Home Improvement: I’m not handy but I tackled my daughters 1870’s room full of cracking plaster! |
- I’m not handy but I tackled my daughters 1870’s room full of cracking plaster!
- To those who want to augment their HVAC system to filter the virus please keep this in mind
- Cicadas have a thing for my wet saw
- Carpet professionals of Reddit, what makes a good carpet and what should I look for when buying carpet?
- What do you think of that hexagon tile backsplash?
- Covid Mancave Project Phase 1
- Help choosing an 18 inch Dishwasher
- Is it possible to install an AC on a basement window that opens inward? (Photos linked)
- Sill plate damage
- Does this look like termites?
- Motorized blackout shades with tracks
- Replace septic tank or to sewer
- My garage floor looks like the moon... How can I repair it?
- Should I move vanity plumbing? How much does it cost?
- Any clever ideas to remove attic insulation?
- Ceiling fan in master bedroom
- Reversed polarity reading but correct wiring
- I need some advice on a bathroom remodel. Design ideas, what’s possible, etc.
- Re-painting an exterior door
- I need some advice about the tiles on the wall of my kitchen.
- Help with replacing blinds in an apartment
- Window sill gap question
- Water Well
- Can I truck lumber from Oregon to San Diego for my decks?
| I’m not handy but I tackled my daughters 1870’s room full of cracking plaster! Posted: 09 Jul 2020 09:07 AM PDT I bought this house 5 years ago as a reno with my now ex husband. We started to divorce 6 months after closing. Anyway the house is from the 1800's and I love it but it's been such a labor of love for someone that isn't handy and didn't plan to do it alone. I tried to find people to come skim the walls but they all ended up being unreliable so I decided to just patch the hell out of it and finally made it a great space for my daughter. I'm very proud to have done it but am a bit sore haha. Here is a link to the before and after [link] [comments] |
| To those who want to augment their HVAC system to filter the virus please keep this in mind Posted: 09 Jul 2020 01:39 PM PDT Keep in mind that many HVAC systems were not built to handle a hepa style filter. At most they were designed to handle Merv 14. Anything higher HEPA is Merv 18 will place strain on the motor and might burn out the HVAC motor resulting in costly repair during the peak summer season. If you do want whole house HEPA in HVAC then there are addons being sold that come with their own specifically designed motors and enclosures that go inline with hour HVAC unit. Also for those of you considering adding uvc lights inline with the HVAC duct please make sure to read up on it and make sure that the light is coated so it won't produce ozone. Otherwise you are exposing yourself to a very oxidative agent and it is very unhealthy for folks with breathing problems (hence the summer air quality alerts.... They are based of ozone concentrations). Also, read up on the airflow treatment capability of the UVC light since most non commercial home HVAC units are not powerful enough to treat the air at regular HVAC flowrates they are built to keep mold off the condenser coil and not act as an antiviral whole house cleaner. The hospital grade ones are another story. [link] [comments] |
| Cicadas have a thing for my wet saw Posted: 09 Jul 2020 05:37 PM PDT Yes, you read that right. I live in the southeast, where something's not right if you can't hear cicadas pretty much all night, all year long. Several times in the last couple years, I've worked on some tiling projects. I use a wet saw, and I have this problem where cicadas will dive bomb me while I'm using it. This scares the shit out of me, which is a dangerous combination with a spinning blade near my fingers. I guess they like the sound??? I also had this problem one time with my circular saw. Am I the only one with this problem? Am I making a cicada mating call with my wet saw? Will Aflac pay out for a sawed off finger because my wet saw makes cicadas horny? So many questions, not enough answers. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 09 Jul 2020 09:45 PM PDT I am in the process of buying about 1k sq ft of carpet but I'm overwhelmed with all the info provided. Could a carpet professional help? whats a good weight for carpet? or whats a good pad? What should I look for and what should I avoid? [link] [comments] |
| What do you think of that hexagon tile backsplash? Posted: 09 Jul 2020 03:39 PM PDT So currently there's no backsplash behind the sink in our guest bathroom. I found these tiles that I really like.
Since I've never done a project of that kind, I watch a few tutorial videos, among which I stumbled upon that one.
Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 09 Jul 2020 07:49 AM PDT This is my first post so be gentle: We moved into our fixer upper house about 4 years ago. My dad and I been renovating pretty much each room throughout the house starting from the bathrooms to family room to kitchen and such. Ive been putting off the basement project for a while since it is not top priority on our renovation list. But of course Covid hit and working from home allowed the flexibility, I decided to kick off the man cave project. So here it is : https://imgur.com/a/YQgfTkg For this project since its a mancave, I went for a dark lounge look. I wanted dark walls, dark ceiling and floors. This is room mostly for Poker and football (hence the multiple TV's for fantasy football) and for the boys to hang out and have couple of drinks. Materials used: Ceiling Acoustic Foam - ~$400 Wall Acoustic Foam - ~$500 White Sound Deflector Panels - ~$500 Tiles - ~ $1000 Plywood, Paint other materials - ~$700 Other materials was left over from other projects or laying around the house Total - $3100 more or less *By the way - the LEDs Hexagon and shelves has a dance mode that follows the music when enabled. Note: this is a project I did mostly myself with exception of electrical and tiling assisted by my dad. Normally dad is the foreman and does the grunt work, I'm usually the details and design guy. Next is moving all the crap back and adding decor. Enjoy... [link] [comments] |
| Help choosing an 18 inch Dishwasher Posted: 09 Jul 2020 07:14 PM PDT I'm looking for advice on which 18 inch dishwasher to buy. I'm down to three choices, ranked first to last. Does anybody have experience with these?
It has to be white, I'm in the US, and I can't fit a full size without redoing my entire kitchen, so these are the options I see. [link] [comments] |
| Is it possible to install an AC on a basement window that opens inward? (Photos linked) Posted: 09 Jul 2020 06:22 PM PDT https://imgur.com/gallery/If9NuJ7 I have a couple of basement windows that open inwards, like in the attached photo and video, has anyone had success installing an AC in this kind of window? I don't really want to compromise on security and still like to be able to close the window, if at all possible. I'm open to all solutions, I've looked at indoor AC units as well. Let me know if you have any suggestions Reddit! Thanks. The weird looking wiring is the rain sensor from an old sprinkler controller. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 09 Jul 2020 08:57 PM PDT https://imgur.com/gallery/lp5H1ai Pics So we're having a new front patio porch poured. Upon removal of the old one we found this. I had a contractor come over and look at it this afternoon. he said he would just cut away the old rotted sill joist and replace it put flashing on and call it a day. Does that sound right? I'm clueless as far as diy but from everything I read I thought the house would have to be jacked up the old sill plate and joist removed and replaced. The floor joist has a bit of water staining on the ends but look and feel structurally sound. I'm just concerned that the sill plate might be too far gone. Adding the flashing to prevent more water from getting it should prevent any further rot? Opinions? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 09 Jul 2020 06:30 PM PDT Found this among my firewood on my patio. https://i.imgur.com/HK8xnrC.jpg https://i.imgur.com/tudGb0L.jpg https://i.imgur.com/6qSdfE6.jpg This last pic I tried to get a shot of the bugs that fell out of the wood when I knocked it. https://i.imgur.com/JDLGmvv.jpg The bugs are very small and difficult to see with the camera. They're smaller than the granules in the other pics. [link] [comments] |
| Motorized blackout shades with tracks Posted: 09 Jul 2020 08:35 PM PDT Looking for blackout shades that have side tracks to completely block the light and that are motorized. Any recommendations? [link] [comments] |
| Replace septic tank or to sewer Posted: 09 Jul 2020 05:00 PM PDT Hello all, Can't find any solid info so I decided to come here. My family have had the same septic tank for 30 years with no issues. We have decided to double the size of the house (and doubling the showers and toilets). I am planning on doubling the size of the septic tank to adjust for the increased plumbing (and more potential family members). Septic tank upgrade is around 7-10k. Recently, city sewer has finally been "accessible" to my house for a fee of around 35k (10k for permission from city and 25k for installation). If I go sewer, I legally can't go back to a septic ever again. Is the sewer really worth it for 35k? [link] [comments] |
| My garage floor looks like the moon... How can I repair it? Posted: 09 Jul 2020 05:38 PM PDT https://i.imgur.com/XtOoKmp.jpg 60 year old house, original owner worked on cars for decades, the concrete is pitted and cratered almost everywhere. I would love to do one of the epoxy kits in there, but I know the floor has to be pretty much flat for that stuff. Can I just use self leveling concrete and screed across the surface to repair it? Or would that just chip back out in a hurry? Short of full demolition and repouring the slab, what can be done about it? [link] [comments] |
| Should I move vanity plumbing? How much does it cost? Posted: 09 Jul 2020 08:43 PM PDT I'm in the process of a full reno of my house, which aside from the cost has been pretty manageable. Removing small vanities and replacing them is not difficult, and the stuff I can't handle is contracted out. I don't know what to do about the master vanity though. It is a 67" single sink. Instead of replacing it, I think painting the cabinet and getting a new countertop with dual sinks could work. Problem is, the drain and water lines are right under the existing sink far to the left of the vanity. Should I move these? Or just run a longer drain pipe to the other sink? [link] [comments] |
| Any clever ideas to remove attic insulation? Posted: 09 Jul 2020 10:53 PM PDT Hi Guys, My 1970 home in So Cal has blow in insulation. I started to rent a professional tool to remove the attic insulation but they only allow 50' of tubing (concerns of getting clogged). I needed about 100' of tubing to reach all around my attic from the access, so I had to cancel once I got there and discovered this. I tested it before and it does not have asbestos. I still want to do this work and I dont know what i can use. I am thinking of just shoveling it into bags or seeing if I can get some cheap hand held tool that I can throw abuse. Once I get the majority out I will bring my shop vac up there to clean out leftover fibers. Any help would be appreciated! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 09 Jul 2020 10:40 PM PDT Hi! We currently have a 58" Minka aire artemis in our master bedroom of a out 13x20. The bed is against the back wall and the fan is dead center in the room. Our house is also a standard builder home that they totally got the airflow wrong in, as portions of the house have very stale air, and portions get too much. Anyway, we tend to like to keep our master very cold and have high airflow at night. The Minka aire is just not cutting it. We can't even feel the airflow from our bed. My question: we are going to replace the fan, do we want bigger blades(62,65, or 70), higher cfm(fan usually runs at about 5k,but can loudly go up to 7k), or both? We were looking at the aeratron ar3 as it seems to do nearly 10k cfm, but it's also only a 60 compared to the 58 we have. [link] [comments] |
| Reversed polarity reading but correct wiring Posted: 09 Jul 2020 06:46 PM PDT Our recently purchased home's inspection listed a couple reversed polarity outlets. I confirmed the reading on the outlets with a basic outlet tester (Power Gear 3 Wire Receptacle... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002LZTKIA?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share). But, the wires seemed to be landed correctly both visually and with a voltage tester. Is there another reason that would cause the outlet tester to read an outlet as reversed polarity? [link] [comments] |
| I need some advice on a bathroom remodel. Design ideas, what’s possible, etc. Posted: 09 Jul 2020 08:12 PM PDT Hi everybody, My husband and I are just beginning our first foray into a room remodel. We are highly un-knowledgable so literally any advice is appreciated. Our primary bathroom is TINY. It's about 6x5. Fortunately it's just the two of us and will stay that way. I think that the layout basically has to stay the same. Nothing else is really feasible. We are very interested in changing from a tub/shower combo to just a step in shower. I think that the few inches of shower space we gain from losing the tub will be totally worth it. I'm hoping some of your experienced eyes may see some things that I haven't considered. I'd also be interested in any specific item recommendations if you think something might be helpful. We'd like to use glass tile and stick to light colors. Modern and updated but not so trendy that we'll hate it in 5 years. Maybe some open shelving above the toilet? Muuuch smaller mirror. New vanity, floor, paint, toilet, all that. Current photos are below. It's basically a crime scene. https://imgur.com/gallery/NXzzLXC Style we're into: https://imgur.com/gallery/ZyGkfNm [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 09 Jul 2020 04:13 PM PDT I'm planning on re-painting a metal exterior door that's already painted white. I'm fairly certain the existing paint is latex given that it starts to come off if I rub a qtip doused in alcohol on it. The existing paint is in good condition, I just want a yellow front door. Here's my plan:
Is this a good plan? Do I even need to prime? Should I be using oil based paint instead? Google gives me conflicting advice so I figured I'd ask the experts. Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| I need some advice about the tiles on the wall of my kitchen. Posted: 09 Jul 2020 04:59 PM PDT The kitchen of my apartment is very outdated. Some quick backstory to help put my issue in to perspective. The landlord I originally rented this place from did little to no up keep on the place. Internally or externally. I have a new landlord who is remodeling, painting and slowly fixing everything. It's an old house, that's split in to 3 apartments in a decent and quiet part of town. The basement, the first floor (new landlord lives there) and the second floor, which is mine. It's a cozy place, even though the layout is super weird. It's also extremely inexpensive. I only pay $500 a month for a approx 1000 square ft 2 bedroom apartment that does not charge a pet fee and has a fenced in back yard. The yard also looked like shit but my new landlord has spent months and gotten it in to a really beautiful area with a fire pit and other things. Anyways, when my new landlord bought the place he said would eventually gut and remodel my kitchen. He has been prioritizing his "projects" and he often does 4 or 5 at once so, even though it takes forever to complete one... he still does a good job. Right now he is repainting the house, building a new back porch, getting rid of dead trees, planting flowers and where he can't put grass or where it's too hard to maintain, is putting in rocks. Also, when he took over he asked if I wanted him to do a lot of remodeling right away and raise my rent, or gradually remodel it and not raise my rent. I chose option 2. So far he really has only really gutted and installed a new shower in my bathroom. I painted the hallway, living room and spare room (at my request) but he paid for the materials. But now we are at the kitchen... It's very, very dated. As I have been scouring it and cleaning everything the previous landlord and tenant for that matter never did and I've been getting some ideas. I have really ugly and odd ceramic tiles in my kitchen. Right now, I have been going through and scrubbing them so that they are brighter and also getting all the dirt out from the spaces between them. Here is what they look like. Here is a wider shot of the kitchen. And lastly a close up shot of the sink area. Anyways, I gotta do something about the tiles. I don't want to ask my landlord to do anything because he is tied up now and I think if I asked him now he would just end up taking out all the tiles which would take him a long time with everything going on. I'm working from home and will be for the next few months so I don't really want the distraction, or rent increase for him to re-direct his focus. So I'm looking for something to do myself that will not break the bank, be reliable but not permanent or damage the existing tiles (to the point of if I move out, I can restore them to original color with no damage). Now, one option I am considering is getting some vinyl stickers designed specifically for ceramic tiles. Amazon sells packs of 50 in white, blue, grey and black for like $11. All colors but black seem kinda transparent. So if I went that route, I would keep all the white tiles as they are and replace the rest with black vinyl decals. Option 2 would be to paint them. But that's where I'm stuck. I'd want to use a paint I could remove if I move out prior to him remodeling the kitchen that won't damage the structure of the tiles, or ruin the current coloring of them. Any suggestions? [link] [comments] |
| Help with replacing blinds in an apartment Posted: 09 Jul 2020 04:54 PM PDT My husband and I rent and have those awful cheap aluminum 1 inch blinds. I talked to my building manager and they prefer that I do not uninstall the current mounts to drill new holes. That being said, does anyone know how I could go about finding blinds that fit my current mounting hardware? The blinds I have just slide out of a 2 inch box mount on either side. TIA! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 09 Jul 2020 05:50 PM PDT Hi there! - I had a 1" gap in my outdoor side of the window sill that I filled with spray foam (image link below)...I need to trim it, but then I guess i need to fill and or paint it with something? I was thinking it would be nice to use one product that is black or dark gray so that I don't have to paint it afterwards. Could I use the spray 'Quick Seal' product or will that melt the foam? Preferably there is a product I can order on amazon that doesn't cost much? I think the technical way to do this would be to use bondo but I'd like to avoid that if possible. Thx in advance! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 09 Jul 2020 07:16 PM PDT I'm considering running a water line out to my garden but I'm unsure of what to do. Here's the layout: -house on east side of the well, with water softener, pressure tank and everything else inside the garage. -planned garden is on west side of the well. Is it possible to run a line off the main or will that kill my water pressure? I have no clue about water wells and trying not to hire someone unless I absolutely have to. TIA everyone. [link] [comments] |
| Can I truck lumber from Oregon to San Diego for my decks? Posted: 09 Jul 2020 04:25 PM PDT We're renovating a home and the plans call for 1400 sq feet of clear cedar, an expensive wood. We're in San Diego, and the local lumberyards say it's particularly expensive because it's not a local wood — they all try to sell us on redwood. Cedar grows in the Pacific Northwest, and there's no sales tax in Oregon. Might it be smart to buy from a supplier in Oregon and truck it 1000 miles south? Or is this a silly idea I need to stop thinking about? [link] [comments] |
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