Ok. So, I removed a 48×48″ window and replaced it with a 36×36″ window. That left my exterior house looking like this:
(Insert picture later).
Well. Obviously it can’t stay that way. The original wall construction is 2×4 frame, 3/8th plywood sheet, tar paper water barrier, then cedar siding. No flashing or caulk. So. It pretty hard to make whatever I did worse.
I patched the hole with extra 2×4 frame, before I tilted the bathroom wall. Covered with new plywood and then Tyveck sheet as the waterproof layer. I tucked it up under the tar paper at the top of the window and overlapped it at the bottom.
Today, I finally got off my but and put patchwork siding over the tyveck. I scavenged a couple of pieces of siding from a shed that I’m going to tear down eventually.
It was hard. I did the first 2 rows using a scaffold on very sloping ground. Then it was out of reach and I had to go higher.
And finished. It’s not a great job but it will last until I get around to redoing the siding completely, as a result of all new windows on the back of the house.
Building the front ramp into my house. The existing walkway is concrete going down 3 steps, then a sheep wooden. Stoop made of old 2x4s, going up three steps.
So I replaced it with a solid ramp. Suitable for wheelchairs or hailing in heavy stuff right off the street and into the front door.
Nail guns and compressors make everything go faster.
There are no cases of corona virus in this county. But costco has to limit the number of people they can allow inside their store to something rediculously small. This store can easily serve hundreds of customers per hour. But Instead will only serve a handful. Inside, there are likely checkout lanes with no customers to check.
The bathroom is almost complete. I’m working on the finishing touches now.
Caulk around the edges and ceiling.
I used a pre-colored silicone caulk for the top exposed edges of the baseboard tiles. This covered the orange raw clay color of the tile without making me go buy some sort of fancy edging. I used normal white painter’s caulk around all the ceiling trim. I still have to paint that trim again so it looks shabby right now.
In places where I had large gaps to fill, I used Bondo. It stays where you put it, hardens fast, and doesn’t shrink, so it’s ideal for such things that will be painted over anyway.
Then I needed some mirrors. When I demolished the bedroom that used to be in this place, I hung onto the two mirrored sliding closet doors. I’ve kept them all this time, and now I can repurpose them. I never cut glass before so I watched a few YouTube videos on how. The big secret is you should be making a tearing sound as you score the glass surface. You are also supposed to use oil where you score. I didn’t have any mineral oil, so I used baby oil. Baby oil is 99.99% mineral oil and .01%… um… babies.
My first attempt caused the door to split the wrong way. The remaining pieces were too small to go above the sinks. So I made the best use of the wreckage and created a dressing mirror. I had the one wall with the pocket door reserved for this. With the pocket door inside the wall gap, there isn’t any room left to mount anything like towel racks or wall sconces. The screws would hit the pocket door as it slides in and out. But that space is perfect for a mirror.
You can see I finished it up with some plastic edge trip I had leftover. This is for safety so I (or the cleaning lady) don’t slice off my fingers every time I clean the mirror.
Speaking of safety. This stuff is dangerous. Really dangerous. Aside from the real hazard of slicing off important body parts, you would then need to to to the ER, which is full of COVID-19, so you’d get that too. So, whenever you are within arms reach of the working area, wear heavy protective gloves, long sleeves from sturdy fabric and eye protection. Every time you break the glass, you are letting micro slivers launch at your face.
I also reused the metal frame from the sliding closet doors. They are a sturdy aluminium so ideal for a good frame. They were gold tinted color, so I touched them up with an angle grinder and wire wheel. Another thing you should always wear gloves, long sleeves and eye protection. These thing throw sharp bits of wire at high speed in every direction. Makes you wonder how any mechanics still have 2 working eyes.
So, then I used my second door to try and make an over sink mirror. The way you do it is use your tool to score the glass, then give it a little bend and it should snap clean (and razor sharp) along the score line. SHOULD.
So once again, it split in the wrong place. So I shortened my goal dimensions and tried again.
Finally, after all this, I get the mirrors mounted and the lights, and VIOLA!
The news tells us today that Senator Rant Paul is guilty of Corona virus, after he decided to get tested, even though he wasnt sick.
I don’t buy it. He just doesn’t want to be on the Senate floor tomorrow and have to either vote in favor of a $2 Trillion boondoggle, the antithesis of his entire life’s work, or vote it down and be seen as telling his poor meth addled state citizens they can’t have free money.
He loses either way, so he is pulling the old Ranger school trick of wondering how badly he has to get hurt to quit but not look like a wimp. I expect he will fully recover and be back st “work” soon.
Evidently, there is something going around. Here are my notes:
1. I have always said the only thing we have to fear from this is panic and over-reaction by government. We are there.
2. I just went to costco. Turns out, I was there 20 minutes before they opened. There was a crowd in the parking lot waiting to get inside.
3. States and cities, who dont even have any infected patients, are declaring states of emergency.
4. The federal government is telling people to remain calm, but the national media does the opposite of whatever Trump says so they are inciting panic.
5. The stock market is in free fall. And democrats are loving the idea that old women are going to die in poverty because it will make Trump look bad. Those people are seriously deranged. At this point, it would not be a stretch to declare the anti-trump media as a clear and present danger to life and the economic health of the nation.
6. All over a disease, That, if you get it, you will probably fully recover without treatment. Even those most at risk, the elderly, will likely be indistinguishable from the normal amount who die every year anyway.
