Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Delays - Delays - Delays

Delays - Delays - Delays!! It always seems like I run into to delays.

As I posted yesterday I was hoping to start the skim coat process on Wednesday, but it might be delayed until Thursday. The big patch that covers the hole where the vent was isn't completely dry. On top of that I forgot to add corner bead to a section of the wall. MAN - I must be loosing my mind or something to forget something as basic as that.

So, I spent the day doing some touch ups on the mud patches from yesterday and to sand what has already dried.

If you EVER have to do drywall, or plaster work, and need to sand it (what am I thinking - of course you will have to sand), I can't recomend this little gizmo enough.

It is the “Dustdog” vacuum sander from HYDE Tools. I got mine at the local ACE Hardware store.

I noticed a marked reduction in the dust, at least 90%. Get one before your next mudding job.

Once I was done with that I sat down with one of the best Drywall DIY books you can have.
Drywall: Professional Techniques for Walls & Ceilings is a must for any DIYer’s bookshelf.

Myron Ferguson has another book out, Drywall: Professional Techniques for Great Results . I’ll probably purchase this one at a later date.


Along with this source of info I've been going over Edwin Brown's awesome site plaster-wall-ceiling-solutions.com. This is by far one of THE best web site around for plaster work.

The part I will be using is the section on Skim Coating.

I'm sure I will continue reading these two sources well into the night.

One last thing I thought I'd bring up. As you know, we have been getting things together to decorate the new kitchen with. In one of the comments on the blog I mentioned the purchase of a Tagine. A friend asked me about it and I noticed I spelt it wrong.

Anyway, for those of you who might not know what a Tagine is - this is it.






Basically it's a conical cooking pot popular in Morocco.

Go here for a good, basic description.

While we are on the subject - SWMBO & I like old and unusual kitchen gadgets. The weirder the better. My particular interest is in clay cooking pots, like the Tagine, among other items.

I have a rather modest collection at the moment and am planning on a way to display them in the kitchen that will look nice.

One of my favorite pieces is this one. Isn't it ugly?!?!

It is a pre-war cooking pot I bought from a guy in Germany.

He and his wife had been given this Boar shaped pot as a wedding gift. It had never been used and they were downsizing so they put it on German eBay.

It was an ordeal to get it. My German isn't the best but he couldn't speak any English. Once we got down to the nitty-gritty of the sale I had a friend, who lives in Germany and speaks fluent German, handle the money for me. Turns out he lived a few miles from the couple and banked at the same location! So I wired my friend the cash and he gave it to the guy for me.

Anyway - thought I would just share that with you.

BTW - for those who enjoy my pains and sufferings you will notice that the 'Boo Boo' meter count has gone up. I developed a hangnail the other day and dropped a rather large power tool on it today.

Until next time -

Cheers!
Larry ~

6 comments:

Sandy said...

Your comment about the Boo Boo Meter had me rolling in the floor! You are SO funny! Sorry about the smashed finger, though.

p.s. I thought you might like that little "Obedient Wife" story! LOL

Larry said...

I just knew you were one of those sick and twisted people who watch the 'Boo Boo' meter! LOL

And yes - the story was a hit.

Jennifer said...

Sorry about the boo-boo!

I'm intrigued about that sander... does it attach to your shop vac? We are about to skim coat and sand the ENTIRE bathroom, and I would love to cut down on dust.

Larry said...

Well, the meter has gone up - it wasn't even 9:30 AM and I already sliced open my pinky on the left hand and whacked my index finger on the left hand with the hammer. I was nailing upside down and hit it so hard the first knuckle could be bruised or cracked.

As for the sander, yes, it attaches to a shop vac. There are two adapters for the main sizes of vacs and you can get a handle for ceilings.

E-mail, there is a special joint compound out there (it just came out) that cuts dust significantly. If I don't hear from you I will try to post the info to the blog.

Sandy said...

SWMBO is really going to have to start watching you. I certainly hope the whacked finger is not broken!

Larry said...

Nope, not broken. My mother (a nurse) checked it out. It's just badly bruised.

As for SWMBO - she is going to be home for the next couple of days to help!!