Building A Better Bumblebee

If he is talking about gaps on the interior door you can put thresholds in. You can do the same with exterior doors if you go with the thinner flooring.

Nick Morris wrote:That's excellent news!!  It will be much less of a hassle now.

p.s. How's the little piggy?

Let's ask him, shall we?



"Well, the dope that put me in this position has gotten pretty good at using a couple of Band-Aids to buddy tape me to Toe No. 4. That helps give me a little support, which helps a bit. But I still ache sometimes, and I hurt when too much pressure is applied at the tip. Hope that goes away soon. It's very limiting. The sandals work for short little walks in the house, but anything more involved, including driving, requires the surgery shoe, or as I like to call it, 'Das Bootlet.'"

ounce wrote:I seriously thought about creating a FB page called "FluffWasFramed!"  Steal some photos, but decided against it.

Give Alec a pencil and get him to draw stuff on the sheetrock, before it's painted.

Continued good luck and no surprises...mostly no surprises.

#FluffWasFramed really ought to be trending somewhere, but as far as I know, you and a guy I was in Boy Scouts with has even raised the possibility.

We had some good news today, with a call from the furniture refinisher. He's been not returning calls for the past couple of weeks, so we were getting worried. He said he's now cleared up enough other jobs to be able to pick up our stuff on Sunday. Woot!

Also, the crew was cranking through the underlayment today. The guy doing it clearly knew what he was doing, he had the right tools, and he was determined to get it done.

While I was at work, Alita sent me this photo of an underlayment-free kitchen area. Sweet!



Looking the other way shows off all the work they've done on the drywall, too.



We're still trying to figure out flooring, but we're getting closer.

Jim Lentz wrote:If he is talking about gaps on the interior door you can put thresholds in. You can do the same with exterior doors if you go with the thinner flooring.

He's talking about gaps between the bottom of the door jamb/frame and the floor on interior doors. I hand't thought of a threshold, so I'm glad you suggested it.

What a project! I bet it'll look awesome when it's finished. We put in all new laminate in our house, minus the kitchen and bathroom. My husband and brothers in law did it all before we moved in.

Take care of the little piggy.    

Julie wrote:What a project! I bet it'll look awesome when it's finished. We put in all new laminate in our house, minus the kitchen and bathroom. My husband and brothers in law did it all before we moved in.

Take care of the little piggy.    

Hi, Julie! It's going to look awesome even if there are merely no exposed joists or indoor waterfalls!

We're still pondering the floor, and a lot will depend on budget. We just found out from another flooring place that one type of engineered floor we liked may have been pulled from production due to problems with the "click n lock" joints coming undone after installation. That's a disappointment, but not as much as if it had happened six months after it was put in!

Definitely babying the pinkie toe, though I did inadvertently, kinda, sorta, well, you know -- trot -- a little last night trying to hustle through the grocery store before it closed. I was wearing Das Bootlet and was surprised at how much it didn't hurt. Very encouraging! (Though I'm not going to make a habit of it.)

CUT IT OFF
CUT IT OFF
CUT IT OFF
[size=24]CUT IT OFF[/size]


Don't you just hate it when a font doesn't work?

ounce wrote:CUT IT OFF
CUT IT OFF
CUT IT OFF
CUT IT OFF


Don't you just hate it when a font doesn't work?

And don't you hate it when you have a mouthful of something when you open up a post and read something like that? Sheesh! Now, where'd I put the napkins?

Hm. Font size progression looks fine to me...

More progress!!!

#FluffWasFramed

Yeah, I looked back at your photos of the flooding. That is crazy. And to think a cat could do that. It makes me thankful for our bathroom faucet that my 5 yr old can't even pull up by herself (which is sort of a pain because she has to wash her hands in the kitchen sink).

Nick Morris wrote:More progress!!!

#FluffWasFramed

And even more progress! It's nice to see, though it comes with its own set of challenges. (See below.)

Julie wrote:Yeah, I looked back at your photos of the flooding. That is crazy. And to think a cat could do that. It makes me thankful for our bathroom faucet that my 5 yr old can't even pull up by herself (which is sort of a pain because she has to wash her hands in the kitchen sink).

One of the first things we did in this reconstruction project was pay out-of-pocket to have an overflow drain installed in the tub upstairs. We've also modified the tub handles in a way that should make it impossible to turn on accidentally. Hopefully.

---

I have more progress to report, with the spray texture applied to the walls and ceiling in the great room area yesterday. That's a huge step forward. They're priming and getting ready to paint today. They should be done with painting tomorrow.

All great news, though it coincided with the hottest and muggiest weather of the summer, which made it pretty uncomfortable for those hiding away in an upstairs room trying to avoid the workers and the fairly overpowering fumes. We don't have air conditioning, and it got up to 98° yesterday. We could have escaped the scene for a hotel, but it'd be on our own dime and we'd like to save as much as possible for floors.

Depending on how rough it is today for the rest of the family, we still may hit the eject button. It's a little cooler today, but still unusually humid for these parts.

Speaking of floors, we're much closer to a solution. We picked one variety of 3/4'' hardwood and a similarly colored engineered hardwood. The final choice will be determined by cost. We decided to save some $$ by having the stairs done in a durable-grade carpet rather than wood, as we'd originally wanted. The extra labor and materials made it prohibitively expensive.

Ewww...It sounds like you got the summer that we normally have. I blame it on El Nino...just sayin'. Glad that things are still progressing. Any idea of when you will be back to running or is that far from your mind at the moment?

Ewww...It sounds like you got the summer that we normally have.  I blame it on El Nino...just sayin'.  Glad that things are still progressing.  Any idea of when you will be back to running or is that far from your mind at the moment?

I wish I knew, Nick. It's only two weeks post injury, and the toe is still tender and intermittently sore. Somebody accidentally stepped on it (slightly) the other day, and it was not pleasant. 


With the house and all, maybe I'll be able to see what I can do after Labor Day, once the house is (hopefully) done, folks are back to school and life returns to normal.

Sounds like a good plan...

Mark B wrote:

Ewww...It sounds like you got the summer that we normally have.  I blame it on El Nino...just sayin'.  Glad that things are still progressing.  Any idea of when you will be back to running or is that far from your mind at the moment?

I wish I knew, Nick. It's only two weeks post injury, and the toe is still tender and intermittently sore. Somebody accidentally stepped on it (slightly) the other day, and it was not pleasant. 


With the house and all, maybe I'll be able to see what I can do after Labor Day, once the house is (hopefully) done, folks are back to school and life returns to normal.

I wonder if there are phantom pains for cutting off a pinky toe?

Paint doesn't dry as quick in humid conditions.

Nick Morris wrote:Sounds like a good plan...

I like it better than someone's, that's for sure...

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:

Ewww...It sounds like you got the summer that we normally have.  I blame it on El Nino...just sayin'.  Glad that things are still progressing.  Any idea of when you will be back to running or is that far from your mind at the moment?

I wish I knew, Nick. It's only two weeks post injury, and the toe is still tender and intermittently sore. Somebody accidentally stepped on it (slightly) the other day, and it was not pleasant. 

With the house and all, maybe I'll be able to see what I can do after Labor Day, once the house is (hopefully) done, folks are back to school and life returns to normal.

I wonder if there are phantom pains for cutting off a pinky toe?

Yes, yes there are. So I may as well keep it.

(Yeah, wondering about the humidity issue. It's at 69% now, with a dew point of 64°. But they started priming this morning and are still at it, so I wouldn't be surprised if we have the first color coat before the day's out.)

Mark B wrote:

Nick Morris wrote:Sounds like a good plan...

I like it better than someone's, that's for sure...

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:

Ewww...It sounds like you got the summer that we normally have.  I blame it on El Nino...just sayin'.  Glad that things are still progressing.  Any idea of when you will be back to running or is that far from your mind at the moment?

I wish I knew, Nick. It's only two weeks post injury, and the toe is still tender and intermittently sore. Somebody accidentally stepped on it (slightly) the other day, and it was not pleasant. 

With the house and all, maybe I'll be able to see what I can do after Labor Day, once the house is (hopefully) done, folks are back to school and life returns to normal.

I wonder if there are phantom pains for cutting off a pinky toe?

Yes, yes there are. So I may as well keep it.

(Yeah, wondering about the humidity issue. It's at 69% now, with a dew point of 64°. But they started priming this morning and are still at it, so I wouldn't be surprised if we have the first color coat before the day's out.)

What's one less toe in the big scheme of things?  Or cut out the part that's causing the problem!

Fans circulating the air could help, but a dewpoint of 64 is muggy.  However, a dewpoint in the 70's is called 'sultry.'  Of course, the air temperature would always be higher than, or equal to, the dewpoint.  When the floor gets stained or sealed/varnished, you will really need a dry air for it to dry.  Maybe that's changed in the past 20 years, though.

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:

Nick Morris wrote:Sounds like a good plan...

I like it better than someone's, that's for sure...

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:

Ewww...It sounds like you got the summer that we normally have.  I blame it on El Nino...just sayin'.  Glad that things are still progressing.  Any idea of when you will be back to running or is that far from your mind at the moment?

I wish I knew, Nick. It's only two weeks post injury, and the toe is still tender and intermittently sore. Somebody accidentally stepped on it (slightly) the other day, and it was not pleasant. 

With the house and all, maybe I'll be able to see what I can do after Labor Day, once the house is (hopefully) done, folks are back to school and life returns to normal.

I wonder if there are phantom pains for cutting off a pinky toe?

Yes, yes there are. So I may as well keep it.

(Yeah, wondering about the humidity issue. It's at 69% now, with a dew point of 64°. But they started priming this morning and are still at it, so I wouldn't be surprised if we have the first color coat before the day's out.)

What's one less toe in the big scheme of things?  Or cut out the part that's causing the problem!

Fans circulating the air could help, but a dewpoint of 64 is muggy.  However, a dewpoint in the 70's is called 'sultry.'  Of course, the air temperature would always be higher than, or equal to, the dewpoint.  When the floor gets stained or sealed/varnished, you will really need a dry air for it to dry.  Maybe that's changed in the past 20 years, though.

We'll be getting prefinished hardwood if we go that route, so we don't need the stain/seal in place approach. Much more efficient.

Well...this isn't what I expected to read when I returned from my long absence!

I logged in to catch up with everyone and expected to hear you were returning to a nicely finished home after your barefoot runs.

In addition to catching up with everyone else I wanted to share my adventures...but I feel a bit guilty after reading your blog.

I agree with your comments on the weather the last few days.  It's even been muggy in Central Oregon!

Take care of yourself...

nkrichards wrote:Well...this isn't what I expected to read when I returned from my long absence!

I logged in to catch up with everyone and expected to hear you were returning to a nicely finished home after your barefoot runs.

In addition to catching up with everyone else I wanted to share my adventures...but I feel a bit guilty after reading your blog.

I agree with your comments on the weather the last few days.  It's even been muggy in Central Oregon!

Take care of yourself...

Hi, Nancy!

Don't let our misadventures dampen your enthusiasm to share your adventures. Yes, it's been not the summer we were expecting, to be sure... but we're getting through it.

There was good news when I came home last night...





Yup. The crews managed to do the priming and painting all in one day. They also finished the other tasks they had on the schedule for now (including removing the dreaded particleboard underlayment), cleaned up very well and left. They even reconnected the can lights so we can actually illuminate the space again.

All this, a whole week ahead of schedule. These guys were good, and very efficient.

This means no more hiding out in hot upstairs rooms with the cats while they work downstairs. It means we have elbow room in our eating area again (after being in a not-so-giant plastic tent for a week or so). It's a big improvement.

The next step will be flooring, then cabinets. They've already removed our washer and dryer to the garage in preparation for flooring, and they'll be pulling the downstairs toilet and bathroom sink, so that'll leave us with only water in the garage. So, still house camping, but at least we have walls, a ceiling and lights. And the paint looks nice.

Not there yet, but we're moving in the right direction.

Yup, I can already imagine Fluff jumping on top of the kitchen cabinets.  Looks bueno!

Looking good Mark!!!!

It is definitely heading in the right direction!

That fridge won't be very efficient if you decide to light a fire!   

ounce wrote:Yup, I can already imagine Fluff jumping on top of the kitchen cabinets.  Looks bueno!

Nick Morris wrote:Looking good Mark!!!!

Jim Lentz wrote:It is definitely heading in the right direction!

mul21 wrote:That fridge won't be very efficient if you decide to light a fire!   

Thanks, all! The painting and drywall crew were great.

Unfortunately, we're having some issues getting the flooring resolved, with enough mistakes, miscalculations and miscommunication to put us in a very special state of crazy. We think we're nearly through it, but who knows?

Good job on the house. I broke a small toe before - amazing how much trouble the little guy can cause.

Dave P wrote:Good job on the house. I broke a small toe before - amazing how much trouble the little guy can cause.

Hi Dave! It's surprising just how much you use that little toe. It's a few days short of three weeks post-fracture, and I'm still wearing the surgical shoe when I go to work or am out for extended periods. My sandals seem to work fine around the house. I still haven't tried shoes yet -- they tend to put pressure on the little toe -- but I'll have to give it a shot eventually. I'm still buddy-taping the toes, and I'm not sure when I'm supposed to stop doing it. Probably when it stops hurting? Guess I'll figure it out.