"Hey Dude, what's up?! Days and days of boring blog posts. You lavish yourself with praise and barely mention E! anymore. What's going on?! I'm starting to fall asleep!"
I hear you. Unfortunately not every day can deliver ground breaking news and excitement that will make you slip off the edge of your seat (don't tell me your life is like that, I'd like to hear about it if it is).
Like many of the last few days, today was filled with nitty gritty stuff (cleaning the little bathroom, because I didn't put a tarp down while plastering), running around (picking up the material for the beer hall floor), ordering things (duct work for the beer hall air condition), and painting (E! is painting doors and window sashes like a mad woman).
None of this is exciting, but it has to be done. Bear with us.
Dirk
Friday, May 8, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Yay Me ...
I woke up at 2:20am this morning with a dream about a head-on collision car crash, and didn't fall asleep again for another two hours. In other words, my day was dragging along.
Nevertheless, work had to be done. So I cleared the area around the opening to the beer hall, so that my iron men can do their work. I was tired today, so I forgot to take a picture of the scene, showing what's going to happen. I'll try to remember tomorrow.
The good news was that my plaster material had come in, so I picked it up, and made a mad dash to finish the little bathroom. Yay me! Ok, the bathroom isn't finished yet, but with the plaster all done, I can install the sink and toilet, and wait for Mike to show up to turn on the lights. Once this happens, it will be the first room that can be checked off as completed. Paaaaaaaaartyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy !!!
Dirk
Nevertheless, work had to be done. So I cleared the area around the opening to the beer hall, so that my iron men can do their work. I was tired today, so I forgot to take a picture of the scene, showing what's going to happen. I'll try to remember tomorrow.
The good news was that my plaster material had come in, so I picked it up, and made a mad dash to finish the little bathroom. Yay me! Ok, the bathroom isn't finished yet, but with the plaster all done, I can install the sink and toilet, and wait for Mike to show up to turn on the lights. Once this happens, it will be the first room that can be checked off as completed. Paaaaaaaaartyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy !!!
Dirk
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
All Quiet On The Western Front ...
Our steel boys were here today to take measurements for the next exciting project. They could have squeezed us in for Friday, but I declined. After all I have to prepare for them, and things can get bouncy around here, and I didn't want to get stressed out by having to juggle too many things in too short a time.
Unfortunately my plaster didn't come, well, it did but the bags were torn, so they had to order new ones. Tomorrow. And then it's plaster time again.
Instead I reinstalled two window sashes, which E! had refurbished, and did a few other non-noteworthy things. Some days are just this dull.
Dirk
Unfortunately my plaster didn't come, well, it did but the bags were torn, so they had to order new ones. Tomorrow. And then it's plaster time again.
Instead I reinstalled two window sashes, which E! had refurbished, and did a few other non-noteworthy things. Some days are just this dull.
Dirk
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
One More To Go ...
I decided to plaster the ceiling in the bathroom today, and would have possibly done the last wall, too, had I not run out of material. I put my man Rob at Marjam to work to get me some more, which hopefully gets here by tomorrow. But there is always more to do at Gunk Haus.
I talked to my Iron Man today about another project, which would widen the opening from the bar to the beer hall. They're going to come by tomorrow and measure, and maybe by next week we'll have some heavy metal action again.
E! is very busy refurbishing window sashes and doors, for the bathrooms and the front entrance.
In case you wondered why I haven't posted any more pictures of the plaster in the bathroom, well, it is a small room, and there is no good way to take any reasonable pictures (and you know how a white wall looks like, don't you, Amy).
Dirk
I talked to my Iron Man today about another project, which would widen the opening from the bar to the beer hall. They're going to come by tomorrow and measure, and maybe by next week we'll have some heavy metal action again.
E! is very busy refurbishing window sashes and doors, for the bathrooms and the front entrance.
In case you wondered why I haven't posted any more pictures of the plaster in the bathroom, well, it is a small room, and there is no good way to take any reasonable pictures (and you know how a white wall looks like, don't you, Amy).
Dirk
Monday, May 4, 2009
Who's Your Farmer ...
The Hudson Valley is a breeding ground for small farmers. Subsequently you could expect that many restaurants source locally, instead of buying produce which has been shipped halfway across the country.
The problem is, however, that restaurants and farmers are often unaware of each other. We went to an event today, which intends to change this.
Dutchess County Bounty is an organization, which tries to connect farmers and chefs. Today's event was a sort of speed dating, where restaurant chefs would sit at a table, and every few minutes the farmers would change tables. In those few minutes farmers and restaurants would exchange information about needs and offers.
It was a fun event, and we met some very interesting farmers. We took along our neighbor Billiam of Liberty View Farms, who is very involved organizing local farmers, too. While driving to the event we talked a lot about how to better connect farmers and consumers. Billiam has some great ideas, and we hope they work out.
As the event took up all morning, I only managed to get one more wall plastered, but I have to come to love borax as retarder, it works great.
Dirk
The problem is, however, that restaurants and farmers are often unaware of each other. We went to an event today, which intends to change this.
Dutchess County Bounty is an organization, which tries to connect farmers and chefs. Today's event was a sort of speed dating, where restaurant chefs would sit at a table, and every few minutes the farmers would change tables. In those few minutes farmers and restaurants would exchange information about needs and offers.
It was a fun event, and we met some very interesting farmers. We took along our neighbor Billiam of Liberty View Farms, who is very involved organizing local farmers, too. While driving to the event we talked a lot about how to better connect farmers and consumers. Billiam has some great ideas, and we hope they work out.
As the event took up all morning, I only managed to get one more wall plastered, but I have to come to love borax as retarder, it works great.
Dirk
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Retarded ...
As I told you yesterday, I had problems with the plaster setting too fast, which prevented me from smooth troweling it for a nicer look (did anybody ever mention to you that I have the tendency to perfectionism).
I knew there are retarder products out there, made by the same people who make the plaster, which prevent the plaster from setting prematurely. So I get on the phone and call my usual sources. All but one gave me the acoustical equivalent of a jaw drop, which I am so accustomed to by now (am I really asking for things way off the charts, maybe it is me).
Fortunately, there is the interweb, which knows it all. So I punch in "gypsum retarder", and off it goes looking, searching, foraging, finding, like a three page paper by the Air Force Medical Division. Amongst other things it says there that colloids, like blood and saliva, retard gypsum.
Gosh, those materials are available in abundance, and free!!! So I grab my mixing bucket and start spitting into it. That lasted all but two minutes, when I ran out of spit. I tried hard, but aside from a few drops I just couldn't spit anymore. I had collected a meager amount of spit, but how much coverage would I get out of it, and should I risk starting a wall, not knowing if my supply of saliva had replenished by the time I ran out of plaster?
Naturally I had to find something else. The military had mentioned blood, which may be abundant for someone in the military, but all I had were my five precious quarts of blood circling my body, and although the thought of slitting my wrist had crossed my mind, I would have most likely fainted before I could mix, not even speaking of applying, the plaster. And what if I ran out of plaster, would I have to turn into a vampire, and turn innocent by-walkers into Gunk Haus wall coverings?
Fortunately I have a wife, no not for the blood. She also is an avid interwebber, and found out that tartaric acid will retard gypsum as well. I am sure all of you have tartaric acid handy for such occasion, that is if you were interested in making cheese, quark, yogurt, and various other milk based products. Well, we are those kind of people, and off I went to give it a try (no animals, wifes, and innocent bystanders were harmed in the making of this plaster).
The result was ok, but I guess I just didn't add enough tartaric acid, largely because I didn't know how much to add, and because we don't have that much in the first place. Back to the interwebs. And there it was: Borax!!! Yes, you heard, borax, the stuff that makes your cloths clean. Off to the next supermarket, $2.69 per pound, now that is what I call a bargain retarder.
My first experiment was ok, but I am certain I need to add more borax (hey, those walls better shine). Tomorrow. Wait for it ...
Dirk
I knew there are retarder products out there, made by the same people who make the plaster, which prevent the plaster from setting prematurely. So I get on the phone and call my usual sources. All but one gave me the acoustical equivalent of a jaw drop, which I am so accustomed to by now (am I really asking for things way off the charts, maybe it is me).
Fortunately, there is the interweb, which knows it all. So I punch in "gypsum retarder", and off it goes looking, searching, foraging, finding, like a three page paper by the Air Force Medical Division. Amongst other things it says there that colloids, like blood and saliva, retard gypsum.
Gosh, those materials are available in abundance, and free!!! So I grab my mixing bucket and start spitting into it. That lasted all but two minutes, when I ran out of spit. I tried hard, but aside from a few drops I just couldn't spit anymore. I had collected a meager amount of spit, but how much coverage would I get out of it, and should I risk starting a wall, not knowing if my supply of saliva had replenished by the time I ran out of plaster?
Naturally I had to find something else. The military had mentioned blood, which may be abundant for someone in the military, but all I had were my five precious quarts of blood circling my body, and although the thought of slitting my wrist had crossed my mind, I would have most likely fainted before I could mix, not even speaking of applying, the plaster. And what if I ran out of plaster, would I have to turn into a vampire, and turn innocent by-walkers into Gunk Haus wall coverings?
Fortunately I have a wife, no not for the blood. She also is an avid interwebber, and found out that tartaric acid will retard gypsum as well. I am sure all of you have tartaric acid handy for such occasion, that is if you were interested in making cheese, quark, yogurt, and various other milk based products. Well, we are those kind of people, and off I went to give it a try (no animals, wifes, and innocent bystanders were harmed in the making of this plaster).
The result was ok, but I guess I just didn't add enough tartaric acid, largely because I didn't know how much to add, and because we don't have that much in the first place. Back to the interwebs. And there it was: Borax!!! Yes, you heard, borax, the stuff that makes your cloths clean. Off to the next supermarket, $2.69 per pound, now that is what I call a bargain retarder.
My first experiment was ok, but I am certain I need to add more borax (hey, those walls better shine). Tomorrow. Wait for it ...
Dirk
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Plastered Up ...
It was supposed to be yesterday, but it didn't happen until today (we were running errands yesterday), my first attempt in plastering.
For sifting the lime and finish plaster I built a tami from an old bucket and window screen. I melted the screen straight onto the bucket with a blow torch (don't breath the fumes).
And off we go mixing the plaster (in case you're looking for a Christmas present for me, how about t-shirts without holes in the shoulders).
Slap the plaster on the wall, smooth trowel, and ...
... beautiful.
Now, I make it sound like it's easy, but rest assured, I was flirting with a martini night. First I didn't make enough plaster, so halfway through the wall I ran out of mud. The big problem is that the plaster started setting too fast, so I had to rush to mix the second batch, slap it on, and still manage to smooth trowel the first batch.
This worked out alright on the first wall (I picked a small wall as my first attempt for a good reason, aside from that it is also in the bathroom that never sees sunlight, and is therefore more forgiving). On the second wall, I totally failed, ok, not totally, but I made a crucial mistake in my math.
Having learned from the first wall, I wanted to make a larger batch, but I didn't think straight and actually made it smaller, yet I added the right amount of tint for the larger batch. Now the wall looked a lot more yellow, I ran out of mud earlier, had to mix more, messed up more math, ran out of mud again, had to mix even more, ran out again just shy of the top of the wall. By that time, the first batch had set too much already to smooth trowel it.
Not a biggy, I'll just plaster over it, and get it over with, but as you can see, not a fun day, though I ended up not being too stressed out, hence no martini, just a beer, or two.
Dirk
For sifting the lime and finish plaster I built a tami from an old bucket and window screen. I melted the screen straight onto the bucket with a blow torch (don't breath the fumes).
And off we go mixing the plaster (in case you're looking for a Christmas present for me, how about t-shirts without holes in the shoulders).
Slap the plaster on the wall, smooth trowel, and ...
... beautiful.
Now, I make it sound like it's easy, but rest assured, I was flirting with a martini night. First I didn't make enough plaster, so halfway through the wall I ran out of mud. The big problem is that the plaster started setting too fast, so I had to rush to mix the second batch, slap it on, and still manage to smooth trowel the first batch.
This worked out alright on the first wall (I picked a small wall as my first attempt for a good reason, aside from that it is also in the bathroom that never sees sunlight, and is therefore more forgiving). On the second wall, I totally failed, ok, not totally, but I made a crucial mistake in my math.
Having learned from the first wall, I wanted to make a larger batch, but I didn't think straight and actually made it smaller, yet I added the right amount of tint for the larger batch. Now the wall looked a lot more yellow, I ran out of mud earlier, had to mix more, messed up more math, ran out of mud again, had to mix even more, ran out again just shy of the top of the wall. By that time, the first batch had set too much already to smooth trowel it.
Not a biggy, I'll just plaster over it, and get it over with, but as you can see, not a fun day, though I ended up not being too stressed out, hence no martini, just a beer, or two.
Dirk
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)