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DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

H110Hawk posted:

We have standardized on a plastic bin size here as well. It's great.

Yeah pro-tip: If you find a storage tote you like, stock up. We had a 19 gallon we liked, but only bought as needed. Then when we needed more, we found out it's not made anymore. So now we have mismatched totes.

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DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
I've had good luck with the scrubbing bubbles foaming bleach spray in getting grout clean. It's a reactive measure, for sure, but it works well enough as long as things aren't too far gone. For some reason it worked where a standard bleach/water solution didn't.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
All the fascia we've been doing (lately) has been hardie/fiber cement. I can't remember why, something about PVC being more sensitive to temperature changes or something.

But we have a mix for sure. Didn't know any better on the first couple pieces and had a handy man just replace with wood. PO had used PVC in one spot, which we found out after having a big section replaced with hardie.

I'm pretty sure hardie has a wood grain fascia, so it won't look out of place. Of course the last piece we had replaced was using the flat hardie, so yeah... but it only looks bad if you look for it, it's not very noticeable.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

spacetoaster posted:

lol

While interrogating a person about this door system today I found out that the reason it's all connected to the internet is because when Spacetoaster smashes his access card against the door thing it sends the data to a central database at another location asking if it's ok for the door to open for me. Then the other location sends back a signal telling it yeah, or nope.

Yikes. Everywhere I've worked makes that server local to the building, so access is controlled by the building alone (or shared if buildings are adjacent and have a hard connection between them). This guards against both external attacks and against an internet outage preventing access. The only thing you have to worry about then is a power outage.

Makes it annoying when you travel between sites and they haven't set up access, but it's a million times more secure/usable.

edit: though it does make it a process to deactivate badges across sites when a person is fired or quits, so :shrug:

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
Don't the rear seats fold down? I would think having it hang out the rear end end 4-6' is probably better than trying to strap it to the roof.

edit: of course, I would have the store rough cut it down to pieces first. I can't imagine OP needs the entire 16' piece intact, but I dunno.

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 17:32 on Dec 3, 2020

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

corgski posted:

For unfinished spaces I’d recommend something like these, or the much more expensive but more reliable Feit or Cree products in the same vein.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commerc...83141/206028970

Five of these light my entire 25x30 basement, for reference.

Elviscat posted:

Seconding Corgski's recommendation, unfinished basement ceilings are usually pretty low, which makes can lights not light up the space worth a poo poo, plus they're kinda flimsy and subject to damage if left in an unfinished space.

To piggy back on this:

Is there anything special about installing lights like this in a crawl space (versus a basement)? I'd love to do something better than the single bulb we have to light our entire crawl space. It seems like it'd be pretty simple to replace the existing light with a junction box and then install a switch + 5-7 of those lights.

Can I just run romex between all the fixtures?

Bonus question: is there anything that'd be smart to do for future-proofing? Like running conduit (flexible metallic if at all), or installing a junction box for each light? It's a crawl space so this is probably way overkill, but I'm always willing to spend a little extra time/money up front to save future me a headache.

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 13:44 on Dec 30, 2020

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
I'm in NC, not TX, but newer construction around here uses frost-proof bibs. They have an extra long body and they put the valve mechanism on the interior side (connected to the handle by a long shaft), which means the nearest water is in the crawl space, so it should be warmer than outside. All this means that you don't need covers and it won't freeze unless it gets REALLY cold.

That's good enough for here, so I'd be shocked to see an indoor shut off in TX or anywhere in the SW.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

H110Hawk posted:

Amazing. :v: That's a homeowner special. I see you've gotten the advice but this is precisely why we always ask for pictures.

Also that implies horror deeper in your system, because that is terrifyingly well finished. Those wires all go somewhere.

That's the worst part to me - clearly someone put a lot of thought and effort in to doing this, but to anyone who knows a little bit about home wiring it's obvious that there's a very high chance that worse problems lurk behind the scenes. Like the person was smart enough to specify the components and use switches to toggle loads, but for some reason was completely blind to the actual code concerns in the entire setup.

IMO if you can manage to hook a generator up to that without killing yourself, you're probably going to start a fire.

Reminds me of someone on my local Nextdoor who was asking about punching a hole through their house to mount a Ring flood light over their garage door, and then power it by running a 16AWG extension cord back to the garage door opener receptacle on the ceiling.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

TooMuchAbstraction posted:

I got the crosspieces off (but not without stripping the antique-bronze surface coat off :argh:), but that doesn't seem to help me with the rest of the assembly:



If I twist the whole thing, then it turns the water on, of course. Did you mean twisting something else? I'm leery of applying too much force opposite the direction it's supposed to move in.

Somewhere on the handle assembly there's a hole. In that hole will be an hex head set screw. Loosen that and the whole handle should just slide off.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

fankey posted:

I have plain rectangular painted molding over hardwood. There is a gap that varies from about 1/16” to 1/8”. Previously I filled the gap using DAP painters latex caulk masking with blue tape. The results were so so - over a couple of years it started to crack and separate and looked messy.

Is there a better way to accomplish this without resorting to quarter round or some other additional material? Different caulk or technique? Or is this just what will happen and I should expect to redo it every 3 years?



That's literally what quarter round (more often shoe molding) is for. Caulk will never look good because the floor is constantly expanding/contracting through the seasons.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

shut up blegum posted:

They charge 60 to drill a hole in the concrete, which I understand is a fairly normal price. Then 87 to install the light, including the wiring etc.
I'll do some more research, but hadn't considered the labor. Thanks for pointing that out.

OK yeah if you're installing the spot in to a location that does not currently have a light fixture, then that's a way different scenario.

87 EUR is about $103 in freedom bucks, and that's a pretty good price to install and wire it up. Could probably find people to do it cheaper, but you're stuck. If you don't do it now, it'll cost way more to add it once construction is finished.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

Sininu posted:

Friend bought an soldering iron and is asking me what this metal plate is for

Even though I've used different soldering irons before, none of them included such thing so I have no clue.

Wild guess, but it looks like a stand for the World's Cheapest Soldering IronTM. Fold the middle tab out, the soldering iron should rest in the V portion, wider portion would be the base.

Even my cheapest radio shack soldering iron has a better stand than that and a on/off switch in line with the cord.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

HycoCam posted:

The measurements for that particular item are: 86.6 in. x 25 in. x 1.5 in.

lmao



trust nothing

edit:

holy jesus:



Either this is baby's first metal render, or that sink contains a portal to an alternate dimension

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 00:52 on Mar 30, 2021

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

mobby_6kl posted:

I don't have a thread gauge but it measures as M13 with 1.25 pitch which of course is not a standard thing.

You need a thread gauge. There are some metric threads that are drat near identical to imperial, but IIRC those are way smaller sizes (e.g. M5 vs 10-32). But in any case, the manufacturer isn't likely to use fittings/threads/etc. that you can't find from McMaster or something, so if you're measurements come up with a funny number then it's not likely to be right.

mobby_6kl posted:


Edit: might be a BSP thread? "A thread that measures 1/2" is not a 1/2" BSP thread". Of course, why would it be??

BSP/NPT/etc. aren't going to measure anything like their trade size. Can't remember exactly, but I think way back the trade size was the ID of the pipe that you put the thread on. That's since evolved significantly, so it's really only loosely related to real-world measurements.

That said, there ARE known measurements that are standardized, so if you suspect it's 1/2 BSP then google the specs and check. Going to be something like 0.8" major diameter I think.

Also:

alnilam posted:

3D printing threads for a high pressure application seems like a bad idea to me tbh.

yeah don't do this, it's going to explode in your face.

But on the plus side, you could use your 3D printer to print your own thread gauges. Won't be precision, but should get you in the ballpark unless your tolerances are garbage... generally when a thread is right it's right, and when it's wrong it's so very wrong (except for the cases I mentioned above).

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
I'm assuming (but pretty sure) it's a soap dispensing attachment for a pressure washer. Typically for car washing, though I suppose you could use them for siding/decks/etc.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
You can always just ask the vendor what thread it's supposed to be. Better than guessing.

It's almost certainly a standard thread of some sort... to invent some new thread for something like this is just poor engineering (unless you're Apple), and choosing some obscure thread is just a bad business decision.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

Rocko Bonaparte posted:

My garage door cables snapped on both sides. I'm not really familiar with the variations in garage doors so I'm not even sure what I am getting into. Each side has a pulley overhead of the vertical section of track. The pulleys are on some rod with springs around them. The cables don't, say, turn 90 degrees in the pulley and go to a separate spring setup. Can I normally expect to just replace the cables or should I be doubting the pulleys too?

The problem is that both broke so I can't readily just compare one side to the other, figuring out the differences, and use that to determine all I have to replace.

Yeah there's going to be a spring somewhere in there that assists with pulling the door up/down. If the cables snapped, the spring will have unwound itself and will need to be re-tensioned.

Do NOT gently caress with the springs. The amount of tension needed to pull the door up is huge and incredibly dangerous.

Call a garage door service place. A new set of springs was like $250 installed for ours, and IIRC that included new cables.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

Rocko Bonaparte posted:

Okay duly noted on the garage door. I right after I posted, I had figured out it is a tension spring system but didn't know about the whole unwinding thing. I had even found a video that claimed to do the repair that didn't acknowledge it at all. Given the force I need to even get the door six inches off the ground, I think that video was all garbage.

Also, an initial view on the cables is that they didn't actually snap, and that's kind of alarming. Something else probably is wrong and I don't want to get into that game.

Yeah so this is what mine looked like when the spring broke:



I have a torsion spring on mine. You'll have either 1 or 2 springs up there. Mine has 2, 1 on each side of the center. If you see a gap without any sort of mounting hardware, like on my left spring above, there's your problem.

If you don't have a torsion spring, you may have an extension spring:



In either case, you need professional service. If you can't lift the door, and the cable is intact, then it's pretty likely that a spring broke. Garage doors are heavy, and the spring takes a big part of that load.

Springs have a lifetime. They break every so often. If you have 2 springs, get them both replaced at the same time because the other one is going to break soon as well.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
I figured, I've never actually seen an extension spring in person. But I assumed that even in the "relaxed" state there was still some amount of tension on it, so I didn't know if there was a safe method to install or if you need special tools.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

actionjackson posted:

I'm going to get a few 15 amp GFCI outlets to match my new wall plates, but noticed something weird with the two main brands HD sells (lutron and leviton)

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lutron-15-Amp-Tamper-Resistant-GFCI-Duplex-Receptacle-in-White-CAR-15-GFST-WH/206793173 1 for $49

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton...1-04W/305340161 4 for $55???

there doesn't seem to be any enormous differences, though one is 120 volt and the other is 125 volt, and I have no idea if I can do either voltage.

I'm wondering if maybe some Lutron stuff is just out of stock

In the context of residential voltage, 110 = 115 = 120 = 125.

120 is nominal and what SHOULD be used these days, but there are reasons for the others. Ultimately it doesn't matter because it's all the same thing from a design standpoint.

Basic receptacles, switches, and GFCIs are generally commodity items unless you're buying fancy ones with USB ports or smart home connections. Get the cheapest one that is in stock and is the right color/style for your wall plates. As long as it's UL listed, it'll work just as well as the others. Under normal residential use, it'll be 20+ years until it wears out.

edit:

Doesn't have to be UL listed, just needs to be NRTL listed. UL is certainly the most common, but you might also see ETL in the residential space. Maybe TUV as well.

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 19:20 on Apr 20, 2021

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

actionjackson posted:

beats paying $15 for one that doesn't match, and then being annoyed by it not matching every day

I'll take a look at both in store, and if they look the same I'll get the cheaper one of course

For the price difference you could buy new designer fancy-pants wall plates and still have money leftover for lunch after just 1 GFCI. 3 gets you a nice dinner for 2 somewhere.

Or you could buy generic $1 wall plates that match and have a poo poo-ton of money left over.

Or you could buy the $4 leviton screwless wall plate if you desperately need screwless.

That GFCI is not worth $50+.

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 19:09 on Apr 21, 2021

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
Lever nuts.

Take 2 seconds to pop on, bonus you can use the unused terminal(s) to test voltage once you power back on.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

Blowjob Overtime posted:

I was going to ask what the HCH stance is on these. Wire nuts are pretty straightforward, but it is nice to skip the step of twisting the wires together.

I've used them a handful of times at work in industrial panels when I couldn't find the wire stretcher, love them. Bought a couple boxes for home a bit ago and I plan on replacing wire nuts as I work on things. Should have bought them a few years ago when I was installing a bunch of fans, but oh well.

I've read some people are kind of "meh" on them and concerned about long-term reliability, but I don't know that there's anything to support that. I mean, they haven't even been out all that long, so I guess there isn't really long-term reliability info to be had, but as long as what you get are UL/whatever listed you should be fine.

edit:

per above, Wago is the name of the game. I'm sure other companies make them, but if you look around Wago practically became the Kleenex of lever nuts. Wago is a very reputable company in the wire connection world.

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 18:46 on Apr 26, 2021

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

mr.belowaverage posted:

Pretty curious about that wire splice that’s about to get buried in insulation again

Also that looks like lamp cord. Pretty sure you can't install that behind a wall... (edit: or in a ceiling, or wherever it's hidden)

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 13:04 on May 12, 2021

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

Plank Walker posted:

I think I found the terminology I was looking for, was just a case of no such thing being on Amazon so it took a little more fiddling with search terms to get a hit.

https://www.mcmaster.com/din-rail-mount-clips/



French cleat looks promising too, but I'm less interested in installing a full on rail across the length of a wall than I am in like a 2-4" section for slide on/slide off mounting.

Reminder that you need access to the bottom of that clip to remove stuff from the DIN rail. So anything large will be a no-go. I've had no end of trouble with DIN-mount devices that hide the release way the gently caress behind stuff.

Anything else will be a french cleat style thing where it's hanging, but not really "secured."

Have you looked in to unistrut?

https://www.mcmaster.com/strut-channel/

That might be a little more suited to what you're looking for. DIN rail is usually for smaller stuff inside electrical enclosures, and unistrut is pretty widely used to mount/hang stuff outside enclosures so you might be able to find an adapter that will work for what you're doing.

Maybe also look in to 80/20 (extruded aluminum), but that's made more for building things rather than hanging things:

https://www.mcmaster.com/structural-framing/framing-type~t-slot-1/

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

neogeo0823 posted:

Originally I was going to use clevis pins, but couldn't find any that were the size I needed locally, and online only sold packs of 100+ for $70+ as far as I could find. Then I thought about nylon spacers, but I couldn't even find decently sized ones online, let alone locally. I settled on the rivets since it was $5 for a box of 50, and they came in the size and length I could use.

Full disclosure: the material I'm working with is 1/8in thick, 3/4in wide aluminum. I can do 3 layers and 2 washers and fit all that into exactly 1/2in of space in a -=- sort of configuration. For bushings, the smallest I could find was an OD of 1/2in, which would leave me with 1/8in of material at the thinnest points, which didn't sit well with me. Though, I do suppose if the rivets don't work for this, I could go with machine bolts and nylock nuts. My main concern is having as low a profile as possible on each side of the joint.

What size do you need?

https://www.mcmaster.com/pins/clevis-pins-7/?SrchEntryWebPart_InpBox=clevis+pin

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

neogeo0823 posted:

Huh. Where the gently caress was that when I was googling around for those pins? Looks like I can go with these pins, and these cotter rings.

McMaster-Carr is your friend, particularly for any sort of mechanical project. Not sure if McMaster does any sort of SEO, so they probably aren't high up in the results.

The best part is if you go to the main page, literally everything is a picture. If you don't know the name of the thing you're looking for, the pictures will guide you, and you just keep clicking on things until it narrows your search down to what you want. It's fantastic. And if you don't know what you NEED (like what type of material, etc.), then they offer pretty decent explanations for things.

Only downside is it's a tad expensive, but really only compared to OEM pricing through non-public distributors. It's really not all that bad, and even equipment builders buy from them because they have things in stock and ship fast.

Bonus is they have 2D and 3D drawings for pretty much everything in their catalog, if you're in to that sort of thing.

neogeo0823 posted:

Too bad I only need 8 sets of pins/rings, but 25/50 will last me for literal years of weird projects.

Yup, that's the other downside. But, prices are so low for stuff like that where it's easy to justify.

McMaster will have any spacers/washers/etc. you may need as well.

Also, Misumi might be an option for harder to find configurations:

https://us.misumi-ec.com/

I'm not remotely as familiar with that site, but I've heard others in my office talk about it a lot.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

Elviscat posted:

Plus you can buy lots of things like, say stub length 1/4" or jobber length 5/16" bits or extended length 3/8" drill bits, and they're all high quality made in the US ones, that are far superior to even the name brand made in China ones you'll find at a big box store.

Shipping is fast as hell, but expensive and they won't tell you how much it's gonna be which is a rip.

Yeah I forgot about shipping cost. Usually when I get stuff there it's on the company's dime, so I never see that.

That said, the biggest physical personal purchase I've made the shipping was like $8 on a $50 order, and that included a 12"x12" square of polycarbonate, so it wasn't like a tiny bag of fasteners or something. So maybe a 12x12x8 box or something, a few lbs at most. Last thing I ordered was a handful of 1"x1" L brackets and fasteners, and shipping was like $6. Granted that ended up being like 1/3 of the cost of that order, but for the time savings of finding exactly what you need in stock and shipped quickly it's totally worth it.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

Beef Of Ages posted:

It's a regional thing. The home we had in Central Texas had a switch for the dishwasher specifically in addition to the disposal. None of our other houses in other areas did.

IIRC the dishwasher switch is a relatively recent NEC thing, so it's really going to be a function of the age of the house/kitchen remodel. You generally need a disconnecting means within sight of motor, and dishwashers have motors. A plug would usually work as the disconnect, but dishwashers don't usually have plugs.

The disposal simply needs an on/off switch to operate it. A wall switch isn't weird by any means, but you can get an "air switch" that mounts in your sink (like in the soap dispenser hole or something).

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

H110Hawk posted:

That's your ceiling.

lmao

actionjackson posted:

oh god this is embarrassing

why do they call it that, is it because if it's new construction the plate is a separate piece at that point?

That's part B. Your junction box has holes on it that you screw the mounting plate to, then you attach the light to the mounting plate.

edit: if you look closely, you'll see a dashed line going from the screws (C) through the mounting plate (B) up to the junction box.

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 00:55 on Jun 9, 2021

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

Kaiser Schnitzel posted:

Lmbo

I too have been very confused by parts diagrams OP do not be too embarrassed

Yeah turns out writing instructions is actually hard. Most people don't install light fixtures on a regular basis, there's no reason that a person should inherently know that the "mounting bracket" is the same thing as the "mounting plate." I would guess this is either a translation error, or the writer said, "eh gently caress it they'll know what I'm talking about" and moved on to the next thing.

I still remember the exercise in grade school where you're supposed to write step-by-step instructions for something simple (I assume most people did this). Ours was making a PB&J sandwich. Everyone in class failed miserably when the teacher tried to follow the directions precisely and without using outside knowledge. Most of the time she didn't open the bag of bread or get the cover off the PB jar. If she got further, she found other ways to fail in some comical and unintended way.

Obviously that was the expected result; nobody was supposed to get it 100% right because that was the whole point of the lesson: not everyone is starting from the same base level of knowledge. What is obvious to you may be completely foreign or counter-intuitive to someone else.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

actionjackson posted:

Amazingly enough, the adventure isn't over. If I'm missing something really dumb then, well I'm already obviously a moron so that's okay :)

In the parts diagram, the mountain plate has two holes on the inner part, which lines up with the screw holes for my junction box.

But in the assembly diagram, those holes are not there, and they are not on my mounting plate!

I am waiting to hear back from them. In the assembly part it looks like that on the magically transformed plate, they just attach it on one side through that oval and the other screw... just doesn't go through?



That's all sorts of hosed up. Not only is the manual screwed up, but they sent you the completely wrong part.

Those interior tabs shown on the top-right picture are exactly what you need, but obviously don't have. The manufacturer is going to have to send you the correct part. I think you can get adapters elsewhere, but might be worth waiting on the manufacturer.

PainterofCrap posted:

That is some truly ninth-ring technical writing. Jesus.

No, you're not crazy: the first drawing has the tabs. They have retracted (maybe it was cold?) in the second.

Looks like gently caress-ups all around. Manual was written, someone discovered they needed those tabs for smaller boxes. One figure got updated, the other didn't, and production never received the updated drawings.

The real head scratcher here is the tabs on what OP received. How'd they migrate from the inside to the outside? The drawing clearly shows them either on the inside or non-existent, not on the outside. Manual drawings typically come directly from engineering drawings, so somebody had it right at some point to have the tabs on the inside, but somehow this happened.

I could speculate, but this is pretty bad. I mean, I've seen worse gently caress-ups, but this is just confusing. I'm actually kind of impressed at the level of half-assedness here.

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 12:20 on Jun 10, 2021

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

canyoneer posted:

I'm replacing my dinosaur 20 year old wired smoke detectors with sealed battery units. What do I need to do to the old wire stub-out to make it safe? Terminate each wire in it's own wire nut and leave in the junction box?

Get a hardwired unit with a sealed battery. Don't get a battery-only, they're typically only allowed for retro-fits where a hardwired connection is not available.

If you have hardwired power available, use it.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

PremiumSupport posted:

In many areas code requires that in residential construction after a certain year, all fire alarms go off when 1 is triggered. If that is the case in your area, you would not be allowed to ignore the hardwired aspect of the alarm unless your new sealed battery units have wireless interconnect functionality. Your best bet, unless you know exactly what you're dealing with, is to replace like-for-like and get a sealed battery unit that accepts all of your existing hardwired connections.

That too. IIRC you usually don't have to upgrade to current code when replacing old units, but you certainly can't downgrade.

So yeah, double check if the interconnect is also there. If so, you need to get a unit that has that functionality as well. Wireless is available these days, but if wired is configured in your house then by all means use it.

edit: to be sure, when I say "hardwired" I'm referring to power supply. Interconnect can be wired or wireless, but wired is going to be easier to set up.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
Two wildly unrelated questions:

First, this is probably better in the plumbing thread, but about hot water heaters... our is a ~2009 gas unit the PO installed. Lately it seems like it doesn't provide hot enough water. But it's hit or miss... sometimes it'll be just fine, others it'll barely be 90 at full hot. Time of day has no bearing, sometimes it's like this in the AM, and other times in the PM.

What gives? We recently dropped the temperature setting because it was coming out at like 125 sometimes. I don't know if this is a new problem or not, because when it was hotter we never really noticed. I want to say that before we changed the setpoint it would sometimes be hotter than others, but it was always hot enough so I don't know if I was imagining that or if it being so hot masked the problem (which is maybe why PO had it set so hot).

For reference, we have never flushed it, but it's a gas unit so my understanding was that this isn't super critical.



Second: squeaky floor boards. There are a few in the upstairs hallway, and we don't really have easy access below to shim/glue anything.

I looked around and found this thing:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006IK8YE

Is that any good, or something like it? Or is it better to cut a slit through the carpet and drive a real screw in to a joist?

Or should I start ripping out the ceiling below...?

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

Tezer posted:

Call a plumber - there are a bunch of different reasons it could be doing that, and it's an older unit. You'll spend a lot of time trying to diagnose and even if you figure it out there's a really good chance that you need a plumber to repair anyways. Just cut to the chase.

Interesting, I was honestly hoping it was normal for the temp to vary that much and that I should just up the setting.

Tezer posted:

There are a lot of kits like that, they all work the same way. They can be tricky to get right, but they are the least destructive option. The kicker is - sometimes it is not the floor boards but another part of the assembly, so be ready for the issue not to be ameliorated. Like, in my house at least half the squeaking is from metal strapping installed between the joists where the original nail holding it in place has backed out a little bit, allowing everything to move and squeak when you step on the floor above. Can't fix that with a screw through the floor.

Cutting the carpet and driving a 'real' screw won't be any more effective than the snap-off kits. Both methods accomplish the same thing, and the trickiest bit is 'where do I put the screw' (or, 'where do I cut the carpet') for which there are no perfect solutions. You're going to drop a few in the wrong location.

Yup, I'm aware that it might not fix the root cause, but for $20 it seems like it's worth a try.

The "real screw" thing was because I didn't know if these kits were worth anything. I know functionally a real screw should work the same, I just wasn't sure if the kit actually worked as advertised or if it was a gimmick.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

MeKeV posted:

Thanks. I'm not that bothered, like you say it was cheap. I'd prefer it not to go to waste like, but I don't expect to find too many specific details or conversion kits for the specific model. The listing even says make sure you order the correct version, I was just dumb.

I ask on the off chance, with me accidentally having a successful test run on butane, some one might hint at saying "it'll work ok, but just run through gas quickly" or something like that.

Or conversely a "do not try it again on LPG, it'll blow your face off" warning for everyone to see.

All I know about NG vs Propane is that you absolutely positively require a conversion kit that has been engineered by someone who knows what the hell they're doing.

They run at different pressures and require different flow rates to operate properly. You can't just pipe them up interchangeably, and you can't just wing it.

You're literally playing with fire. If you're not 100% confident in what you're doing, don't do it.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.


Molding on the top of the cabinets is slightly separated (edit: not separated, just not aligned). This the only non-corner joint, and all the corners are just fine. I can push it back in to place easily, so I guess the nails loosened a bit over time?

So I'm not sure if throwing some wood glue on the joint is the right move, or if I need to get some trim nails at the bottom to tighten it up.

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 20:09 on Jun 26, 2021

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
Tree root systems can extend well beyond the extent of the canopy. Like, several times the radius.

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DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

fletcher posted:

Hahaha. I think it's about 40 pounds. I am down for a little overkill to make sure it's nice and solid.

I should have included this view of the top of it:



I wouldn't be able to hit all 4 holes with the joists, that's why I was thinking I need the extra 2x4s.

Could also rotate it 90 degrees. Put a 2x4 (2x6? not sure of the hole spacing) up on the ceiling mounted perpendicular to 2 studs, and this hangs off that 2x whatever.

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