Tuesday, June 7, 2016

The Outdoor Irishman, Paddy O'Furniture

Our cheap plastic lawn chairs and tables were getting old and brittle.  Since Tanya and I are also, we decided it was time to upgrade to something a bit more sturdier.

Our taxi driver friend Vitalik offered to take us to Krivii Rih for a very reasonable price, mostly to escape work, I think.  We (Tanya, Lina, and I) left about 10:30 and were home by 5:30.  I got my McDonald's fix but we spent most of our time at our favourite store - Epicentre.  It is a combination of Home Depot, Rona and Home Outfitters.  

Tanya headed for patio furniture and I headed for tools and hardware.  I cruised the four aisles of tools and went to see how Tanya was making out. She eventually decided on what she wanted and then we went to buy my power tools. Makita 3x18 belt sander, Makita 7 1/2" circular saw, and a Bosch 1/4 cordless drill. Tanya took an hour and a half; I took 10 minutes. But she had more choice and bought more stuff.

After that we went to see what they had for lumber. Lumber, as we know it in North America, ie S4S nominal dimension, is a scarce item.  Most of the kiln dried and milled lumber is tongue and groove, or shaped specifically for certain purposes.  The closest I found to "lumber" was the equivalent of 1x4 10 ft long.  Tanya says we can buy the kind of lumber I want in Dnipro over the internet and have them deliver. For rough stuff, I can buy the green boards from the saw mill a block from here.  

The patio furniture was delivered Monday about 4:00 pm.  We were ready and organized. We had a set of two chairs and a table we bought 8 years ago to put on the balcony and when we got it upstairs we couldn't get it through the balcony door.  We left it as it filled a space in our small (emergency) spare room.  (We call it the "Blue Room" as the wallpaper is blue).  Monday, I hauled the chairs downstairs and using a ladder lifted them up the outside of the house to Tanya.  Then I tore the table apart and managed to squeeze it out the door.

Now we can drink tea on our balcony of an evening
 Tanya bought a really nice set to replace it in the blue room. Much more comfortable and not as big and clunky looking.

A place to read when it is windy or raining outside
The pièce de résistance was a five-piece set of glass-topped table, coffee table, love seat and two arm chairs.  Unassembled.  The instructions were in pictographs and easy to follow. I marveled at the engineering design.  First off, how they got it all in the box.  Second, how everything fit together like it was supposed to. There were six spots where a bolt could only be tightened 1/8 of a turn at a time and there was EXACTLY just enough room to do that.

We put one arm chair and the coffee table in the entry and the big table, love seat and armchair on the front landing. My deck just isn't big enough.


We will take the plastic off the cushions.

8 comments:

  1. Bahahaha!!! That's a classic video. Nothing finer than a good deck joke. And congratulations on your ingenuity - now Tanya will sit on your deck whenever you want. ;-)

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  2. If you can get rough cut lumber there you should buy a good planer.

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    Replies
    1. Thought of that and I may do it. Then it is a matter of strapping it so it doesn't warp when it dries. A good planer will cost me $1000 and if I can buy S4S, we'll see.

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    2. Here you can get a good planer for 3 to 4 hundred. Space it and it should dry okay.

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    3. Thanks for the tip about drying.

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  3. Late to the party again. You forgot about Mr. O'Furniture's cousin, Paddy O'Lantern.
    Speaking of big decks. I don't want to brag, but mine is pretty darn big. I sometimes have groups over for parties on my deck. Nothing like a bunch of people enjoying themselves on my deck.

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