The Son's Room #1: Day 1 of the real thing

Starting early on day 2. Rock and roll time!

-- A year into redoing my home - a year to go.

8:15 and my son is still snoozing. Some come on over and help me wake him up! Already primed a bunch more trim. Saw and sled are ready to go in the front yard. I think I’ll get the oil paint going.

-- A year into redoing my home - a year to go.

9:39 all trim is painted. The boy is still asleep. Not like him at all. I’ll give him another 1/2 hour. I think I wore him out yesterday. Amazing that his 50 year old Dad is running rings around him.

-- A year into redoing my home - a year to go.

A cold glass of water will stir things up…...just stand back in case he’s a little grumpy after…lol

-- The difference between a pro and an amateur, an amateur points out his mistakes

Here is that painting jungle on my porch.

I was already laying the floor when he finally walked in and said I’m ready.

It was about that time when I discovered that I didn’t have enough. I asked my son what the size of the room was. He said ‘10 X 10’. I asked “And the closet?. “9 square feet.” I ask “How much is that?” “109 feet” “How much do we have?” “123 feet” “Measure again” “11X11”

“Yep son. That adds up to 130 feet. Go to the garage and find me my laminate stretcher.”
‘Is that the one that looks like a great big clamp?’
“Sure son bring that one”

Off he goes….
A few moments later he returns shaking his head. “I can’t believe I fell for that!”

It took 3 hours to fetch more laminate. That was FUN! My AC didn’t want to work in the car. You may have seen the natonal weather report. We are supposed to cool down to 103 next week. I need to pull out my parka!

-- A year into redoing my home - a year to go.

Hmmmm, 103. We didn’t get to that point in MI, but when you have snow or cold 9-months out of the year, anything above 90 may as well be 100.

Current research says that teens need more sleep. They work much better if they wake up around 10 or 11 AM. Then be sure they get their afternoon nap, followed by a feeding frenzy. Of course they need to rest after supper. That’ll allow them to perform to their very best capacity – somewhere after midnight. Been there.

BTW, I have a laminate stretcher. I keep it right along side my plywood stretcher. I’d be happy to send it to you. I keep my sky-hook close-by too.

Now on to the serious stuff. Looks like you’re moving right along. I like that; very methodical and goal oriented. Remember – if it doesn’t kill you, it’ll only make you stronger. ;)

-- No matter how many times I measure, I always forget the dimensions before I cut.

I hear you about that cold weather Billy. Honestly, you all are made of stouter stuff than me. I worked in New Jersey for 2 Winters. Too cold for me! New Jersey is positively tropical to you all.

I’d love to borrow the laminate stretcher! Send it by skyhook please.

I think my boy is a very hard worker and smart. However, He displays that lack of common sense sometimes. I think that’s a teenage thing. If a teen has to get it done, they get it done quick! Haste kicks that common sense out the window. Sorry, I’m just venting. He replaced the bump feed on a weedwacker last week and lost the bottom cover. All he had to do was lock the two tabs back into the slots. Grumble grumble. I’ll just have to keep your advice in mind.

Thanks for the encouragement and kind words!

Mark

-- A year into redoing my home - a year to go.

You can have that heat…I would die in it. I sweat buckets as it is, and with the humidity you would think I had a sprinkler coming out of my forehead.
I’ll stick to shoveling snow….wait I have a snowblower and two able bodied sons…haha.
They’re just getting to that teenage phase…9 & 12. Fortunately, they still realize who’s boss… : ) ...my wife…

-- The difference between a pro and an amateur, an amateur points out his mistakes

Ditto on the boss. I almost moved up the chain of command last week. I forgot to feed the Beta fish. Unfortunatly, my son was keeping it healthy.

-- A year into redoing my home - a year to go.

reat teamwork! Well, at least for a slight percentage of the handy dandy portion. It’s awesome that you are following closely with the schedule and aim to complete as initially targeted. How many coats of the oil paint did you do? I am bad with oil especially with rockstone and non-smooth surfaces. The porch is a fine location where the coats of paint can dry easily too, especially in such heat.

-- Fred Rodriguez - http://www.algrip.com

Wow, love the mural!

Thank you Smitty.

Fred – sorry for missing your post. 2 Coats of oil 24 hours for each to dry. I recently stopped using oil and started using Latex enamel. Same look, easier to work with, same durability, drys 24 times faster – really.

-- A year into redoing my home - a year to go.

Sounds like my son. If you find something that gets him moving faster (that his mother does not consider a near death experience) I would appreciate knowing about it.

-- John, Boston, http://www.betterwoodworkingplans.com/woodworking_plans_and_designs.html