Home Improvement: Beware Google reviews! |
- Beware Google reviews!
- Relaying a brick walkway wasn't that hard
- I renovated my garage exterior.
- A/C Leak
- Filling Screw Hole to rescrew
- Resurfacing basement cement floor
- Would you refinish fir floors or replace with something more durable?
- Attaching Horse Gate to Chainlink Post
- Do I need to fix this before putting up drywall?
- Electrician quote - is this fair?
- Question on Deck Building
- Our quickie apartment refresh before/afters
- Squirrel in wall
- Microwave exhaust fan combo help!?!
- Looking for rigid foam insulation for window A/C unit, but no idea where to start? (X-posted in r/diy)
- Need help!!! New house. Removed old flooring to find rotten subfloor and joist.
- First Time Homebuyer: Need Advice
- Did my contractor install tub incorrectly?
- Garage Door Hinge Replacement?
- Bathroom Remodel
- Ideas to fix water leaking under shower door
- DIY Backyard Biergarten Phase 2: Crushed Rock Patio (x-post from DIY)
- Subfloor Install - Help!
- Looking for an outdoor sconce with an outlet?
| Posted: 15 Jul 2020 02:07 PM PDT We are still trying to pick out a siding contactor and have it narrowed down to two. One is 20% cheaper. I looked at Google reviews, and the cheaper one had some suspicious stuff. All the 5 star reviews were a little too chipper but still vague. You can click the name and see what else they've reviewed. Nearly all of the thirty or so 5 star reviewers also reviewed the same exact Mexican restaurant, and the same Asian massage parlor. Quite the coincidence, right? Or, somebody has a stable of fake accounts and sells good reviews. I've always taken reviews witha grain of salt, but this was pretty crazy. To me this is a deal breaker. Thoughts? Edit:. I have triple digit karma now! So I get a wind breaker or something? Anyways, I emailed the contactor to say I'm out, and I told him why in a polite manner. I'll update if his response is interesting... [link] [comments] |
| Relaying a brick walkway wasn't that hard Posted: 15 Jul 2020 06:35 PM PDT This was my first time working with paver bricks, but it was easier, faster, and cheaper than I expected. I think this is doable for most novice diyers. I'm in Akron Ohio- an area with harsh winters that freeze deep and summers that top 100 degrees. That kind of variance can tear apart a walkway quickly. When I moved into this house last year, I thought the walk would be a total loss. But after looking more closely, it was clear that it wasn't installed with an edge restraint or polymeric sand. The basic shape was nice and the brick was in good condition. I decided to pull up and clean every brick then lay back down on a properly graded and compacted base. Total project took 3 days and another long night for cleanup...then another night for mulch. 65 feet long, 44 inches wide. Costs- I already owned all the tools, shovels, etc. Here are the additional purchases... $660 for the base materials, including; landscape fabric, edge restraint and spikes, 3/4 crushed limestone (3 yards), leveling sand (1 yard), and 4 buckets of polymeric sand $180 for 200 additional pavers. I didn't want to reuse the existing cut pieces. I thought I could do a better job with the contour. $50 for compacter. This was a great deal. A neighbor runs a tool rental. He even brought it to me. They say you can do this project without it. Yeah right. The second the compacter starts, it's very clear that no amount of tamping will ever pack as tight. $90 for 2 circular saw diamond blades $300 or something like that for 5 walkway lights, 6 tree spotlights, 100 feet of lighting wire, and several line connectors. $185 for 5 yards of triple shredded bark mulch. $1500 total. Sure it's not nothing...but I'd have imagined 3 times this amount. The neighborhood landscape guy said this is at least $5,000 in work if I hired him to do the job. [link] [comments] |
| I renovated my garage exterior. Posted: 15 Jul 2020 12:36 PM PDT Here's the image gallery. https://imgur.com/gallery/vrTOUrW I had a lot of fun and learned a lot while doing this project. Let me know if you have any questions! It's pretty amazing to see the before and after photos. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2020 09:27 PM PDT I've moved into a house 6 months ago. I replaced the A/C filter last week. The indoor unit is in the attic. Then tonight we noticed a water leak in the ceiling. I went upstairs and found this exposed copper pipe coming out of the unit dripping water. https://imgur.com/gallery/FzqnaZ2 It looks to me like the drain line is clogged and this is an overflow pipe? I'd think we would want a sensor of some sort here but this pipe just extends to nothing. This wasn't noted as an issue in our home inspection. Also, could me changing the air filter have somehow caused this? I took it in and out again and it looked ok. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2020 09:15 PM PDT Hey all! Today I attempted to hang some curtain rods. I totally messed up and made the hole too big for the wall anchor so the wall anchor is too loose (The wall anchors they gave me are totally shitty but that's another issue). I went to Home Depot and they told me buy Platinum Patch and fill in the hole, let it dry, and I can re-screw in the wall anchor and try again. My question is - to avoid messing up again as the wall anchors are really bad - could I fill the hole with the Platinum Patch AND put the wall anchors in. This way the wall anchors will go in 'easily' and dry with the platinum patch? Is that a dumb idea? Thank you in advanced!! [link] [comments] |
| Resurfacing basement cement floor Posted: 15 Jul 2020 08:16 PM PDT We bought a home last summer, built in 1922 with a field stone foundation. The basement has an extremely uneven cement floor. Mostly slopping to the middle with a floor drain that I'm guessing leads to the septic. I figured out that the floor is only about an inch thick and looks like it was poured directly onto the dirt beneath, no gravel. I'm guessing it was poured over 50 years ago at least. Lots of hairline to medium cracks, minor holes from impact damage, patches, etc. Honestly though I'm impressed that it's still basically functional and there's no ground water coming up, no stranding water or anything like that... My objective now is to improve the comfort of the basement. The floor is extremely dusty/dirty, many areas are rough and cracked. I don't want to break it out and repour the entire floor...But I also want something more than just paint/epoxy. Maybe a skim coat of cement, lime, portland, or similar mixture? I know resurfacing with self leveling cement is popular but the floor seems like it needs to retain it's intended floor drain slope... [link] [comments] |
| Would you refinish fir floors or replace with something more durable? Posted: 15 Jul 2020 10:22 PM PDT I've got a 1916 craftsman in the PNW with fir floors throughout that have some pretty serious scratches in a few places from big dogs and such. I have a baby who will be crawling soon, and we want to either refinish or replace the floors to avoid her getting splinters (and also so they look great again). I would be happy to refinish them since they are true to the character of the house, but they just don't seem that durable. For example, large furniture like the couch or dining table (~300lb) seems to dent the floor where it sits. Am I foolish for thinking of replacing them with something like white oak that is harder? I'm not sure what the practical difference would be (or if kids will beat up any wood floors regardless). [link] [comments] |
| Attaching Horse Gate to Chainlink Post Posted: 15 Jul 2020 04:20 PM PDT I'm going to build a driveway gate to keep my dog in the yard. There's a pre-existing post set in the ground for a chainlink fence with the old clamps attached to it. My plan is to build a basic wooden horse gate with welded mesh nailed to it, but I'm not sure how I would attach that to the post. Any advice here? Do I need new to purchase special hinges? The gate will be approximately 5' x 9'. Images of the post and clamps: Image 1: https://ibb.co/qxRfdNJ Image 2: https://ibb.co/Lh4VMCP Image 3: https://ibb.co/BzFmc2g [link] [comments] |
| Do I need to fix this before putting up drywall? Posted: 15 Jul 2020 05:11 PM PDT My garage is currently unfinished. There's a few areas where it looks like there could have been water damage- during the inspection they said they were dry. This one however looks the worst. Do I need to get this replaced before I insulate and drywall? [link] [comments] |
| Electrician quote - is this fair? Posted: 15 Jul 2020 09:48 PM PDT Hey we just bought a home that needs some work and I'd like to hear if these prices sound fair or not, I'm in california: Replacing an outlet with GFCI $50 Replacing a light switch $30 Replacing a light switch dimmer $75 This includes parts and labor. Should I try to learn how to do this myself or does this require an electrician? Thanks in advance! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2020 09:13 PM PDT I know this is going to be hard to explain, but I used an online deck builder in Simpson Deck Builder. Everything is to code. So currently its calling to use 2 x 8's for joists and 2 x 10's for beams. Could I use 2 x 10's for both? Any benefits or cons? Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Our quickie apartment refresh before/afters Posted: 15 Jul 2020 06:59 PM PDT We just purchased a home with an apartment attached in the back. Our plan had been to take a couple months to update it while we worked on the rest of the house, but all of that went out the window when a friend of mine said she was looking for a new place to rent. She came to take a look at it when we were doing our final walk-through of the home and she said she was in, as long as we made the updates we had been planning on doing. We got the lease agreement written up, signed, and then we started planning. We had two and a half weeks from the day we got the keys to the place until her move-in date. Our list of to-dos: - replace all the light fixtures - replace the carpet in the living area with LVT - refinish cabinets in kitchen and bathroom - new kitchen countertop, sink, and faucet - install metal backsplash - new fridge - refinish tub surround and bathroom sink/countertop - new bathroom plumbing fixtures - new water heater Well, not everything went smoothly or quickly... Kitchen: My husband was in charge of refinishing the surfaces. We used Rustoleum's Cabinet Transformations kit. I thought he'd be done in a weekend, but it ended up taking two weeks of intermittent work. There was a lot of prep and steps - cleaning, sanding, primer, paint. Plus all the drying and curing time. Since we were low on time and didn't have all the necessary tools, we decided to have one of our new contractor neighbors install the butcher block countertop, sink, and faucet. He did it in a day. The old pipes under the sink literally disintegrated when he removed them. It felt good to get that replaced. After he was done, I put three coats of poly on top and underneath the butcher block and caulked around the edges. We found a used fridge on fb marketplace for $300 that was manufactured in this century (unlike the previous one) and didn't smell like death (unlike the previous one). I had ordered a backsplash kit from Lowe's made by American Tin Ceilings the day we got the lease signed, thinking it would surely arrive within the two and a half weeks we had to work on the unit. It unfortunately didn't arrive until the day my friend moved in, so that's the one of last unfinished projects we have in the space. We also didn't have a chance to install the new cabinet pulls and knobs in the kitchen. Both things, my friend was aware may not get done and that we'd have to come in later to finish them. Bathroom: One of the first things we did was have someone come in and replace the water heater, which was completely borked. The tub surround was so old and yellowed we thought we were going to have to refinish or completely replace it. While my husband was prepping it to refinish with one of those tub refinishing kits, we realized it just needed a really good cleaning with TSP. It's not yellow anymore and we didn't need to use the kits at all! We did replace all of the bathroom fixtures - shower head, trim kit, tub spout, overflow plate, drain, and bathroom faucet. I also used a heavy duty grout cleaner on the pink(!) floor grout. I replaced most of the light fixtures in the unit, with exception of the bathroom vanity light and fan. It turned out to be a complicated, non-standard wiring job, so I left it to the professionals who were working on removing the old knob and tube from the main house at the time. Living room: The biggest wrench I was thrown was when I went to pull up the carpet in the living room to install the LVT. As soon as I pulled up a corner, I realized there was asbestos tile underneath and it was in pretty bad shape, crumbling and falling apart. The carpet was brand new, so I have a feeling the seller was trying to hide the issue rather than deal with it. This was a week before our tenant was moving in. I called up a remediation company and they fortunately could come out three days later. They were in and out in less than a day, during which time they set up a vacuum sealed space, removed all the asbestos, and sealed the concrete underneath. The following day I installed the LVT, which was one of the smoother processes. My husband finished up by installing the trim pieces and quarter round and I touched up paint and installed the curtain rods. It's not perfect but we're happy with what we got done in that short amount of time. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2020 09:53 AM PDT I currently rent a townhouse but don't like to bug landlord with every problem especially if I can solve myself. Recently I have been hearing scratching and nails between my shared wall. I assumed a rat but I caught the squirrel red handed going into what I expected was the point of entry underneath the eve of my patio. I know I can buy new mesh to prevent it from getting in but what's the best way to get it out, preferably alive or how would I know the wall space is empty before sealing the point of entry? [link] [comments] |
| Microwave exhaust fan combo help!?! Posted: 15 Jul 2020 04:52 PM PDT Hi, I am remodeling the kitchen on a house I just purchased and I am buying a new microwave. Do I need to keep this exhaust fan or can I just remove it completely? Not sure if it is necessary? Thanks [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2020 06:10 PM PDT Hey all, I live in NYC and my window ac unit is too small for my window (by about a foot) I saw someone suggest using rigid foam insulation for this issue on another thread on here years ago, but I have no idea where to find this. I looked on amazon and all I could seem to find was craft materials. I don't really want to put a big chunk of styrofoam in my window...unless that's essentially what it is? I don't know, as you can see I have no idea what I'm doing and would love some help/tips on where I can find this stuff and like maybe the type/make of what I'm looking for? Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Need help!!! New house. Removed old flooring to find rotten subfloor and joist. Posted: 15 Jul 2020 06:01 PM PDT Hi! I recently purchased a house and decided to replace the flooring with new LVP. When I removed their old flooring, I found that the subfloor had significant water damage. After removing the rotten subfloor, I realized the water had gone down to the joist and rotted away a significant portion of it. How do I resolve this? Photos in comments. [link] [comments] |
| First Time Homebuyer: Need Advice Posted: 15 Jul 2020 08:12 PM PDT Hi everyone. I need some advice on fixing up the home before moving in. Here is a picture below and want to fix a couple of things:
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| Did my contractor install tub incorrectly? Posted: 15 Jul 2020 01:50 PM PDT We recently hired a contractor to install a new shower/tub/tiling. I noticed on the left and right side of my tub, the tiling didn't line up and there was something thin sticking up here (is this a tub lip?). It may be hard to see in the photo, however I included and you can see on the long end (near faucet), its a clean transition from tile to caulking. [link] [comments] |
| Garage Door Hinge Replacement? Posted: 15 Jul 2020 03:45 PM PDT Hello, my garage door hinges recently broke and I was wondering if it's something I can fix myself or if I would need to hire a specialist to come replace the whole garage panel. My garage door is made of four long panels (not sure if this is the right word) and the hinges that have been affected are the ones on the second from the top. Thank you so much! Hinge 1 - This hinge is the left most hinge and the screws have been ripped out somehow and the hinge is no longer attached to the top panel. Hinge 2 - It looks like the panel has been ripped upwards by the hinge. The hinge is still attached to the panel but I'm pretty sure its not secure. Hinge 3 - This hinge somehow managed to detach itself. It's hard to tell from the picture but the hinge is folded inwards so there aren't any screws connecting it to the bottom panel [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2020 10:56 PM PDT Remodeled my bathroom and adjoining laundry room. Did everything myself except put in the pex and tile four walls. After I tiled the floor I said frick this. Lots of mistakes but if I ever do this again things will go better. I learn by repetition. Would do a million things differently now that I've done this once. Maybe everything will hold together for a year or two. Thanks to everyone on this forum who helped me with my petty questions. Before and during pics: https://app.box.com/folder/118044362589?page=2 Finished pics: https://imgur.com/a/I0B5Q72 In a nutshell...
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| Ideas to fix water leaking under shower door Posted: 15 Jul 2020 07:01 PM PDT This shower is original 1993-1994. There is a gap under the door itself between the door and the track. If you spray the door water can run down under it and then down the tile on to the floor. It doesn't happen all the time but it can't continue. Any ideas on ways to fix this? I have no idea what is possible other than say a whole new shower. [link] [comments] |
| DIY Backyard Biergarten Phase 2: Crushed Rock Patio (x-post from DIY) Posted: 15 Jul 2020 08:40 AM PDT |
| Posted: 15 Jul 2020 06:46 PM PDT Husband and I are working on replacing carpet and sheet vinyl in our house with LVP. We've done a few rooms and have now started on the kitchen/family room. We had already decided to take out the OSB subfloors and replace with plywood due to issues with moisture damage in spots (former owners did not install floors well + animals in the house). When we took up the OSB in this room, we noticed that some of the planks looked damaged. Some are cracked and have splits. One board in particular will dip down when stepped on (last board pictured). We are wondering if we should pull up and replace these boards before laying the plywood? Or should we be okay? We don't want to half-ass anything and want to make sure it's done right. Paid the doggo tax, hoping for some suggestions! Thank you :) [link] [comments] |
| Looking for an outdoor sconce with an outlet? Posted: 15 Jul 2020 10:24 PM PDT I'm not sure if this is the right place to post. I might try other other subreddits. I'm looking for an outdoor sconce/ patio light fixture that has an grounded outlet so that I can extend some power to an area where there's no other outlet. Thanks in advance. [link] [comments] |
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