Diversion - Could Be My Middle Name

I don't often fly.  I love to fly, but I just don't often have the opportunity.  I do spend a fair amount of time at airports, however.  My step-daughters Hilary and Hadley make a few trips a year back to Colorado to visit their dad, so every few months, we wander over to the Jetport for a pick-up or a drop-off. 

Every time I am there, I get the same feeling of excitement and opportunity.  Even in a relatively small airport, excuse me, International Jetport (Portland is so proud of its airport), there are people coming from and going to all sorts of places in the world, and connecting even further.  There is no horizon at an airport.  Nothing is too far.  Nothing is impossible.  There are teary goodbyes and even tearier reunions.  Relatives, lovers, parents away on business, vacationers, basketball teams (we saw the Red Claws heading off somewhere once), kids headed to Disneyland, Disney World and who knows what else?

Blue skies, limitless horizons and boundless opportunity.  I love that feeling of general excitement, but is there any single day in a person's life that better exemplifies that feeling than arriving at one's first day of college?  That was our day today.

Alas, dear reader, I must already break a promise to you.  I promised an explanation of our first concrete counter project, but life has put itself in the way, as it so often does. 

I'm still working out how often I'll be serving up episodes for you to read.  I suppose it depends on the scope of the topic.  It has been suggested by my eldest step-daughter, Hilary, that I also discuss the various projects and diversions that I get into around here.  One of the many life diversions today was packing up and taking her to freshman orientation at Bates College.  Perhaps she wants to check in here as a way to stay apprised of the goings-on around our house.

This past weekend brought another major diversion.  I spent the better part of the two days underneath the kitchen sink.  One of the two drains was clogging and not draining properly and the dishwasher didn't seem to be rinsing out soap and food bits as well as it used to.  So, under the sink I went.

It was quickly clear that the connections and the sink drain parts had reached quitting time.  Gaskets and metal connectors were all crumbling into pieces.  Because the local Ace Hardware store only had one replacement strainer, and because pieces kept breaking individually after I had already purchased everything I thought I needed, the chore stretched out over two days and eight trips to four hardware stores in three towns, including drive-bys of three closed stores.

That was merely annoying.  Annoying I can handle.  The real joy was cleaning out the traps in the three pipes (two sink drains and the dishwasher).  Has anyone had the pleasure of doing this yet?  Traps are the bend in a drain pipe, usually in the shape of an "S" or a "P", that keeps a small section of water in the pipe.  This water prevents the smell of your sewer line or septic tank from rising up through the pipes and into a house.  Quite ingenious, in fact.  According to the Wikipedia, it was Scottish watchmaker Alexander Cummings who invented the trap along with the first patented flushing toilet in 1775.  Smart guy.

Under our sink we have traps that involve a canister-like piece of plumbing.  Inside the canister is where the water rests and the food clogs.  Let's just say this.  Apparently, food that heads down the drain and hangs out in the trap digests very similarly to digestion in our own personal waste systems.  What I scraped, wiped, knocked and pulled out of those three traps was not pretty.  At one point, I felt like I was doing some manual upper GI work on a horse.  I will provide no photos of that for fear of driving away all my wonderful readers and attracting some, let's say unsavory elements of the Internet.

The thicker vertical parts are the actual traps.  After seeing the poop-like substances clogging the inside, please be kind to your plumber or handy spouse and never let food go down the sink drain again.  (Photo by Dave Gagne)

Not all of the diversions are quite so awful.  In fact, I came up with great list of projects to do around the house.  Because of my monthly deadlines for work, I usually end up with some empty time in the middle of each month.  In August, that time was turned into "Project Week."  Bliss.  All projects, all day long.  The list currently has 20 items on it, most of which I mentioned in the first post.  It even includes a secret project, which I can't tell you guys about yet, but I will.  I need something to hook you into a second season of episodes.

The point is that stuff gets in the way.  I'll keep you posted on some of these side projects as I plow through them.  The diversions are part of life, aren't they.  The concrete and the stone remain the larger goals.  As I go, I try to heed the some guidance which I have cobbled from various places.

Do the things that you have to do as well as you can.  Be sure to save time and energy for the things that excite and interest you.  An artist in Eastport we recently spoke with went as far as to advise spending your most productive hours of the day on the things you love.  Let work get the rest.

Try to stay on the task at hand, even if better tasks are waiting for you to come out and play.  This can be very hard, especially for us focusly-challenged, as diversions can now be as close as a mouse-click away. 

The majority of the time diversions need to be reigned in like wild cattle so you can finish what needs to be done.  Other times, diversions are the wonderful variety that makes this life interesting.  Knowing which path to take is sometimes luck and sometimes true wisdom.

Don't dwell too long on the decision.  Pick a path and go to it.  Good luck at Bates, Hilary.  You are a wonderful young woman with a limitless future.  We are so proud of you and love you very much.  Hopefully the house will look a little bit different by the time your semester ends, if I can stay on task.

And speaking of diversions, I have to go make dinner.

dave

“Let’s Start At the Very Beginning, A Very Good Place to Start”

Huzzah! With the posting of these very words, I do believe Learning to Play With Concrete and Stone surpasses half of the blogs ever created.  That is to say, I have penned a second installment.  I have this (self-created and completely unfounded-in-fact) suspicion that many people begin a blog and realize they have nothing to say and it dies.  It’s not only my suspicion, it’s my big fear.

But here I am, typing again.  I don’t know a lot about blogging.  There are none that I follow regularly. I bump into a few certain blogs every once in a while.  I don’t know all the customs and social mores of this blogosphere. In fact, I don’t even like the word blog.  So, I will from here on refer to Learning to Play With Concrete and Stone as my installment-based discussion and commentary on my interest in designing and creating both useful and decorative objects using various combinations of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks and certain cementitious materials.  Too bulky?

The Pantheon in Rome, completed in AD 125.  As concrete domes go, it is winner and still champion.  (Photo by Dave Gagne)

So, in the beginning, there was concrete and it was good.

I am going to start on the concrete side of things.  My desire to sink my hands into some concrete and shape it to my will has been brewing longer than my interest in stonework.  Though not really sink my hands in.  There is something in the mix that isn’t good for your skin.  Cured, rough concrete may be a great (or brutish) exfoliater, but its liquid form doesn’t help to keep skin looking young and can cause burns.

I’ll spare you the in-depth history of concrete.  Of course the Romans are famous for their early use of concrete.  The Pantheon in Rome still holds the record for largest unsupported concrete dome.  A quick glance at the Wikipedia shows ancient Egyptians were found to have used concrete in their Pyramids.  Since those primitive structures in Egypt and Rome, we’ve come a long way in improving our concrete architecture, reaching the pinnacle in 1968 with Boston’s City Hall, perhaps the ugliest building in the world.

The aforementioned Boston City Hall, completed in 1968.  (Photo by Bobak Ha'Eri from Wikipedia)

How good were the Romans?  Just to show off, they added a 27-foot opening called an oculus at the very top of the Pantheon.  Scholars point to this as an early example of architectural trash-talk.  (Photo by Dave Gagne)

So if you are going to hang around this here blog thing, I need you to know the one nit-picky little detail about the semantics of concrete and cement.  Anyone know what the difference is?  Hands please.  If you already know, then skip down to the section titled “Things You Don’t Yet Know.”  Okay, concrete and cement are not interchangeable terms.  Same ballpark, same team even, but they are different positions in the batting order.

Let’s start with cement.  No.  Let’s start with concrete.  Concrete is the end product we are here to discuss.  Concrete is the hardened, stone-like substance holding up our highway bridges, damming up the world’s rivers and giving you a basement to store all the crap that you just can’t throw away.

Concrete is made from a mix of various ingredients.  There are some rocks in there, some gravel, sand, sometimes coloring agents and perhaps even various chemicals for strength or improved workability.  The two important ingredients, however, are water and cement, or more specifically Portland cement.  Portland cement is a magical combination of goodies ground into a fine powder.  We don’t really need to know much more than that.  When it comes in contact with water, a chemical reaction called hydration begins, causing the mixture to harden and ironically become waterproof.  Concrete doesn’t actually dry.  The water is used up in the chemical reaction.

To the water and cement we add fine aggregates such as sand and course aggregates, usually gravel and small rocks but sometimes glass, shells or other decorative materials.  These aggregates give the hardening cement something to bond to, giving the resulting mixture more strength.  Metal mesh, iron rebar, tiny fibers and other materials are also used to make a concrete object stronger or more resistant to cracking.

Don't go to your big box store and call this a sack of concrete.  Actually, they may not even know the difference.  And sorry fellow Mainer's, it's named for its similarity to a stone quarried only on the Isle of Portland, in Dorset, England.  (Photo by Dave Gagne)

Admixtures.  Admixture is a funny word and frankly, I don’t like it much.  It refers to various other powders and liquids that are added to the concrete mix to give it certain superpowers, like color, frost resistance and my favorite, water-reduction.  The latter is accomplished with plasticizers, which reduce the amount of water required in the concrete mix.  It is my understanding that the less water used in the chemical reaction, the stronger the resulting concrete will be.  That said, there has to be enough water to make the mixture workable.  You have to be able to mix it thoroughly and actually pour it into place.  Plasticizers are also known as water-reducers, as they magically make the water you are using more awesome.  I believe that is a technical description of the process.  A concrete guy once tried to offer a chemistry-based explanation of it all, but I had to laugh at him for thinking you can explain magic with chemistry.  That’s just silly.

Oh boy.  I hooked some of you with the first post, but now I’m pretty sure I’ve bored everyone nearly to tears.  Actually, I believe the Interweb has abolished boredom.  If one enters the state of boredom, the Interweb is instantly ready to whisk you back to videos of skateboarding dogs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CnTeMCU8SU).  Bam!  No more boredom.

“But Dave, why concrete counters?”  Because it is cool.  Because you can make it into any shape that you can create a mold for.  Because we can do it ourselves!  And that’s why I work at home, making a little less money than you bastards hitting the cubicle everyday.  With the little less money comes a little more time (now that I kicked my MafiaWars on Facebook habit).  More time plus some handy ability and a cement mixer equals opportunities for fun!  I know it says stone at the top as well, but I’m not running out and making my own granite or marble counters.  I could add that marble pastry block you’ve always wanted or a solid wooden butcher block to a custom concrete counter though.

I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself though.  You can research the wonders of concrete counters on your own.  It’s a big Internet.  Start here (http://www.concreteexchange.com/why-concrete.html) and let industry pioneer Fu-Tung Cheng wow you and astound you.  Feel free to mix in enough skateboarding dogs or even a little OMG cat watching the double rainbow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2EKUjgeIvY) when it suits you.  You know, to keep from getting bored.

We got some basics out of the way today.  Let me know either by comment below or email if you have any questions beyond my cursory explanation.  In the next episode, I really will explain what our first project will be.  Sneak preview.  It’s going here:

Wouldn't a concrete counter just clean this up nicely?  (Photo by Dave Gagne)

Talk to you soon.




dave

Newsflash: Man Starts Blog to Let the World Know All About What He Is Doing!

Okay, the occasion seems a little less glamorous when you boil it down to its basics.  Two of my friends have indirectly and in different ways urged me toward this blog.  I know there must be dozens of other blogs on the Interweb by now and some of them more interesting or informative than mine.   I know I’m trying to walk that fine line between cliché and trivial.  I’ve even heard that a blog is no longer the trendy way to try and occupy other people’s time online.  All that said, I’m beginning a blog in the year 2010 for a couple of reasons:

• I like to write and sometimes the things I write are mildly entertaining.
• I have a terrible memory and so this can be like a journal that I share with anyone who is interested.
• I am embarking on separate projects in the areas of stone walls and concrete counters.  At least one friend wanted some sort of advice, instruction or play-by-play on the counter project and I know a couple others are also interested.  This seemed a good way to share that information.  I’m not sure I could Twitter my way through the construction of a concrete counter.

You are asking yourself, “Why should I read his blog about how to do these things when the Internet is full of real people who actually know what they are doing?”  Good question, dear reader!  (By the way, I am, from this point onward, making the obnoxious presumption that there is an audience for this thing.  Otherwise, the writing style gets awkward if I’m not addressing someone.)

As to your question, you are free to leave my little cyber cul-de-sac for greener suburbs.  I can take it.  I’m not hoping to score the playing-with-rock equivalent of Julie and Julia.  I’m not watching the screen, waiting for my number of followers to rise, at least not yet, as I pen the first installment.  I suppose the real test will be when I’m procrastinating my monthly work.  Watching that counter might be a nice escape.

Well, this is meant to be a little introduction to me, the blog and my intentions with stone, both natural and man-made.  So here at the end of summer, 2010, I am planning to add a small retaining wall in the back yard to set off a fire-pit area.  Roughly two feet high.  Roughly 20 feet long.  I think I may create a raised flower bed on the high side and a couple gentle steps down. 

I also want to create our first concrete counter.  The guinea pig will be the old cabinets we have in the garage.  They would love to shed the plywood top they’ve been forced to wear for the past few years.  They might need to bulk up a bit if they are going to shoulder a 2½ inch concrete slab for the rest of their days.

I use the pronoun our to refer to myself and my wonderful partner and best friend, Kris.  She and I were both looking for something more while attending the architecture program at University of Maine, Augusta where we met.  We certainly found something and we’ve been trolling for projects and renovations to do together ever since.  A few years ago we hit the popular Concrete Counters class at the wonderful Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Warren, Vermont (www.yestermorrow.org).  Or is it Waitsfield?  I always forget.  Perhaps down the line, I will take some time to sing the praises of Yestermorrow.  Until then, their website and tantalizing course catalog will have to suffice for you do-it-yourselfers and eco-conscious constructors.

It has been a long, roundabout route from the class to our first attempt at concrete counters.  We spent a couple of years renovating an 1861 Greek Revival farmhouse in Bethel, which we now rent out.  Coincidentally, a few paragraphs ago, Stan from the Bethel Historical Society called to see if we would open up our 35’ x 75’ three-story attached barn for the Bethel Barn Tour this September.  We’ll see. 

Now that our Bethel project is complete and we have a long-term renter in place, and since the tightened lending laws will not allow us to acquire another house project without tons of cash, Kris and I have turned our attention to our own house in Freeport, Maine.

We’re going to paint a few rooms, the kitchen ceiling and the old claw-foot tub.  I actually like painting, but I’m not sure I’m going to start a blog about it.  We’re also looking to steal the unused space behind the fridge and turn it into a little pantry closet.  The back deck might get replaced.  It might not, but some adjacent house trim is rotting and needs to be replaced.  Oh, and I’ve got to lay about 14 square feet of tile to replace the strange six-inch high floor shelf we unceremoniously tore out a few years ago.

Then we come all the way back to the subject of this blog.  I want to build some rock walls and maybe even do some sort of carving.  I also want to make concrete counters and maybe even do some sort of sculpture or fountain work.  I’ve been gathering some info about both media and I’m looking forward to getting started. 

In my next entry, I'll be sure to explain the particulars of the two projects, catch you up to speed on where we are, what tools we have and the few things that we actually know.  Then, the fun can begin.  I have to remember that it takes much less time to read an entry than to write it, so I hope you didn't get too bored, that you made it all the way down to this paragraph and that you might even be curious about what happens next.  You never know what (or who) will get caught in the cement mixer and embedded into the workbench countertop!  Stay tuned . . . please.

Okay, I might check the number of followers every now and then, but I’ll try not to dwell.

dave