|
I picture a tent with a propane stove in your dirt floor mud room. How far off is this?
|
#
?
Jun 19, 2014 15:03
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 23:57 |
|
|
c355n4 posted:I picture a tent with a propane stove in your dirt floor mud room. How far off is this? No tent that I remember, but other than that, pretty accurate.
|
|
#
?
Jun 20, 2014 19:49
|
|
|
No propane stove, either.  
|
|
#
?
Jun 20, 2014 20:32
|
|
|
Well hot drat, the forums are back! Actual progress on the foundation over the last few days. Weather has been nice and I have gotten out of work on time a few days in a row. Washed the top of the foundation off (aka "sprayed the poo poo out of it with the garden hose until my beer was finished") so the new mortar would stick.  I always wash all the stones off, discard the really flaky ones that are falling apart (we get a lot of really schisty  stone around here) and then sort what's left on a clean board so I can choose the best stone to fill each spot. Stonemasonry is kinda like tetris, except there are no right answers, a lot of wrong ones, and none of the pieces have any square corners. Getting somewhere.   And as I left it this morning. Finished this all last night, but it was dark and the pictures came out like crap so I got some more on the way out the door this morning.   t-t-t-t-t-that's all, folks! I'm helping my sister with the battery/starter wiring on her truck tomorrow night, so probably no more progress till Friday or Saturday.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2014 02:18
|
|
|
drat! And I thought having to put in 18 support columns to level an 8x16' addition was a nightmare.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2014 02:49
|
|
|
This section will bring the replaced sill plate total to 34' (or so) and the remaining total to 24'. I'm actually more than halfway done on something for once.  (the next 4 foot section is easy, it isn't weight bearing at all anymore, then the section after that isn't weight bearing anymore either, but it's under a doorway and behind a porch. The last 16 feet is under a weight bearing wall, but it's got a number of windows in it that should make things much easier since the jackstuds under the window openings do basically nothing.)
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2014 02:57
|
|
|
kastein posted:(the next 4 foot section is easy, it isn't weight bearing at all anymore, Let's be serious.....how many sections were actually weight bearing before you started?
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2014 03:01
|
|
|
All but the first 8 foot section in the kitchen. Even the sections that were mostly powder were somehow holding weight because it took a hell of a lot of creaking and pumping on the 12 ton bottle jack to get them to move. No, I don't know how. I guess beetle poop is stronger in compression than I gave it credit for.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2014 03:02
|
|
|
kastein posted:Stonemasonry is kinda like tetris, except there are no right answers, a lot of wrong ones, and none of the pieces have any square corners. When I did a little stonemasonry on my gap year (worked on a building site of a gently caress-off nightmare terraced house renovation/partial rebuild etc) the stonemason said to me that the principle rule in teaching an apprentice was as follows: once you've picked a stone up, you can't put it down — it has to go in the wall somehow. Moral of the story: think before you pick things up. He was right, too. Building things with stone is fun. Drystone dyke building is even more fun.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2014 12:21
|
|
|
c355n4 posted:I picture a tent with a propane stove in your dirt floor mud room. How far off is this? I figured he was just camping in the back of the 5-ton.
|
|
#
?
Jun 26, 2014 17:24
|
|
|
Nah. He's deep in the engine bay. By the core, where it's still warm.
|
|
#
?
Jun 27, 2014 00:19
|
|
|
House no longer on blocks, less banjo playing permitted, news at 11 (Pictures tomorrow, it is goddamn dark again, wtf) Cut myself pretty deeply on the edge of the flashing while wrapping the new sill, I suppose I should probably clean that up now that I finished.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2014 04:42
|
|
|
kastein posted:Cut myself pretty deeply on the edge of the flashing while wrapping the new sill, I suppose I should probably clean that up now that I finished. Kastein Home re
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2014 13:50
|
|
|
I've bled a lot worse than that, it made a mess for a few minutes then slowed down so I kept working  Somewhat of a contrast, eh? 
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2014 14:04
|
|
|
Beach Bum posted:Kastein Home re While gutting and renovating my House (and it's certainly house-with-a-capital-H), I joke that every time we work, House requires its requisite blood sacrifice and it doesn't care who "donates". Every time we work on the house, somebody is getting a new bump/scrape/bruise and it is going to bleed. Every single time, no exceptions. My House is one vindictive bastard.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2014 16:36
|
|
|
Look at that mess to the far right 
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2014 17:56
|
|
|
Yeah I took all that out with a gardening trowel and only sawed the bottoms of the studs off for better access. That corner was hosed. Once upon a time, that wall was weight bearing.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2014 22:27
|
|
|
daggerdragon posted:While gutting and renovating my House (and it's certainly house-with-a-capital-H), I joke that every time we work, House requires its requisite blood sacrifice and it doesn't care who "donates". Every time we work on the house, somebody is getting a new bump/scrape/bruise and it is going to bleed. Every single time, no exceptions. Its the same with working on cars, If you havent bled by the time you finish a job, somethings going to go horribly wrong. As soon as the blood sacrifice is made, its smooth sailing from then on.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2014 02:42
|
|
|
c355n4 posted:I picture a tent with a propane stove in your dirt floor mud room. How far off is this? I picture this 
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2014 00:04
|
|
It's burgin' time! 
|
My eyes aren't quite that beady.  Threw the new sheathing on this section of repaired wall. I put the wall back how it was before I hosed with it and my level (and measurements for the sheathing) say it was 1.5" out of level in 81" Would have releveled it but I would have to jack the whole living room up at once to do that and I don't have enough equipment. So it is staying how it was, just less rotten. As usual, too dark, pictures in the morning if I remember or care. Imagine a piece of pressure treated 3/4 ply nailed over the gaping hole in the wall from last time. kastein fucked around with this message at 02:40 on Jul 2, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2014 02:38
|
|
|
Ferremit posted:Its the same with working on cars, If you havent bled by the time you finish a job, somethings going to go horribly wrong. As soon as the blood sacrifice is made, its smooth sailing from then on. I gave myself a black eye fitting a towbar yesterday, it did get easier after that funnily enough...
|
|
#
?
Jul 3, 2014 15:10
|
|
|
I should just start projects by driving a nail through my hand or something and bleeding everywhere. I'm willing to bet that every project would go so much smoother. kastein, you're a hero to us all [who have rotten houses]
|
|
#
?
Jul 3, 2014 15:16
|
|
|
Jesus, this house was like a couple years from collapsing on its own. God help anyone that bought it and held a party.
|
|
#
?
Jul 8, 2014 23:46
|
|
|
cowofwar posted:Jesus, this house was like a couple years from collapsing on its own. God help anyone that bought it and held a party. Luckily I think most of kastein's parties consist of laying in the mud welding jeeps.
|
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2014 14:23
|
|
|
dreesemonkey posted:Luckily I think most of kastein's parties consist of laying in the mud welding jeeps. sounds like a cool party... ..... I'll bring beer?
|
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2014 21:17
|
|
|
Less laying in the mud, more laying in the dirt. And I have a foam mat I put down if I'm doing more than a few minutes of work, thank you very much  Assuming I get out of work at a reasonable hour tonight I'm going to start work on the ledger bracketry for the new master bedroom floor joists this evening.
|
|
#
?
Jul 9, 2014 21:40
|
|
|
Got all the angle iron cut to length and drilled for the ledger brackets. I bought 60 feet of angle, ended up using around 45' with around a foot and a half wasted as scraps a few inches long, so now I have some extra for the fabrication supplies stockpile. Welder acted up so I had to put in a parts order and won't make more progress on that till it comes in, hopefully this week. On the plus side, wasted MIG wire makes a really great high tension substitute for masons twine. It looks like I'm going to be using 2x 3.125" 5/16 GRK RSS screws through the brackets into each stud and 2x 4" ones into each joist, at each end. poo poo isn't going anywhere once I get it all screwed together. kastein fucked around with this message at 15:43 on Jul 14, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jul 14, 2014 15:36
|
|
|
Guess what showed up today? Gonna weld so much house poo poo tonight when I get home.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 18:40
|
|
|
Remember to set up your nitrogen bubble properly when you're welding titanium.
|
|
#
?
Jul 17, 2014 20:23
|
|
|
New welding helmet is a million times better than the old one, new torch installed on welder, I've laid down 8 feet of weld and not a single jam-up yet! Old torch would have jammed on me several dozen times. Half of one bracket (of four) is welded, I ran out of prepped sections of angle (I only got a handful of pieces ground before 9pm) and didn't want to wake the neighbors with an angle grinder at midnight. Well worth the $150 I spent on the new torch and $70 for the new helmet.
|
|
#
?
Jul 18, 2014 06:40
|
|
|
dreesemonkey posted:Luckily I think most of kastein's parties consist of laying in the mud welding jeeps. Now we're talking!  Anyone want to help me learn how to TIG weld?
|
|
#
?
Jul 19, 2014 02:19
|
|
|
I heart bacon posted:Now we're talking! You're about a thousand miles too far away for me to help, and it'd be the blind leading the blind, I haven't TIGed yet. I ran out of shielding gas at like noon yesterday, which was not conducive to finishing anything. Got another tank at lunch today though.
|
|
#
?
Jul 22, 2014 00:28
|
|
|
6 inches of weld after hooking up the new tank of 75/25 and I run out of fricking mig wire One of these days, welding with the new welder will go according to plan.
|
|
#
?
Jul 23, 2014 02:59
|
|
|
I will be away from home for a variety of reasons for most of the next two months. That doesn't mean you fuckers get a reprieve from houses falling apart and getting fixed though. My parents foundation is about like mine. All fieldstone below ground level, mine is partially fieldstone and partially brick aboveground, theirs is all brick aboveground. All horrible decaying old lime mortar. Their house, as with many early 1900s houses in this area, had sewer drained downspouts. What this means is that after a few decades of neglect the pipes serving the downspouts plug up with leaves and debris and the water overflows out the top and down the outside of the foundation. After another few decades, it has eroded away most, if not all of the mortar between the bricks. Came apart by hand.  Bricks stacked how they came out because I figured I would put them back where they came from.  Cleaned out all the old mortar and rotten poo poo and moss that was between them.  Bricks relaid. The rest of the joints were in good enough shape to leave, I will hit the whole area with chlorine bleach once the mortar cures and then blast all the dead mold and mildew out. Then repoint it all.  Much better. The drain pipe still needs to come off and be blocked up with mortar and the downspout rerouted/replaced, fortunately I brought my angle grinders.  Another corner was looking a little loose too, but not bad. Then I started digging in and before I knew it, 5 bricks needed relaying. Oh well, here goes. Loose brick and mortar removed.  Bricks cleaned and washed.  Everything back together, just needs pointing and jointing.  Done!  (I had no idea how to do brickwork, pointing, and jointing until today.) That's probably all for today, I have my uncle's truck waiting for an alternator, my sister's truck waiting for a carb rebuild, possibly a radiator, starter cabling, and maybe some other repairs, my car awaiting rust repair and a million other projects to tackle while the mortar cures on this. There are another half dozen spots on the foundation just as bad as the mossy one... going to be quite a bit of work to rebuild properly.
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2014 21:26
|
|
|
kastein posted:I will be away from home for a variety of reasons for most of the next two months. That doesn't mean you fuckers get a reprieve from houses falling apart and getting fixed though. Nice bricks and nice brickwork. A son he brick in his parents wall. A good son
|
|
#
?
Aug 16, 2014 22:23
|
|
|
Next corner! This one's pretty hosed, I'm going to have to take out a few slabs worth of the sidewalk/apron because the constant water flow has eroded much of the mortar on the outside of the foundation right at ground level and also a lot of the dirt that was against it. I also got an excuse to use my 8lb sawed-off sledgehammer. The handle broke off my 4 pounder about this time last fall and I couldn't find an 8 pound hand sledge, so I bought a fullsize and cut the handle down. It's good exercise and gets the job done in a hurry... "disconnected" that old cast iron downspout drain pipe in the basement in two swings. We're going to be cutting it all the way back to floor level and capping it with a rubber band-clamped blockoff, so I didn't need to be careful. Waiting for my dad to pick up a dozen or two bricks of the proper size (did you know there are at least 19 standard brick sizes in the US? I didn't. What we have are very close to a regular modular brick) and then I can put it back together tonight... with the hole from that pipe bricked up properly as well. e: oh yeah, a recent minor earthquake (yes, in Massachusetts!) combined with an idiotic structural decision made by the forced hot water heat system installer back in the 20s/30s/40s has resulted in a major support beam in the basement not being supported at one end and splitting down its entire length. Parents noticed a lot of new nail pops and corner cracks in the plaster after the earthquake but thought nothing of it  So it looks like I need to grab my 12 ton bottle jack from home, some structural steel, jack the thing up, properly support it again, and then brace the cracked beam with steel. I would replace the beam, but it's in a fairly bad spot to get at, and I don't have the luxury of going full retard on the place, the whole upstairs needs to stay nice while the work is done.
kastein fucked around with this message at 15:45 on Aug 18, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 18, 2014 15:38
|
|
|
kastein, you need to warn people before coming near their houses. You have some kind of structural problem enhancing field going on.
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2014 20:35
|
|
|
Liquid Communism posted:kastein, you need to warn people before coming near their houses. You have some kind of structural problem enhancing field going on. Given this evidence, I've changed my mind about your invitation to help with my garage. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 19, 2014 20:46
|
|
|
Just a heads up about that pointing work kastein (and if you've heard/know this before I'm sorry0 it's usually a good idea to repoint in a similar material. A lot of these older bricks are fairly soft, which when pointed with an equally soft lime mortar isn't an issue. But when pointed with a modern cement, which is usually much harder than the bricks, this is a huge problem. The bricks expand with changes in temperature and relative humidity, the cement does not. The result is terrible spalling which will ruin your foundation. http://www.nps.gov/tps/how-to-preserve/briefs/2-repoint-mortar-joints.htm
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2014 15:26
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 23:57 |
|
|
Thanks for that - portions of the walls have already been redone by me (and my dad, a few decades ago, and some previous owner in the past) with modern hydraulic cement/mortar. I'm not really sure what the best type of mortar to do this would be, but the bricks are actually fairly strong; I've dealt with older bricks that were incredibly soft and broke easily but these ones stand being cleaned off with a chisel and a hammer quite easily. A few have broken, but they were quite badly damaged by freeze cycles before I even started. Since the sections my dad and the previous owner did work on haven't been damaged in 20+ years, and they both used various kinds of modern mortar (the PO actually used better mortar than my dad - the part he did is pretty badly damaged by humidity in the basement and I'm going to have to clean up and redo a lot of it, while the part the PO did is very solid still), I am pretty sure using this mortar will be fine. There are also a number of extremely low quality shale pieces in the basement walls that I'm likely going to have to replace with something better, preferably granite. This is much like my own foundation, and many others in the area, as local fieldstone includes a lot of shale/schist/crummy-rear end sedimentary stone. It's so bad in these failed stones you can blast the stone out of the crumbling lime mortar like it's a pocket of dried mud.
|
|
#
?
Aug 22, 2014 18:42
|
|