Off the grid

[2cute]

The Brady Bunch was part of an era I missed. Didn't have a television for about 17 years, from 1967 to 1984. Missed a lot of good, bad and indifferent programs--all of which I can now catch on cable.

Having been around construction enough, I can vouch that the Property brothers actually do have trade skills. They just aren't using them to the extent pretended.

For the time being, my son is still leaning on me for advice and assistance.

He just bought a house. Crazy market. His sister also bought one a few weeks apart. After missing on several homes they put bids on, I upped their available cash so they could up their bidding game and not have to sink to worse neighborhoods. They shared a realtor (a personal friend of my wife's) who suggested they put in bids that went up incrementally by $100 to match and beat other competitors. A lot of investors are buying up homes for cash and turning them into rentals. Plus our local market has a very low availability. Both kids ended up getting their places for $30,100 over asking price.

Over. Asking. Price.

Seemed nuts, but then the appraisals came back higher than the bids so it worked out okay. And the banks were happy.

But, both homes needed work. Just finished helping my son install a 4th bedroom and 3rd bath in the basement. Had to figure out how to drain the shower without digging up the concrete. Ended up with a flat p-trap and pump that switches on automatically when water enters. Just finished the last of the tiling and grouting. He's pretty happy. But, he was reluctant to work on most things if I wasn't there. Now, he has a new panoply of new skills. And confidence.

Ahh, sure your son has new confidence, especially since his father did it for him. He doesn't have to trust a contractor (who may have done it 'contractor style') as he KNOWS you did it to the best of your ability. Plus he probably learned how you did it, so even if he did hire someone else in the future, he'd know if they were doing it right.

I think that's the hardest part for me about doing remodeling, as I really need to understand what is it my contractor is doing, so I KNOW they are choosing the best solutions for my project. I don't actually have to do the work, yet I know what is it that they are doing (mostly) and I can make the best decisions on how to proceed. They really can't take advance of someone who knows better. Its like when you buy tires, if you can tell how old they are, they can't sell you some that have been sitting on the shelf for 3 years, you can tell they are 3 years old & complain. No, these are too old, I want ones made within the last year. They can't take advantage of someone who knows better.

Wow, 30,100 OVER ASKING PRICE! That's amazing! I guess a sellers market is a good time for investors to also sell inventory that needs work too as they don't have to fix them based on appraisals. Which is bad for all these new home buyers as they have to learn remodeling and the construction industry is overwhelmed with too much business and therefore ask an astronomical amount to do any work as they have plenty of customers from which to choose.

As far as the Very Brady Renovation, here's what I'm talking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1M9mlmabmw

[Naboka]

Sure, that makes sense. Yet I don't want half-ass work either. I don't want to pay someone for quality work & then get shoddy work. That's unfortunately very popular. It seems if they do shoddy work, they make more money as they hope you'll call them again to come fix it. So they make twice as much on the same job. What they don't realize is if whatever breaks too soon, I'll be sure NOT to call them back & hire someone else entirely.

Yes, I used to watch this other show where they supposedly had a 'hidden camera' and potential customers walk into a house for sell pointing out all the defects they don't like. Afterward they'd fix them. Then those very same customers would come back & point out all the items they repaired saying how great they were. Uh huh, like that wasn't staged.

Oh yeah, those Property Brothers are actors for sure. You see now they sell everything. They have blinds, home security systems & furnishings. The Vera Wang of remodeling. The one thing that HGTV did which I did think was clever was when they bought 'The Brady Bunch' house. It was used for the establishing shot on the show. While on the inside it looked completely different as it was a sound stage where the show was actually shot. So 2 or 3 years ago, HGTV bought the house which was twice as much as any other house in the neighborhood & supposedly made the inside of the house look like 'The Brady Bunch' house and then hired the actors who were on the show to come help fix it up. Whether they really did or just pretended to do it was irrelevant as it was entertaining to see them again. I do wonder what they ended up doing with that house after that series wrapped up.

Ahh, so your son must have be very helpful to you on choosing what to do where & what could be achieved and what couldn't. Then you didn't need to hire a designer or general contractor, savings you thousands of $.

The Brady Bunch was part of an era I missed. Didn't have a television for about 17 years, from 1967 to 1984. Missed a lot of good, bad and indifferent programs--all of which I can now catch on cable.

Having been around construction enough, I can vouch that the Property brothers actually do have trade skills. They just aren't using them to the extent pretended.

For the time being, my son is still leaning on me for advice and assistance.

He just bought a house. Crazy market. His sister also bought one a few weeks apart. After missing on several homes they put bids on, I upped their available cash so they could up their bidding game and not have to sink to worse neighborhoods. They shared a realtor (a personal friend of my wife's) who suggested they put in bids that went up incrementally by $100 to match and beat other competitors. A lot of investors are buying up homes for cash and turning them into rentals. Plus our local market has a very low availability. Both kids ended up getting their places for $30,100 over asking price.

Over. Asking. Price.

Seemed nuts, but then the appraisals came back higher than the bids so it worked out okay. And the banks were happy.

But, both homes needed work. Just finished helping my son install a 4th bedroom and 3rd bath in the basement. Had to figure out how to drain the shower without digging up the concrete. Ended up with a flat p-trap and pump that switches on automatically when water enters. Just finished the last of the tiling and grouting. He's pretty happy. But, he was reluctant to work on most things if I wasn't there. Now, he has a new panoply of new skills. And confidence.

[2cute]

The 3 home search cracks me up. It's ridiculous. But simplicity sells, so...

Every frame of every show has to have someone operating the camera(s), the microphones, plus all the other personnel/stuff necessary to produce a scene. The homeowner walking into a remodeled room is also walking into a room of production personnel. The angle of the shot tells you exactly where the camera is--and when. All those "surprise" visits, where we look over the homeowner's shoulder opening the door as the host arrives fully test our capacity to suspend disbelief.

The suspension of disbelief is what makes it possible for us to watch movies without rolling our eyes with the knowledge that it's just a bunch of paid actors performing rather than reality.

It's why we don't fall off the couch laughing when the hostess "paints" a wall wearing white. Or when the Property Brothers are supposedly doing all those jobs in all those houses concurrently. They would have to have hundred hour days to do half of what they're pretending to do.

I might have made up the term "contractor style." My contractor kept commenting that it was "how contractors do it." It's all about cutting corners to save time and expense. Doing a quality job is time consuming and expensive.

My son's an engineer, and we've talked about the level of quality that gets engineered into production. Quality and durability add expense. If a product lasts too long, the customer has no reason to buy more. Plus, the extra capacity is just wasted. You make a step stool that will hold 220 pounds and will sell for $20. You could make that same stool to hold 2 tons, but it would cost a lot more and sell fewer items. And very few customers are going to need a step stool that holds over 200 lbs, much less 220.

So, a contractor knows that it will take 3 or 4 cuts to get a precise fit, but also knows that the trim will cover up his sloppy cut leaving an extra gap that the customer will never see. The 500 cuts required for an adequate job balloons into 1500 cuts. Suddenly, you're making $20 an hour instead of $60.

Who wants to be penalized for doing better work that isn't "necessary?"

Sure, that makes sense. Yet I don't want half-ass work either. I don't want to pay someone for quality work & then get shoddy work. That's unfortunately very popular. It seems if they do shoddy work, they make more money as they hope you'll call them again to come fix it. So they make twice as much on the same job. What they don't realize is if whatever breaks too soon, I'll be sure NOT to call them back & hire someone else entirely.

Yes, I used to watch this other show where they supposedly had a 'hidden camera' and potential customers walk into a house for sell pointing out all the defects they don't like. Afterward they'd fix them. Then those very same customers would come back & point out all the items they repaired saying how great they were. Uh huh, like that wasn't staged.

Oh yeah, those Property Brothers are actors for sure. You see now they sell everything. They have blinds, home security systems & furnishings. The Vera Wang of remodeling. The one thing that HGTV did which I did think was clever was when they bought 'The Brady Bunch' house. It was used for the establishing shot on the show. While on the inside it looked completely different as it was a sound stage where the show was actually shot. So 2 or 3 years ago, HGTV bought the house which was twice as much as any other house in the neighborhood & supposedly made the inside of the house look like 'The Brady Bunch' house and then hired the actors who were on the show to come help fix it up. Whether they really did or just pretended to do it was irrelevant as it was entertaining to see them again. I do wonder what they ended up doing with that house after that series wrapped up.

Ahh, so your son must have be very helpful to you on choosing what to do where & what could be achieved and what couldn't. Then you didn't need to hire a designer or general contractor, savings you thousands of $.

[Naboka]

HGTV is very much edited, I mean who buys a house having only looked @ 3? I looked @ hundreds online & physically visited 40 before I purchased mine. Also HGTV shows have contractors all ready, they are vetted in advance and the tile or furniture stores always have whatever they want before they walk in the door. That's not the case in real life.

I've never heard of "contractor style", thank goodness you have the skill level to do the work yourself. The previous owner of my home must have had all the work done that way because I have A LOT of weird problems too. Most of the work I've had done too is hidden behind the walls and was so irritated that when my home was appraised, the 'professional' never found these problems.

A while back I was sick in the hospital and didn't play games for a long time. I realized when I was able to return, not only was my skill level vastly different, it was like all the games became new & unfamiliar even though I had played them before many times.

The 3 home search cracks me up. It's ridiculous. But simplicity sells, so...

Every frame of every show has to have someone operating the camera(s), the microphones, plus all the other personnel/stuff necessary to produce a scene. The homeowner walking into a remodeled room is also walking into a room of production personnel. The angle of the shot tells you exactly where the camera is--and when. All those "surprise" visits, where we look over the homeowner's shoulder opening the door as the host arrives fully test our capacity to suspend disbelief.

The suspension of disbelief is what makes it possible for us to watch movies without rolling our eyes with the knowledge that it's just a bunch of paid actors performing rather than reality.

It's why we don't fall off the couch laughing when the hostess "paints" a wall wearing white. Or when the Property Brothers are supposedly doing all those jobs in all those houses concurrently. They would have to have hundred hour days to do half of what they're pretending to do.

I might have made up the term "contractor style." My contractor kept commenting that it was "how contractors do it." It's all about cutting corners to save time and expense. Doing a quality job is time consuming and expensive.

My son's an engineer, and we've talked about the level of quality that gets engineered into production. Quality and durability add expense. If a product lasts too long, the customer has no reason to buy more. Plus, the extra capacity is just wasted. You make a step stool that will hold 220 pounds and will sell for $20. You could make that same stool to hold 2 tons, but it would cost a lot more and sell fewer items. And very few customers are going to need a step stool that holds over 200 lbs, much less 220.

So, a contractor knows that it will take 3 or 4 cuts to get a precise fit, but also knows that the trim will cover up his sloppy cut leaving an extra gap that the customer will never see. The 500 cuts required for an adequate job balloons into 1500 cuts. Suddenly, you're making $20 an hour instead of $60.

Who wants to be penalized for doing better work that isn't "necessary?"

[2cute]

Currerbell, very kind of you.

HGTV is a distracting bane for modern America. You watch the home and garden shows, get dissatisfied with what you have and set out to keep up. Problem is, the Joneses on TV have professional designers, skilled tradespeople and bigger budgets. And the benefit of editing so you don't see a lot.

We had this home built in 1996, so it did need some updating. Being retired and having some skills I figured why not. Problem is, the "professionals" who we paid to build this place cut a lot of corners. I can't imagine how they passed code inspections. My guess is they didn't. Plumbing that runs uphill, an electrical box laying on the floor behind the jacuzzi, compromised joists/studs, improper vents, walls not plumb, floors not level, blah, blah blah.

The satisfaction/pride of accomplishment is tempered by months of frustration and irritation. So many other things I would have preferred doing other than expensive correction of sloppy/dangerous work done by people trusted enough to pay good money. Instead of simply installing a new look, I often had to tear out bad structure and rebuild. Doing some finishing work on the master bath, I said to my wife, "you know, over 90% of the work we did on this will never be seen by anyone." And the 90% is without doubt a gross underestimation--probably closer to 99%.

My wife would say, "just hire a professional." And I would point out some crap and say, "a professional did that. No thanks. The next one will too." Even when I brought a skilled guy in to help, he kept wanting to do it "contractor style," meaning sloppy work that the customer will never see because you can cover it up--or "no one will notice". He'd been doing this for over twenty years, and my cuts were more accurate and my caulking more precise. I kept having to redo what he'd already done. And he has his phone loaded with impressive projects he's done for people. Apparently, doing things right is simply too time-consuming and expensive.

Sorry for the rant. Think a caldera just blew a vent.

But, yes, we all love how things turned out. The new tub is deep enough to soak at chin level without becoming a contortionist. The tile is a work of art.

(And at least now we know a toilet isn't going to fall through the floor some day --one would have eventually the way they screwed it up.)

As for the games, am loving all the new boards. Sure seem to have missed a lot in the last 6 months. Am playing at about 60% of the skill level I left with, so it'll be a while to get the rust removed and remember all the weird words and word combos. Plus, learning a new keyboard.

Since garden season has begun, will probably miss another couple of months, but....

Just love the iris and dahlias and being outside.

HGTV is very much edited, I mean who buys a house having only looked @ 3? I looked @ hundreds online & physically visited 40 before I purchased mine. Also HGTV shows have contractors all ready, they are vetted in advance and the tile or furniture stores always have whatever they want before they walk in the door. That's not the case in real life.

I've never heard of "contractor style", thank goodness you have the skill level to do the work yourself. The previous owner of my home must have had all the work done that way because I have A LOT of weird problems too. Most of the work I've had done too is hidden behind the walls and was so irritated that when my home was appraised, the 'professional' never found these problems.

A while back I was sick in the hospital and didn't play games for a long time. I realized when I was able to return, not only was my skill level vastly different, it was like all the games became new & unfamiliar even though I had played them before many times.

[joseprobe]

I can easily say that pc gaming is the best and even though consoles are cheaper I still prefer pc. The only good thing about consoles is the exclusives they have and that is it. I sold my old pc 2 months ago because I was moving out of my parent's house and now after some time I earned some money. I really wanted to buy a gaming laptop so I’d be able to play and study at the same time. I went on the internet and found a website that had a lot of reviews on pc equipment and also the 8 best laptops for gaming. I checked the reviews and I ended up choosing a laptop. It arrived yesterday and I can easily say that it is the best laptop that I ever had.

[Naboka]

I seem to have attended secondary school in a different era...one of the Morgan boys accidentally cut off the top of the woodwork teachers index finger with a jigsaw, the consequence being he was very mean to the four younger Morgan boys, and he didn't forcefully intervene on a students work ever, ever again. I made a sausage dog with little holes along his torso, to hold toothpicks (maybe for the fondue). I liked drafting, a. because I was good at it and, b. because I was too short to swing on the stool chairs, ie. on to the two back legs (if you did, the teacher would kick the stool out from under you). Fun times.

Wish I could have reassured the Morgan boy that the accident was 100% the teacher's fault, who failed miserably to demonstrate proper safety protocol.

Rather than being mean to the younger Morgans, the teacher should have held up his index finger each year and proclaimed, "this is what you get for being an idiot and not following safety procedures. Don't be an idiot like me."

I like drafting also. The designs are such works of art.

[floppers]

I seem to have attended secondary school in a different era...one of the Morgan boys accidentally cut off the top of the woodwork teachers index finger with a jigsaw, the consequence being he was very mean to the four younger Morgan boys, and he didn't forcefully intervene on a students work ever, ever again. I made a sausage dog with little holes along his torso, to hold toothpicks (maybe for the fondue). I liked drafting, a. because I was good at it and, b. because I was too short to swing on the stool chairs, ie. on to the two back legs (if you did, the teacher would kick the stool out from under you). Fun times.

[Naboka]

I'll watch HGTV. It doesn't tempt me. I'm the kind of guy who has trouble unscrewing light bulbs (turn them the wrong way and they break off; annoying). Tools are my enemies, carpentry makes almost no sense, and power tools will probably turn on me and kill. Things that need assembly get turned over to children. They'll have better luck. Instructions don't just not make sense, they seem to be clearly wrong and often are. I do enjoy watching someone who does know what they're doing in construction, but I really can't appreciate it any more than I can appreciate dance or art. I'm blind in that band of the spectrum. Music, math, and language are things I can do and do appreciate.

I am truly happy that you have a solidly-built home that you feel secure in, and that you have the talent and energy to assure that it happened.

True story: Boys in my day were required to take shop class and to complete units in electricity (did well); drafting (did great), and woodworking. My woodworking project was a breadboard -- a chunk of wood with a handle upon which bread might be cut. The breadboard had to have perfectly flat sides with 90 degree angles. It started with a two foot square piece of pine, and by the end of the semester it was two feet long and six inches wide and the sides were still not flat. But the instructor was not willing to let me go all the way to creating a breadstick. I don't remember the grade I got, but I had to take art from third to eighth grade and I got a C+ once in all those years. Every other grade was failing. I disagreed with primary colors and thought they were arbitrary and my dogs, cats, squirrels, goats, and cattle all looked uncannily alike. Woodworking was similar to that.

God, I remember the shop, drafting, woodworking classes. Having to hand plane a board so that it had 90 degree edges all around! Like water drop torture.

In the day, male teachers all seemed to have paddles with holes drilled in the flat ends to make swatting our butts more painful. Child abuse was a cottage industry in public education. I used to experiment with padding my Levi pockets with various materials to absorb the blows. If you tried a wallet, they'd make you take it out. So you had to use something that didn't stand out. Also tried materials under the jeans so I just looked a bit fuller. But, we wore our jeans so tight in the fifties and sixties that adding extras was less pleasant than the short term/random pain. (Guess, you can tell that I was constantly in trouble and getting punished.)

[Naboka]

Wow, Naboka. Kudos on the work, the expertise, and the finish! I remember watching an episode of The Librarians where one of the characters stated, "What is architecture but art that you live in?" I have not yet found an "original" for that quote (I've looked, but not too hard), and I thought of that when you talked about your tiling considerations. Brilliant. I hope you enjoy many many long baths in your new tub. I'm kind of with floppers on getting a "floaty thing" for around your neck, especially if you are going to be sipping wine and drifting into dreams....

(BTW, HGTV is not allowed in my house. I don't need to know how great others homes are when I had to take a pause on my mortgage payments during the pandemic. No, I'm not bitter at all.)

Thanks for the compliments.

Mostly, Angela will be sipping the wine and drifting with dreams in that tub. I'll be busy finishing a long list of new projects she's created now that she knows what I can do.

Getting into the tub is a small challenge. Its rim is 25" from the floor--with another 7" horizontally for the tub and surround. It's like stepping up more than 3 stair steps.

The "floaty thing" makes me think having a life preserver as a wall decoration would be hilarious.

The architecture quote I've heard, but now I'm going to obsess over who originated it. Being obsessive/compulsive has the advantage of being a driving force. Unfortunately, not all drives go down useful/scenic roads.

[bwt1213]

I'll watch HGTV. It doesn't tempt me. I'm the kind of guy who has trouble unscrewing light bulbs (turn them the wrong way and they break off; annoying). Tools are my enemies, carpentry makes almost no sense, and power tools will probably turn on me and kill. Things that need assembly get turned over to children. They'll have better luck. Instructions don't just not make sense, they seem to be clearly wrong and often are. I do enjoy watching someone who does know what they're doing in construction, but I really can't appreciate it any more than I can appreciate dance or art. I'm blind in that band of the spectrum. Music, math, and language are things I can do and do appreciate.

I am truly happy that you have a solidly-built home that you feel secure in, and that you have the talent and energy to assure that it happened.

True story: Boys in my day were required to take shop class and to complete units in electricity (did well); drafting (did great), and woodworking. My woodworking project was a breadboard -- a chunk of wood with a handle upon which bread might be cut. The breadboard had to have perfectly flat sides with 90 degree angles. It started with a two foot square piece of pine, and by the end of the semester it was two feet long and six inches wide and the sides were still not flat. But the instructor was not willing to let me go all the way to creating a breadstick. I don't remember the grade I got, but I had to take art from third to eighth grade and I got a C+ once in all those years. Every other grade was failing. I disagreed with primary colors and thought they were arbitrary and my dogs, cats, squirrels, goats, and cattle all looked uncannily alike. Woodworking was similar to that.

Wow, Naboka. Kudos on the work, the expertise, and the finish! I remember watching an episode of The Librarians where one of the characters stated, "What is architecture but art that you live in?" I have not yet found an "original" for that quote (I've looked, but not too hard), and I thought of that when you talked about your tiling considerations. Brilliant. I hope you enjoy many many long baths in your new tub. I'm kind of with floppers on getting a "floaty thing" for around your neck, especially if you are going to be sipping wine and drifting into dreams....

(BTW, HGTV is not allowed in my house. I don't need to know how great others homes are when I had to take a pause on my mortgage payments during the pandemic. No, I'm not bitter at all.)

[floppers]

Love it, Naboka...congratulations to you and Angela for tiling zen. (get a floaty thing to put around your neck, so you don't drift underwater).

[Naboka]

please change your profile picture to the tile, Naboka...I'd love to see it!

Flops,

Not very good with photo editing. The best I could do in the time I had. Gives you an idea of a portion looking from where you'd sit in the tub.

But the picture misses some elements, like the other walls and other pieces of tile.

We spent hours laying out all the tile on the floor, exploring various patterns. Angela wanted something simple. Something balanced and geometric, a bit unusual, but not too much. Something with a nod to timeless classics, but freshened rather than overused. Something relaxing, that made the mind wander without much thought. The blues on white take attention away from the contrasting color line that's intended to draw your attention into the bath, as a breaker nearing the beach. The whites in the blue direct the attention back outwards to the missing blues now floating in the white. But, without urgency. Just a lazy, unhurried simplicity. Unusual in its ordinariness. Mirrored, but not quite. The movement is back and forth, much like a wave, rising and falling, languid, going nowhere.

All, while you soak away the day, sip your wine and drift into dreams.

[floppers]

please change your profile picture to the tile, Naboka...I'd love to see it!