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Thread: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

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    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    We're still in lockdown where I am, but I see more and more people out and about these days. The stores and restaurants are still mask friendly and carryout for the most part, but the weather has gotten seasonably nice now, and who's going to stay in now?

    I'm pretty much taking it easy this long three-day weekend. While I don't have any immediate family who I honor on Memorial Day, I do take a moment of silence at 3:00pm local time to honor those who gave all so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have. I'll probably do some yard work today, but most of my spare time these days is spent playing guitar. And that's never a bad thing!

    Enjoy the Memorial Day if you're Stateside.

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    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    I've had an eventful week, all of it good. Most of it concerns my house. I had my deck re-screened, pressure washed, 2x4 replacement, and two doors. The deck has always been my paradise, and now, I am really in love with it. Now that the weather is warm/hot, I sit out here about 10 hours a day when I don't have to go anywhere.

    I'm off to Memphis to celebrate my son and daughter's birthdays. I'm taking my dog buddy Keevo, and we'll head into the sunrise in the F150.

    Have a peaceful and happy Sunday everyone.







    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    I love screened-in porches! You get to be outside, without the bother of insects and cool shade overhead. Looks nice!

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    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    Quote Originally Posted by OldStrummer View Post
    I love screened-in porches! You get to be outside, without the bother of insects and cool shade overhead. Looks nice!
    Thank you so much, Fred. I'm not bragging, but because my parents scrimped and saved, I was able to pay off my house. It changed my entire attitude toward it. Now, it's my passion, getting it fixed up, adding beautiful plants to the yard. I've got a lot of painting and such to do as well inside.

    BTW, I answer to William or Bill.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Forum Member Laker's Avatar
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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    It’s been a pleasant week here with a couple of sunny days in the low 70s so I finally pulled the cover off my wife’s Corvette (it was a seven month snooze since the first snowfall) and we spent a little time cruising with the top down.

    Today is overcast with thunderstorms in the forecast so it's a good day to pop a good movie in the player and spend a quiet afternoon relaxing. Hope all have a great day!

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    Forum Member dirtdog's Avatar
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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    Your porch looks fantastic Willie! My kind of hang!

    definitely summer like weather up here - high 20s C/ low 80s F - sunny and breezy. The real heat and humidity starts tomorrow. Oh well, we had a good couple of weeks of spring weather!

    More work around the property- finished building a set of raised planters, did some concrete parging repair, repositioned some walkway border stones to reclaim some garden for other purposes (a couple of Muskoka chairs and a gas fire pit). And then on Monday my garage floor rehab jobs starts in earnest when I get delivery of 6 cu yards of 3/4 minus gravel. Let’s start shovelling! The house is 98 years old and the garage is probably 70.


    Been taking advantage of Home Depots curbside pickup service. At the height of the isolation I would place an order and get notification for pickup in about 2 days. Well, this week with the stores reopening to foot traffic, it’s been 5 days and no notification for that order. I’m getting the feeling that the curbside pickup option will be discontinued soon. Too bad, it was a nice service to use. Being immunodeficient, I’ve readily embraced the curbside option. Waiting a couple of days is fine. Waiting over a week loses its charm.

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    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    That's an awesome porch!

    I'll be working on Memorial Day for the first time ever. They've decided to have us work and give us an extra day at the Fourth of July weekend because of our rolling furloughs. Speaking of rolling furloughs, they've decided to extend that another month, so I'll have been working 50% hours for April, May and June. I've been able to collect the maximum amount of unemployment insurance available plus an extra $600 per week. It's less than I make working, but not bad. Even with that and my wife's pay reduced by 15%, we've been able to put money in the bank. We've been living below our means and you don't realize how much you spend on take out and guitar gear!

    We've been getting take out sporadically from local places and tipping generously. My wife and I have over-planned for this financially and the government has been generous so we're trying to carefully share some of it. On the other hand, things could get much worse at any time (she works in the corporate travel industry), so we're pretty careful.

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    Forum Member gibsonjunkie's Avatar
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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    We are supposed to have really nice weather for the next few days. I'm going to venture out to the grocery store today - I try to keep the trips down to once a week.

    Our deck needs a new floor and I'm not looking forward to doing it. I built the deck originally and was especially generous with deck screws and now they all have to come out. I'm also a lot older than I was when I did it originally. My daughter and her boyfriend want to help, but I have to wait until the life insurance reimburses me for my stepdaughter's funeral before I can afford the flooring. I am planning on Trex or a Trex-like floor, it costs a bit more, but the cost of wood flooring seems to have gone up so much that the difference isn't as great. I'll also need to rent a dumpster for the old flooring ,s it will be a good time to attempt to get rid of junk in the basement and garage. It's going to be a busy summer!

    So, I'd always been told my birth father was killed in the Korean war, so he was the one I usually thought of on Memorial Day. When I found my birth-mom she told me that he did not die overseas and, in fact, is alive and living about 20 miles from me. This year I'll say a prayer for all the other men and women who fought and died for us and our country.
    "We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness." Mark Twain

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    Forum Member Laker's Avatar
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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    Quote Originally Posted by gibsonjunkie View Post
    We are supposed to have really nice weather for the next few days. I'm going to venture out to the grocery store today - I try to keep the trips down to once a week.

    Our deck needs a new floor and I'm not looking forward to doing it. I built the deck originally and was especially generous with deck screws and now they all have to come out. I'm also a lot older than I was when I did it originally. My daughter and her boyfriend want to help, but I have to wait until the life insurance reimburses me for my stepdaughter's funeral before I can afford the flooring. I am planning on Trex or a Trex-like floor, it costs a bit more, but the cost of wood flooring seems to have gone up so much that the difference isn't as great. I'll also need to rent a dumpster for the old flooring ,s it will be a good time to attempt to get rid of junk in the basement and garage. It's going to be a busy summer!
    My deck needs a bit of a re-do and I’ve been thinking about using TimberTech to replace the pressure treated wood that is the present deck surface.

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    Forum Member gibsonjunkie's Avatar
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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    Quote Originally Posted by Laker View Post
    My deck needs a bit of a re-do and I’ve been thinking about using TimberTech to replace the pressure treated wood that is the present deck surface.
    It looks better and lasts a lot longer. We stained our floor every year and it still rotted after 12 years. One problem I'm dealing with is that I was very ambitious when I built it. Now that's coming back to bite me in the ass...

    "We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness." Mark Twain

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    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    speaking of decks, ours is scaring off potential buyers I think. It's those damned overgrown locust trees, one of them is in a notched corner of the deck and has considerably overgrown its space, raising the deck quite a bit. The wood is cypress that is supposed to be left untreated and naturally greyed so it doesn't need maintenance. If we have to tear it up we'll be evicting quite the menagerie under there. We have bunnies and chipmunks making homes and my cat loved to watch them.

    the other problem with the trees is overshadowing the yard. The grass that's been there all along is thriving. The sod put down 5 years ago after foundation work on the north corner of the house must have been taken from an open air sunny field, it is barely alive. You can't even grow tomatoes out back it is so shady. I think if we did a full on rework of the back yard we'd lose at least 2 week of market time, not to mention 3 grand a week plus 4 grand for the tree people. Plus we'd have to put in a new irrigation system so that's another couple grand.
    "Live and learn and flip the burns"

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    Forum Member dirtdog's Avatar
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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    Quote Originally Posted by DanTheBluesMan View Post
    speaking of decks, ours is scaring off potential buyers I think. It's those damned overgrown locust trees, one of them is in a notched corner of the deck and has considerably overgrown its space, raising the deck quite a bit. The wood is cypress that is supposed to be left untreated and naturally greyed so it doesn't need maintenance. If we have to tear it up we'll be evicting quite the menagerie under there. We have bunnies and chipmunks making homes and my cat loved to watch them.

    the other problem with the trees is overshadowing the yard. The grass that's been there all along is thriving. The sod put down 5 years ago after foundation work on the north corner of the house must have been taken from an open air sunny field, it is barely alive. You can't even grow tomatoes out back it is so shady. I think if we did a full on rework of the back yard we'd lose at least 2 week of market time, not to mention 3 grand a week plus 4 grand for the tree people. Plus we'd have to put in a new irrigation system so that's another couple grand.
    ugh. I feel your pain. That’s the kind of thing that falls into “a negotiation point” for me. You’ll never recoup those costs. Be willing to knock a couple of three thousand off the asking and you might have more buyers less “afraid”. Try not to sink any more money into the place - all you’ll be out is time and capital.

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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    Looking at decking the other day as I want to build a small one off the above ground pool. At $38 a BOARD for the Trex I'm passing.

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    Forum Member ch willie's Avatar
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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    Well I hope you all can get your decks sorted out and get to enjoy them.

    I spend so much time on mine, and now that it's warm, I have to force myself to go inside and go to bed.


    The temperature is warm but not yet unbearable. I'll play my acoustic out here for a bit and then bring out the Ibanez Tube Screamer and plug in an electric.
    If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison

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    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    Quote Originally Posted by renderit View Post
    Looking at decking the other day as I want to build a small one off the above ground pool. At $38 a BOARD for the Trex I'm passing.
    38 a board? as in a 6" x 8'? Oy vey. I was thinking of that stuff for the kitchen entry steps because they're 32 plus years old and very much look it. They're not cypress like the back deck.
    "Live and learn and flip the burns"

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    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    How about Pergo? When I had my screened in porch it was floored in Pergo. My realtor told me it was some of the best stuff going. I liked it, and shopping around for it shows it's a lot less than $38/per.

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    Forum Member NTBluesGuitar's Avatar
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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    All gave some...some gave all.



    May is a FINE time to be in North Texas.

    "...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
    that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
    shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."

    -Edmund Burke

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    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    sweet pool, I'm utterly in love with the stone work. Is that real stone or engineered?
    "Live and learn and flip the burns"

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    Forum Member gibsonjunkie's Avatar
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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    Quote Originally Posted by renderit View Post
    Looking at decking the other day as I want to build a small one off the above ground pool. At $38 a BOARD for the Trex I'm passing.
    I priced it out last summer and it was a bit less than that. It would have cost me about $2000 for all the flooring I'd need. I can't do anything until I get reimbursed by the life insurance for paying for my step-daughter's funeral, but then I need to get going on the floor. I'm sprouting holes in a couple places.
    "We catched fish and talked, and we took a swim now and then to keep off sleepiness." Mark Twain

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    Forum Member NTBluesGuitar's Avatar
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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    Quote Originally Posted by DanTheBluesMan View Post
    sweet pool, I'm utterly in love with the stone work. Is that real stone or engineered?
    I'm not sure...it came with the house.
    "...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
    that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
    shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."

    -Edmund Burke

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    Re: The Thread For Sunday May 24 (Memorial Day Weekend)

    Quote Originally Posted by gibsonjunkie View Post
    I priced it out last summer and it was a bit less than that. It would have cost me about $2000 for all the flooring I'd need. I can't do anything until I get reimbursed by the life insurance for paying for my step-daughter's funeral, but then I need to get going on the floor. I'm sprouting holes in a couple places.
    Yes. Slightly. The $39.96 was 16 foot with the side groove it turns out. Stuff seems to run about double the price of decent clear pine at best, but seems to be unavailable at many places right now. Also looking at other options as there are cheaper alternatives in fake wood.

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