Home Improvement: What happened to calling “the professionals?” |
- What happened to calling “the professionals?”
- Wood Fired Brick (Pizza) Oven Build
- The Main/Master breaker of my friend's house is flipping at an increasing rate? What could be going wrong?
- Doing my best to paint our walls white, and I'm having a pretty hard time.
- Water in the basement
- All gas stove flames suddenly became huge in the middle of high heat cooking
- Just remodeled our kitchen. Do we need to let our home insurance know?
- Did I make the worst decision of my life?
- Gap in Over The Range Microwave Fan Vent
- Tile backsplash
- What would be the best solution for this odd shower hole?
- Some faucets near instant hot, others taking a few minutes to warm up?
- Where can I find a replacement for this
- Will my idea for DIY blackout shades work?
- Attempt at artificial sunlight, but the lighting is wrong. Can someone help me locate the right stuff?
- How can I reinforce a wobbly set of stairs (they use center support only) cheaply?
- Should I remove the metal trim from carpet before installing vinyl reducer?
- Curtains to block off the smell from the kitchen?
- Awkward stair space filler
- question about Christmas light fuses
- Anyone else buy a new construction before and experience major shifting?
- Moen double faucet cartridge removal
- Dishwasher not completing cycle
| What happened to calling “the professionals?” Posted: 22 Dec 2020 03:57 PM PST My experience with finding competent qualified contractors has left me exhausted, dejected, and quite honestly furious. I'm trying to install a vented gas insert into an existing masonry fireplace with gas stubbed off 3 inches to the right. There is an existing electrical outlet 6 inches to the right. I've had various contractors no-call no-show 4 times this week. Those that have taken the time to come out have dumped some horrible ideas in my lap:
I actually asked the last guy to leave right then and there... Maybe this is part of the game, but it seems finding qualified people who want to do the job (at all) let alone well just don't exist anymore. It's not even about what I'm willing to pay, only one actually made it that far to give me a $ estimate - none have come up with reasonably functional, safe, or aesthetically acceptable plans. Maybe I'm being unreasonable and 5 different contractors is totally normal for a project of such grand scope??? Ughh... who needs a vented insert when there's Reddit for venting. [link] [comments] |
| Wood Fired Brick (Pizza) Oven Build Posted: 22 Dec 2020 06:46 AM PST After several days this was removed from DIY because it didn't have enough detail, so I figured I'd post it here to inspire others. Summary: I have never done masonry in my life. I completed this entire build with an 8" angle grinder and a 12" diamond blade on a cheap Ryobi sliding chop saw, which seemed more than sufficient. This thing turned out a million times better and cooler than I could have ever possibly imagined. Build time: 13 Jun 2020 - 10 Oct 2020 Spent most weekends from June through July building (alone), only had help with the concrete slabs. Took several days off work too, to build. By mid August I was able to use the oven (perfect timing for fall), and the rest of the time was spent on finishing/beautifying the oven. Finishing took me 2 months due to figuring out what to get and laziness, but overall it only took about 2-3 additional "light" weekends of work to finish. Total build cost: ~$4000 About $400 was spent on tools I didn't have. In summary though the costs were: -Foundation and block stand: 700 -Hearth: 540 -Floor, Dome, Chimney: 1360 -Finishing (brick facade, counter): 815 -Door: 112 Other fun facts: fire bricks were $1.75/brick (used a little less than 180 fire bricks), Refractory mortar $95/bag (used 4 bags), CaSi blanket and board ~$540 Summer temps and humidity in Missouri are very high, I had two huge fans pointed at me the whole time. It was hot, satisfying work. I credit all the beautiful people on the FornoBravo forums for the inspiration and help along the way: https://www.fornobravo.com/forum/ [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 22 Dec 2020 12:45 PM PST It started in October, then twice in a month, and then faster. Yesterday, it happened four times. No other breaker is flipping, or ever flips. The first time it happened, the gas company was replacing some lines, but they say they were no where near anything that could have caused it. There's no new appliance or new arrangement of heavy power consumers. In fact, I'd say she has less hooked up than she did six months ago. She's alarmingly nonchalant about this, but I'm trying to help her find a solution and what it might cost to fix. [link] [comments] |
| Doing my best to paint our walls white, and I'm having a pretty hard time. Posted: 22 Dec 2020 11:46 AM PST Hey all, our home came with semi gloss dark blue walls in the living room, and baby poop dark green semi gloss in the bathrooms. We hate them. We are trying to use a "1 coat" paint - Behr Marquee, painters white in Satin for a bedroom and Eggshell for the bathrooms. It seems very very thick, and hard to spread. Our walls are textured, knockdown I think. We're using 3/8 nap rollers from the big box store. We cleaned our walls very thoroughly with a mild detergent, then wiped them all dry, taped everything off, and over the past couple of days, we just started painting. I thought we did our research by spending hours on youtube, but the layers are uneven, and there are dark areas all over. I'm finding it very difficult to get an even coat in the corners, we're using an OK brush, but the paint just won't stick unless it's a very thick coat. What am I doing wrong here? Any advice or youtube vids extremely welcome. [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 22 Dec 2020 06:19 PM PST Came across this crack visiting a home for sale. The home is in Eastern PA. The snow is melting and as you can see water is entering the basement through this crack that was not patched properly. Judging by the looks of the work, probably not fixed professionally. Can it be fixed permanently. Reading about this issue the grading on the house is probably not helping to move water away from the home. What would be the cost to fix this crack? http://imgur.com/a/KVEp2HR [link] [comments] |
| All gas stove flames suddenly became huge in the middle of high heat cooking Posted: 22 Dec 2020 07:55 PM PST Sorry if this is a stupid question, googling only brings up info about faulty ranges and I'm a bit worried about CO exposure. My apartment has a small, badly ventilated kitchen with a gas stove. Cooking steak always fills half the apartment up with smoke, but fortunately for me the smoke alarm is far from the kitchen, and I have an air purifier that cleans it up pretty quickly. I've cooked steak a million times and it's never been a problem. Tonight I attempted skirt steak for the first time, and skirt steak is meant to be cooked on very high heat for a short amount of time. I knew it would be smoky but figured only having it on for a few minutes would be fine. Indeed, a few seconds after I put the steak down on the piping hot pan, the kitchen was completely full of smoke. 2 minutes into cooking, I went to get a tray I could lay the steak on when it was done. When I turn back around, I notice big yellow flames going up the sides of the pan. I immediately take the pan off and the flame is probably 7 or 8 inches high, though still blue at the base. I turn it off and try the other 3 burners, and they're all doing the same thing. After turning everything off, I'd check the burners every 10 minutes or so, and the flames seemed to be going down. After a half hour, they were all back to normal and completely blue. So I have 2 questions:
[link] [comments] |
| Just remodeled our kitchen. Do we need to let our home insurance know? Posted: 22 Dec 2020 05:23 PM PST This is probably a dumb question, but this is our first big house project. We did a total renovation on the kitchen (new floors, cabinets, countertops, appliances). Do we contact our insurance to let them know, just in case any accidents happen in the future? Just wondering if that's normally what people do. Thanks all! [link] [comments] |
| Did I make the worst decision of my life? Posted: 22 Dec 2020 08:35 PM PST I just purchased a home in NC with working oil heat and 500 underground tank. I thought everything was good. The seller had it serviced and filled a little in Nov. Im assuming what was serviced was the stuff in the basement. I just filled it yesterday for $900. Don't know of any issues but now reading online im freaking out. My home was built in 1930. Is there a way to find out how old the tank is? should I just assume it is leaking and find out for sure. Or save money for replacement of everything before I find out? No one said anything about the scary stuff I saw online. Not the seller, my realtor, or my lender! The house is so cute and has so much character. Sorry for the book.. Thanks, single woman not wanting to regret my buy! [link] [comments] |
| Gap in Over The Range Microwave Fan Vent Posted: 22 Dec 2020 11:44 AM PST Hey all, I had an over the range microwave installed and noticed once the new microwave fan was on that there was air coming from this gap from whoever installed the vent through the cabinet in the first place. How should I go about sealing this off? My initial though was just to cut some wood to go around the metal vent, and that would keep most of the air out. There's also foil tape, but I'm unsure if it is the right thing to do here. Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 22 Dec 2020 12:04 PM PST My wife and I are buying our first home and want to put in a white subway tile backsplash in the kitchen. Is that something I could do do myself. I'm fairly handy when it comes to anything mechanical and building, just never done any tile/mortar work specifically. [link] [comments] |
| What would be the best solution for this odd shower hole? Posted: 22 Dec 2020 04:25 PM PST We bought a house with a basement shower. We haven't been using it but it looks like we will need it now. There is this hole in the shower that leads to a small door that doesn't open and it set back in the foundation . There is a gap between the foundation and the shower wall. How should we cover this up? Not sure what the options are here: [link] [comments] |
| Some faucets near instant hot, others taking a few minutes to warm up? Posted: 22 Dec 2020 04:52 PM PST I have a tankless water heater and pex piping, for some reason only the shower and one sink (out of 5) get hot instantly with the the rest taking about 2 minutes. I still have a home warranty for another 6 months but I've heard horror stories of the quality of labor they send over. Is this something I can fix myself? And if so where should I start? Also have a water knock at my kitchen faucet but I have a feeling that my be from the 8 year old builders grade faucet . Any advice is appreciated, thanks! [link] [comments] |
| Where can I find a replacement for this Posted: 22 Dec 2020 08:08 PM PST This is a damper or vent in my fireplace. It is it an ash dump as there is another little door further back for the ashes. This leads to a vent cover on the other side of my fireplace. It lets air in for the fire. But it is so old and rusted I cannot close it when not in use. It is 31"x5". What is this called and where do I buy a replacement. Can't find anything on google. pic [link] [comments] |
| Will my idea for DIY blackout shades work? Posted: 22 Dec 2020 08:02 PM PST I'm really going for this look I want to get nice white linen shades that look nice but I want to also black out the room. I was thinking of buying and measuring some thick black felt and command stripping it to the top behind the shades and then using some sort of velcro to keep it down when I want to blackout the room and then on the other side for rolling it up when I want the daylight in. Maybe a velcro on each side also so that it completey covers the window when I want to sleep. And when its day time I can arrange it so I can just roll it up? Is it crazy and a waste of time / money? [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 22 Dec 2020 07:35 PM PST Hi there! Like a lot of people, I really dread how short the days get in the winter. Once the sun starts going down around 4:30, my motivation to work totally dies and I end up short on hours and dreading the darkness. Having a west facing house though, I tend to close my curtains around that time anyway because the sun shines right into my eyes. It hit me the other day that if I could get the right kind of lighting behind my curtains, I could possibly trick my brain into thinking it was still light outside. This is my first attempt: What I did was get a few hydroponic grow lights as described in another DIY post where the DIYer wanted to make an artificial window.. On top of that, I used a Verilux Happy light, which you can see on the right side toward the bottom. My final product leaves something to be desired. It's not the dispersion, as that actually looks much better in person. It's the color temperature. The Verilux temperature is perfect. Out of the corner of my eye, it looks exactly the same as the sun shinning through the curtains. The problem is the grow lights. In the other DIYer's project, their light looks white, but all the ones at Home Depot from the same brand have a reddish/pinkish tint to them. It's not the same as their actual red spectrum lighting. They make full and white spectrum but with a red tint. Go figure. So what I need is basically some sort of lighting solution that is closer to the Verilux. I can't just buy a bunch of Veriluxes though, because for one they are $100 a piece (and I'd probably need 6), and for two they can't be mounted easily on glass. I also can't use any of the LCD panels I saw at Home Depot because I need a plug-in solution, as these need to be removed during the day. TLDR: Recommend me some lights I can put behind my curtains that will look like daylight Thanks! [link] [comments] |
| How can I reinforce a wobbly set of stairs (they use center support only) cheaply? Posted: 22 Dec 2020 09:40 PM PST I rent and I do not wish to significantly improve the value of an asset I do not own but I'd like to make my stair case a bit safer. Anything I can do to support it in the most cost efficient way? [link] [comments] |
| Should I remove the metal trim from carpet before installing vinyl reducer? Posted: 22 Dec 2020 09:15 PM PST Currently there is a metal trim as you can see in this picture. This trim was folding over the old glued down vinyl tiles I had. Now that I have new planks, should I remove the old trim before installing the reducer? Current State: https://imgur.com/phxFMon Reducer I want to install: Shaw 1.75-in x 72-in Alluring Vinyl Floor Reducer in the Floor Moulding & Trim department at Lowes.com [link] [comments] |
| Curtains to block off the smell from the kitchen? Posted: 22 Dec 2020 09:03 PM PST Hi guys. My one roommate is very sensitive to smell so the rest of us are having a hard time trying to find a happy medium where we could both cook fish and not give her a headache. We live in an old apartment with no hood over the stove. And we open the kitchen window for a long period of time to let the air out. We obviously have fans and tried cross ventilation but the smell seems to last all night. I thought maybe if we blocked off the entrance of the kitchen with a heavy curtain, that will at least help the smell from spreading to the rest of the house. What kind of fabric should I look for? And also, if there's any other tip (so far we have tried boiling vinegar water, cinnamon, and other citrusy things... having baking soda on the counter, wiping down the counter tops) that's practical and will help us with the odor, please let me know. Thank you :D [link] [comments] |
| Posted: 22 Dec 2020 05:00 PM PST The previous home owner added these cabinets and counter for a wet bar. I am about to rip the carpet up to lay vinyl flooring. Does anyone have any ideas on something I can do to fill that space so it's not a pain to do flooring around? It's literally only about 6 inches wide. awkward stair space [link] [comments] |
| question about Christmas light fuses Posted: 22 Dec 2020 12:02 PM PST I have a new set of outdoor white lights wrapping around my bushes. they worked the day I set them up and then they suddenly wouldn't light up. I looked online and found they have mini fuses. I changed the fuses and voila- they worked again. however, a few hours later, gone again. I am wondering what might be causing this? the extension cord I have hooked to them has the ground prong broken off of it, would this be the cause? [link] [comments] |
| Anyone else buy a new construction before and experience major shifting? Posted: 22 Dec 2020 08:38 PM PST I bought a new construction and we are heading into our first winter with it. It has shifted so bad so far that the majority of door/window trim is pulling apart, window caulking is cracked in majority of windows and one window misaligned far enough that blinds no longer fit in one window they fit in before. Anyone else with a new home experience this kind of shifting in a home or is it excessive? [link] [comments] |
| Moen double faucet cartridge removal Posted: 22 Dec 2020 06:21 PM PST I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get this cartridge out. I see there are cartridge puller tools, but those seem to presume you know what type of cartridge you're pulling in the first place. It looks like one of the metal sections still needs to be unscrewed and removed, but they're both on there so tightly I can't even make them budge. Any suggestions?? [link] [comments] |
| Dishwasher not completing cycle Posted: 22 Dec 2020 04:23 PM PST I bought a house earlier this year and have been having problems with my dishwasher. The dishwasher will go through most of the cycle and then shut off completely. The lights will go dark and the inside will have an inch or so of hot water. It does not drain or dry. After about 30 minutes the lights will come back on and we can then select an option to "Cancel/Drain". This gets rid of the water in the bottom and leaves us with clean but wet dishes. Any idea what is going on? Thanks in advance for any ideas. [link] [comments] |
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