ehsnils Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Currently use solar at the vacation cottage. Previously wind powered, and maybe again someday. No local grid to connect to. Changed from wind to solar due to the maintenance requirements in a beach/marine environment. The panels charge a bank of batteries in the basement, and an inverter supplies regular AC power to the house from there. Our oldest panels are 26 years old and still supply useful power. On the other hand, inverters haven't been so reliable and batteries require periodic replacement even in the best of circumstances. Makes sense. Batteries may live longer if they are kept cool (not freezing cool but fridge cool), so having them in the basement is a good idea. Also consider batteries that are specific for that kind of use - deep discharge type and with the ability to re-fill with distilled or demineralized water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spun Muffler Bearings Posted June 29, 2014 Share Posted June 29, 2014 Yup. We use 6v golf cart batteries. Never found anything that beats them as far as availability, size, charging characteristics and total lifetime. We typically get 6-8 years out of them but we have had a few last as long as 14 years. When they get a bit weak I move them to the "b" circuit which is an isolated system for back-up lighting only, and we get a few more years out of them. The Trojan T-105 has proven to be the best bang for the buck in this type of battery. Big enough to be useful, small enough that we don't need block & tackle to move them in & out of the basement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baconbits Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baconbits Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 (edited) 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. Edited July 2, 2014 by baconbits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoplightAssassin Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Food for thought... If you get solar panels on your roof, you better get 30 year shingles first installed by a damn good roofing company that will warrant their work, even with the panels. Also, solar panels on a roof can hinder a fire rescue. The Dietz and Watson factory was lost in a fire here b/c the chief refused to send his guys onto the roof which had 7000 panels. Soon after the roof collapsed. The panels can't be shut off from the street like normal electricity can, so they pose a huge electrocution risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baconbits Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasejase Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 You would think that there are workarounds. I'll talk to my buddy who is a fireman, see how they've been trained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoplightAssassin Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 My grandfather was in the fire service all his life and served as the county fire Marshall for years. He still serves in the executive part of his local company. I never served myself, but I learned a great deal over many beers with him. The rooftop solar panels, especially in industrial settings pose great risks. Firefighters already try not to go into buildings with truss designs unless loss of life is imminent. The truss is a cheap, lightweight, and effective design for making large spaces without much interior support from the span to the ground. However, the lack of interior support makes it especially susceptible to collapse in a fire extremely quickly and without warning. The additional weight of solar panels makes it worse in a fire. At the entrance to many big box stores or warehouses, you might notice a red and white triangle with a f or r in it. It indicates the building's roof is a truss and what type of truss it is. Solar panels also pose a risk for line workers. My uncle runs line crews in DE and SJ. When they shut off power to work on the local lines, local solar panels can still feed power back into the grid. One home with panels is more than enough to kill a man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayInVA Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Asbestos Siding Removal. Siding Replacement, New Exterior Steps, Paint http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg54/diggerdan11/House%20Remodel/19C5DA38-4DAC-4224-A63C-56B52BC6AED9_zps98qazct9.jpg Nice! What kind of wood did you use? I have to fully reside my house soon and the prices of Redwood and Cedar are kind of scary (given what I paid for the house and the neighborhood). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diggerdan11 Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Nice! What kind of wood did you use? I have to fully reside my house soon and the prices of Redwood and Cedar are kind of scary (given what I paid for the house and the neighborhood). Its just fine. The siding that was on the house was very expensive clear fir, but its almost impossible to get now. We just used pine because it was cheaper, and once it was painted you cant tell any difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PimpFro Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 going for a much wider entrance Pure Adrenaline Attached... To A License Plate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baconbits Posted July 5, 2014 Share Posted July 5, 2014 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Donated thefultonhow Posted July 6, 2014 I Donated Share Posted July 6, 2014 I wish my house had wood floors in more of the rooms. My parents' house (built in 1956) has wood in all the rooms but the bathrooms (tile) and kitchen and laundry room (linoleum). The stairs are also hardwood. My house (built in 1985) only has wood in the living and dining rooms and the hallway between the living room and bedrooms. The family room is laminate, which I hate and am planning to fix someday. And of course all of the bedrooms and the basement are carpet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasejase Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 (edited) Anything built from 1980 and up, rarely has hw floors. That was when carpet was 'better' than hw. Lol. Our house was built in 55... He throughout except living room, kitchen, and baths. I'm guessing the LR had hw at one point but was removed :/ I will say that carpet in the living room is pretty nice for a toddler. Edited July 6, 2014 by jasejase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Donated thefultonhow Posted July 6, 2014 I Donated Share Posted July 6, 2014 Anything built from 1980 and up, rarely has he floors. That was when carpet was 'better' than hw. Lol. Our house was built in 55... He throughout except living room, kitchen, and baths. I'm guessing the LR had hw at one point but was removed :/ I will say that carpet in the living room is pretty nice for a toddler. You sure the living room doesn't have hardwood under the carpet? That was a pretty popular thing to do in the 70s and 80s, from what I understand. My old bedroom in my parents' house had green shag carpet when we moved in in 92... and beautiful oak underneath it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasejase Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 Plywood. Confirmed when it was restretched, and from the basement. Boooo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nouse4aname Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 Yeah ours was built in '86 just had carpet and linoleum directly on the concrete slab that we've since replaced with wood laminate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baconbits Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCHM1AN Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 The nerd's way of doing things: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodik Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Finally finished my bathroom with cedar, nothing beats the sauna feel that cedar provides. and decided to build myself a computer desk, started like this a little further I built some radiator covers and you can see progression of desk behind it Now onto dividers/shelves and finally the stain this saturday going to build drawers and doors and be hopefully done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baconbits Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 The nerd's way of doing things: I used Solidworks to map out reorganizing my room once... measured all of my furniture and figured out how to make it fit. and finally the stain That desk is awesome... wouldn't go with my decor plans but I want it anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCHM1AN Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 I used Solidworks to map out reorganizing my room once... measured all of my furniture and figured out how to make it fit. Doing so with my basement cellar. Trying to figure out how much room I'll have for shelves after all the insulation, studs, and drywall are taken into account Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I Donated thefultonhow Posted August 14, 2014 I Donated Share Posted August 14, 2014 Thought I'd post a before-and-after floor plan of our basement. The whole thing is about 1150 sq ft, and when we bought the house, it was wide open except for a small utility closet in the middle, and the area under the stairs. We built the following, in the order listed: - A room for the cats' litter boxes, food bowls, and water fountain (to the right of the stairs) - Two pantry closets that share a wall with the cat room - An unfinished addition to the utility closet for storage space - A home office for me, complete with plenty of desk-level outlets and ethernet jacks (top left) - A metalworking workshop and craft room for my fiance, with a closet so that it can be used as a spare bedroom in a pinch, although it doesn't have an egress window (bottom left) - A walk-in closet for my fiance to store out-of-season clothes and the like (below the stairs; not yet built) Currently working on painting all the rooms in the basement different colors, and will be replacing the carpet with laminate flooring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baconbits Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 I've been putting up new baseboard and quarter round trim lately... so many nail holes to fill. I need to hang another ceiling fan, put up two sconces, finish caulking and painting baseboard nail holes, paint doors, paint door trim... then the main floor refresh will be done. I need to run new coax and ethernet and then the rewire will be done. Should be good to go by Christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el5y Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 Thought I'd post a before-and-after floor plan of our basement. The whole thing is about 1150 sq ft, and when we bought the house, it was wide open except for a small utility closet in the middle, and the area under the stairs. We built the following, in the order listed: - A room for the cats' litter boxes, food bowls, and water fountain (to the right of the stairs) - Two pantry closets that share a wall with the cat room - An unfinished addition to the utility closet for storage space - A home office for me, complete with plenty of desk-level outlets and ethernet jacks (top left) - A metalworking workshop and craft room for my fiance, with a closet so that it can be used as a spare bedroom in a pinch, although it doesn't have an egress window (bottom left) - A walk-in closet for my fiance to store out-of-season clothes and the like (below the stairs; not yet built) Currently working on painting all the rooms in the basement different colors, and will be replacing the carpet with laminate flooring. This looks sweet. I wish I had a basement...or even the possibility of a basement. Darn water table is too high in Virginia Beach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now