Let's Paint!

[Zombie]

Today turned out to be a wash. I was at work plenty early (7:00 am) to deliver some flowers anyway and when I got back I scoped out the weather situation. Fairly windy, but nothing to cancel the installation over. Got everything ready to go: furring strips outside, drill hooked up to extension cord, roll of new plastic pulled out of it's resting place since 2013 etc. Just had to wait for the bosses son to show up to give me a hand. They finally arrived at 9:45 am and right around that time the wind started to pick up in intensity. If it was just the occasional gust, I could handle that but not sustained. It just kept getting stronger as time went on so I had to cancel. Looks like more of the same tomorrow with strong winds in the late AM so I canceled a possible Sunday installation too. Monday's forecast isn't too bad, no rain and mild winds so I have penciled in Monday morning at 7:30 am as the start time.

 

Lat Edit: cancelled Monday due to strong winds again. Tuesday looks like it may be better, but Wednesday might be the best day in terms of wind. We shall see.

 

Since the bosses son was around we worked together putting away all those flowers I cut on Thursday. Nearing the end of the day we decided to try to fix up the doors of the greenhouse a little. If you recall, some of the fiberglass panels affixed to the doors were broken and bashed out at the base from years of abuse. So we took 2 of the old lexan polycarbonate "glass" panels from the small garage door and attached those to the base of 2 of the greenhouse doors.

 

 

Yeah, they are yellow from baking in the sun for many years, but they are still strong and have plenty of life left in them. Waste not, want not!

 

- Zombie

[Space Voyager]

Looks like a very good build, Z! I hope you get it covered before it is washed by the rain.

 

What is the material you use at the joints? Mineral wool of some kind? Or cotton? Also, why is it there? Is it better to leave things a bit "floaty" instead of going for a completely rigid construction to take less damage in the winds?

 

Oh, and beautiful flowers, really lovely. Finally some green among those pics of steel and polyurethane.

[Zombie]

What is the material you use at the joints? Mineral wool of some kind? Or cotton? Also, why is it there?

 

It's like cotton in appearance, but I think it is made of polyester. If you've ever looked inside a stuffed animal, it's the same stuff. As for why I use it... well, anywhere there is a joint there is going to be a metal connection piece which is raised above the surface of the tube and that will create stress from rubbing due to wind or snow. The fiberfill will ease that sharp edge. Here, I'll just repost a pic of the ridge pole and end hoop connection point.

 

 

Is it better to leave things a bit "floaty" instead of going for a completely rigid construction to take less damage in the winds?

 

Do you mean loose vs taut? It's far better to get the plastic tight - as tight as possible. This is for three reasons:

1. Over time the plastic will stretch. Not by a ton, but it will be noticeable. The tighter you get it during installation, the less you'll have to mess with it later on.
   
2. Tight plastic will shed snow quicker. If the plastic is loose, it will create a trough between the hoops which will trap the snow and allow it to build up.
   
3. Wind. Imagine a tight piece of plastic in strong wind. It might travel a few mm flapping in the breeze. Now imagine a piece of loose plastic in the same wind. Depending how loose the plastic is, it might travel a few cm. All that extra movement is going to put a strain on the plastic around the screws in the furring strips. That's going to cause the plastic to tear or pull a little at each screw hole which will cause the plastic to become looser.
   

- Zombie

[Space Voyager]

Ah, makes perfect sense, thanks! I didn't see the metal joints...

[Zombie]

So today was the day to put up the new plastic on the greenhouse. Got a very early start (6:30am) because the wind tends to be quiet in the morning. Started by rolling out the plastic on the (empty) parking lot then pulled it till it was along the South side (the side that faces the store, not the small garage). Then I cut three pieces of sisal binder twine and tied them to either side of the plastic and one in the middle. Boss was supposed to be there at 7:30 with his son, but he conveniently overslept & didn't let me know. So it was just me for the time being. Was kinda getting worried about the wind picking up so I just forged ahead by myself.

 

Getting the plastic started is always the hardest part - especially if you are the only person working on it. Started pulling the twine (and plastic) to the North on the driveway side first. As I got it up above the wall of the greenhouse I tied off the twine and moved to the middle twine. Did the same thing there, then went to the parking lot side and, yeah, the same. Here's a pic of the South side with the plastic just over the top of the wall.

 

 

Looks like kinda a mess because there is so much plastic that needs to go up yet, and you have to unfurl it so you aren't trying to pull the whole thing over the top. Took a pic on the North side showing one of the pieces of twine tied off.

 

 

So I continued on, pulling the plastic up a little bit, tying off the twine so the plastic doesn't slip down, then moving to the next twine and tying that off when I got it to the same height. Took a while to inch along like this, but at least the wind wasn't blowing too hard. When I got it mostly over, I then had to adjust how much plastic was on the East and West sides. At this time the wind started to pick up a little bit so I had to get out some concrete blocks and put them on the plastic to keep the stuff flying away.

 

 

Time between the first two pics and the third was about 20 minutes. Had to do a little more adjusting though and once that was done it seemed pretty close to being equal along the East and West sides. Took a pic from the inside just showing the thing where I wanted it.

 

 

Boss and his son finally stroll in after this so I got the help I needed to attach the furring strips. Took a little while to get my buddy up to speed, what was done, what needed to be done and his part etc. The most important thing to do is get one of the shorter sides somewhat attached so you can go over to the other side and pull the plastic tight and attach that side. In this case we started on the East side, got it somewhat attached then moved to the West side and got that fleshed out.

 

 

Time was about 10:15 am and I figured I was on schedule. We set about getting the East side to the same level of completion. Had to take a break because a truck came in with fresh flowers and some hanging baskets. Then we started to attach the wood strips on the top part of the North side. Got that done just after 12:00pm, ate lunch then attached the strips on the top part of the South side.

 

 

Time was about 12:20pm. Running behind but that always happens after lunch. For the next part I didn't have time for pics so I'll explain what was done.

 

Another truck came in with fresh flowers. Cut those and put them away. Then back at it on the greenhouse. Put the strips on the lower part of the North side, then attached the vertical strips. Ditto on the South side. After the long sides were fastened down we worked on the West side. When we got to the east side another truck came in with outdoor planters and some hanging baskets. Had to unload those, then barely settled back and yet another truck came in with fresh flowers. By this time it was already past 5:30pm so it was dinner. I was beat, but that little break helped. We finally got the East side finished, then cut off the excess plastic along the long sides and hauled all the planters and hanging baskets into the greenhouse plus set up the boards in there.

 

 

Time was 6:43 pm. Took another couple hours to cut the flowers that came in and put those away and garbage duty + cleanup took another hour. All told, I had nearly a 15 hour day. What hurt was all those breaks where we had to unload the never ending line of trucks dropping stuff off, plus the nearly 2 hour delay waiting for help to arrive in the morning. Normally I'd have the greenhouse complete by about 3 PM assuming I wouldn't have any interruptions except for lunch.

 

Anyway, I'll try and get some more pics of the outside of the greenhouse tomorrow. There's a little more to be done above the doors on the West side and to fix up the broken table along the North side but otherwise it's all complete now.

 

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

With Zombie soldiering on you need not a throng!

 

I've got to say - incredible work on your part. Congratulations are well in order!!

 

There's no way that greenhouse was going to be usable on the same day had you not taken as much of an early lead as you did. It helps, of course, particularly in that initial stage, that your height somewhat facilitates the raising of the plastic, as you can reach further.

 

It's just great to see everything standing and the flowers inside once again.

 

What is it they say? Give yourself a raise! Let me tell you, you sure as heck are entitled to one.

[Space Voyager]

With Zombie soldiering on you need not a throng!

 

I've got to say - incredible work on your part. Congratulations are well in order!!

 

There's no way that greenhouse was going to be usable on the same day had you not taken as much of an early lead as you did. It helps, of course, particularly in that initial stage, that your height somewhat facilitates the raising of the plastic, as you can reach further.

 

It's just great to see everything standing and the flowers inside once again.

 

What is it they say? Give yourself a raise! Let me tell you, you sure as heck are entitled to one.

 

This, THIS! And don't forget on the raise part.

[Zombie]

There's no way that greenhouse was going to be usable on the same day had you not taken as much of an early lead as you did. It helps, of course, particularly in that initial stage, that your height somewhat facilitates the raising of the plastic, as you can reach further.

 

Height doesn't actually play much of a role in raising the plastic since it's getting pulled up with the twine. I will say that my height does have some advantages with getting the twine across the top. Technically didn't even need the ladder inside (I put it there more for the bosses son).

 

It's just great to see everything standing and the flowers inside once again.

 

Took the words right out of my mouth. Glad to be in the planting season again.

 

 

I was able to take a few pics of the finished greenhouse this morning before it got too busy. North, East, South and West:

 

 

If you are wondering what the dark shadows are in the first pic, those are cardboard flower boxes. In the second pic you can see how I had to fold the plastic over itself so that things were tight. Third pic is probably my favorite - just look how perfect the top is, even the fold line is level with the top of the side. Wow! Fourth pic looks so inviting with the door open, sun shining and plants inside.

 

Pretty happy with how it turned out overall. It's not as tight as I was hoping to get it, and the sides look a little wrinkled in areas, but to the average joe consumer he wouldn't care. I just set the bar pretty high sometimes.

 

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

Gotta hand it to you, Zombie: absolutely nailed it!!

 

 

For me, that last pic is quite simply the icing on the cake. Even the sun finally joined in to provide you with the best lighting to beautifully frame it all!

[Zombie]

Not painting, but how about some pics of an average Mother's Day at the flowerland (taken inside the small garage which is the holiday delivery headquarters):

 

 

You are probably thinking how I can find anything in there or why it's all spread out without seemingly any rhyme or reason. I assure you there is a method to the madness. We sort the deliveries first by quadrant (North East of the store, North West, South, Downtown plus the other smaller cities around us) and then further break those quadrants down by how far away from the store they are. For example, the North East quadrant is broken down into Close North East (closest to the store), Mid North East and Far North East. That way, when a driver goes out he or she is in a specific area and not driving all the way across town.

 

I then break those areas down a bit more by sorting out popular places like hospitals, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, senior homes/condos or high population centers. For the popular areas I may wait to deliver there until we have a bunch or I could send a driver out just to that area if there are getting to be a lot. Or I may group a couple more popular places together and send a driver to just do those. It all depends on how big the delivery run is. Or I may combine two loads together so there is enough for one run.

 

The point here is that once you have the deliveries sorted out you can create concise runs which go really quick. I've been doing this long enough that I can memorize most every delivery address for that day and can figure out where everything is. No need for a computer or smartphone, it's in my noggin (though the memorization is only temporary - I'll forget most of them in a couple days.

 

Anyhow, this Mother's Day isn't as busy as it once was but it's gotta be one of the better ones in the last 5-6 years.

 

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

I'm down with it, Zombie - bring on the flowers!

 

Definitely more to it than at first meets the eye. Ensuring you're not sending drivers on pointless runs is as important to the business and, I'd expect, overall customer satisfaction, as the product itself.

 

There's beauty in efficiency to be sure, but I certainly find all the colour and variety in that rightmost snap outright enjoyable.

 

If I could chance a guess I'd say you're making many mothers happy once again this year!

[Space Voyager]

Flowers make no dent in otherwise technical nature of the thread, Z! They do make it lovely. An interesting system for keeping a flowery order. If you can find the right ones each time, it obviously works.

 

The date made me wonder though. I thought Mother's day is an international holiday, but we have it on March 25th. So I checked and while it is celebrated in most countries, the date is not internationally set - and Slovenia is the only one to celebrate it on March 25th.

 

You should think about shipping world-wide to take advantage of all the dates. I'd love to see how you'd adapt your sorting system to the globe. Kidding, kidding!

[Zombie]

You should think about shipping world-wide to take advantage of all the dates. I'd love to see how you'd adapt your sorting system to the globe. Kidding, kidding!

 

For international orders there's FTD (Florist's Transworld Delivery), Teleflora and a handful of other companies which send orders to other countries. Obviously a fee associated for this service, but on the plus side any orders placed internationally and going here will get funneled to the nearest florist to be sent to the recipient. This is probably the best and most efficient way to send flowers you could come up with as the flowers will always be fresh and located close to the final delivery location. With that said, if I had to, say, extend my sorting system to the state, I'm sure it would work as long as we had enough drivers and refrigerated trucks. Our location would be a plus state-wise as we are situated in the middle of the population corridor and bordered by Lake Michigan.

 

Back on topic, for my first true painting project of the year I decided to touch up the red tables in the greenhouse. They got dinged up a bit during the repair/rebuilding phases and were exposed to harsh the elements for a few months. Nothing exceptionally bad, mind you. Still had most of that mistint red latex paint left so I scraped what was loose, and primed with the latex. Also decided to put a coat on the edges to fill in any pores. Took some pics:

 

 

Not bad. I began applying a top coat of polyurethane over the spots today, but didn't get too far as I started kinda late in the day. Will probably get that done tomorrow. Things dry fairly fast in the greenhouse especially with the new top and modifications as the heat is contained better. Is usually nice and toasty in there when the sun is shining, so much so, that we end up propping open a door or two during the day.

 

- Zombie

[Zombie]

Last week I touched up those latex spots with the polyurethane so everything sorta matches again.

 

 

You may have noticed one of the tables (non-painted variety on the North side) looked uneven (can see it best from my pics the day I installed the new plastic). The wood top is getting pretty rotten in spots and the carriage bolts holding it to the frame are badly rusted. I didn't realize it was this bad till I was installing the new upper boards at eye level and accidentally tried to kneel on it. The force of that extra weight pulled the frame down which in turn pulled the bolts through the wood tabletop. I'm eventually going to replace the tops on this side, but until I do I need to temporarily strengthen the broken out area. First thing to do was measure and cut a 2x4 as a "leg" for some support, and wedge that under the frame to make the two tabletops even. With the support in place, I cut out the rusted carriage bolts with a hacksaw and managed to pound out the remnants.

 

 

If you are wondering why there are carpet pieces over the sewer cover is because I didn't want to drop something down there because the cover will not come off.

 

With the bolts out I now had to decide how to fasten the tabletop to the frame again. Hmmm. The holes in the wood top were now much too big to accept the same bolt anymore. My first thought was to fabricate some big metal washers to span the hole. Found a piece of metal which would work and almost went that route until I realized that the same bolt size would be too short. Found a different type of bolt which would go through the hole but it didn't have threads along the full length of the stem and would be too long. So I needed more thickness and I ended up cutting pieces of hardwood to use as spacers/spanners (a spanner in this context is not a wrench, it's something with goes between two things). That did the trick, only two bolts were necessary to snug things up.

 

 

Good enough to get through the planting season at least, and maybe I can replace the tops this summer. (Would have been nice to replace the tops while the plastic was gone but I can loosen up the plastic from the bottom and get to the tops from the outside too).

 

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

From bottom to top, Zombie's repairs until done won't stop!

 

Ah, some actual paint, a sight for sore eyes. Nice and shiny too.

 

Speaking of eyesores that other poor table's wood top is in a truly sorry condition by comparison.

 

Your makeshift spacer and bolt fix does seem like it will tide it over for a while longer but you better not forget it's not exactly fit to support your weight meanwhile.

[Space Voyager]

YOU ARE A MACHINE!!! Do you ever take a break?!

 

Though I am really looking forward to see you tackle that far-gone tabletop, whenever you do. From rotten wood to glossy red polyurethane in a jiffy.

[Zombie]

Your makeshift spacer and bolt fix does seem like it will tide it over for a while longer but you better not forget it's not exactly fit to support your weight meanwhile.

 

Au contraire, that 2x4 leg I cut and wedged underneath the frame is plenty strong to hold my weight (not that I tried it or anything). And there is a metal "bridge" between the two table frames which stiffens things up too. It's a temporary fix like I said, and there isn't anything on that table right now either so it should serve the purpose until replacement tops can be procured and cut.

 

YOU ARE A MACHINE!!! Do you ever take a break?!

 

Take a break from maintenance or fixing things? Well, yeah. But it's only because I consider that to be a secondary job description. I have my usual tasks I need to do everyday, and then there are also emergency or special jobs that I will tackle too. Once those are out of the way then I can continue with the fixing. In a nearly century old building there's always something that needs to be worked on.

 

Though I am really looking forward to see you tackle that far-gone tabletop, whenever you do. From rotten wood to glossy red polyurethane in a jiffy.

 

Yup, the new tops are probably going to be marine grade plywood or at least green treated due to moisture, but other than that, the same thing I did to the other tables will be what I do to the new ones. Of course, when you get new green treated lumber it is always soaking wet and needs to dry at least a week before working with it. Otherwise it is just to heavy to move and difficult to sand (those sharp factory edges need to be rounded over a tad). I'll probably be post-treating the semi-dry wood with some of my homemade wood preservative of boiled linseed oil and paint thinner to prevent warpage, then a coat of latex primer and mistint red latex paint for the top.

 

In other news, I was looking at the new plastic top/sides of the greenhouse and noticed it wasn't very taut anymore. So that's going to need to be addressed soon. The plastic stretches a bit with the wind and warmth so it's going to happen eventually. I just didn't think it would be this soon. It's not a huge project though, as all I need to do is loosen the short sides, pull them tight again and reattach the strips. Then it should be good to go for a while.

 

- Zombie

[Space Voyager]

Been a month! Whassup?!

 

I'm spoiled, I know.

[Zombie]

Haven't forgot about this topic. I've just been swamped at work which is good I guess with the pandemic still around. The beginning and middle of the month was taken up mostly by the planting season - first with getting product in and then selling it and trying to put some of the tables and racks away for next year. Middle of the month was day-to-day operations as the old boss man's wife died (so our current boss and his son was visiting his mom everyday). In between all of this I cleaned up and planted 16 grave sites at one cemetery (seems like every year I get more and more as visitors to the cemetery see my work and want the same for the gravestones of their dearly departed).

 

The only painting I really did was touch up primer and gray spray paint to cover a few chips in the finish of the long table in the backroom. I'm planning on painting that along with the the delivery table soon while the weather is still mild and not super hot or humid. Both of the paints for those tables are oil based so they take longer to dry which means I need to mess with the formulation by using additives like paint thinner, turpentine or conditioner to get the paint to dry (flash or skin over) quicker. Those products contain VOC's so I like to do the painting with the doors open and AC off.

 

I've got projects in the pipe besides this though.

• The floor in the back cooler has some spots where the paint chipped off. Can't really do anything about that until we can turn the cooler off and let it dry out and warm up (that'll take about a week).
  
• I may need to do a little more tuck pointing and painting on the corner of the small garage (same spot I worked on last year). Apparently the caulk didn't hold in the screw hole in the gutter which allowed water to get behind the paint and cause bubbles.
  
• There's also a little touch up underneath one of the windows of the back part of the building facing the driveway.
  
• I also noticed that the east wall of the store has some cracks in the mortar again so I'll probably need to caulk the cracks and touch up those spots (not going to repaint the whole wall as I did it in the summer/fall of 2012).
  
• Painting needs to be done on the concrete block around the big back garage door (the door itself still looks perfect).
  
• Possibly need to repaint the west wall of the back as it's starting to look a little faded.
  
• Then of course is the issue of new tables for the greenhouse. I want to start work on that sooner as the plywood needs time to dry and I need to cut it to the proper width (the ply comes in 4x8 foot sheets and I need the top to be 3x8, the foot that I cut off will be the boards that go on top of the table later).
  

So yeah, there are quite a few things which need to get done. The weather hasn't been cooperating though (rain this past week almost everyday) which is why I haven't started anything yet.

 

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

Wow, I didn't expect there to be such a "to-do" list to take care of when you stay on top of things as much as you do, Zombie.

 

You're literally well aware of everything that is in need of your attention, depite being otherwise occupied. In this day and age that alone deserves a thumbs-up.

 

p.s.: wasn't aware you had grave site maintenance on the job description. Whatever happened to Plants vs Zombies? Clearly a myth.

[Space Voyager]

That reminds me of my own "project list". Except that I don't do anything any more.

[Zombie]

Wow, I didn't expect there to be such a "to-do" list to take care of when you stay on top of things as much as you do, Zombie.

 

My to-do list is never ending unfortunately. Although, by the end of summer/fall I usually put a pretty good dent in it. I'm pretty good about identifying fixit projects as I keep a close eye on the state of the building and property during all times of the year. Hard not to notice stuff when you are staring at it everyday. Sometimes you need to see it in different light levels - for instance, bubbles in a paint job can be hard to see in bright sunshine, but they "pop" out when the sun is low in the sky or it's slightly overcast.

 

Speaking of projects, I noticed that the plow guys must've backed up into the frame of the red door with the concrete threshold and chowdered it up. Not a huge mess, but that needs to get done. And the decorative black pedestrian gate in the front of the store is looking like it needs a coat of paint again. Think I have the paint for that so it shouldn't take too long to knock that out if it's not pounding rain.

 

You're literally well aware of everything that is in need of your attention, despite being otherwise occupied. In this day and age that alone deserves a thumbs-up.

 

Like I said before, I'm pretty good about knowing what needs to be worked on. Sometimes I forget about a project but I usually remember it again eventually.

 

p.s.: wasn't aware you had grave site maintenance on the job description. Whatever happened to Plants vs Zombies? Clearly a myth.

 

Heck, I've got tons of stuff I do that's not in my job description. If you want to work, you better make sure you are multi-talented, otherwise you'll get sent home. That's the modus operandi.

 

Today I was kinda busy again. Was able to fit in a couple mini painting projects though. A little back story first.

 

We never had a hand truck or dolly at the store to move small & heavy things until about 10 years ago. Before that time we just used muscle or one of our rubbermaid carts. That all changed one cloudy and rainy Saturday. I was out on the parking lot moving tables and racks around and kept seeing this U-Haul truck blasting down the street and burning rubber at the stop sign at the corner. I figured this guy was probably in a rush to return the truck that day yet. It was nearing 4:00pm and I literally hear the guy 2 blocks away blasting to the stop sign yet again. He was making a hell of a racket as this time the back door to the truck was up (must've forgot to close it). Anyway, he burns rubber again and I see this red thing come crashing out into the intersection. Went to investigate and move whatever it was out of the street and here was the typical red U-Haul dolly (check out U-Haul's website to see pics of the utility dolly). I left the thing sit at the corner of our property on the sidewalk hoping he would realize he was missing something and come back for it. At 5:00 pm we were going to close so I put the thing inside the parking lot at the corner so he could maybe grab it over the fence after-hours. Nope, never came back - probably ate the cost to replace the dolly when he went to return the truck. So that's how I got the dolly.

 

Every few years I'll repaint the dolly and today was the day. Before and after:

 

 

The first pic shows the cart I fixed up last year with a new coat of paint and the dolly. Second pic shows it all "dolled" up, ahem, get it?

 

And hey, while I was at the corner of the small garage I might as well take a pic of the South side:

 

 

The purple flowers are the Canterbury Bells (aka Campanula) and the non-blooming plant at the end and middle is the white coneflower. Those should be coming into bloom in a couple weeks or so. The corkscrew rush (type of grass) didn't really fare that well as all but two died out. No worries though, I have extra perennials I can plant in their place.

 

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

That's a real doll you've got there, Zombie.

 

And by your retelling, you clearly were the chosen one. Rightly so too, just look at that glossy finish!

 

A good caretaker you certainly are.

 

Thusly, it's got to be said, what's the deal with the very conspicuously shamed units behind the dolly? They've been around more than long enough. When are you going to be allowed to get those eyesores out of the premises?

 

Moving on: your flowers, it's plain to see, as ever do bloom, a joy to be, defeating all gloom; so great are the powers delivered in such simplicity.

[Zombie]

Thusly, it's got to be said, what's the deal with the very conspicuously shamed units behind the dolly? They've been around more than long enough. When are you going to be allowed to get those eyesores out of the premises?

 

It's just one unit actually, and yes I agree it's an eyesore. Been in my way for almost a year now which is annoying as hell. The issue is that there's freon in there and you can't just take the unit apart and let that stuff escape and wreck the ozone layer. The HVAC guy was here last week to service the AC aspect of the new unit on the store and he did capture the freon from the tanks from the old unit on the store, but couldn't fit anymore freon into the recapture tank so it's just going to have to wait. Besides, it was just him and I don't think he could get that on his truck himself without taking it apart. So I dunno what's happening with it yet, gotta talk to the boss man to maybe get the HVAC guy back.

 

- Zombie

[Thorondor]

Roger that, Zombie. We sure don't need any more CFCs released out there.

 

Hopefully that freon gas is worth a return visit. I imagine it might be worth something at least.

 

Besides, in their line of work you'd suppose they'd have a vehicle equipped with some form of winch or a mini-crane for just such occasions.