Home Improvement: Replacing a door knob is harder than I thought |
- Replacing a door knob is harder than I thought
- Weak t-rex arms? Use a car jack to lift up your disposal
- Staircase I built needs some improvements...
- Trying to figure out where to stop backsplash
- Wood Rot in Ceiling - Too Late to Salvage?
- How do you quiet down creaky old floors in a apartment cheaply?
- Interested in gas fireplace inserts
- PO painted over wallpaper in the kitchen. I get the joy of removing it and will take any and all advice you can give.
- Unexpected problem installing a brace for a vanity and I'm stuck...
- Shower Tile Guidance
- I have a leak :(
- Insulating Garage
- Cold air drafts help
- Shut off hose bibbs
- Building a half wall in bi level house
- Tankless Water Heater Question
- Fill in drywall space around ceiling light Fixture.
- Is there a device that will help reach a power outlet behind unmovable furniture?
- Old wire, is it 12 awg?
- Removing mastic from wood floors. Smells like diesel. Anyone know anything about this?
- Brief burning smell
- Custom closet DIY
- Water softener has water at the bottom?
- Unsealed windows. Do I need to seal them? What type of caulk?
- How should I attach wood to those adjustable shelving units?
| Replacing a door knob is harder than I thought Posted: 19 Dec 2020 05:05 PM PST I am trying to replace my son's bedroom doorknob because it doesn't latch so the animals can barge in and party it up, I have replaced the knob and the plate and it still won't latch, any advice? I am a single mom so this is my job I am not excelling at and don't have the funds to get a locksmith, I should be able to do this but I'm really frustrated, any suggestions would be so great! [link] [comments] |
| Weak t-rex arms? Use a car jack to lift up your disposal Posted: 19 Dec 2020 06:05 AM PST *Warning: jacks are powerful, you can destroy your sink, so make sure you don't push your disposal too far up. The mechanism is slow so you just have to be careful. But it is worth mentioning. Now to the rest of the story: Using a car jack, the scissors kind, makes it easy to pop your disposal up to the connection at the top. I've worked on my disposal twice. The first time it was a nightmare. Lifting up the disposal, balancing it, then trying to slide the ring on- disaster. It was ridiculously hard. Then the second time I used the car jack and it was really easy to balance the disposal, bring it up and then attach it. I used one hand to balance the disposal, then one hand to turn the knob until it lifted up to where it needed to be. So easy!! [link] [comments] |
| Staircase I built needs some improvements... Posted: 19 Dec 2020 06:26 PM PST Hi, let me start with that this was the first and probably last stair I will ever build so please be nice to me. I obviously would do things differently the second time but "should-have's" are just going to make me feel lousy. Link to album: https://imgur.com/gallery/Ap3I1P3 My dad and I built a house for myself and my husband. Pretty much everything is on the second story so these stairs see a lot of traffic. We also put a cable rail that my dad designed and it is not going to come back out without a fight so any course of action has to account for it being there. My dad has done a lot of stuff (career as home builder) but not a lot of finish work so we kinda winged this one. First mistake was using prefinished 3/4" solid hickory planks for the treads. Hickory is hard, our compressor was small, nails did a U turn in the wood and therefore we have a lot of nail holes! Additionally, any difference in plank length shows itself against the kick with a nice gap that collects dirt. Also, pretty much every junction of tread to riser has a gap where cat hair goes to live in the under-stair abyss. Second mistake was using a product called Color Putty to fill said holes and some of the gaps. Color Putty not recommended for use in floors. It was pretty soft for a month or so while it collected dirt but I was busy so I figured I'd scrape it out another day. WELL. Now it is hard! and dirty! I should have listened to Color Putty. The last thing is that we put in the risers (hickory plywood) and then poly'd them... which is not so bad except for I didn't shield the treads from the aerosol polyurethane. Little drops landed on the back parts of each tread by the risers and I didn't know it so they dried there and made a rough texture. This is great at trapping dirt and as a BONUS the poly isn't protecting the risers at all, they are scuffed up with dirt in the grain that doesn't clean up. I just cleaned the stairs today and am pretty disappointed in how they cleaned up. There's dirt worked into all the gaps and the beveled edges of the planks, the Color Putty is.... a color.... and obviously my poly job was susceptible to dirt infiltration. Short of refinishing the whole deal, what can I do to improve my stair situation? Thanks for reading. [link] [comments] |
| Trying to figure out where to stop backsplash Posted: 19 Dec 2020 05:39 AM PST New kitchen is nearing completion and should be 100% functional when the plumber hooks up the sink and dishwasher Tuesday. The last detail will be the backsplash, but I can't figure out where I want to stop it at the top. It's a little different because the range and hood are centered on the back wall with windows on either side. I'm definitely going up to the bottom of the hood over the range, but I'm not sure where to stop on the rest. I'm thinking one of the three options in the picture below:
https://i.imgur.com/7mZiArG.jpeg Edit: Well it's pretty clear the yellows have it. Thanks for all the responses! [link] [comments] |
| Wood Rot in Ceiling - Too Late to Salvage? Posted: 19 Dec 2020 03:50 PM PST Had a roof leak that went undetected for a couple months. Took care of the leak but damage has already been done to the wood. One of the beams got it pretty bad. It's definitely partially rotted (slightly soft and mushy on the outside layer, but not all the way through). I'm drying the area out now with a fan, but will this be enough to save it or is it too late? Anything else I need to be doing, or perhaps be aware of here? [link] [comments] |
| How do you quiet down creaky old floors in a apartment cheaply? Posted: 19 Dec 2020 06:04 PM PST My landlord lives under my apartment and they have been complaining about sound issue at night and i want to quiet down the floor without having to redo the floor since, i cant cause its a apartment. I was thinking maybe some sort of foam rugs or something but that seems expensive and the issue is mainly in my kitchen and hallway. Any suggestions would be appreciated! :) [link] [comments] |
| Interested in gas fireplace inserts Posted: 19 Dec 2020 05:35 PM PST Our living room currently has no fireplace or mantle. Would like to put in a fire place, mantle and some built in bookshelves and drawer storage on either side. If it helps the flue for the furnace does run through the wall behind where I want to put the fireplace. What are some of the non electric fireplace options out there? I think my budget for materials is going to be around $3k all said and done and I plan on doing most of the work myself save running the gas line or any flues or vents. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 19 Dec 2020 04:48 PM PST We're getting ready to put some open shelving on a big wall in the kitchen, but have decided that before we do so we should suck it up and remove the painted-over-and-starting-to-peel wallpaper from the kitchen. I'll YouTube and google, but sometimes y'all have some really solid advice, too. All ears. [link] [comments] |
| Unexpected problem installing a brace for a vanity and I'm stuck... Posted: 19 Dec 2020 04:47 PM PST My wife bought a very lovely but incredibly heavy floating vanity for our main bathroom. The manufacturer provides four heavy duty french cleats for hanging it, and the half of the cleat that attach to the vanity are already in position from the factory. Of course the positions of the cleats don't match up to my studs because life is never that simple, so after some research I decided the best thing to do was to cut away the drywall, notch out the studs and fit a horizontal 2x4 brace. I took out the strip of drywall and I have a problem now - the strip where the brace needs to go has an ABS pipe running up against it, as you can see from the pictures. I assume that this is for the vent, and there's not much I can do about moving it. I thought about installing my brace higher up, but the second and third studs already have a big notch out for the pipe. I thought about notching the brace piece, but it seems like I'll lose a lot of the strength if I only have a 1/2" of material where it crosses each stud. I thought about using a piece of 5/8" ply as my brace instead, but I'm concerned that 5/8" of material isn't really enough for the beefy lag bolts that come with the cleats. Any ideas? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 19 Dec 2020 05:45 PM PST TL:DR - How F'd am I throwing thinset + 12x24" tile over 12" of drywall with normal fiberglass tape, after I've already waterproofed and set the shower. Personally, I think I'll be alright with waterproofing + thinset on that top row. The wife and I have embarked on our first bathroom remodel, so far things have been (shockingly) nice and nothing unexpected. Flooring is in, vanity, lights, mirror, toilet, and repairs have been made to the previous shower surround, it was one of those wonderful fiberglass inserts from 1970, you know what I'm talking about. Here is our dilemma, we originally decided to not tile to the ceiling, we liked the look of the original surround. This has now changed, maybe. Here's everything we've done for this shower to prepare -
Here's the catch... I've started to rough my tiles, measure and lay them out, we're using 12x24 LFT tiles, I'm going three columns per wall. Back/Front walls - 1 full tile in the center, 2x 6" tiles on either side, my front wall is 36" from corner to corner, I will match the back wall and tile down the tub sides. Center wall is 59" so I will lay a full tile in the middle with 2x 17-1/2" tiles on either side. From what I've read due to warping and lippage, a stacked column pattern as long as it's symmetrical should be fine for these tiles and look great, brick patterns are a no-no. As I've laid these out and doing some basic measurements I'll be able to go 6 tiles high, with a 1/8" grout line and be able to go from tub to ceiling and maintain a 1/8" grout line from last tile to ceiling, it's basically perfect, this is also counting for a 1/8" grout line from bottom tile to tub face, I can always make this 1/16" which we might do... We didn't originally plan on going to the ceiling. But now that she's seen a rough idea, she wants it, as you know happy wife, happy life. The shower head is also 10" from the ceiling so it will fall right on the non-cement board tile, and I have applied 2 layers of water proofing from cement/drywall transition to ceiling, I figured I'd paint over this. I would hate to have to remove that last 12" of drywall, put cement board up and redo all the work including ripping out the mortar we've already set. From what I've found in my research, the only time to tile + thinset is on kitchen backsplashes or bathroom wainscoting. For what it's worth, the previous enclosure did not get soaked or wet above the shower head on the painted walls, and there was no signs of mold anywhere, just normal condensation. I think this is something I should be safe to proceed with. Also, once we get the tile laid out and I'm at my last tile at the top we might not be able to put in that last tile anyways if my measurements were off, or tiles have shifted. I've already purchased the rondec for it and am prepared to trim everything off, so I do have a backup plan, which was our original idea anyway. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 19 Dec 2020 04:20 PM PST I noticed a lot of standing water in my yard around what I believe to be the main irrigation box. Today I bought a meter key, and lo and behold the leak indicator was lively spinning away. I opened the irrigation box and it FULL of water. Overflowing actually. The soil around it is solid water if you start pulling it away. Im having lots of fear right now because this is a few feet from my house. I dug around inside almost shoulder deep in water to find the valves. They're half buried in sediment. Eventually found two of them. Shut the one closest to the house and after that the leak dial stopped spinning, but that shut off water to the entire house. Shut off the one further from the house and it stopped spinning, and the sprinklers don't work. My assumption based on the water standing in the box is something in the box itself is leaking. I really don't know shit about plumbing, so I'm calling a plumber. That said, I'm very concerned about the amount of water leaking and am having a hard time Reading my meter. Can someone help? I timed it and the red dial moved one full number (like from 6 to 7) in 2 min and 13 sec. So 1 full rotation in about 23 minutes. Does that mean 1 gallon per 23 minutes? Can this wait till Monday or should I call them out instantly? There's no water inside and presumably this has been an issue for at least a few days [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 19 Dec 2020 03:56 PM PST Hey all. We're in our first home and just completing our first year in it. So we're somewhat inexperienced. We live in a cold climate. The garage is a one car and an untreated space that is attached to the treated space. There's of course drywall and insulation on the one wall that attaches, but the others have nothing. I'm wondering a few things:
Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 19 Dec 2020 04:23 PM PST I have a pellet stove right now in my living room center of house and I can get the living room up to 73 and then like 30 minutes later when it shuts off it immediately goes down to 67. There has to be a ton of cold air coming in somewhere but I can't really find any big big drafts that would cause problems. I just feel like I'm always cold in my house even if my living room is 73. Any idea on the best way or services to check this in my house? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 19 Dec 2020 06:58 PM PST Hi all, I'm a new homeowner. My parents recommended to me to shut off water to the exterior hose bibbs for the winter to prevent any issues. In the utility room in my garage, I shut off the water to the front hose bibb which was fine. I wasn't able to find the shutoff to the rear hose bibb located in my backyard. Is there a particular place I should be looking at? EDIT: Found it. It was the under the kitchen sink. Thanks for the suggestions. This is a great community. [link] [comments] |
| Building a half wall in bi level house Posted: 19 Dec 2020 05:59 PM PST I have a bi level house with no railing at the top of the stairs I would like to put a half wall in there. Any suggestions on the right way to do this? I was reading this article and this seems pretty easy but I have my doubts that it would be very sturdy. [link] [comments] |
| Tankless Water Heater Question Posted: 19 Dec 2020 04:17 PM PST Last year I bought a Navien tankless water heater and had it installed in my attached garage. I live in the northeast. While it never gets below 40 degrees in my garage, sometimes I'll hear the unit power up randomly throughout the day even if the heat isn't on and there's no hot water running. Is that just a typical thing for them? I've wondered if it's the unit's way of keeping itself warm in a colder environment. [link] [comments] |
| Fill in drywall space around ceiling light Fixture. Posted: 19 Dec 2020 12:21 PM PST I replaced ceiling light fixtures in my apartment and the housing which holds the light in the ceiling is smaller than the hole cut into the existing sheetrock. The old lights had big trim pieces which hid this empty space and the new fixtures pictured do not. Any ideas on filling in the ~1" gap all the way around? [link] [comments] |
| Is there a device that will help reach a power outlet behind unmovable furniture? Posted: 19 Dec 2020 03:47 PM PST I have this cabinet that has lights but its now unmovable and I can't reach the outlets directly behind it. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 19 Dec 2020 05:58 PM PST https://i.imgur.com/zyyW1vb.jpg I have this old wiring going to a 20amp breaker. The wire is not labeled. How can I tell if it is 12awg? I got concerned because most of my breakers are 15amp and have the same wire labeled 14/2. But the 20amp breaker has the same silver wire but no label. [link] [comments] |
| Removing mastic from wood floors. Smells like diesel. Anyone know anything about this? Posted: 19 Dec 2020 09:32 PM PST Doing some updates around our recently purchased old home. We tore out carpet in the master and second bedroom and found tile underneath the guest bedroom. We already have an asbestos abatement crew coming in to remove the vermiculite from the attic, so I called the estimator up to see if he could take a look at this too. We ended up testing all three layers of material (tile, brown paper and mastic) all came back asbestos free. We took this as a free ticket to tear this stuff apart. Despite the good news, we still wore respirators. The tile came off super easy and we were able to remove it all without breaking any. Underneath is the brown paper layered and mastic below that. We opt to soak it with hot water and scrub/scrape out way through. Halfway through we take a break from the room and remove our respirators to find the whole house now smells like diesel gasoline, and our hands reek of this stuff too. I've washed my hands about 10 times and They still smell. I've searched high and low on the internet and found similar stories, but cant figure out what I'm dealing with here. Was hoping someone would be able to tell me weather or not my hands are gonna fall off. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 19 Dec 2020 06:11 PM PST I smelled something that smelled faintly like burning coming from my basement. I went down to where the heater/AC units, water heater, and dryer are located and could smell it there. The smell went away after a couple of minutes. I turned up the heat to it would kick on, and no smell. Nothing in the circuit box was hot, and I hadn't used the dryer in days. I'm concerned though. I thought I smelled a faint burning smell in the same area a couple of weeks ago. I live in a row home. I don't know if it could be coming from a different house. Any thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 19 Dec 2020 09:40 AM PST Complete images here Total cost of project ~$500 and 2ish days time. This was my very first DIY project as a home owner and when we were purchasing I hated this closet the most out of everything else. We knew we wanted one of these walk in closet style looks while not having the space for an actual walk in. Similar higher end systems were $1000+ to order online and cheap crappy ones are about $250-500 from big box stores. This allowed us to have the higher end supports as well as heavy duty rods and added shelves that most pre packaged systems lack. The cost can be way less for those wanting to do something similar as the wall paper was literally half the cost. Without the wallpaper would have been much much cheaper but the walls in there were heavily damaged with multiple layers of paint enhancing the damage and I was far too lazy to do the proper prep/clean up work on it. Will change the doors out in the future for a cleaner more modern look but turns out doors are expensive so will wait until after Xmas. Rough list of materials is:
[link] [comments] |
| Water softener has water at the bottom? Posted: 19 Dec 2020 04:56 PM PST My partner is selling his home and we need to ensure the water softener is working is part of the list of things we need to get done. I was taking a look at our water softener and there's water at the bottom and no salt. I don't own the home so I had no idea that the water softener was basically not running the whole time. Anyway, there's water at the bottom. Can I just buy a couple bags of salt and put it in? Or is the water a concern? [link] [comments] |
| Unsealed windows. Do I need to seal them? What type of caulk? Posted: 19 Dec 2020 06:57 PM PST Hello! I need an advice. I'm a fresh homeowner and I noticed that every window in the house has a gap between a window and a sill / other wooden parts. Should I seal it using a caulk? If the answer is yes, then what type of caulk should I use it for sealing them inside the house and what type for outside? Should I use a different type for a bathroom window? Please see the photo that shows a gap. [link] [comments] |
| How should I attach wood to those adjustable shelving units? Posted: 19 Dec 2020 10:29 PM PST Putting in the closetmaid shelving system in my closet, instead of the crappy wire shelves I'm going with either laminated pressboard or preprimed pine depending on price. What process should I take to do it right? [link] [comments] |
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