted with a gold/brass color but all original as far I can tell.

Is there a brand or manufacturer on it? They look to be in absolutely pristine condition.

That's what I wondered. If it's been around for long, brass will almost always have some corrosion on it. It looks too clean

Underwriter Labratories, Inc "portable lamp"
Sticker says: "issue no98,113 E-32252
stamp in metal says "GIM 3654"

Nevermind.

I'm going to have a pretty....major project coming up.

I'm going to be interested in some items and if things work out, I might try to do some business through here instead of the big boxes.

I might need a little assistance from someone with some home design layout know-how. If you're a hardwood floor distributor or installer....maybe a stone mason, pm me with some details of what you have if you're interested in trying to do some business.

I've done business with a handful of CP folks and have had good luck every time.

It's ok. I'll spend this money somewhere else.



Recently, I've been doing some treasure hunting and selling.
Many of the items are old and rusted and I was exploring ways to clean them up without damaging the items.

The same process works to clean rusted tools, stiff pliers, hinges etc.
So, here is your handy man tip.

Electrolysis for Rust Removal.
Basically, Take a rubber tote or a bucket. Fill with the appropriate gallons of water. Add 1 table spoon of soda washing bubbles or baking soda for each gallon.
Insert a "donor metal" rod on one end(or construct a device with several) that goes to the bottom of the holding tank.
Take the positive clamp of a common battery charger and clamp it onto the donor metal, above the water line. Clamp the negative to your rusted item and place it in the water(NOT touching the donor rod). Let the charger do it's magic. This is a "line of site" process and you'll have to flip each side and run as long as over night.

The bubbles released in the process are O2 and Hydrogen, so only do it in a well vented area without an open flame.
*do not use stainless steel for your donor metal unless you want toxic sludge water.

There will be some black crusty iron on the item that you'll want to brush off with a wire brush, and when it's dry, spray it with a coat of oil or wd40.

I've used it, and it will make old rusted bolts work, old pliers feel like new.

To see it Look here.
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I've been using the bucket method but am going to switch to something like
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/54ADeB6V1rQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Very cool. I'm restoring old Farmall butter churns and will try this out. Makes a huge mess using paint remover.

kenmore freezer model 198.8101512 wiring manual

Does red and white wire coming off the compressor hook into the jack that connects to the thermostat? Both wires in the same pin jack? The other jack is the black.

This is coming off the power cord to the thermostat jacks.

I have a smoke detector wired into the ceiling in one room. It started chirping so I changed the battery, but it continues chirping. It's not the battery, the battery is good. I actually unplugged the detector itself from the wire connector and the chirping is coming from above the electrical box that's in the ceiling. All I can see is wires coming through the box. Does anyone know what would be causing the chirping (aside from psychosis). I went in the attic to see if maybe there was one up there that I was hearing but I don't see anything.

There has to be another smoke detector elsewhere. - You're in Texas so your furnace is probably in the attic. By code, they'll be required to install a smoke detector up there. You just haven't looked hard enough.

That sounds awful.

I'm looking to put down a weed barrier between my garage and the property line and cover it with rock. What is the best weed barrier? I have some 9 mil plastic. Would that work?

I'm not much of a landscaper. I can grow the **** out of grass, but yeah, landscape is a different story.

Plastic would work for a minute and then break down. You want landscaping cloth. Everybody has it.

9 mil plastic? I've kept grain in it for over a year. And don't those environmental wackjobs say plastic never breaks down?

http://www.hpj.com/FarmRanchManagement/images/FM58.jpg

EDIT: I'm concerned about cloth because it inherintly has holes for nasty shit to poke through. I'm tired of trying to spray it down because my neighbor has his garden just over the fence. I'm eventually going to **** up.

Plus the price is right on this stuff.

Yes, it eventually develops far more holes than quality landscape cloth.

I see. I looked on Home Depot's website for weed barrier and it is all poly. I think I'll just take my chances with the plastic. What is the best way to get a good seal around the edges?

Some type of edging that will hold up to your trimmer. Metal isn't great but it holds up to trimmers. I'd recommend stackable pavers but the price isn't right on those either.

I'd advise against the plastic. The reason for landscaping fabric is it let's rain water through, but holds the water beneath it for your plants.

If you're worried about weeds poking through, I'd check with a local landscaping company about commercial grade landscaping fabric. Probably costs though.

Good point. If it's up against your foundation, it's even worse. You want your foundation to be properly moist so the earth supports the concrete.

Mmmm...moist...

I hate when we have a detector that starts chirping because it takes me damned-near forever to figure out which one it is. Apparently that particular frequency can sound like its coming from everywhere at the same time.

When I have one start chirping, I change all of the ****ers batteries otherwise another one will start doing it at 3AM.

it's not a smoke detector -- it's an asshole detector :D

Is it a CO2 detector? If so, they have a filter on them that you might need to blow out.

I was having phantom smoke detector issues a few months back. They were just going off (like full on going off, not just chirping, which is also annoying) at like 4am. Scared the shit out of us. It was the CO2 thing.

the landscape cloth works because it keeps the weed seeds from reaching the soil and taking root.

I'm looking for some informed opinions on cabinets and hardwood flooring options.

Are Thunder Bay cabinets from Menards Junk or nice budget cabinets?
Also looking at Merillat Classic Hickory.

My intention has been to put in quite a bit of hickory hardwood, but some of the engineered laminate hardwoods look like a decent option. What do I need to know or keep in mind for cost comparison.

Merillat cabs are good stuff. Heavy markup though. Don't know squat about Thunder Bay. Considerations on hardwood for me would be;
1. How many sandings are in the product.
2. Where is is going, ie: is moisture a concern?
3. Who is the company and what is their warranty?

Do you know of a comparable quality cabinet(hickory) to Merillat that would be a better buy?

Basically I have an interior blank slate to fill..........soon...and I'm still open to suggestions.

Any budget conscious counter top recommendations?

Most my cabinets are either Merillat or custom. Frankly, I think the best budget countertop available currently is granite. It's half the price of butcher block, concrete, or stainless. It's only like $10 more per sqft than laminate. That's a no brainer for me if you're on a budget. It's by far the best choice in the $40-50 range.

Don't buy anything from Menards. They generally sell two qualities of product. Good, and crap. Any cabinet named "Thunder" makes me nervous. Check Home Depot and Lowe's. Not only do they carry higher quality products, but employ adults, whereas Menards employs as many high school and college kids as possible. They are the Wal-Mart of home improvement stores. Not only b/c of those policies, but many others. John Menard is known as being generally a shitty person.

Look at it this way, the low end store brand tools, Husky (Home Depot) & Kobalt (Lowe's) > Tool Shop/Master Force (Menards).

As for flooring. Lumber Liquidators is great and they have many higher grade cheap options. Also, check with a local wood mill and see what it would cost to buy solid Hickory flooring direct from them.

Hope this helps.

Hey, I know a guy who sells hardwood. :)

When we put our office together plywood counter/formica top was the cheapest way to go by a mile.

I always thought granite was incredibly expensive, but obviously I'm wrong.

PM notorious for floors. There was a guy with the screen name of RJ IIRC that used to sell flooring, but I haven't seen him in a good long time.

PM Cjizzles for flooring too. :thumb:

Well,

I know A guy who is looking to buy around 1000' of it and has put it up here twice with no response. I'm looking at options for Hickory.

Well, what sort of subfloor are you on? Basement below? Is it pre-finished or unfinished?

You like hickory cabinets and potentially hickory floors? Are the cabinets you're looking at a stained hickory or just clear coated?

Do you like the rustic, look and feel of handscraped/distressed hardwood?

Are you doing the installation yourself? Kids or pets?

I had no idea you sold flooring. Ill lock that in the memory bank. Good to know man.

Flooring I might be in the market for.

We have a spare bedroom downstairs that we've only used to store summer/winter clothes and coats and it's been empty other than that.

We went in about a week ago and there were about 10 small spots of grey mold. Fuzzy, grey/white in color, and thank God no impact on the wife's alergies.

1)What is this and what's the best way to rid our house of it?
2)Once we rip the carpet out is this something that might warp or damage a hardwood floor?...

Electrical advice needed for simpleton. I have 2 outdoor outlets, one on my deck and one on my pergola. I have a GFCI outlet in my basement that they run off of (???). I'm installing some rope lights on the pergola. I plugged the rope lights into the GFCI outlet and they worked. When I took them outside to the pergola outlet and plugged them in, they didn't work. So I walked downstairs to the GFCI outlet and the red light was on. I pressed the reset button and it sparked a bit. Now nothing that I plug into the GFCI outlet or my 2 outdoor outlets work. Circuit breaker looks fine.

What did I do and how can I fix it? Did that GFCI outlet save my life?

Sparks in anything electrical is bad. When was the last time you plugged anything into the outside outlets? Right now you'd probably have to start by replacing the GFI and go from there.

I haven't plugged anything into the outdoor outlets since Spring when squirrels chewed through my string lights. They have covers and I didn't see any nests or moisture in them.

I was just seeing if it was years.

GFI sounds bad. Since the wall breaker hasn't flipped I'd say it's internal to the GFI. Could be something shorted past it of course but the place to start is the GFI.

Replace the breaker

I'd like to go on record after 3 weeks of purchasing piles and piles of building supplies from local, Lowes and Menards.....Menards is NOT the Walmart of the big box lumber yard....It is the Dollar General.

Mouth breathing morons abound in that place, and they're department managers. I declare they help me invent new swear words.

Are you still looking for Hickory and have you found an installer that is capable?

They opened one in Garden. I'm hearing the same thing about that one.

EDIT: One thing, we put a building up and put a bid into our local lumber yard and they were really competitive. If we would have piecemealed it together they wouldn't have done anything, but with the volume they worked with us. The other benefit was that they'd take back the crooked ass boards. Big box stores have more crookeds than straights and you can't return any.

Have cabinets but I'm still going to be in the market for all flooring.

Menard's is ok if you know what you are looking for and understand how the place works, but as far as knowledgeable employees it is the worst of any of them. Do not go in there thinking you're going to get any type of useful advice from their staff.

Agree iowanian. Menards is a shithole.

sure you can.

if you order a bunk of 2x from a local or from a big box, you're gonna end up about the same, assuming same grade and distributor. It's not like the sell different material to different stores.

There are just so many tongue chewers working there.

I've had to find my own pre/special orders....that had my name on them. Yesterday, one of them gave me attitude because I didn't want 2 doors I intend to clear coat...that had 2 oil boot prints on them. I loaded 14 of 15 doors myself while corky counted his hand tatoos....

Unless it's the best deal of all deals, I'm pretty much done there.

Our local Lowes has amazing framing grade lumber. Their cheapest is seriously better quality than Menards premium grade. ..

It's 50 miles away from me. In our case it's not really applicable to return them.

And yeah. The quality is different I don't give a **** what you say.

so, that's your problem....

Lumber is graded on appearance and quality. #2 is going to be fairly consistent no matter where you buy it. In any bunk of lumber you will get a mix of good and bad, thats just the way it is. Some places, like Lowes do offer a "premium" #2, but that is material that has been hand-culled from the mill. Comparing #2 and "premium #2" isn't apples to apples.

FWIW, I buy about $75-100k in lumber a year. Much of that lately has been coming from Menards because the buys happened to line up with their 11% rebate sales, but i buy from several sources.

If you don't want the bad that comes with the good, get off your ass and go pick out your own sticks.

I hand pick every stick that goes into my projects. Personally.

That's seriously impressive
Posted via Mobile Device

sometimes you have to for certain things, I do for any personal; projects, and my brother and I always did on the side work we did.

Hard to do when you buy 750 2x6x16 treated though for a roof project. :)

Yeah. I wouldn't do that. But I do more than the average person would, especially when it's going to be exposed to elements and visible to the eye. Cedar has a way of dropping its knots after it fully cures outside. I won't install a board with a knot in the joint. Even basements and additions, I look down every stick to ensure that it's true. One bowed board can seriously jack up an entire wall or shower. I don't trust labor to eliminate them. They don't care as much.

I just finished my mom's patio cover to totally cover her cement pad. Hand picking all materials is essential. Built upper and lower headers, added onto existing roof, which I hate, stripped and installed new roof.

Maybe go to each again and take another look. It's been awhile, but petty sure Menards has 3 different grades of rough 2X lumber, while Lowe's has 2. Lowe's lowest quality is better quality than Menards top.

This was last year, so this could have changed.

Going down in the spring to totally enclose and make a sitting room out of it.

Update: Welp, looks like ground squirrels under my pergola chewed through the wire running from the outlet. I have an electrician out running a new line encased in a heavy duty tubing.

I've been filling a bucket half full with water and sunflower seeds, drowning 2 or 3 of those things at a time. Not handy, but I'd take anyone's ground squirrel solutions.

Antifreeze

Any charred remains?

I was hoping, but I didn't see anything. There was something rank back there this summer, so I'm sincerely hoping it was one of those bastards.