Home Improvement: No more mess drilling overhead |
- No more mess drilling overhead
- Crawlspace encapsulation complete!
- New Bosch dishwasher emitting plastic smell when running. Is this to be expected?
- How to weather strip?
- Tearing Out Old Subfloor In Damp Basement For Vinyl Plank On Cement
- What price to expect on window/door replacement
- How to make a balcony privacy screen more private?
- Budget Basement Remodel I Just Completed
- While tearing out and installing new flooring the workers damaged a few things...
- Smart Thermostats for multiple zones
- Flooring Advice: to keep or not to keep carpet upstairs?
- Nearly all of them homes in my area have considerable issues. What should I expect house hunting for a fixer upper?
- Who to call to assess some ancient framing?
- Building Partition Wall - Anchoring sides to studs?
- Help. New roof leaking (1yo) over attached garage. Contractor not responding to phone calls. What to do?
- Water got into attic from hole in roof - newbie questions
- Whole House Surge Protection
- Help with finding a new gate lock - need a key outside, but no inside release
- Jamming a lock
- Questionable paver installation
- RTA cabinets, worth the savings?
- Whole house exhaust fan (Attic fan)
- The rainy season is approaching here, what is the preferred caulking to use for outside windows and trim that has some separation over the last year?
- I was caulking the outside of the windows again for the winter, and it looks like some were never caulked? Should I caulk those too?
| No more mess drilling overhead Posted: 25 Nov 2020 07:11 PM PST |
| Crawlspace encapsulation complete! Posted: 25 Nov 2020 12:22 PM PST This is one I've wanted to do since buying our home two years ago. Initially I looked at a professional service and was quoted around $8k. I managed to do it for just over $4k...but it also took me months rather than days (Pro tip: don't start any major projects the same month you have your first kid and start grad school). But this needed to get done before winter. Prior to taking pics I removed the old vapor barrier, which was essentially black contractor bags spread around. The insulation isn't terrible, but some areas show obvious signs of air passing through (very dirty). Our kitchen is right above and we could always feel a cold draft coming from the corner. Additionally, we couldn't walk around barefoot as the floor was too cold. In order of how we did it (I got considerable help from my brother and his gf): -Replaced the access door, added insulation -Tore out ALL the insulation. This was surprising for a couple reasons. 1- it started raining rat crap as they had obviously nested between the floor and insulation. 2- The insulation is unfaced...of course. -Closed-cell spray foam on the rim joists and any cracks. I used TigerFoam which was definitely messy (poopy-suit and respirator required!). But I feel no drafts anywhere, so it was a success! Sealed the foundation vents and filled them with more foam. -After removing the insulation, there were obvious signs that rodents had chewed through wires (see pic of exposed copper). So I ended up redoing all the electrical down there. This turned out to be a good thing, as I repositioned several outlets and added a light fixture. About the only good thing the previous owners did was put the space on its own breaker. I was fully prepared to have to kill power to my kitchen, but fortunately that turned out to not be the case. -Reinstall insulation. This turned out to be the longest part of the whole project for a couple reasons. A lot of the framing isn't evenly spaced, so we had to do a lot of trimming to get it to fit properly. Additionally, the front wall is literally just frame-house wrap- siding...this is just laziness. But not wanting to turn it into a siding project, I used rigid foam insulation in addition to caulk and foam to seal the space. I then put pink insulation on top. -At this point, I also removed several ducts and replaced them. The previous owners must have kept a zoo down here, because we found egg shells, bird bones, signs of rabbit nests, etc. I confirmed they kept all these animals in their yard with the neighbors. First thing I do before buying a home is interviewing the neighbors to get a feel for the current owners! -New vapor barrier. We had to have a radon mitigation system installed during initial inspection as it failed the first test. So I wanted to put in a relatively thick barrier, and Stego Industries states theirs will block radon. It was relatively easy to put down, but getting it around the columns was tricky. This really changed the look of the space! -While it's a 'crawl' space, I can easily stand up in it. I wanted to clear out space in the garage, so we built a shelf and carpeted it. you can see that the columns were definitely not square (Can nothing be easy?!). -Finally, per code you have to either connect the space to the living area, dump HVAC into the space, or run a dehumidifier. There's a ton of literature out there on the pros/cons of each method, but I went for the dehumidifier. I started running it as soon as I sealed the space and it was impressive how much water it's able to pull. It's piped right to the flood drain. This doesn't really add much to the home in terms of feeling 'updated' or 'new' but personally I would look to see how the bones of the home are cared for. We've already noticed a huge improvement in the feel of the main living space as the temps have dropped (Portland, OR area). Now my wife has put a moratorium on projects until the Spring when I rebuild the deck...this one just took way too long! [link] [comments] |
| New Bosch dishwasher emitting plastic smell when running. Is this to be expected? Posted: 25 Nov 2020 07:49 AM PST Hi there! We just got a new Bosch dishwasher, 300 series, and while it is cleaning well so far, it is also emitting a plastic smell when washing. Is it just off gassing? If you've experienced this, does it go away after some time? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Nov 2020 08:36 AM PST Got a good air gap going in front door, and I'd like to fix it right. Any suggestions on how to imrprove this situation and get my house a bit warmer? https://imgur.com/gallery/w911GkD [link] [comments] |
| Tearing Out Old Subfloor In Damp Basement For Vinyl Plank On Cement Posted: 25 Nov 2020 07:22 AM PST Hey all, So I'm tearing out the wooden subflooring in a few rooms in my basement (one is approx 4" high and the other approx 10" high). Both room entrances lead to an unfinished "main" room about 12x19. The only other finished room is the bathroom which was done about 10-15 years ago. This floor is still in excellent shape so it will be staying. This is my first time replacing a subfloor so I will have a few questions. It appears the old windows leaked and caused damaged to the walls and allowed moisture to seep under the flooring. I took some of the wall apart by the window to inspect the framing and insulation. What's there is pink Fiberglass insulation with a layer of vapour barrier between the insulation and concrete wall. Is this proper? For the damaged areas, would I be better off with the foam/outdoor type insulation (such as the blue board type?). What's the best way/product to use to redo the insulation on the walls? Keep in mind we live in a northern climate (northern Canada). For the flooring we are looking at pouring self leveling cement to smooth out the floor and put down vinyl plank. We are looking at adding an underlay to keep the floor a little warmer but have been advised against this as it voids the warranty in some cases for the flooring but I've been told without underlay it allows the floor to "breathe". There's some nice Vinyl Plank on sale for a great price right now, but what are some of the things to look for/at when buying vinyl plank? Just looking for some thoughts or advice from those who may have done a similar project. Any products anyone used you'd recommend? Especially looking for recommendations on underlays and insulation. [link] [comments] |
| What price to expect on window/door replacement Posted: 25 Nov 2020 08:11 AM PST I need to replace a window that won't close and a patio door that is leaking and won't lock properly. I've gotten a couple of quotes for install and materials and they've seemed pretty high to me. The first one started at over $8000 installed, when I told the guy that that's WAY too high he "managed" to get it down to about $5400. The second quote was more reasonable, but lower grade everything for about $3000 (from Home Depot) installed. I was thinking it would be somewhere in the $2000 range. Am I way off here? Edit: Window is 72" wide × 58" high sliding. Don't think potential for rot here. Vinyl. Door is 72" × 80" sliding patio door. We currently do have some leakage inside there, but I don't think there is potential for rotting or anything, just a door that won't close right. Vinyl. The door doesn't have to be high end in any way, but the window needs to at least be somewhat sound dampening as it's in the master bedroom which is facing a grocery store parking lot. Both needs to be tan/beige as per the HOA. [link] [comments] |
| How to make a balcony privacy screen more private? Posted: 25 Nov 2020 02:43 AM PST Hi all, I bought a reed privacy screen for my balcony (reference image). During the day it's kind of ok, but at night, if I turn the balcony light on (or if I have a light on inside and the blinds are open), it's pretty much useless because the neighbours can see through the screen. Does anyone have any ideas of how to make it a bit more opaque so it blocks the view into my balcony and apartment? I was thinking of sticking fake plastic vines/leaves on it but that might look a bit tacky. Alternately I could drape some fabric over it but it wouldn't be weatherproof. Thanks in advance. [link] [comments] |
| Budget Basement Remodel I Just Completed Posted: 25 Nov 2020 09:23 PM PST Not many frills but it came out clean i think. Thoughts? [link] [comments] |
| While tearing out and installing new flooring the workers damaged a few things... Posted: 25 Nov 2020 02:16 PM PST Hi all, I'm looking for some advice. Long story short: I have 3 workers in our house today working on replacing our flooring with LVP. During their time working they have made some little dings and scratches in the walls, cabinets, and my couch. Is this normal? Curious does anyone have experience with this type of situation? What have you done to address similar issues? Looking for advice on my next course of action. I haven't spoken to the workers yet but plan on addressing these issues later tonight. They are still working away so I'm trying not to bug them but also I'm afraid they may cause more damage. Here's an album of pictures for reference: https://imgur.com/a/f0xrTc5 [link] [comments] |
| Smart Thermostats for multiple zones Posted: 25 Nov 2020 07:57 AM PST Just moved into a house with multiple zones and the thermostats are old, manual dial relics from the 90's. I've swapped out thermostats on single zone systems in the past, and I'd like to update this house with new smart stats, but is there something I should consider before switching out stats on a multizone system? Any recommendations on brands? Anything I should avoid? or watch out for? [link] [comments] |
| Flooring Advice: to keep or not to keep carpet upstairs? Posted: 25 Nov 2020 07:56 AM PST Hi all! I have a two story home which mostly has carpet flooring 🤮. I hate carpet and think it's absolutely filthy. I am changing the carpet out in the first floor to LVP but was wondering if it's recomendable to do this on the stairs and second floor entirely. I do see most homes have carpet on the second floor and I am also taking into account what future buyers would prefer when the time comes to sell. Any advice, opinions, thoughts and recommendations are all welcome and much appreciated! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Nov 2020 09:19 AM PST Hi, all. First time home buyer here. I'm in a bit of a unique situation, and I'm wondering if anyone else has dealt with this. I live in rural Upstate NY and have been house hunting across 2 counties since summer. Nearly all of the homes in these towns are old, which is great since we generally like older homes and want a fixer-upper to make our own. A short drive around these towns will tell you that there *is* nothing but fixer uppers. New homes (anything built after 1970) are VERY few and far between, and unsurprisingly, go for much more than any other home. It was our dream to find a house that hasn't been updated in a while (bring on the orange shag carpet!) but was structurally sound, again, so we could renovate it to our liking. We always assumed finding this kind of house would be easy, but nearly every house we like at comes with considerable issues. Old roof, slanting floors, cellar being held up by metal rods, structural issues, you name it. These aren't homes that were abandoned or foreclosed on. These homes are also not priced far below the norm for the market because of their condition - their actually middle of the road. The more we look, the more it seems like just about every house we can afford (up to 150K, which is decent for this area) comes with issues that our realtor claims will make a sale difficult. Before shopping for a fixer upper, I expected to deal with at least some of these issues, but now it's seeming not worth it. I'm honestly becoming afraid of buying anything. My question is: for those who have bought fixer uppers. What "big" problems are generally expected/relatively easy to remedy...and what problems scream "DO NOT buy this house"? [link] [comments] |
| Who to call to assess some ancient framing? Posted: 25 Nov 2020 06:19 AM PST Hi folks! I own a 1920's farm house that is standing tall after 100 years. It has all the creative construction of the time. Nothing is level or plumb, but as far as we can tell nothing is moving. We want to renovate our bathroom and laundry room (used to be the back porch until the late 90's) and replace the paperboard/vinyl tiles with real tile. That involves leveling the floor (currently has a slope from being a porch) and making sure it can support the new floor. It's a mix of sawmill lumber and logs. I'm handy but would like a pro to assess the framing under the house, . I'm having a heck of a time finding someone to call me back for that type of job. What kind of pro would you call for this kind of work? Maybe I'm just barking up the wrong tree... thanks in advance! [link] [comments] |
| Building Partition Wall - Anchoring sides to studs? Posted: 25 Nov 2020 06:51 AM PST Hey all, I'm planning on building a partition wall for a walk-in closet, which will run parallel to the joists in my home. The location for the wall falls basically right in the middle of the studs of the existing walls and the joists. I'll be installing blocking between the joists in the attic for the top plate to anchor to, and I'll be anchoring the bottom plate directly into the plywood subfloor. My question is do the 2x4s on either end of the new wall have to be anchored in anyway to the existing walls, or is anchoring the bottom and top plates sufficient? Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Nov 2020 04:35 AM PST Bought the house less than a year ago, the roof was installed in July 2019. Notice a small leak in the garage drywall lid. Inspected new roof from the attic access I see some water stain on the roof plywood above garage. I called the contractor that installed the roof and they are not responding. What should I do? Call insurance company? From my reading I don't want to void the warranty by performing the work myself I just need sound experienced advice in how to deal with this. [link] [comments] |
| Water got into attic from hole in roof - newbie questions Posted: 25 Nov 2020 07:30 PM PST 1 week ago the wind knocked a branch through our roof. The hole is about 6 inches in diameter. A roofer is going to fix it for us. Today we had rain and water got into our attic from this hole. The drywall ceiling in our bedroom started leaking a little. We have blow-in insulation in the attic. Can I simply discard the wet insulation, put a running fan in the attic, and be done with it? It's been about 50 degrees where we live. Do I have to hire a crew to demolish our ceiling and put in a new one? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Nov 2020 09:36 AM PST We're getting some electrical work done in our first home (replacing some knob & tube, adding additional outlets) and the electrician recommended adding whole house surge protection at the panel. It's an additional $275 (of an already $8.5k project) including materials and labor. Is it worth it or are we just being upsold? Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Help with finding a new gate lock - need a key outside, but no inside release Posted: 25 Nov 2020 08:58 PM PST We're working to install a new doorknob/handle on our front yard gate. It's about waist-high, and easy to reach right over - obviously not 100% secure, but a solid normal fence and gate. We'd like to get a lock that can be locked with a key from one side (inside or outside), and cannot be easily opened by hand from the other side. Today at Home Depot, every single available lock had an exterior key mechanism, but the inside was a turn-dial or push-button to easily unlock - this means someone can just reach over the fence and easily unlock our gate. Any ideas? Is there a specific name for this type of one-side-only lock? Would we potentially be able to pair a dummy on one side of a "normal" lock, or somehow disable the unlock mechanism on the interior side? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Nov 2020 09:51 AM PST Hello! First time poster — I live on the ground floor of an apartment and my complex won't give me the keys to my patio doors's (2) deadbolts . My brother (cop) was able to pick the locks and break into the apartment, so a criminal would be able to also. There are shootings outside my building on a weekly basis and regular robberies as well. I don't feel comfortable having those deadbolts on the doors when they can be picked and I don't even have the keys. The apartment complex told me to "deal with it myself". I want to jam the locks. How could I do that without making it obvious to criminals that I have jammed it? I live in Atlanta, GA and I don't care if I have to pay for "destroying" the lock when I move out - I just need to know how to do it. [link] [comments] |
| Questionable paver installation Posted: 25 Nov 2020 06:30 PM PST My wife and I bought a new house and hired a general contractor to tear out artificial turf in the courtyard and replace it with pavers. It's been a difficult process dealing with the contractor for various reasons but we are finally getting close to being done. They finished work on the pavers today. We have a few questions about some problems we've found. We understand that nothing is perfect, so we are trying to understand what's normal, and what are real problems that are not up to code or at the least that need to be addressed before final payment. We are in Los Angeles BTW. Here are the issues with pictures:
Otherwise the courtyard seems to drain properly
We aren't sure which of these are just normal issues that we should let go, and which are non-starters and we should push to get fixed. Also, a side node, as mentioned, the contractor has been belligerent with us so far, refusing to do some of the work on the written contract, and demanding payment before he's even removed the debris and finished the other jobs (gutter work) on the contract. I strongly suspect he will refuse to fix any of this, and has already threatened to go to collections if we don't give him another pre-finished payment that wasn't even specified on the contract. Is there any risk (e.g. contractor's lien or some other mafia shenanigans) going head to head with them and not paying until these items are fixed, or should we cut our losses and get someone else to fix the issues? [link] [comments] |
| RTA cabinets, worth the savings? Posted: 25 Nov 2020 04:55 PM PST Looking for recommendations on quality RTA cabinet manufacturers and suppliers. Has anyone had any experiences of their own? Who to use, who not to use etc.. I'll be starting construction on a new home this spring and am starting to get items priced out now. I received a quote from the local Home Depot store for 13,000 on Kraft maid line pre- assembled cabinets for my kitchen and bathrooms. Pricing out the cabinets with a few online Ready-To-Assemble retailers the price seems to be around half of that depending on which finishes are selected. As for the reviews I've found very limited personal reviews on YouTube and other platforms for each cabinet maker. Any information would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading. Have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving! [link] [comments] |
| Whole house exhaust fan (Attic fan) Posted: 25 Nov 2020 04:42 PM PST I'm not sure if I'm using the right term as my family always referred to it as an attic fan, but it's a large fan placed in the ceiling that exhausts air from the house into the attic (leaves the attic through the vents). This is used to create a draft and cool it when the house doesn't get a good one for whatever reason. I'd like to add one to my house to make having the windows open a better cooling option but I'm not sure if it's a DIY or even who to call. I feel like it's fairly simple and I have a friend who can do the electrical for it, but any other considerations I should take? Any tips from someone that has installed one? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Nov 2020 06:09 PM PST Newly purchased house that is in good shape. Recently removed some bushes around the house and I see some areas around a few windows, and some trim that has some separation. Looks like they have been caulked in the past, but its not held up over time. No signs of underlying damage, just need to run a bead over it to be safe. Whats the best brand to use? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 25 Nov 2020 01:19 PM PST 3/4 of these types of windows don't appear to ever have had been caulked. Was there some reason why? Should I just do it? [link] [comments] |
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