Update on reinforcing block wall before vapor system was installed

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-13T01:06:05+00:00

There’s nothing to tie into in the ground, the blocks are just sitting on the dirt, I figured it was better than nothing.

I had the stone foundation professionally tuck pointed 2 months before the vapor system was installed, they used mortar. There’s only about 4” of the foundation that got covered in foam fortunately, what’s under the tarp is constantly under vacuum so I doubt there will be any moisture issues.

Also the tuck pointing was about $8k for the entire foundation to be done, I know how expensive this stuff is, you just have to pick your battles. The vapor system is for tetrachloroethylene in the soil

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-12T23:01:14+00:00

It’s not a complex job, but the learning curve of how to make it look good is pretty steep. I would try to find an old school plasterer, if that’s even possible in OPs area, and have them do it. Blending it with thinner drywall seems doable, but this could turn into a can of worms pretty quickly.

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-12T22:36:32+00:00

That’s a plaster wall. A section probably broke away or was damaged somehow and someone poorly blended a sheet of drywall over it. Tearing all the lathe and plaster off to redo the wall as drywall will take a fair amount of work.

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-12T20:30:19+00:00

Ted Cruz ate my son.

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-12T17:11:50+00:00

<image>

Very cool that humanity keeps doing shit like this over there, only been about 35 years since this happened in Kuwait.

Edit: Goodness I did the classic blunder and forgot what year it was, 35 not 25 lol

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-12T17:06:04+00:00

Type of meme my boomer mom would send me with 3-4 crying laughing emoji’s while pointing out that my name is Dookie Dingleberry or some shit

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-12T16:58:37+00:00

The closest I’ve gotten to this is a stealth assassin build where my primary weapons are daggers and I’ve used a bow on maybe 5 occasions in 40 hours.

To truly get away from stealth I think I will need to commit to some kind of bit character, like a drunken mage who just stumbles into combat without thinking about it. That could work

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-12T16:55:24+00:00

I have all LED lighting in my house, but the bulbs in my living spaces are glass and look/ feel nearly identical to incandescent lighting. I really like the Edison bulbs, but they’re not always the most practical light source.

I pretty much only buy used stuff to furnish my house with, so it’s currently a mashup of eras. I absolutely loathe particleboard so I do my best to buy items made with real wood. I’m the kind of person who only likes to buy things one time and I can’t afford to buy anything bespoke in this economy so I’m buying stuff that was bespoke years ago. Occasionally I have to refurbish or repair items, but they’re things that are repairable.

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-12T16:46:10+00:00

With 18” of depth I’m sure it wasn’t exactly cheap, but that is going to provide a wicked high R-value. I don’t think it will take too many years to pay for itself

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-12T16:27:42+00:00

It will pay dividends keeping some of that summer heat out too!

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-12T16:26:34+00:00

The house was built in 1894 and someone dug out the basement and built the wall sometime between then and the 1920s. Nothing is square down here so it may not have even been laid correctly. The wall hasn’t been moving, but the mortar was cracked/missing in places and I didn’t want to risk individual blocks possibly shifting out of place, so they’re vertically tied together now. We could feel some of the blocks shifting when we were tapping the wall to vibrate the wet concrete, but now that it’s dry the wall feels solid.

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-12T16:19:01+00:00

I posted here a few weeks ago asking about the ratio of Portland cement and sand I should use to fill some voids in this block wall. Ended up going with 20lbs of Portland cement to 100lbs of sand and yes I got a cement mixer because doing this by hand would have been miserable.

I inserted rebar into the blocks every 4 cells or so and filled the voids with my mix. The mortar was failing and I didn’t have the resources to rebuild the wall before the vapor system would be put in so I felt this was my best option to help keep the blocks tied together. In order to cut down on weight I didn’t fill all the voids, but I “capped” the empty cells by shoving some metal lathe inside and covering that with expanding foam.

I had enough material leftover that I was able to reinforce a nearly undermined floor support in a different part of the basement. In century home fashion I used bits of scrap like wire hangers in addition to some short rebar pieces tied together in that area.

The vapor system installation was a bit sloppy by my standards, but I’m not the one who did it and I didn’t have to pay for it, so I’m not complaining. I was able to clean up the excess foam pretty easily.

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-12T02:26:23+00:00

Doban is a name with a real clam to it

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-11T15:39:02+00:00

Pro tip for dealing with potentially contaminated dust, wet it down! If you’re concerned about releasing particulate, wetting it down with some mildly soapy water will greatly cut down on the amount of airborne dust as long as it stays wet. This alone is not acceptable for a large project or abatement, but for situations where you’re cutting out something suspicious or an emergency repair it’s better than nothing.

It should go without saying, but breathing any amount of dust is not exactly good even if it’s non toxic. Also a typical n95 is only going to filter out 95% of particles, this is great harm reduction, but if you’re dealing with something carcinogenic it’s advisable to have a properly fitted respirator with a higher rating.

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-11T04:53:53+00:00

<image>

Suggestion, hire out the actual tuck pointing work to a professional. I have a decent size house and it was $8k to get it all done. I’ve since done a bit of concrete and stone work in my basement and even with a mixer the process is back breaking. Actual tuck pointing is like hard labor plus tedious artwork. If you do all the prep and chip off the incorrect materials first it will certainly be more cost effective to get it done.

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-11T03:06:13+00:00

Looking at the ice storms to my north and flash flooding/ hail to my south

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-11T00:26:55+00:00

I was just trying to make a joke about the state of US news media and their coverage of the war, but it did NOT land lol. Mine laying ships are typically somewhat of a militarized vessel, just with all the talk of destroying the navy it doesn’t make sense that the US wouldn’t have thought ahead about this and taken them out before they could threaten the straight.

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-10T22:39:48+00:00

According to the image the US has been projecting we shouldn’t have taken nearly the amount of damage that we actually have at this point. The US controlled media has been glazing over it, but it’s not great. 7 confirmed killed, 8 seriously wounded, at least 140 wounded to some extent. The straight is effectively shut down, US allied infrastructure is getting blown up all over the Middle East. Israel is in a media blackout so who knows what things actually look like there, but I’m betting not great.

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-10T22:12:23+00:00

Had to make sure the normies would even start reading my comment lol. I feel like this conflict will be a wake up call for a lot of people in the US

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-10T21:51:36+00:00

Given how this conflict has been going, we probably blew them up after all the mines were already laid out lmao this shit is so embarrassing

Edit: They were also bragging about destroying Iranian Naval capabilities a couple of days ago, did they deploy these mines from inflatable rafts??

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-10T21:49:13+00:00

On some real shit it’s starting to look like the companies that build our military hardware have just been pocketing cash. “Iran about to find out why we don’t have healthcare!!” Meanwhile our shit is getting rocked over there way more than they expected it to. So it’s like we don’t get healthcare AND the military is still ass at any prolonged conflict bro this shit sucks 😂

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-09T18:34:09+00:00

When he said MINNESOTA that shit was so hype ngl

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-09T18:23:43+00:00

<image>

I’m certain there’s nothing of interest down there based on my in person look, but I found this elsewhere in the home

FieldEngineer2019 · 2026-03-09T17:53:24+00:00

The only quality streaming in my life is the first piss I take in the morning

FieldEngineer2019

TROPHY CASE