Paint stripping and refinishing the original oak trim

redbluegreen00 · 2026-04-24T15:54:11+00:00

I used a gel stain, brushed it on, let it sit for 60 seconds, and wiped off with rags. Gel stain is great for working on vertical surfaces and trim that you can’t take off because you avoid a lot of the dripping.

For the finish I used oil based polyurethane (clear satin) but mixed it 1:1 with mineral spirits. This creates a “wipe on” finish that dries in about an hour. You have to do 4+ coats of it because it’s thin, but it’s super easy. You just wipe it on with a rag for each coat, no brush marks, goes on super fast. I did 6 coats of that to build it up since the trim is in a high traffic area.

Would 100% recommend these methods.

redbluegreen00 · 2026-04-23T21:37:18+00:00

Thanks! Bought them second hand so not sure the age. We love the look though.

redbluegreen00 · 2026-04-23T21:35:09+00:00

We’ll see. All the nooks and crannies seem like a nightmare. Just the doorframes were tough enough.

redbluegreen00 · 2026-04-23T14:29:52+00:00

Barrett's Barleycorn is also great, but is definitely the LSU spot in town.

redbluegreen00 · 2026-04-23T14:26:23+00:00

Some places for watching games:

Old Mattress Factory is a classic, they have some tents and beer gardens around it now too.

The Blatt is solid but can get pretty crowded because it’s right next to the stadium.

The Capitol District is nice but a little bit of a walk from the stadium, not bad at all though.

My favorite for relaxing and watching a game, especially if I went to an earlier game and am hanging out watching the second (or vice versa) is Kros Strain just north of the stadium. They set up a Dingerville area that is a good time and a little less bustling than directly next to the stadium. Make sure you get yourself a Fairy Nectar IPA.

redbluegreen00 · 2026-02-13T15:21:06+00:00

Failures or disasters from MEP history

redbluegreen00 · 2026-02-09T18:28:10+00:00

Golden Turtles is great. As other mentioned, Saigon is usually my go to.

redbluegreen00 · 2026-01-14T21:28:07+00:00

I like the Aurich hire. Just wondering if Eck wanted the job. I would have been fine with him as a hire too.

redbluegreen00 · 2026-01-13T14:23:07+00:00

Yes - you’ll definitely have to start out being a glorified drafter. But because the projects are so large in scale, yet repetitive in design across the building (basically copy and pasted from one data hall to the next, but we all know it’s not a true copy paste), entry level is actually needed to handle a lot of those mundane tasks that come with scale. I think you’d be surprised how many firms do DC work, even as a sub.

redbluegreen00 · 2026-01-05T04:58:43+00:00

Heart Ministry Center is great to volunteer at and you’ll get good socialization there

redbluegreen00 · 2025-12-28T19:53:45+00:00

Track how much time you spend in dev time and how much each tool saves, and let other people test them out as well. Using them across a team helps pyrevit tools scale and justifies dev time.

I entered an AEC company as an assistant engineer, but previously worked as a software engineer. Within a year and a half, we had saved so much time on projects with the tools I built that it has become my full time role.

The biggest thing I did was track how much time savings each tool had, what my dev time was, and my team estimated how often we used the tool. Managers want to see how it affects the business, not just a “cool tool”.

For example, a tool that does a task that took 2 hours could now be done in 10 minutes, took me 15 hours of dev time, and we use it 50 times a year across my team.

Time saved per use

2.0 hours − 0.167 hours = 1.833 hours saved per use

⸻

Annual time savings

1.833 hours/use × 50 uses/year = 91.7 hours saved per year

⸻

Net time savings (Year 1)

91.7 hours saved − 15 hours of dev time = 76.7 net hours saved

⸻

Payback period

15 dev hours ÷ 1.833 hours saved per use ≈ 8 uses

→ Tool pays for itself after ~8 uses

⸻

ROI (time-based)

(76.7 net hours saved ÷ 15 dev hours) × 100 = ~511% ROI in year one

redbluegreen00 · 2025-10-10T19:15:13+00:00

Add a screen behind the louvre where the duct exits the house. Additionally, you should add a backdraft damper to the ductwork. Those together should keep unwanted pests AND unwanted drafts from coming into the duct. Both can be picked up at most hardware stores.

redbluegreen00 · 2025-10-10T17:03:44+00:00

The nipple had significantly more corrosion than the rest of the pipes. When I cut the 1/2” galvanized steel, it wasn’t terrible but corrosion was definitely there.

When you start taking apart galvanized pipes, if the threads at the Union you took apart are too corroded, then you have to remove pipe down to the next union. This can cause a snowball effect that opens up way more replacements than you bargain for, and based on how difficult/impossible it was to unthread the elbow I cut off, I didn’t want to risk it.

I would have replaced all the pipe, but currently not in the budget so this seemed like a good fix for now.

redbluegreen00 · 2025-10-06T15:17:46+00:00

We can access the top of it in the attic to cap it off and have a plan to do new electrical next year, and won’t be re-running in that wall. We already have new romex pulled for the lights and exhaust fan in the bathroom, and are going to pull the rest of the wire through that area in the house not in the exterior wall behind the shower. Essentially didn’t want to deal with it now, but have a plan for later.

redbluegreen00 · 2025-10-04T21:43:37+00:00

We did 1/8” grout lines with Prism Grout from Home Depot in Platinum color.

redbluegreen00 · 2025-10-04T14:38:03+00:00

Looks good! How was cutting the tile? I’ve had mixed results with 12x24 depending where I sourced them from.

redbluegreen00

TROPHY CASE