The new flooring arrives tomorrow.

[Clipper]

Kathy's nephew is going to lay down our new kitchen floor while he is here. I went to Home Depot and ordered the flooring this evening. The last time I bought laminate flooring I bought it at a discount flooring outlet and it cost me $1.25 per square foot. It lasted12 yrs before it started breaking down and some of the corners started chipping from our dining chairs with casters.

This time I didn't spare the pennies and won't ever have to do the job again in my lifetime. It has a lifetime guarantee for residential use and a 20 year warranty for commercial use. It was a bit pricey but worth the money in my estimation. 15 cases at $70 per case. You get what you pay for. The last laminate totaled about $350 and here we are doing the job again 12 yrs later. The cost of the new laminate will be $1,050, minus 10% for using my credit card and 10% veteran's discount. The floor will outlast me and Kathy.

www.homedepot.com/p/Lifeproof-Dusk-Cherry-22-MIL-x-8-7-in-W-x-48-in-L-Click-Lock-Waterproof-Luxury-Vinyl-Plank-Flooring-20-1-sqft-case-I06204LP/311573441

When that job is done we will tackle replacing all the wood trim around the overhead doors on the garage that the termites got into. Treated lumber this time. I already purchased all the lumber for that project.

Between the cost of materials for those two jobs and the $850 we spent on the roof sealing, new door lock, and servicing of the motorhome my wallet is screaming at me but everything will be up snuff, the camper will be ready to use in the spring, and my savings account has all winter to recover. I am sure that spring will bring a whole new batch of projects to do and fund. When you own a home the maintenance costs never end. When you live in a 100 yr old farm house they REALLY never end. LOL

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

You will have a very busy household. Best of luck and enjoy.

[BHU]

Nov 14, 2023 22:37:30 GMT -5 Clipper said:

Kathy's nephew is going to lay down our new kitchen floor while he is here. I went to Home Depot and ordered the flooring this evening. The last time I bought laminate flooring I bought it at a discount flooring outlet and it cost me $1.25 per square foot. It lasted12 yrs before it started breaking down and some of the corners started chipping from our dining chairs with casters.

This time I didn't spare the pennies and won't ever have to do the job again in my lifetime. It has a lifetime guarantee for residential use and a 20 year warranty for commercial use. It was a bit pricey but worth the money in my estimation. 15 cases at $70 per case. You get what you pay for. The last laminate totaled about $350 and here we are doing the job again 12 yrs later. The cost of the new laminate will be $1,050, minus 10% for using my credit card and 10% veteran's discount. The floor will outlast me and Kathy.

www.homedepot.com/p/Lifeproof-Dusk-Cherry-22-MIL-x-8-7-in-W-x-48-in-L-Click-Lock-Waterproof-Luxury-Vinyl-Plank-Flooring-20-1-sqft-case-I06204LP/311573441

When that job is done we will tackle replacing all the wood trim around the overhead doors on the garage that the termites got into. Treated lumber this time. I already purchased all the lumber for that project.

Between the cost of materials for those two jobs and the $850 we spent on the roof sealing, new door lock, and servicing of the motorhome my wallet is screaming at me but everything will be up snuff, the camper will be ready to use in the spring, and my savings account has all winter to recover. I am sure that spring will bring a whole new batch of projects to do and fund. When you own a home the maintenance costs never end. When you live in a 100 yr old farm house they REALLY never end. LOL

Been there, done that. Last summer we had new front steps installed. The ones that were there were concrete, unsightly & cracked on the corners which was a fall/lawsuit hazard if they gave way & someone got hurt. We went with Trex & vinyl railing. I hired a local contractor & materials & labor was $4000. But it was worth it for curb appeal & will certainly outlast me. The contractor was top notch.

Next year it will probably be new gutters.

[Clipper]

We did seamless gutters and leaf guards last year. Worth every penny. No more gutter cleaning for me. Leaves just blow off the leaf guard. Very worthy investment if you have any trees that fill your gutters with leaves.

That Trex is wonderful stuff. My brother had a large deck put on his house last year that was with Trex decking AND rails. It is beautiful and requires no maintenance I guess. We don't have a deck. Our back porch is 5 inches above the ground and we have a cement sidewalk and a paver patio. I don't miss maintaining the 12x20 deck in N. Utica. Pressure washing and treating it with Thomson's Water Seal was a fairly tedious task by the time I pressure washed it, waited for it to dry thoroughly and then applying the water seal. The rail was those pickets placed close together and a pain in the butt to treat with the sealer.

[BHU]

We have a deck that's PTL, it's only 12x20 & the maintenance on that is a pain. Last summer I had to replace a few boards & had to cut them out with a sawzall because the screws were phiilips head, some rotted some with the heads buried in the wood. I thought of tearing it out & going with Trex- until I figured out what the price tag would be. Ouch! I'll have to get some estimates on gutters. it's not something I want to tackle & the stuff they sell in Lowes & HD is crap anyway that won't hold up to winters around here.

I hope you like your new floor.

[Clipper]

If you can, get the seamless gutters. They make them right on site and they can make any length necessary. My sister and brother inlaw had them installed a couple of years ago and there is one piece that goes all the way across their 3 bedroom ranch house with an attached carport. Their house and ours both must have a dry well system or whatever you would call it. The downspouts drop into a 4 inch pipe that sticks out of the ground.

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

Are gutters always necessary. When I lived at a house in Utica the landlord had gutters removed. Two story house. Never caused any problems for me.

[Clipper]

They serve the purpose of keeping water away from the foundation, but they can also be a liability if they plug with leaves or ice. They can cause water to back up under the shingles on the roof and if it is leaves that are the problem it can cause the facia boards to rot. I guess some people actually take them down in winter. Seems like a tedious process to spend the time taking them down and re-installing them in the spring.

[Atticus Pizzaballa]

Clipper did you get everything accomplished?

[Clipper]

Dec 1, 2023 9:10:43 GMT -5 Atticus Pizzaballa said:

Clipper did you get everything accomplished?

Everything but the kitchen floor. We need to jack the floor a bit in that corner of the house before the floor goes down. The house is over 100yrs old and has settled a bit. Jimmy is going to do the floor in January while on his way to Daytona Bike Week The garage door frames and all the other chores went off without a hitch. They brought the fixings for Thanksgiving with them and cooked us a wonderful dinner with more food than an army could eat.

It is wonderful to be able to enter through a personnel door instead of rolling the overhead door up to come and go. The woodstove keeps it toasty now that I don't lose all the heat if I go out or in.

[clarencebunsen]

Is your son a regular at bike week? My daughter has worked there since her college days. The owner of Beaver Bar is a friend of hers. Carrin has cut back on the number of rallies she works now but she has always made great tips selling beer to bikers.

[Clipper]

Jimmy isn't my son. He is Kathy's nephew. He is a retired Utica firefighter. Only my youngest son has a motorcycle and he hasn't been to Daytona bike week in several years.

I bet Carrin DOES make some tips serving beer to bikers. Daytona isn't as wild as Sturgis. They ride and they party, but not as much chaotic drinking in Daytona as there is in Sturgis. Personally I have always thought that motorcycles and drinking don't mix well. I will have to ask Jimmy what they do with their days in Daytona. I imagine that they check out the wide variety of custom bikes, and probably tour the area during the days and hopefully party at night after they have parked the bikes for the day.

[clarencebunsen]

Carrin was also a regular at Sturgis and several of the other big rallies. She has cut back on the number of rallies she does. Travel and long hours take too much of a toll on a person who is approaching 5-0.

[BHU]

I know someone who went to Sturgis a few years ago & never went back after witnessing biker thugs beat to a pulp more then one attendee for seemingly no reason. Not to mention the rampant dope use, drunkeness & outright stupidity & violence of people.

Kinda like you know who's mob attack on J6.

[clarencebunsen]

I guess it depends on time & place. My daughter has worked there and other rallies many times without significant incident. One of my sisters and her husband have attended Sturgis and other rallies without incident. They are 5 years younger than I am but still qualify as aging boomers before any serios drinking or fighting.

Part of Carrin's success is that she is very generous about sharing her tips with the bar-backs. The are the people who haul the kegs and connect them to the taps, clean the glasses and fill them with cold beer. Carrin realizes that she is a team leader and the success depends on team performance. Consequently, the best team players gravitate to her team to earn the highest rewards.