OT: Home Repair Puzzle

Pavel314 · 2009-08-24T14:06:37+00:00

I thought some of the folks on this list might like to figure this oneout. The solution will be published on the Car Talk website latertoday (8/24). I think I know the answer, which may have applicationsin real life some day.The Kitchen Carpentry CureRAY: This puzzler was sent "My friend had purchased a piece of slate to put into the floor in thehearth in front of his fireplace. The slate was 3/4 of an inch thick,by 10 inches wide, by 48 inches long, and weighed on the order of 175pounds. He had cut a hole in the oak floor that was the same size asthe piece of slate."TOM: He had to plunk it right there, and get his fingers out of theway as fast as possible!RAY: "The depth of the hole was exactly 3/4 of an inch, the same asthe slate. And, of course, there was the sub-floor underneath. When heput one end of the slate into the hole in the floor, he realized thathe would have to drop the other end to get the slate into the hole. Herealized that if he dropped the brittle slate, even half an inch, itwould break.Not only that, but it wouldn't go in the hole, anyway. There was solittle clearance that he couldn't even use that thin fishing line tolower the end of the slate. So he sat there for the longest time,drinking beers and pondering this dilemma.After his 5th or 6th trip to the kitchen he returned with somethingthat solved the problem in elegant fashion."What did he find there that allowed him to lower the slate into thehole without risk of breaking it?

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DerbyDad03 16 years ago

The last time I checked, dry ice "melted" just as unevenly as the wet stuff.

Keep in mind that the main problem with the project is that the hole is the exact same size as the slab, so the slab has to be lowered down with the edges of the slab perfectly parallel to the sides of the hole.

If the ice, wet or dry, melts faster on one end (or side) than on the other, that end (or side) is going to go in at an angle and the slab will become wedged part way down into the hole.

One of 2 things would have to exist for ice (wet or dry) to work:

Either:

Your ice *and* your slab would have to be perfectly flat and of perfectly even density so that the ice melted perfectly evenly...

or

Any variation in the density of the slab that caused it to be heavier in some spots than in others would have to compensated for in the density/height of the ice. Since pressure creates heat, a heavier portion of the slab is going to cause the ice to melt faster in that area than in others.

Good luck in either of those situations.

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cshenk 16 years ago

"Pavel314" wrote

He put it flat on the floor infront of the hole and shimmy'ed it in place

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cshenk 16 years ago

"stan" wrote

That was my other idea ;-)

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Cliff Hartle 16 years ago

The answer is ice and this was on their show a few years ago. I got it right back then too.

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HeyBub 16 years ago

Imagine:

Four (or more) smallish holes in the floor.
Dowels inserted into the holes and rest on a same size hunk of thick plywood in the basement.
The plywood rests on a big honkin' hunk of dry ice or a pneumatic bottle jack.
The slab is carfully positioned on the dowels and the whole thing slowly lowered into place

Lest the purist says "Nobody has a bottle jack in their kitchen!" I say "How do you sweep under the fridge?"

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Ed Pawlowski 16 years ago

And then there's the issue of the subfloor swelling from the moisture and possibly lifting the slab.

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All of that is true, but this is a theoretical puzzle. In real life, he'd have some clearance for expansion/contraction also. And the 175# slab would not break if dropped 3/4" either.

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DerbyDad03 16 years ago

re: this is a theoretical puzzle...

...and therefore the answer should be theoretically viable.

If ice melting in a perfectly consistent manner so as to lower the slab perfectly straight down is theoretically possible, so then is 4 people holding the slab perfectly centered over the hole and dropping it at the perfectly same moment so that it lands perfectly flat in the hole, causing no more stress on any part of the slab than another - in other words...without cracking.

Good luck with either of those theoretically possible solutions.

"In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not."

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JIMMIE 16 years ago

Plastic wrap may not be strong enough but there are some garbage bags that are.

Jimmie

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The Daring Dufas 16 years ago

I had another thought besides ice. If he filled the cavity with vegetable oil and covered it with towels before sliding it into place, the hydraulic action of the oil being displaced could keep it from slamming down.

TDD

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Ashton Crusher 16 years ago

This is WAY too easy. Ice.

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Raymond J. Johnson, Jr. 16 years ago

If that were the case, it would be impossible for the slab to fit in the hole.

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Red Green 16 years ago

Pavel314 wrote in news:f577cd9e-609c-4900-b1db- snipped-for-privacy@f33g2000vbm.googlegroups.com:

I just caught this and have not read through the replies - really. Since you said kitchen, my initial thought was ice and let it melt.

TIme to read and see how I did.

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Colbyt 16 years ago

Don't think the answer was ever posted in this thread. Ice was the correct answer on the web site.

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Red Green 16 years ago

"Colbyt" wrote in news:V8-dneY19bLHTwTXnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@insightbb.com:

Correct answer. Great! It's a crock of s*it though. But I like the Tappet Bros.

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OT: Home Repair Puzzle

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