Home Improvement: Fellow Home Improvers, what's your most shameful moment? Your dirtiest deed?? |
- Fellow Home Improvers, what's your most shameful moment? Your dirtiest deed??
- Just bought a house- apparently the original owners couldn’t tell the difference between hot and cold water.
- Condensation on ceiling in nearly every room after painting exterior
- Washer-Dryer combo or washing machine and dryer separately?
- Exterior corner broke off at ground level - how do I fix that? (pic in post)
- Increase surface area coverage of OTR microwave vent
- Light bulbs keep blowing, even LEDs
- What is something you wish you had on/in your house? Little or big doesn’t matter
- Has anyone heard of a "compound angle" on a ceiling?
- Do they make duex outlets woth different colors on either socket?
- Got my roof replaced and have a question.
- Cause and best way to repair leaking single-handle kitchen faucet?
- Discount tool stores. Are they legit?
- My neighbor wants me to pay for half the fence
- Is this overhead storage in my garage loadbearing to the roof?
- What is are the best bang-for-buck purchases when it comes to improving a 20 year old family home?
- Looking to run cabling - how can I remove these soffit panels?
- Appraiser says all I need is Dehumidifier in basement...
- Ceiling Fan installations
- What tool to unscrew this?
- Is this the doorbell transformer? And where are the 3 cables going to?
- Has anyone ever hung shelves on drywall and brick at the same time
- Outlet always hot from switch
- Is this a good way to permanently seal my crawlspace vents?
- Water shutoff for house: what kind of access panel? Metal or plastic.
| Fellow Home Improvers, what's your most shameful moment? Your dirtiest deed?? Posted: 17 Oct 2020 01:05 PM PDT We've all cursed the guy before us, but what was your biggest fuck-it moment? What's that one (or many!) moment where you just really cut a corner and aren't proud of? This should be fun. Here's mine to get you started: I'm almost finished a year-long full reno of an 1880s house. I've done virtually everything way above and beyond. I've solved problems permanently, restored beautiful old floors, rebuilt crooked walls, etc. But my very first job in here was skim coating a lath and plaster bedroom to fix all the terrible holes, waves, scratches etc. There was this one big lump near the door frame that I was smoothing down by shaving the plaster down with a chisel. Then I noticed some hairs in there, and some shiny stuff. I had shaved into some old cloth-wrapped aluminum wiring that instead of drilling through a horizontal fireblock, they went out through the lath, up a few inches, then back into the wall. The plaster lump was burying it all. Well, at that point I was fairly inexperienced and intimidated by what would be required to fix it properly - pulling it all out and running new wires from the switch to the ceiling light, or whatever was required. So I did what any lazy, uneducated guy would do - I cut out a notch in the lath, wrapped the wire in electrical tape to cover the exposed parts, stapled it into the notch, and buried that fucker right back in there with new mud. It's still there to this day. As it's just a low-amperage light fixture, I'm positive the wire thickness was not reduced to a fire-causing thinness but I still don't feel good about it. Ok, that's off my chest. What did you do, you filthy animals? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 17 Oct 2020 03:13 PM PDT I spent two days trying to figure out why I couldn't get hot water at the kitchen sink. Turns out they had the hot/cold reversed. Fine. We were planning to replace the faucet anyway. Then the basement bathroom was super humid. Turns out they hooked the toilet up to the hot water only. Huh? Today, I cleaning the basement and bump into the pipes behind the washer... and burn my arm on what should be the COLD water feed. Turns out they hooked the hot water supply to the cold water inlet, and the cold supply into the hot water inlet. What. The. Heck!?! We've basically been washing our clothes on extra hot this whole time 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️ [link] [comments] |
| Condensation on ceiling in nearly every room after painting exterior Posted: 17 Oct 2020 08:23 AM PDT Living in Western Pennsylvania. Oh boy has it been a morning. We moved into this house this past April. We painted the exterior of our wood sided house last month. I have a feeling we inadvertently plugged so many cracks in the overhang and wall edges that our attic is no longer properly ventilated. A couple weeks back we noticed a little bit of water in the ceiling of the master bedroom. It was definitely only in the master bedroom. My brother-in-law put tar on a few spots of mild concern on the roof. We hoped that had fixed it since we didn't get any water inside after it rained the next day. Last night we had a moderate frost. As the morning progressed and it heated up outside we noticed a wet patch of ceiling in the master bedroom. After checking all the rooms we realized that it's at nearly every corner inside where there's an exterior wall. Could I get by drilling some holes in the overhang or should I call a roofer immediately? What should I expect the roofer to recommend? (The interior picture is the worst spot, most other spots aren't as severe) EDIT: Pictures https://imgur.com/a/DyH8hZl [link] [comments] |
| Washer-Dryer combo or washing machine and dryer separately? Posted: 17 Oct 2020 03:57 AM PDT I don't know if I can ask this here. If I shouldn't, can someone please point me where I can? Was looking at buying either the Bosch washing machine and dryer (separate machines), but would prefer a get the LG washer-dryer combo, as I have some space constraints. What I want to know: the drying performance of the combo machines, are they as good as the separate dryers? Are there any other reasons why I should prefer separate machines or a combo machine? Thanks, Redditors! [link] [comments] |
| Exterior corner broke off at ground level - how do I fix that? (pic in post) Posted: 17 Oct 2020 10:36 AM PDT I've noticed one of the corners on my house is cracked and upon closer inspection, it turned out it's pretty much separated entirely, so I pulled it out and now I have this giant hole: https://imgur.com/Shx1JGO This is a garage corner, there's no basement or anything underneath it, but I'm also not sure how deep the foundation is, I hope it's not a structural issue. This is southern Ontario btw. How would I go about fixing this? I'm not really familiar with fixing stuff using mortar or concrete, but I'm happy to give it a try. Got any recommendations for products? I really have no clue what to get for this. Any help much appreciated! [link] [comments] |
| Increase surface area coverage of OTR microwave vent Posted: 17 Oct 2020 05:41 PM PDT Hello all, I have an OTR microwave exhaust to capture the steam and vent it out. It only covers 50% of the stove area and fails to suck in the steam and fume when cooking on the big burners in the front. I am looking at a DIY way of just increasing the coverage of OTR without trying to increase the suction power. After a lot of searching, the only solution I found was this extension hood. This is quite a bit more expensive than what I will like to spend. Can you please suggest alternatives? [link] [comments] |
| Light bulbs keep blowing, even LEDs Posted: 17 Oct 2020 01:32 PM PDT My wife and I live in a ~35 year old townhouse. We are blowing about a light bulb a week, sometimes more. This includes some halogen bulbs, normal incandescent bulbs, and even LEDs. We aren't buying the cheap lights either. This affects pretty much every light in the house that is in a fixture (ie not lamps). There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason, no specific time of day, I haven't noticed it correlate with our HVAC fan or drier kicking on, nothing. Any ideas what it could be? My first thought was maybe odd voltage spikes on the line coming into the house or a kickback from our HVAC fan, but not only would that be pretty unlikely, even a short spike wouldn't zap an LED, or would it? I have a bench top multimeter that I think I'm going to set up to log the voltage, but then I have to wait until a bulb blows (assuming I'm even in the house/room when it happens). Otherwise I have no idea where to even begin. [link] [comments] |
| What is something you wish you had on/in your house? Little or big doesn’t matter Posted: 17 Oct 2020 09:02 PM PDT We are in the process of finalizing our house plan design and I have been reading up and finding so total gems to add here's some of my top faves -
Would love to know any you have or wish you had! [link] [comments] |
| Has anyone heard of a "compound angle" on a ceiling? Posted: 17 Oct 2020 08:01 AM PDT Hi all - we are in contract on a house and we just got the inspection. We knew going into it that the house had work done without permits (seller did it himself) but our inspection came back mostly clean. It's a 6-year-old house. Seller did plumbing, electrical and drywall in an attic converted to a bedroom and finished a basement. There was one area of concern in the unpermitted bedroom (previous attic) but our inspector was not able to ascertain if it was a big deal or just a cosmetic workaround. Basically, in this small hallway, there is a bit of warping or bulging on the ceiling. The seller said it's a "compound angle" and is due to the low rafters. Here is a picture of the area: The room is behind a small bookcase in a loft. Anyone heard of this? We are looking at a structural engineer but it can be hard to get people out while in the inspection period. [link] [comments] |
| Do they make duex outlets woth different colors on either socket? Posted: 17 Oct 2020 08:53 PM PDT Pretty much as the title says, trying to see if there exists a duplex outlet that has one color on either socket. I want to put some outlets on the outside of my house, old house built before electricity in homes. I wanted to put in 1 gang exterior boxes, but i want to wire it so i can have one of the sockets on a switch for decorations and such, and the other just normal on, but want a durable way of identifying which is which at a glance. Dumb idea? Maybe [link] [comments] |
| Got my roof replaced and have a question. Posted: 17 Oct 2020 01:46 PM PDT Added a new ridge vent in my complete tear off roof replacement. My roof had a hip meaning the ridges for a T. Is this normal practice for ridge vents that make a T? I don't owe a dollar till I'm happy so I can certainly have em fix it, just wasn't sure if this was normal. Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Cause and best way to repair leaking single-handle kitchen faucet? Posted: 17 Oct 2020 06:19 PM PDT My kitchen faucet (Gerber Maxwell 40-112) has suddenly started leaking right underneath the handle (if you look at the pic/link, it's leaking just under the blue/red hot/cold circle), but only for the hot water (which I've had to turn off due to the chrome becoming piping hot with only hot water streaming from it.) I know nothing about plumbing, and am wondering what might be the cause of the leak and how to go about replacing it, or finding some tutorial online on replacing it. There is no screw on the handle for this model so I couldn't take it apart and look inside. [link] [comments] |
| Discount tool stores. Are they legit? Posted: 17 Oct 2020 08:30 PM PDT So I am in the mix looking for new miter saw. I come across a fair amount of offer up / Craigslist / Facebook stores for example Bobs discount store or Ramirez Tools. Non brick and mortar stores but places where they have trailers and such with tons of new/used tools. They sell huge discount. How do they obtain the tools. I suspect some are stolen... are the rest refurbished? Factory rejects? Or is it actually legit? Can the tools be trusted to work? [link] [comments] |
| My neighbor wants me to pay for half the fence Posted: 17 Oct 2020 08:20 PM PDT We had a windstorm recently and it took down most of my neighbor's fence. Our side of the fence withstood the wind, we recently had to repair it before the wind. It wasn't the best repair job, but it stood. He wants to replace the fence with vinyl, but my other fence is wood. He told me that his insurance wants me to pay 1/2 of fence. He said that he got quoted 3k for the part of fence, and that i would need to pay 1500. I don't really want a vinyl fence, but is there really anything I could do? I also think 1500 for 40 feet of vinyl fence is rather much. Is that reasonable, would wood be better? EDIT: this is the shared side of the fence. [link] [comments] |
| Is this overhead storage in my garage loadbearing to the roof? Posted: 17 Oct 2020 06:07 PM PDT Hello all, i live in orange county ca, and I am in the middle of a garage remodel (i am converting it into a home gym) and i want to remove the overhead storage that is pictured here: I want to remove the overhead storage, to create more overhead space for the gym, and i just don't think this overhead storage was particularly well built by whoever lived here before. my question is, does this overhead storage look to be loadbearing or a part of the trusses for the roof. to my novice eye, it looks like the roof is holding the storage up and not the other way around. additionally, the beams that span the garage across from front to back (the two load bearing walls) do not run the entire length of the garage. here are some more pictures to help with the visual. if there are any additional pictures you need to see to clarify let me know. I would like to take this overhead storage down (possibly redo it at a higher level, or move overhead storage to just one side) but i want to make sure first that my roof is not coming down with it. anyone have any idea on if its load bearing? [link] [comments] |
| What is are the best bang-for-buck purchases when it comes to improving a 20 year old family home? Posted: 17 Oct 2020 06:07 PM PDT My family home is 20 years old and virtually everything is the same as it was when the house was built. It's two stories 4 bedrooms detached, 2500 square feet, unfinished basement. Same appliances, HVAC, etc. Certain things are starting to become a nuisance like kitchen appliances slowly falling apart, etc. Nothing is immediately broken but everything is getting 'old'. I just graduated college and have a steady income so I want to help improve the quality of life at home for my parents. What are some immediate good bang-for-buck purchases I can make to help them out? My mom cooks a lot so I was thinking of a new range fan for the kitchen, but thats all I could really come up with [link] [comments] |
| Looking to run cabling - how can I remove these soffit panels? Posted: 17 Oct 2020 01:16 PM PDT Hi all, I'm looking to fish some cable through this soffit. Can't for the life of me figure out how to remove individual soffit panels? [link] [comments] |
| Appraiser says all I need is Dehumidifier in basement... Posted: 17 Oct 2020 07:23 PM PDT When I bought my home, I noticed that the basement would get wet when it rained... as in puddles in the basement. Luckily, the basement is unfinished and just a typical concert basement for a house that was built close to 100 years ago. I was talking to the appraiser that I am going to have to waterproof the basement. He said "you do not need to. All you need is a dehumidifier and it should be fine. You will not need to get a basement system in there or waterproof it" I did not know any better so I just keep a dehumidifier on in the basement. I noticed that when it rains water seeps through the walls and there are water puddles in the basement. It dries up and is gone pretty quickly and never smells musty down there as the dehumidifier clears this up. Seems like things are fine other than some water damage on the wall. However, I do not know if there are any other things that could be damaged. Does a dehumidifier in fact take care of everything or was this guy out of his mind and I need to waterproof the basement? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 17 Oct 2020 04:59 PM PDT Moved into a new build home. Th switch on the left has dimmer on it and controls the lights. The right controls a ceiling fan. The same switches are in all of the rooms. The master came with a ceiling fan, where the lights are controlled by the switch on the left and the fan is turned on by the switch on the right. I pulled off the wall plate in another bedroom that doesn't have a ceiling fan. Does this seem to be prewired for a ceiling fan? Can I just buy any ceiling fan with lights and connect everything? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 17 Oct 2020 12:21 PM PDT |
| Is this the doorbell transformer? And where are the 3 cables going to? Posted: 17 Oct 2020 06:48 PM PDT Just moved to a new house and I saw this sticking in the garage ceiling: https://imgur.com/a/H8P79IH If this is the transformer for the doorbell, I'm trying to figure out where are all 3 cables going to. Would this setup make sense for a house? Is there a way for me to check all of these? [link] [comments] |
| Has anyone ever hung shelves on drywall and brick at the same time Posted: 17 Oct 2020 04:05 AM PDT I want to make shelves to wrap around this exposed brick "protrusion" in my living room. The only thing I am unsure of is how to anchor the brackets into the brick hidden behind the drywall. I've already mounted plenty of stuff into drywall and brick separately but never both at the same time. Has anyone else faced this? I'm worried about drilling into the mortar or damaging the brick. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 17 Oct 2020 04:12 PM PDT So I have a light switch with 1 white, 1 black, and 1 ground. This switch turn the power on my outlet on and off. What I want to do is keep the outlet always hot(separate from the switch). I then want to allow the switch to power up my recessed lighting that I haven't installed yet. I have no light fans or anything on my ceiling. I opened my outlet and there is 2 whites 2 blacks and 1 ground. Does anyone know how to make the outlet always hot?photos [link] [comments] |
| Is this a good way to permanently seal my crawlspace vents? Posted: 17 Oct 2020 12:15 PM PDT I'd like to seal all of my house's crawlspace vents to keep out bugs and such. They're already insulated so I was thinking about just using these thick plastic covers. Would Gorilla Construction Adhesive be sufficient to permanently secure them in place? I'm just wondering whether I should bother renting a hammer drill to attach anchors. Thank you for your help. [link] [comments] |
| Water shutoff for house: what kind of access panel? Metal or plastic. Posted: 17 Oct 2020 06:12 PM PDT I'm finishing the basement and the water shutoff for the house will be within a framed wall. What kind of access panel should I use? Metal or plastic? I assume metal is the preferred one due to fire rating reasons? [link] [comments] |
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