Rock And Roll

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yogi
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Rock And Roll

Post by yogi »

Somewhere in China ... https://i.imgur.com/VtG1qlg.mp4
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Kellemora
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Re: Rock And Roll

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Wow - Guess that road will be closed for a long time!

Not to that magnitude, but we had something like that happen here on our main drag heading south.
Took them two days to remove all the rock that fell across the road.
They were lucky it happened while they were rebuilding a bridge, because the traffic was already diverted down another long-way-around route.
Closer to you, on Interstate 244 now 270 I think. Just after you went under Craigwold Road heading north, a whole section of rock came down on the northbound lanes.
I lived on Big Bend at the time, and the way the exits were, you had to go under Big Bend to Daugherty Ferry to make a loop over the bridge and back down onto the highway to exit at Big Bend. The falling rock really messed up doing that.
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yogi
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Re: Rock And Roll

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We used to travel from Chicago to a small town in Iowa via Dubuque. The approach to Dubuque from the east on Hwy 20 went through some hill country before you came to Galena and the Mississippi River. The hills were made of sandstone and highway 20 was cut into it in many places to make the road more navigable. Several spots along the way had breathtaking views of the valley below, but, there were warning signs to "look for falling rocks." I always drove through in great trepidation thinking that there would be no warning when the rocks fell to the road. It so happens the local sheriff knew this and had several speed traps set up along that stretch. He only caught me once. LOL

Some of the mountains I've seen in Tennessee reminded me of the Iowa trip. Fortunately, I don't recall seeing any signs in Tennessee warning me of impending rock avalanches.
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Re: Rock And Roll

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Signs, in TN, har-de-har-har. We don't even have street signs down here on most of the roads.
One of the reasons I didn't go out driving around for three years, until my son bought me a GPS.

Tree roots growing in the cracks of mountain passes through rock often cause a boulder to let loose, but normally only after a heavy rain. The threat is not while it's raining but a day later when the roots swell.
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yogi
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Re: Rock And Roll

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You are not the first person to tell me there are no street signs in their neighborhood. It's not a problem for the locals, obviously, and it must do it's part to keep the strangers out as well. The streets here are marked, with multiple names in most cases. That's just as bad as no names at all. I used the GPS to navigate our 8 mile long main street (Hwy K) for more than a year. I now have all the regular stops memorized by the landscape. Any new adventures require me calling up the TomTom. I doubt that any rocks will be a road hazard around here. My concern is for the day when the skies open up and flood the lands. I don't think we are close to any flood plane, but I'm not sure.
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Re: Rock And Roll

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I lived near I-270 and Olive Blvd. well above any and all flood plains.
Even so, our home was flooded out twice. The first time 4 feet of water, the second time 6 feet of water. Insurance didn't cover it, although we had sewer backup insurance, because it only covers water not going out the sewer, not water coming in through the sewer system.

One would think, when you came to a main highway, a sign would tell you what major highway you just came to. Not here!
We have a lot of streets here that end in PIKE, instead of Avenue, Street, or Road. When the GPS encounters this, and you have the audio turned on, it always seems to say Parkway. This can be confusing when you have both Pike and Parkway streets by the same name.

Another thing I've never encountered in St. Louis County or surrounding counties was streets of the same name in different areas with the SAME range of Address numbers. It's common down here though. We have Valley Drive, Valley Road, Valley Street, and Valley Avenue. Valley Drive and Valley Avenue have identical numbering, same zip code too, so we meet and exchange each other mail or give it back to the postman.
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yogi
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Re: Rock And Roll

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I think the zip+4 was supposed to solve the problem of identical named streets within a single postal zone. The last 4 digits are supposed to narrow it down. Then again, I don't know what my extended zip code is. I look it up when I need it, which is rare.

Insurance, for the most part, only covers what is most likely NOT to happen. Insurance companies would be out of business if they actually covered all losses. Or, your premiums would be as much as it costs to repair the damage for which you are insured. They hire high priced actuaries to figure this all out. My youngest granddaughter decided to become one and it seems that one of the better schools for that purpose is right here in Missouri: Truman State University.
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Re: Rock And Roll

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I carry a lower amount of insurance on my house than most would for that very reason.
Any damage to the house, other than total loss, is still covered up to the limits of the policy.
If my house was considered a total loss, it would still have the foundation and concrete block walls.
Now that I can no longer do the work myself, I have considered raising the insurance just a bit.

I couldn't do this in Missouri, but I can down here, insure named items for replacement cost, without doing this for the entire structure. Eg. Have only the roof and siding insured at replacement cost, but not the windows, doors, or interior.

Truman State U has an excellent reputation!
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yogi
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Re: Rock And Roll

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State Farm will cover named household items for replacement. This computer is a good example. l'd get a few hundred dollars for it off the main policy, but paying extra guarantees replacement. I don't know about house structural items. That's an interesting concept. If you do not insure for replacement value, then you most likely will end up paying a goodly amount over what the insurance normally covers. That out of pocket expense could cover the extra price of replacement premiums. Then too, it's a gamble. You may never experience any losses at all and be ahead of the game that way.

From what I read Truman State is the #1 ranked public university. They also happen to offer a degree in what my granddaughter wants. :mrgreen:
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Re: Rock And Roll

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A few years back we had a severe hailstorm. It was so hard it broke 6 of our roof rafters.
Because all the roofing companies were busy doing the simple tear-off and slap-on jobs, we got put on hold due to the structural damage.
We had our roof covered with tarps right away, but had a lot of water damage in the house over the three month wait to get a new roof.
We had replacement coverage on the roof, but not the siding. I opted for a slightly better roof and paid the difference for the cost of architectural shingles over the type of shingles that were up there. Insurance covered all the damage and labor to repair the roof. No complaints there.
However, the siding on the house was another story. Our house was concrete block stucco, and the new siding we had installed was not mentioned in the policy. Even so, it was still insured, but not at replacement cost, and not fully. They insurance company only paid for the number of pieces damaged at the current price which was more than they had to do.
The problem with only replacing the broken pieces makes for an eyesore as the new fades differently than the old, and the new had anti-mildew protection that the old did not. Plus the new siding we purchased was in two different lot numbers.
We knew this, and used the same lot number and did one whole side of the house, the most visible side.
Everything we removed was used on the front of the house along with some new of a different lot number.
It looked fairly close for about a year, then the colors started driving until now it looks like we used two totally different colors. It has turned ugly.
Needless to say, we upgraded our insurance to include full-replacement of siding, but not on all sides of the house unless there is damage to that side. This saved a few bucks on the cost of the insurance.
All in all we were treated fairly by the insurance companies for our house and cars.
It did cost me 1400 dollars more to redo my two storage sheds though. They only gave me 200 bucks on each.
They say the reason for that is, my policy only covers up to 6,000 bucks for the garage and ancillary buildings.
By the time they added up the roof and siding on the garage, new gutters, and new garage door, plus installation and labor, there was only 400 bucks left to apply to the ancillary buildings.
On the bright side. My two storage sheds now match the house and garage, same architectural roof, and siding.
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yogi
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Re: Rock And Roll

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Insurance coverage can be a difficult thing to understand for the uninitiated. Like yourself, over the years I've been fairly treated every time I had to put in a claim. I think that part of our success with insurance had to do with the fact that my wife worked for insurance companies all her professional life. She was in the health insurance business, but many of the principles there applied to other forms of insurance too. Basically, we have always been over insured. LOL

When we came down here on weekends trying to find a house to buy I saw quite a few homes I could have taken for my own. One in particular was on the other side of town from where I live today. It was perfect except for one small crack in the vaulted ceiling in the bedroom. Nobody could explain why it was there because the owners were not allowed to interact ta that stage. I went outside to see what I could see and the roof looked fine, but it was not the same shingles that were on the other side of the peak. I knew immediately that half the roof was repaired at some point. We passed on that one. Next time in town the real estate agent told us the house roof was damaged in a storm and the insurance people would only pay to replace the side of the roof that was damaged. I guess that makes sense, but it lost a sale for the owner.

I know what you mean about mismatched siding and shingles. Most of the driveway on this house had to be replaced. There were footprints embedded in several places - long story. We eventually got the builder to replace the concrete instead of repair it. As you would guess the color and finish was different than what was not replaced. After nearly a year of weathering it only became more obvious. It's not perfect looking, but at least there are no footprints. We just had the concrete sealed last week. Now the entire driveway looks ugly. The sealing material dries to something like a chalk white. I'm getting used to it and it's all going to wear away this winter anyway. At the moment something I never saw before is happening. When it rains, the water beads up on the concrete. It does not get absorbed. Even after sitting 24 hours there are still beads of water on the driveway. They look kind of neat and colorful when the sun shines on them. :mrgreen:
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Re: Rock And Roll

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I wish I could remember the name of it, but I used a concrete colored sealant on my mom's driveway before she sold the house. It looked like a new driveway, and even several years later, 8 to 10 years later when we drove by, it still looked like the day I did it.
It was not just a paint on item. I had to first wash the driveway with muriatic acid, this made the oil spots more prevalent and they had to be cleaned with degreaser, then again with the muriatic acid in those areas. Actually, the driveway looked neat after we did that, a uniform tannish appearance from the river sand and gravel in the mix. Then we put the new coating on. I don't remember if we used a primer or glue first, I don't think so, it was part of the product I believe.
It was not an epoxy, that much I remember.
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yogi
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Re: Rock And Roll

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They did the acid wash on our driveway too, but only one small spot by the street was oily. I asked how long this seal was going to last and they said only a year or two at most. I guess I'll live with that, but the next time around I will be looking for something like the product you used. A ten year seal sounds fine to me. The stuff they used came in 5 gallon buckets which they poured into an atomizer that had to be pressurized by hand pumping air into it. The entire application time was under 30 minutes for one man.

When I discussed the problem with builder, he called in the guy who poured it in the first place. They were going to put a colored epoxy coating over the footprints. I agreed to that providing that they would come back and repair it next year if the epoxy didn't hold. He called a couple days afterward and said they thought it over and would replace the concrete instead. It had to cost several thousand dollars to remove the old and pour the new, and that must have worked out to be less expensive than replacing the epoxy patchwork. LOL
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Re: Rock And Roll

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A product you can get in Missouri that I've not found down here, I used extensively for repair jobs and it held up great.
Normally I used it to cover weathered or stained foundation walls, but also used it to resurface sidewalks who's surface crumbled.

On foundations, I would only work like three feet at a time, applying concrete glue, then using a White Tampico Brush, I would spread PM-30 patch mix about 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick, then move down to the next 3 foot section I was working on.

On sidewalks, I would wash down the sidewalk with a pressure nozzle to remove loose and scaling material, apply the concrete glue, then spread the PM-30 patch mix with a squeegee first until level, filling all holes and pits, then either trowel the whole surface or just go around the edges with an edge tool.
If you apply a clear sealant over this after about 30 days to 6 weeks, it will be impervious to water and not get water under it to freeze and push the new surface off the substrate surface.

I used to renovate older homes, many with stone or concrete block foundations. Using PM-30 over same gave the appearance of a new foundation, cosmetic of course. Curb appeal was an important feature of selling an older home.
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yogi
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Re: Rock And Roll

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PM-30 eh? Hmmm. That seems to come in many different forms:

A sleep enhancer: https://www.accutrition.com/neuroscienc ... sules.html
A drum monitor from Roland: https://www.guitarcenter.com/Roland/PM- ... Monitor.gc
Animal Pak - another sleep enhancer: https://www.tigerfitness.com/universal- ... m-30-packs
A planetary mixer: https://www.jesrestaurantequipment.com/ ... ssion.html
An HF Wattmeter: http://www.vectronics.com/Product.php?productid=PM-30
A gearbox mounting bracket: https://www.furunousa.com/en/products/pm30

...and the gods only know what else :grin:
Nothing about concrete sealant though :sad:
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Re: Rock And Roll

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I did find it, but not with an image, and sold by a different company.
It used to be sold by Ready Mix as PM-30 Concrete Patch.
Nu Way shows it without an image but only at 50 pound size.
http://www.nuwayinc.com/ProductDetail.aspx?prdid=2083

I think perhaps better products have taken it's place.
Concrete Patch mix with Polymers added seem to be what is used these days.
I've never used anything but PM-30 for repair jobs. Sorry to see it is gone.

This product reads very similar to what PM-30 did.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Quikrete-20 ... /207102852

Looks like it is more expensive than the bagged PM-30 I used to buy though.
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Re: Rock And Roll

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yogi
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Re: Rock And Roll

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The patching products you have listed aren't the same as what I had applied to my driveway. The reason I had the concrete "sealed" is to delay or prevent the need to patch it any time soon. Around here, and to a greater extent up near Chicago, the surface flakes off the driveway over time. The deterioration is expedited by the fact that the city dumps salt on it during the winter. If the sealant holds up on my driveway, the salt won't be able to get down to the concrete. That's why I was concerned when I was told it would only last a year or so. We'll see how things go this winter. Now that I've seen how it's done I could probably seal it myself if that's all they do down here.
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Re: Rock And Roll

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The concrete they use today is nothing like the concrete of 100 years ago.

All of the concrete drives on our farms between 1890 and 1920 were still looking great in 1984.
Those poured after 1950 needed repairs or replaced in the 1970s.

The same is true about mortar used with laying blocks and bricks.
Our oldest range of greenhouses, built before 1904, the side walls and foundations never needed tuckpointing.
Nor did our 100 foot tall Weiderholt Chimney.
Our newer greenhouses of the same design, did need tuckpointed twice around 1955 and again around 1980.

I do know the concrete benches in our greenhouses were all treated with something before they were assembled, but what I don't know. One of my uncles thought it might be Hemp Oil, because they smelled like New Ropes for years.
I tried using Raw Linseed Oil on some of the benches in the new greenhouse, and Boiled LInseed Oil on some in another range. I forget which one now, but over time, the concrete turned fairly black in one range, but not the other.

At one of my houses, I used an oil based light cedar stain for wood on a new sidewalk I poured from the front porch down to the mailbox and driveway. I did it because the bright white was blinding compared to the weathered tannish driveway. It came out about the way I wanted it looking and stayed that way the dozen or so more years I was still there.
I figured it would stay because I spilled some stain on my dads patio while staining some wood around his house. It never faded or weathered away either, hi hi.
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Re: Rock And Roll

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My all brick house up in Roselle, Illinois, was thirty years old when I sold it. To my utter amazement there were no signs of aging of the brick or the mortar. There were a few cracks due to settling, but the mortar almost looked new. I have no idea what the brick masons used, but it was great stuff considering it was 1986 when it was made.

I don't doubt that the formula for concrete has changed over the past 100 years. A lot of it is being used and the costs associated with producing it increase every year. I'm guessing that today nobody could afford to use the same stuff that was common in 1918. Also, building resources are getting scarce and alternatives are being used. Aside from the 2x4's (which really aren't 2" x 4") used in the studs of this house, real wood is absent. It's all plastic or manufactured. About the only thing that is true to form now is the I-beams used for structural support. I believe they are still made of steel.
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