Construction and Industrial Articles
posted on 16 September 2012
I love DIY and being "hands on", and I think that's reflected in my current job as an electric motor rewinds engineer. And so as to DIY, I love planning and getting on with new projects around the home - the next one being my garage.
Our garage is basically wasted space. There's a lot of room down there, and for the past twenty years or so, we've just been using it for storage. (Really more like a catch-all for clutter.) There was a time, long long ago, when my father would have band practice down there but as more and more boxes of stuff were put in the garage, there was eventually barely room to even walk.
So the band started practicing at another guy's house, instead. Imagine standing at the top of the stairs, overlooking a sea of stuff. Piles of toys, books, and broken electronics towering six feet high, with a thin path leading to the fuse box.
Well, I got to thinking of all sorts of things we could do with the space, like I could have an office or an art studio down there. Currently, I work out of my bedroom, but there's not a lot of space to set aside drying sculptures and paintings. So I thought it would be nice to set up an area that felt more professional. I wouldn't need the entire space, though, so most of it could be used for something else. Or, I suppose, it could continue as a storage space albeit in a more orderly manner. But before it could get to that point, there's a lot of work that would need to be done to the place.
There's a big gap under the garage doors, which provides entrance for mice, bugs, spiders, and even snakes. (I don't know where they came in from, but we even found that termites had eated through a few boxes.) Then there's the giant crack in the cement floor. And we would need to install heating and cooling, so that it's not freezing in the winter and sweltering in the summer. But before any of that, there's the issue of all of the garbage down there. Broken electronics, moldy books, childhood memories ruined by twenty years of mice, etc. So far, my mother and I have spent two weeks cleaning out the garage. We've taken care of all of the garbage, and organized what's left (mainly my father's belongings, which he wants to sort himself) into categories such as books, electronics, rocks (yes, the man collects rocks), records and eight-tracks, etc.
Now that most of the clutter has been taken care of, the next order of business should be a thorough cleaning, since there's still twenty years of filth. After that, we should try to seal off all the places wherein uninvited creatures can enter the basement. And then do something to repair the major crack in the floor. (It's so wide, that I could probably fit my hand in there.) Next, we have to do something about the garage doors, which have recently broken. I'd like to just take them out, and put a wall there. Perhaps with a window, and a much smaller door. Something like a big shop window, to display my artwork might be nice. It wouldn't hurt to call an exterminator, either, for what I've identified as a brown recluse infestation. (But that's the entire house, not just the garage.) The heating and cooling will be the easy part. There's still quite a bit of work to do, but one day we will have a very nice space in the garage. Or we could, you know, park cars in there. |
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posted on 5 August 2012
I have moved around the Burbs a lot in the past few years, and it doesn't seem to matter where I live, I always end up next to a day home. Now, I can understand why running a day home is attractive to the stay at home mom next door- it is an instajob to just add a few more tots to her little brood. To everyone else in the neighbourhood, however, the common day home and the noise pollution it generates is an absolute curse. I work from home, and at times throughout the day, there are moments when I have to listen to dogs bark, folks mowing their lawns, revving their engines. But day home noise - it doesn't stop, it's constant. I've even thought if installing some kind of lead shield to my walls to help dampen the noise.
All day, every day, I have to listen to the racket the little darlings make as they play out in the back yard next door. They laugh, they cry, they shriek, they fight, and worst of all, they swing non-stop, back and forth, back and forth on the metal swing set that is desperate for a good oiling. The fence keeps them out of sight, but nothing, not even the walls of my house, can keep out the cacophony. She is probably glad when they go home at the end of they day, but believe me, I am too. I pray for rain. I pray for genius to strike them all so they can go to school at an unusually early age. I pray for nuclear winter to drive us all underground. Anything to stop the noise from coming back the next morning. You should talk to her, you say? No, I am a classic conflict avoider. For me, the blessed anonymity of the civil noise complaint line is much more my style. My city has laws against excessive noise. It doesn't even have to be at night. Anyone can call and rat someone out if they are disturbing the peace and quiet in the neighbourhood. But here is the greatest irony of all. The lady next door- her husband is a city police officer. Who knows? It might be him who answers the call! It would certainly be one of his buddies. So there's no help for me! There's no one to cry my noise pollution blues to, because I don't relish the thought of getting a traffic ticket from one the town's close knit group of cops each time I hop in my car for the next 30 years. So for me, it's ear plug, it's pillows over my head, and white noise generators. Maybe I should just move.More on this Topic: archive.org | about.com | edmunds.com
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posted on 5 August 2012
Our house really is a very very fine house made almost entirely of wood - with its wooden timber trusses, doors, floor and window frames but alas only one cat and it's hardly ever in the yard. It's a log home - cabin if you will - small and practical. Under 1000 square feet, solid and never needs painting, perfect for empty nest baby boomers. Built on five country acres, we grow all our own wood, and use it in a wood boiler. Which heats our water,drys our laundry and all in addition to heating the house, garage, barn and greenhouse. It's great, with three bedrooms and a big open concept living , dining and kitchen area its got just enough room for the two of us and even room for entertaing those periodic guests. The electricity bill is next to nothing and the fresh air is free - not bad really!More on this Topic: itv.com | investopedia.com | csmonitor.com | rottentomatoes.com
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posted on 14 July 2012
I am a construction worker and while the job itself is not the safest, things get serious when you are laying down mortar and carrying cement 400 metres above the ground. I was recently contracted to perform my labor duties for a firm that was buiding a tall shopping mall. It was my first time working at such a height and had to wear especially-designed helmets and jackets to ensure my safety at work, as well as horizontal lifeline systems. we even had to wear special footwear that was not slippery. I also realized the danger of high speed winds when working so high above the ground. Air moved faster than I expected and carrying heavy loads required a lot of care to protect not only ourselves, but the people below as well. We used a mechanical lift to lift huge weights from the ground level to the top floor. This was also a tense scenario where we had to be extremely careful while disarming our component from the lift. Even my lunch breaks were carefully-performed actions up in the sky.Other Sources: apple.com | babble.com | www.patersonsafetyanchors.co.uk |
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posted on 29 March 2012
I work with GRP roofing so being in the home improvement trade, I can't help but dream up big ideas for my own home. If I could change my house I would redo the upstairs and make the backyard more usable for my family and friends. First off I don't like the layout of my second floor because it doesn't have good flow and it gets in the way when more than one person is trying to get ready in the morning before school or work. There is no reason that three different hallways should diverge at one bathroom. I would totally remodel the layout of the floor to make it more functional for my family. Also I would remove my old shed and greenhouse from my backyard and replace them with a functional gazebo and a large greenhouse that can double as a shed for my gardening tools since I love working in the yard. These somewhat obscure details of my home if fixed would make it so much more livable and enjoyable for my entire family and friends.
More Info: chacha.com |
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posted on 2 March 2012
I am getting a little tired of unsafe work places. I have worked in quite a few workplaces and have sustained some horrible injuries. The previous workplace I worked was pretty bad. I worked for a construction company and had to work long hours without sufficient breaks. We were working with Brick saws much of the time, so we had to be alert and refreshed to use such a tool - yet that was a difficult ask with the rota we were on. At times I used to be told to work without having a lunch break. My job also often revolved around lifting heavy concrete slabs. Usually a machine is used to lift small concrete slabs. I was unsure what the safest way was to pick up a heavy object. I often got someone to help me with the lifting however it was still quite heavy. I often felt the tension in my back and neck. Unfortunately I managed to injure back during the lifting process and have been advised by my doctor that it may take months to heal. I realize it was my fault as I should have not engaged in such unsafe work practices.
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posted on 8 February 2012
I worked for a fiber glass plant that produced septic tanks. It was a decent place to work- if you are from a place with such a poor economy that everything else pays minimum wage and fills a position as soon as it becomes available. While it was good to have the income, the place was filled with workers of questionable background statuses. These people were crooked enough to tell the boss they had put in more hours than they actually had so that they could earn more money than they should have. There were also no proper safety precautions present, such as ventilation masks or other ppe clothing. If OSHA were to have walked in there, the boss would have been fined profusely. Perhaps this is the reason his help was so poorly composed. He wanted to fire the thieves, but was well aware that they could rat him out and he could lose the entire operation. While it was not the safest or the most pleasant work I’ve ever had, I would say that I would go back because it is so hard to get work elsewhere right nowl.
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posted on 2 February 2012
Living in a house means that there always will be something to do, especially to clean something. The backyard the house is more then 300 m2 and there are 24 trees. Through the summer they are keeping the yard pleasant for outdoor activities like drink with your friends. The problem comes when autumn steps up. Cleaning the yard from all the fallen leaves is very important and heavy job, as heavy as the tank cleaning jobs I'd done in hte past. It looks easy, but after cleaning 300 m2 of area the next day the back and the hurts like hell. Never the less to procedure of cleaning is with these blowing machines. The cleaning operation stars early in the morning. First you have to shake all the trees so remained leaves can fall. Then the cleaning starts from one angle towards the middle of the yard. Walking in circles and pressuring the leaves in the middle. In the end, you end up with big pile of leaves in the middle of the yard. Then the cleaning continues with placing the big pile in garbage bags. Usually there are like ten bags of leaves in the end, but the yard is clean. |
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posted on 1 February 2012
If I am asked to change any part of my house, I’ll preferably try to renovate my living room. The problem is with regards to how I would address the need of my living room to get pumped up from the usual boring way. The living room carpet is an important thing to use. It could be of any color of my own choice, but most homeowners go for the neutral color of the carpet as it is easy to blend along with the rest of the living room decorations. I feel I should follow the same rule as others follow. The use of window curtains always determines the character of the living room, and I'd like to use velcro fasteners instead of the string I currently use to close them. I could turn to professionals for the tips in purchasing and designing the right curtains for my windows. Plants basically provide more oxygen in the living room and it could bring me closer to nature. There is a certain ambiance created by the use of plants as living room decorations. I may choose from herbal, potted, and hanging plants. These living room decorations must blend in well with the rest of the designs employed in the other parts of my house.
More on this Topic: csmonitor.com |
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