Studio project: Weekend One!

[shadesofmauve]

STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER: A tool for opening paint cans. Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws.

OMG, GUYS, IT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING!!!

Thursday Dad's friend dropped off four 80lb bags of quikrete he had left over, and dad's little cement mixer. (Yeah, my dad owns a cement mixer. He bought it on Craigslist when he was doing his giant patio project, and now he loans it out to people).



Saturday Dad came over with a car full of tools, and we went to Home Depot to buy more tools. Dad made me set my Bucket-O-Tools on the cart because "I know it's your project and you're buying, but people are glaring at me because I'm making a girl with a limp carry all the heavy stuff." Poor dad. :P It was The Lawn Mower Incident all over again. (I injured my foot last week, so I have a much more pronounced limp than normal).

(I got a little bit alarmed when Dad paused by the mini compressors -- I was NOT prepared to buy one; I don't even own any tools that USE one. Dad pointed out that there was no way in hell he was lugging his giant compressor over to my house; I pointed out I could borrow a little one from the next door neighbor. Dad pointed out that if I did, he wouldn't have an excuse to buy a mini compressor. I should've remembered that Dad sees any given project as an 'excuse to buy more tools he wants anyway.' The man owns a little cement mixer, for crying out loud.)
 
$130 later (with no mini compressor, yet) we got back home.

First we took down the garage door, which is the older single-solid-panel type, then the trim pieces around the  the opening and a teeny bit of the siding, so we had something to attach concrete forms to (the forms were sitting on either the garage slab or the driveway, so we couldn't just pound in stakes). My house has a weird double sill plate, which worked to our advantage here -- we planned the pour to be taller than the rest of the foundation, going up to the top of the first sill plate, so we could screw the 2x6 form pieces right to the lower sill plate on either side. Then I got to learn about hammer drills and epoxy and rebar, and dad finally taught me how to use my circular saw. YAY!

(I cut the blocks we used to temporarily stick the garage door back on. Always good to practice on something where the final product doesn't matter).


My garage door iz pastede on yay.

On Sunday we tied the rebar and poured the concrete. E showed up with coffee and treats, and (again unexpectedly) stayed for the whole day.

The concrete part went perfectly.


Yum, creamy.

The cleaning of the concrete equipment, however, required hose with a decent amount of water pressure, which was enough water pressure to totally blow through the already leaking valve on the hosebib, and when I went to turn the water off it didn't. At all.

After excavating to find the damn water main (a LOT of dirt had gotten in its little house somehow), and realizing there was no way in hell we'd get it unstuck with just a wrench I called dad back and begged him for the specialty tool. He brought that and still had to use a metal bit off the garage door as a four foot long cheater, and he was throwing his whole weight into it.

His muscly job done, dad left E and I with a shopping list and we set out on our unexpected plumbing adventure. As long as we had the water off, we might as well replace both leaky exterior faucets, right? Which meant dissecting the one in back, which stuck 30" out of the ground and was swaddled in insulation. I call it the Stupid Faucet, because it IS. Observe:



That is my 7" back patio. That is a shin-bruiser-ankle-breaker-knee-slicer faucet coming straight up out of the middle of the 7" patio. If they'd run the pipe three more feet it would've come up right next to the post. If they'd run it four less feet it would have come out of the wall like a normal faucet. BUT NO. IT'S IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PATIO. That's an 'after' photo, too -- the original Stupid Faucet(tm) had a 'freeze proof' faucet, which only makes sense if installed horizontally inside a wall. The Stupid Faucet was actually more likely to freeze, because it trapped water at such an angle that none of it drained out. Or it would, if it hadn't been constantly leaking. Oh, and the handle snapped off two years ago, so I've been operating it with pliers.

I'll cut the long story about hunting through various hardware stores for pipe fittings short. Suffice it to say we fixed the front faucet. The Stupid Faucet is still dribbling, but much more slowly.

We also took every opportunity for off-color plumbing jokes along the way. I mean, when E put the 8" pipe in his pocket... resisting that opening would have taken a saint, I tell you. And the pipe was called an 8 inch nipple. And the hosebib is a silcock. And, well, plumbing. You know how it is.

Anyhow, got the water back on, none of the ancient galvanized broke, and I joyfully announced to my poor renters that they were free to flush in peace. E and I took an ill-considered but well-deserved nap. Dad called to make sure we hadn't flooded anything.

All was well with the world.

There are actually more stories in here somewhere, about silly things Erik and Dad said and how, between us, my brother and I managed to sort of lock dad and I in the garage, and why my housemate threatened to take away my power tools, but this'll do for now. We planned on getting the foundation across the garage opening poured this weekend, and we DID! That's remodeling success. :D
 

Comments

[opalgirl28.livejournal.com]

Tell your housemate that until you've almost cut off the same leg three times (in exactly the same spot!) like my roommate's dad, you're allowed to have power tools :P

[shadesofmauve]

...I think I'd like to have my power tools taken away BEFORE I almost cut off the same leg three times. EEK!

My real fear is for my hands, though. I have hand paranoia. Dad's cut himself badly twice on his fingers (once the tool wasn't even ON), and another carpenter friend is missing a finger due to a table saw. We loves our fingers, precious!

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Trying to picture all this, but honestly I am not good at constructing stuff in my head. So I am looking forward to MORE PICTURES!

[shadesofmauve]

If you look at Photo One and imagine a five inch tall cement wall running across the garage door opening, that's basically where things are. Everything else is just random digression. :) I wouldn't even have mentioned sticking the garage door back on except that it let me use a stupid internet reference. :P

[pyoor_excuse]

Yay! Looks like the house project is projecting! Woot :)

Also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-QoGKj6YQM