Home Improvement: What’s the likelihood the home improvement stores close and we can’t finish home projects while being isolated at home? |
- What’s the likelihood the home improvement stores close and we can’t finish home projects while being isolated at home?
- What purpose does this serve on a pocket door?
- How big of a deal is hardwood cupping? (New construction condo)
- Gap between tub and floor tile. Grout or 100% Silicon Caulk?
- How to attach exterior wall vent to ductwork and keep it accessible?
- Tearing Down My House (Advice Please)
- Old school fuse box - twisty fuses
- Bidet doesn't fit because toilet tank curves to meet bowl. Help?
- Adhere drywall directly to concrete?
- Can I caulk over some pieces of the previous caulk that I can’t get off?
- Water in concrete ducts
- Rotting wood on trim
- Newbie here in need of some help with a wall mounted squat rack
- Weird black shaving behind stove
- Spacing on deck boards
- Found this hole in the floor and don't know how to patch it up
- Extending washing machine drain hose past manufacturer recommendation
- How to repaint deck?
- Fix squeaky floor
- Planning bathroom remodel! Need some tub help
- Door Knobs
- Does damaged drywall paper needs to be removed to add a backsplash?
- Major HVAC duct disconnect - DIYable?
- Help on kitchen cabinet and possible remodel
- Best way to find joists in ceiling?
| Posted: 20 Mar 2020 05:01 AM PDT In TN, the latest wave of closures seems to be clothing and home furnishing retail businesses which makes me think similar types of retail might be next. Has anyone seen the home improvement stores (Lowe's, Home Depot, etc) change hours or shutter? I'm doing a basement remodel and haven't purchased tile or paint (or even worse, the random shit that are required to do the job that I will forget until the day of). Scary times to have more time at home than ever, and potentially nothing productive to do. [link] [comments] |
| What purpose does this serve on a pocket door? Posted: 20 Mar 2020 05:35 PM PDT It can be moved from side to side. I was just curious as to what purpose this "switch" for lack of a better word, serves on a pocket door. I noticed on mine it is to the left. [link] [comments] |
| How big of a deal is hardwood cupping? (New construction condo) Posted: 20 Mar 2020 04:41 PM PDT Hey everyone, I'm about to go into contract on a new construction condo in New York City and there's fairly significant cupping on 5 inch oak floors which comprise the entire floor of the condo except the bathroom. It's a 8 unit walk-up style new building, and every unit has it; I noticed it before I offered but didn't realize what it was called or that it's considered bad. I did a pre-contract signing inspection and my inspector obviously called it out. I gather that it's relatively severe cupping...I don't think the builder will fix/replace it and NYC is such that someone else will probably buy it as is.. The cupping was so severe near the balcony that the builder actually had ripped up some of the flooring and was planning to replace, due to the balcony being mispitched towards the building instead of away and water leaking in. (See pics). I don't think that's the cause as every unit has it; i think the floors just weren't allowed to set long enough before the wood was put down. I bring that up because I hear there's supposed to be a vapor barrier (don't know what that is) - can you see one in the pic I attached that exposes beneath the wood floor? Here's pics from the inspection report: Alongside my question about the vapor barrier... - How "bad" is cupping as a homeowner? I personally don't care that much but i don't want it to cost me money or reduce resale value - I was told cupping is fairly common in NYC new construction because builders rush...anyone have similar experiences here? - Will it get worse/better at all, most likely? If it stays as is, like i said, i'm genuinely okay with it and i suspect many renters/ buyers down the line won't really know it's bad either. There rest of the condo inspection was very solid. Thanks everyone! [link] [comments] |
| Gap between tub and floor tile. Grout or 100% Silicon Caulk? Posted: 20 Mar 2020 05:02 PM PDT The grout between the tile and floor is coming off (see photo). It is about 1/4 inches at its widest point. and I will need to fill about 1/2 inch deep gap. Should I grout it and then apply silicon caulk? Or fill the entire gap with silicon caulk. [link] [comments] |
| How to attach exterior wall vent to ductwork and keep it accessible? Posted: 20 Mar 2020 04:46 PM PDT I'm remodeling a kitchen and adding an island down-draft that requires an 8" round duct. I have the subfloor opened up and plan to run the duct this weekend between the floor joists and out through the exterior wall to a vent hood. Challenge: What's the best way to connect the exterior vent to the ductwork, if I want to temporarily remove it again in the future? Where the duct will exit the house we will eventually build a deck, which may require the temporary removal of the vent hood. Is there a way to create a relatively air-tight connection between duct and vent without tape or screws? I'd like to be able to remove/replace it from the exterior of the house, instead of opening up the ceiling below to get at the ductwork. One idea I had was to use flexible duct for a portion of the run between the floor joists. This would allow me to pull the vent/duct connection out of the house from the outside, and then push it back in. It would also allow me to easily extend the length of the duct if I need to extend it through a deck header. Is this a bad idea? I'm not sure how I'd attach the flexible duct to the straight round duct...tape? Thanks for any tips/ideas/advice! [link] [comments] |
| Tearing Down My House (Advice Please) Posted: 20 Mar 2020 08:06 PM PDT My fiancé and I bought our house almost 3 years ago and have put a lot of effort into it (new floors, fresh paint, new doors, new trim and baseboards, and a lot of other little things). We were planning on living in this house for a little while and never saw it as a long term house because it's not the best school district for our daughter. So we were planning on fixing it up and selling it for a decent amount more than we paid. However we just found out that the company behind our house is buying all the houses on our block to tear down to expand. It sucks with all the work, time and money we put into it to know that's going to be the outcome. I guess my question is should we keep making home improvements to increase the value of our home or just leave projects half assed and unfinished? We haven't put the trim up around the new doors yet but we've already purchased everything we need. It just seems super pointless to paint trim, install it just for it to be eventually torn down when we sell. But it would increase the home value so I'm torn. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you! [link] [comments] |
| Old school fuse box - twisty fuses Posted: 20 Mar 2020 03:59 PM PDT I live in a 1950's era condominium apartment that hasn't been significantly upgraded. The apartment has been owned by many, many different people since it was built, and I have owned it for about a year. I have a question about the electrical panel. The fuse box in my apartment was made by the American Electric Switch Division of the Clark Controller Company, an Ohio based company that went out of existence in 1974. It has little twisty fuses that look something like a small lightbulb, and when a lot of power is being drawn, it can "blow a fuse" - and rather than flipping the switch, you have to replace the fuse. There's a hodgepodge of different fuses in there -- one 10 amp, two 20 amp, and one 15 amp fuse. All of these were presumably placed by the prior owner, except for the 10 amp (there was a 10 amp there before, and just to be cautious, when it blew out, I replaced it with another 10 amp). I'm wondering which one is the correct amperage to use! I want to be able to draw as much power as possible without blowing a fuse (ie, blowdry my hair with the lights on) while also not creating a fire risk. The panel says "30 ampere, 3 wire, 125-250 volt." Any idea what amperage fuse can be used?? [link] [comments] |
| Bidet doesn't fit because toilet tank curves to meet bowl. Help? Posted: 20 Mar 2020 06:49 PM PDT Here's the toilet I have: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Jacuzzi-Primo-White-WaterSense-Dual-Flush-Elongated-Chair-Height-Toilet-12-in-Rough-In-Size/1000181997 Here's the bidet I bought: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P2XZIP2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1\ I took the toilet seat off and attempted to mount the bidet, but it won't lie flat because the edge of the seat curves to meet the back of the toilet. Any suggestions? [edit] It's called a french curve and it means I can't have nice things like a bidet. :( [link] [comments] |
| Adhere drywall directly to concrete? Posted: 20 Mar 2020 04:22 PM PDT Can you adhere or glue drywall directly to concrete? Finishing our basement and have one small concrete wall in the main room we are finishing (rest of the basement will be left unfinished for storage). The plan was to stud first then drywall, but was told since our concrete is insulated on the outside there was no need to stud the wall just put the drywall on the concrete. Tried doing some research on if it was better / what materials to use but didnt really find an answer. Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Can I caulk over some pieces of the previous caulk that I can’t get off? Posted: 20 Mar 2020 06:24 PM PDT The caulk around the base of my shower was pretty mildewed, so I peeled most of it off without trouble to clean the area and recaulk. Problem is there are several stubborn pieces that I can't get out of there for the life of me. In one spot some sheet rock actually came out attached to the old caulk. I can never get a contractor or anyone like that to take a residential job in my crappy town, and with COVID-19 now to boot I'm on my own. Can I clean the area with bleach water real well, and just caulk over those stubborn pieces? Or would that even work? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 20 Mar 2020 07:34 PM PDT Wife and I just bought this house in February. We got about 4in of rain where I live in the past 24 hours. Started to go to bed tonight and hear this noise that sounds like a dishwasher running. After some investigation, we find that there's water in the air ducts that are seemingly built into the slab. A few questions: 1) is there a possibility for remedy through previous homeowners, as there's no way they didn't know about it? 2) Who should I contact about fixing the problem? 3) any thoughts on how much this could potentially cost? Thanks for your help. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 20 Mar 2020 05:20 PM PDT I have this piece of rotting wood: https://imgur.com/a/lLmF2hD What type of wood should I replace it with? I do not have gutters because of the amount of pine trees and leaves near my house. Would I be okay not to do this for maybe a month? I just wanted to wait and see if this coronavirus dies down a bit. I am in Massachusetts if that changes things. [link] [comments] |
| Newbie here in need of some help with a wall mounted squat rack Posted: 20 Mar 2020 04:30 PM PDT So I just purchased a wall mount squat rack cage link here and I'm realizing now that the bottom 12 inches (where I'm going to to be mounting the bottom slider) is concrete that is recessed about 1/4 inch from the dry wall above I'm no carpenter by any means, but I'm wondering if anybody has any advice as to how to mount the silder to the concrete AND deal with the recessed concrete portion of the wall, as both slider mounts have to be aligned vertically. See the link to see what the rack is like. Thanks Reddit! [link] [comments] |
| Weird black shaving behind stove Posted: 20 Mar 2020 09:09 PM PDT Weird dirt like sand like substance coming from the inside of the cabinets and behind the stove. Coming from between the wall and the cabinets. This is not an exterior wall. The house is roughly 3 years old. Only pest activity we have seen are some ants on the counters. Any ideas of what this is? Its not pepper. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 20 Mar 2020 06:58 PM PDT I'm replacing all of the decking on my small porch tomorrow using treated wood from Home Depot. It is definitely still wet and heavy. Most articles I see online say to butt boards that are still moist up to each other because they will shrink as they dry. The problem is, the whole reason I'm replacing the current decking is because the gaps were left too small and have jammed up with debris coming off the roof which is causing the boards to hold water when it rains and most of them have started to rot. Am I in danger of the gaps being much to large if I leave a 1/8" space when I install them? [link] [comments] |
| Found this hole in the floor and don't know how to patch it up Posted: 20 Mar 2020 05:44 PM PDT Was at my mother in law's apartment and saw some warping and a hole in the floor next to the radiator. I'm planning on installing new floors for her eventually but the glaring issue is that hole. What can I do about the hole and the warping and how can I prevent this from happening in the future? I was thinking a humidifier but that doesn't seem like it'd be enough. Thanks [link] [comments] |
| Extending washing machine drain hose past manufacturer recommendation Posted: 20 Mar 2020 04:04 PM PDT Hello all, I need some advice here. We recently purchased a new washer and dryer, but we're going to be keeping the old stuff as well, therefore I want to have them both functional. LG mentions in the manual for the drain hose not to be further than 60 inches. I'm measuring around 100 inches or so from corner of washing machine to stand pipe. The old washing machine is a Kenmore 110 series. Whether I put the LG in the old appliances spot or not, one of them needs an extension. Kenmore didn't mention restrictions on horizontal length My idea was to get a drain hose extension kit, and run it from the washer to the standpipe seen in the picture. Then figure out the rest such as gas and water connection. I'd rather avoid messing with the main drain pipe behind the new appliances. Is the recommendation something done as a precaution on their end or is it absolutely necessary? Thanks in advance [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 20 Mar 2020 05:35 PM PDT I have a rather large deck, one side has a pergola. I've seen many mixed messages on how to repaint a deck. Do I power wash then sand? Sand then power wash? Do I need to do both, if not which one is better? After the above do I just spray paint? How do I sand the pergola?? What about rails and spindles? Looking at this deck looks like it'll be a lot of work, but the paint has been peeling for over a year so I'm afraid the boards will rot. Any help please!! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 20 Mar 2020 04:10 PM PDT I have been trying to fix squeaky floor in my 2nd level bedroom+bathroom with zero luck. The squeak is coming from this red zone from the picture and I have plugged in a dozen screws from both sides with zero improvement and have run out of the ideas. I have used the squeak no more kit off HD to plug in screws from the room side. In the picture the green lines are what I have found to be the joists! Also I am finding the joist to be atleast 18" apart and not the 16". Is that possible? (I frankly had alot of trouble finding joist and had to go down on the lower level and find it from its roof using my stud finder. My plan is to peels this vinyl sheet and install floating vinyl planks and have been trying to address the squeak first. What next step can I take now? cut out the subfloor sheet? [link] [comments] |
| Planning bathroom remodel! Need some tub help Posted: 20 Mar 2020 07:00 PM PDT My wife and I live in a 1911 craftsman, and its mostly in original style (except for the bathrooms that never recovered from the late 80s). We're planning to remodel this bathroom first, but I want some of your opinions of what I'm looking at. There's significant mold around the tub, and we're finding that nothing was sealed or even installed correctly with the floors. We have no idea what the original layout of this bathroom was. Looking at the tub, it almost looks like there's a liner or shell over another tub, which I didn't know was a thing. Is it possible the original tub is under there? Or is this purely a relic from 1989? We want to pull it out and replace with a claw foot but if there's a better move, we're open to that. Any help/advice would greatly appreciated! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 20 Mar 2020 05:20 PM PDT We bought a new house, that had dozens of gold doors knobs that of course my wife wanted to replace. But now I don't know what to do with them, they are working just fine, just not our style, is there any place I can donate or sell these to? Thanks. [link] [comments] |
| Does damaged drywall paper needs to be removed to add a backsplash? Posted: 20 Mar 2020 05:09 PM PDT I'm trying my first diy project and I'm feeling very lost and stressed with what I already did. I want to add a backsplash to my wall, but read that I have to remove any wallpaper, glossy finishes in order to do that. So, I started by taking out the terrible tiles from the wall and when it came out, attached to it, there was part of the wallpaper and what I learned to be a drywall paper...I come from Brazil, where drywalls aren't really used, so I had to research to even find it out what that was. Anyway, now I don't know what to do. If i keep Removing the tiles, the drywall paper will be damaged all over, but I also need to take the wallpaper off from at least the area under the cabinet and countertop so I can add the backsplash. I saw a few YouTube videos and they said the best thing to do is to just replace with a new drywall. I started freaking out cause it seems so complicated, but some videos made it seem possible to get it done. The thing is...can I replace only in between the countertop and cabinet areas? I don't want to have to take the cabinets off the wall, but by doing just that area, how would i "mud" the new drywall area to connect to to old one? Sorry if I'm not too good at explaining Thank you so much! [link] [comments] |
| Major HVAC duct disconnect - DIYable? Posted: 20 Mar 2020 09:44 PM PDT When I bought my house last month I knew there was a disconnected duct in the crawlspace. Today I finally got down there to see how bad it is and plan for repairs. A long run of duct isn't hanging like the rest, it's laying on the ground. It seems to have been there for a while, someone installed new plumbing above part of it and took the time to seal one end of the disconnect with duct tape. Pics: https://m.imgur.com/gallery/XjMe5yH I'm a DIY noob, though not afraid to get a bit dirty. Is this something I could reasonably fix myself? How? [link] [comments] |
| Help on kitchen cabinet and possible remodel Posted: 20 Mar 2020 07:17 PM PDT https://imgur.com/gallery/U9o8MFn So the problem I have is that for my kitchen those are the o my cabinets. The cabinet over the fridge is empty and not functional. I wanted to get rid of the cabinets over the fridge and put shelves with plants but then the cabinets on the right would look out of place. Any recommendations on a cheap fix or work around for functionality here? I'm also going to redo the tile soon with a subway tile. [link] [comments] |
| Best way to find joists in ceiling? Posted: 20 Mar 2020 05:36 PM PDT I've got a stud finder from years ago that doesn't seem to work in my house. I've got plaster ceilings and walls on metal lath. I'm trying to put up a pole fitness pole in the house and it needs to be pressing up against a joist. I've tried banging on the ceiling, but it is very solid and sounds the same wherever I hit. [link] [comments] |
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