Where did he go?

Hey everyone,

I thought it's about time I explain why the posts have fallen completely off. As you know, I had and still have a large list of things to accomplish here at "the ranch". In addition to that, because of my love for energy efficiency and the environment, I'm part of a group that is in the process of starting a non-profit education network. My job on the board is Secretary and a good portion of my free time is being spent disseminating information to the board and our members as we grow our network. By the way, the name of the network is the Mid Columbia Energy and Environmental Network (MCEEN). I'm thinking this endeavor is going to take the majority of my energies for the next several months, at least. We have a very affluent team to get the organization started. We plan on the network to be a "go to" place for information on all energy and environmental education, both residential and non-residential. Our event planner, Tracy Roberts who owns Tri-City Events, is helping put together a website, forum and blog for MCEEN. When it is up and running, be sure to check it out. It should prove to be a great resource for information.

Installing Laminate Flooring - A Quick Update

Hello all,

I thought I'd just do a quick post to let you know the floor is coming along. As I said in the last post, it is a bear! Now that Sylvia is home the work is going a little faster. We finished the master bedroom today and will tackle the guest bath and bedroom next weekend. I probably wont get to my office until the following weekend.

As far as the shop is concerned, while I was on vacation, I ordered my dust collection system from Oneida and a 12 inch jointer from Grizzly. I can't wait to get the floor down and address the winter accommodations for the dogs. Time has just flown by and there is no way I'm going to get everything I wanted to accomplish this fall done. Oh well, isn't that always the case? My plan at this point is to finish the flooring, build a set of condos for the dogs inside the garage and then go back and install all the trim in the house. After that, I finally will get to tackle the installation of the dust collection system and start tuning up machines. Once the machines are all tuned, then I get to build cabinets and work stations for the shop. I'm sure glad I like to work!!!

Installing Laminate Flooring - Slow Start

First of all, Dies ist für meinen besten Freund, meine Ehefrau Sylvia. Ich verpasse Dich! Ich liebe Dich! (Sorry for the, probably, horrible translation baby. I used an on-line translator.)


I have talked to Sylvia daily since she's been in Germany. She says Noah loves his little crane! This flooring is.....a pain in the behind. I've installed Armstrong and Pergo flooring and it was much easier. Of course, it was only 7mm compared with this Rhino floor that is 12mm. I am, although, very happy with the results. I still can't believe we picked this floor. It's labeled as Rustic Oak. If we had just been looking at names, we never would have picked this floor. Neither of us are fans of oak. Personally, I think it's been overdone in American homes. There are some applications that are artistic enough that the wood being oak doesn't bother me. Maybe someday, I'll ask my buddy Ken if he'd mind me giving you all a tour of his home. He has done beautiful work.

Today, I broke into the kitchen and now I have to pull the stove and dishwasher. As you can see I'll also have to backtrack to my office, the guest bath and guest bedroom, which are located off the short hallway you see. Here is the floor thus far.

Installing Laminate Flooring - Opportunities

I forgot to mention, when you're doing any renovation or upgrade, think about what opportunities the project will afford. For me, this is a great time to seal the registers to the subfloor. My registers are not bad, considering some of the installations I've seen. Some people have good size gaps around their register boots. What happens when there is a gap, whether the register is in the ceiling or the floor, is as the air flows out of the register, it sucks air from the crawl space or the attic into your living space. When the system isn't blowing, it simply allows free movement of convective currents.
To seal, I'm using "duct butter" or mastic. This product is also available in a caulk type tube form. Be very careful to mask off the area around the boots if you don't want it ruined by the mastic. This stuff will not come off!!!




















I'll also be on the look out for gaps around piping as I continue this job.

Installing a Laminate Floor - Prep Work

Due to the unexpected, instead of being in Germany now, I'm at home. Sylvia flew to her home town of Untebalbach on Thursday and should be calling me to help her put Noah's toy back together Sunday.

Hopefully, she'll get some photos and hopefully, he'll like the crane. Instead of fretting about not getting to go and see everyone, drink great beer and eat the best meats, cheeses and breads I've ever had, I thought "why not take advantage of the time I already took from work and get some bigger projects done for the house". While I miss Sylvia a bunch, because she really is my best friend, it's amazing how much more I get done when she's gone!

When we bought our house and moved it onto our land (it's a manufactured house), we knew we were going to be living on a huge sand dune for awhile, so we got the cheapest carpet they offered. Between me and the dogs, we managed to track in copious amounts of sand and killed the carpet fibers in no time flat. So, about two months ago we started shopping for new flooring material. Carpet was out due to Sylvia's severe allergies (she can't wait for this carpet to be gone). Also, we have dogs, so hardwood was out. Bamboo almost looked like a decent choice but when you take a nail to it, it scratches too. In addition to standing up to our dogs (two of which will still spin-out like the cartoons), we wanted something that wouldn't show hair. After searching and searching, we finally found a laminate we both liked and would fulfill our requirements. About two weeks ago, my buddy Ken and I went and picked up the shipment and staged it in the garage.


Today, I started moving furniture, removing trim, and pulling the carpet. You can see in this photo all the sand/dirt that made it's way through the carpet and carpet pad to the subfloor. It happens to be at the entrance to the kitchen and the dogs favorite place when we (o.k., mostly Sylvia) are cooking. It's a good idea to photograph bookcases so you can remember how they were meticulously arranged.

A scraper is handy to remove all the caulking left after you pull the trim.

Hopefully tomorrow, I'll start laying down some flooring. I've done several floating floors, but never a whole house at once. Plus, the sales guys said that because this flooring is so thick (12 mm), it's a bear. Wish me luck!

A Toy for Noah - The Unveiling

Today, I finally finished up the little buggers toy crane. Over the weekend I set up a makeshift spray booth and shot it with lacquer.

And here is Noah's crane all ready to go.


I made a lot of mistakes on this project. Luckily none will show. Now I have to take the whole thing apart, so it'll fit into a suitcase. Even though this was only a toy, it presented this newbie quite a few new procedures. Hopefully, I'll get to Bisket's serving stand as soon as I get back.

Fall is just around the corner and with it comes a great deal of work. I need to insulate the garage for the dogs to hang out in during the day. Sylvia wanted to pull all the carpet, so I have a complete house worth of laminate to install, and then there is all the regular fall clean up before winter sets in. Hopefully, after that I can start making cabinets for the shop and get that puppy up and ready for whatever I end up planning.

A Toy for Noah - Part Deux

I have to say that I'm totally embarrassed that this has taken so much time. Who'da thunk a toy would have so many steps for a building process! Actually, it has been fun to finally play with some of my big boy toys. I've had the opportunity to resaw on my new bandsaw. I wish it were the new one unveiled by Powermatic at this years IWF, but alas, I have what I have and it does a nice job.

I've played with my Rigid sander, my radial arm drill press, set my makeshift router table up, and got to do a stain job. The plan called for two different contrasting woods. Wood magazine used maple and walnut. I priced the walnut and decided that staining my birch would do. I figure when I go to replace the birch slabs I used, this is still using at least $70 dollars worth of lumber, and that's not counting the kit. I got all the parts milled. Cut everything to size, did the glue-ups, beveled all the appropriate edges and finished sanded all the parts. I'm almost ready to start the finish. My plan is to dilute a polyurethane to make a wipe on finish.
I figure 4 coats would be Noah proof. I sure hope he's still young enough to enjoy this gift. If not, his brand new baby brother, Luca Fin (Sylvia likes to always put his first and middle names together) will enjoy it when he gets a bit older.
Due to all we have to do to get ready for Germany, I don't think I'm gonna be able to get back to Bisket's Serving Stand until we get back.

On a positive note, I did get a new "toy" today. I picked up a DYS4500 Craftsman (that's right Mr. LQQK, Craftsman) lawn tractor today. I know what you're thinking. That's got nothing to do with the shop! Well, yes it does. Before this, mowing our yard took over three hours. It's crazy! We live in a desert and have over an acre of yard! I'm pretty sure I'm goin' to hell for that! But honest, it wasn't all my idea. A friend, who is a firefighter said that, because of how our property is situated, we needed at least 30 feet of green space around all structures. I've got a 1000 gallon propane tank that wouldn't like to get too hot! Luckily the fire department is right down the road and know we have a potential bomb. It makes our property a high priority, in the event of a fire. The mower will enable me to have more shop time. So, I'm trying not to feel too bad that it took money away from the shop.