Home Improvement: [OPEN DISCUSSION] Weekly thread |
- [OPEN DISCUSSION] Weekly thread
- Conventional wisdom says "get three quotes", but what do you do when you can't find one contractors willing to show up to give a quote?
- Why does everyone suck?
- Convert a deck to a 3 season room
- We cant walk up this side of our house because of this slope. What can we do?
- Previously repaired joists holding up most of my kitchen have bent or cracked. Who do I call?
- Any tips on picking a good patio fan/light combo? Anything to avoid?
- Hard water in old house now softened, started noticing a smell from the tap?
- The way my property is shaped/zoned. It’s almost triangular, we are looking for pool bids and wondered if anyone knows why they don’t do more triangular shaped pools? (Seen them, just not nearly as common). Also, ANY pool “wish I had known that when I started my inground pool project” advice?
- Our kitchen is awkward. Help!
- Getting rid of a sand pit
- Help securing railings
- AC window unit, insulating styrofoam broken inside
- I don't know anything about electricity.
- Bathtube drain cap screw holder broke, how to fix?
- Help finding storm window clips
- [PLEASE HELP] exterior siding
- Help! Garage Door Working Intermittently - Relay keeps clicking when the housing is moved.
- Looking for something to cover bedroom window with to reduce/eliminate dog barking sounds...
- Water inside and between the panes of our domed skylight! Help!
- Help Please - Level Gravel Around House
- Loud AC compressor noise upon startup.
- Lights flickering, whats going on???
- Bowing foundation
| [OPEN DISCUSSION] Weekly thread Posted: 24 Jul 2020 11:03 AM PDT Welcome to the brand new (maybe weekly) Open Discussion thread.
We do this for a few reasons. We know some folks are hesitant to create a new post for a small question they may have. Well, this is the place to ask, and discuss. At the same time, with a growing community we find ourselves having to limit the posts that may be off-topic to the primary purpose of the sub (home improvement questions and project-sharing posts). These topics include home warranty companies, general painting advice, room layouts, or rants about companies, contractors, and previous owners. While these may be of interest, we are trying hard to provide a venue that will both allow, and constrain, the conversation. Thus, this thread. Thank you for participating.
Just a reminder to stay away from any personal or disrespectful commentary. From the sidebar:
If you haven't already, please review the sub guidelines.
Have fun and stay safe folks! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jul 2020 12:41 PM PDT My problem is a common problem: contractor availability. I have an asphalt driveway and would like it replaced with concrete. This is not a DIY project because I do not have the skills, time, or equipment to do any of it. I am trying to hire a contractor, but none are returning my calls. What have you done in this instance? Have you dealt with hiring a contractor when there don't seem to be any interested in the project? What am I missing here, I am ready to hire if I could get even one to call me back. Any help or advice on how to improve my communication would be greatly appreciated. Edit: First, thank you! There was a lot of good advise and kind words. I appreciate you all for taking the time to comment. This is a common problem according to the comments, so here's a summary of what I've seen for those following along at home (wondering if you'll ever find a contractor). Patience: Contractors are busy right now. Business will slow down, and that's when they return calls and give quotes. Project timeline: Contractors book out months in advance. Expect to be six or more months between quote and work. Network: ask friends, neighbors, family. Get to know realtors, general contractors, people in the industry. Ask material providers for referrals. Mention the source of the referral for better response. Project readiness: have a good scope, a drawing or sketch, and funds available when initiating contact with the contractor. Don't expect them to guide you through or hand hold. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jul 2020 08:06 PM PDT Had a contractor painting a room today, multiple paint spots now on carpet. Had a different contractor put in cabinet pulls today. On multiple drawers he drilled too many holes. I'm just frustrated.... [link] [comments] |
| Convert a deck to a 3 season room Posted: 24 Jul 2020 01:01 PM PDT I want to convert that to a 3 season covered room. How difficult would that be? I just replaced all of the flooring with Veranda board. [link] [comments] |
| We cant walk up this side of our house because of this slope. What can we do? Posted: 24 Jul 2020 08:48 PM PDT |
| Previously repaired joists holding up most of my kitchen have bent or cracked. Who do I call? Posted: 24 Jul 2020 06:47 PM PDT I have an older home that has an issue with a joist that is supporting a wall and the kitchen floor under the refrigerator. There are 2 x 9.5 joists sistered together with a 2 x 4 attached to it. The floor joists throughout most of my kitchen are notched 2 inches and resting on that 2 by 4. This is unsupported for about roughly 12 feet (estimate). On the end that is cracked, there appears to be some old termite damage in between the two joists. It's difficult to tell how extensive it is, but the parts that are visible are solid. On the other end, there is a few feet of the joist not attached to the 2 x 4 that has been cut out and replaced with new wood bolted to the sistered joist. All 3 planks have been bent or visibly cracked. The joists don't have any crack that is visible except a little on the bottom and the 2 x 4 has a crack that appears to go all the way through it. The joists sag about 1 inch in the first 3 feet from the foundation and then it levels out most from there. The sagging is mostly occurring under my refrigerator so and was covered by insulation so it went unnoticed through multiple inspections. This is a wide open crawl space you can walk in at least I was in the process of getting the place ready to rent but found 2 other areas of wood damage that were already going to cost thousands to repair so this is likely selling time. What im hoping to figure out is: do I need to call a structural engineer right away or can I just get the guy doing the other repairs to come take a look? How likely is it I would be able to leave the joists in place by adding support? This area is nice for storage under the house but a few columns wouldn't greatly affect that Pictures aren't great and the cracks are hard to see but here ya go: [link] [comments] |
| Any tips on picking a good patio fan/light combo? Anything to avoid? Posted: 24 Jul 2020 07:50 PM PDT Hey all, I have a fairly large front patio with three ceiling light fixtures (~6 years old, drops accessable from attic), all wired to one switch. I'm ex-urban in the Mid-Atlantic/DC region. I'd like to replace two with fan/light combos. A nice breeze is all I need to stay cool and shoo away gnats. The plan is to go to a big box store and grab a style I like with two pull cords for the light/fan. Cost isn't a primary concern if it's the right product. Have you had good or bad experiences with outdoor fans? Is there anything I should consider? The patio rarely gets wet, never the ceiling. I'm most concerned with them being low maintenence. [link] [comments] |
| Hard water in old house now softened, started noticing a smell from the tap? Posted: 24 Jul 2020 07:20 PM PDT We have a very old home, somewhere around 100 years old. There have clearly been a few updates made here and there, but in terms of the plumbing, it seems to have been pretty piecemeal. We can tell that the exposed pipes in the basement have been replaced, as they are now copper, but the main pipe that runs from the basement up through the house to the upstairs is an old galvanized steel pipe. We opened it up a month or so ago and noticed there was a significant amount of buildup inside the pipe. There was a water softener in the basement that works, but we assume the old owners didn't know about it, want to use it or care. We have since gotten the softener online and working, but now there is a smell from the water for the first minute or so as you run it. At first I thought it was maybe the drains but if you smell the running water right at the faucet it's clearly coming from there. Am I right in assuming it is just that gunk in the old piping that is dissolving back into the newly softened water and eventually it will go away? Or should I be concerned about this? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jul 2020 06:56 AM PDT The way my property is shaped/zoned. It's almost triangular, we are looking for pool bids and wondered if anyone knows why they don't do more triangular shaped pools? (Seen them, just not nearly as common). Also, ANY pool "wish I had known that when I started my inground pool project" advice? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jul 2020 04:04 PM PDT We are located in Los Angeles. Our kitchen has 3 doorways in it. One outside, one to the hallway, one to the dining room. Its small, so all of these doorways just break up the space in a weird way. We've tried to design it a few different ways, some without changing anything, some with sealing up a door. Nothing feels like it works well. We unfortunately cant knock down the wall that would open it up to the living room because its load bearing. Any help would be SO appreciated. Just thinking maybe we are missing something or could be more efficient. I attached the layout of our kitchen. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jul 2020 04:56 PM PDT I need some suggestions for how to deal with this obnoxious sand pit. Previous homeowner decided to fill this area with sand. Now the area under the cement walk is eroding away. Dogs and kids keep playing in it and coming out sandy. I'm done! The dimensions are 10 ft by 12.5 ft. Ideally I'd love to fill this in with a cement pad and maybe put a fire pit in. A friend priced it out for me. 96 bags of cement for a 4 inch slab, and double that for an 8 inch slab. A 4 inch slab would normally work, but notice how the perimeter of the sand pit does not connect up - in other words the cement border is not level. I'm told that water would pool up in the edges if I just do a four inch slab to match up with the outer concrete border. Thus an 8 inch slab is needed to match up with the higher walkway and prevent those problems (so I'm told). I really don't want to spend close to $1000 on this project, which is what I estimate for all the supplies including ~200 bags of cement. What are my alternatives? I wouldn't want to put more than $500 into this project. Some questions I had: -do I need to remove all the sand to prevent erosion issues? -if I order gravel to fill it in as a first step will it stop the sand from eroding away the sides? How long can I leave it like that? -what would I need to do if I wanted to convert it to lawn? -any other suggestions for this area? Price estimates would be super helpful! Thanks for your time!! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jul 2020 06:58 PM PDT We bought the house 5 years ago and meant to secure the wobbly railing then. Now we are selling and agreed to fix it before closing. The two posts in the back are secure, it's the 2 front and middle that are wobbly. How do I secure this?! Can we do it ourselves? Or do I need to call a person? (If I need to call someone...who do I call? )pics [link] [comments] |
| AC window unit, insulating styrofoam broken inside Posted: 24 Jul 2020 06:50 PM PDT Hello! First time posting on r/HomeImprovement Quick question, so I purchased a second hand AC window unit and when I went to clean it, I noticed a big hole in the styrofoam that usually divides the inside from the outside. Is this worth replacing/repairing or would it be fine in terms of cooling efficiency. Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| I don't know anything about electricity. Posted: 24 Jul 2020 06:44 PM PDT In the house for a year and haven't taken the time to understand what the purpose of these two outlets are and why would both be in the garage? [link] [comments] |
| Bathtube drain cap screw holder broke, how to fix? Posted: 24 Jul 2020 10:17 PM PDT Hello, my bathtub drain screw holder broke and I can't screw in the cap, what are my choices? This is only the cap, I don't think there is a plunger. See image. Thanks [link] [comments] |
| Help finding storm window clips Posted: 24 Jul 2020 06:26 PM PDT So my house has some beautiful wooden windows that I cover with storm windows to keep them better insulated in the winter, however the slide locks at the bottom (was able to find and replace) and the clips at the top have broken on most of them from weathering. Where in the world can I find the top guide clips? They are little plastic pieces that stick out to keep the screens / windows in the tracks. Anyone got some knowledge on this? They're capable of being popped out of the top and they are not screw in retaining clips they are part of the window frame. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jul 2020 10:00 PM PDT Sorry for the alarming title, but the situation is a bit tense right now. My dad and I are making an extension to out house, we've made the deck with osb on top and are starting to frame the walls. The interior and roof will be no problem. But we're stuck on what to do for the exterior siding. Is there a far cheaper alternative to siding . Cause this vinyl siding is expensive alone without the addition of the corner beading trims and things. Any idea on what is possibly a cheaper alternative. And for extra context, I live in Canada so the temperatures get fairly cold around here. It's really only the siding that I'm worried about. [link] [comments] |
| Help! Garage Door Working Intermittently - Relay keeps clicking when the housing is moved. Posted: 24 Jul 2020 07:16 AM PDT I'm hoping this sub will be able to assist me. I have been pulling my hair out for months over this garage door opener. I think this video in the comments below is worth a thousand words (sorry, mods don't allow videos in posts). Things I have tried: - Re-seating the sensor connections (sensors work fine, if the door is working it stops and opens up and flashes appropriately when you cross the sensor path) - Re-seating the molex board connections - Re-flowing solder on the back of the relay/transformer board (on the transformer pins) - Removing the light bulbs (I have heard the LED bulbs can interfere with the frequency of the signal) - Hitting the housing with a broom stick (this usually works the best honestly) Please help! EDIT: Took apart the assembly to get part numbers for components, and cleaned the boards with isopropyl alcohol and reflowed solder joints on the transformer, relays, and pinned connections coming from the board. Upon reassembly, the issue disappeared! Hopefully it was just a cracked solder joint leading to an intermittent connection. Thanks everyone for your help! [link] [comments] |
| Looking for something to cover bedroom window with to reduce/eliminate dog barking sounds... Posted: 24 Jul 2020 09:52 PM PDT My neighbor has a very loud dog with a very high pitched bark. I need something to cover my bedroom window with that keeps most if not all the noise out. Any ideas of something affordable that works? Links would be very helpful if possible... (I tried looking for sound absorbing mat, but it was more like for music studios rather than to keep the noise out) [link] [comments] |
| Water inside and between the panes of our domed skylight! Help! Posted: 24 Jul 2020 11:18 AM PDT So we had a pretty heavy rainstorm last night and noticed the domed skylight in our bathroom (the only skylight in the house) has water inside it around the edges between the two plexiglass panes. Not just condensation but standing water. The skylight is only four years old, same age as the roof itself - a flat row house roof. This is the first time we've ever seen this, after four years of rain and snow. This morning we initially assumed it was an oddly clean crack in the plexiglass, the whole way around, but I called a random skylight guy I found on Yelp and he was kind enough to ask whether it was actually water, so I bumped the glass with the end of a broomstick and indeed, the line moved. It's definitely water, though there's no sign of water damage in the ceiling or walls (yet). The skylight guy implied this was normal and that it would drain out eventually. So, first, how did the water get in there? Second, is this actually normal or does it need a fix? Third, will it drain eventually? I haven't found anything about this sort of thing by Googling it. What should I do? Thanks! Pic here: [link] [comments] |
| Help Please - Level Gravel Around House Posted: 24 Jul 2020 02:05 PM PDT Hi I'm trying to regrade the soil around my parents' house so it slopes away from the house and forces water away from the basement. On one side of the house, we have gravel under concrete slabs. I removed the slabs and am wondering what the best way to grade this section would be. Would it be to put more gravel in to slope away from the house and then put the slabs back on? Or would you recommend something else? Pictures are here: https://imgur.com/a/YimBygf I just want to make it look decent while also being effective at forcing water away from the foundation. I'm more or less doing the job myself, and don't have a lot of experience. I appreciate your time and expertise! [link] [comments] |
| Loud AC compressor noise upon startup. Posted: 24 Jul 2020 09:30 PM PDT Hey all - moved to a newly built home in November 2019 in Houston, TX. I realized the AC compressor either started making a loud noise upon start up, or had always been there but I just noticed it. The home is still under warranty, so they sent out a tech and he didn't find anything wrong with it. However, I'm still not convinced. I don't remember AC units making a loud click like that when starting up. Any ideas or suggestions for when they come out to look at it again? TIA. Edit: also, it sure if related, but some lights quickly dim when the unit kicks on [link] [comments] |
| Lights flickering, whats going on??? Posted: 24 Jul 2020 09:28 PM PDT Problem started about 2 days ago. Led lights in living room seem to be flickering intermittently. Well go hours without an issue then suddenly the issue will persist on and off for an hour. Same situation on detached garage lights. Even our central AC unit is enduring this voltage fluctuation and i can hear the blower speed fluctuating sometimes. Tvs and other appliances seem to be working fine. No major increase in energy usage/demand lately. There have been some heavy storms passing through lately and i know there were some outages nearby. No tripped breakers on panel, no odd burning smells or unusual heat at panel. Do i take a wait and see approach or does this warrant an electrician asap? Or maybe contact local utility? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 24 Jul 2020 09:22 PM PDT Friend's basement flooded drastically due to heavy rain and she's in the process of getting everything gutted. Work came to a halt because they discovered her foundation is bowing. Insurance refuses to cover this. Any recourse she could try? Any suggestions for how to handle the claim so it turns in her favor? Thank you in advance for your advice! [link] [comments] |
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