baconbits

Fox ftw unless we're talking Dorados...

I guess people would rather chance getting their TMIC order in and hope their order ships while possibly dealing with a month-plus backorder, just like their downpipe release. GS learned from that and I have a feeling they would like to get the process correct, streamlined and leaned out the best they can before release to make lead times to their distributors as short as possible. I'm a consumer just like you guys, but being an engineer for a manufacturing company has given me insight the general public doesn't have. They aren't being lazy and they understand your frustration.

Where at in Cleveland? I'm over on the west side. Check out NEOSOC on facebook

My girlfriend fell into the return air vent in our floor after it had been open (no grate) for over 2 weeks while I refinished the hardwood floors... she can ride a cross bike on city streets but would probably die getting off the lift to the top of the hill before even getting on the bike. Love her but she's not very... aware... sometimes. Good luck to you sir.

I've got an undamaged wheelset I could be talked into selling...

None with me now (at work) but this is what they look like: http://cdn3.coresites.mpora.com/bikemagic_new/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/06-IMG_3158-625x468.jpg Standard 6-bolt disc brake tabs. Zero marks/gouges on the cassette carrier. Less than 20 miles of rides. It pains me to offer these for sale because I loved the BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ of the Hope Pro rear hub...

I liked my Hope hubs but alas, I'm over the weight limit on the Stans Crest rims. Anyone want to buy a rather light wheelset, tubeless? They have like 2 rides on them... I just don't feel comfortable pushing them hard. Hope 9mmQR hubs (with 20mm TA adapter front), standard 135mm QR rear, black spokes and nipples (don't remember brand) and Stan's Crest rims. I think they were $425 shipped from Wiggle but would do quite a bit less...

Dare I ask how much?

^ BNR turbos... pretty popular around here.

I found newspapers in the walls dated September of 1942 so my house is definitely early 40s. The upstairs has hella-cheap pine "hardwood" flooring but that's just going to be a subfloor once I start remodeling up there. The steps leading to the upstairs (future) master suite along with the bedroom up there will be the only carpet left in the house. Everywhere else will be tile or hardwood.

Floor refinishing project done and that's a big weight off my shoulders. Maybe the anxiety will fade and I can sleep now that they're done and I'm happy with them. Pic 1: First coat of poly down in the grey room. It soaked up so quickly that it was almost dry in the starting corner before I got to the door. I was pretty nervous about keeping a wet edge considering how fast it was drying. After this first coat, I was *sure* it was red oak in the house but after it dried, it's white. Pic 2: Third coat done on the hallway. That giant hole is one of the cold air return vents. Pic 3: Fourth coat done in the living room. At this point, I'm noticing there are a ton of little nubs in the poly, be it from skin on the applicator, hairs, chunks of schmutz, etc along with the grain really raising up. Some random boards felt like I missed them entirely with the finish grit on the sander but all boards surrounding them felt glass-smooth. Pic 4: I screened the entire floor by hand (all 500sqft or so) with 220 grit on a drywall sander. Fifth and final coat in the grey room. Pic 5: Final coat purple room. This room looks much darker than the rest... I'm wondering if it's red oak versus white oak in the rest of the house but have no idea how they hid the transition between woods. Otherwise it's just the purple walls making it look darker via reflection. Pic 6: Final coat in the living room. Pic 7: Living room again. I'm going to buy 30 miles or so of baseboard and quarter round early next week and pre-paint all of it before installing so all I have to worry about is caulking gaps and filling/painting the nail holes. I am NOT chancing cutting along the new floor. Final coats of paint on the walls soon after, a couple ceiling fans, and I'm going to call it good. Should be able to move all the furniture down here in a about a week (recommendation on poly container). I couldn't be happier with how it turned out even though I know where all the flaws are. I'm proud of how it came out but humble at the same time so it just boils down to me giving it my best and if that's not good enough... Final cost was about $1.05/sqft including the extra cost of the sanding pads for the random orbital. The guy at Home Depot never charged me the rental fee for the random orbital when I swapped it out for the drum sander so that mistake only cost me ~$45 in pads versus ~$100 in pads/rental fee. If you start with a drum sander, it could be a smidge under $1/sqft for a similar size with five coats of water based poly (along with buying application tools) and no stain.

That's a point I've never thought or heard about... makes sense. I guess they're good for large detached garages, barns, or the like. Not a dwelling.

I returned the random orbit sander and nervously picked up a drum sander. I returned 10x 80 grit pads, 7x 20 grit pads and 6x 36 grit pads for the random orbit sander and picked up 5x 36 grit belts and 5x 80 grit belts for the drum sander. The sales guy there today said the belts are good for 200 square feet or so which is far better than I was getting out of the pads for the random orbit. I ended up using THREE of each so I'm returning two 36 grit belts and two 80 grit belts... drum sander FTW. Don't waste your time with anything else. Seriously. That was a $100 learning experience for me and a waste of a day. What took 4 hours to do half-assed with the random orbit took an hour to do with the drum with better results. A friend has two weeks off while his employer is shut down for a week for inventory and a week of vacation so he's coming over to help. Pic 1: The bottom foreground hazy bit is the 20 grit random orbit wake. The top, richer color is the wake of the drum sander with 36 grit. Deeper cut so the board edges are smoother/no cupping and MUCH faster work. I'm apparently a natural according to my friend (has used a drum sander before) because I have the start/stop timing and motion down so no gouging or swales. Pic 2: My office done with 36 grit. Pic 3: Girlfriend's room done with 36 as well. Yes. It's purple. I told her there's not enough primer on the planet to cover it up but she didn't care. I decided to pick my battle another time. Pic 4: Close up of the 36 grit pass. Pic 5: No man's land between the hallway (left), living room (up), kitchen (down) and stairs going up (right). Drum sanders MUST be run with the grain so I couldn't get this spot. I'll get it with the edger sander tomorrow. Pic 6: Loaded with 80 grit for the finish pass in the living room. Pic 7: Living room done with 36 grit. Yes, the green is bright but hear me out. White ceiling, high gloss white crown molding, green walls (more neon in the picture than real life), 4" gloss white baseboard and quarter round, natural finish floor, grey couch and black recliner, black rug or two, glass coffee table, brushed nickel ceiling fan and lamps... it'll work. I promise. Saw it in a magazine and had to have it. It took 6 or 8 passes in EACH direction to get the floor flat or relatively flat... the boards in this room were cupped the most and it was pretty rough. Looks MINT now. Pic 8: It might be a 125+ pound sander but my 260lb, 6'4 friend makes it look small. He's got a slammed '11 STI with Corsa exhaust... we actually used his car for R&D.

Started sanding the hardwood on my main floor - it's everywhere except the kitchen, bathroom, and the small entry foyer by the front door. Two bedrooms, a hallway and the living room for a total of 475-500 square feet. Pic 1: I rented a Clarke American OBS-18DC (dust collector) 18x12" random orbit floor buffer. I thought it could work as a sander as well seeing as they sold sanding sheets all the way down to 20 grit. The HD tool rental guy told me he's seen people strip multiple coats of paint off porches with 24 grit so it'll handle a floor just fine. Pic 2: Loaded up with 36 grit (recommended starting grit) ready to start sanding. Pic 3: What I've done so far is the top left. It's working so-so. Turns out the dust collection "skirt" is missing so the suction system doesn't work for squat. FINE FINE dust everywhere. I ran through three 36 grit pads in my 11x13 office/man cave before moving onto my girlfriend's 10x11 "girl cave relaxation room." Here the 36 didn't do squat so I went out and got 20 grit pads. I ran two pads of 20 in that room and ran another 20 grit pad in my room where I then realized this random orbit sander isn't aggressive enough. Frustrated, I took it back.

I should mention that his propane (lives in the country) usage dropped by like 90%... he also had new windows and insulation blown in the walls when the geothermal was being installed so those played a role too. He told me the only stuff he really uses propane for now are the hot water heater and his stove... house heat is almost all geothermal now.

My boss had geothermal heat/cooling installed a couple years ago. ROI for what he paid is like 12 years or something. Hasn't complained of any issues and is planning on adding solar panels to his 4 car garage at some point.

http://creativetraction.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/you_like_this_facebook_tumbs_up_bumper_sticker-p128127724679874290trl0_400.jpg

No stain. I want the floors light. I'm hoping this is where I'll be with no stain... yes no? http://hardwoodflooringdeals.com/image/cache/data/Wite_Oak_Room-503x329.jpg Edit: After more googling, whomever put this picture up says it's his new oak floor with no stain... looks far too light to be red oak so that leaves white. This is exactly what I'm going for. http://1stavenuehardwoodfloors.com/mediac/400_0/media/478f5e443048d22affff821dffffe904.jpg

Maybe it was 15 year materials but I definitely have a workmanship warranty that lasts longer than 9 months. Water over oil based poly: Fumes Dry time - 1-3 hours for re-coat with water makes a big difference when I want 4-5 coats (pets) when oil based needs 24 hours. I also need to be able to use the house (hallway leading to only full bathroom) so dry time is key. Color - From what I've read, oil based poly has a yellowish hue to it (either out of the can or over time) while water based is virtually colorless. The floors now have an orange-ish hue to them which I'm not a fan of really... I want the natural white oak color with no stain or poly hue. Water costs a bit more ($25 for oil versus $40 for water) but I think the pros far outweigh the cons. I hear oil is a bit more durable but that's still up for debate. I figure 4-5 coats and call it good for durability. Most places I've been reading say no matter what you do, you'll have to screen it in 7-10 years (assuming no wear to bare wood) and recoat anyway.

Got the last of the carpet pulled up on the main floor. All of the transition strips (between hallway and kitchen/bathroom and front entry) are up too. All base board is off where I'm going to refinish the hardwood. I painted the ceiling in the living room a couple days ago and we've had a couple days of torrential rain which has caused water spots in a couple spots on my freshly painted ceiling. You bet your collective asses I'm calling the roofers who re-roofed the house last September and I'm going to collect on that 15 year warranty. Stopped at Home Depot yesterday to check out the floor sanders and get a cost idea together. Roughly $125 to rent the sander for two days, $5-6 per sheet for sand paper, $5 pad, couple rolls of painter's tape to seal off ducts, couple drop cloths to seal off doors. I've got all next week off so I was planning on starting sanding Monday morning and hopefully laying down poly Wednesday. Anyone have any recommendations on WATER based floor polyurethane? There are a couple out there and was curious if someone's had good or bad experiences.

Thanks. I've got some wood filler but it's almost like chocolate mousse consistency. Worked fine to patch the crown molding albeit needed a bit of sanding afterwards. I'm pumped with how the doors came out (and how you guys can't see the cracks I have to caulk ) so I'm pretty motivated to get the other room done tonight. I'd finish the hallway but I need to sand my drywall patches from rewiring the light before I can paint. I can't wait until the rest of the brown shag is out of my life... keeping it in the living room and hallway for now because it's functioning as a free drop cloth so I'll pull it up when I'm done painting.

Pic 1: My craigslist spoils. They needed some parts but are working just fine now aside from the 15ga angled finish nailer... replaced half the seals and it still leaks air through to the exhaust. I'm thinking it's the valve actuated by the trigger. Great piece though... super light because it's magnesium. Came with a hard case and manual. Everything aside from the angled nailer came from one seller... all work perfectly. Compressor's a 6 gallon, 2hp. 16ga straight finish nailer, 18ga brad nailer, 18ga stapler, canvas bag, 3/8x50 rubber hose, air chuck and an air nozzle. I'm using the straight finish nailer for now while I'm short on time to take it to their repair center near work and to put it through its paces before selling it to a friend for what I paid for it. Pic 2: Put two doors' worth of trim up tonight. I left the plinth blocks off the bottom because I'm going to be sanding and poly'ing the floors the week of 4th of July. I have 9 more doors to go. Ignore the trim in the closet... haven't pounded out the nails and cut it down for the garbage men yet. Pic 3: Old house has crooked door frames so ignore the gap between the door slab and the frame. I can't wait til this main floor is done and I can coast/recover for a couple months while I save up for new windows and entry doors.

Just going to use it for limiting moisture... I'm more worried about the humidity in the air than I am about small puddle when we get a torrential downpour once or twice a summer. I can mop up the puddle and it's done, or I can constantly run the dehumidifier on high and throw a lot of money at the electric company. Using it as a waterproofing thing like tarring the exterior of the basement walls is not the intention.

I think the clay tile (house built in the 40s) has collapsed somewhere along the back wall of the house. The property slopes from the backyard towards the front so unless I re-grade the entire backyard, it'll slope towards the front of the house no matter what I do. I can change it a little near the house (flower beds along house), but not a whole lot. That's the plan.

I'd rather deal with the cause (water getting in through wall) than dealing with the symptoms (water on the floor).