- LPT: You know that WHITE tube of caulk you just grabbed? Double check the color. Right next to the WHITE, in the same packaging, which comes out the tip WHITE, and which you won't notice until you've used the whole tube, is the CLEAR caulk.
- I bought a house and the circuits make no sense. Garage is on same circuit as some bedrooms and a hallway closet. Is it worth it to have it re run for any reason?
- Newly constructed home starting to settle. Cracks and other signs starting to show.
- Finding a contractor of any kind these days is rough.
- Hanging a punching bag in my basement
- Polyurethane and painters tape!
- Refinishing old garage steps
- Question about headers verses posts.
- How do you estimate the cost to renovate an entire home?
- Basement interior door replacement - can't find right size
- Residing a house over t1-11
- Tricks to fill/cover drywall screw holes without repainting whole wall?
- All - Preference in the bedrooms? Carpet, hardwood, or something else?
- Neighbors have termites, should I be worried?
- Head hurts every time I go into the garage..
- How do I fix this flickering light?
- Front door replacement, brick rowhouse
- How can I air seal around this outlet?
- Ducted evaporative layout advice
- Is this fireplace valve meant to be open?
- Hiring an Architect
- Dryer install, please help
- Chemical smell coming from drywall hole underneath bathroom vanity - new construction apartment
- I had my attic topped up twice this week
- Converting a tub faucet to a shower - long and short term solutions?
| Posted: 05 Dec 2020 12:24 PM PST Just did this again. Wasn't even planning on painting this part. Now it gets painted. Because the gaps, although sealed, look exactly like before. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 05 Dec 2020 07:03 AM PST I'm considering at least having someone run a new circuit to the garage. [link] [comments] |
| Newly constructed home starting to settle. Cracks and other signs starting to show. Posted: 05 Dec 2020 03:26 PM PST We knew it was inevitable. The builder warned us it would happen and said it's normal for new construction. Our home is now three years old and we're really starting to see the signs of settling. I first noticed settling along the edges of the rounded corners that are installed at every window and almost every outward facing interior corner. Cracks form where the edging meets the drywall. Lately, however, I've started to notice other signs of settling. Cracks forming along corners in the bathroom shower where the quartz wall panels meet. A crack in a random place on the ceiling above my living room. And even a distinct, right-to-left downward slope in the framing of the garage man door. Obviously, there's not much I can do to stop the house from settling, nor can I stop the effects of said settling inside the house. But at what point should we as homeowners take action? Should I be looking for other, more specific signs that could indicate the potential for a more serious issue or failure? [link] [comments] |
| Finding a contractor of any kind these days is rough. Posted: 05 Dec 2020 09:26 PM PST For about a month, I've been looking for a mason to fix some brick work. I can't even get a call back 90% of the time. I've also been ghosted twice after guys initially picked up the phone but never got back to me. After I found someone who was professional and courteous with stellar reviews, I was incredibly anxious telling him I had to reschedule him coming out to look at the brick and give an estimate because if I lose this guy, I'm out of options. I was super apologetic and luckily he was cool about it, but man it's rough out there. Fingers crossed this guy doesn't ghost me. I also can't get any reputable company to call me back about refinishing hardwood floors. I can't get projects done because I can't find contractors. [link] [comments] |
| Hanging a punching bag in my basement Posted: 05 Dec 2020 09:44 PM PST Hi everyone, I have a 70 lb. punching bag I'm looking to hang in my basement. https://i.imgur.com/UQO5itL.jpg https://i.imgur.com/AFdiShp.jpg The area I'd like to mount this has a bunch of 2 x 6 boards running up and down, with one 1 x 2 running left to right, nailed to each 2 x 6 at respective points of intersection. The red "x" is where I want to loop the chain for the punching bag. So note that my intention isn't to install a hook, but to simply use the chain to hold it up. My question is, would this be a stable means to do this? A friends suggested I instead use a hook, into the 2 x 6, and mount it that way for a more stable fix. Would that be more advisable? [link] [comments] |
| Polyurethane and painters tape! Posted: 05 Dec 2020 09:33 PM PST I'm refinishing a floor and am applying oil based polyurethane. I've taped off the baseboards with blue painters tape. I have applied one coat of poly thus far. I have at least one more to go. Should I be concerned about the polyurethane causing me issues removing the blue painters tape? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 05 Dec 2020 09:01 PM PST Howdy folks! We are new homeowners and one of the first projects I wanna tackle is making these steps to the garage better, they're in pretty bad shape: shoddy steps So far I've removed the carpet so I'm left with the bare wood. I was thinking of either trying to caulk/sand and refinish the existing wood or to light sand and glue a piece of veneer or thin plywood on top to provide a better surface and finish. I'm quite handy and I have a few tools/done a few woodworking projects before so I'm open to anything. Any ideas or opinions from you friendly folks would be great! Thanks! Edit:typo [link] [comments] |
| Question about headers verses posts. Posted: 05 Dec 2020 10:17 PM PST I am having a wall opened up and some shelves put in. I also draw buildings for a living so I know a bit about things like span. Not an engineer by a long shot to be clear. There is a beam running along the ceiling between the living room and hall. It has a ten inch cut in it. The guy I'm having repair my wall and put in my shelves is saying I need a header. From drawing buildings I'd think 2 4" x 6"posts every three feet would be adequate. I've said this but he's insisting a 4.5" x 12"header is required. If this beam with a cut in it was doing the job why a big header? I'm fine doing whatever he says. I trust him. I'm more curious as to the why and if it's possible not to have a header how would I explain this? I have lots of nice wood. That is not the issue. It just seems like more complicated than necessary. Wondering if I'm not explaining myself properly. And we're actually not doing the row of shelves furthest to the right. So the opening will be narrower. 16' wide room.more accurate [link] [comments] |
| How do you estimate the cost to renovate an entire home? Posted: 05 Dec 2020 08:02 PM PST I have a home thats been fire damaged and I am trying to figure out how to get quotes for things that have been damaged in the home. Should I gut the home first to get a better look of whats in good/bad shape and then reach out to contractors? I can estimate things like flooring as I would be doing the labor and just calculating cost of material. But for bigger things such as a roof reframe/rebuild. Do I need drawings first to present to contractors or should they just come and know what to do and give me a quote? [link] [comments] |
| Basement interior door replacement - can't find right size Posted: 05 Dec 2020 04:33 AM PST Hi, I am looking for a bifold door , under $200 , that has measurements of 46.5 x 73.5. I've looked at custom doors, trimmable doors and standard sizes and I can't find one that fits. Any help would be appreciated. Not looking for anything too fancy, just need to get a door on this closet. Thank you [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 05 Dec 2020 10:11 PM PST So I'm working on fixing up my rancher in the PNW. It was victim to a lot of rot due to bad flashing and poor appliance repairs. The siding has no sheathing, it's just t1-11 nailed straight to the studs over tar paper. A friend told me I could probably house wrap over the t1-11 and put new siding up over that. That would be far better than my approach, which would be removing the t1-11 then sheathing and siding. A few questions: 1. Is this a good idea? 2. Will mildly damaged t1-11 be ok to cover up or should I replace it? 3. Will I have to z-strip flash anything I'm replacing on the t1-11? Thanks for your advice and apologies for any vagueness — I'm very new to all of this. [link] [comments] |
| Tricks to fill/cover drywall screw holes without repainting whole wall? Posted: 05 Dec 2020 07:56 PM PST I had old soundbar mounted to wall that I've removed and I've got screw holes in the drywall. I'm mounting a new soundbar but it's a different size and slightly different location so you can see the old holes. Is there a trick to cover these holes without repainting the entire wall? Since there will be another soundbar there it'll be obscured a bit. But when we are sitting on the couch we'll be able to see the holes if they aren't filled in which I know will annoy me (and especially my wife 😛). Advice needed! Photos (the soundbar you see isn't the location of the new soundbar. It'll be wallmounted. It's just here right now while o figure out what to do): [link] [comments] |
| All - Preference in the bedrooms? Carpet, hardwood, or something else? Posted: 05 Dec 2020 01:06 PM PST Just out of curiosity. Kind of torn about if I want carpet in the bedrooms, but probably will in the basement (concrete slab). Currently there's hardwood in there, and It would lower my cost of I just refinished the main area of hardwood in the living room (315 square feet). [link] [comments] |
| Neighbors have termites, should I be worried? Posted: 05 Dec 2020 11:57 AM PST My neighbors came over and let us know they have confirmed termites. They discovered them in their window sills. They just had Terminex out today and they are starting a process to get rid of them. I walked around my house to do a visual inspection and didn't see anything. Our houses are about 15 feet apart so I am wondering if I should be worried? Should I at least hire someone to do an inspection? [link] [comments] |
| Head hurts every time I go into the garage.. Posted: 05 Dec 2020 09:22 PM PST EVERY TIME I go into my garage I get a headache. My wife's car is there and it doesnt even start up.. I told my wife when we first moved in that the garage smells strongly of gasoline and she would brush it off.. I dont smell gasoline anymore in there but still every time I go into the garage I get the WORST headache ever... I tried opening a window but now I am worried about mold growth from the outside moisture.. what can I do ? I have no friends and her car is dead so I cant get the car out of the garage. [link] [comments] |
| How do I fix this flickering light? Posted: 05 Dec 2020 05:24 AM PST This light has been flickering and I took off the cover and uncovered this. First time I've ever seen this before. [link] [comments] |
| Front door replacement, brick rowhouse Posted: 05 Dec 2020 03:10 PM PST The project was to replace a well-worn front door at our brick rowhouse in Philadelphia (c. 1860). The key challenge - besides my lack of door experience - was to manage the risks of leaks. Photos: https://imgur.com/gallery/L3SIYpW As I gather, one shouldn't install an exterior door on a concrete slab. But that's essentially how my previous door had been installed, and I didn't see a way around repeating the same approach. I resolved to do what I could to prevent water from traveling from the concrete step back under the door. This Reddit community was a good resource and inspiration, but it was difficult to find directly comparable projects. Generally, door installation projects reference a "sill pan" or recommend preparing the sill with self-adhesive flashing tape. Good advice, if one has a sill. So we started the project without a full plan for handling the waterproofing. Perhaps exposing the current conditions would make a solution clear? Our eventual approach was to apply wood harder to the rotted wood, a layer of Bondo to fill gaps and create a slight slope away from the door, and lastly a piece of aluminum flashing folded to be a partial sill pan. We glued the flashing down with some construction adhesive, applied Dupont FlexWrap on either side, and set the pre-hung door down onto an application of silicon. We didn't caulk the gap under the metal threshold. The thought is that this will allow any water to seep out the front, rather than being trapped in. I'm not certain this is the right choice, but it's the way our windows were installed, and seemed to make some sense. Another option, I suppose, would have been to knock out the top concrete step and re-pour it with an actual sill. If we stay in this house long enough, we may have time to do that yet. Lessons and key choices
Overall, the project went well and I'm glad we took it on. Great learning experience with my son and lasting memories. I'd welcome any suggestions or questions that help make it a better example for others. Cost of materials$2,270 estimated total. Breakdown:
[link] [comments] |
| How can I air seal around this outlet? Posted: 05 Dec 2020 03:54 PM PST This outlet is missing some drywall around it. Any recommendations on how to air seal this? The wires come up from my crawlspace. I'll air seal down there too, so maybe this isn't as important? [link] [comments] |
| Ducted evaporative layout advice Posted: 05 Dec 2020 04:45 PM PST We live in the perfect climate for ducted evaporative, most people have it in our area. I have had two installers out to quote on my plan for ducted evaporative. Both installers have said it's not feasible. One said we would need two evap units. The other said they could only cool the bedrooms downstairs. I'm not one to normally question professional opinions, in this case though I know that they're super busy this time of year and likely don't want complex a jobs. We are looking at the Breezair Supercool EXS220 – 15kW – Airflow 2540 Has anyone installed a similar solution to my plan or see an issue with it? [link] [comments] |
| Is this fireplace valve meant to be open? Posted: 05 Dec 2020 06:11 PM PST There's a little plate that is partially turned on the gas line in the fireplace, and I can't figure out if it's supposed to be like this? I can't find anything from looking at images online... [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 05 Dec 2020 06:40 AM PST We are planning to build a new house and will be hiring an architect. From a few articles I've found online most just suggest having a phone call / 'interview' with a few architects to pick one. What I'd really like is to get some very rough sketches / design proposals from 2-3 different architects to get a better sense of how they'd approach the project. Does anyone actually do this? Or do people just rely on their existing portfolio? I realize we'd likely need to pay them for their time to put together a proposal, which is fine. Just wondering if it is a common request/practice and what to ask for. The lot we are building on is somewhat complex (grading, views, neighboring wetlands, etc), which is why I want to do this. If it was a simper project I'd be less concerned. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 05 Dec 2020 05:25 PM PST Installing new washer and dryer into home. Dryer is rated for 20-22k btu's but our local home depot only had gas connectors rated for 53k btu Will this work or should I go search for a different connector. [link] [comments] |
| Chemical smell coming from drywall hole underneath bathroom vanity - new construction apartment Posted: 05 Dec 2020 07:35 PM PST Top floor apartment unit, 4 floors total with approximately 8 units per floor. After having two plumbers already at my apartment, I'm trying to figure out why there is a terrible smell underneath my bathroom vanity. This is a brand new apartment complex in Chicago, and residents moved into the unit in the summer. I started noticing the smell maybe a month or two ago but it now gets unbearable every evening. Occasionally in the maintenance closet across the hall I get the smell too, more faintly. This closet also has no drop ceiling and you can see above the ceiling and what looks like some fire-retardant insulation sprayed everywhere. There is a second bathroom with a shared wall to this bathroom, but there is no smell in there (this door is never closed and the exhaust suction is much weaker than bathroom-with-odor). Things I've tried so far:
I believe this is a ventilation issue since the smell started around the same time my building had the bathroom exhaust fan in the state of "always on" (even though the switch is off, it is still sucking up quite a bit of air). The drywall hole underneath my bathroom sink in the vanity has a noticable draft of air coming into the bathroom, especially in the evening. The air is cool, feels a good 5-10 degrees cooler than room temperature. Management company isn't doing much to help, and the couple of times I've had someone out they usually come around noon, when the smell is only faint (I can still slightly smell it, but the older adults apparently can't). My roommate and one plumber was able to smell it when it gets bad in the evenings. The smell isn't so much like rotten eggs, it feels slightly chemical and maybe sulfur-like. Even when it's slightly faint, when inhaled it leaves this tiny prickly feeling up my nose and when the smell gets worse, within a few seconds of inhaling I feel pressure build up behind my eyes followed up by a headache. Sometimes ringing ears. My guess is that the constant air-sucking from the exhaust fan when the bathroom door is closed, combined the colder weather, is causing a ventilation issue. I don't think it smells like "sewer" (and my handheld gas detector supposedly picks up methane but it doesn't detect anything). Could it be insulation material or maybe hydrogen sulfide? I thought maybe a dead rodent somewhere but it's also odd the odor builds up and peaks in the evening. I feel like my health as well as my roommates is in danger and I don't feel comfortable sleeping in the master bedroom near the bath. I get terrible headaches and sinus problems. Also, closing the bathroom door and sealing it usually makes the smell worse, even though you'd think the exhaust would ventilate it out more. [link] [comments] |
| I had my attic topped up twice this week Posted: 05 Dec 2020 03:18 PM PST I installed a new bathroom fan insulated ducting and a grill in the soffit. The vent is dripping water from inside the fan. I had my attic topped up twice this week once when I was done fan worked no leaks. Then it got cold started dripping with condensation I just thought I didnt put enough insulation around the fan so I stuffed batts and more blow insulation up there it stopped dripping. Sadly it started dripping again. After I topped up the attic again . couple questions is the condensation happening because the insulated duct is only 3 feet long before it makes it out side ? Or I had to 90 the flex duct almost right away once to go up over the the truss then one more 90 to head out to the soffit horizontal (hope that makes sense). I think I could rotate the box so it's closer to two 45 degree turns to get outside . But I dont want to mess the attic insulation up a third time without really know what the problem is I also bought some metal rotating 90s thinking that might get better air flow then bent flex pipe . But again I dont know what the problem is Any help would be great I have went from a quick little job where I didnt plan on damaging any drywall to half my ceiling down . And a fan I am considering pulling out and patching over . [link] [comments] |
| Converting a tub faucet to a shower - long and short term solutions? Posted: 05 Dec 2020 10:42 PM PST The new home we purchased has a bathroom with a tub faucet only. Since this will be the bathroom I get ready in, I want to convert the faucet to a shower in the very near future. Can anyone tell me if this is something that can be done without any demolition? Can I somehow remove the faucet and attach the shower fixture that way? The utility room is right under that bathroom so maybe there is a way to access it from the basement? Unfortunately I did not look and we can't check again until the final walk-through before close on the 18th. As far as a short-term solution, has anyone had any luck with those over-the-faucet rubber converters? All of the reviews I find are..not great.. Sorry for not having any more info or pics - I thought I would be able to handle sharing the other bathroom with my husband for a bit. However, as we draw closer, I'm reflecting back on the peace of having my own bathroom all these years and want to get back to that ASAP lol. [link] [comments] |
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