In the garden, and RAIN!!!!
POSTED BY: SIGNYM
UPDATED: Thursday, December 25, 2025 04:27
VIEWED: 1005090
PAGE 273 of 1154
Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
plastic four-bys? Hmm... never heard of or seen such a thing! Are they ... um ,,, structurally strong enough? won't bend over time?
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
Good question.
Looks like the answer is no, so thanks for asking.
https://hw.menardc.com/main/items/media/BESTP001/Prod_Tech_Spec/BESTP0
01_Benefits_Plastic_Lumber.pdf
There is a company in Minnesota who claims to have finally developed the holy grail of plastic lumber that is stronger and more durable than wood, but who knows if it's even available yet or where to get it.
Plastic wood might be fine for my purposes if I lived somewhere down south where it's warm all year, but it sounds like cold winters are hard on plastics that are commercialy available now. They're fine for water retention and around the garden and will hold up better than even green pressed wood over time when in the soil, and I wish I had thought of using them before I made my replacement steps to the front door, but not a good idea for structural support.
I've got a few long green 4x4's in my garage... maybe around 8' each. I'll just use those.
I think I'm going to do that in leiu of the visqueen for now. I think the vapor barrier for me right now is just an excuse not to put the floor down. I will, however, take the time to grade all of the dirt and rocks flat and put the patio pavers down there. It won't be a moisture barrier, but at least it will all be flat and easier work conditions down the road if I choose to do it in the future.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Ok, so here's a goof on my part and if you feel like laughing at me at the end, feel free!
I give myself allergy shots every week. Not the most fun thing in the world, I tend to "forget" when it's due (fortunately there's flexibility in the schedule; I'm working on catching up after a few weeks of forgetting by a day or two.) It's really not too painful, but it does involve sticking an approx 1" needle into the "saddlebag" area that women have, which requires a little mental fortitude and a couple of deep breaths. (Also, I have epipens at the ready should I have a bad reaction!)
Anyway, after I insert the needle but BEFORE I inject the dose, I'm supposed to pull back on the plunger of the syringe. The reason is that they don't want the dose to be injected directly into a vein because the likelihood of a bad reaction goes up significantly, so if the tip of the needle just happens to land right in a vein and you pull back on the plunger you'll see blood in the syringe, and know not to do the injection.
So after I did all that and pulled out the needle, I saw a little bood in the tip of the syringe, and I was looking at it trying to figure out if that happened before the injection (unlikely, I pull back pretty hard on the plunger) or when I w/drew the syringe and ... I fumbled the syringe, dropped it ... and it speared my baby toe!
Youch!
But, in retrospect, I thought it was pretty funny!
-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE men poor - William Blake
You idiots have been oppressing the entire sexual spectrum as long as you have existed. I can't wait for the day your kind is dead - WISHIMAY
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I have done that - given myself allergy injections, that is. The key is a sharp, sharp needle.
In my lifetime I've been a rare blood donor, and am pretty immune to needles going in me. But in various jobs before the one I retired from, I had to jab people, which always caused me much emotional distress. So when it came to giving myself shots, I always wondered which would be stronger - the disinclination to stick people, or the indifference to being stuck. Over the decade or so, it turns out the indifference won out.
It was a point of curiosity.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
My favorite country singer:
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
"Plastic wood"
I have plastic/wood decking which is part of my effort to be in the recycling chain. Anyway, it's not 'structural' - it doesn't have a lot of 'dimensional stability' which means it bends, squishes, and twists easily. So structural supports underneath (or vertical supports if you're building a raised bed) need to be closer together. And it itself can't be a structural piece. So it can't be a retaining wall, or joist, for example. It does get very hot in the sun, if that's a concern. One must use specially galvanized screws to install. Also, it's subject to surface mold.
There USED to be a product called Timbersil which sadly had a lot of production problems (I think they never quite figured the process out) that had a lot to recommend it, in theory. Because it was actual lumber infused with silica (glass) after the moisture was removed, it was fire-proof, rot-proof, and bug-proof; drier and so lighter than normal lumber, and stiffer. That attracted my attention, here in earthquake- fire- and termite-prone SoCal. But there were so many bad batches and so many lawsuits, the company went out of business maybe 8 years ago. But if you got a good batch - as one of my co-workers did in a fire-prone mountain area - it was golden.
He gave me a cut-off to test, and we set it right on top of a Meker burner - a very intense lab Bunsen burner that can reach a temperature of up to 2,000–2,200°F - and the cutoff got super-hot. But it never smoldered or even charred after about half hour of intense direct flame exposure.
Timbersil is a good idea whose time should come again.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Kiki, I prefer his son Hank Jr. Hank Sr's voice is too high and twangy for my tastes.
Also Hank Jr. writes funny songs.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Only time I've given someone an injection was my mom and that was a blood thinner. Not sure who it hurt more, me or her.
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Hmmmmmm.... I think I'm going to do the vapor barrier before the floor goes in. The more I think about having an access panel, the more I'm thinking it's not a good idea.
I certainly didn't know what I was getting into when I bought this house. Had there been an easy way to access below when I bought it there's very little chance I would have. Though this structure should be sound for at least 20 years after I'm done, I'm sure that it's not as good as if I were to have had it knocked down or built from scratch the right way from the ground up. It will be solid when it's all sealed up and there won't be any bounce to the floor. I don't think there's any reason to invite problems. The more I think about it too, I think I'm going to keep the windows on the south side of the porch as-is and only remove the louvers in front and put new windows on that side as well.
I'm never going to make this house perfect before I leave. If I can up the curb appeal with the new windows, finish remodeling the basement, put a vanity in the 2nd bathroom and forego putting in a shower down there, put the trim, window frames and closets in the two bedrooms upstairs, re-surface the driveway and put stone down on the patio, I think I can get about $40 to $50k more than I paid for it and walk away happy.
That would mean selling it for around $110,000, when it sold back in 2005 for nearly $150,000.
It would also mean I could skip putting in a new furnace and A/C as well as worrying about remodeling 2 bathrooms and a kitchen.
I'm still going to speak to a real estate agent about how it is right after the porch floor is installed and I level the front porch overhang and see what they think I could get for it right now as-is. I'm thinking that just doing those two things have probably put me well within making $15 to $20k more than I paid for it, since I bought it during the middle of the market crash from a bank.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
I've been reading up on vapor barriers for about 3 hours now and I know less than I did before I started.
Not only is there not anything close to a general consensus on a single aspect of how these things should be done, but there's also research saying that a lot of problems are being created by people installing them in climates that don't need them or using the wrong methods.
One site says staple the barrier to the sill, the next says that would be a bad idea because the moisture will wick up the wall and damage the sills and joists. One site says to attach to the wall with butyl tape and anchors several inches below the sill line and let it hang, another says to use construction adhesive and have the plastic glued taught to the entire wall, another says to only cover the ground.
Seriously... what the shit?
I'm beginning to think the best case scenario is that the previous owners who put the plastic down in my house crawl just threw their money away. Worst case scenario, that thing might be causing more damage than it prevents.
I think I'm just going to buy a roll and make sure the dirt is covered and call it a day.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
NOTIFY: Y | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME
Quote:As the millenials say down here: I feel 'ya on that!
Originally posted by Brenda:
Only time I've given someone an injection was my mom and that was a blood thinner. Not sure who it hurt more, me or her.
NOTIFY: N | REPLY | REPLY WITH QUOTE | PERMALINK | TOP | HOME