nwin posted:

Can anyone recommend a cheap manual wood plane I could use to shave two bedroom doors?

I’ve checked the hinges on both of them and they’re all tight, it’s just that both doors are hard to close and it seems like the upper side of the doors need shaved.

nwin posted:

And that’s why I asked!

What’s the process? Just cut some pieces of paperboard to the size of the hinge and insert between hinge and the door frame?

Actually, not sure how that would work. Would I put the paperboard on the hinge at the bottom to push that OUT so it’d bring the bottom in?

SouthShoreSamurai posted:

Anyone have any idea what's going on with this doorknob? It's brand new, so it's not malfunctioning, but I've never seen a knob act this way. Is it a setting? Is it the kind of knob and I need to replace it? What is the purpose of a knob that does this?

Motronic posted:

Shim the bottom hinge.

nwin posted:

Negative. Willing to buy whatever I need though.

Jenkl posted:

Are there general guidelines on the type of vent cover to use? E.g. fixed vs movable louvers for bathroom fan exhaust or dryer?

I'm replacing some and bought the same movable louvered pieces for dryer and bathroom, and noticed the previous bathroom used a fixed style. Wondering if I ought to be concerned.

FogHelmut posted:

Anyone know what that part is called? Some kind of pipe from the fuel tank to the air intake. The plastic part on the fuel tank broke.

Skinnymansbeerbelly posted:

Drywall it is. So, the stud detector I have indicates that there is electricity in the working area, and the leak seems to be coming down one of the studs. Is there a tool I should use to be sure I am cutting only the drywall, that I can get along with that mold spray? I would really like to one-shot the tools. My saw selection is rather limited. Also, the bulge itself is about 5" wide by 1" tall.

yippee cahier posted:

How deep is that drywall screw? Wait for the plumber before answering...

Teabag Dome Scandal posted:

I have a weird corner in the laundry room I want to put some floating shelving in. Its only about 24" on each side. If I take some wood slats and anchor them into the studs will that be enough to support it without using a bracket? Sort of like a french cleat but I'd just screw them into the horizontal slat.

floWenoL posted:

I'm a noob so I'll ask; what's wrong with this?

FogHelmut posted:

Do they make 220 volt GFCI outlets?

life is killing me posted:

I will have to check the prong—and do you mean turn off the breaker? Or just keep the light switch off?

There are two switches in each bathroom over the toilets and tubs: the fan is its own switch independent of the lights, but the tub light enclosure and the fan light turn on and off together on the second switch. So one only controls the fan and the other controls both lights on the same circuit with each other. In this bathroom it means only the tub light turns on and the fan light doesn’t, but fan will still turn on.

Based on this I am thinking, to your point, that perhaps the prong needs to be bent a bit to make contact with the bulb base, in the absence of being able to make the effort to remove the incandescent from another bathroom

Lawnie posted:

I’m going to be running cat-6 cable through the walls of my house. What kind of specs for the cable are important to shop for? I’m probably going to try to find a crimper to borrow so I’ll buy the cable in bulk.

I’m planning on running one cat-6 cable to a switch in the attic, then several to ports in a few places around the house. Can I use the same holes in the top plate that the Romex or other wiring uses to run cables to outlet boxes in the same stud bay, or is it important to have separate holes for each? I haven’t gone up to look yet, but there’s definitely already some coax run in at least one place I want to put a port, so I’ll probably use whatever openings are already there for that port, but there are others in new locations I’m not so sure about.

Another question: while I’m at it I’m also going to be running speaker wire for a couple surround sound speakers through the attic. What’s the best practice for poking speaker wire through the drywall, both from the receiver into the stud bay and also back out to the speakers? It doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that needs a box, but I’m afraid I’m in the area of “knowledge enough to know the terms and tools but not the requirements” for wiring projects.

Lawnie posted:

Max operating temperature for the switch i purchased is 104*F, what temperature should I expect my attic to be during the summer? High 90’s? Hotter? If that’s the case then I’ll just put the switch with the router in the living area and run from that. It’s just more ports in a plate.

PainterofCrap posted:

You can build screens, or have them made

Churchill posted:

Any suggestions on a quick and easy fix for these holes? The wall is concrete.

floWenoL posted:

So I got back to this, and ran into an unexpected problem: I thought I'd be able to get the ferrule off the copper line, but apparently the pipe itself is squeezed?



I had thought that I was supposed to use a new ferrule, but I don't see how to get this off without cutting the pipe. Also, you can see the scores on the ferrule where I had tried to twist it off with a plier.

My short-term plan is to put on the new valve with the old ferrule and compression nut, and if it springs a leak, try it again with some plumber's tape as described here. But I'm wondering what's the 'right' way to handle this?

Update:
It did indeed start leaking once it put the new valve on, but tightening it up more seems to have stopped it.

TooMuchAbstraction posted:

Yeah, I did actually order some replacement batteries, but the old UPS uses some weird packaging system that made me worried about messing with electrical stuff I didn't adequately understand, so I bugged out of actually replacing them. Hopefully the replacement batteries can be used on the new UPS, and they can just sit on a shelf for a few years until that time comes.

FCKGW posted:

Are there any functional differences between the Decora rectangular outlets and a standard outlet? We painted the house recently and I'm replacing all the outlets to match and we're looking at getting the Decora style because they look nicer, just wondering if I'm getting anything else out of it. We'll be replacing close to 80 of these things.

Also local code says they should all be tamper resistant outlets so I'm going to go that route, anything I should know about that?

melon cat posted:

I have an appliance with a 2-prong cord and plug and I need to replace its entire cord with a new one (old cord got damaged). But all replacement cords sold in store are only 3-pronged. Can I use the 3-pronged replacement cord to replace a 2-prong cord? I'm guessing the original 2-prong just doesn't have a grounding wire?

Wowporn posted:

I just bought a condo and the light switch in the bathroom is weird. Most of the time when I turn it on it takes like 10 seconds to slowly fade in all the way(not in an on purpose way). It’s a dimmer switch with the little thing next to the switch that slides up and down, but for like 75% of the range on the dimmer it’s like 30% on, and the 100% spot is like 2/3 of the way up instead of all the way at the top.

I’m assuming the switch is either bad or just improperly installed, if I swapped it with just a normal rear end switch is that likely to fix it or is there a chance something bigger is wrong?

azflyboy posted:

Last weekend, I drained and flushed our water heater, and at some point in the last few days, it's started putting out substantially hotter water than it was before I flushed it.

The heater is only about a year old, there wasn't much sediment when I drained it, and I never touched the thermostat, so I'm confused as to why it randomly started putting out scalding water, especially since I know I never touched the thermostat.

The Midniter posted:

I'm looking to install a dimmer switch in the basement of the house I just bought. I'd like it to be the same style as the type of dimmer on the middle switch here:



The only dimmers I've seen at Lowe's/Home Depot have been the wide, single-slider type but I'd like the on/off switch to remain separate and the small dimmer slider on the side. The only difference is that the switch I'm looking to upgrade has two switches, not three, with the light I'm looking to dim on the right switch. Does this type of dimmer have a specific name, and is there any kind of specialty place I should look to get one?

PainterofCrap posted:

Find and replace the high-limit switch and possibly the gas valve soleniod

floWenoL posted:

CuddleCryptid posted:

Hello goons, because SA continues to have a thread for every topic imaginable, I come to you for help.

A while back I put a patch over a hole in my drywall and covered it, but it was never flush with the wall, just a smoothed over lump. Thinking of it now, I don't think I was ever one hundred percent sure how far i should sand it down. Basically, am I supposed to be sanding into the nylon mesh of the patch to make it smooth? Or will that damage the structure of the patch and cause it to fall in?

Peachfart posted:

So, I was going to drill up from my crawlspace to run ethernet through my house. I have a giant crawlspace, so that isn't an issue, but is there an easy way or a tool or something to tell me exactly where to drill up? I want to drill directly up from the crawlspace into a wall and turn part of a coat closet into the place where I locate my networking gear.
I really don't want to drill up into my hardwood floors.

alnilam posted:

alnilam posted:

Also I'm not seeing any for less than 300... are you some kind of chimney parts deals wizard??

Either way I'm also not as confident in nicely and cleanly installing such a thing (mainly in routing the chain) vs a simple cap. Plus the mechanical parts seem more prone to failure.

22 Eargesplitten posted:

a one-handed reciprocating saw

eddiewalker posted:

I have a pole barn built into a hill. There’s some washout under the floor slab on the side of the building where the ground was built up.



The concrete hasn’t broken anywhere, but I’d like to keep it that way. How do I handle this? If it’s beyond DIY, what kind of business should I be calling?

PainterofCrap posted:

During such a period, a power loss for more than four hours would turn my basement into a koi pond. One of the reasons I have a generator.

TooMuchAbstraction posted:

I'm hiring an electrician to install a 240V/50A outlet for charging an EV. The installation location will be somewhat sheltered, but it's still exposed enough that I want to build a box to protect it from rain. Building the box is easy enough -- backing board with a hole in it for the outlet, sloping roof, charging cord exits through a hole in the bottom, hinged cover with a latch. What I'm wondering about is water getting between the box and the wall. The siding is stucco, so not the kind of thing that I can get a piece of Z flashing into. Is this a case where I just caulk the top and sides and hope for the best?

Real hurthling! posted:

Yeah the styling of available swag lamps is pretty bad from what i'm seeing. Might have to do something custom or give up and just replace the sconces with new sconces that doesnt irritate my eyes so much.