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This seems like it might be the right thread for this question - this is definitely mold right? Possibly black mold? Or just plain old water damage? It doesn't really fit the kind of polka dot patterning I've seen from mold before. It's in the ceiling of the closet where the laundry center sits. I rent and I've of course already put in a maintenance ticket but they are so ridiculously slow here. I'm just wondering how long I should be patient for before I start to escalate things to get it looked at. And also just to satisfy my own curiosity while I wait for the PM to do anything about it...
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Jun 3, 2021 23:47
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Definitely escalate. It's black, and it's mold. gently caress that.
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Jun 3, 2021 23:55
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I figured that'd be the answer...I've just heard so many horror stories regarding landlords and black mold I was hoping it was something else! Oh well, I'll start harassing them till we get it fixed.
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Jun 4, 2021 00:16
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I don't know if this belongs here or in the interior decorating thread but here it is: I want to paint my condo once the plague lockdowns ease up and I can actually go in to a store and talk to people/browse etc. I've got a couple gift card for Home Depot and Canadian tire so I'll probably buy a bunch of crap (brushes, rollers etc) from those two places, but if reading threads in HCH has taught me one thing, besides previous owners are poo poo, its that if I want paint, I should go to a real paint store. So I will do exactly that. 1: What are some decent brands of paint brushes, rollers and so on? I'm probably going to paint this place once and then never touch paint ever again so I don't really want the most expensive brands of brushes. Just something that'll be good for a few uses and then get tossed without much guilt. 1a: What type of brushes should I get? I've seen a few different styles of brushes in some cursory glances, like "straight" bristles that are probably good for general poo poo, and ones where the painting edge is on an angle, which is probably(?) good for getting in a corner? What about those brushes that are basically foam on a stick? 2: Is TSP still the right poo poo to use to wash the walls before hand? Should I wash one day and paint the next, or wash, let it dry for a couple hours and go to it? Is using a fan to help dry the TSP good? Bad? Will it blow dust around and on to the wall? 3: Should I remove the baseboards or just tape them off? They *could* use a coat of paint themselves, if I leave them on and paint, should I mask the floor, paint, and let dry, then mask the tops of the baseboards when I do the wall? In other words, since I'll be painting the walls does it (or doesn't it) matter if I get a bit of excess paint on the walls while painting the baseboards since I'm painting the walls anyway? 3a: same question but the door frames. Base boards and door frames are currently white and will be getting whiter when they get painted. Ummmmmm removing the door frames isn't likely to happen. 4: I've got a few spots where there were some screws removed, a couple dents, gouges and so on. I want to fix them first. I've done a bit of dry walling/mudding/taping before so I have an idea of what to do and all that, but that was on bare drywall before it was painted. If I shove some spackle in to a dent in the drywall, is it going to fall out after a week? Is there a specific way to prep something like that, or do I just jam it in, let it dry and sand it till it looks flush? 5: In one room there is a coaxial cable sticking out of the wall just above the baseboard. I'd like to bury that cable in the wall, if theres room and put a co-ax wall plate at roughly the same level as an electrical receptacle near it for a bit of a cleaner look. Does it need a box behind it, or do I just need to ram the wire in to the wall and screw a plate on over top of it? 6: Colour change. Currently my bedroom is a light pink and I'd like to make it some sort of not quite white colour. Since its fairly light, is that the sort of thing where one or two coats would be enough to do the job? The rest of my place (except the bathroom which is not going to be done) is what my friend refers to as "baby puke green". I don't dispute her assessment, and though the colour doesn't bother me that much, it can get kinda dark in here if I don't have the curtains open so I'm hoping to go for another not quite white colour like Almond or some poo poo like that. Since its currently a darker colour, is that something thats more of a 3-4 coats to completely change/cover up the old stuff? 7: What sort of paint should I be using? In the living/dining room, kitchen etc it seems like a smooth glossy type deal but I have no idea if thats oil based, or latex or whatever. In the bedroom it seems similar, but maybe not as "glossy". This description probably doesn't help one bit does it? I'm not sure how to tell the difference between oil, or latex or whatever. Does it even matter? I thought I heard somewhere that one type of paint can be painted over another, but not the other way around. Does that make sense? 8: I don't care about getting the best paint money can buy but since I'm probably going to be living here for a while yet, I don't want to cheap out. What are some decent brands of paint? 9: When it comes time to actually paint, I'll probably harass the thread for painting techniques, but this is all for now. Thanks goons:) TL;Dr I DON'T KNOW gently caress poo poo ABOUT PAINTING PLEASE HELP!!
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Jun 4, 2021 01:03
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1. I've had good luck with purdy brushes 1a. The brush usually says what kind of paint it's good for. An angled 3" brush (I have a purdy 3" angled 'clearcut' brush that's great) for cutting should be the only brush you need, and then maybe a 3" roller and a 7/9" roller 6. Depends on how good the paint is 7. I've used a few different paints, and I have to say I didn't expect there to be much difference between paint brands but... Use Ben Moore regal select. It rolls on so much better than anything else I've used, has good coverage with 2 coats, has zero VOC, and has good color selection. As far as sheen, we used eggshell for all the rooms execpt for the kitchen, where we used pearl. The regal select will probably run you $10-15 over home depot or Lowes house brand but it's worth it e: if you're not in the us I don't know if you could find purdy brushes or Ben Moore paint The Slack Lagoon fucked around with this message at 05:44 on Jun 4, 2021 |
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Jun 4, 2021 05:40
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My favorite paint is Dunn Edwards Sparta Zero. No VOCs, smells like wet dirt when using it, and has great coverage. Even going from dark to light colors, I've not had to do more than 2 coats. Your time and effort is worth something, and I've never regretted spending extra on good paint. Pretty much all paint you'll buy will be latex based. Don't worry about the other stuff. The finish you want is called either eggshell or satin. High gloss finishes are normally used for trim and baseboards. Matte finish is an aesthetic choice, but is more difficult to clean when you're living with it. Eggshell and satin are between those. Here's an article but the tldr is just use eggshell or satin. https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-choose-paint-finish-36802713 For putting a coax plate on, you will need to cut a rectangular hole in the drywall, use what's called a one gang old work low voltage mounting bracket to frame the inside. Feed the wire into the wall, sort of coiling it. Then screw the coax face plate into that frame and you're done.
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Jun 4, 2021 07:26
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PainterofCrap posted:OH GOD You weren't loving kidding. I'm sorely tempted to run it till it breaks and fix it then because gently caress dealing with all those bitz during my exams
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Jun 4, 2021 11:21
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update - I successfully replaced my kitchen soap dispenser using the basin wrench 
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Jun 4, 2021 23:03
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Congrats! This is definitely one of those situations where the right tool turns a job from borderline impossible to straightforward. Now for round 2: remember you have the dang thing in six years when you need to do something else under the sink. 
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Jun 4, 2021 23:10
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Congrats! This is definitely one of those situations where the right tool turns a job from borderline impossible to straightforward. yeah I usually hate keeping stuff that I will virtually never use but I'll make an exception for this one I originally was getting frustrated because I didn't realize you had to do one orientation to loosen and the other to tighten - couldn't figure out why it wasn't gripping.
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Jun 4, 2021 23:13
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I have a quick question about the NEC here in the US of A. Florida, specifically, Orlando more specifically, doubt it matters, since all those jurisdictions just say use the NEC. The NEC only requires a switched receptacle in a bedroom if there is no dedicated lighting outlet, correct? I'm helping a friend recover from an unlicensed electrical contractor and I just want to make sure everything I'm doing is up to code.
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Jun 5, 2021 21:57
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Would anyone have suggestions for a short term flooring option for a dirt floor garage? It doesn’t need to hold up to a car, but I do regularly move tools and workbenches around on casters. I’ll be renting, so I’m aiming for as cheap as is reasonable.
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Jun 5, 2021 23:46
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I live in California. Our air will be replaced with toxic smoke for a few months, starting soon. I rent a 3BR place with a bedroom for me, a bedroom for my kids, and the third bedroom is a home office, and I'm thinking about upgrading my air purifiers. I currently have an Airthereal APH260 for the living room and a Partu BS-03 for each bedroom. These are what I had running basically nonstop last fire season, and I still felt like wrecked poo poo all season long. Is it worth it to spend more? What would be good choices? I assume this poo poo is going to be back every year until literally the whole state has burned away, so I'm willing to invest in something that's going to make a meaningful difference in quality of life for the smoke months.
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Jun 6, 2021 02:18
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First off, get an air quality monitor, something that can measure PM2.5. Being able to measure stuff is a big part of handling air quality anxiety. Second, you can get a ton of mileage out of a box fan with a furnace air filter or two strapped to it. My solution for a ~1100sqft house last year was one room air purifier, and one box fan with two 20x20x1" filters, one fore and one aft. I think they were like MERV 8 or so? Going super-high on the MERV rating reduces airflow and could maybe damage your fan. Anyway, the nice thing about this setup is that the components are cheap (as long as you buy before the fire season starts), and they have good throughput. The downside is they're kinda ugly. Anyway, with that setup, I was able to get the PM2.5 down to low single digits, which basically means "no health hazard even for people with asthma or wrecked lungs". And I knew that because of the air quality monitor. Also remember that you can reduce the amount of air you have to purify by closing off doors to unused parts of your house, if you have any.
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Jun 6, 2021 02:35
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Awesome, thanks. Monitoring makes a ton of sense, and I just ordered a monitor. I’ll start there.
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Jun 6, 2021 02:46
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AmbassadorofSodomy posted:I DON'T KNOW gently caress poo poo ABOUT PAINTING PLEASE HELP!! 1. Purdy as said is nice. Otherwise, I'd buy as nice of ones as you're comfortable with. Clean them according to the paint's instructions when done. 3.5" angled as stated should be enough. 2. TSP is still good. In general, I'd vacuum the walls, wash them with TSP, and then do one final wash with water and let dry. Typically by this point I've had enough fun and let it sit until the next day. 3. Just tape them. One tip I have is to peel the tape when the paint is still wet. Otherwise, you're liable to make little rips in the paint. One good round of brushing around the edges should do. Same deal with door frames et cetera. Tape the hinges, but just paint what you can. I've been doing a lot of painting on my woodwork, and I've started just stripping the locks off the doors, propping it open with a wedge, and painting one side at a time. 4. Empty the room. Scuff sand in and around the dents. Do your spackling. Sand smooth once dry. Then do your washing. 5. I'm not the expert, but I've seen the plates just get screwed into the wall a few times. I'd probably do the same but with a plastic anchor, otherwise those screws really won't be holding onto much. 6. I'd probably do a white primer like Zinnser 1-2-3. Pink is a lighter shade of red, which is notoriously hard to cover, especially with white. 7. Interior I'd probably stick with latex. You've been recommended Benjamin Moore. I've had good luck with Behr Ultra. 8. See above. 9. Watch some YouTube videos. It's really more about being thorough and cleanly. Try this for a start: https://www.homedepot.com/c/ah/how-to-paint-a-room/9ba683603be9fa5395fab90e9ab8187 nitsuga fucked around with this message at 16:20 on Jun 6, 2021 |
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Jun 6, 2021 16:14
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Quote is not edit.
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Jun 6, 2021 16:19
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That reminds me, when the PO at my place got painters they were huge slobs and spattered paint on the redwood beams in spots - is there a good way to get dried paint off of natural wood without damaging it?
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Jun 6, 2021 16:21
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El Mero Mero posted:That reminds me, when the PO at my place got painters they were huge slobs and spattered paint on the redwood beams in spots - is there a good way to get dried paint off of natural wood without damaging it? I think you'd have to scrape, (and/or) sand, and refinish. If it's bare, the paint has almost definitely been absorbed into the wood to some level.
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Jun 6, 2021 16:42
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I have one of those Ikea tables that I sanded and painted last year. Today it's not looking all that hot even though the paint was supposedly good for wood. It's peeling off by itself over time and with a nylon brush it's coming off pretty quickly. Any ideas what would be the simplest way to get it looking presentable again?
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Jun 6, 2021 17:08
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mobby_6kl posted:I have one of those Ikea tables that I sanded and painted last year. Today it's not looking all that hot even though the paint was supposedly good for wood. If presentable means the surface can look a bit uneven, then just scrape off whatever is loose and use a good quality primer (water or oil based, depending on what type of paint is already on there), then paint.
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Jun 6, 2021 17:27
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Judging by the picture that looks like it was oil based which might be part of the problem. Oil is great for having a hard enamel, but it doesn't have the flexibility of latex. If the table was rather new and has dried out since painting or has gone through a lot of wet-dry cycles then the wood may just be moving and warping more than oil can accommodate which will make it crack, pop, and alligator like you see there. Oil is also much less UV resistant and more mildew prone than latex. Best bet would be to scrape/sand to bare fresh wood, do an appropriate oil wood primer and a good latex enamel for topcoat. The right oil primer would be a slow-drying alkyd made for exterior wood (aka a "long oil"). Fast drying primers made for stainblocking won't penetrate as well into the wood, you want something that specifies 12-24 hr dry time to topcoat, not one that says 1-4hrs or something. Do an exterior acrylic/latex enamel topcoat. Not a regular house paint which would be a little soft for a table, you want something made for doors, cabinets, furniture, etc.
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Jun 6, 2021 17:48
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:First off, get an air quality monitor, something that can measure PM2.5. Being able to measure stuff is a big part of handling air quality anxiety. Do this instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM7mR-95KUg . Also, while it may damage the $20 box fan, you're still talking about a useful life of several years. Hell, even throwing it away every year is still going to be cheaper then a commercial air purifier.
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Jun 6, 2021 19:31
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devicenull posted:Do this instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM7mR-95KUg . Yeah, there's definitely optimizations you can make. I've seen a triangular version of that kind of setup with just two filters as well (and the fan as the third side of the triangle). Those are great, but ultimately even just a single filter on the fan was enough to get my house down to negligible particulate levels. I think the filter-box approaches are more for situations where you're generating large amounts of dust, like in that video, where they're doing drywall work. Or for people who enjoy optimizing and want to have the best possible setup regardless of need. Basically: if you want to build that kind of setup, great! But even the simple solution works well, so don't feel that you have to build the bigger version.
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Jun 6, 2021 20:05
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I don't see how any of this could ever damage the box fan anyway, but this whole "build a cube" idea is loving great. Airflow through a single filter stuck on a 20x20 is pretty poor.
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Jun 6, 2021 20:46
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Another alternative is to go with a 20x20x4 filter, that will give you significantly more air volume. I ran a box fan with 1" high MERV filters for years.. it definitely started to slow down over the years, but I'm not sure if it was the filter or if that would have happened running it 24x7 anyway.
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Jun 6, 2021 21:01
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The fan motor is always bring resisted by air pressure. A single filter causes restriction to exit path of air, adding more resistance. Increasing the number of parallel filters increases the area of the filter, and the fan works less hard against the air. Think blowing through straw vs blowing through a paper towel tube. Deeper filters also have a larger surface area than thinner ones. This is not the same as stacking filters, that adds more restriction. Physical resistance leads to heat in the motor. Excessive heat can cause a fire in the most extreme cases, but more commonly it will burn out your motor though, due to something inside melting or binding from expansion. If something has vents, don't block them.
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Jun 6, 2021 21:16
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New apartment, 900 sq ft, living room and bedroom at opposite ends of the place have wall sleeves that look like this Layout is a south facing window seen in the picture, a dining area and kitchen past that, then a small hallway to the bathroom and bedroom. Obviously my window units with side vents won't work, and I've never had through-wall units before. Do I just measure, buy the appropriate size units, and slide them in? Also, is a light switch to power the dishwasher on and off something normal or is my place weird?
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Jun 6, 2021 21:16
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Stack Machine posted:[shed]  Shed update: I started framing the roof today and got most of the rafters and the apex up before it started raining. Soon I'll add some ceiling joists too. You can see just how much splash this gets when it rains from the mud stains on the side of the door. I'm going to put some flashing on the bottom edge of the sheathing and try to scatter some mulch around it to keep that down/keep it off of susceptible things.
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Jun 6, 2021 21:47
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GWBBQ posted:Also, is a light switch to power the dishwasher on and off something normal or is my place weird? My guess is that it is plugged in to the socket intended for a garbage disposal.
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Jun 6, 2021 23:22
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 Not too sure if this is the right place to ask this. But can anyone point me in the right direction to fix this? It's a shower handle that my grandfather accidentally broke off. I also posted this in the plumbing thread as well, but will remove if this isn't appropriate.
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Jun 7, 2021 00:43
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Steely Dad posted:I live in California. Our air will be replaced with toxic smoke for a few months, starting soon. I rent a 3BR place with a bedroom for me, a bedroom for my kids, and the third bedroom is a home office, and I'm thinking about upgrading my air purifiers. I currently have an Airthereal APH260 for the living room and a Partu BS-03 for each bedroom. These are what I had running basically nonstop last fire season, and I still felt like wrecked poo poo all season long. Hello from California. One Austin Air base model scrubs my 1250 sqft 3br house entirely. I have it in our bedroom and run the central air regularly. It's the same price as all of the little ones PLUS FILTERS over time. It's ugly and expensive but the thing works. The air outside can be awful and inside the house I no longer have breathing problems during wildfires.
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Jun 7, 2021 03:12
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El Mero Mero posted:That reminds me, when the PO at my place got painters they were huge slobs and spattered paint on the redwood beams in spots - is there a good way to get dried paint off of natural wood without damaging it? A razor. Brand-new. Either freehand or mounted in a handle, but a virgin blade. Lay it nearly flat and be gentle. Handle it like an egg. Drawing across the paint blob may help. Should peel clean off. If you have a number of paint blots, don’t be afraid to use a new blade as you go. Sharper the better.
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Jun 7, 2021 03:18
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PainterofCrap posted:A razor. Brand-new. Either freehand or mounted in a handle, but a virgin blade. Lay it nearly flat and be gentle. Handle it like an egg. Drawing across the paint blob may help. Should peel clean off. Buy yourself a 100 pack of blades. Never use a dull blade again. (General advice.)
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Jun 7, 2021 03:30
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H110Hawk posted:Buy yourself a 100 pack of blades. Never use a dull blade again. (General advice.) Razor blades make the best paint scrapers and so much more. Get the rectangle ones with the bent sheet metal on one edge not the trapezoid things that’ll slice you up. Don’t use holders they all suck just use your fingers (try not to cut yourself)
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Jun 7, 2021 04:22
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Slugworth posted:Define simple and define presentable. It's a small enough surface that I'd sand it down to bare wood and then hit it with a good oil based primer and paint (I've always been told oil based is best for exterior wood, there might be other schools of thought). Final Blog Entry posted:Judging by the picture that looks like it was oil based which might be part of the problem. Oil is great for having a hard enamel, but it doesn't have the flexibility of latex. If the table was rather new and has dried out since painting or has gone through a lot of wet-dry cycles then the wood may just be moving and warping more than oil can accommodate which will make it crack, pop, and alligator like you see there. Oil is also much less UV resistant and more mildew prone than latex. Best bet would be to scrape/sand to bare fresh wood, do an appropriate oil wood primer and a good latex enamel for topcoat. The right oil primer would be a slow-drying alkyd made for exterior wood (aka a "long oil"). Fast drying primers made for stainblocking won't penetrate as well into the wood, you want something that specifies 12-24 hr dry time to topcoat, not one that says 1-4hrs or something. Do an exterior acrylic/latex enamel topcoat. Not a regular house paint which would be a little soft for a table, you want something made for doors, cabinets, furniture, etc. Scraping or sanding isn't much of an issue as I have power tools. But figuring out the right paints seems like would be a fun research project 
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Jun 7, 2021 10:27
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GWBBQ posted:Also, is a light switch to power the dishwasher on and off something normal or is my place weird? 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.
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Jun 7, 2021 11:51
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We bought a new stackable washer/dryer. Had the plumbers come in to move the hookups over and then hook up the w/d (and install a flood preventer in the hookup.) 4 days later we found water coming up through the floorboards when we stepped on a particular area. Panicked, we ran around to try and find the leak and found this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seC3EO00KZo I've already called my insurance company who is sending over an adjustor today, I'm trying to get in touch with the plumbing company. My question is how bad is this likely to be, and what should we expect from the plumbing company? The insurance co has started the claim process already, but said to have a remediator come in instantly triggers the $1k deductible. We may be able to get that back from the plumber at a later time, but... ugh. We have some PTST from previous flooding, so I don't know that I have a great handle on how bad this is likely to be. The flooring is vinyl life-proof that I just put down like 3 months ago, so I really don't want to have to tear it up and put it down again.
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Jun 7, 2021 13:13
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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).
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Jun 7, 2021 13:34
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SouthShoreSamurai posted:We bought a new stackable washer/dryer. Had the plumbers come in to move the hookups over and then hook up the w/d (and install a flood preventer in the hookup.) That appears to be a basement floor with vinyl plank over concrete. There is water under the flooring. You can leave it but it'll take months to dry and mold may become an issue (not guaranteed, but possible). If the plank is not glued, you could call the mitigation company and ask them if they can use a vacuum mat system to suck the water up without lifting the floor. They lay mats of various sizes on the floor and hook up hoses to a vacuum unit & it runs for a few days until the relative humidity is restored, It';s loud & there'll be little hoses running all over the basement, but it works great. Unless the plumber is a fly-by-night with no insurance or assets, your insurer will be able to recover everything that they pay, including your deductible, through subrogation. It may take a couple-three months, so be mindful that you;ll be out your deductible that long.
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Jun 7, 2021 14:04
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