Home Improvement: Asked my most organized kid to calculate the area of my kitchen cabinets for paint estimation and he did not disappoint. |
- Asked my most organized kid to calculate the area of my kitchen cabinets for paint estimation and he did not disappoint.
- Please dont let your contractor bury left over broken bricks and pavers under your concrete also pictures of current self done renovations in post
- YSK How to Remove Scratches from your Vinyl Plank Flooring (and sometimes laminate)
- What the hell’s the point of remodeling for resale if it’s almost always a loss on return?
- Is it even possible to get the downpayment back from a contractor?
- What kind of theif only steals small hand tools and leaves the cases?
- Underfloor water heating to be or not to be?
- First time homeowner here—advice needed on creative shower rod installation for very slanted shower ceilings
- Anyone know of a flexible/bendable trench drain? Or a similar solution?
- Kitchen Sink Peeling Off Counter - recommend glue pls
- Help with rebuilding deck stairs
- Is $6500 too expensive for a water heater replacement?
- I want to use treated lumbar to made a trailer track (keep tires off of grass)
- What's the reasoning for attaching frameless kitchen cabinet uppers to each other?
- LED Ceiling Light Blew. Can someone help me understand what happened?
- Water pressure of 110 psi at friends 1960s house, any reason to correct?
- Unfinished Basement (Baltimore Townhouse) Suggestions
- I used Taurus SC (Termidor SC) and now there are a zillion ants inside my house
- Is this a mold problem I can handle on my own?
- Are those stacked laundry center washer dryer combos worth it over separate units?
- Mystery holes - what are they?
- Best way to set posts for 6' privacy posts on concrete
- how do i fix this?
- Building a custom desk
| Posted: 19 Jun 2020 01:44 PM PDT |
| Posted: 19 Jun 2020 01:22 AM PDT I've been fixing up my dad's first ever house together with my dad. We recently started working on updating the old plumbing system (house is 130 years old) and we broke up the concrete under the 2nd story deck to add a new drainage line while also updating the line at the same time. Breaking up the 6in concrete was easy enough with a professional grade hilti jack hammer. The issue was digging because every 2 inches the shovel would hit a piece of broken brick or paver. We know it was thrown in there because most of them were not laid out flat. If you've ever tried to remove a lodged in piece of brick, stone or paver you know how hard it is. Now imagine there's hundreds of bricks buried. I'm literally at a point where I'm actually contemplating if I would murder the previous contractor or home owner that did this bs. The PVC that's already connected to the old drainage you see was done by my dad and as a temporary measure when we were doing our yard because we felt the old drainage system was too high up close to the floor and we wanted to lower it by at least a foot. And yes all the work is being done just by my dad and I. We do use manual day laborers once in while when we need an extra hand sometimes when it's not possible with just us two. https://imgur.com/a/6trsR1a (and yes that flooded picture is when we accidentally hit the main water line and broke a pipe flooding our footing trench, yard and basement lol) And some of the before pics [link] [comments] |
| YSK How to Remove Scratches from your Vinyl Plank Flooring (and sometimes laminate) Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:49 AM PDT I am a flooring installation contractor and have been working with LVP, LVT, and laminate flooring for quite a long time. Every once in a while, I will come across an "oopsie" on a job where a tool has rubbed across the floor or a small scratch occurs while moving furniture or appliances. I thought I would share my experience and tips with you all, as I can't seem to find any other good information on here or even YouTube. Let me give a disclaimer on the outset that this will not be able to fix all scratches or scuffs, on all materials. Sometimes you just have to replace the board. What I've found is that it works mostly on "surface scratches" where the scratch only goes as deep as the clear wear-layer that is often times on the top of these kinds of floor. This will not fix gouges or scratches that penetrate the image underneath the wear-layer - though it may hide it considerably. What this wear-layer on floors - particularly LVP/LVT - is, is essentially a polyurethane or otherwise plastic finish of varying thickness - depending on the quality of the floor. This layer serves as a barrier between you and the colored image that gives you the wood or tile look to your floor. Oftentimes the scratch appears white and "dusty", kind of like a scratch in glass, because the "scratch" is, more often than not, actually a scuff or tarnish of the clear finish on top. The goal in fixing the scratch is to buff or polish the wear layer back to being translucent. Sometimes you can't buff the indentation of the scratch out, but you can make it nearly invisible, except in lateral sunlight or while looking at it from bextremely up close. Step 1: Take a magic eraser and clean the scratch and the surface around it thoroughly. Sometimes the slight abrasion of the eraser is enough to hide very light scratches. Step 2: Take a wood stain that matches the color of your floor, and liberally apply it to the scratch. Let it sit on the surface of the floor for a minute or two. You want it to soak into the scratch as well as possible. It's advisable to test letting the stain sit on a scrap piece or hidden area first, because with some few floors it could permanently tint the area...but it really shouldn't, as most floors are designed to be very stain resistant. If your floor has several shades in it, go for a stain that favors the lighter colors - as sometimes a dark colored scratch looks worse on a lighter colored section of floor. Step 3: Liberally apply Minwax Paste Finishing Wax or another equivalent. I prefer this product because it adds a protective layer that seems to match the finish of whatever floor it's put on. Sometimes stopping here is enough to have removed or hidden the scratch or scuff. Step 4: This step is the one where you'll really see the scratch disappear. Get yourself a Dremel tool or an equivalent (I literally use this $8 rotory tool kit found at Harbor Freight) with the felt buffing wheel attachment. The reason I use a small tool like this, as opposed to a larger machine for say, your car, is because you can be more subtle and accurate with where you apply pressure. Turn it on and go over the scratch, applying a fair amount of pressure. Concentrate your efforts on one small area at first to get a hang of it, making sure to "feather" out to the surrounding area. You don't want to buff a divot into your floor to replace the scratch. It's really hard to mess this up, as the felt pad does not work very quickly at all...but still try not to go overboard. Work the area until the pad literally polishes the finish back to clear and the scratch seems to disappear and blend into the rest of the finish. Step 5: You can optionally reapply Paste Finishing Wax for potentially an added layer of protection and way of further hiding and filling in the scratch. Now, once again this method may not work on every floor, in particularly laminate where there is often not a clear wear-layer and instead the wood-look image is the protective layer. This method also takes a little time, but it's worth it to be able to sometimes actually get rid of the scratch, as opposed to just hiding it. I hope you found this helpful or at least interesting! Let me know if you have any questions. [link] [comments] |
| What the hell’s the point of remodeling for resale if it’s almost always a loss on return? Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:31 AM PDT I don't understand why people spend thousands of dollars on renovations when they aren't likely to recover those costs. Is it strictly to improve the likelihood of it getting sold? I'm only referring to resale. We live in a house that needs a lot of improvements, but it's in a very high demand neighborhood. Should we just sell it as a fixer-upper? The exterior paint is in poor condition with dated colors, it needs interior paint (we've done about half the house), the siding isn't the best, the carpet needs to be replaced (we are going to do this one), the appliances are old and not attractive, and in general there are minor repairs that are needed. I thought about doing new exterior paint, new appliances, and sod in the backyard, but I'm starting to think it's not worth it after researching. Source: https://www.zillow.com/mortgage-learning/roi-home-improvement-projects/ [link] [comments] |
| Is it even possible to get the downpayment back from a contractor? Posted: 19 Jun 2020 11:14 AM PDT Work has not started yet. Some supplies were brought in 3 days ago but every day there is some reason why no work was done or why he was a no show and now he is not answering his phone. We've had to call him in the afternoon ever day asking why he didn't show up. [link] [comments] |
| What kind of theif only steals small hand tools and leaves the cases? Posted: 19 Jun 2020 04:32 PM PDT I went to grab my metric wrenches the other day, and all I could find was the blue cradle for them... Ok, I must have taken them all somewhere without the holder I guess. But the next day I found 2 more plastic cases devoid of their tools, in a corner of my garage they have no business being in... There was a single night our garage door got left open on our quiet street, almost hidden from the road by trees. I went as far back as my camera had recorded to no avail. All together it might cost me $100 to replace the tools on sale, so it's not like I'll never recover finacially from this, I'm just incredibally curious why a theif would:
For example, my matching standard wrenches were right next to the missing metrics. Battery whipper snipper w/ battery in it right by the door, lots of other items not pilfered. I'll add there is a non-0 chance I've simply put them somewhere dumb, but there are enough empty cases that mischif seems more and more the likely cuplrit. [link] [comments] |
| Underfloor water heating to be or not to be? Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:06 PM PDT I'm building a house and reached the point where I must decide on the type of heating system to use for my family room. This is largest room in my house, and this room is expected to be the place were we'd be spending most our family quality time. My builder contractor says that most modern construction ( he is referring to smart Germany and Scandinavian countries ) rely on underfloor water heating system as those are more cost effective vs old plain wall radiators. My main concern is that if I install underfloor heating, i'd have to use most thermal conductive flooring - tile floors. If i pick tile, half of the year it would be warm comfortable and the other half - too cold to step on. I'm not a tile fan. I prefer to walk barefoot around house and like warm feeling of wood floors. In my area heating season starts in early October and ends in April, with the average temperature around 40F / 3C. I'm seeking for an advice of those of you who have underfloor heating installed for few years already. How is your energy bill? Do you have tile or laminate or wood flooring? All bathrooms will already have underfloor water heating and tile flooring. All bedrooms will have standard wall radiators and engineering wood flooring. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:32 PM PDT Hi everyone, First time homeowner and first time posting on this subreddit! My husband and I have purchased our first home and get the keys to it in a couple days. It is an old house but was recently renovated and is nearly move in ready. We've been discussing projects and small renovations we want to do before we move in, and at one point we realized our home had no shower curtain rods installed in any of the bathrooms. Two out of the three bathrooms have extremely slanted ceilings over the shower, and we are having trouble figuring out what kind of shower rod installation would work. The downstairs bathroom layout might make it possible to install a shower rod by attaching it the walls outside of the shower, but I'm a bit at a loss for the upstairs shower (pictures in the comments). I'd love to hear any suggestions this community might have for creative shower rod installation in these bathrooms. We aren't sure if we could buy a shower rod and install it ourselves, or if the shower layout is so unusual that we would need to custom make two shower rods. [link] [comments] |
| Anyone know of a flexible/bendable trench drain? Or a similar solution? Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:19 PM PDT I have a large patio that is curved on almost all sides. I'd like to add a trench drain around the edges to catch water runoff, and then pipe it out to the street to discharge. I've found a ton of different trench/channel drains, but they are all straight and rigid, with only 90 and 45 degree options for fittings. Is anyone aware of any flexible trench drain options where I could easily have the drain follow the curve of my patio? Or any other solution that could solve this drainage issue? Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Kitchen Sink Peeling Off Counter - recommend glue pls Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:02 PM PDT So our sink got unstuck, peeled right off; it was stuck from underneath the counter. Inox on quartz (man made version). Contractors seem to have used something like clear silicone - not sure 100%. What should I use to stick it back? Silicone? No more nails? What works best? I will clamp it back using lumber for support and bessey screw clamps. Edit: btw, how normal is this? I thought sinks stuck like this should withstand a lot of weight and abuse. [link] [comments] |
| Help with rebuilding deck stairs Posted: 19 Jun 2020 09:31 PM PDT I'm in need of some advice for rebuilding the deck stairs from my back door, as this is the biggest DIY project I've tried to tackle. You can see in the photo links below that the stairs we're currently working with are shit. The tread length is too short, there is no support in the middle despite 36 inches between metal stringers and each step has a slightly different height. I'm hoping to install three 4-step wooden stair stringers with 6 3/8 inch risers, 2x6 treads and a 1 inch thick stair backing. The problem I've encountered is that the joist the old owners attached the current stairs to is much too short for me to be able to attach the new stringers to it without adding an extension of some sort. The issue with adding an extension, at least for my pea brain to comprehend, is that the decking (really just a landing off my back door) is held up by a metal frame so there aren't any nearby support post to connect it to. Hopefully there are easy-ish solutions I'm not thinking of. It's straight dirt underneath the deck, so to add guardrail posts of some sort to secure the extension to, I'd have to level and compact the area. Thanks in advance for any advice. [link] [comments] |
| Is $6500 too expensive for a water heater replacement? Posted: 19 Jun 2020 02:24 PM PDT I am told that I need to spend over $6500 USD to replace my water heater. Am I scammed? My water heater broke after 12 years of service. It's a Bradford White combi core unit, 45 gal, which provides both radiator heating and hot water. I bought the house in recent years, so I wasn't there when the water heater was installed. I made a few phone calls to the local plumbers to get some quotes. The cost is estimated to be $6500 - $7500 USD to replace the water heater. They say it's expensive because the unit is "combi core" and not everyone can manage to install it. I searched online for the cost of installing a new water heater. The result is usually $800-1600 in the US. My quotes are 4x higher than the usual price. So, I'm curious if anyone has run into similar issues. UPDATE 1 From the comments, I learned that the combi unit is not just a water heater, but also a boiler, which is more pricy to be replaced since it is wired into the radiator system. [link] [comments] |
| I want to use treated lumbar to made a trailer track (keep tires off of grass) Posted: 19 Jun 2020 08:29 PM PDT Basically there is a good reason on why I don't want to do a gravel pad yet* and I just need to park a travel trailer and have it level/not sinking in mud as a temp solution. The level part is especially important because I will not have access to a truck to move the RV around of leveling blocks during this time. After spending weeks researching I decided the simplest solution is to just make tracts for the wheels for now. Just wanted insight on a couple of ideas Each side will be 3 sets of 4 x 6 x 8 ground ready boards vertically, which allows me some placement variability.
In other words a bored perpendicular to both separate platforms, level in the middle to test if they are equal. Any insight or ideas are appreciated.. [link] [comments] |
| What's the reasoning for attaching frameless kitchen cabinet uppers to each other? Posted: 19 Jun 2020 08:18 PM PDT Is it just to get rid of any gaps or is there a structural reason for it (like earthquakes or something)? Bonus question - I'm hanging new cabinets via french cleats. I have a laser level to attach the wall cleats. When it comes time to hang the cabinets, is there a preferred method of shimming the carcasses so all of them are lined up correctly? [link] [comments] |
| LED Ceiling Light Blew. Can someone help me understand what happened? Posted: 19 Jun 2020 06:03 PM PDT I'm a new homeowner, living on my own for the first time. I noticed that my two kitchen ceiling lights would get really hot within a short amount of time. The original fixtures used a R7s halogen bulb, so I decided to switch to LEDs to reduce the heat and be more energy efficient. Unfortunately, I couldn't find equivalent LED bulbs locally, but Costco did have LED light fixtures on sale that were supposed to be easy to install. Went home, thought installation went well, then kaboom! Here's what I did:
Please help me understand what happened. What can I do to prevent this from happening again? Thank you. [link] [comments] |
| Water pressure of 110 psi at friends 1960s house, any reason to correct? Posted: 19 Jun 2020 08:13 PM PDT I've always read that anything over 80 should be adjusted by installing a pressure reducer. While working on his sprinkler system he borrowed my rain bird pressure tester thing that screws onto a spigot and got a reading of 110 psi. I told him that was crazy high and I thought he needed to fix it. He responded that his house was built in the 60s and has all copper pipe, which has a psi rating well above his. That his house had been fine for 60 years so he had no interest. He makes a good point, I suppose. It's worked fine so far. We do a ton of projects together for our houses, so I just wanted to double check on this subreddit. Is he right that if it's worked so far it'll be fine? Or is there a compelling reason I should tell him we should probably still add a reducer? Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Unfinished Basement (Baltimore Townhouse) Suggestions Posted: 19 Jun 2020 05:55 PM PDT Hi everyone. I recently bought a townhouse with an unfinished basement in Baltimore, MD. I'm looking for advice on what I can do to either improve it or somewhat finish it. It doesn't need to be a bedroom or an office or anything, but I'd like to make it into a bit of a workshop/tinker area, at least reduce the overall crumbling/dust. The pictures: https://imgur.com/a/WVsq6gw It's all old parging/plaster/crumbly brick. It'd be cool to expose the brick, but I assume that's an extreme amount of work. As a recent homeowner, I don't have much experience, but I'd definitely be willing to learn. Does anyone have suggestions for where to start? I was thinking of removing/breaking off the soft and bubbling parging, vacuuming off the crumbs from the brick, and maybe starting to chip away at the harder bits of parging. Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| I used Taurus SC (Termidor SC) and now there are a zillion ants inside my house Posted: 19 Jun 2020 12:25 PM PDT I've seen plenty of ants walk around my house so I tried Taurus SC. I sprayed outside my foundation. A couple of days later, i see hundreds of handicapped ants walking around, tens of healthy ants, and hundreds of stuck ants in my sticky traps that I wanted to catch mice in. Is Taurus SC driving them inside my house? Im in Massachusetts. We havent had any rain in the past week. I'm not living in the house yet, renovation. [link] [comments] |
| Is this a mold problem I can handle on my own? Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:53 PM PDT I haven't been on my game with the quarantine going on and I've let this build up on my bathroom ceiling (and I'm deeply ashamed). I live in the PNW and in an older building so some mold is to be expected but I realize that I actually have to take care of this. Can I get rid of this with some borax and a rag or should I get a professional for it? [link] [comments] |
| Are those stacked laundry center washer dryer combos worth it over separate units? Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:52 PM PDT I am buying used, i dont do huge loads and i do have the space for separate units but i will be moving to a new house in 6 mth and plan to get some full size speed queens, i just needed something temporarily I can get either or for relatively the same price where i am located, i would prefer the laundry center units but if they are less reliable/ effective, efficient ill go with separate units [link] [comments] |
| Mystery holes - what are they? Posted: 19 Jun 2020 04:52 PM PDT Given their placement, I suspect they have something to do with the gutters House was built in 1920, I bought it a couple years ago. For years it was a wreck (per google maps lookbacks). I'm really not sure if this is something from the last decade, last two decades, or last century. I do have some leakage in my basement whenever it rains, so I would love to magically have a working french drain. So any ideas on what these are? Are they meant to connect to the city pipes? Is there a good way to check if they still do? And if they don't, or have giant leaks, I'm guessing it is pretty price prohibitive to get them working again, correct? Thanks for any all help/ideas! [link] [comments] |
| Best way to set posts for 6' privacy posts on concrete Posted: 19 Jun 2020 07:03 PM PDT I'm planning on extending my fence from where it currently ends so I can close it off to the corner of my house. To do this I'll have to extend over the patio and not quite sure what the best way to do that is. I'm between either trying to drill out a hole through the concrete and digging it out like a normal fence post or finding a bracket that can be attached to the concrete. My only concern with the second option is I plan on hanging a gate on 1 or 2 of the posts and want to make sure it's solid enough to support the weight. Here's a couple pictures on where I want to extend the fence. http://imgur.com/gallery/bxPNuHQ [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 19 Jun 2020 10:48 PM PDT I bought a 120 year old house with original hardwood floors. its in pretty good shape. except for this one spot in the bedroom. it looks like a small piece of it broke off and they filled it in with wood putty. I'm a beginner when it comes to home repairs and i have no knowledge of how to go about fixing something like this. i dont even know what kind of wood the floors are made out of, if i wanted to buy some more to patch it. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 19 Jun 2020 06:44 PM PDT I want to build a custom 2 person desk similar to this https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/416653403018320569/?amp_client_id=nmLGc2woJCOHrBqlVt8jxOV9WtNM_yYb8Z2aV2kwMawhb5JBlr9bfSzed01MeBPe&mweb_unauth_id=230c68df&_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.ca%2Famp%2Fxexilsmith%2F2-person-desk%2F But not sure where to start. What would be recommended to build the frame out of? I'm thinking particle board? Thinking of doing some kind of laminate for the top. But looking for suggestions. Thanks [link] [comments] |
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