Home Improvement: DIY bathtub refinishing with Klenk’s Epoxy Enamel. Very good result. Here’s some pix of tub and details . |
- DIY bathtub refinishing with Klenk’s Epoxy Enamel. Very good result. Here’s some pix of tub and details .
- Bar faucet with purified/tap instead of hot/cold?
- Looking for help on installing a fireplace mantel shelf
- Water heater popping
- Can you solve the mystery of the phantom power outage?
- Lined cracks are forming from my ceiling to my wall in my bedroom. Is this structural damage? How do I go about fixing/getting this inspected? I'm new to all of this.
- Shower drain isn't in a standard position. What are my options?
- Light bulb question: can I put a 100W equivalent LED bulb into a 60W lamp?
- Favorite Acoustic/Sound Absorption Panels for Bedroom?
- Floating deck - but intrusive neighbor tree
- Weird outlets on portable generators
- Replacing carpet with hw flooring, moisture barrier causing height issue with existing hw
- Double acting door
- Noticed that some of the electrical outlets at my new apartment have been painted over, causing a blockage. Any tips on how to safely remove the paint?
| Posted: 03 Dec 2020 06:17 PM PST Before, during and after pictures: https://imgur.com/gallery/S8EtntD The tub is about 50 years old. I decided to use Klenk's Epoxy Enamel kit (seems like the best product on the market). I applied 8 coats with a brush over 3 days (epoxy enamels can't be stored long-term like paint, so I decided to use it all up hence 8 coats). Each coat took about 30 minutes to apply and 3-4 hours to dry. Instructions to say to let it cure for 5 days before using tub. I probably could have stopped after coat 5 or 6 but the extra coats did create a glossier finish. I'm sure if the tub were white it would have needed fewer coats. The instructions say to apply thin coats and I think that's true for the first, second, third coat. But for coats 6, 7, and 8, I laid it on much thicker and it resulted in a smoother, glossier finish. There are tiny bits of impurities embedded in the gloss even though I went to a lot of effort to clean the tub before starting. I used heater fans to keep the temperature up (minimum temp is 75f/24c) and I suspect the fans stirred up air and contributed to the issue. These "impurities" are not at all obvious and I'm confident the vast majority of people would never notice the tub's been refinished. I included a picture at the end to give a sense of the final finish. I'll use this again for another tub. Next time I'm going to vacuum the entire bathroom (including walls and ceiling) to get rid of as much dust as possible. I may try spraying next time as this will result in the best finish. If I don't spray, I might consider foam brushes and use a new one for each coat to cut down on impurities. Cost was around $100-$150 including the Prep Kit, the main kit and a can of the solvent. In comparison, it would have been $650 to hire pros to refinish it on site, or $1650 to have a custom bathliner installed (including walls). The reason I didn't install a new tub is because it would have been a much bigger PITA -- cut tub into pieces to remove it, chisel out the tiles, detach the plumbing, haul out old tub, haul in new tub, re-attach plumbing, re-tile bottom row, dispose of the tub somehow...). If you decide to use this, make sure to check out the forum where the manufacturer answers all kinds of questions: https://www.swingpaints.com/message/442 I have no ties of any kind to Klenk's. After reading stuff online for a couple hours, it seemed like Klenk's was the best option for a DIY job and I couldn't find any DIY project summaries so hopefully someone finds this useful. Also, a local supplier confirmed that they've been selling it for years and their customers have always been happy with it. Finally, the fumes are INTENSE and potentially harmful. You need a proper, dedicated vapor mask (not a particulate mask) and adequate ventilation when painting. HTH, HH EDIT: You have to be immaculate in preparing/cleaning the tub surface and in particular removing every single trace of caulking. If you read through the message board above, you'll see people complaining about "fish eyes" which happens when there's residue on the surface which prevents the epoxy from bonding directly to the tub. I didn't have that problem but I spent a long time cleaning/prepping, including scraping every bit of the tub surface with a paint scraper blade. EDIT: I'm very happy with the way it looks right now. It will be interesting to see how it holds up. Hopefully the 8 coats will make it more durable. EDIT: Alternative products include: Ekopel 2K Bathtub Refinishing Kit (looks like it's from Europe and claims to be non-toxic). Rust-Oleum Tub And Tile Refinishing Kit [link] [comments] |
| Bar faucet with purified/tap instead of hot/cold? Posted: 03 Dec 2020 10:00 PM PST I am putting in a bar sink. If I choose to only run cold water to the sink, I am considering using a faucet with separate hot/cold knobs, but instead of hot and cold water, one side would cause the faucet to dispense purified water from a filter and the other would dispense unfiltered water. I would tastefully label each knob appropriately to prevent people waiting for hot water. And I think it would be nice to have the option of drinking water or rinsing water with just one faucet. Has anyone done this before? Thoughts? Thanks. [link] [comments] |
| Looking for help on installing a fireplace mantel shelf Posted: 03 Dec 2020 08:40 PM PST We have this fireplace with a brick wall (https://imgur.com/X4AwVOj) and want to install a mantel shelf above it. We now got this solid wood mantel (https://imgur.com/laCexQb) at a local store but I'm a bit unsure on how to install it in a safe fashion. The mantel shelf is 5 feet wide and 5 inch high x 9 inch deep We originally wanted to get an L shape bracket and then "hide" that L behind the mantel shelf so that you would not see it, but I now believe that this is probably not safe to hold this solid wood mantel. The mantel itself weighs around 40 pounds and I think we would probably add another 10 pounds for stuff on top, so we would need something that can safely hold at least 50 pounds. Do you guys have any suggestions on the best way to do this? My DIY skills are pretty limited, but I have previously drilled anchor screws into the fireplace bricks, so I know that this at least will work. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 03 Dec 2020 06:00 PM PST My water heater started popping after using the hot water and now it's not as hot as before. I'm thinking it was just air in the pipes that was causing this. Other research I've done said that it could be from the sediment on the bottom of the tank. Has anyone experienced this and how did it end up for you? [link] [comments] |
| Can you solve the mystery of the phantom power outage? Posted: 03 Dec 2020 11:34 PM PST Background: My family moved into a reasonably priced rental (home) about a year and a half ago. After moving in we discovered all the electrical is original to the home without any significant upgrades to speak of. (Home was built in 1970s) The only thing that has ever been changed from what I can tell is that the outlets were swapped from 2 to 3 prong at some point, but none of them have any grounding to them. (Yikes.) Had a power surge at some point that fried some expensive electronics. After that I added surge protectors to everything in the house. There is one area of the house (living room) where we generally go to relax at the end of a long day. It includes our TV, gaming console, NAS, cable modem, and wireless router. Due to where the cable was installed, we have placed our entertainment center at the top of the room, and it appears this is where previous tenants also had everything installed. I say this, because when we arrived at the home there was an extension cord that was 'nailed' down to the floor along the floorboards leading from an outlet (#1 in the picture) to this location. We also discovered that this was the place that the cable internet must be installed to work properly. (Thanks cable installer guy!) I tell you all this information because I figure it will in some way be helpful. I imagine many of you are cringing as you read this. I myself considered the possibility of a fire hazard but I calculated the total power output of all the devices and measured the total load that the extension cord said it could handle and I think that it was under the total load (safe I guess?) Albeit I have no idea how old this extension cord is or if it is internally in any good condition. So what's the mystery? The Mystery: As I mentioned earlier, I bought surge protectors for all our devices last year, and I specifically purchased a Uninterruptible Power Supply unit for this location (outlet #1 in the picture) as I knew our NAS would be connected to the router, and I wanted to ensure it wouldn't take damage if it was hit by an outage. Ever since installing this UPS, a few weird things have been happening and I have no earthly idea what might be causing them. Mystery #1 - Mystery #2 - Neither of these issues were a problem before recently, and I'm wondering if it's not an issue with our electrical in the home. And if that is the case (for example, there isn't enough power in the home, or the electrical / space heaters installed in the home are causing too much power draw, or the cord is not able to carry enough electricity, or the outlet itself is somehow flawed) I'm wondering how to go about talking to my landlord about it. In the past he has been reluctant to deal with anything electrical just basically saying 'it worked fine for us!' and I don't have thousands of dollars to put into hiring someone myself when we will likely be moving in a few years. Any help resolving these mysteries would be greatly appreciated. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 03 Dec 2020 07:17 PM PST After my dad passed away, we used the spare room that he was in as a guest room. I haven't been in there for long, but today I went in and noticed these cracks (they weren't there before like 2-3 years ago).
The home is built sometime around 1950s and we live in Canada, so cold climate can reach -24 celsius. We have a shingles roof and I have access to the roof. Is this something to be worried about? What should I do? We do have home insurance. Gallery of the four photos can be found here : https://imgur.com/a/c0RRWFD [link] [comments] |
| Shower drain isn't in a standard position. What are my options? Posted: 03 Dec 2020 10:47 PM PST I'm replacing my old shower, and planning to use a shower base. However it looks like my drain is about 4 inches off on a diagonal from where most manufacturers put the drain on the shower bases. This is in a basement bathroom, so concrete subfloor. Is it possible to use any sort of adapter for this? Or do I need to move the drain? And if I need to move the drain, would it be cheaper to just have a custom tile base installed in comparison to store-bought shower base + plumbing costs to move drain? The shower base I'm looking at is about $500, size 30x60 [link] [comments] |
| Light bulb question: can I put a 100W equivalent LED bulb into a 60W lamp? Posted: 03 Dec 2020 07:00 PM PST The lamp says 60w max, the led bulb says 100w equivalent but it only uses 14w. So shouldn't I be able to plug it in since it's technically only using 14w? [link] [comments] |
| Favorite Acoustic/Sound Absorption Panels for Bedroom? Posted: 03 Dec 2020 10:18 PM PST Hello! I live in an apartment with roommates where the walls and (mainly) doors are very thin. Just to add a bit more privacy and to stop the sound traveling from my room as much, i've been looking into acoustic panels. Im aware they won't make trhe room soundproof. Something to add mass to the door would be great. Not very interested in the fairly ugly cheaper acoustic foam thats very common on amazon. Was looking at the AcoustiDoor from Residential Acoustics. But it's quite a hassle to move up and down, and would need to be on the outside of my door to fit. Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Floating deck - but intrusive neighbor tree Posted: 03 Dec 2020 10:01 PM PST Some facts first:
Can I still build a floating deck or will the roots disrupt the footings of the deck? Also will the roots grow back once I cut them grow back and disrupt the footings? Should I instead plant the footings deep into the ground past the frost line with cement? Can the tree still disrupt it then? [link] [comments] |
| Weird outlets on portable generators Posted: 03 Dec 2020 09:56 PM PST I'm interested in getting a generator for backup power. The power here fails only once or twice a year, and usually is back on in a few hours, so it would be a waste of money for me to spend $10K or more on a big Generac with a transfer switch and needing large propane tank. I just need something that can run a few hours on a few gallons of gas for my refrigerator, a few lights, charging my laptop, etc. I figure I can go a day or two without heat or hot water, because it rarely gets below freezing here. A portable gas-powered generator that puts out around 10kw would work for me, it could even power a space heater in a small bedroom for a few minutes at a time if absolutely necessary, and they can be had for a little over a thousand dollars. My question is, every one I've looked at on Amazon and Home Depot have five or six outlets, but only two look like regular 120v house outlets. The rest are weird shapes like a dryer outlet -- I assume they are for RVs or something. I have no use for those; everything I want to plug in just takes a regular outlet like in your living room. So, are there adapters that I can use to convert the other outlets into regular outlets? Or are there portable generators that have half a dozen regular outlets already? Thanks for any help. [link] [comments] |
| Replacing carpet with hw flooring, moisture barrier causing height issue with existing hw Posted: 03 Dec 2020 09:29 PM PST Replacing carpet in 1st floor office (basement below) with prefinished hardwood. At doorway it meets with existing hardwood in hallway which does not look to have been installed with moisture barrier. This causes a small height difference. Should I skip moisture barrier entirely or just on the transition piece that will be put running across the door jamb? Also the cut on the existing hardwood floor isn't perfectly straight so there will be a few small gaps I'll have to fill with putty. Any other suggestions on how to deal with that? All hardwood is 3/4". TIA. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 03 Dec 2020 09:23 PM PST Hi fellow redditors.....my goal is to have a double acting door or double swing door. Can I turn any interior door into one if I buy hinges or does it have to be specifically made for that purpose? I'm installing doors in a rough opening during home addition. I want to buy a jeld wen frosted glassdoor from home depot and turn it into a double swing door. Thinking they would need to either provide the door jam without the door stop and maybe without the mortise for the hinges and handle? Would a finishing carpenter know how to do this? I'm clueless....please help! Thanks [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 03 Dec 2020 09:21 PM PST This is preventing us from using anything three pronged especially. The more circular prong doesn't fit into the outlets. Two pronged cables seem to be easier to fit in. I was wondering if there is a safe way to clear out that hole. [link] [comments] |
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