Home Improvement: Friendly reminder to start your furnaces to make sure they are working before they NEED to |
- Friendly reminder to start your furnaces to make sure they are working before they NEED to
- PSA Disconnect your hoses to allow your frost free hose bib to work
- Best toilet for BIG Pooper/Serial Toilet Clogger
- As part of your fall preventative maintenance on your home check your door jambs for rot.
- I need help deciding on what to do with this space in our back yard.
- Need help. I don't know if my house needs too many repairs and I feel discouraged. I like it here, and want to improve my upstairs for working from home. List of problems included.
- Advice on wiring a ceiling light
- is polyurethane from old doors good insulation?
- Under contract to buy a house. What is this on the closet ceiling?
- Basements before '95 shouldn't be finished? Home Renovision video
- After a year my hvac filters look spotless
- Is it possible to have TOO MUCH weather stripping on a door? Or, how would you seal this exterior door where the existing weather stripping doesn’t work 100%?
- Paver walkway repair
- How much of a difference is there between silicone and rubber weather stripping?
- Need help with shower caulking that is mildewing
- Dangerous wiring? - need advice
- Treatment options for new pressure treated pine screened porch floor
- Increasing hot water pressure my moving water heater.
- Sleeping with new barn wood
- Underground Ceramic Downspout drains - repair or bypass?
- Making hardwood floor lighter
- Lighting Install- Circuits-Help
- Want outward swinging exterior shed doors - do they even exist?
- Best leaf blower vacuum for both lawn and hardscaping?
| Friendly reminder to start your furnaces to make sure they are working before they NEED to Posted: 21 Sep 2020 08:56 AM PDT My buddy called with furnace trouble so I tried to help out a bit, and it made me think that it was probably a good idea to go ahead and make sure mine was going to start up as well since mine is from the 80's sometime. It did, but I would rather catch a problem with it now while the weather is still manageable instead of when the weather drops below freezing. Edit: thanks for the awards and upvotes. I'm glad I was able to hopefully help someone a major headache later this winter. Quick update on my buddy's furnace. I drove over to his place tonight to try and do some basic troubleshooting, and literally within the first 30 seconds I found the issue... ball valve on the gas was closed. [link] [comments] |
| PSA Disconnect your hoses to allow your frost free hose bib to work Posted: 21 Sep 2020 06:01 PM PDT Nearly that time of year and noobs don't realize that your hose can prevent your "frost free" hose bib from working as intended [drain water out] and cause a broken hose bib. You won't see a leak until next spring when you turn the hose on again [link] [comments] |
| Best toilet for BIG Pooper/Serial Toilet Clogger Posted: 21 Sep 2020 10:18 AM PDT I am going to replace the toilet in my bathroom. I admit, I clog the toilet the VAST majority of the time I go #2. It's crazy. I have clogged pretty much every toilet I've ever used, outside of the super industrial ones that damn near turn you inside out. I try doing a courtesy flush half way through, and I just end up clogging it twice. I have left toilets clogged for days. Having said that (just giving you background info as to what my needs are), I want the most uncloggable residential toilet within the $150-$400 range. Preferably something from HD or Lowe's. Three I am considering are: Toto Drake Glacier Bay Power Flush Kohler Cimarron Do you all have any thoughts/other suggestions? I'm hoping I can find something where I no longer have to plunge multiple times a week. I don't care about water usage or other factors. Just flushing power. [link] [comments] |
| As part of your fall preventative maintenance on your home check your door jambs for rot. Posted: 21 Sep 2020 11:41 AM PDT I have three exterior doors on my home that have door jamb rot. Some are worse than others but they all have some degree of rot. The problem arises because the manufacturers of the pre-hung exterior doors use untreated, unsealed pine that sit on the sill plates soaking up rain water like a sponge. Given enough years, and lack of caulk/maintenance the door jambs rot. The previous owners of my house never caulked around the door jambs, never maintained, or did anything to prevent this from happening. Even if they did, due to the way these are built it might have happened anyway. I spent all day yesterday fixing the rot on my back deck door. I've included a link showing one side, however I had to do both. [link] [comments] |
| I need help deciding on what to do with this space in our back yard. Posted: 21 Sep 2020 09:37 PM PDT So we live in a multi-generational household and it has a pretty nice backyard. My boyfriend and I are tasked with what to do with the backyard; My inlaws have a garden connected to an older, but relatively well-maintained mobile home in their backyard. They used it basically as a guest house and storage. As time passed his parents started a victory garden next to the RV. Now here's the pickle: no one can decide what to do with the space. I came to this subreddit to get some help deciding, we've been thinking about what to do for over a year now but we can never decide We debated the following options and i would really appreciate some input: 1.) Update the mobile home and turn it into a cute Tiny house that we can still use for storage. We could also still have it as guest house or even an AirBnb 2.) Remove/ sell the mobile home and expand the Victory garden 3.)Remove/ sell the mobile home and place a large shed or small barn there. 4.)Remove/ sell the mobile home and place a chicken coop there. Though i am personally against this as we have a large, curious and a slightly mentally delayed dog. (yes, this was confirmed by the vet) I would like to say thank you to any imput or any other suggestions you guys may have. Also apologies for the formatting I'm on mobile reddit. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Sep 2020 08:16 PM PDT Hello everyone! I'm new here, and it seems being home a lot more due to the pandemic had me thinking about fixes to my mom's house (now working at home, was away from home a lot because of work and music). There are a few problems I don't know how to address before I start gutting any of the rooms:
Here are my ideas to improve my experience working from home:
My greatest fear, is that I will have to move out because the repairs are too expensive. All this does seem to be quite expensive. I'm not the one in charge of the houses repairs or maintenance, that's one of the issues, nor do I have much say into it. In all honesty, does this sound like a tall task? All the repairs... My geographic location is the Greater Montreal Area in Quebec, Canada. House centipedes are common here. [link] [comments] |
| Advice on wiring a ceiling light Posted: 21 Sep 2020 08:23 PM PDT I changed a ceiling light in a bedroom last week. Black to black, white to white, ground to ground screw. Piece of cake. So I thought I would change the ceiling light in our dining room but all the wires are black. Any advice on how to determine which is live vs neutral? In the pictures, the blue circle was connected to one fixture wire and the two red circles were together connected to the other fixture wire. All these wires are black and the fixture wire are not marked as live or neutral. If I can figure out which is which, would it be safe to hook up the live and neutral wires in the same configuration as what was already there? Thanks for any advice! [link] [comments] |
| is polyurethane from old doors good insulation? Posted: 21 Sep 2020 08:13 PM PDT i need to re insulate a basement to R-25, this was an un expected reno. now the issue of what insulation to use, i wish i could buy https://www.homehardware.ca/en/2-x-4-x-8-r12-iso-foam-insulation/p/2719421 but, no its not available where i live. so my options are spray foam...but i would rather use panels, which are also pretty pricey. then i found people selling the polyurethane from old doors for 1$ a door vs 25$ a foam panel. the guys says that his foam is 1.75inch thick for r-15 apparently, which seems pretty high when i compare to other materials. any input? they seem to strip the metal from the foam and sell the foam. [link] [comments] |
| Under contract to buy a house. What is this on the closet ceiling? Posted: 21 Sep 2020 02:08 PM PDT Is this water damage...and mold? https://imgur.com/a/UBvn7vW/ I found it odd that there was a cinder block column running through this closet, but then I realized that there is a red brick chimney coming out of the roof right above here. My theory is that there was at some point (or currently is) damaged chimney flashing that is allowing water to enter through here. What do you folks think? [link] [comments] |
| Basements before '95 shouldn't be finished? Home Renovision video Posted: 21 Sep 2020 05:39 PM PDT I just watched a Youtube video entitled: Thinking About Finishing Your Basement? Watch This First! (link in comments) In it, Jeff claims that houses built before the mid-90s weren't built with proper moisture control for a finished basement. I'm thinking of buying a house next year as a first-time buyer and while I'd like to have a finished basement, buying a new home in the area that I want to live in isn't within my budget. I don't want to buy an older place with a finished basement and end up with problems related to moisture. I've also looked at older houses with unfinished basements thinking that I could have them finished in the future. Is this a bad idea? City is Winnipeg, Canada if that makes any difference. Thanks. [link] [comments] |
| After a year my hvac filters look spotless Posted: 21 Sep 2020 07:25 PM PDT I bought a new house last year with four AC units. The filters had not been changed in years and were filthy. I hired someone to change them for me the first time and got the sizes, but then kept putting off changing the filters because I couldn't find the odd sizes, so I finally ordered a bunch off Amazon. I went to change the filters for two of the units and they appear to be spotless, with almost no dust accumulation. I really felt irresponsible for not taking care of this earlier and was surprised at how new my filters looked. I can understand this for one of the units since it really hasn't been run much, but I've run the AC on the other somewhat regularly all summer, although not 24/7 (I rarely ran in winter). There ARE three different intake filters, if that makes a difference. I was really surprised to see this, since my experience has always been that an a/c filter after a few months is matted with dust and dirt. Any thoughts? Any need to change a filter that looks almost new? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Sep 2020 03:14 PM PDT My door to the garage, which is basically an external door, has some existing weather stripping, around the door frame and also a door sweep. But would it hurt to add more? I am thinking about this because the garage is an unconditioned space and I want to make sure my house is air sealed as much as I can. The reason I ask is that this weather stripping doesn't really seal the door. If you look around the door from the outside, you can see light come through around the edges and also at the bottom, because the door threshold has a lot of fall to it. As a result there is a small gap at the bottom where the door meets up against the threshold, I can even get a finger in there. How would you seal this door better? I'm thinking of adding extra bronzed weather stripping on the side and top of the door frame. And I'm not sure about the threshold. If I put a larger sweep there, then the door won't close oeopwrl [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Sep 2020 01:55 PM PDT So I had asked a question a couple weeks ago about the paver walkway in front of my house that I was repairing. So I thought I'd share the finished product. The walk is 21 feet long by 6 feet wide with a couple steps. I had repaired the top step last year to see what it would take to do this. The 6x6 edging was at driveway level and allowed water to stand on the walk and the slab in front of the door sits an inch and a half higher than the driveway. As usual I forgot to take a before pic so the first one is after replacing the first side boards. There was a total of about 500 bricks that needed to be pulled out, pressure washed and then put back after it was all leveled out. [link] [comments] |
| How much of a difference is there between silicone and rubber weather stripping? Posted: 21 Sep 2020 09:55 PM PDT I need to seal a door leading to the outside. I saw that Duck makes weather strips in silicone and rubber. The silicone ones are far more expensive and I'm wondering if there's much of a difference. The silicone ones are also really thin looking compared to the rubber and has worse reviews which is a bit sketchy. Does anyone have experience using these? And is the silicone one actually better? [link] [comments] |
| Need help with shower caulking that is mildewing Posted: 21 Sep 2020 09:49 PM PDT Hi folks. We have a glass shower, with subway tiles. One end of the glass has what seems to be silicone caulking between it and the subway tile. There are several spots with black mildew that no matter what, I can't get bleached out. Clearly water is getting in there...must not be sealed properly. Who would I call to rip out the caulking and do you think I can skip the silicone caulking in the future and just have a gap between glass and wall? It's at the end where the water sprays. [link] [comments] |
| Dangerous wiring? - need advice Posted: 21 Sep 2020 09:46 PM PDT We bought this house recently and there was some hints there's been some amateur wiring done. There's an alcove where I want to mount a TV (first picture). There was a real shitty patch job on the Drywall on the floor so I assumed someone had some some electrical work. When looking for the studs I kept getting strange readings. This part is hard to explain but in the bathroom there's what looks like a small closet (10 in wide and 30 in tall) when you open it there is a cubby hole that is kinda under the stairs and also directly behind this alcove. It's poorly sheetrocked in there and also has cheap carpet on the ground. There's also an electrical outlet in there (you can kinda see it in picture two in the upper right). Originally this was sheetrocked over but I opened it up after I got strange readings on my stud finder. In picture 3 you can see they did the pigtail outside of the box and hidden behind the Sheetrock. This shocks me - you had to open the outlet to do the wiring why not do it correctly. Also if you look close one of the white wires wasn't in the cap and just bare. Someone drilling could've hit that wire or possible drilled into the back of that outlet....
My plan - Re-wire this outlet and flip it around for my tv. Make the pigtail in the box. Pictures https://imgur.com/a/iIqLvnZ [link] [comments] |
| Treatment options for new pressure treated pine screened porch floor Posted: 21 Sep 2020 09:27 PM PDT tl,dr: Is it necessary to do anything to a PTP deck that is the floor of a covered, screened porch and if so, when and what to use? The more I read about this, the more uncertain I get. Just finished a screened porch addition (well, I didn't build it, but I will be treating the floor and interior/exterior siding myself). The floor is PTP deck boards that were laid 4-5 weeks ago. Now the entire thing is covered and screened. One point of confusion: can I really treat the PTP after only 4 weeks or do I need to wait 3-12 months like I keep reading? The deck boards seem to pass the water bead test - water droplets absorb pretty rapidly into the wood. It was HOT and dry for the first few weeks of construction. Next question: Must it have something done to it to protect it or can I leave it as is since it isn't exposed to direct sun or much rain? What will it look like in a few years if we do nothing to it? I'm okay with the color as is. A natural color stain would be nice, but the ease of not doing anything is also appealing. We're holding off on the final bit of construction -- a built-in storage bench -- until we stain the floor (if we do stain it) so I want to move forward one way or another as soon as possible. I don't want/need the full-on water-repellent effect of a true sealant, but when we eat out there, spill things, etc., I'd rather it doesn't all just immediately absorb into the floor. Not to mention all the dirt getting ground into it (we have a very sparse lawn and a dog…) I prefer low maintenance, ease of application, and lower VOCs/toxicity if possible. I'm okay with it looking worn after a few years, it's just a porch floor nothing fancy. But I don't want to do something that will look like crap after a year or two and NEED to be re-done. This old thread helped: https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/comments/26sk4i/advice\_stain\_or\_seal\_a\_deck/ helped. But still confused. It sounds like I'd want a semi-transparent stain (with some neutral color)? Or is there such a thing as a transparent stain? Or for what I've described, would an oil-based stain work better/last longer? I know this is not a new question. I tried, I really did. Thanks. [link] [comments] |
| Increasing hot water pressure my moving water heater. Posted: 21 Sep 2020 09:26 PM PDT I am getting ready to replace my old 40 gallon hot water heater and I am planning on replacing it with a tankless water heater. My current water heater is located outside and approximately 4 ft below all shower heads ( i have a raised house) and I have terrible hot water pressure. I was wondering if I moved the new tankless system to the attic would I get better pressure? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Sep 2020 09:16 PM PDT Hi, My wife and I installed barn wood panels to a wall in our living room a couple of days ago. This is the product: http://boisdegrange.com/en/products/boxed-wood/ I normally sleep in the living room because of a snoring problem but I have been having trouble sleeping since we installed the panels because of allergies. Is this due to lingering dust in the air from the installation? Will it settle after some time, or will it always be like this? Is there a sealant that won't ruin the look of the wood? Thanks [link] [comments] |
| Underground Ceramic Downspout drains - repair or bypass? Posted: 21 Sep 2020 05:26 PM PDT Our home was built back in the 50's, and the downspouts from the gutters drain into what looks like brown clay or ceramic pipes that go underground. The above-ground ceramic has long-since shattered and fallen away. We've noticed in the basement at the corners of the foundation where these downspouts are that during heavy rains water starts seeping in through the cement/ash blocks in the wall. We haven't had issues yet with water coming up from below, and surprisingly where there are various cracks in the foundation along that wall, despite having no waterproofing the cracks are actually dry. Instead the water seems to just seep in through the blocks themselves in a few minor places. Our assumption is that the ceramic drain pipes underground have themselves cracked and or become clogged, or are just draining underground along the foundation. One person we talked to recommended getting something to have the water drain from the downspouts at least 6 feet from the house. However, this is in the front of the house and we don't have much in the way of landscaping to conceal any sort of long drains. The basic downspout troughs seem to top out at 18 inches to 2 feet, and we found some nicer longer drains but they are designed to be concealed under some type of fill. Is it worth trying to repair or replace the ceramic pipes, or otherwise check if the underground ones are indeed damaged? Can anyone recommend a way to safely drain the water far enough away from the foundation without sending a large aluminum or PVC section of pipe out into the front yard? Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 21 Sep 2020 05:24 PM PDT Hi, I'm looking for expert advise on sanding and refinishing this floor http://imgur.com/a/KOBSgIl to get a similar color to the kitchen cabinets by applying Loba 2K Invisible or similar. Can the result be good or the darker/reddish will pop up ending in not uniform undesirable results? [link] [comments] |
| Lighting Install- Circuits-Help Posted: 21 Sep 2020 05:22 PM PDT New home. just installed a new surface mount light in the foyer. turned juice off at the breaker before hand. took 3 times to confirm which breaker controlled the foyer light. install went fine. nothing that perplexed me as a first timer. i had done my research and watched videos etc. I'm reasonably handy. black with black, white// white, ground etc. When I flipped everything back on, the light works and looks great. The Only problem is now the switch that I thought only controlled this light, also controls the garage entry light. The light switch that I thought only controlled the garage entry light, now controls the garage and foyer light. I am 70% sure the foyer light switch only controlled the foyer light before hand (My wife agrees with me as well.) what the heck could I have done that caused this with a simple light install? [link] [comments] |
| Want outward swinging exterior shed doors - do they even exist? Posted: 21 Sep 2020 08:59 PM PDT We're building a 9' x 16' backyard shed to use for storage/tool shed. Our design includes one 30" w door and one 36"x 2 double door. Since it can be tricky to get the doors to be in perfect alignment we had hoped to simply install the doors and frames as "kits" but... It appears to be impossible to find any with doors that swing outward! I'm assuming it's a "code thing" that exterior doors need to swing outward, but seriously... a storage shed? If the doors were to swing to the inside it would take up too much valuable space! Does anyone know? We're in the LA area if it matters. [link] [comments] |
| Best leaf blower vacuum for both lawn and hardscaping? Posted: 21 Sep 2020 08:58 PM PDT |
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