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Toebone posted:I cut a hole (roughly 1'x1') in a plaster & lathe wall and need to patch it back up. It's in the back corner of a closet so "good enough" is fine - cut a piece of drywall to size, tape & mud? Yes, more than fine. Alternatively, I've used a bit of spray foam as backing with just mud and paint over that for small holes. Faster and crappier than your solution, but it worked well for the back of my closet where no one will ever look. EDIT: RE: ceiling medalion/boob light base talk: I've found that priming and painting the flimsy plastic ones makes them look a little less like flimsy plastic and a little more like real wood. Blakkout fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Oct 22, 2020 |
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Oct 22, 2020 19:20
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ArtVandelay posted:So, I asked a question about my water heater at the very end of the last thread. I had a plumber come today, and he told me that it likely was full of sediment, but that since it was around 6 years old, cleaning it wouldn't make any difference. He wanted to sell me a 40 gallon tank for $1200. Was he full of poo poo and trying to rip me off here? Is he at least right that cleaning it won't solve anything at this point? I would at least try to drain it and see what comes out. All that would cost you is 40 gallons of water to refill, whatever gas/electric it takes to heat it back up again, and a few minutes of actual work. If that doesn't help clear things up, you can always still replace it and you haven't lost much. This worked well for my 8-year-old water heater when I moved into my house, which, as far as I can tell was never drained or otherwise maintained at all. I also had some guy quote me $1K (in Minneapolis) for a replacement when my water smelled bad and was slightly discolored. I watched a few YouTube videos on maintenance, ended up draining the whole 50 gallons and replacing the anode rod ($20 at Home Depot). All sorts of nasty sediment came out of the bottom when I drained it. When I was done, the water that came out of my tap was noticeably cleaner. Even if I have to repeat the process or replace the tank in another year I consider that a win, but your time may be more valuable than mine.
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Oct 26, 2020 20:34
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Asked my dad to get me a Dewalt 11 amp angle grinder for my birthday. He got me the 9 amp model instead, because it was all they had at his Lowe's. My gut reaction was to return it and buy the one I asked for, but it occurs to me that I'm probably overthinking this. How big of a difference is there between an 11 amp angle grinder and a 9 amp model? Will I ever even notice? Intended use right now is just to remove some high spots on a rough concrete patch to level a concrete basement floor for tile, and then cut some tile.
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Nov 3, 2020 23:00
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Jerk McJerkface posted:So circling back, I picked up a 5gal bucket of Killz2, and I guess it'll be terrible? Killz2 is my favorite primer. I used to just grab a bucket of whatever at Home Depot, until I tried that stuff. It'll be great for your purposes. For the actual paint, sure, go nuts and buy the best you can afford.
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Nov 10, 2020 18:41
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Final Blog Entry posted:Thanks, that was pretty much my thought process and electricity is not something that I'm ok with gray areas. Nowadays you can get LEDs in a pretty wide range of color temperatures. You probably won't be able to match an incandescent bulb exactly, but you might be surprised at the warmer color temps that are now available at big box stores.
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Nov 25, 2020 17:36
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Elviscat posted:We're waiting to hear back from the landlord, municipality's DoH says Landlord's responsible to fix, we'll see how it goes. I'm a landlord-side attorney but can't give you legal advice, in part because the laws about this sort of thing are different in each state and I'm only licensed to practice law in a different state than yours. That means I don't actually know what the laws are in your specific state. Your state's Attorney General's Office likely has a great tenant information webpage about your rights and your landlords obligations in these types of situations. Do some digging for that. This qualifies as a FAQ regardless of where you live. Three things I think might be universal here: 1. The landlord always has an obligation to provide a living environment that's habitable. Mold and pests are the two most common reasons that apartments are deemed uninhabitable in my area (probably everywhere?). 2. Notify the landlord of the problem IN WRITING and request a fix. In many states, the day that you provide this written notice starts the landlord's clock on when the repairs need to be made (two weeks in Minnesota). A text or a phone call isn't good enough from a legal perspective. Obviously you can be a normal person and call or text with your landlord about things, but consider writing a short two- or three-sentence letter as well to to document the date you first brought it to their attention. When this happened to me once, I wrote the letter, mailed it out, then called my landlord and just said "Hey, I wrote you a short letter about some [mold] issues I'm having in my apartment, but wanted to give you a call as well. Could you please come out and take a look?" This should be enough to get the ball rolling most of the time. 3. If you aren't getting cooperation from your landlord, consider calling the housing/building inspectors' department in your city and requesting an inspection. In my area this costs the tenant nothing, and creates a real headache for the landlord. The inspector will come inspect the property, issue a corrective notice or similar document that lists any housing or building code deficiencies in your unit and provides a reinspection deadline by which your landlord will have to make all of the fixes (usually 30 days out in Minnesota). 9 times out of 10 the inspector will find a bunch of other things unrelated to the mold that the landlord will have to fix as well, so it's a huge pain in the rear end for them and not a good way to make friends. This might be your nuclear option in case you're not able to get anywhere through diplomacy. If none of this gets you anywhere, it's time to contact an attorney about the possibility of withholding your rent. Good luck!
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Dec 1, 2020 21:52
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Rhyno posted:I'll watch some YT videos and see if it's within my skill set. I imagine the hardest part will be the trim and making it not look like total poo poo. Home Depot will also install it for you for about $350. Of course, you have to find and buy a door from them too.
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Dec 7, 2020 23:15
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I have a question about grouting and sealing some mosaic tile for a backsplash that I installed this weekend. I'm in the middle of my 24-72 hour window for the tile adhesive to dry. My mosaic is is made up of about 80% glass tiles and 20% some kind of grey stone tile. The grey stone tiles seem really porous--I got a small amount of blood from my hand on one while cutting, and it stained it so bad I had to just replace that tile. Will the white grout I want to apply next also stain the grey stone tile? I assumed that the order of operations would be to apply the grout once the tile adhesive has set, allow the grout to set, and then spray tile/grout sealant on on the tiles and the grout all at once, but I'm reading on the back of my spray bottle of sealant that it can be applied directly to stone before grouting to avoid staining. So now I'm wondering if I should be sealing the tiles before I apply the grout and then sealing the grout after it cures? melon cat posted:Is it worthwhile to buy a FLIR camera for home projects? Asking because I have an old century home with plaster and lathe and I'm doing all sorts of work that requires finding the studs. Stud finders and rare earth magnets haven't been helpful. I know that FLIR cams help find wall studs in drywall but I'm wondering if it will do the same with plaster and lathe. I've had good luck finding studs through my plaster walls using a cheap magnetic stud finder, like this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/C-H-Hanson-Magnetic-Stud-Finder-03040/202563186 The idea is that you use the magnet to find the screws or nails that fasten the lathe to the studs, and then you know you've got a stud running that full vertical distance and can measure in 16" increments from there. I prefer this solution to drilling a bunch of exploratory holes myself. Blakkout fucked around with this message at 17:35 on Feb 1, 2021 |
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Feb 1, 2021 17:27
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Thanks for both responses.AFewBricksShy posted:Edit: Also what kind of grout and what kind of sealer? Grout: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Custom-Building-Products-Polyblend-381-Bright-White-10-lb-Non-Sanded-Grout-PBG38110/100553533 Sealer: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Custom-Building-Products-TileLab-SurfaceGard-24-oz-Penetrating-Sealer-TLSGS24Z/202907662
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Feb 1, 2021 22:41
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AFewBricksShy posted:What's your joint size? I generally don't like wall grout (unsanded) for anything bigger than 1/16". The sanded grout allows it to have a little more body, there's a chance you could have it kind of slump out of the joints unless they are nice and tight. That is also something that only the person who did it might notice, but just something to consider. If you're sticking with Custom, and your joints are 1/8" or more, you might want to consider their prism line. It will cost a bit more, but will also provide a little bit of stain protection in the grout itself, which is nice for white grout. drat. My joints are1/8”. Bought unsanded grout because I read that sanded grout can scratch high-polish glass tiles during application.
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Feb 2, 2021 03:57
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Yeah, now that I'm a tiling expert (I've completed exactly one project) I know from the box of grout I used that you're not supposed to grout plain changes, like the spot you've mentioned. It'll just crack again because things move. Use a high quality silicone caulk instead so the joint can flex a bit.
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Feb 5, 2021 18:19
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Omne posted:Yeah, it's a plain change: That's exactly that caulk I'd use. In fact, I used the white version on my kitchen backsplash yesterday. I have a cracked tile in my bathroom that I just left as is because I was worried about making the crack more noticeable by "fixing" it. I could see arguments for filling the crack with either caulk (if you think the crack is due to movement) or grout (if you think it's not), but I'd consider matching the color of whatever you use to the tile and not the existing grout. Depending on how wide the crack is, you might have to dremel the crack to make it large enough for your caulk or grout to get in there. This is sort of why I just left mine alone.
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Feb 5, 2021 21:15
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Is there any reason a dryer vent duct can’t be next to a radon pipe in my basement? I need to replace my exterior dryer vent cover. The interior duct connecting the dryer to the current vent cover is also a mess and takes a long, indirect route to the exterior of the house. Since I have to remove and reconnect the vent covers outside anyway, I’d like to just re-do the ducting while I’m loving around with this. The best path for the duct would be right next to this radon pipe (blue). The radon pipe is just a pipe here—the radon fan and vent are both outside and on a different wall than the dryer vent. I know you shouldn’t put the dryer vent near a gas line, for example, but not sure if radon presents a problem as well. What could go wrong?
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Jan 30, 2024 19:55
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Thanks. Reviewed my local Code and couldn’t find anything there either.
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Jan 31, 2024 00:09
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