Jim Alfredson

Marcello, thanks for the tip but I think you have to be a contractor to get that stuff, is that right? When doing research, I found some very interesting products that were commercial grade sealers, but I can't buy them as an individual. I've got all hardwood floors in this house and they all need done, so if there's a better way, I'm all for it!

I re-formated it for you, Lazaro, to make it easier to read. Thanks for posting.

Every now and then we used to sing some Rachmaninoff in high school / college. I always loved his very bottom heavy arrangements for voice. And obviously his abilities as a pianist as well. Where to start as far as CDs are concerned? I have nothing, but I think I would lean more towards choral and solo piano. Thanks!

Don't have any pictures, but I put three coats of polyurethane on the floor. I read that you really don't want to do more than that because you risk having cracking appear. It looks very good and has already taking some beatings (I dropped my screwdriver on it a few times while installing our new ceiling fan) and is really standing up well. I'm going to take a picture of a part of the floor that was not sanded because it is behind a gas valve and will be behind the stove so the "before and after" is evident. I have to say, I had my doubts that it would come out looking this good and even tried to convince my wife that we should tile the floor. I'm glad that she stayed the course!

Detroit is in trouble. But I wouldn't count them out yet. You know what happens when you do that. GO PISTONS!

I can't stop people from signing up with different IP addresses.

I didn't see the game because I was working. Is that what Riley is resorting to, now? Just hacking Ben to win the game? Pistons will win Game 4 and the series.

One coat of polyurethane is on: A close-up of the grain. They don't make floors like this anymore. To think this was hidden under 60+ years worth of ugly linolium.

Thank you! I'm really happy with it. I'm about to start the polyurethane. It really looks good considering how old it is. It gives me confidence to do the rest of the floors in this house eventually.

Well, after taking home some small cans of various colored stains throughtout the week and trying them where the stove will be (and thus hidden from view once the appliances are in) I was not completely satisfied with my choices. So I today got creative and mixed two stains together. "Red Mahogany" had the darkness I wanted, but was too dark, and "Sedona Red" had the redness I wanted but was too light. Put them together and: The photo doesn't do it justice. It has a really beautiful deep red tone and the wood took the stain extremely well. I did use a pre-stain conditioner beforehand. I'll put the polyurethane on tomorrow. I'm hoping to get at least 4 coats on before I have to gig. Speaking of gigs, it's time to hit the shower and get ready for Kalamazoo!

Thanks, Mike. The best thing about doing it yourself is you can take your time and do it right. Most contractors are rushing to get to the next job. Unfortunately the floor, although in good shape for being 100 years old, has a lot of nail holes, dark spots, etc. that don't look so good. I think a good, relatively dark stain will hide some of those and still look great.

What was that?? Musta missed it the first time. Link?? Thanks in advance!!! http://cdbaby.com/cd/bowtiebarstow

In fact, here's some pics of what I've been working on. I wish I had some "before" pictures handy, but they are buried on CD-ROMs somewhere. I'll find them when I finish the project. Anyway, here's the countertop I'm installing. They are 18"x18" pocelain tiles that I'm laying diagonally (they are 25" diagonally!) I had a heck of a time cutting them on the biggest wet saw Home Depot had to rent. My dad had the idea of building a wood platform on top of the saw's metal platform that allowed us to center the tiles on the platform and cut them one-half at a time. It took a little longer since we had to align the blade in reference to the tile and the first cut, but it worked like a charm! That sink is not the main sink, that's our little prep sink. The main sink is made from the same material and is a big, single-well model. The backsplash will be some 2"x4" brick looking tiles in shades of gray, red, and brown. I'm waiting for a wet saw I ordered off ebay to start those. I got tired of spending $60 a day to rent a saw. Next is the window casing, which I am very proud of. We had a new window installed to replace the old wooden window that was broken and rotted. The old cabinets used to butt up right against the window frame, so there was no casing to speak of. I wanted to match the windows in the rest of the house, so I made a new window sill, new side panels, a new top (I found a woodshop north of Lansing that happened to have a knife that matched the original molding in the house perfectly!) and bottom. Basically everything is new and besides the molding at the very top, made by me. Like I said, I'm proud of it! Next is a shot of the side cabinet and pantry. The pantry goes from the floor all the way up to the height you see in the picture. Over 8 feet! Plenty of storage space in there on shelves that roll out. I cut and fastened the molding on top. The cabinets were installed by a hired handyman. My back isn't up to hanging cabinets! My wife and I painted them (long long process) inside and out. In the very corner you can see the unfinished door casing. Which brings me to the door casings I've been working on this week. The darker wood is the original yellow pine that I striped about 7 layers of paint off. The lighter wood is new white pine that I cut to match the original pieces which were either ruined due to being cut to accomodate the old cabinets or just had too many nail holes and paint on them. Notice the original molding on the top of the casing. The new stuff matches it almost exactly. You can also see the floor that I will be staining this weekend. It is 100 year old southern yellow pine. It's a beautiful wood and is in remarkable shape considering it's age. Probably due to being covered by three layers of old flooring that we removed! I sanded the floor myself. Our contractor was supposed to do it and I rented all the equipment from Home Depot to be ready for our Monday morning appointment a few months ago and the guy never showed. That was the last straw for us with this contractor and we fired him and I've been completing all the work myself except hanging the cabinets. The only thing our contractor did in between July of last year when this project was started and December when we fired him was the drywall, which I helped with. What a loser. The door that you see I stipped and repaired two years ago. That middle section didn't have any cross braces in it, just one big piece of thin plexiglass. The door was very unstable, so I stripped it and took it apart and my dad and I put all new dowels in it, those cross braces, and new glass. It's just waiting to be painted. Next up, a shot of the other door casings I've been working on. Again, the new wood is lighter than the original wood. All the original wood had to be stripped. Zora is about 36" tall, so you can get an idea of how high the doorways are in this old house. I still have to cut and install some baseboards after staining the floor. In the right corner is a wall-mounted pot rack that my brother and I put up the other day. I'll post some more pictures once the project is done. It's going to be slick!

My brother is doing well. We got together on Monday (his birthday) for a bit. He's just busy. His employer is in the process of moving, so that's taking a lot of time. I'm sure if I needed him to "watch the house" while I was gone, he would do so. But lately things have been relatively quiet 'round here.

Shit, Jim! Forget that music crap and come help me build a few houses! I've always said that if I couldn't do music, I would like to work with wood (cabinetry, carpentry, etc.). I even like framing!

I thought they were playing fine in the fourth quarter, but some major screw-ups by the refs (ahem, Dick Bavetta) towards the end almost cost the Pistons the game.

Funny shit!

Thanks, everyone! I'm hard at work juggling Zora's needs while putting the pedal to the metal on this kitchen remodel. I've been doing some serious carpentry the last few days in preparation towards staining the floor this weekend. Then it's plumbing (two sinks and one cold water line to the refridgerator), finishing up the countertop (grouting the main countertop and installing and grouting the backsplash), hooking up all the electrical, the ceiling fan, and the fixture over the sink, and then finally painting the door casings that I've been working on this week. Phew! I must have this done by June 6th because that's when my appliances will be delivered (and this summer is CRAZY busy gig-wise, so I won't have time to do anything!) This kitchen project has been going on since last July (almost a year!) so it's amazing that it's nearing completion. For my birthday, my wife made me a delicious German chocolate cake and she's taking me out to dinner later this evening. Then I'm going to watch the Pistons smoke the Heat! And then some "quality time" with my beautiful wife. Sounds like a great birthday to me!

I think Jazzmoose is right on with this guy's motivation.

I still have not found the time to do this. I've got roughly two weeks to get my kitchen remodel finished before my appliances are delivered, so I've been working my ass off on that. I will get to this soon.

And what was with Pat Riley employing the "Hack-a-Ben" with 2:30 to go and the Heat up by 9?!? LAME, is what it was.

SS1 does this every year. What's new? He's going to lose another $10. He's 0-3 against me and the Pistons. The Pistons were obviously tired, not making shots that they usually make. They had a LOT of wide open shots that just didn't fall. If they had, it would've been a 20 point blowout. The shots kept bouncing off the front of the rim, which is a sign of fatigue. I don't know why Flip Saunders played the starters for almost ALL of the third quarter, finally doing a substitution with 2 minutes to go. That said, this upcoming schedule favors the Pistons BIG TIME. The games are played almost every 2 days. Look for the Pistons to win the next two. As far as other players for the Heat stepping up... what was Udonis Haslem's final tally? 0-16? I'm not really worried about this series. The Pistons should still take it in 6.

Why don't you ask him? www.ronblakemusic.com ronblakemusic@hotmail.com

Congrats to the Mavs, although I would've loved to see the Pistons cream San Antonio in the Finals this year (and you know they would absolutely demolish them). The Mavs may prove to be a bigger challenge. I do not think the Suns will get past the Mavs. I'm no fan of Ginobli at all. He got away with murder last year against the Pistons.

Never seen that before. Thanks very much for posting! wow