Home Improvement: What's something many people think is essential to have in a house that you think is useless? |
- What's something many people think is essential to have in a house that you think is useless?
- Tool rental guy is telling me a tiller is useless for excavation. I've seen videos of tillers doing pretty well with lifting up the soil and grass. What do you think?
- Yard slopes down so much that one corner of my patio is "floating" and has nothing to retain it.
- Flooded window well and leaking basement window
- First time with a house fire
- Roller blinds! Where do you get em? How much should I expect to pay?
- Jointer sand to finish off my patio... need a little input.
- What style would these cabinets be called? Can i refinish them to look updated?
- What is this in my basement?
- Replacing Element in an Oven
- Help with the cold air return vent from hell
- Any ideas on how to get a respirator right now?
- Beginning Electrical in Basement. How does this look?
- Best way to level garage floor under door?
- Trying to replace wiring & breaker, having an issue is this hooked up correctly in box? Also question about adding subpannel.
- Does this plan look good?
- I have a legitimate question on brick patching, and I've helped others on here with my knowledge in other areas, but I cannot post a photo due to karma restrictions...Anyone know how I can get help or another subreddit that may allow me to post the question?
- Connect outdoor light junction box to supply ground when there is no supply ground wire?
- Mold? Asbestos? Something else?
- House Extension on old farmhouse sinking into the ground
- Redesigning kitchen
- Anyone have experience having their asbestos popcorn ceiling covered with a new layer of drywall?
- Caulking around laundry room tile floor?
- Has anyone successfully soundproofed their home at a reasonable price?
| What's something many people think is essential to have in a house that you think is useless? Posted: 27 Jun 2020 01:27 PM PDT For me it's bars and wine cellars. Totally useless for me since I don't really drink. To me they lower the value of a house because it's just something I need to tear out and remodel so the space can be put to use for literally anything else. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 27 Jun 2020 09:06 AM PDT Obviously an excavation machine would be best. He recommended a sod cutter to get the grass off, then a tiller. I'd be open to that but they have no sod cutters available right now. It would be a rear tine tiller, which I believe is the strongest one they have. I know I'd still have to shovel out the dirt, but I'm looking to make the process a little easier. Edit: this is for a paver patio, I'll need to excavate about 8 inches deep. [link] [comments] |
| Yard slopes down so much that one corner of my patio is "floating" and has nothing to retain it. Posted: 27 Jun 2020 06:03 PM PDT The intersection if the masonry line is exactly where I plan to have one corner of my patio (yes, the lines slope 1/4" per foot). In the picture, you can see there is NO dirt surrounding that corner of the patio. The yard is about 4 inches below the line in this corner. How will I be able to retain this part of the pavers, gravel, sand? All of my line is set up so I'm digging 8" below it. In this low area should I still dig 8" below the line (meaning only 4 inches into the soil) and then add dirt all around the edges to bring the lawn higher? This way that corner has a solid edge against it and a solid place for edge restraint to be place. Is there a better way to do this (like using 2x6 to create an edge around that area?) Thanks in advance. edit: to be clear, the other 3 intersections of the line are at ground level, this is the only corner that ends up significantly above the ground edit2: Kind of laughing at my title after googling sloped yards with patios, mine isn't that bad I guess [link] [comments] |
| Flooded window well and leaking basement window Posted: 27 Jun 2020 06:01 PM PDT We had massive flash flooding today. Our window well filled with water, our basement window leaked, water went down behind the basement paneling. We have removed the paneling and are drying out the room now, but we clearly need to deal with the larger issue. Suggestions? How do we keep our window well from flooding? I am thinking that we need to re-direct the gutters. Other ideas? Experiences? Words of wisdom? Thanks! Here is a link to the flooded window well - https://imgur.com/a/Ym6OAEF [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 27 Jun 2020 05:05 PM PDT So earlier today I was outside working on leveling a pool. My wife had just started a load of dishes and had come out to help me work on it. After about twenty minutes, she went to grab shorts for my son and heard the fire alarm going off. I ran over and opened the door and found the blackest smoke ive ever seen completely filling the house. Luckily no one was inside. I broke out the kitchen window and sprayed my dishwasher down until the the fire department got there. They were able to contain it quickly and vented all of the smoke out of the house. After i could re-enter my home I saw that the dishwasher had completely melted with minimal burning to everything else. I am assuming it got too hot and was not an electrical issue since the breaker did not trip. Every room in the house is covered in soot though. The smell is pretty awful due to the dishwasher being made of plastic. I also have some amount of water damage due to the fire hose and the water line that went to the dishwasher. It was enough water that it went through the wall and into my bedroom closet. I have to wait until monday to hear from an insurance adjuster before doing any repairs and also from the fire marshal to determine cause. I also am without power until then. I was just wondering what all i might be able to save in my house. I gutted it six years ago when i purchased it and am pretty handy with doing full remodels. Does anyone else have any experience with fire restoration? And will i possibly have to replace my hvac system due to smoke? Will the drywall need replaced or just wiped down/painted? And is it possible to remove the smell from carpet and furniture or will i just have to scrap all of it and get new? I am also worried about the subfloor. Will it all need replaced, or just dried out after the flooring and carpet has been peeled back? I apologize for rambling, I'm just a little stressed out and looking for advice from anyone that has been in a similar situation. Edit: heres a link for pics to see damage. Let me know if its not working. I've never used imgur before. House fire https://imgur.com/a/roHBp13 [link] [comments] |
| Roller blinds! Where do you get em? How much should I expect to pay? Posted: 27 Jun 2020 01:31 PM PDT I'm finally fed up with my curtains and want to upgrade to roller blinds. But there are SO MANY options and I have no idea where to start. Home Depot? Blinds.com? Local blind companies...? I think I want to get dual rollers, one being a blackout roller, and the other being a light filter. Anyone had any luck getting something like that? How much should I expect to pay? I have pretty big windows (70 in x65 in) [link] [comments] |
| Jointer sand to finish off my patio... need a little input. Posted: 27 Jun 2020 05:12 PM PDT So this was my first time laying pavers. I got plenty of pointers from Reddit and Youtube and frankly think I went into it with pretty well informed. Well the final product looks great (imho anyway), and it ended up pretty much exactly how I had imagined it, nigh-imperceptible sloping and all. I'm moments away from slapping the table and calling it good, just need to finish it off with a little jointing sand. The problem is, I'm rethinking my product decision. I had been told at the big box store that I'll probably want this, but after reading the label I'm having second thoughts. I should point out these second thoughts are based on absolutely no outside influence, I literally thought to myself "gee that sounds awfully permanent" and then decided to come here for advice. So what does HomeImprovement think of this sort of product to finish off my extremely small patio? are there other options that are more permeable, and thus better for, you know, reasons? Seriously, I'll take any/all advice at this point. EDIT: Thanks y'all! Just needed a little push in the right direction. [link] [comments] |
| What style would these cabinets be called? Can i refinish them to look updated? Posted: 27 Jun 2020 01:31 PM PDT |
| Posted: 27 Jun 2020 05:58 PM PDT This is in a ~100 year home in Canada, what is this and what does it do? Is this a water shutoff? Or just a cover for a pipe? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 27 Jun 2020 03:10 PM PDT The element in my oven is busted, and I went to find the wires in the back to reconnect a new element and found this. What can I do with this red wire? I have a Maytag Gemini double oven. We just moved into the home, so I do not know how any history. [link] [comments] |
| Help with the cold air return vent from hell Posted: 27 Jun 2020 01:50 PM PDT http://imgur.com/gallery/AuUmtLa I have a 36" x 18" cold air return on my floor. It's the bane of placing furniture. The grate eats furniture legs for snacks and tv remotes, child's toys, pet toys for dinner. We have our couch over it to hide the eye sore, but have to place tile square under the couch legs to stop them from falling through. Putting the couch somewhere else is not an acceptable answer, and it still allows for proper air return if you want to know. The vent has a wooden cover but its in need of repair. As I said the spacing of grates means lots of things fall through. It's also not nearly as sturdy as I would like. Looking for options, I can easily make a new wooden grate myself, maybe with appeareance metal on top, and would also add reinforcement under it so it doesn't now when standing in it. I'm looking for other alternatives that would solve this dilemma. Thanks, [link] [comments] |
| Any ideas on how to get a respirator right now? Posted: 27 Jun 2020 06:26 PM PDT Need to do a renovation and I need a respirator. Worst-case scenario, I can buy an expensive full-mask one for a couple hundred, but I'm hoping I can avoid that. Amazon isn't selling respirators to consumers. Home Depot is almost always sold out and their online 'In Stock' checker is not accurate. Paint stores are sold out and not receiving shipments. Ebay seems to have some, but I'm not sure if it's reputable. Has anyone been able to get one over the last couple months? [link] [comments] |
| Beginning Electrical in Basement. How does this look? Posted: 27 Jun 2020 07:04 PM PDT We're remodeling our entire basement, and the framing contractors finished a few days ago. The service main and the breaker box has been upgraded by a master electrician, already. Now, it's time for me to do the electrical portion. This is permitted work. I started a small bit of it, and would appreciate any feedback. I ended up purchasing the Black & Decker wiring guide book, and have read through it, but I'm still concerned that I'm missing something. Here is the beginning of my work so far. For reference, the rest of this particular circuit will be continuing to the left from the final picture.
I live in Colorado. I'm likely going to finish this one circuit, and will ask the city to come inspect my work before continuing with the rest of the basement. However, I appreciate any constructive criticism that can be provided in the mean time :) [link] [comments] |
| Best way to level garage floor under door? Posted: 27 Jun 2020 04:58 PM PDT I added a new weather strip under my garage door and noticed that there is a gap that starts about 3/4 of the way across the bottom and gets larger as it gets closer to the corner. All the way at the corner I can see that some of the garage floor has been worn away over the years. Best way to level it out so there's a tight seal under the door? Installed this https://www.northshorecommercialdoor.com/xcroblgadore.html#video-tab Maybe I could just lower the right side of the strip and screw it in lower to compensate? I feel like that's going to cause an issue with getting caught when the door is closing though [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 27 Jun 2020 03:48 PM PDT My soon to be house (grandmother giving it to my wife and I) has an issue where the electrical outlets in the living room stopped working and would constantly trip the breaker to the point of permanent failure. I decided it was easier to wire up new outlets in better locations using a wall mounted wire raceway along with wall mounted outlet boxes. I'm almost 100% sure I have them wired in correctly, followed step by step instructions, made sure connections were tight, etc. When I got to the box I noted the breaker, where the wire comes into the box and where it splits off to the rails, I removed the old wire and installed the new one in the same way along with a newly bought identical circuit breaker. https://m.imgur.com/a/NwfVNWf circuit breaker is in the bottom (same as old location), yellow Romex is new wire coming through same hole as old wire did, white wire with arrow is new white wire going to same screw old one did and right above that there is 2 bare wires of which 1 is the new one going to the same screw that the old one did pair with the same bare wire that the old one was paired with. The breaker is still instantly popping and ultimately failing permanently (tried 3 before I gave up). The original issue was likely old wiring that failed, I'm guessing the new issue may be something I have wrong wiring outlets together but I just want to make sure it's not an obvious issue with the box as, well the pics show, I discovered that the box is a mess of wires but I may be missing something. Like I said, breaker to same spot, black to breaker, white to old white screw, bare to old bare screw and that layout worked for 30+ years until a few months ago when the other old outlets stopped working and started tripping breakers. Would it be possible to add a subpannel to this box (maybe 2) and try and cleanup some of the mess? I would like to run another raceway wiring setup in a 2nd story storage room that's getting converted to my mancave once we move in (TV, PS4, maybe computer but nothing crazy powerful, a string of LED Christmas style lights around the ceiling, maybe a small window AC & mini fridge). There is like 3 open slots in the box but all the screws are pretty much full (except for that rail right next to main, can I use that?) so IDK how much more can be added. Everything I lookup that has any sort of pics or videos is showing boxes with different layouts. This is a 150 amp box, should I spend the money to get it converted to 200 Amp and would an electrician basically do the switch and rehook everything up without having to go through and make sure everything wiring wise throughout the house is perfectly to code (I'm sure most is, but having previously worked in auto repair I'm all to familiar with the practice of trying to find work to earn a bigger paycheck lol). Once we'd go to the 200 amp box would it still be wise to get a subpannel for that extra mancave wiring (and maybe something like an outdoor outlet on the back porch) or would a 200 box have enough room that it wouldn't be necessary? Thanks in advance. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 27 Jun 2020 02:51 PM PDT Please take a look at the current setup and the proposed bathroom plan. The goal is to have a bigger bathroom with a double vanity behind a wider single closet. My only concern is that the opening to the bathroom will be behind the bedroom door, not sure if there is any reasons not to do that. Dont want to be breaking any big design rules by doing that. Any help is appreciated. See album at link below. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 27 Jun 2020 06:29 PM PDT |
| Connect outdoor light junction box to supply ground when there is no supply ground wire? Posted: 27 Jun 2020 01:39 PM PDT A basic electrical question here: I got this new outdoor light and the instructions say: "connect the grounding screw from the fixture to the supply ground". The problem is I only have a black and white wire coming out of the wall (no separate supply ground wire). Should I connect the grounding screw to the screw circled in the picture here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ch76n9igjw6jncn/Outdoor%20light.png?dl=0. Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Mold? Asbestos? Something else? Posted: 27 Jun 2020 03:07 PM PDT |
| House Extension on old farmhouse sinking into the ground Posted: 27 Jun 2020 11:38 AM PDT I have recently begun the project of renovating my old family farmhouse. One of the most pressing issues I'm faced with is a section of the house which is so undersupported its a wonder it hasn't collapsed already. This 5x13 foot portion of the house is a side entrance that also serves as a mudroom/ garden room. As can be seen in the pictures bellow the entire corner of the mudroom sits on 3 crumbling cinder blocks. The blocks sit on nothing more than the ground and not surprisingly sunk the whole structure downward 3 inches on the corner. This is obviously a huge hazard I'm hoping to address first. The farmhouse has a brick portion that was built in the 1890s and a wooden addiction built in the 1930s. Both of these structures have a full stone foundation. The mudroom in question was added with the 1930s addition as an open deck, walls and a roof were added in the 1970s. The current foundation was added at some point before I came along but it doesn't seem to be 50 or 90 years old. Regardless of when it was added, its gotta go. I'm 20 years old and I have 2 jacks capable of lifting up this building, though I have never had experience working with foundations and would like to know where to start/what foundation types I should consider in supporting this structure. The mudroom is attached securely to the wooden section of the house so I was thinking 3 6x6 concrete deck pairs sitting on gravel. I would ideally pour proper concrete piers but since the structure is relatively small and attached to the house this doesn't seem necessary. I'm looking to take my time researching and completing this job to complete it safely and properly, so any advice is appreciated. TL;DR: Whoever supported the structure seen in the pictures before me was a silly goose and im looking for advice on how to re-support the structure [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 27 Jun 2020 03:03 PM PDT We had a house fire and our was gutted back to the studs. We are close to the design phase of the build and I am looking for ideas. Other then moving some walls and appliances I am not sure what else to consider. We are adding one of the faucets over the stove. Any other ideas? I am open to any suggestions. [link] [comments] |
| Anyone have experience having their asbestos popcorn ceiling covered with a new layer of drywall? Posted: 27 Jun 2020 01:44 PM PDT Confirmed via testing that it has asbestos - here are my options, as I understand it: From what I've heard professional removal is monstrously expensive, and many people say it's not worth the risk trying to do it yourself. Mudding or skim coating won't work for this (I'm guessing) because it's already coming loose in a few places and I'm guessing would fall off in chunks with the added weight of a skim coat. AFAIK that leaves sandwiching it away under a new layer. Just wondering if anyone has done that and has any advice/warnings [link] [comments] |
| Caulking around laundry room tile floor? Posted: 27 Jun 2020 06:52 AM PDT I recently had a tile floor installed in my laundry room which looks fantastic. However there is still about a 1/4" gap between the tile floor and the drywall. I know this is normal but I kind of want to seal this up somehow so that if there's ever water, it won't get into the walls or subfloor. Here's a photo: https://i.imgur.com/Y1fC7Pz.jpg What do people usually do in a laundry room? In a regular room I'd probably install baseboards (and then caulk around them) but in a laundry / utility room I would think you want to be able to push things right up against the wall. Plus we eventually want to install cabinets but we just aren't there yet so I don't want to do baseboards at the moment. [link] [comments] |
| Has anyone successfully soundproofed their home at a reasonable price? Posted: 27 Jun 2020 02:36 PM PDT We're in the early stages of converting our ranch into a mother-daughter. One thing we'd like to do is soundproof it so that when there's thunder or fireworks going off that it doesn't terrorize the baby and dogs. I started by looking into soundproof windows but that seems like a waste of money. I then thought about dense material that we could put in the walls when construction is happening but it seems expensive. I don't mind paying for it but we still have an overall budget. I wanted to see if anyone had done anything like that and if it was even fesable without spending a boatload of money. [link] [comments] |
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