Raising the bath house walls

We are so glad we hired Juan and his crew, it took them 2 weeks to lay about 700 blocks , set 3 doors and 3 window frames , pour the cores and bond beam. I know now that we could not have done the on our own!

Clean up begins with breaking up the cement and block to be moved to our road for a base on the sandy soil.
Block work is VERY MESSY.... Need I say More.
The final course is called a channel block (bond beam) that will be filled with cement and rebar. There are hollow cores placed around each window/door frames and 4 feet apart from there, they will be filled with cement/rebar when the bond beam on the top is filled. As the cement is setting, J bolts /anchor bolts are placed to anchor the top boards to the wall.
They cut the block to create the angle of the roof.
The team of 3 worked so well together. Pollo mixed the mortar and delivered it and the block to Juan and Mario, who were laying the block.

Mariah filling the cores with Perlite so as to add more insulation value. We had to use a substance that would not absorb moisture and loose enough to easily pour into the core. As you see I am wearing goggles and covering my air passages as best I could. The Perlite is very fine and PAINfull to breathe.
Bolts and rebar tied together to anchor the door frames in place.
Blocks were cut for plumbing in the wall.
The first course is what sets the pattern for the whole wall. They used string, levels and squares constantly to assure the wall was going up straight.
Plastic and sand were the first to go down on the floor.
We hired a crew to raise the walls of the bathhouse. We did our research and found that laying block is very hard work . The blocks weigh about 40lbs each and it takes experience to make a building true, plumb and square. We did not want to experience a learning curve that might cost us more in the end.

Finishing part of the inside of the greenhouse

The finished wall is corrugated metal sheeting. This will create a great reflective surface for the plants. We installed a water faucet and ran the line on the inside (so as not to worry about the line freezing) of the building that goes through the wall to an outdoor sink.
The vapor barrier we are placing on the inside.
Here I needed to sew the insulation batts together since the perlins were more than the width of the insulation. I used one foot long needles and nylon string.
Placing the insulation is a very messy job, I always wear goggles, face mask and cover up my body completely with scarves and gloves. The fiberglass is very itchy and you don't want to get any on your skin or eyes.

The Good, Bad And Ugly of 2011

THE GOOD:

These wonderful products are the best find of the year! They beat SOS pads hands down! And they have sanding blocks as well. I can not say enough good things about them: made in the USA out of recycled glass! All a win, win product!
Find out more at www.goearthstone.com




THE BAD & UGLY

Ideal Feet Review

I hope if you are planning on visiting an Ideal Feet store you find your way to this Ideal Feet review to learn about my experience with this Ideal Feet company.

I had heard their advertising on the radio many times. About how wonderful these cutting edge Ideal Feet orthotics would change a person's life. They mentioned several times about the lifetime guarantee, just come in for a free fitting! So in my mind I thought wow! these are guaranteed to improve the way your feet feel or your money back.

So my husband and I found the Ideal Feet store and went in for this free fitting to see if they would apply to us. the Ideal Feet store was very stark, they had a very limited selection of shoes in a corner and what appeared to be a small stock room in the back. There were two salesmen waiting to attend to us and at that time there were no other customers in the store. So, we proceeded to sit down to be wowed.

The first thing the salesman did was to get an imprint of our foot on a piece of paper, I guess that was to get a beginning idea of what our foot imprint looks like. Then they put one of the inserts down and they have you do the imprint again with the insert in place. This was to show us how the insert redistributes the weight onto your foot. This was very impressive for I thought this would help my Planter Fasciitis that I developed on my right foot. He then has you stand barefoot on the ground and attempts to push you over, then he puts you in the inserts on the ground and attempts to push you over and you feel more solid. Another very impressive maneuver.

So as he is doing all of this maneuvering he is talking to us about the wonderful stories about people coming in and their lives changing because of these Ideal Feet orthotics. About an athlete that played table tennis and his feet became so painful he was no longer able to play table tennis until he was fitted with the Ideal Feet orthotics, he was then able to win championships. He mentioned all of the older people, I guess a group we could identify with, fact were able to walk again pain-free.

Keep in mind that during this whole fitting period there was never a mention of the Ideal Feet inserts not being refundable. The only sentence that was repeated over and over and over was the lifetime guarantee. Which led us to believe that they were refundable if the inserts did not work out.

At this point we were both fitted with the new inserts and asked to walk around. They did feel different, it did take the pressure off of my Plantar Fasciitis AT FIRST . As I am writing this I do remember the salesman saying, when I had mentioned my orthotics bought at another store seemed like they were not working anymore, and his response was, that is typical. that should have been a red flag to me.

So after we were fitted and walked around a little bit and felt the relief and the difference, we were told that it would take at least two weeks to break into the inserts before feeling the full benefits. That we should not attempt to wear them for more than about one hour the first day increasing by an hour each day. So they sell you two sets of inserts, the main inserts that you work up to wearing full time, and have more of an arch in them, cost $279.99.the second pair of inserts that they demand you buy cost $219.99. I was very shocked about the price but I felt if they work they are worth the price and we would have time to try them out and if they didn't work we could return them and get our money back, thus the lifetime guarantee!

So we bought the Ideal Feet inserts and religiously followed the guidelines for breaking in our feet to these inserts. I was not able to wear them comfortably for more than a few hours. I wanted so much to believe that they would change my foot comfort that I assumed this was just the break-in period. My husband didn't really feel a difference either way, it wasn't that his feet hurt but they weren't exceptionally comfortable either.

So after about six weeks of attempting to feel comfortable in my new Ideal Feet inserts I went back for a re fitting. I was given a softer pair with less of an arch and he told me this would definitely do the trick, that I would feel an amazing difference and to apply the break-in period as with the first pair.


My foot pain was so excruciating with the Ideal Feet inserts that I could no longer walk. I stopped wearing the Ideal Feet orthotics and a few days later went back to retrieve my previous inserts that they had us put in a see-through container to show potential clients what the ideal feet inserts replaced. At that time I asked the salesman what the procedure was to get our money back. He told me to call the number on the back of our receipt and that they would take care of us.

So when I got home I looked at our receipt and found the service hotline number 405 – 285 – 1287. Along with the fine print that reads; "We are here to help you fully enjoy the benefits of your investment in ideal feet products by offering free adjustments for the live on the trainer and maintenance line arch supports. Since our products are personal items, we do not offer refunds. However, your Pedorthic consultant is here to walk you through the adjustment process. There is no implied warranty of merchantability for any particular purpose. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, please contact your Pedorthic consultant or call our customer service hotline. Have a great day !"

I called them up several times and I never received a return phone call. I e-mailed them my concern and was never returned a response. I contacted the Better Business Bureau and their process is that you explain your concerns and it is e-mailed to the business. They then have a window of time to respond. Ideal Feet sent back a standard letter repeating what they basically say on their receipt. This is done three times. Nothing ever got accomplished this way.

So I am writing this in hopes of saving many people from the deceptive advertising and deceptive trade practices of Ideal feet. I suggest that those that have experienced what we have experienced to file a complaint with your attorney general's office, AARP email: on your side@AARP.org and Clark Howard, phone number: 1–404 – 872 – 0750.
Ideal Feet
Maybe together as consumers we can stop this sort of practice in the marketplace. I hope this has been helpful for those searching for relief.

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