Cool features in your next house??

[BobD]

I love the term cross benching; shame it never never caught on. I heard Edward de Bono talking on the BBC years ago about where great ideas come from. He talked about "cross benching". A term he used for when a tradesman walks past the work bench of another worker doing a very different task, there might be some tool, device, or method never used in the first workers field that sparks an idea. I listened to that show maybe thirty odd years ago, and I started to understand lateral thinking. Two thing are required... walking past (and taking an interest in) other people's work benches, and a brain that works laterally.

Anyway, Here's a guy doing the back boiler thing I mentioned above to circumvent UL listing in the US. You would think that with all the weekend cabins people have, this would be off the self.

Edited June 1, 2013 by BobD

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

I couldn't agree more Bob. Lot's of very clever folks out there doing some amazing things.

The same guy made quite a haul in this video. I am jealous :)

[Allee]

Sounds like some of the methods / devices I ran into over in New Zealand years ago. It is there I learned of towel heaters. No heaters in bedrooms, a hall heater filled with bricks and the metered power supply.

Ah, I miss my heated towel rail. There is something so decadent about stepping out of the shower to a warm, fluffy towel.

Bryan, the place looks great. I especially like the huge master bedroom with the sloping ceiling ... I like the idea of a master bedroom that is a real retreat, with enough space for hanging out and lying around.

[BobD]

Which reminds me, and I'm sure Bryan will be the only one who finds this very interesting. The hot water heated towel rail, the cast iron bath, the hot and cold copper pipes, and any other metal, like window frames, will be equipotentially bonded. Ditto in the kitchen. Kitchen sinks, and baths come with a lug for bonding. There should be no potential between any metal in the kitchen, or bathroom. The difference in philosophy is huge.

[kieran]

.. equipotentially bonded ..

.. earthed? ;)

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

.. earthed? ;)

Now you have gone and opened up a real can of worms!!!

"Grounded", "Grounding", "Earth Ground" "Bonded" Are NOT the same. These words have started very long and heated discussions among electricians for a very long time :) Trying to relate it to yet another country, FORGET ABOUT IT :)

[BobD]

Now you have gone and opened up a real can of worms!!!

"Grounded", "Grounding", "Earth Ground" "Bonded" Are NOT the same. These words have started very long and heated discussions among electricians for a very long time :) Trying to relate it to yet another country, FORGET ABOUT IT :)

Ha. In the UK, the term earthed is used when anything is connected to the general mass of earth via the electrical system. The term neutral conductor is always used for the grounded conductor. The big difference is that in the UK the connection of the neutral to earth is always done by the the power company, and an earth connection is provided at the meter . The electrician treats phase, neutral and earth as separate. The recent code changes seem to have been headed in that direction.

.. earthed? ;)

Even within a single room, there is always small voltage potentials between conducting surfaces. In the event of a fault current flowing to a conductive surface, a substantial voltage would exist with adjacent conductive surfaces, even if both are connected to the same earth at other points in the building. Equipotential bonding is used to connect conductive surfaces locally to reduce the potential differences that occur as a result of stray currents, or a fault.

Edited June 6, 2013 by BobD

[patmoore]

I'm hoping to retire within the next twelve months and the only way to do it is to sell our condo and pay cash for a smaller house. With that thought in mind we faced the prospect of trying to sell a place with a kitchen that had been unchanged since 1980. Happily my local Lowe's gives 10% discounts to veterans. I'd rather spend my summers on the golf course but we devoted three weekends to the project and this is what we came up with. We replaced the walls, TV, ceilings, countertop (laminate), sink, garbage disposal, lighting, and backsplash. We had already upgraded the dishwasher, stove, and refrigerator. Final cost was a hair over a thousand dollars.

Before

Before

After

Edited June 6, 2013 by patmoore

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Pat, the kitchen is one of the areas where they say the money is best spent and it looks like you did real well for only a grand.

With home prices on the rebound, I definitely look to lock down that small house asap. Congrats on retirement!!

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

This could very well go in "Summer Projects" thread as well.

So, with the Electrical Final Inspection out of the way. Decided to drop back and get some other items off the check list.

Painting the garage ceiling is a big one that has been hanging over my head (sorry, punsters) for a while. Like a Chinese finger puzzle , everything is interconnected. At over 12' , I need to work with either a long pole, ladder, rent scaffolding, or an extension for the airless sprayer. Not feeling like a million trips up the later or dealing with covering, masking off or cleaning the airless I started to look at a custom scaffold that could provide a multi-use future.

This is why it could be seen as a tool rather than part of the house. I have come up with a half dozen reasonable future uses BESIDES it's main function.

So, needs to be strong, stable and hopefully not tear up the floor too much. Look good enough to live in the garage in perpetuity as board storage perhaps.

I like to try to use standard nominal dimensions, saves on materials etc.

I am calling it the 4 x 4 Scaffold Project. It is well underway. Today is exciting as I am assembling the "uprights" onto the dolly platform.

Deck height of the platform is 14" , it is 4' x 4 ' , uses 9" USA made 1000lb rated casters with vinyl rollers (most expensive single component)

Uprights are 4"x 4" x 10' doug fir lumber , cross beams are 2" x 6" cedar 4ft long.

Casters are lagged to a set of 4" x 6" beams enclosed in a box of OSB with cross supports of 4" x 4"

Edited June 23, 2013 by www.oldsnowboards.com

[mykcuz]

they sell painters stilts

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

they sell painters stilts

Yep, I have a pair of drywall stilts.

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

"Bomber Online Community Rocks!!"

So, I posted some bindings for sale to help pay for materials for the new addition to my home. I get an email from another BOL member that could use another pair of TD3s and happens to have some left over flooring from a build. DELIVERED and even packed the heavy boxes to help save my back!!

It took me allot longer than someone without issues, but just completed the Den floor last night. Win - Win!! Two floors for bindings trade SUCCESS!! Thanks again !

Bryan

First photo: 3/4" Brazilian Cherry / Bedroom #2

Second : 5/8" Horizontal Bamboo / Den

[kieran]

ooh the bamboo is nice. do they sound solid when you walk on them or a little tinny?

Edited November 4, 2013 by www.oldsnowboards.com
didn't mean to edit this post, just quote it.

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Still trying to firm up the best methodology to hang boards on the wall with minimal visual impact.

Todate the best method I have come up with is the bottom rail and mirror clips up high on the sides.

I would love to have them "hovering" on the wall but still have not come up with a good , economical way to do that without damaging the boards.

I saw a commercial about a green pad that allows you to stick your phone to it while driving, I thought "that could work" if I had allot of it? Probably not.

Bryan

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

ooh the bamboo is nice. do they sound solid when you walk on them or a little tinny?

I have not tried my high heels on them yet , but so far I would say it sounds pretty solid :)

The floor underneath is what they refer to as a "Silent Floor" , it is TGI beams with heavy t/g OSB decking glued and nailed.

1st floor is 1-1/8" thick decking and 2nd flr is 7/8" thick decking. There is some controversy about hardwood flooring on OSB.

Yes, a paper vapor barrier is under the solid wood flooring.

The den has double up floor trusses (12" on center) just because I figured I would be loading the floor and I wanted the adjacent area (entrance) to be very solid.

Funny story about that later.

[kieran]

a lot of the laminate flooring i've seen here has either been put in poorly, or is crap. it sounds hollow and temporary when walking on it.

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

a lot of the laminate flooring i've seen here has either been put in poorly, or is crap. it sounds hollow and temporary when walking on it.

Oh, yes, I get it. I have used laminate in another house and it is hard surface and floating on a foam barrier. It did sound sort of tinny , you are right. The thing I like about the laminates are they are pretty tough. Both these are solid wood/ bamboo , both are pretty hard (just ask my overworked nailer).

The really inexpensive laminate chips easily too , so you have to watch it on installation. Much easier to install though. I am currently looking at installing some "engineered" flooring that is sort of the best (or worst) of both worlds. Real wood top but easy to install.

[lowrider]

:biggthumpAll that bamboo wasted on a floor could have made a pile of skis and boards out of them.

[Corey]

Algunderfoot had some cool removable screen clips that he hung a board with. They're visible but quite low profile and don't detract from the board. I haven't looked too hard for them yet, he said they were everywhere in WI cottage country.