Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT The "Glendora Garage"

[M.Brane]

I get the sentiment but really all new cars - hell, all new EVERYthing is ridiculously expensive. And I am old enough to say nothing EVER goes permanently down in price. Some things may go down a little for awhile but price increases accustom us to a new "floor" level. I can't prove it but I believe it's a strategy.

I had to pay $7.79/gal for diesel for my truck a couple months ago and was horrified. Then it went (supposedly) down to the low/mid $6 range but that high price just got us used to the newer range.

It wasn't the prices or even the actual experience of riding them. It was the maintenance headaches, and the lack of product support.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

On the road again......well, soon anyway.
There's a LOT of prep to getting toys ready to play and terribly humid here while I've been doing it. 2 minutes after showering & fresh clothes my shirt is stuck to my back! I can deal with heat, California is a desert but humidity isn't usually an issue here.

Yeah you're right: wah, wah, compared to most of the country.

PS: We'd not noticed somewhere along the line we lost the trailer license plate. It was mounted on a thick rubber hinge thing because it hung low, could drag going into driveways. I noticed the license plate light is half full of water!
"Gee, really officer? I must have lost it somewhere on this trip. I'll get to the DMV as soon as we get home and get a replacement" - hoping this works!

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

^^^ All the boat prep was for naught.

We hit a rock!! All the years I’ve operated boats I never have come close. Bent one of the prop blades pretty badly but no damage - that I’ve found so far- to the hull, prop shaft or anything else.

Launched it, cruised across the lake to the marina to pick up SWMBO then began following the coast line about 100 yards from shore looking for my sister & BIL who 4x4’ing to a beach location for the day.

Fortunately I was going very slow. Still a helluva jolt. No more boating this weekend.

 

[captain14]

Dan.

You don’t seem to have any luck with your boating “adventures” between flats and now the propeller.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Dan.

You don’t seem to have any luck with your boating “adventures” between flats and now the propeller.

Funny. The flat was a couple years ago but it WAS memorable. I learned a lesson and carry a floor jack with us now.

Put boat back on trailer and SWMBO said, “…maybe we should consider selling it!” We don’t use it much anymore and since it is stored under a boat cover with a sacrificial Harbor Freight tarp over that it is in pristine condition with very low hours.

 

[M.Brane]

I'm sure you know the 2 happiest days for a boat owner.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

"Hotter than a baker's belt buckle" as the saying.
Brought the huge 36" Harbor Freight fan into the garage from the patio - I added casters specifically for this.
Recharged AC in the toad Fiat. All the years I've worked on cars and I'd never done that before. Easy peasy. HOPEFULLY the freon & manifold which supposedly contains a leak stop will make it work for the remainder of the summer.

Trunk latch on Fiat stopped working manually & via key fob. Replaced key fob battery just in case it's the easiest possible fix - it wasn't. I had to crawl into hatch area in this heat.

Ours is a 2012. In 2013 they knew it could be a problem so they added a small button but a YouTube video showed me how to get it open. I took everything apart. Tested manual switch - works. Ordered a new latch and will be here tomorrow. Sweaty-as-hell-work even with the fan but only so much tv I can watch.

 

[M.Brane]

I was in the garage an hour or so ago starting to cut some drywall to run wires, and thought it was damn hot. Thermometer read 93. I'm in the house with the A/C rockin' now.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

I was in the garage an hour or so ago starting to cut some drywall to run wires, and thought it was damn hot. Thermometer read 93. I'm in the house with the A/C rockin' now.

I know it's inaccurate but it wouldn't read this high if it weren't DAMN HOT here. App says I think 98* today but I feel like I know damn good and well it's higher than that. Guessing somewhere around 103+*. If so then the truck thermometer is FIFTEEN degrees high? Doesn't seem like it should be that far off.

 

[M.Brane]

I know the ambient temp sensor on my bikes reads way high when I stop because they put it close to the radiator.

 

[gilr]

Most auto and truck thermometers are only accurate when the vehicle is moving at around 35 mph, usually stated in the owners manual, but who reads that...

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Up early to walk the dogs @ 630am before it got too hot - it was still too hot.

Worked a small project in the garage that I've been meaning to do forever. It's an aluminum scoop shovel that fell off a gardener's truck on the freeway. I found it years ago and it's falling apart.
I disassembled it - it was partly riveted so not easy....which is why I've procrastinated. Ground the rivets, stripped the paint and re-painted. I used Rustoleum primer then their 2X green spray and something weird happened - see photo. I was impatient so I wiped it off with lacquer thinner and repainted with a different green Rusto. Filled VERY cracked wood parts with putty, sanded and stained those. Waiting for paint to dry enough to reassemble.

The scoop edge was worn wavy - cut that with an abrasive blade. The first couple inches of wood shaft in the handle was rotten. I considered building it up with epoxy....nah. I just used my chop saw to take a couple inches off. I don't use it for serious work anyway. I'll use a long bolt or maybe all thread to re-assemble. AFTER photos upcoming.

 

[PugetDude]

Rustoleum....

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

I know a lot of guys complain about Rustoleum but I have always had great results with it. This is literally the ONLY time I've ever had something weird like this. Besides, I don't even shop anywhere that sells Krylon....what other brands of spray paint are there? I never go to Walmart and wouldn't even if I needed spray paint. I suppose I could go to Lowe's but don't know what brand(s) they sell there.

 

[PugetDude]

I know a lot of guys complain about Rustoleum but I have always had great results with it. This is literally the ONLY time I've ever had something weird like this. Besides, I don't even shop anywhere that sells Krylon....what other brands of spray paint are there? I never go to Walmart and wouldn't even if I needed spray paint. I suppose I could go to Lowe's but don't know what brand(s) they sell there.

I recently found some old Valspar brand Spray Paint when I was cleaning out some garage cabinets from Lowes that I apparently bought in 2009 . Oil rubbed Bronze every can still worked perfectly. On the other hand, the Bondo primer and TSC Implement paint were dead after a year. Rust-Oleum has a shelf life that very nearly parallels the year it takes to fully harden when you use it.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

….. Rust-Oleum has a shelf life that very nearly parallels the years it takes to fully harden when you use it.

When guys say this I assume they’re talking about Rustoleum brushed on from a can? Though I’ve never done it I’ve heard to use a hardener with it.

I’ve never had occasion to use their oil based paint from a quart but I have used their latex and it dried normally. No issue at all with their spray cans. Just this once and that can had been on the shelf a year. Plus it was going on top of their primer. MAYBE because I took 10 minutes to put the green over the primer and it’s damn hot here? The primer had already “flashed” past the one hour they say to apply the top coat?

 

[M.Brane]

That looks like silicone contamination to me. Ever try to paint something that has been repeatedly Armor All'd?

 

[kaymccampbell]

Maybe he shot the rusty shovel with WD or spray wax? Some of their formulations have silicone, as do many spray waxes folks use on their garden tools.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

No rust on the shovel part for sure - it's aluminum. The handles are steel and I painted them the yellow years ago because it was the only color I had at the time.

I stripped the paint off down to the metal. None of the former paint or the original (I think) powder coat green remained. I didn't even blow them off with air from my compressor so no chance I can think for contamination. I have to assume the extreme heat had something to do with it. Anyway, I repainted without the primer. Just a different green directly on the metal and it dried fine overnight.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

A very labor intensive project today that has to be done on the hottest days of the year.

Washing our living area rug. It's very big. Gotta move all furniture, roll this monster and wrestle it outdoors. The rug gets wet by the garden hose and Oxi laundry soap sprinkled all over it. Then on my hands & knees to scrub the entire thing with hard bristle brush in each direction.

Comes out very clean but has to be totally soaked and squeegeed over & over to remove all the soapy water til nothing but clear water comes out - takes a very long time. Even after almost nothing more comes out it still weighs a ton. I was BARELY able drag it out into the sun. Well over 100* so the water starts to evaporate fast. Even in this much heat it'll take 2-3 days to be totally dry and brought back inside.

EDIT:
9pm and still 82* outside. App says it was 100* here but our outside thermometer said 109*. I think it was definitely over 100. Maybe as high as 103-104.
I lifted the side of the rug that was in direct sun and the concrete below is totally dry. The concrete under the 1/3 of it that didn't get as much direct sun still shows wetness. By late afternoon tomorrow I expect it to be REALLY close to dry. But SWMBO will undoubtedly not be convinced!

 

[captain14]

Dan

Anyway to elevate it?

Whenever my parent house had water come into the basement, I would take the 2 rugs outside in the driveway to dry in the sun and then lay them out in the shed to finish Drying.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Dan

Anyway to elevate it?

Whenever my parent house had water come into the basement, I would take the 2 rugs outside in the driveway to dry in the sun and then lay them out in the shed to finish Drying.

Nope. Impossibly heavy while wet - which is exactly when being elevated or even hung would be best to make drying faster. Just dragging it from under the patio roof to out in the sun could only be done by two people "folding" it on itself. That exposed it to harsher Sun with evaporation starting fast after that.

This morning it was dry enough that together we could drag it further into the Sun. It's "cooking" out there now!

 

[rharman]

@Dan in Pasadena - What about some sticks of PVC or 2x4 to get it off the ground? That and a fan or two blowing across/under it could help a lot.

I have one similar to this 12" model in my garage that I use regularly just for air movement. Also have a smaller 7" model from Stanley B&D.
They've come in handy for drying things after a spill/leak or after carpet cleaning.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

I've got a giant 36" Harbor Freight fan usually out on the patio but right now in the garage so I can at least do a little bit of work in this heat.

In this extreme multi day heat spell it will dry it just take a couple days.

 

[pima67]

Wouldn't it be easier to use a rug cleaning machine in place without removing it( like a Rug doctor"? We cleaned carpets many times using a Hoover.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Wouldn't it be easier to use a rug cleaning machine in place without removing it( like a Rug doctor"? We cleaned carpets many times using a Hoover.

Nope. Hardwood floors that would be damaged by running water or steam over them. We actually have a small steam type cleaner and we began using it once we got the rug outside. It was really slow going and I wasn't all that impressed with how clean it was coming out. Since we'd done this way once before we just shifted back to it. Messy and very labor intensive but at least you know it's very clean when it's done.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Ok, the rug is back in the house, furniture replaced - heavy as hell, the sofas have motorized recliners.

Other things in this heat wave: A big flower pot for a patio lemon tree cracked years ago, I repaired it with construction adhesive. It worked a couple years. This time on moving it back after vacation it finally fell apart.

Found an even bigger pot at the nursery. A young guy loaded it into the back of my truck by himself - it's good to be young, immortal w/all original body parts. I knew it was going to be a challenge to get it down with my new shoulder....but I did! Gravity, a heavy blanket and Cosco dolly helped.
Amazon provided a monster capacity plant dolly - pretty sure "Techyang" is a fine old American company, ha ha. 500lbs capacity and once transplanted, more dirt and thoroughly wet it may be well over 300lbs, maybe more?

 

[rharman]

@Dan in Pasadena - Good luck with that transplant.

Don't know if you saw our adventure with a big pot transplant....

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/what-did-you-do-out-in-your-yard-garden-today.448228/post-11691489

The pot itself was plastic so pretty light although it is HUGE - 42". Took almost 6 big bags (64qt ea) of soil.

We rented an engine hoist to load it up. My wife and I tried all sorts of way to move it before going the hoist route.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/what-did-you-do-out-in-your-yard-garden-today.448228/post-11692672

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Thanks for your post.
I had NOT seen either of these threads and I was wondering how I was going to lift the lemon tree into the pot especially with a shoulder I need to be careful of. It hadn't occurred to me to use my engine hoist! Perfect idea. I'll use a ratchet strap or I have a much heavier tow strap but I'll have to be careful not to break any branches or hurt/burn the skin of the trunk.

I'll use potting soil and ordinary garden dirt. This giant pot has only one small drain hole but rather than risk drilling more holes in it I'll put a little square of screen and some gravel over it that I hope makes it drain well enough.
I guess I'll use a tape measure to figure out how much soil to put below the root ball so I don't have to keep raising and lowering it plus "X" amount of dirt for compaction.

Thanks again for the good ideas.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Thanks for your post.
I had NOT seen either of these threads and I was wondering how I was going to lift the lemon tree into the pot especially with a shoulder I need to be careful of. It hadn't occurred to me to use my engine hoist! Perfect idea. I'll use a ratchet strap or I have a much heavier tow strap but I'll have to be careful not to break any branches or hurt/burn the skin of the trunk.

I'll use potting soil and ordinary garden dirt. This giant pot has only one small drain hole but rather than risk drilling more holes in it I'll put a little square of screen and some gravel over it that I hope makes it drain well enough.
I guess I'll use a tape measure to figure out how much soil to put below the root ball so I don't have to keep raising and lowering it plus "X" amount of dirt for compaction.

Thanks again for the good ideas.

I put a terracotta saucer upside down, with 3 or 4 shallow chunks snapped out of the edge, sort of like an ashtray, in the bottom of my big pots. It's never failed for me.

 

[rharman]

Thanks for your post.
I had NOT seen either of these threads and I was wondering how I was going to lift the lemon tree into the pot especially with a shoulder I need to be careful of. It hadn't occurred to me to use my engine hoist! Perfect idea. I'll use a ratchet strap or I have a much heavier tow strap but I'll have to be careful not to break any branches or hurt/burn the skin of the trunk.

I'll use potting soil and ordinary garden dirt. This giant pot has only one small drain hole but rather than risk drilling more holes in it I'll put a little square of screen and some gravel over it that I hope makes it drain well enough.
I guess I'll use a tape measure to figure out how much soil to put below the root ball so I don't have to keep raising and lowering it plus "X" amount of dirt for compaction.

Thanks again for the good ideas.

I was really worried about the trunks too. Our tree is a Madagascar Dragon and the trunks are really spindly but the entire tree was WAY heavy. I used my Goodyear ratchet straps which are only about 1-1/2" wide. Wrapped around 4-5 of the individual trunks separately and then around the whole bundle 2-3 times. I was very pleasantly surprised at how well it held. We did the tape measure method too. You may want to allow for settling after you water. You have the advantage of owning the hoist. I was on the clock for the 24 hour rental.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

I put a terracotta saucer upside down, with 3 or 4 shallow chunks snapped out of the edge, sort of like an ashtray, in the bottom of my big pots. It's never failed for me.

Better idea. Less work too. I’ll search around for a saucer. I must have one somewhere. Thanks Kay!

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

I was really worried about the trunks too. Our tree is a Madagascar Dragon and the trunks are really spindly but the entire tree was WAY heavy. I used my Goodyear ratchet straps which are only about 1-1/2" wide. Wrapped around 4-5 of the individual trunks separately and then around the whole bundle 2-3 times. I was very pleasantly surprised at how well it held. We did the tape measure method too. You may want to allow for settling after you water. You have the advantage of owning the hoist. I was on the clock for the 24 hour rental.

The lemon has a single trunk so it should be easy to attach it but I’ll wrap a microfiber towel around it before I put whichever strap I use. As for the settlement after planting & watering? I guess it’s a bit better if the root crown is a little high than too low. Fingers crossed!

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Better idea. Less work too. I’ll search around for a saucer. I must have one somewhere. Thanks Kay!

Oh and PS: (Not that most the GJ guys will care) This huge dolly has a caster mounted exactly in the middle. That puts it directly under the one drain hole. I can't just leave that caster off because the screws that mount it are what hold together the four pieces of plastic that make up the dolly surface!

So a little creativity required: I'll fill the dolly bolt recess hole with something waterproof - silicone? Then sit the pot on rubber blocks to allow space for the water to escape the pot.

 

[kaymccampbell]

Oh and PS: (Not that most the GJ guys will care) This huge dolly has a caster mounted exactly in the middle. That puts it directly under the one drain hole. I can't just leave that caster off because the screws that mount it are what hold together the four pieces of plastic that make up the dolly surface!

So a little creativity required: I'll fill the dolly bolt recess hole with something waterproof - silicone? Then sit the pot on rubber blocks to allow space for the water to escape the pot.

Drill a hole, or 4, in the sides of that center depression on the dolly. Plastic has got to drill easier than trying to source rubber pot pucks.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Drill a hole, or 4, in the sides of that center depression on the dolly. Plastic has got to drill easier than trying to source rubber pot pucks.

I’ve already got the rubber pucks. If I drilled holes in the plastic the pot would still be sitting directly on the plastic. I guess the water would still find its way out….eventually and slower.

 

[pima67]

Easy solution for hardwood floors. A couple of dollar store shower curtains placed under the rug for cleaning, then removed when dry. Unless you over do it, carpet cleaners don't soak the carpet.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

The re-potting of the lemon tree went pretty well. In the photo it looks like the root ball is the same size as the new pot but it's not. It will have room to grow. The engine hoist had to be adjusted a couple times so that it would lift the tree high enough to get the roots over the edge of the new pot but after that it went very smoothly. Thanks everyone!

 

[kaymccampbell]

Thinking of carpet cleaning. A friend of mine had a few rental units, one of which he rented to a Mediterranean family. One day he gets a frantic call from the downstairs tenant that the ceiling fell down and the living room was flooded. So he goes there to see water pouring off the upper front porch. He runs in to find the broken pipe, when he meets the upstairs tenant hosing down and squeegeeing the living room carpet. He turned off the water and asked why. The fellow explained that in his home country that's how they do it, cause all the floors are concrete. This in a balloon construction postbellum Victorian. He wound up evicting everyone, and letting his insurance handle it.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Easy solution for hardwood floors. A couple of dollar store shower curtains placed under the rug for cleaning, then removed when dry. Unless you over do it, carpet cleaners don't soak the carpet.

By the time I'd move all the furniture off and roll it up enough to get the shower curtains under there it would be easier to just carry it outside.