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kastein posted:Honestly at this point if another DIY goon wants to take it over I'm willing to sell at a lower price than I was planning. I need to get my rear end out of here. Aside from the remaining electrical work and I suppose the main stairwell railings (which are pretty detailed finish carpentry work) everything left is solidly in the normal homeowner DIY skill set. What does your agent think you can list it for as is?
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Dec 11, 2021 15:48
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I sink lots of ground rods for electric fence. I generally try to do one every 150’ just to keep it hot and I have over 10000’ on this property. Your rotary hammer is too small. The full on electric jackhammer you rent plus the driver gets them better but its a bitch to hold 8’ up. The harbor freight sds max demo hammer is a decent compromise. Geologically I mostly hit sandstone and I think you would be fine if its that or light shale but I am really unfamiliar with western mass. Glad you got it done though because that job sucks. The first three I drove at my old house I tried by hand with a tpost driver and a 20lb sledge and wound up so bruised I had to palm the steering wheel to get to work for the next week.
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Dec 13, 2021 23:09
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rdb posted:I sink lots of ground rods for electric fence. I generally try to do one every 150’ just to keep it hot and I have over 10000’ on this property. Your rotary hammer is too small. The full on electric jackhammer you rent plus the driver gets them better but its a bitch to hold 8’ up. The harbor freight sds max demo hammer is a decent compromise. Geologically I mostly hit sandstone and I think you would be fine if its that or light shale but I am really unfamiliar with western mass. Glad you got it done though because that job sucks. The first three I drove at my old house I tried by hand with a tpost driver and a 20lb sledge and wound up so bruised I had to palm the steering wheel to get to work for the next week. Could be granite. Or maybe a metamorphic rock. Down here on the Cape, if you find a rock among the sand, it's almost always granite. Literal pieces of New Hampshire.
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Dec 14, 2021 00:22
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rdb posted:I sink lots of ground rods for electric fence. I generally try to do one every 150’ just to keep it hot and I have over 10000’ on this property. Your rotary hammer is too small. The full on electric jackhammer you rent plus the driver gets them better but its a bitch to hold 8’ up. The harbor freight sds max demo hammer is a decent compromise. Geologically I mostly hit sandstone and I think you would be fine if its that or light shale but I am really unfamiliar with western mass. Glad you got it done though because that job sucks. The first three I drove at my old house I tried by hand with a tpost driver and a 20lb sledge and wound up so bruised I had to palm the steering wheel to get to work for the next week. edit: I misread what you were saying but leaving this here anyway because maybe the description will help someone I've only done two, but I started with a pointy bit on the jackhammer (end of the bit is literally a four-sided pyramid coming to the point), directly into the ground as far as it would go, which was about 16" before the jackhammer body met earth. Then put the ground rod in the hole, then got up on the ladder with the ground-rod-driving bit in the jackhammer. You wouldn't think 16" is deep enough to prevent the ground rod from falling over but it is - it'll lean a lot, but whatever, once you fit the top end into the driver-bit you can manipulate the jackhammer to position the rod straight up and down before driving. The real annoyance is that even with a 12 foot ladder you're still awkwardly holding a heavy jackhammer up high, but with non-frozen clay earth and no rocks that's an extremely temporary situation since it goes in very quickly. It took me maybe a minute per rod to get it flush, with no real effort on my part, just letting the jackhammer do the work.
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Dec 14, 2021 03:31
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When I drove the ground rod for my workshop, I did it by hand with a sledgehammer  I was only driving it into earth, fortunately, and it still took awhile.
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Dec 14, 2021 03:53
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Yeah I'm pretty sure I hit a chunk of granite on the second successful one. It went from going in at a reasonable but slow pace to just not moving at all even when I bashed it good and hard with the 8lb sledge a few dozen times. I agree that my rotary hammer is not big enough, but oh well. It's the one I've got. Normally I just use it to drill holes in concrete which it does fine at, the ground rod driver adapter was a bonus option I didn't even realize i could get when I first bought it.
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Dec 14, 2021 09:46
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I only mention because I have a feeling you will be driving some at your new place and its a poo poo job unless its 8’ of mud.
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Dec 14, 2021 17:48
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Funny story about that - when we had the well drilled I think the largest rock that came up was like maybe 2 inches. We're on top of literally hundreds or thousands of feet of what the geotechnical engineer we had do some work called vashon till, which basically has the consistency of 3/4"-fines roadbase. I think the 3-4" crushed stone the two generations of loggers pushed into my topsoil everywhere they built a road will probably put up more of a fight than the soil under it.
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Dec 14, 2021 19:52
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kastein posted:Funny story about that - when we had the well drilled I think the largest rock that came up was like maybe 2 inches. We're on top of literally hundreds or thousands of feet of what the geotechnical engineer we had do some work called vashon till, which basically has the consistency of 3/4"-fines roadbase. I think the 3-4" crushed stone the two generations of loggers pushed into my topsoil everywhere they built a road will probably put up more of a fight than the soil under it. So, uh, liquefaction central when the Cascadia hits?
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Dec 14, 2021 20:37
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Yeah pretty much  The Seattle Fault will cause a bigger tsunami if it pops but the Cascadian Subduction Zone will absolutely wreck everything West of I-5 if the big one hits there instead. I'm not sure how well undisturbed vashon till liquefies but I also really don't want to find out, so I'm hoping it will behave for like at least another 50 years or so.
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Dec 14, 2021 23:43
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kastein posted:Yeah pretty much I mean according to that New Yorker article from 5 years ago or whenever, the 9.0s happen every 300 years and the historical record shows the last one in 1701. So erm. Best of luck? (I'm in the Bay Area and the Hayward Fault is supposed to go every 140 years with the last one in 1868 so don't worry, I'm also just playing the worst game of Perfection ever).
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Dec 16, 2021 02:00
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300 is the average. They range from every few hundred to every thousand years. Cross your fingers I guess!
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Dec 16, 2021 04:16
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Drone footage of the Christchurch earthquake "red zone". All this used to be suburbia until liquefaction killed it. Slightly different geological conditions in that it's mostly where the river has meandered back and forth over the plain for eons, so mostly sand and silt, but dramatic none the less. All told some 8000 homes bought out and destroyed. Well, demolished and cleared, they were already effectively destroyed. Close, shallow, 10 second 6.2 that killed 185. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_CA0Wl0Q5M
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Dec 16, 2021 09:04
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The Vashon Till is a formation of glacial till. Glacial tills vary in exact behavior, but they're all basically a mix compacted bits of rock and sand, all jumbled together. They are complicated. Each one is a little different. Some are extremely compacted and are basically hardpan. I do not know how buildable the Vashon Till is generally, or specifically on your property. You said you got some geotechincal work done, was that solely for the well, or have you had an assessment of the site for the purposes of building a house on it yet? There are ways to mitigate the affects of ground liquefaction. They cost money and involve compromises of construction design. It's all about how much risk you can afford to mitigate, basically. Since the late 90s, washington and oregon states have both imposed residential construction codes intended to set minimums for earthquake safety. It should be understood that "building safety" when it comes to earthquakes is about the survival of people inside the building long enough for them to evacuate, and not about survival of the building itself - a building that doesn't pancake, but has to be condemned, may have met or exceeded the standard. I, personally, would not rely on those and would insist on significantly more safety factor than the code minimum. However, given who we're talking about here, I rather suspect that'll be the case for this home anyway. Also, pay for earthquake insurance. Yes, it has a huge deductible, that's the point - it's for catastrophic damage that wipes out the entire value of the structure, not for a little tremor that causes a mere $10k of damage. e. Here's a full-text primer, if you feel like getting in way over your head in technical geology jargon: https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/full/10.1680/jgere.18.00020 "The engineering properties of glacial tills". Clarke; Geotechnical Research, Volume 5 Issue 4, December 2018, pp. 262-277 e. Oooh, there's also this, which is specifically about the Vashon Till: quote:Vashon Till is pretty firm stuff, having a consistency reminiscent of concrete. The engineers said vertical walls up to 50 feet high have been cut through this layer without collapse or erosion because the till is so solid, having been packed down by the weight of ice more than half a mile thick. Leperflesh fucked around with this message at 02:25 on Dec 17, 2021 |
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Dec 17, 2021 02:02
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I just realized we've derailed this thread. Whoops. I should have looked at my own drat thread title before doing that.  Just gonna take this to the other one now.
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Dec 17, 2021 02:14
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kastein posted:I just realized we've derailed this thread. Whoops. I should have looked at my own drat thread title before doing that. I mean you're technically correct, but I think "ten year old fairly slow-moving thread slightly derailed by OP to talk about his new thread" isn't the end of the world and actually serves to point people to the new thread so they can enjoy the 2022-2030 saga of Ken's Country Retreat: The Massive Overkill Story Part 2: How To Make A House Nuclear-Bomb-Proof And Acquire More Jeeps.
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Dec 17, 2021 23:10
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SyNack Sassimov posted:I mean you're technically correct, but I think "ten year old fairly slow-moving thread slightly derailed by OP to talk about his new thread" isn't the end of the world and actually serves to point people to the new thread so they can enjoy the 2022-2030 saga of Ken's Country Retreat: The Massive Overkill Story Part 2: How To Make A House Nuclear-Bomb-Proof And Acquire More Jeeps. Bookmarked, looking forward to the sequel
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Dec 18, 2021 00:57
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Greetings, thread. I have been slacking on posting updates for a few weeks (flew back out here early in the month) so this one's going to be a bit image heavy. Time to finish off the dining room once and for all. It was close to ready for paint when we hit the road in October but we kept finding little spots that weren't perfect. So I got the pencil out and circled every area that needed mud and did it all at once. Old tapers trick: mix a little blue chalk-line chalk into your final touchup layer of mud so you can see where you need to sand. You can do it with red too but you want to use a lot less.     Then it was prime time.     Painted the ceiling and walls and put up the ceiling fan I bought 5 years ago.   Put down the second layer of subflooring plywood. I finished the last 4 pieces today.     The plan was that I would do the flooring install today but prepping and staging for it took longer than expected so that's happening first thing in the morning.
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Feb 20, 2022 06:44
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Looks really nice painted. Good job.
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Feb 20, 2022 12:54
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That's because I suck at using a camera. It's a passable paint job but not anything I'd be super proud of. Definitely some drips, runs, and roller lines in it.
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Feb 20, 2022 19:29
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Flooring is done now. My back and knees are not amused with my bullshit. Ow.
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Feb 21, 2022 00:23
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Amazing. I feel you on the pain, I did a room for my sister and I limped for 3 days. I genuinely wish I lived close to where you're moving as I'd love to spend some time helping you on your next project.
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Feb 21, 2022 02:30
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What's the tape for?
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Feb 21, 2022 08:20
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Shows the edges of the subfloor, so you don't try to drive a nail into the gap between the plywood, I think?
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Feb 21, 2022 08:28
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Leperflesh posted:Shows the edges of the subfloor, so you don't try to drive a nail into the gap between the plywood, I think? Ah, could be that! I've got floating floors so they don't get pinned down.
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Feb 21, 2022 18:53
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This is full thickness woven bamboo, so you can't nail it down, it's glue only and doesn't snap together, plain old tongue and groove. The tape keeps adjacent pieces snug while you put the next area together as it all floats around on 1/8” of urethane adhesive. Once you've got a decent block (I usually do 3 or 4 rows) done you can relax and stop taping almost every corner on almost every piece as you do it and just do 5 or 6 rows then snug it up one last time and slap tape across it all. Then once you have it all done you use poly wedges against the bottom of the far wall to make sure the last few rows stay put, check all your end gaps, do a last check for urethane smears and fingerprints on the face of the boards, wipe them off with special solvent rags, roll it with a floor roller, make sure it's not coming up anywhere, put weights on any spots that seem problematic (ideally, this isn't necessary at all, 3/16" in 10ft is the max surface variation) and leave it the hell alone for a day or two to cure.
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Feb 21, 2022 19:04
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kastein posted:Painted the ceiling and walls and put up the ceiling fan I bought 5 years ago.
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Feb 21, 2022 20:12
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kastein posted:This is full thickness woven bamboo, so you can't nail it down, it's glue only and doesn't snap together, plain old tongue and groove. The tape keeps adjacent pieces snug while you put the next area together as it all floats around on 1/8” of urethane adhesive. Once you've got a decent block (I usually do 3 or 4 rows) done you can relax and stop taping almost every corner on almost every piece as you do it and just do 5 or 6 rows then snug it up one last time and slap tape across it all. Then once you have it all done you use poly wedges against the bottom of the far wall to make sure the last few rows stay put, check all your end gaps, do a last check for urethane smears and fingerprints on the face of the boards, wipe them off with special solvent rags, roll it with a floor roller, make sure it's not coming up anywhere, put weights on any spots that seem problematic (ideally, this isn't necessary at all, 3/16" in 10ft is the max surface variation) and leave it the hell alone for a day or two to cure. Oh. Gosh. Well, my guess was way off! It looked sorta like the tape pattern followed the edges of the subfloor in the previous photo, but that was probably just coincidence.
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Feb 23, 2022 00:43
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That sounds like the biggest pain in the rear end flooring ever.
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Feb 23, 2022 02:42
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brugroffil posted:That sounds like the biggest pain in the back flooring ever. FTFY. And yes, totally agreed.
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Feb 23, 2022 03:25
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brugroffil posted:That sounds like the biggest pain in the rear end flooring ever. *looks at thread* *looks at Kastein* *looks at flooring* Yep, it checks out.
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Feb 23, 2022 06:54
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Not only that, the loving glue costs half as much as the flooring! I mean it's pretty thick durable stuff but drat. I think I'll probably use engineered flooring in the next place. I just got halfway through doing the conduit and junction box install for the lighting and outlets on the front porch, time to call it a night. No pics because it is oh-dark-thirty.
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Feb 23, 2022 09:30
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kastein posted:This is full thickness woven bamboo, so you can't nail it down, it's glue only and doesn't snap together, plain old tongue and groove. The tape keeps adjacent pieces snug while you put the next area together as it all floats around on 1/8” of urethane adhesive. Once you've got a decent block (I usually do 3 or 4 rows) done you can relax and stop taping almost every corner on almost every piece as you do it and just do 5 or 6 rows then snug it up one last time and slap tape across it all. Then once you have it all done you use poly wedges against the bottom of the far wall to make sure the last few rows stay put, check all your end gaps, do a last check for urethane smears and fingerprints on the face of the boards, wipe them off with special solvent rags, roll it with a floor roller, make sure it's not coming up anywhere, put weights on any spots that seem problematic (ideally, this isn't necessary at all, 3/16" in 10ft is the max surface variation) and leave it the hell alone for a day or two to cure. I've got boxes of this stuff to put down that I've had for like First I've heard of the wedges and solvent rags. OR I just forgot about them in the time since I watched all the videos and such. brugroffil posted:That sounds like the biggest pain in the rear end flooring ever. kastein posted:Not only that, the loving glue costs half as much as the flooring! I mean it's pretty thick durable stuff but drat. I think I'll probably use engineered flooring in the next place. Also this. I'm only going to use the bamboo in one room - coincidentally the *largest* room - and floating laminate everywhere else. I bought the glue when I got the flooring. There's a better than pretty good chance the glue is a nice, solid weight in the bucket now. Some projects just never get off the ground.
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Feb 23, 2022 22:11
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Darchangel posted:I bought the glue when I got the flooring. There's a better than pretty good chance the glue is a nice, solid weight in the bucket now. Some projects just never get off the ground. I've got a box with a fibreglass kit slowly offgassing in a plastic crate somewhere, I'm betting those OCs won't be so V when I finally get around to it.
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Feb 23, 2022 22:20
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kastein posted:Not only that, the loving glue costs half as much as the flooring! I mean it's pretty thick durable stuff but drat. I think I'll probably use engineered flooring in the next place. How long ago did you buy that flooring?
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Feb 24, 2022 04:08
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I just used the last box from my 2016ish buy on this install, it was left over from doing one of the bedrooms late 2020. I bought 16 cases of flooring about 6 months ago when I was afraid supply chain woes were going to leave me with time and no material to work with. Luckily that hasn't happened so far. You're welcome to come hang in the Northwest and attempt to learn, but I'll warn you, I am absolutely not a good teacher, leader, or project manager. In fact I am basically the opposite of all those things. I can't even keep *myself* on task and focused, let alone attempting to put what I'm thinking about what needs to be done into words in a way that actually means anything to anyone else. Between that and my perfectionism, I've pretty much given up on delegating or teaching anything ever and just do it all myself. Britt has easily beaten my skills at mudding and taping though, she decided to teach herself a few years ago because I sucked at it anyways and was terrible at teaching and now she's the one teaching me instead of the other way around. Darchangel posted:I've got boxes of this stuff to put down that I've had for like It's conceptually easy but I was sore as hell for 2 days because I essentially did 4 billion squats in one day when my normal weekly average is zero. That glue is almost certainly toast. The shelf life is listed as 1 year in unopened undamaged containers on the bostik multigrip I used this time. It's quite runny for a urethane floor adhesive, much nicer to work with than the Roberts 1509 I was using before, which has the consistency of peanut butter and sucks to spread with a quarter inch square notch trowel. The packaging stays sealed better too, the Roberts came in metal 4 gallon cans and the seal definitely got cracked in shipping since I had to cut a half inch thick skin off the top (yay wasted product...) While the bostik had no skin on the surface and only a thin gummy layer on the inside of the lid. I bought 7 buckets of the bostik last fall and just used most of two, so I might have enough on hand for the rest of the rooms or I might not, we'll see. It'll be within one bucket either way I think.
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Feb 24, 2022 08:30
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Oh and I finished most of the conduit runs for the outlet and light wiring on the front porch yesterday but the video took forever to upload since I cancelled my cable already. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEBOl8lMfRM A little left to do on that and I can start installing devices.
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Feb 24, 2022 19:01
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kastein posted:Oh and I finished most of the conduit runs for the outlet and light wiring on the front porch yesterday but the video took forever to upload since I cancelled my cable already. As someone from Massachusetts I'm real pleased to hear a bit of the accent (mostly on "box"), makes me feel right at home. At this point when do you think the house will be done, as in listed on the market?
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Feb 24, 2022 21:00
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One way or another it is going on the market by March 31. If you know any DIY people who would be interested prior to that with less stuff finished, I'm perfectly willing to sell that way too.
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Feb 24, 2022 23:26
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kastein posted:One way or another it is going on the market by March 31. If you know any DIY people who would be interested prior to that with less stuff finished, I'm perfectly willing to sell that way too. This March 31st? (Sorry couldn’t resist, it’s been a hell of a ride)
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Feb 24, 2022 23:27
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