Home Improvement: Anyone else sick and tired of modern day appliances lasting 2 fucking years or less? |
- Anyone else sick and tired of modern day appliances lasting 2 fucking years or less?
- If you're a first time homeowner, Christmas lights shouldn't be daunting and will get easy/quick every year if you think longer-term.
- Do Any Other Home Owners Worry Their Home Is Irreparably Awkward?
- Is this level of "wear and tear" normal for granite countertops?
- Sewage smell coming from toilet bowl
- Remember to disconnect power...
- Heating - HVAC, furnace, wood pallet, mini duct, arrgghhhh!!
- How to replace rear leg dishwasher
- Remove magazine holder in bathroom
- I have no idea what to do for flooring.
- Insulation install in wide bays?
- Where can I get this part for the top of my roof?
- Water in apartment complex is suddenly much more “hard” than usual?
- Painted my bathroom in a sunset ombre style
- Any bathroom doors like this in California??
- Shower Waterproofing
- Inexpensive method of managing CO2 levels?
- Bottom of sun room door and adjacent framing is rotten, how to fix ?
- Turning a storage room into a laundry room
- Need help with Washing Machine
- Contractors didn't leave leftover paint when they painted my cabinets. Now I need to touch up chips.
- Can I primer over this?
- We have some wood gutters on our 1930’s home that are in rough shape, and I’m thinking about replacing them with another material. Hoping to hear from people who made this decision and how it worked out for you
- Garage Door Broken?
| Anyone else sick and tired of modern day appliances lasting 2 fucking years or less? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 02:56 PM PST I've spent more money in the past 5 years on appliance repair/replacement than the previous 20 combined. What in the hell gives? I cannot comprehend why the hell everything has a massive motherboard and so many shitty electrical components? Most recently I've been victim to replacing my Honeywell gas valve on the water heater - for the second time in 2 years. Why does this piece of shit need a motherboard! Edit: for those saying "stop buying cheap", idk what kind of money you're rolling in. $3k fridge, $2k washer/dryer sets, $900 water heater, $1k ovens etc. are not cheap. And the argument that you get what you pay for is garbage. Why are cheaper appliances but with no extra frills garbage consistently showing reliability then well beyond their "smart" counterparts? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 23 Nov 2020 07:44 PM PST Just wanted to say that fairly elaborate Christmas lights can be done quickly every year if you improve upon the year before and do things like the following. I'm just a beginner but get comments from neighbors thinking I go all out when in reality its less than 4 hours of work. I don't know shit, just think some neighbors think lights are more time consuming than they really are. 1) Net lights. Mine are 4'x6'. Measure bushes and buy one more than you think necessary. Just throw them over one at a time, tuck ends into small branches, and ziptie nets together. Green light wires on my evergreen bushes are barely noticeable during the day. The nets create a ton of visual square footage with even light spacing and a cool flowing contour of light. Best to do do this lit as you go, instead of waiting until the end to realize they're daisy chained together improperly... quickest for me to do at night actually. 2) Brass eye hooks or other attractive option permanently mounted on inside of porch perimeter or around fascia of garage. One hook on the middle and one on each end. There are also command strips (20 for $10?) meant for Christmas lights if you don't want anything permanent. I use my brass hooks for Halloween lights, hanging plant baskets, bird feeders, etc throughout the year. 3) Invest in smart outdoor outlets. Try and find ones that won't take up both outlets because they're bulky or at least make sure if you have a weatherproof electrical box the lid will close around the plug. This allows you to set a schedule and just have fun playing with. I also use Hue color bulbs in outdoor fixtures (green/red) and just create routines through the Google Home app (free). In just 1 second I can turn on outdoor outlets, change bulb colors, turn on the Christmas tree inside, tell my inside speakers to play music, etc 4) Make notes about every detail you can think of. You're memory will be shit a year later despite what you tell yourself. This is the most important part. The following year will go 20% quicker if you take decent notes. Notes like where you're starting point and end points are, where extra lights ended up, mistakes you made, and things your wish you would have done differently. Notes about what lights you own in case a set craps out or you want to buy more and want to know what color temp the ones you have are. If I was starting over I would draw the basic geometric shapes of the house, trees/bushes, outlet locations, and extension cord paths in a SketchUp. Better than looking like an idiot every year measuring your bushes. 5) Buy extension cords that are the exact length that you need and the right color to hide well. The first few years I inevitably used my orange heavy gauge 30'+ cords to go just 4' .... because I couldn't find the short ones I bought.... probably chained four of them together to give me just that extra bit of reach with the pressure washer. Just store them with the lights. Also, zipties to match your light strand colors before you even start are needed. Get rid of slack where strands plug together so the spacing stays consistent (light spacing might be every 4" but the tails that plug together could create a 12" gap). 6) They make battery pack lights that come on when you want and have different effects. They'll probably only last 3 seasons, the bulbs aren't very bright, and the strands aren't very long but sometimes lighting the small tree in the middle of nowhere 20' from the house makes it look like you worked a lot harder then than the 6 minutes it takes to throw a battery pack stand up. 7) I use "icicle" lights that have strands of 5 dangling lights that drop down every few inches. These wires are white. They can simply be strung on the hooks tightly or with a uniform swag in minutes but create a lot of visual square footage. 8) If you could see yourself getting into Christmas lights, bite the bullet and pay for an electrician to install additional outlets outside. I paid $400 for 3 outlets but I don't have a finished basement and had space in my panel for a brand new circuit. My outlets are now less than 6 feet from where light ends are but I obviously use them year round. [link] [comments] |
| Do Any Other Home Owners Worry Their Home Is Irreparably Awkward? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 08:29 AM PST We love our neighborhood. Our home is a single story 1600sqft with an attractive exterior and a nice lot. From a shear square footage standpoint, our house is more than enough. However, it's just well...awkward. It wasn't cheap either, so spending $100k trying to fix it probably isn't ideal. You enter into the home and more or less step right into the center of the living room, there is a huge empty space between the living area and the kitchen, and the dining area just kinda "floats" in the open concept "main room" that is kitchen, dining, living and ...empty space. Our Master bedroom is too large, but one of those situations where a bed can only go on a single wall due to windows and closets. The windows are big, but hide under big roof overhangs. The kitchen is interrupted by an angled exterior wall that really doesn't need to be there, but adding a 150sqft addition to remove it seems like a waste of money. I try to stay positive that it can all be remedied by moving a few walls and some minor changes, but then I move some furniture around and realize that if I move this wall or that window, I'll make the space even more awkward! Has anyone had any luck hiring an architect or designers to make an awkward house less so, without going full blown complete remodel/addition? [link] [comments] |
| Is this level of "wear and tear" normal for granite countertops? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 05:26 PM PST In December of 2018 I settled on a new construction home. One of the very few items we upgraded was our kitchen countertop where we had to move up several "levels" in order to find a light/white option of granite. Within a month or so we noticed that we could (if we wanted) pick resin out of the counter top. This being our first granite counter tops we thought it was normal. Within another month or two we noticed staining - not like "whoops we spilled red wine and left it", more like the entire counter tops were turning dark. Here's a picture of the resin that is exposed and another of the surface. Here you can see a pretty wild tan line near the stove where we typically keep a board near the backsplash (although even that hasn't been there the whole time...it was whiter before). This darkening occurs everywhere that hasn't been covered by an object for the past two years. Even along sidesplashes that are tucked in corners that we don't use. Long story short, we put this item in as part of our 11 month warranty. The builder sent out their vendor who told us that the resin shouldn't come out and that the staining was also odd. However, in official correspondence back to our builder he stated that this was just "average wear and tear". They are refusing to cover a replacement. Is this normal? We were told that we were to have sealed it ourselves - there were numerous other homecare sections in our settlement binder but nothing on countertops. In addition, none of our new construction neighbors sealed their countertops and none have experienced this issue. [link] [comments] |
| Sewage smell coming from toilet bowl Posted: 23 Nov 2020 02:10 PM PST We've been in our new house for a week now, and right after we moved in we noticed a sewage smell coming from one of the bathroom toilets. It's just coming from the toilet, and just this 1, the other toilet is fine. I smelled around the base and inside the tank, and they smell fine, but as soon as I smell the inside of the bowl, that's definitely where the smell is coming from. I already had a plumber come out and replace the wax ring, which had failed. So unless they just didn't replace it correctly, there's something else going on. I've cleaned and scrubbed every square inch of the toilet, inside and out and yet there is still that smell coming from it. I have noticed the same smell coming from outside, but it's coming from the opposite side of the house. Any tips? [link] [comments] |
| Remember to disconnect power... Posted: 23 Nov 2020 03:52 PM PST Just need to complain somewhere about my stupids. I'm working on putting a battery back up pump in the sump pit. Disconnected the main pump pipe, did not disconnect power. You can guess what happened next. Slightly muddy water everywhere, including my face and head. And shirt. And pants. And back. And wall. And ceiling. Fortunately an unfinished basement. That is all. [link] [comments] |
| Heating - HVAC, furnace, wood pallet, mini duct, arrgghhhh!! Posted: 23 Nov 2020 06:19 PM PST Hello community, Long time lurker, first time poster. I have seen so many great posts and helpful information so I thought i would try my luck. Purchased a home recently (built 1926), tons of character, Beautiful hardwood, two story home with basement. Located in the basement is the furnace that is in desperate need of replacement. I have done my due diligence and cleaned ducts, applied mastic and tape to help with energy efficiency (more to make me feel better about what comes out of the ducts) but this thing is OLD!! Being an older home we are working on opening up the floor plan, in the living room is a new wood pellet stove that heats said area very well. However the rest of the house is left to the furnace (including upstairs). I am going back-and-forth on replacing the furnace and ducting or forgetting the entire system and putting in a mini duct system with enough BTUs to cover the square footage. Does anyone have any insight on experience in this situation? What is preferred? It would be great to hear other people experiences! This property will eventually be a rental. So I am wanting to update the heating system for ease of the eventual renters (college students). The house is located in the Pacific Northwest where there is snow and cold weather for half the year. Summer times are mild but temperatures do reach into the upper 90s and low hundreds. Thank you for taking the time!! [link] [comments] |
| How to replace rear leg dishwasher Posted: 23 Nov 2020 10:04 PM PST Hi, I'm a little stumped in how to tackle a little problem that I have. I was levelling a bosch dishwasher and I was a little bit too enthousiastic, so I screwed the rear leg loose. I have no idea how to get that thing back in place. It isn't broken, but there must be some sort of trick that I'm missing to get it back in. I've tried to find some videos about it but most are about replacing the whole kit, are about the front legs or different type of dishwashers. None of it really helpful. Any help would be appreciated. The thing I'm talking about is this: [link] [comments] |
| Remove magazine holder in bathroom Posted: 23 Nov 2020 07:37 PM PST How do I remove this magazine holder without ripping it off the bathroom wall? There are hollow screws sticking out of the top and bottom of the mounts. I've tried pounding on the mounts incase it was a clip on method but it does not budge. The bottom parts are not connected to the wall. https://i.imgur.com/bTmgB4E.jpg https://i.imgur.com/YHCBt0h.jpg [link] [comments] |
| I have no idea what to do for flooring. Posted: 23 Nov 2020 05:44 PM PST I just bought a house and we absolutely love the dining room and living room floors. We have tried everywhere and absolutely nothing matches. The stairs, hallway, and bedrooms all had carpet previously, but I just ripped it up because of pets. I am wanting to do some laminate, but am unsure if I should just re carpet it (I rather not), or do a completely different color on the stairs and the hallway. Two of the rooms have real hardwood, but I will probably laminate over that to match the hallway and third bedroom. The stairs leading to the front door also have carpet and I plan on ripping that up also, but I don't know what I should match it to. Any suggestions for all of this would be greatly appreciated. Here is the pictures of the flooring. http://imgur.com/gallery/BtJ9MC8 [link] [comments] |
| Insulation install in wide bays? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 07:12 PM PST I'm replacing insulation in an old house and the studs in some areas are far apart (28"). Is there a right way to install fiberglass insulation batt like taping 2 batts together? Do I need to add studs (some places are hard because there used to be a window which was converted into a closed walk)? Can't find anything online which implies to me this isn't a normal issue. [link] [comments] |
| Where can I get this part for the top of my roof? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 07:05 PM PST We had high winds last week and it almost knocked off this aluminum part and the wood behind it is exposed. I have a roofing company coming after thanksgiving to replace my entire roof. I wanted to see if I can get a brand new piece and then have them do it. They can use the existing piece but I wanted to see if I can get a similar part. There's no way I can go on the roof so I can't get the dimensions either. [link] [comments] |
| Water in apartment complex is suddenly much more “hard” than usual? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 09:13 PM PST For about two weeks, we've noticed the water in our apartment complex become much harder than usual, if that makes any sense. We live in FL where the water is always pretty hard, but it's been particularly noticeable for the past couple of weeks...out of the blue. Stains are accumulating much faster than usual, our skin has been itchy and dry, our hair feels "grimy" and not clean despite showering daily, etc. We're starting to think something might have changed in the water supply recently. We just purchased a shower head water filter attachment and are waiting for it to arrive- but in the meantime, I'm trying to understand what could be happening with the water supply, since it came out of nowhere and changed literally overnight. I know next to nothing about this topic, so I was wondering if anyone would be able to help me understand why the water in the complex has suddenly seemed to change/if maybe it's just a water heater issue? (There are electric water heaters in every apartment in this complex). Thank you! [link] [comments] |
| Painted my bathroom in a sunset ombre style Posted: 23 Nov 2020 06:51 PM PST When I first moved into my house, I loved certain aspects of the master bathroom. It is rather large, it has 2 separate sinks, and the bathtub is huge. But it was carpeted and the wall color and cabinet/trim color were not to my taste. I did the floors immediately (I need to redo them and will soon, I didn't expect the grey of the "marble" to be so dark and want lighter floors), but waited on the paint. Over the weekend I decided enough waiting. Bought the paint and did it today with a friend. https://imgur.com/gallery/jlsVoOI Steps: First I wiped down everything with clorox wipes. Put the paint in order from bottom up. Divided the walls into 6 even-ish layers. Started with the dark pink/orange/reddish color. I would paint to about about 4-6 inches above the "line" for the next coat. While paint was still wet, I would start the next color layer and blend lightly in the overlapped layer. Did this all the way up the wall. For painting the cabinets and the fornica, I used a sander with 80 grit paper. Went over everything twice. Then sprayed on BIN primer spray. After that, I painted white. Tools: 3 high quality paint brushes from Home Depot. 6 cans of paint, various shades. I bought gallons and only used about 1/4 of each, max. I'm doing the other bathrooms the same way so at least I won't waste it. 7 paint trays. I only wiped off the paint a little between colors, except white had its own brush. Electric hand sander (Ryobi) and 6 sheets of 80 grit paper. Blue painters tape. BIN primer spray. [link] [comments] |
| Any bathroom doors like this in California?? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 08:27 PM PST Saw this slide/swinging bathroom door made by PD doors in Singapore. Not sure if I can find these kinds of doors in America, specifically in Los Angeles, California. Any suggestions or anything in common?? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 23 Nov 2020 08:26 PM PST Contractor gave a bid on a 32x48 shower and wants to use Schluter boards. I noticed his quote didn't include the fabric material to seal the joints of the boards. When asked he said the material is not needed, the boards alone will be good. Thoughts? [link] [comments] |
| Inexpensive method of managing CO2 levels? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 12:49 PM PST Hi! I'm looking for a solution of managing co2 levels in an apartment. With the windows closed the co2 gets to around 1600-2000 pm in around 3-4 hours, and opening the windows and heating the whole place up again every 3-4 hours is inconvenient and expensive. Sadly through the wall exhaust fans are a no-go probably. Thanks, [link] [comments] |
| Bottom of sun room door and adjacent framing is rotten, how to fix ? Posted: 23 Nov 2020 07:58 AM PST My home is located in the Northern Virginia area and this sun room was installed by the previous owner. It doesn't really get much "sun" because of the trees all around it. It looks like it was built right on top of the deck. I haven't opened that door since the day we moved in (there's another door to enter directly from inside the house. I noticed the rot forming at the bottom of the brick mould and door jamb. Decided to try to tackle repairing it with PVC molding and door jamb material but as always it was way worse than expected. I've realized the door needs to be replaced and probably with fiberglass since the door core was wet and rotten on the bottom as well. Thoughts on how to proceed and where the moisture is likely coming from to prevent this happening to new door. All help is much appreciated. [link] [comments] |
| Turning a storage room into a laundry room Posted: 22 Nov 2020 08:50 PM PST Here is the photo album of what progress pictures I have, as per the rules, here is the step by step process and notes from them. Also - I live in the mountains of Northern California 1.) ripped out flooring (carpet) and lower storage shelves that were in the room. Naturally the shelves were put in using every different type of fastener you could imagine and was a pain. 2.) had tile floors put in. Overall cost was about 1500 materials/labor, which also included putting tile in our 2 bathrooms as well. Everything with that was somewhat normal, aside from the step going into the room which was an abnormal sized step and had to be custom made. 3.) ripped out the upper shelving and hired a contractor to set up the plumbing, electrical, and venting for the dryer. We were very lucky to have a wet bar on a shared wall of the room, so we were able to tap into that plumbing and cut down on cost. Routing 220 into the room became a little bit more of a hurdle, as the route to the main line through the attic that ran into the garage to the dryers original location was not accessible due to ducting. This required a new line of 220 to be routed into the room. Our house is on a raised foundation, so the venting was able to be run down instead of through the roof, again, cutting costs. The contractor was also a family friend, so we ended up only paying $850 for all of that work. 4.) with the laundry in the room, we used MDF shiplap throughout the room and replaced the can lights with updated lights. All in all that ran us about 750 in materials and a weekend of work. Only hurdles we had to clear was that no house is actually square and we had to get creative with mitigating some gaps that generated around the door when putting the shiplap. We also knew that we were going to put a top over the washer/dryer, so I had to notch the shiplap for supports I put in. 5.) my very talented woodworking friend made us a wood top from pine he milled from a felled tree. He joined two large slabs together and cut it to fit when he brought it over. Being that this is a friend I've had for half of my life, he did this for free. Naturally, I compensated him out of respect with a trade in materials for a different hobby of his. Very lucky to have talented friends like him. 6.) conditioned the wood top, put a light coat of semi transparent stain on it, and built a shelf to match. Installed some lights, painted a shelf we bought from target to go between the washer and dryer, and built a riser for it to get it flush with the wood top. All in all about 350 in materials. Then a sign for decoration, a little drying rack, and a basket for the shelves to tie it all together. All in all, the project went very well. The hiccups we hit were not major, and easy to clear. We were really happy with the mdf shiplap we used as it was very cost effective and easy to work with. Hindsight I would have put a few wood pieces behind the drywall the shiplap was mounted to for structural support for things we put on the wall, but it wasn't detrimental that we didn't. Now - my wife is very happy with what she considers to be her dream laundry room [link] [comments] |
| Need help with Washing Machine Posted: 23 Nov 2020 07:23 PM PST It starting making this pinging sound when the drum is spinning. Any suggestions? [link] [comments] |
| Contractors didn't leave leftover paint when they painted my cabinets. Now I need to touch up chips. Posted: 23 Nov 2020 07:18 PM PST I had a contractor paint my cabinets white about 2 years ago. Overall they did a good job but there are a few chips here and there around the handles. Decided its time to touch it up, looked through all my paint cans and I don't see that I have any paint from them. I reached out for brand and type but haven't gotten any responses. I need advice. It's just white cabinets, can I use semi-gloss paint that I use for trim? Any thoughts on what's most common and or best to use? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 23 Nov 2020 03:24 PM PST Just bought an older house with a bar and I'm prepping to paint all the cabinetry. I pulled out an ice maker and wine fridge from under the counter and I see this mess. It looks like both have leaked at different points in the past and the wood looks terrible. There doesn't appear to be any mold and everything feels pretty solid so I'm pretty sure there's no rot. Can I get away with spraying primer over this after cleaning it up a bit or do I need to demo and rebuild? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 23 Nov 2020 04:55 PM PST Just had the roof replaced and the wooden gutters on our front porch and bay window are looking worse for wear. We're planning some fascia work and other outdoor carpentry for the spring, and I'm having troubling finding someone who does wood gutters. Thinking about replacing them with something else. Have you done this on your home? What did you use? Would you do it again? Thanks for your insight, I really appreciate the help! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 23 Nov 2020 10:14 PM PST I was in the garage with the door closed and I heard a bang noise. I think the garage door wasn't resting on the ground and fell a very short way. I tried opening the door and the chain loosens and dips. After 2-3 tries the door went up. Now the garage door will not close at all. What I am very confused about is why. The unit is less then a year old and installed by a pro. I try and close it with the button and it starts for about 1-2 seconds and seems to "hit" something hard. I said fine I will call someone tomorrow. I tried pulling the red string and it will not go beyond the same point. Seems to be forcefully stopped. Even if the module that pulls the chain was bad somehow, why wouldn't I be able to pull it down? I am wondering if the metal rope things at sides are not releasing somehow. Door Opener: Chamberlain. Can't find model # but part number is 050DCTWF [link] [comments] |
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