Home Improvement: I built a set of builtin bookcases |
- I built a set of builtin bookcases
- The Landlord wants to put in new carpet during COVID-19 pandemic. Can I reject getting the carpet put in?
- Fun find in my new home...
- My wife and I finally built a new walkway for the front of our house!
- Websites with affordable hardwood floors?
- Are portable AC Units worth it?
- Is our dishwasher hooked up wrong? Water sits in the bottom of the dishwasher and I just realized the dishwasher hose hooks up to the drain pipe at least 12 inches higher than the dishwasher drain itself.
- Thinking about doing a wood beam archway between two rooms. Where can I find what I need?
- Installing a urinal.
- Popcorn ceiling peeling? How to repair?
- Low maintenance tips to prevent shower grout from getting black mold/mildew?
- Can I paint over wall texture?
- There's a gas smell in our closet next to garage, could this be the cause?
- Any tips to getting a painted shut window to open?
- Does concrete/garage paint go bad?
- Cleaning behind stacked washer and dryer
- Grounding light switches
- Upcoming concrete patio pour: considerations for future patio topper?
- Bought a vanity light that requires an existing electrical wall box to connect to but I wanted to use it as a vanity light in my bedroom for getting ready in the morning.... what do i doooooo
- Window leaking, hired a contractor but didn't put flashing
- Ant Problem in New Construction Home Basement
- Can someone please please recommend me a face mount hinge capable of holding 100# or more that doesn't cost $300+.
- Screen door is not a standard measurement.
- Shower mixing valve
- Ohio - Considering adding two bedrooms to our finished basement. Do they each need egress windows?
| I built a set of builtin bookcases Posted: 09 Apr 2020 03:19 PM PDT I made use of some of the down time over the past two weeks to build some bookcases. This is a project that I'd promised the wife for quite some time and I no longer had an excuse to procrastinate. The case is birch plywood and face frame is Poplar. Everything came from Lowes and the total came out to somewhere around $600. Hope you enjoy and look forward to any comments you may have. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 09 Apr 2020 06:17 PM PDT I'm renting an apartment right now and I was shocked to find out that the landlord wants to put new carpet in, and they also want workers to come around for quotes during this lockdown. Can I reject this ? And if everything does settle, can I reject it until my lease ends in 5 months ? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 09 Apr 2020 05:48 PM PDT While having the general inspection of our soon to be new home we found a copy of the original blue prints of the home... [link] [comments] |
| My wife and I finally built a new walkway for the front of our house! Posted: 09 Apr 2020 06:14 PM PDT Here is a photo progression of the project. We have a main brick walkway that leads to our mailbox on the street, and a side walkway that leads from the driveway to the main walkway. This didn't work for us because the side walkway was placed a lot farther down the driveway than what most would consider practical. If we pulled in all the way, we'd have to walk another 20-30 feet down the driveway to reach that pathway. So we got inspired and motivated to move the pathway. The first issue was that the side pathway was blended into the main pathway with the use of half bricks, triangular bricks, and things in between. It was obviously a custom job, but so I simply removed all of the non-standard bricks, and reoriented the rest of the bricks so that it made a fluid pathway to the mailbox. I flipped all of the bricks leading down to the mailbox since there was a lot of dirt, moss, and grass growing between them that were spreading them apart. So I pulled all the bricks out, cleaned all the dirt, moss, weeds, and grass off of the sides, flipped them, and re-laid them down. After that, we removed the bricks completely from the side pathway. We then started digging a trench for the new path. I just used a square bladed shovel to dig the trench. It took me hours since I was digging by myself. I ran into roots and rocks but I got everything level with the ground. I used a Bow-Rake to get any extra rocks and roots out of the trench as well as level off the dirt a little more. Then I poured sand in the trench and used a piece of wood that was about as wide as the pathway to level it all off. Then I started the most therapeutic part of the job - laying bricks. I actually really liked doing that part. Before laying them, I laid down landscaping fabric to prevent weed and grass growth between the bricks. I randomly chose between old bricks and new bricks to lay so that it would all match. If I came to an area where a brick didn't want to sit super level, I used the brick to pound the ground so that it would flatten out. When I got to the part that met the driveway, I used some of the half bricks to make it flush. It's not a super amazing professional job, but I think the imperfections match the old walkway well. It's solid, and most importantly; my wife loves it. We just need to wait for new grass to grow in the area where the old path was as well as along the new path for it to look cleaner. The total cost of the job was: 250 Bricks - $150 Total time: Saturday afternoon to Tuesday afternoon. [link] [comments] |
| Websites with affordable hardwood floors? Posted: 09 Apr 2020 06:57 AM PDT We've checked out Home Depot, Lowe's, and Lumber Liquidators. Any other big name websites to check out? Edit: Thanks for all the great suggestions so far! There's a ton of comments to get through so I'm sorry if you don't get a response 😬 A couple of things I want to clarify—some people have suggested going local, which I'd totally be in support of....except a lot of our local distributors are closed due to current events and don't have their inventory online. Another clarification is that we're looking for affordable, not cheap. We can't afford to spend like $10/sqft but aren't really considering anything that's like <$3.50/sqft bc that seems pretty shady. But genuine question, what's too cheap? [link] [comments] |
| Are portable AC Units worth it? Posted: 09 Apr 2020 06:39 AM PDT My home currently has H O R R I B L E air circulation. To the point where there can be over a 10 degree difference between the upstairs and downstairs during the summer when we use our AC. My fiance and I are looking into portable AC Units for the upstairs, to try and help the issue but are in a disagreement whether we need a window AC Unit, or just a water AC Unit that we can place on the ground. Is there significant difference between the two? If so, which one is more effective? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 09 Apr 2020 07:50 AM PDT Does the draining happen via gravity? If so, I believe our dishwasher isn't draining because the pile goes uphill to the drain. Or is there some sort of pump mechanism that just isn't fully functioning? Pic shows dishwasher with water in bottom on right and hose hookup to our sink drainpipe under the sink right next to it: https://imgur.com/6pjr1fm Edit: yes, we know our sink drain is held up with string and a brick. Working on it folks. This house is janky. [link] [comments] |
| Thinking about doing a wood beam archway between two rooms. Where can I find what I need? Posted: 09 Apr 2020 05:54 AM PDT Looking at doing something like this Are there kits I can buy that will accomplish this? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 09 Apr 2020 09:05 AM PDT So, in my "man cave" I want to replace a half bath in there but had the thought about installing a urinal. I have never done that nor know about about how hard it'd be. I do have a drain for a toilet already as there was one installed before. I moved in. Any info or recommendations would be appreciated. [link] [comments] |
| Popcorn ceiling peeling? How to repair? Posted: 09 Apr 2020 04:52 PM PDT Hello, I have a condo that is on the top floor of a small building and the roof leak caused damage to the popcorn ceiling in the bedroom. The roof leak has been fixed but I'm stuck with the repairs to the ceiling. There's about a 2 foot crack in the popcorn ceiling where the layer is now just peeling back and hanging down. I don't want to peel it off because I feel like it will just peel off the entire ceiling. Does anyone know what I should do, how to deal with this? I'm from NY and never learned much about this stuff. I attached a link below to a small video of the damage from what my tenant sent me. The plant is no longer there as the tenants moved out. I'd like to try to fix this myself if possible as money is tight these days. [link] [comments] |
| Low maintenance tips to prevent shower grout from getting black mold/mildew? Posted: 09 Apr 2020 03:15 PM PDT So after some years of having my grout in my ceramic tiled walled shower tub develop mold/mildew, finally cleaned it up and applied new grout + sealant. Here is old dirty bathtub, and here is new clean bathtub. It developed mold/mildew probably because multiple reasons. I don't have a window in my bathroom. I never actually cleaned the ceramic tile walls over the years (just the bathtub floor). Also while I did run the bathroom fan "during" showers, I didn't run it afterwards. I'm reading online that best way to maintain a mold/mildew free shower is after every shower to squeegee the water from the ceramic tile walls, and then dry the areas of grout lines that got wet along the bathtub. Basically keep everything as dry as possible so don't let mold/mildew take hold. Instead of drying the shower after every use, is there anything else instead like once a week or month that I could do to prevent mold/mildew from taking hold? Like a thorough cleaning of all grout using some combination of baking soda + Simple Green? Does the solution have to be anti-microbial? I'm reading that bleach/ammonia actually is not good to use on grout. TLDR: Looking for a once a week/month maintenance solution to prevent mold/mildew from taking hold in my freshly grout-ed bathtub. EDIT: Place where tub and tiles meet is caulk, not grout. [link] [comments] |
| Can I paint over wall texture? Posted: 09 Apr 2020 04:11 PM PDT Hi, my wife and I are trying to save money by painting our new house ourselves. Can we paint over this texture or will we have to sand it down just to paint? [link] [comments] |
| There's a gas smell in our closet next to garage, could this be the cause? Posted: 09 Apr 2020 01:43 PM PDT Cross posted in r/plumbing, but I have noticed a gas smell sometimes when I enter our closet and our kitchen (both next to the garage, and we have a gas stove). I was filtering out our tankless water heater the other day and noticed that there was this white pipe connected to the gas line that went nowhere and was just hanging out open in the garage and noticed a strong smell of gas there. Is this normal? Photos here: https://imgur.com/gallery/qeBTWUe I'm sorry I'm a noob, we're first time home owners and I have no idea what anything is about. Thanks for helping me :) [link] [comments] |
| Any tips to getting a painted shut window to open? Posted: 09 Apr 2020 04:29 PM PDT I live in a duplex with a finished attic as the bedroom. It's my dream to be able to get a window on each side of the bedroom open so we won't have to use the ac window unit too early in spring or too late in fall just bc I can't get a cross breeze going. Only problem is one of the windows is painted shut. I mostly gave up, but now I'm painting trim now and made it to this window. One of them seems to be a bit loose! I tried for a good hour sliding anything I could fit under the seam (plastic spackle tool, credit card, laminated library card, etc) I feel like I'm close but idk what else to try. Any advice on getting this damn thing open?? Edit: with a lot of patience I FINALLY GOT IT. [link] [comments] |
| Does concrete/garage paint go bad? Posted: 09 Apr 2020 06:35 PM PDT I have Behr 1-part premium epoxy paint. I bought it and used it to paint my basement in July last year. Today I used it to do a patch and part of a concrete wall down there. Thing is, it smells. The smells gone down in the last couple hours, but it still stinks. My wife thinks it smells rancid but I can't remember I it smelled that bad when I first applied it, or if it has gone off some how. The can seemed pretty sealed, and after mixing it up, it was pretty smooth. Any thoughts or knowledge on the subject? Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Cleaning behind stacked washer and dryer Posted: 09 Apr 2020 04:14 PM PDT I live in a townhouse, and have a stacked machine in a closet. My strata has someone that cleans out our ducts annually but they only clean the lead to the outside. I have a flexible hose attached in back. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 09 Apr 2020 05:55 AM PDT My basement has several light switches scattered throughout that switch on different banks of lights on different circuits. None of the circuits but one are grounded (older home). Earlier this week, I replaced and moved all the switches to a ganged box at the foot of the stairs. Multiple switches, but they're all in the same place. Can I wire a pigtail to the good ground and ground the ungrounded switches to the one correctly grounded circuit safely? [link] [comments] |
| Upcoming concrete patio pour: considerations for future patio topper? Posted: 09 Apr 2020 03:23 PM PDT I'm getting ready to hire out a 30' x 12' back patio. I've gotten a few quotes but realized that I should slow down and think through the future. Eventually I want to add a patio cover. Many of my neighbors have ones where the house side of the topper sits on top of the roof, and the yard side is propped up by 4"x4" or 6"x6" posts. This would be a pretty lightweight topper with a polycarbonate roof. Should I plan provisions to have my posts resting on top of the concrete? If so, what do I need to ask the contractor about? For example, do I want the outer edge thicker to accommodate the future weight? Both the quotes I've had so far are for 2-4" crushed rock and 4" of 3500psi concrete with a stamped border. Would rebar be mandatory for this? One guy wants to use it, the other thinks it's not necessary. Any other things to consider? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 09 Apr 2020 06:17 PM PDT Ok so I got the mirrea 36in Modern LED Vanity Light for Bathroom Lighting Dimmable 36w Cold White 5000K from amazon that i wanted to use for my vanity in my new diy apartment (800 sq ft of amazon buys n repurposed/upcycled furniture), but I can't connect something with an electrical circuit to a random wall... any suggestions for how i could make this work? the return period is over and i really like this light anyways so if i need to buy or do anything else lmk!!! [link] [comments] |
| Window leaking, hired a contractor but didn't put flashing Posted: 09 Apr 2020 06:15 PM PDT Hi, Window started leaking due to strong rain the other day so I hired a contractor to fix it. He demoed the sidings around the window, caulked around the window, replaced the paper and then installed the siding, trim, caulked around it and painted. However, he didn't put any flashing tape around the window even when we agreed that he will. He said that the caulking, paper should be enough. I'm worried that this will leak again in a few years. I have not paid him yet. He is charging me $1200. What to do now? Would you pay him? [link] [comments] |
| Ant Problem in New Construction Home Basement Posted: 09 Apr 2020 07:31 PM PDT I have a new construction home in NH. We had a few minor ant issues last year, but this year has really become a problem. A few months ago, I had a multitude of ants coming under the baseboard in the upstairs bathroom. I successfully used Terro ant bait and that stopped the problem. I've also sealed under the baseboards and have had no issues since. But over the past few months, I am finding 10-20 ants per day in my basement. I've sealed the edges of the cement floor, sealed the expansion joints, sealed under the windows, and pretty much anywhere I could find. The issue still persists. I tried using Terro bait in the basement, but the ants never go for it. They seem very slow and aren't moving much. Some are already dead. But after I clean them up, there are always more the next day. They are scattered around the basement, mostly towards the edges of the room. I cannot figure out where they're coming in from. There's no trail I can find. I have also begun seeing larger ants with wings that I believe may be swarmer ants. I tried using Advance Granular Carpenter Ant Bait this past weekend, but they haven't even touched it. I've done two rounds of spraying Ortho Home Defense around the perimeter of my home, but still no luck. I'm getting very frustrated and I would greatly appreciate any suggestions. I've included 11 photos of the ants and my basement here: https://imgur.com/a/pd4P6cx What type of ants do I have? Why are they not going for the bait? Where could they be possibly coming in from? What are the next steps that I should take? Please help me defeat this problem! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 09 Apr 2020 07:26 PM PDT I've only found 1 after an hour of searching from Signature Hardware and it doesn't look particular strong considering ones of similar designs are only rated for 30#. It's for carriage doors on a single car garage that needs new hinges because the existing have been failing for a while. Does anyone have any brand or supplier recommendations? There's a lot of nice websites listing nice products but no one [link] [comments] |
| Screen door is not a standard measurement. Posted: 09 Apr 2020 07:25 PM PDT So my house was built 70 years ago and I'm trying to replace my screen door. Here is a picture so you can visualize. The problem is, we are measuring the door itself to be 35 inches wide and the door frame opening to be 35 1/8 inches. Now it seems to be that doors come in standard 28,32,and 36 inches width. In fine print the the 36" doors say that they fit 35 7/8" doors. Now I'm wondering if I should just try it? And if you check out the picture, you can see a metal frame around the door. Could this be causing it to measure smaller? Anything helps! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 09 Apr 2020 03:35 PM PDT I'm looking to replace this old shower mixing valve as well as change the copper pipe coming down to pex. The backside wall will have an access panel in case of any leaks. Any suggestions on mixing valves? [link] [comments] |
| Ohio - Considering adding two bedrooms to our finished basement. Do they each need egress windows? Posted: 09 Apr 2020 05:38 PM PDT There is an egress window in the basement, but it would be just outside of where we plan to put the bedrooms. Does each bedroom need its own egress window? [link] [comments] |
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