Iris Henderson (u/iris_henderson38)

Posts

The one thing I see messing up a lot of DIY deck frames

I was helping a buddy fix his new deck last weekend because it was already starting to wobble. He built the whole frame with the joist hanger nails that came in the little bag with the hangers. Those are fine for holding things together, but he didn't use a single structural screw to pull the rim joist tight to the beam before nailing. The whole thing was just sitting there with a tiny gap, and every step made it shift. I keep a box of 3-inch ledger lok screws in my truck just for this. You drive one of those through the rim into the beam end grain, and it yanks everything tight as a drum before you nail the hanger. It takes two minutes and stops that squeaky bounce forever. How many of you guys actually do this step, or do you just trust the nails?

3 comments

c/glassblowers•

iris_henderson38•2mo ago

A student at the studio said 'color is just decoration' and I had to set them straight

I was helping with a beginner class at the local community center last month when a young man working on his first paperweight made that comment. He said he wanted to focus on 'pure form' first and add color later like it was paint. I stopped the whole demo to explain that color in glass is chemistry, not decoration. The cobalt blue he liked comes from cobalt oxide added to the batch at 2,100 degrees Fahrenheit, it changes how the glass moves. Treating color as an afterthought is how you get weak pieces that crack or have bubbles. Has anyone else had to correct this idea with new people at their shop?

2 comments

c/backyard-chickens•

iris_henderson38•2mo ago

At the county fair I saw a trick for keeping water clean

A guy with a huge flock had a small cinder block in each waterer base. He said the hens can't tip them over as easily when they hop on the edge. Tried it with my 5-gallon bucket setup and it's cut spills by a ton. Anyone else use weights in their waterers?