#these are pretty small only about 2-ish inches in diameter

[sweeping-the-clouds-away]

🎄❄🎄

[tachyonpen]

Weird size community meme idea- your taste in size content represented via playing cards.

No, seriously.

Set the red suits and black suits in two separate piles to start, and set the Jokers aside- cards laid vertically will be things that you're generally interested in, or that you'd like to see in a partner of a different size. Cards laid horizontally will be ideas that would apply to you.

The black suits, clubs and spades, will be giant-related. First, kings, queens and jacks- guys, gals, and nonbinary; who's the big party in your ideal g/t story?

Next, the numbered cards. In a setting built for the smaller party (so the big ones are giants, dealing with inconveniences like being unable to ride in cars or enter most buildings comfortably), what's your ideal size gap between the giant(s) and everybody else? [Word to the wise- The max. height is going to be A) in Imperial units and B) shown off using a relatively short 5 ft tall and a very tall 6'8" multiplied up to the relevant proportions ahead, like so 5'/6'8"]. 2 is up to about double, where everyone is about double-ish the norm- 10/13 feet, about, so the smaller ones come up to their waist or higher, typically. 3 would be from there up to about 5x the norm, so anywhere up to 25/33 feet tall- about to the shin. 4 is from there up to the beloved Brobdingnagian x12 difference, or 60/80 feet tall- one foot to the humans is about an inch to the bigs. 5 is from those proportions up to a 20x difference, 100/133 ft, where people are about the size of their finger or ear, and a 5/6 story building is their equal in height. 6 is where we start getting crazy- an up to 60x difference, 300/400 ft. tall, meaning the average person is only as tall as their toes, and their proportions mean that they need to be careful lest they knock over skyscrapers- they're about as tall as a 15/20 story building at this point. 7 is a difference up to 240x, or 1200/1600 ft tall, which is the point where they'd start genuinely causing damage to the landscape and civilization with their footsteps, and people would start to resemble small bugs to them. 8 on up is much less common, but I'll keep going- this number indicates anywhere up to a 500x difference between the giant and the human civilization, or 2500/3333 feet tall; this is around half a mile, and where living on or inside the giant(s) becomes a feasible option- the giant would be no more cognizant of the individual people than we would be an aphid. 9 is where we make significantly larger jumps for those who like their giants colossal- this covers anything up to 7,500,000x normal size, or 7500/9833 miles tall- approximately the same size as Earth's diameter, or literally planetary-scale giants. Lastly, 10 covers anything up to 225 million times normal size, up to 225,000/300,000 miles tall- so large than even the Earth itself is 2 inches across, or about the size of a largish gumball, by comparison to the giant, a card I don't expect most of you to set out.

Last, the ace- do you like it when the big has to grow big to get like this? Its absence will be for giants born enormous (or made enormous in the case of mechanical or divine beings).

For the red suits, your hearts and diamonds, these are for tiny roles. Again, the kings, queens, and jacks- tiny guys, smol gals, little enby pals.

The numbered cards here refer to settings designed for the comfort of the bigger party- your Borrower or HIStK settings go here. 2 is for anything down to half-size smalls, 2'6"/3'4" coming up to about the waist of their bigger counterparts- an inconvenient existence, but not by too much. 3 is from that point down to one-fourth size, 15"/20", which would leave our smaller party at about knee height, and taller people would look like two-story buildings at about this point. 4 takes us down to one-sixth size, 10"/13", which is about the length of the bigger people's forearm, and just the right size to mount your average housecat or small dog like a horse. 5 takes us down to Lilliputian one-twelfth, or 5/7 inches tall- this would put the smaller ones at about the length of people's hands from base of palm to tip of pinky finger, and small enough to hide in underwear; notably, this is a great "small civilization" size in other works as well, with mice and rats occupying a role as mounts, various common lizards acting the role of dragon, and both cats and hawks being relatively threatening. 6 takes us to the ever popular one-twentieth, or 3/4 inches tall- about as tall as a person's ear, or as long as their finger if laid out; notably, this is a pretty common Borrower size, as your bog standard inch-and-a-half sewing needle makes for a decent rapier at this scale, large bugs are a relatively even fight, socks are bigger than you and fluffy enough to make into beds, etc. 7 takes us to the one-sixtieth size smalls, or approximately an inch tall- to the people, they're about as tall as their toe, or the length of a single joint on a finger; these are the settings where they frequently interact with, say, snails, crickets, and hummingbirds, but brown ants are about the size of dogs to the littles. 8 is where we start getting extra little, specifically down to one-hundred-twentieth scale- this makes the smalls about the length of the bed of an unpainted fingernail, and where the common small trope of "a few crumbs is too much" genuinely starts to apply. 9 takes us all the way down to one-five-hundredth scale smalls, or about the size of fleas- notably, this makes the smalls actually small enough to not break water's surface tension (read- walk on dirty water) and a head of hair becomes a forest. 10, lastly, brings us down to the genuinely microscopic smalls, the ones who can't be effectively seen by the naked eye unless they're moving or in a group, down to 1/1200 scale for the sake of stating an identifiable number- at this size, every inch is a five-mile trek, meaning that it's usually reserved for brief jokes and villain punishments; that said, would briefly like to note Fantastic Voyage plots, but effective conversion for numbers that small is giving me a headache.

These aces note a love of shrinking itself being pointed out. If not used, they instead indicate littles born or created that size being your preference.

You can use as many cards as apply to your tastes.

[followtheruels-blog]

I love this time of year! Not only is it my birthday week and month it’s also March Madness! 

This may be somewhat surprising for those who don’t know me personally, but I love me some college basketball. I played as a kid and through high school. And despite not being all that good, I still have love for the sport. My dad used to take me to the tournament when they held games in Los Angeles. Now my husband and I try to go to at least one round whenever it’s hosted here in Charlotte. 

This year I am particularly excited because my team (the Baylor Bears) have advanced to the Sweet 16. Not only that, but they are playing South Carolina in the Sweet 16 game, where a lot of our friends went to school. To mark the occasion, I thought it would be fun to make some cookies with the Baylor and USC logos.(That’s University of South Carolina for those of you out West. It has taken a long time for me to think of USC as South Carolina and not Southern Cal.)

But why stop there? There are 14 other well deserving teams that should also get cookies, right? I know a few Tar Heel friends that would be very upset if I left them out. 

So I did all 16. It was a hell of an afternoon, but it was a lot of fun. And it gives me a chance to demonstrate how you can make your very own college logo cookies! It’s actually not as hard as you may think! 

Can you trace a picture using tracing paper? Then you can trace a logo on parchment with royal icing!

First, start with a print out of your favorite team logo that’s a little smaller than your actual cookie. For reference, my cookies were about 3″ in diameter and I printed out my logos to be 1.5″ to 2″ inches at their widest/tallest (with the exception of Purdue’s P, which is much wider than I expected). 

Cover the logo with a small piece of parchment, then outline the logo in piping consistency royal icing and fill in with flood consistency and use a toothpick to spread out the flood icing to fill in all the corners.

This particular logo (and most logos) has a contrasting border, so I almost always use piping consistency for the border and flood for the interior. If it is a large single color logo (see Wisconsin’s W), I used red flood for the entire thing, but it was harder to get the detail in the W. For thinner logos (Kansas), I used piping consistency for the whole letter. 

Transfer the parchment with the logo to a flat counter or board and tape down all the sides. Parchment has a tendency to “roll” which will cause your logo to be misshapen, so that it won’t lay flat on the cookie. 

Allow the logo to dry for at least 2 hours. You will know the logo is ready when it easily slides off the parchment. If you are met with any resistance when peeling off your logo….continue at your own risk!

Getting your logo onto the cookie is the easy part! When you know your logo is dry, outline and fill your cookie. Immediately drop the logo (or royal icing transfer) onto the wet icing. Use a toothpick, scribe tool, or your finger to press the logo down into the icing. If you have any gaps, you can pipe in some additional icing to fill them in. 

Once your cookies are dry (or dry-ish), you can go back in and add a border! My favorite is to just pipe dots around the side. Just make sure to pipe ever other dot if you are using flood consistency icing. They will run together if you pipe two dots right next to one another without letting one crust over (about 5 minutes) in between. 

As much fun as these cookies were, some of these logos were a pain in the butt. About 10 cookies in, I was creating a bracket in my head with which cookies would advance based on how much I liked making their logo. Ranked from 1 to 16 they are….

Michigan. Straight edges and a nice big solid color was basically everything I could ask for in a logo. 

West Virginia. Samezies ^^

North Carolina. It’s just a fun logo with pretty colors. 

Oregon. You would think with it being so easy that I would have done a better job. 

Baylor. Interlocking letters is challenging, but I am ranking this higher because I am biased. 

Xavier. It’s a little uppity with it’s 3 color logo (you can’t see one of the colors). 

Wisconsin. It looks like it should be simple, but my brain had trouble with the drop shadow.

Kansas. Simple, but also super delicate. I was afraid I was going to break it!

UCLA. This one was tricky, but I was proud of myself for getting something that resembled the letters ‘U’, ‘C’, ‘L’, and ‘A’.

Arizona. Three colors is one color too many. 

Kentucky. This one was only two colors, but it acts like a three color logo, and you already know how I feel about those. 

Purdue. I didn’t like the colors and the logo came out too big. None of this is Purdue’s fault. The actual logo was pretty easy to make. 

South Carolina. Interlocking three letters?! Ugh, might as well have three colors while your at it. 

Florida. It’s like the UCLA logo, but with two more letters, which really just made it impossible for me. 

Gonzaga. I had to alter their normal logo, because there was no way in hell I was going to try to pipe a tiny bull dog.

Butler. I had to MAKE UP a logo for them because their only logo is a freaking bull dog. What is it with bull dogs? Why do they have to be a part of your logo!?

Just kidding, I love bull dogs (all dogs, really), but I did not want to attempt to make one with royal icing. 

So as far as I am concerned, Michigan is the real winner this March Madness. I know at least one Wolverine who will be happy about that! Go Blue!

(…and go Bears!)

Royal Icing recipe 

Sugar Cookie recipe

Sweet 16 College Logo Cookies I love this time of year! Not only is it my birthday week and month it's also March Madness!

[sherlocklexa]

Lessons in Fence Fixing, Part 1: How NOT to Anchor a Fence Post

When I first moved into the UDH, one of the very first projects my dad and I ever tackled was adding a small fence and gate to close off the back yard. In fact, it was the second blog post that I ever wrote — it was that early!

Since then, quite a lot of things have changed, including other improvements to the fence: replacing part of the chain link on the other side of the house, adding better gate hardware, planting garden beds next to it for added foliage (and to hide my neighbor’s fence that’s falling apart, which you can see more of in the pics below), and more. I’d like to think I’ve actually learned quite a bit about fences during that time. But last fall, there was a bit of an accident to this little section:

It happened during that awesome, sweaty week last summer when I rented a backhoe, ordered truckloads of dirt, and filled in the sink hole in a brutally humid August. My friends stopped by one night to help (truthfully, they really just wanted to play with the backhoe for a bit)…

…but as usual, it was my dad who helped out the most. Look at him go!

Please note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which allows me to make a small commission from your purchase (but your purchase price stays the same). Thank you for helping support the blog! I appreciate it! 

Even though we got a huge amount done in that week, there’s was just one little step in the wrong direction: during one of the return passes through the gate to get more dirt…

…Dad turned the wheel and crashed directly into my fence. It wasn’t enough of a collision to take out the fence as a whole or for him to be injured in any way (and it was kind of funny since all bets would have been on me to be the one with a runaway backhoe), but it did just enough damage to loosen the concrete and make the whole thing unstable. The post had been bent to an angle that could not be repaired, so I would have to replace it in order for the gate hardware (actually, the newly-installed gate hardware) to close properly.

I took the fence panel off and came up with a game plan to fix it, but I wasn’t in a huge hurry since I was busy working on lots of other projects all winter. Typically, you just buy a new pre-treated 4×4 and a bag of quick-dry concrete, reattach the hardware, and done (you actually don’t even need to separately mix the concrete… you literally pour the bag into the hole and water it down, poke it a few times to make sure the water mixes well enough, and stabilize the post so that it’s level — not a difficult DIY at all, just heavy). But as I made one of my usual supply runs to my local Orange, I spotted this little display:

According to the product’s advertising:

This new product could fix my fence without the inconvenience of carrying around 50 pound bags of concrete through the store — “effectively replaces two 50 lb. bags of concrete mix.” Since I don’t like carrying heavy stuff unless it’s part of an obstacle course race, this was a selling point for me.

The two components that are separated in the bag, once popped and mixed for about 20 seconds, form an expanding polyurethane resin that you pour it into the hole; in just 3 minutes, the product expands around the post and stabilizes it.

Basically, magic.

Given that I also love trying out new DIY products and being the guinea pig to see if something *really* works or not, I figured it would make for a really cool experiment. For around 3x the price (online it says it’s now cheaper, but I remember spending more), it was more expensive than the bag of concrete I’d initially planned to use, but I liked the idea of trying it out and picked it up anyway. Could it really work?

The short answer: no. Nope, nope, nope. But hey, I have cool pictures!

With the weather warming back up (and dry), the temperature was right to finally give it a try. I started by cleaning out the existing hole that contained the original post (any softer dirt, debris and such — Georgia’s red clay is pretty hard to begin with, but spring rain had caused some mud at the bottom of the hole). It may not look it from this photo, but the hole I started with was deep enough for the usual concrete that I would have poured otherwise (probably two-ish bags). It doesn’t really say it on the bag, but an online video that I found for this product says the hole should be 8 inches in diameter and one third of the length of the post should be in the ground.

I popped the bag and did a quick shimmy to get the two components to mix (note: there’s a very short window of time for this, about 20-30 seconds), then snipped a corner with some scissors and started pouring it into the post hole. The goop almost instantly started foaming up before I could snap a few pictures with my phone, which was pretty cool to watch. Over the next few minutes, I monitored the expansion and made sure the post stayed level (a post level would have been even better to use, but since I didn’t feel like making another trip to the store, two levels measuring both directions worked in a pinch).

I stood around for another ten minutes, watching the foam expand even further and even above ground (according to package directions, you can just trim off excess after it’s hardened). You’re supposed to let things cure additionally for another two hours before attaching anything to the post, but I had other things to tackle the rest of the afternoon, so I let it be for the rest of the day.

I gave it a few test wiggles that evening (well after the 2-hour “fully hardened” window on the packaging), which proved disappointing. The product wasn’t super stable around the post, and as you can see in the photo above, had even pulled away from the post while it expanded. I was still outside working on a few other things, and I could clearly see the post swaying slightly in the wind. I chose to leave it overnight and decide whether or not to re-attach the fence panel the next day.

The next afternoon, I pushed on the post. While it didn’t fall over, it still wiggled at the slightest nudge — nothing like the secure stability of setting the post in concrete. I guess one could argue not to expect they’d be exactly similar, except that the video I watched about the product literally had a guy climbing onto and hanging off the post as a demonstration of its strength. In my case, it took just a few more strong nudges, and the whole thing came right up out of the ground. Womp, womp.

Perhaps the hole I dug was still not deep enough (the foam only came up out of the ground a little, similar to what I’d seen in the video, so it looked plenty deep enough for the equivalent in concrete that it’s supposed to replace). Perhaps the ground around the hole wasn’t dry enough (the product didn’t really say much about water except to remove any standing water in the hole, and any loose soil had already been cleared out). So, while I’m sure that a lengthy investigation with the manufacturer would point out what step I must have not done perfectly in perfect conditions (because that hardly ever exists in real life, duh), I’d had enough of my experiment. I certainly think it’s cool when new products come out, and I’m willing to try them, but if the original way is both pretty much fool-proof and cheaper, I consider this a product flop.

The foam is easy to remove — I just hacked at it with a reciprocating saw and dumped the pieces. I noticed while removing it that the lack of expanding around the post was actually worse than I thought; somehow, air pockets had gotten into the resin, which probably contributed to its lack of stability.

With the junky foam shorn off, I grabbed an ol’ reliable bag of concrete and reset the post. Even though it took about fifteen minutes longer (well, a day of the other product and then fifteen minutes) to set enough to feel comfortable walking away, for me, concrete is the way to go from now on.

This post has gone on long enough, but there’s more that needed to still be done to get my fence and gate fixed up, so I’ll save that for part 2. And if you saw on Instagram, even more was accomplished elsewhere over the same weekend (remember this project?). More of that is coming as quickly as I can edit the photos!

P.S. In case you’re wondering, this wasn’t a sponsored post or anything, merely something I saw in store and wanted to try out. I know how it is when you see a new product and wonder if it’s worth the extra cost compared to the alternative — which is often cheaper, but more labor intensive — so from time to time, I let my house test things out. In years past, manufacturers have even reached out later to let me know these posts have helped them improve products that don’t work out, so I hope you found this helpful too!

The post Lessons in Fence Fixing, Part 1: How NOT to Anchor a Fence Post appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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from car2 http://ift.tt/2owkCln via as shown a lot

[chocdono]

Lessons in Fence Fixing, Part 1: How NOT to Anchor a Fence Post

When I first moved into the UDH, one of the very first projects my dad and I ever tackled was adding a small fence and gate to close off the back yard. In fact, it was the second blog post that I ever wrote — it was that early!

Since then, quite a lot of things have changed, including other improvements to the fence: replacing part of the chain link on the other side of the house, adding better gate hardware, planting garden beds next to it for added foliage (and to hide my neighbor’s fence that’s falling apart, which you can see more of in the pics below), and more. I’d like to think I’ve actually learned quite a bit about fences during that time. But last fall, there was a bit of an accident to this little section:

It happened during that awesome, sweaty week last summer when I rented a backhoe, ordered truckloads of dirt, and filled in the sink hole in a brutally humid August. My friends stopped by one night to help (truthfully, they really just wanted to play with the backhoe for a bit)…

…but as usual, it was my dad who helped out the most. Look at him go!

Please note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which allows me to make a small commission from your purchase (but your purchase price stays the same). Thank you for helping support the blog! I appreciate it! 

Even though we got a huge amount done in that week, there’s was just one little step in the wrong direction: during one of the return passes through the gate to get more dirt…

…Dad turned the wheel and crashed directly into my fence. It wasn’t enough of a collision to take out the fence as a whole or for him to be injured in any way (and it was kind of funny since all bets would have been on me to be the one with a runaway backhoe), but it did just enough damage to loosen the concrete and make the whole thing unstable. The post had been bent to an angle that could not be repaired, so I would have to replace it in order for the gate hardware (actually, the newly-installed gate hardware) to close properly.

I took the fence panel off and came up with a game plan to fix it, but I wasn’t in a huge hurry since I was busy working on lots of other projects all winter. Typically, you just buy a new pre-treated 4×4 and a bag of quick-dry concrete, reattach the hardware, and done (you actually don’t even need to separately mix the concrete… you literally pour the bag into the hole and water it down, poke it a few times to make sure the water mixes well enough, and stabilize the post so that it’s level — not a difficult DIY at all, just heavy). But as I made one of my usual supply runs to my local Orange, I spotted this little display:

According to the product’s advertising:

This new product could fix my fence without the inconvenience of carrying around 50 pound bags of concrete through the store — “effectively replaces two 50 lb. bags of concrete mix.” Since I don’t like carrying heavy stuff unless it’s part of an obstacle course race, this was a selling point for me.

The two components that are separated in the bag, once popped and mixed for about 20 seconds, form an expanding polyurethane resin that you pour it into the hole; in just 3 minutes, the product expands around the post and stabilizes it.

Basically, magic.

Given that I also love trying out new DIY products and being the guinea pig to see if something *really* works or not, I figured it would make for a really cool experiment. For around 3x the price (online it says it’s now cheaper, but I remember spending more), it was more expensive than the bag of concrete I’d initially planned to use, but I liked the idea of trying it out and picked it up anyway. Could it really work?

The short answer: no. Nope, nope, nope. But hey, I have cool pictures!

With the weather warming back up (and dry), the temperature was right to finally give it a try. I started by cleaning out the existing hole that contained the original post (any softer dirt, debris and such — Georgia’s red clay is pretty hard to begin with, but spring rain had caused some mud at the bottom of the hole). It may not look it from this photo, but the hole I started with was deep enough for the usual concrete that I would have poured otherwise (probably two-ish bags). It doesn’t really say it on the bag, but an online video that I found for this product says the hole should be 8 inches in diameter and one third of the length of the post should be in the ground.

I popped the bag and did a quick shimmy to get the two components to mix (note: there’s a very short window of time for this, about 20-30 seconds), then snipped a corner with some scissors and started pouring it into the post hole. The goop almost instantly started foaming up before I could snap a few pictures with my phone, which was pretty cool to watch. Over the next few minutes, I monitored the expansion and made sure the post stayed level (a post level would have been even better to use, but since I didn’t feel like making another trip to the store, two levels measuring both directions worked in a pinch).

I stood around for another ten minutes, watching the foam expand even further and even above ground (according to package directions, you can just trim off excess after it’s hardened). You’re supposed to let things cure additionally for another two hours before attaching anything to the post, but I had other things to tackle the rest of the afternoon, so I let it be for the rest of the day.

I gave it a few test wiggles that evening (well after the 2-hour “fully hardened” window on the packaging), which proved disappointing. The product wasn’t super stable around the post, and as you can see in the photo above, had even pulled away from the post while it expanded. I was still outside working on a few other things, and I could clearly see the post swaying slightly in the wind. I chose to leave it overnight and decide whether or not to re-attach the fence panel the next day.

The next afternoon, I pushed on the post. While it didn’t fall over, it still wiggled at the slightest nudge — nothing like the secure stability of setting the post in concrete. I guess one could argue not to expect they’d be exactly similar, except that the video I watched about the product literally had a guy climbing onto and hanging off the post as a demonstration of its strength. In my case, it took just a few more strong nudges, and the whole thing came right up out of the ground. Womp, womp.

Perhaps the hole I dug was still not deep enough (the foam only came up out of the ground a little, similar to what I’d seen in the video, so it looked plenty deep enough for the equivalent in concrete that it’s supposed to replace). Perhaps the ground around the hole wasn’t dry enough (the product didn’t really say much about water except to remove any standing water in the hole, and any loose soil had already been cleared out). So, while I’m sure that a lengthy investigation with the manufacturer would point out what step I must have not done perfectly in perfect conditions (because that hardly ever exists in real life, duh), I’d had enough of my experiment. I certainly think it’s cool when new products come out, and I’m willing to try them, but if the original way is both pretty much fool-proof and cheaper, I consider this a product flop.

The foam is easy to remove — I just hacked at it with a reciprocating saw and dumped the pieces. I noticed while removing it that the lack of expanding around the post was actually worse than I thought; somehow, air pockets had gotten into the resin, which probably contributed to its lack of stability.

With the junky foam shorn off, I grabbed an ol’ reliable bag of concrete and reset the post. Even though it took about fifteen minutes longer (well, a day of the other product and then fifteen minutes) to set enough to feel comfortable walking away, for me, concrete is the way to go from now on.

This post has gone on long enough, but there’s more that needed to still be done to get my fence and gate fixed up, so I’ll save that for part 2. And if you saw on Instagram, even more was accomplished elsewhere over the same weekend (remember this project?). More of that is coming as quickly as I can edit the photos!

P.S. In case you’re wondering, this wasn’t a sponsored post or anything, merely something I saw in store and wanted to try out. I know how it is when you see a new product and wonder if it’s worth the extra cost compared to the alternative — which is often cheaper, but more labor intensive — so from time to time, I let my house test things out. In years past, manufacturers have even reached out later to let me know these posts have helped them improve products that don’t work out, so I hope you found this helpful too!

The post Lessons in Fence Fixing, Part 1: How NOT to Anchor a Fence Post appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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from mix1 http://ift.tt/2owkCln via with this info

[petraself]

Lessons in Fence Fixing, Part 1: How NOT to Anchor a Fence Post

When I first moved into the UDH, one of the very first projects my dad and I ever tackled was adding a small fence and gate to close off the back yard. In fact, it was the second blog post that I ever wrote — it was that early!

Since then, quite a lot of things have changed, including other improvements to the fence: replacing part of the chain link on the other side of the house, adding better gate hardware, planting garden beds next to it for added foliage (and to hide my neighbor’s fence that’s falling apart, which you can see more of in the pics below), and more. I’d like to think I’ve actually learned quite a bit about fences during that time. But last fall, there was a bit of an accident to this little section:

It happened during that awesome, sweaty week last summer when I rented a backhoe, ordered truckloads of dirt, and filled in the sink hole in a brutally humid August. My friends stopped by one night to help (truthfully, they really just wanted to play with the backhoe for a bit)…

…but as usual, it was my dad who helped out the most. Look at him go!

Please note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which allows me to make a small commission from your purchase (but your purchase price stays the same). Thank you for helping support the blog! I appreciate it! 

Even though we got a huge amount done in that week, there’s was just one little step in the wrong direction: during one of the return passes through the gate to get more dirt…

…Dad turned the wheel and crashed directly into my fence. It wasn’t enough of a collision to take out the fence as a whole or for him to be injured in any way (and it was kind of funny since all bets would have been on me to be the one with a runaway backhoe), but it did just enough damage to loosen the concrete and make the whole thing unstable. The post had been bent to an angle that could not be repaired, so I would have to replace it in order for the gate hardware (actually, the newly-installed gate hardware) to close properly.

I took the fence panel off and came up with a game plan to fix it, but I wasn’t in a huge hurry since I was busy working on lots of other projects all winter. Typically, you just buy a new pre-treated 4×4 and a bag of quick-dry concrete, reattach the hardware, and done (you actually don’t even need to separately mix the concrete… you literally pour the bag into the hole and water it down, poke it a few times to make sure the water mixes well enough, and stabilize the post so that it’s level — not a difficult DIY at all, just heavy). But as I made one of my usual supply runs to my local Orange, I spotted this little display:

According to the product’s advertising:

This new product could fix my fence without the inconvenience of carrying around 50 pound bags of concrete through the store — “effectively replaces two 50 lb. bags of concrete mix.” Since I don’t like carrying heavy stuff unless it’s part of an obstacle course race, this was a selling point for me.

The two components that are separated in the bag, once popped and mixed for about 20 seconds, form an expanding polyurethane resin that you pour it into the hole; in just 3 minutes, the product expands around the post and stabilizes it.

Basically, magic.

Given that I also love trying out new DIY products and being the guinea pig to see if something *really* works or not, I figured it would make for a really cool experiment. For around 3x the price (online it says it’s now cheaper, but I remember spending more), it was more expensive than the bag of concrete I’d initially planned to use, but I liked the idea of trying it out and picked it up anyway. Could it really work?

The short answer: no. Nope, nope, nope. But hey, I have cool pictures!

With the weather warming back up (and dry), the temperature was right to finally give it a try. I started by cleaning out the existing hole that contained the original post (any softer dirt, debris and such — Georgia’s red clay is pretty hard to begin with, but spring rain had caused some mud at the bottom of the hole). It may not look it from this photo, but the hole I started with was deep enough for the usual concrete that I would have poured otherwise (probably two-ish bags). It doesn’t really say it on the bag, but an online video that I found for this product says the hole should be 8 inches in diameter and one third of the length of the post should be in the ground.

I popped the bag and did a quick shimmy to get the two components to mix (note: there’s a very short window of time for this, about 20-30 seconds), then snipped a corner with some scissors and started pouring it into the post hole. The goop almost instantly started foaming up before I could snap a few pictures with my phone, which was pretty cool to watch. Over the next few minutes, I monitored the expansion and made sure the post stayed level (a post level would have been even better to use, but since I didn’t feel like making another trip to the store, two levels measuring both directions worked in a pinch).

I stood around for another ten minutes, watching the foam expand even further and even above ground (according to package directions, you can just trim off excess after it’s hardened). You’re supposed to let things cure additionally for another two hours before attaching anything to the post, but I had other things to tackle the rest of the afternoon, so I let it be for the rest of the day.

I gave it a few test wiggles that evening (well after the 2-hour “fully hardened” window on the packaging), which proved disappointing. The product wasn’t super stable around the post, and as you can see in the photo above, had even pulled away from the post while it expanded. I was still outside working on a few other things, and I could clearly see the post swaying slightly in the wind. I chose to leave it overnight and decide whether or not to re-attach the fence panel the next day.

The next afternoon, I pushed on the post. While it didn’t fall over, it still wiggled at the slightest nudge — nothing like the secure stability of setting the post in concrete. I guess one could argue not to expect they’d be exactly similar, except that the video I watched about the product literally had a guy climbing onto and hanging off the post as a demonstration of its strength. In my case, it took just a few more strong nudges, and the whole thing came right up out of the ground. Womp, womp.

Perhaps the hole I dug was still not deep enough (the foam only came up out of the ground a little, similar to what I’d seen in the video, so it looked plenty deep enough for the equivalent in concrete that it’s supposed to replace). Perhaps the ground around the hole wasn’t dry enough (the product didn’t really say much about water except to remove any standing water in the hole, and any loose soil had already been cleared out). So, while I’m sure that a lengthy investigation with the manufacturer would point out what step I must have not done perfectly in perfect conditions (because that hardly ever exists in real life, duh), I’d had enough of my experiment. I certainly think it’s cool when new products come out, and I’m willing to try them, but if the original way is both pretty much fool-proof and cheaper, I consider this a product flop.

The foam is easy to remove — I just hacked at it with a reciprocating saw and dumped the pieces. I noticed while removing it that the lack of expanding around the post was actually worse than I thought; somehow, air pockets had gotten into the resin, which probably contributed to its lack of stability.

With the junky foam shorn off, I grabbed an ol’ reliable bag of concrete and reset the post. Even though it took about fifteen minutes longer (well, a day of the other product and then fifteen minutes) to set enough to feel comfortable walking away, for me, this is the way to go from now on.

This post has gone on long enough, but there’s more that needed to still be done to get my fence and gate fixed up, so I’ll save that for part 2. And if you saw on Instagram, even more was accomplished elsewhere over the same weekend (remember this project?). More of that is coming as quickly as I can edit the photos!

P.S. In case you’re wondering, this wasn’t a sponsored post or anything, merely something I saw in store and wanted to try out. I know how it is when you see a new product and wonder if it’s worth the extra cost compared to the alternative — which is often cheaper, but more labor intensive — so from time to time, I let my house test things out. In years past, manufacturers have even reached out later to let me know these posts have helped them improve products that don’t work out, so I hope you found this helpful too!

The post Lessons in Fence Fixing, Part 1: How NOT to Anchor a Fence Post appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.

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Lessons in Fence Fixing, Part 1: How NOT to Anchor a Fence Post published first on http://ift.tt/1kI9W8s