Why Is Everything Wrong With Bathroom Construction.

[Pat_B]

Once started, do you need to use the entire can, or can you stop, clean the gun and put the can on the shelf for another day?

When I built my shop last year, I think I was able to go for a couple of days without having to clean out the nozzle. The solvent can that hooks up to the nozzle works really well. All in all, there was really no mess with this stuff, but I wasn't using the gap filling version for my new build and that stuff was really economical.

 

[TopRamen]

Looks pretty cool. Once started, do you need to use the entire can, or can you stop, clean the gun and put the can on the shelf for another day?

You are supposed to leave the can hooks up to the dispenser til' it is empty, but you can just spray a little cleaner on the dispensing tip to clear away any little mess, then store the gun and can til' you need it again.
Some of the folks that have done reviews of foam guns and associated products have store the gun/can for as much as six months then taken it out and started using it again with no issues save for a slightly hard trigger pull til' the foam gets running.
That is why it is important to get a gun with a metal trigger. I read every review for every gun before getting the two I got.
the Chinese on obviously has "Bot Reviews", but for 14.99 it was worth the risk, and as I mentioned, it is actually quite functional, especially with the Teflon thread tape on the barrel to make it easy to clean. Today I will use the Foam N' Seal FNS 500, which is entirely Teflon coated and also all metal. I did not want to start with it since other than watching folks use them in videos and reading the instructions, I really had no idea what to be careful of. I would hate to buy a nice tool and then ruin it with my lack of experience and a beginners mistake.

One thing I would like to add that I don't see mentioned often enough is that when ever you are going to put the gun down, make sure you turn the control knob at the back of the gun to the fully closed position. This is especially critical when the cleaner is attached, as that stuff is akin to break parts cleaner/methylene chloride, and the can is pressurized quite well too. It would really suck to inadvertantly have a blast of that going onto anyone or anything that you don't want it on.
matter of fact, I'm going to save the cleaner can for screwing on to the gun to clean the insides, and try just using break parts cleaner to get any messes off the tip, rather than waste it cleaning the tip every time I turn the gun off and set it down.
The solvent only works on the uncured foam, so it is good to keep the tip clean so that when you start again you don't get a messy bead.

 

[TopRamen]

I've been following this Fun with Foam adventure with interest and hope that when TR finally TopRamen runs out of foam his efforts will not have been in vain.

Whenever I think of foam I remember this scene from the 1955 film, Mr. Roberts. [video=youtube;mCK6DqbCJMQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCK6DqbCJMQ[/video]

Mercury Fulminate is incredibly sensitive to even the slightest vibrations, and detonates violently with incredible velocity!
The guy that taught me about fireworks used to make it in his high school days, and paste it into the treads of folks shoes that they left in their lockers, in tiny quantities ofcourse.
It would never be safe to handle to make a "Firecracker" like in the video clip.

Anyhow, enough of that.

I'm glad you are still enjoying the adventure!

I have to take my Son to the Barber to get a trim and swing by the lumber place to get another can of foam, so I can't really get started working til' that is all done, but I will report back about the state of affairs in the loft later tonight once that mess of pink fiberglass hell is taken care of.

 

[TopRamen]

And thus concludes my adventures.
This house was marketed with one of the selling points being that it had a "new roof". Sistering good wood to rotted moldy wood does not make the roof new, it makes it worse.
I guess trying to sell it with a "Prettied up to look new, but already full of old wood and mold damage" would not move it as quickly.
That's it for this thread, and on Monday I'll call the Lawyer that was recommended to me, and since it would probably be in my best interests to not talk anymore about it or the things I found in the roof, I'll just have to leave it at that.
Sorry this build thread could not continue, but it's not even safe to go up there due to some of the other "Items" I found hidden in the ceiling/roof.
I was taking pics' and would love to post them, but it would be pointless, and possibly hurt my chances at any successful litigation, so I need to talk to a Lawyer before I do anything else.
If no suits can be had for some reason, I'll have no choice now but to demolish the entire house and start from scratch, which I cannot afford, meaning it will be a whole Winter worth of "Winter Camping Thread", which is something I used to do on the Survivalist sites, and not very well suited to a rocketry forum. Needless to say, you can't build rockets in a snow cave or tent.
Anyhow, as far as this thread goes, it is now officially closed to me, and I will go back to building rockets.
The loft has been sealed off, so I will never be going up there EVER again. I have lots of pictures, but those are for the Lawyer, not displaying on the internet.

Now where the heck did I put that Big Daddy I was Carbon Fibering, and oh look, my 4" Martel still needs one more fin......

Glad I did not waste any more foam!!!! I will have to start a foam gun thread now too!!!


Oh, and thanks again to everyone that was supportive of my efforts and helpful by sharing their knowledge.
I did learn a ton of great stuff, and that will always be greatly appreciated.

 

[tmacklin]

Top, I hope you find a good lawyer and are able to get some financial relief. I also want to thank you for all your research into various uses of expanding foam in construction, particularly as it applies in lifting concrete slabs on grade which have settled over time. Years ago, the PBS program This Old House had an episode where they used foam injection to lift a patio slab that had settled causing rain water to pond against the house. I have a similar problem with my garage/shop building in which the slab has settled and your video link has re-ignited my interest in this technique as a solution.

Thanks and good luck.

 

[TopRamen]

Glad to hear you got something out of it!

The build thread might resume, as last week I called every lawyer that was recommended by each lawyer that I called, and while a few did not return my calls, the ones that were nice enough to talk with me for 10-15 minutes said that although there are statute of limitations of 6 years, since some things were lied about on the MLS listing and sellers report, and hidden, I still had a case.
The thing was, none of them had time for any more "Contingency Cases", and as I'm poor, that I'de have to find a newb lawyer with not much going on and a "Fire in his or her Belly".
I could not take the standing around waiting for someone to do something for me, and knew that it was likely a waste of my time, so leaving my actionable proof of wrong doing sealed up for now, as suggested by one of the more intelligent guys I spoke with, I did dig out the front side of the house, found a drain pipe with no gravel, but a Hills Bros. Coffee can on it to keep soil out, and redesigned and fabricated a new sill plate for the bathroom section to close up that area where the only thing supporting the building was the floor and joists. That came out a lot nicer than my concrete work, which required an additional 40lb. bag to fill in voids where the pour met the form, but that was more of cosmetic import, as the original structure was sound, even though it was not square or level.
the secondary pour allowed me to begin creating a proper grade which is nice, because now the geometry of the rock face meeting the foundation shows that a drain pipe or two can be positioned in an angle that will lead water out past the rear of the structure.
I have 120lbs. of mortar, and have been amassing my forces of white granite obelisks and other items such as rebar for a retaining wall immediately adjacent the foundation, and the retaining wall that will be up on the rock face to keep water and soil from making it that far in the first place.
Oh, and there's this rubber roof sealer that you wet out into fiberglass tape to seal things, and I used hot glue with 2oz. cloth to repair a tube of liquid nails that I dropped prior to opening, bending the spout out of it's crimp, and.....

Anyhow, I feel much better just knocking these things out rather than standing around waiting for callbacks to explain my story for the umpteenth time. Unless I found a real life "Better Call Saul", I'm only doing an injustice to myself and stripping myself of my dignity by expecting it to be handled in a timely fashion through legal channels.
Has a wrong be done, it looks that way, but the only one that I know can right it now is me, and I cannot for the sake of my sanity and health just stop, and let the world, or in this case my house, just crumble around me.
Any legal recourse I have is only relevant to what I found in the ceiling of the loft, and so that will stay sealed up like I left it, and it's game on with the rest of my home repairs.
I'm still designing my new home in my head, since come next spring I'm going to try to get enough lumber to simply be able to demo this entire building and start from scratch.
It's a "Camp" now apparently, so I asked, and "Code" does not apply. I'll have to get my tax status changed, but neither my mortgage company nor the VA Home Loan Guaranty Program seem to care, so I'll have that fiberglass/foam forever home that I so covet!!!
It can be as wacky as I like, and I think I'll build a tower, like the kooky house a couple of miles down the road.
This guy has a bunch of welded steel "Structures" in his yard, and a small tower at the edge of his driveway.
He climbs up into it every weekday morning to shake his fists at the school bus as it drive by and shout obscenities at the kids.
Apparently this is normal behavior, as he has done this for years now, and it is just a well known thing, though I only became apprised of it a couple of years ago.
I don't want to shake my fists at folks, but a tower is cool, and one made of rebar, fiberglass and foam is super cool.:wink:
Anyhow, it's rain here on and off for the next couple of days, but the sill plate design is something that I'm proud of, as I used two 4x4 pressure treated deck posts, meant to be buried in the ground, side by side and glued and clamped together with deck and sub floor adhesive, before screwing them together and adding a 2x6 atop with more adhesive, clamps and screws. The item resulting was of incredible rigidity, and rubber flexible sealant was then applied to all exterior surfaces, even though this will never see direct exposure to water or soil again.
All join lines were taped with FG wall repair tape prior to assembly/adhesive app.
I'de verse my Sill plate against the elements anyday, especially compared to what I had before.
Anyhow, time for more coffee and aspirin.

 

[TopRamen]

Oh, yeah, and last week, on Wednesday, the battery in my vehicle quit, and while atleast my roadside assistance was able to get it to the place that I bought the protection plan from, it turned out to be just the battery, and that's just a routine occasionally replaced item, so I would be going nowhere but home after a booster pac start.
I weaseled a deal together to get a new one on Monday, but that's if it will start just one more time to get there.
Anyhow, after that kick in the teeth, I just had to start working on stuff again or I was going to have to consider being depressed or something, and since I could not bring myself to sink to that level, work resumed.
It's bad enough to be physically in bad shape, but there's no way in hell I'm going to let my mental state become compromised.

 

[cavecentral]

I got a good laugh from the fist shaking guy. I was going to say have him weld some rebar structure you can apply sheets if cloth / foam / whatever to, but he sounds a little too dicey.

I've see the coffee can thing before. Not on a drain, but in the chimney of an old farm house in our family.

 

[TopRamen]

I got a good laugh from the fist shaking guy. I was going to say have him weld some rebar structure you can apply sheets if cloth / foam / whatever to, but he sounds a little too dicey.

I've see the coffee can thing before. Not on a drain, but in the chimney of an old farm house in our family.

Yeah, that guy's nuts. I've got a friend that is a real welder, but I don't see him much because he is usually out of state working on stuff in Boston or NYC. I definitely need to catch up with him to ask his input on some of my kooky ideas.
I have experimented with sprinkling sand onto the expanding foam as it comes out, and the resulting material is a very hard plastic, almost rock like thing. I got that Idea from the few times I did not bother to clean out a spot where I was going to apply foam, then got a mess on the nozzle that was a material I'd gladly build stuff from, as it certainly resisted my efforts to remove it with great strength. As I mentioned earlier too, shooting foam through metal and fiberglass mesh like window screen and wall repair tape forms items that are incredibly resilient as well.

I was actually surprised that the coffee can had held up as well as it did, being buried since at least sometime before I lived here, beginning 9 years ago come the 21st of this month. I think I have a picture of the can.

I did'nt have one, but it took me all of one minute to go find the can ontop of the debris and bring it back to the spot where it served to get a pic.

There's about 8" between the pipe and the blocks that make the crawlspace. The can was tight against the muzzle of the pvc pipe, and I doubt it did much good, as there was no gravel or anything. It was essentially sealed up by the coffee can.
I need to uncover the rest of this pipe, as it will be interesting top see where it goes. I already have my own thoughts about how to do the drainage, but they will be contingent on the placement of my septic system and any previously laid pipes. I'm hoping to be abole to re-use some of what I find, but place it properly with gravel, and at the correct grade/angles to be effective.





The buried folded up plastic sheet was just that, a piece of plastic sheet, folded, then buried, seemingly with no purpose, as it was not over/under the pipe or up against the foundation.

 

[TopRamen]

Cold and rainy today, so I spent the day doing a complete disassembly and cleaning of the bandsaw, but for mmy dogs after supper walk, I decided we'd go into town rather than the park or over to my Mom's place.
I had noticed earlier in the day that the construction on the towns little Library had gotten into the blue foam paneling phase, so I wanted to recon the dumpster for any usable scraps.
I'm glad I did, as there were these four chunks, so after our walk I drove over and grabbed them for my bathroom walls. It's such a pain in the ass having to hot glue the smaller pieces into panels, and even then I have to triple them up, so it takes a lot of hot glue and time. They will be a big help, and they are the 2" stuff with an R value of 10. The last time I went to get the free foam at my buddies work, someone had gone and snatched it up before I got there, so I'm almost out of blue rigid foam. These chunks are a real treat!

 

[TopRamen]

Today my friend showed up with two bags of foam tiles!
He said that from now on he'll just bring it by so that no one snatches it before I get there.
Very cool of him, and just in time too, as I was getting low on foam tiles.



I atleast got the back wall up, save for that section that was entirely lost to rot. That's just the tub/shower section, which is already a solid fiberglass structure, so I will simply tile it to take up the space and provide some insulation from the cold til' I can get more wood to recreate the missing section of framing. The area is not going anywhere, as it is plenty solid and supported from underneath, while not weighing very much at all.
The tub is never filled with water, and I am fairly thin, so the thing can just be all foam and fiberglass as far as I need to be concerned.

I had lots of other projects going on today, so I did'nt even go back there other than to show my friend my progress when he stopped by.
I finished a knife that I'de been working on for a month now, built my .50 caliber blow dart gun, and got the clear coat on my bandsaw, which is going to look awesome. I glassed the wheel covers with their first inside layer that was done conventionally vs. with JB Weld. Glassing them will allow me to finish them nicely enough to be able to create a mold from one of them.

 

[TopRamen]

Hey, looks like it's already a thing to make foam domes in Japan.


[video=youtube;7-wCS_Srs-o]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-wCS_Srs-o[/video]

 

[cavecentral]

Started as Hobbit homes. Then to Twinkie looking buildings, packs of Twinkies, and finally something like Legos.

 

[rharshberger]

Started as Hobbit homes. Then to Twinkie looking buildings, packs of Twinkies, and finally something like Legos.

Hobbit'sss nasty Hobbit'sss....

 

[cavecentral]

Hobbit'sss nasty Hobbit'sss....

Wondering how the got to Japan from New Zealand?

 

[TopRamen]

I have just invented a "Thing" for the foam dispensing guns that if I can make it MY thing, would result in a real improvement to the entire industry, but I can't talk about it until I find out if it already exists or if it was thought of before.
It makes a world of difference in being able to control and operate the things at maximum efficiency, and I stretched a single can around the entire house today, and have yet to see that kind of coverage in anyone's Youtube videos, so I think I'm really onto something.
The sad part is, by the time I can afford a patent lawyer or someone to see if my Idea can get a Paptent, someone else will likely figure it out.
Oh well, in the meantime I'll be saving even more money foaming stuff, so it benefits me.

That foam wall is going right down to the bedrock, and then we will use the black foam which is made to divert water or be used in artificial waterfalls and water features.
first another stone layer will be mortared into position against the foundation. That hopefully gets done soon, but at least things are mostly insulated now save for the spot on the roof.



Aww crumbs, I did'nt take a pic' of the front. Tomorrow I'll get one.

Thanks foam.

 

[TopRamen]

Oh, and yeah, that corner that was rotten away to the point that it was removed without tools was basically non-existant as far as structural support, so replacing it entirely with foam and FG Tape is proving to be an enjoyable and economical experience.



I may have to find out how to call in an Airstrike on it to demolish it in the spring, but I think that fire and a rented machine should be able to push it aside.
The only insurance on this house right now is nothing, so until my mortgager finds and issues a policy that only covers the structure, which is now worthless, it is basically dust in the wind, save for the fact that I have over built the crap out of the bathroom portion. Hopefully that is worth the price of some lumber and a toilet incese there is an accident befor I can afford to demolish it on purpose after placing my belongings someplace safe. I certainly do have a lot of really great stuff, and my Animals to take care of, so I can't let the place be destroyed until I can personally afford to rebuild, so that in itself is a DIY challenge that I will conquer. My plans for the new place seem to have merit, and since I don't have to build to code since this is the first VA Gauranteed Loan Approved "Camp Purchase", I can have Carte Blanche when it comes to materials and tech.
%^&* the rest of the building industry, and the need for roofers and plumbers and tradesman, whom after thousands of years cannot ebven build a &%$^&** House that qualifies as a house unless someone convinces someone that it does.
It will be pretty awesome to have that tower I've always dreamed of.
Each of the building materials on my list last thousands of years in landfills, so they will do just fine if I maintain them properly. There will be no "Baby Play-Dough-Mess" in my house.
Months of research has revealed to me EXACTLY WHAT IS WRONG WITH ALL CONSTRUCTION!!!
1: People die and don't care what they leave behind.
2: Folks who have jobs in construction would like to still have jobs in construction, or be able to think that teaching their children to do the same job will result in their children having a job someday.

It should make everyone angry, but it doesn't, as a lot of you are also plumbers or craftsman of some sort, and so you are happy that things are made to degrade, as it keeps you employed.
I was happy that people were made to die when I was in the Army, and would earn more on a deployment as an E-2 than my O-1 stateside per month, but that did not make it right.
It's just the way it is, but it no longer has to be that way for me thanks to the tech that I will take advantage of, and when I create the great things that I will, others will abandon the normal and seek their own foam, fiberglass and steel haven. Even the tradesman, who toils but always complains. I like hard work, but I also like the "Work Smarter, Not Harder" Philosophy that I learned way back.

 

[Pat_B]

Just a thought- if you used full sheets of foam board then you could save big time on labor and the expense of all that foam, and you could minimize all of those gaps.

Are your sure that your foam is UV protected? Some foam loses its properties only after a day or so of UV exposure, and rodents can chew through it quite easily too. I think I'd spend more time on a few solid sheets of plywood to minimize the gaps in your wall, and with proper siding of some sort, you would barely need any foam.

House wrap is pretty cheap and goes a long way to protecting your plywood. It can keep any water from getting to the wood itself. You don't want water to run down your wood and stop when it hits any foam that is sticking out- then penetrate into your wall cavity.

 

[AlphaHybrids]

If you have well water from a deep well, the water temperature can be cold, below 50F much of the year. If you have humid weather and do not have air conditioning to remove the humidity for the interior of your house, the cold water in the toilet tank will dehumidify the air in the bathroom by condensing the moisture our of the air. When I was young in the dark ages, we had a fabric toilet tank cover that prevented condensation on the toilet tank in the summer time.

They are still available today.......

Don't remind me. I remember these from my youth. And the horrible task of cleaning them when you got the stomach virus and couldn't quite make it in time...

Edward

 

[TopRamen]

Just a thought- if you used full sheets of foam board then you could save big time on labor and the expense of all that foam, and you could minimize all of those gaps.

Are your sure that your foam is UV protected? Some foam loses its properties only after a day or so of UV exposure, and rodents can chew through it quite easily too. I think I'd spend more time on a few solid sheets of plywood to minimize the gaps in your wall, and with proper siding of some sort, you would barely need any foam.



House wrap is pretty cheap and goes a long way to protecting your plywood. It can keep any water from getting to the wood itself. You don't want water to run down your wood and stop when it hits any foam that is sticking out- then penetrate into your wall cavity.

I ran out of money to spend on things like ply wood and full sheets of foam. That foam was free, and it only took less than a full 29oz. can of Handi Foam in the gun to seal the gaps.
No, the foam is not UV protected, and needs either painted or covered, so for now it's just under the plastic sheet again, but I will cover it today with some landscape fabric that I got for free, then get some house wrap when I can afford some.
As far as longevity goes, I'm going to demolish the entire structure in the spring and just create an entirely steel and foam house that will be ridiculous looking. I gave up on this place after discovering all the rotten wood and other things in the roof.
It just is what it is, and as a "Camp", building codes don't apply, so don't even go there.
Someday I'll figure out a way to get enough money squirreled away to be able to move to a real home, but I got scammed into buying this one, and waited too long to do anything about it legally. The real estate statute of limitations does not apply because the sellers lied on the sellers report about the stuff in the ceiling, but without money for a Lawyer, I'm S.O.L., as every Lawyer within 100 miles is "To busy to take any more "Contigency" cases. Some of them were genuinely interested, but simply could not do it.

Nope, it will be spray foam everything from here on out, and in the spring I'll go around scrounging up enough rebar to build a frame, and that will get walls of the foam sheets that I'll have to buy, and those will get covered in chicken wire and then concrete.
It will likely be a dome shaped thing.

The worst part of it all is that when I was using my VA Guaranty Loan Certificate to buy this place, there was a really great camp for sale that was much nicer, and I would have really preferred to buy that, but you can't buy a "Camp" with your VA Certificate.

 

[TopRamen]

You all had me worried about my precious foam, and even though it has been exposed for months on other parts of the house with minimal shrinkage, so I went a spent the last couple of hours and a few cans of spraypaint and primer painting it.
I could have just covered it, but what the heck, now I don't have to worry about that, although I'll go cover it anyhow tomorrow.
It is really nice weather today, so if I was ever going to have a chance to paint it, it would have to happen right then, so it's done now.
White primer, then some black and green and then some grey primer.
I was going to use the mold killing primer so as not to waste my sprays, but that would have taken forever to brush on by hand, but I had already gotten it out and started, so I went inside and applied another coat to the bathroom ceiling and wall above the shower. That looks nice now, as the first two coats were rough and had roller marks and the like showing, and I had to get in the corners again.

I'm done for the day now, as I was already in rough shape from foaming everything yesterday.

 

[boatgeek]

I got a good laugh from the fist shaking guy. I was going to say have him weld some rebar structure you can apply sheets if cloth / foam / whatever to, but he sounds a little too dicey.

I've see the coffee can thing before. Not on a drain, but in the chimney of an old farm house in our family.

Way back in the day, my structures professor said never to weld rebar for structural purposes. It apparently has too much [mumble mumble, wish I'd paid attention better...] in it to weld well, and tends to develop cracks. That said, cracked welds sound like the least of your problems here! Good luck!

Incidentally, a rebar break in a single rod caused by a failed weld nearly took down the waterfront viaduct here in Seattle in the last earthquake (2001). Because of that, we're getting a $2 billion waterfront tunnel.

 

[cavecentral]

Way back in the day, my structures professor said never to weld rebar for structural purposes. It apparently has too much [mumble mumble, wish I'd paid attention better...] in it to weld well, and tends to develop cracks. That said, cracked welds sound like the least of your problems here! Good luck!

Incidentally, a rebar break in a single rod caused by a failed weld nearly took down the waterfront viaduct here in Seattle in the last earthquake (2001). Because of that, we're getting a $2 billion waterfront tunnel.

Yeah. My external garage is 6x6 posts (I'm sure 4x4 would work well in most cases). We made some pavilions with telephone pole posts. I can see the rebar as a support structure (maybe with some cyclone fence) to form a foam matrix wall. Not sure that would be cheaper than plywood though unless he has a source of cheap / free materials to work with.

I'd hate to have to do this type of work to try to make my home livable, but some of the things do sound fun in a building a fort / tree house kind of way.

 

[TopRamen]

Way back in the day, my structures professor said never to weld rebar for structural purposes. It apparently has too much [mumble mumble, wish I'd paid attention better...] in it to weld well, and tends to develop cracks. That said, cracked welds sound like the least of your problems here! Good luck!

Incidentally, a rebar break in a single rod caused by a failed weld nearly took down the waterfront viaduct here in Seattle in the last earthquake (2001). Because of that, we're getting a $2 billion waterfront tunnel.

Thanks for the info.
I've not begun to research it yet, but that sound like a valid argument for not welding it. I'm sure a suitable bracketing system can be devised, or it could be tied like when you tie it for foundations, then just use a whole lot of extra wire to tie it.
We'll see what things look like in the spring I suppose.
The house is already going to be a whole lot warmer and require less electricity to heat. I built the ducting system that I wished I'de had last year to direct the space heater into, and the couple of nights so far that I've had to turn it on, it heats up nicely, then the heater shuts off because the house actually reaches the temp that it is set for. I'm going to add another 16' section of aluminum ducting that will go through the kitchen to heat the back half of the house, and then I should be all set.
I found another stack of insulation pieces that I had set down in one of my sheds, and there was still some foam in the foam gun, so I was able to complete that back section, but will let the foam cure overnight before spraying any paint on it. I mist whatever I'm foaming, then foam it, then mist again, so as to not end up with an uncured foam nightmare.
I thought I was done for the day til' I found that extra foam, and there were enough pieces to do one of the second layers between some of two of the studs on the inside of the bathroom, and I hope my buddy brings more foam panels soon. I'll end up with about 10 inches of rigid blue foam between me and the outdoors when it is all said and done, and what I can foam into place do to the coming colder temps will be held fast with aluminum foil metal repair tape, so it won't let any air pass through it. I should be able to consider the bathroom section insulated as well as it can be when I'm done, and it will be a thousand times better than the wet, moldy, sagging pink insulation that was not even placed or cut properly in the first place. No more ice forming on the inside wall of the house this year!

 

[TopRamen]

I hate to even discuss it, but when my eldery diabetic Dog and best friend passes, I will have an additional 3-500 dollars per month which could go to fixing my house as opposed to Vet bills, but my Dog is my world, and has never let me down, and if she is happy I'm happy, so until she seems to be losing "Quality of life" or comes up with something that causes pain that cannot be remedied, having her put down will not happen yet.
She's actually doing quite well now, and Vet bills last month were only $340, and that included the Cats flea treatment.
That said, yeah, 3-500 bucks gets a decent amount of lumber and foam one piece sheets. It's not like I piss my money away on crap, and I did even get rid of my TV and cable which is AWESOME!!!
I don't mind spending a little here and there on things I love, like my animals and my tools that I need anyhow to make things for the house, but someday it will be nice to get back to just building and messing around with rockets for the better part of the day.

 

[cavecentral]

I hate to even discuss it, but when my eldery diabetic Dog and best friend passes, I will have an additional 3-500 dollars per month which could go to fixing my house as opposed to Vet bills, but my Dog is my world, and has never let me down, and if she is happy I'm happy, so until she seems to be losing "Quality of life" or comes up with something that causes pain that cannot be remedied, having her put down will not happen yet.
She's actually doing quite well now, and Vet bills last month were only $340, and that included the Cats flea treatment.
That said, yeah, 3-500 bucks gets a decent amount of lumber and foam one piece sheets. It's not like I piss my money away on crap, and I did even get rid of my TV and cable which is AWESOME!!!
I don't mind spending a little here and there on things I love, like my animals and my tools that I need anyhow to make things for the house, but someday it will be nice to get back to just building and messing around with rockets for the better part of the day.

That's a tough trade off that you don't want to rush. If indeed you plan to demo / rebuild in the Spring, it wouldn't help much now anyways other than to save up for the rebuild.

 

[TopRamen]

That's a tough trade off that you don't want to rush. If indeed you plan to demo / rebuild in the Spring, it wouldn't help much now anyways other than to save up for the rebuild.

Yup. Sometimes things are just fine the way they are, even when they suck, so you just learn to love the suck.
We all choose our own path and make our own mistakes, but not all of us deal with it from the same perspective, so it's not our place to judge, only to learn. I may be in a learning phase right now, but darn it, I'm learnin' whole bunch of stuff, and when I can put it to use in a proper fashion, look out word, I'm comin' through!
I won't sit around and blame anyone for my mistakes, I'll just do as I always do, and try to learn from them.
Opportunities and stuff still present themselves, though rarely, and I remain optimistic even in the deepest pile of it, surrounded by the things that life chooses not to honor, so I am pretty sure that I'll be just fine eventually.
It's just "things that happen in life", and I've seen some "Things that should not happen in life", so the whole house thing sucks but really can't even get close to bringing me down.
What sometimes brings me down a little bit is when my Mom in her infinite wisdom tells her acquaintances about my situation, as it is nobodies business whether or not my house is a house or a camp, or if I choose to camp only in the Winter in Snow Caves.
Many of the folks I net in Iraq had lost there roofs during the first Gulf War, as a result of their proximity to the blast zone of weapons that were only talked about here in the USA during out second invasion.
They just said, "Inshallah", meaning, it was Gods Will, or perhaps they were lazy, and fixing the roof was a challenge for them, as they had inherited it and had no idea how it could be reconstructed. I now understand that, but thanks to youtube and foam, I'm not going to be those sad folks.
I'll "have walls". I'll "have roof".

That is MY will.

 

[TopRamen]

That's a tough trade off that you don't want to rush. If indeed you plan to demo / rebuild in the Spring, it wouldn't help much now anyways other than to save up for the rebuild.

I've had to put animals down before, but I've done it myself, and it reminds me of the most distasteful parts of my life, and so from now on the Vet will have to do the thing. My Humanity and desire to only treat as kindly as possible was not born from nowhere, but I am so battered and broken around the edges that I would not risk my mental state in the event that I have to euthanize one of my Animals.
I don't know what I would do to be quite honest, as my last Cat that died, I thought that she had bitten a telephone wire, and been electrocuted, so I tried to revive her with my version of Cat CPR, and when that did not work, I shaved her sides, applied my saliva and stuck my TENS Unit Electrodes on her, since they were conveniently already with me.
She had died on the spot from "Cardiomyopathy" But I don't let things die on the spot if I can try to help it.

I always act, and never sit there looking at the situation, and it is not really anything to be proud of, but it's what I do.
Mistakes are fairly commonplace, and sometimes pretty terrible, to include the worst of things, that you can have to live with on your conscience.
I'm used to it now, but yeah, you all probably recognize that I carry some weight on my shoulders that has nothing to do with my physical state or the condition of my home, so since I'm kinda' rough right now, I have to say thanks to everybody for the advice and concern.
You guys are definitely a valuable resource for doing just about anything I do nowadays.

I'm tired of trying to justify my existence. I will just exist.

 

[Tonimus]

Takes a certain kind of person to be capable of acting and living with the consequences. Good on you. Act and live with it or hesitate and live with that. At least you don't have to live with "I wish I had done something." Not everyone can say that.

 

[TopRamen]

Yeah, but I really need to just accomplish some things, and quit even visiting the "talk a bout it" forums.
Everything gets dealt with, but it doesn't need to be everyone's problem.

[video=youtube;XkkxFIojAFY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkkxFIojAFY[/video]