Queequeg grows stuff, and fixes junk.

plants:
if they look crumy, its because they are.
need water and ive been lazy, ill go back out there and water them at some point today.
also got SMASHED last night by some nasty wind...
 




victim of mine, not the wind. pvc hose sliped off the table and snapped it.
serrano dosent seem to care though. we shall see what happens...





lettuce plants.



cactus plants.



tobacco plants from last winter... i chopped these down to a stump but they grew back. ive not watered these what so ever since last... december ?
no clue why they are alive still.



fertigation machine. in pieces.

my intention here is to shrink the system down substantiall.... such that it fits into the trunk of my car. im going to fold my old design into 2 pieces... and push the frame out into the third dimension.
im also going to add a filtration system. the filtration will require a far more substantial pump, so im going to just mount this onto the frame as well as the filter.





my fancy pump. grundfos up15-58 with a custom plastic head from some other hydronic heating company.



can anyone identify this plug? if so i will kiss your mouth.
spent like an hour on the molex website... im 60% sure its not a molex branded connector.

 

[Scovie]

Musta been non sanded grout? That's a different animal. I only use NS grout when ABSOLUTELY necessary, like 1" glass mosaics. Sanded is much tougher. It cracks less and holds up to cleaning better.

The sanded grout on floors with that machine goes so fast. 2 bags of grout (50 lbs) will do about 350 sq. ft. and it only takes about 15 minutes with that machine to grout 350 sq'. BOOM. Done!

 

[queequeg152]

yes lol it was unsanded.

i went with the standard spacing on the daltile subways... i think it was 1/16th?

it came out real nice, but yea it was an INSANE pita to put down. to achieve that tucked in look... i had to push so fucking hard with my float... and then take the corner of my tiny float and and push in even more to get it packed in tight and deep the way i wanted.

it took for-fucking-ever. never again.

the only problem i have with the sanded stuff was the variability in color? like... i fucked up and sponged to quickly and that brought up to much fine sand(cream i think they call it?). this made this one area look lighter than the rest.

but yea the sanded grout in the bigger 3/16th ish grout lines of the porcelain mosaic was a wet dream to grout compared to the tucked in unsanded on walls.

 

[Scovie]

The rule is ⅛"

⅛" and smaller = Non Sanded

⅛" and bigger = Sanded (up to ½")

⅛" can accept either grouts but subway tile, I never use the lugs that are on the edge of the tile, I use ⅛" spacers (not on the lugs) and still I use Sanded grout.

 

[queequeg152]

The rule is ⅛"

⅛" and smaller = Non Sanded

⅛" and bigger = Sanded (up to ½")

⅛" can accept either grouts but subway tile, I never use the lugs that are on the edge of the tile, I use ⅛" spacers (not on the lugs) and still I use Sanded grout.

IMG_1049.JPG

yea i know all about those rules. if there is one thing i am good at, its reading.

the 4x4 square tiles have much larger spacers than these subways. the gap was definatly less than an 1/8th.

next time around(guest bath) im gonna use a 1/16th spacer, like you mentioned way back in the thread- to get to 1/8" total with these subway tiles.

 

[queequeg152]

holy shit ... hahaha, i take back what i said earlier about these galvanized pipes doing decently well considering they were 30 years old.

there is some BAD shit on the hot water line( as one would expect)... much worse than i thought.

i thought the same area was pin holing repeatedly... but its like all along the whole thing.

ill get some pics when the dust is down.

 

[queequeg152]

ok here we go.

area before demo. cabinets removed, fridge and shit removed.

here are the leak spots.

you can see where it was starting to come down the pantry wall.

this one is a few months old... it started up for a day or two, then stopped. im guessing it clogged itself. lately this has been happening repeatedly all over the kitchen area... but strangly no where else.

a recent patch from months ago. lol i didnt even bother to tape it as i knew i would be tearing it out.

this was a BAD BAD one... holy shit it was bad.

its like a beard growing from the ceiling... this one was actually hidden behind the cabinets and trim.

i think this is why it got so bad? like... it was behind the cabinets so it was not able to dry to the interior... hence it got extra extra bad... idk.

this one was so bad that i actually sprayed the living SHIT out of this gross shit with some adhesive spray in the hope that it would encapsulate this mold and keep it from floating around when i tore up the ceiling.

here is the ceiling down.

the cellulose that falls down gets blown out into these giant fleece bags i buy on ebay. i think 3 of these bags are like 60 bucks? not cheap, but a huge time saver over bagging the shit up into trash bags.

ok here are the pipes. gird your loins, and pay your homeowners insurance premiums.

haha this is the one above that fucking gross beard mold.

clean sink is for pissing.

baby spots... i think these acually might be from water running down the length of the pipe, but idk.

that bad one again i think?

this one looks real bad... but i dont think it was ever leaking? there were no stains under this one.

 

[queequeg152]

one that i had patched before. i actually patched this two times... first time was just the clamp. then it leaked again a week or so later on so i just took some epoxy putty and put that inside the same clamp.

this one actually has a permanent drop of water stuck on it!!!!

beard mold again!

same one above i think.

cellulose hell.

 

[Scovie]

Fuck me dude. It's time to tear your whole house apart. Replace ALL of the supply lines, all the way to Oklahoma or Mexico, wherever you get your fresh water. The mini ecosystem above your cabinets is just the symptom. Your Texas climate is growing shit that will kill us all or cure every goddamm disease known to man. Those pipes are EATEN.
 
Hold on. I'll be back...
 
All of that mold and rotten pipes is giving me the urge to purge. I gotta go take a shit. Like the Taco Bell spray variety. Don't worry, I'm bringing a respirator. 

 

[queequeg152]

holy shit yea, i was super shocked to see how bad thee mold was behind those cabinets.

the green spots and brown stains and shit seemed benign... just wiped them with bleach, but this fucking dark green beard mold looked like some seriously unhealthy shit.

im going to have to tear out the wall behind it to see if anything went down the wall... top of that cabinet looks fine which makes me think it was probably just going down that wall. the back side of that wall has wall paper too... which means it probably could not dry to the interior properly.

 

[queequeg152]

oh yea i realized i didnt get pics of the semi finished pocket door, so i went back and got some yesterday.

its just primed and lightly sanded... idk what to paint it to be honest. does not seem right to paint the trim the same color as the door itself, but idk.

pretty much flush in the jamb... this was important to me.

the recessed pocket it sits in when closed.

you might ask how you close the door when its recessed into the wall like that... well thats what that spring plunger mechanism is for.

you push the door in like an inch, then it springs out about this far...

then you just pinch it and throw it to one side.

it takes very little force to get the slow close mechanism to catch. you can actually just push the door in and release it. the plunger mechanism itself is able to close the door by itself.

semi concealed bushing things.

 

[Scovie]

No.
 
Those fuckin door guides MUST ride on the bottom corner of the bottom edge of the door.
 
Goddammit man, you're ANAL! Like me! You don't want to "see" them outside of the trim???, but you're willing to look at that garbage???? They're almost up to your knee-high socks! and will stripe that door in 8...7...6... 2 open/close cycles!!!
 
Prove me wrong you anal/particular sumbitch!
 
Fukc, those door guides are hideous. fix that shit.

 

[Scovie]

I love you QQ. I am your buddy. :smilehuggs:

 

[Grass Snake]

#doorguidegate

 

[Scovie]

#doorguidegate

 
I hope QQ forgives me for my hhwiskey fueled tangent.

 

[queequeg152]

lol i still cannot remember why i put them up that high. im sure i had a reason, but yea it does look bad now that ive seen scovilles pic.

worst part is the fact that the trim basically traps the door inside the opening, so even if i do get a router...i still couldnt not install the hidden guide without tearing out all the trim including the split jamb face.
ill just replace the outer trim pieces and lower it down to the bottom when i get around to doing the other closet

the paint job on the trim sucks anyway. brush marks for days.

 

[queequeg152]

oy... my dumpster is basically full unless this cellulose magically settles over night =(. not even half way through this shit lol... gonna need another.

dumpster budget officially blown TF out.

 

[queequeg152]

new air handler arrived yo. variable speed for pro dehumificiation.

 

[queequeg152]

any folks around familiar with copper/brass plumbing???

i need to replace the pipe and valves outside that connects the houses service line to the house itself... its just a little 24" pipe comeing out of the ground that transitions from PVC to galvanized pipe, then elbows into the house.

i am really trying not to complicate shit... but i kinda wanna learn to braze copper... im thinking this would be as good an opportunity as any?

on the other hand i could just buy red brass threaded fittings...really nice looking stuff, very pretty.

i really cannot decide. i think the brass would definitely look better, especially if i get some non marring jaws for my pipe wrenches.

 

[Scovie]

Braisng copper? Or soldering? Soldering is easy, 1.) flux, 2.) Heat 3.) Solder.

But you contradict yourself, "not over complicate it" and "pretty plumbing". LOL

Paintings are "pretty". Get a Big Eyes painting and hang it on the wall. :Rofl:

Example of 25 year old pretty vs, not pretty. :Rofl:

 

[queequeg152]

i was actually thinking of using staysilv 45 or 56, and have it be a decent intro to ACR brazing.

i have a victor j-28 clone and a buncha tips, regulators etc, i just need to get some bottles at the gas supply place.

but i think ima just go with pipe dope and threaded brass... its not like i need the ductility of copper. the galvanized was much less ductile than brass and it went 30 years uninsulated without ever bursting.
wtf is that picture btw? it looks like a painting... of a doll? wtf?