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It's pretty common in apartments/condos to use double layer drywall between units/the hallway for fire rating purposes.
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Aug 25, 2021 12:02
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Slugworth posted:It's pretty common in apartments/condos to use double layer drywall between units/the hallway for fire rating purposes. Yeah. Double 5/8 gives a 2 hour rating in certain constructions and isn't uncommon.
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Aug 25, 2021 14:08
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I'm going to be hanging some shelves with thicc metal brackets for a shelf that is 3/4" x 9" x 5'. I'm planning on using 4 brackets to span the length. I think I can get some of the brackets into studs, but I'm not sure it'll line up with the other studs. Should wall anchors be strong enough? Should I use toggle bolts? I imagine there will be books and/or a mineral collection on the shelf
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Aug 25, 2021 14:38
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A plumber is trying to charge us $332 for a job that I consider to be relatively easy, some feedback would be appreciated. The kitchen sink sprung a leak and water was seeping through the wall and showing on the outside face of the kitchen wall. The plumber came and smashed some tiles to get a better look at the pipes embedded within the wall (he charged $83 for this, I'll grant it was heavy work but it only took about 20 minutes and didn't require any finesse). He saw that the connection was shoddy between the cold mains and the sink faucet, and was dripping water at a steady rate. We've since shut the mains off (the pipe that feeds the kitchen, it only affects the kitchen sink, we've got water everywhere else in the house). He said he needs to get a drill strong enough to cut a hole large enough for a pipe to fit through, and he's basically going to lay some new pipe and connect it back to the mains, which is a single length of pipe about 4 metres long. I told my aunt it's daylight robbery and we're better off doing it ourselves, since fitting PVC pipe together is relatively simple, no? To rent an adequate drill for the job won't be expensive, and buying the piping will be cheap as chips, so why are we going to pay hundreds of dollars for something we can DIY. My aunt refuses because she thinks there's more to it than that, but it's literally just drilling a hole in the wall, and lego connecting piping together until it's re-connected to the source. Am I assuming it's easier than it is or? The source is a lever valve, I was planning on hacksawing the shut side and then PVC cementing the new pipe to it with an appropriate adapter. Qubee fucked around with this message at 19:19 on Aug 25, 2021 |
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Aug 25, 2021 19:13
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Qubee posted:A plumber is trying to charge us $332 for a job that I consider to be relatively easy, some feedback would be appreciated. The kitchen sink sprung a leak and water was seeping through the wall and showing on the outside face of the kitchen wall. The plumber came and smashed some tiles to get a better look at the pipes embedded within the wall (he charged $83 for this, I'll grant it was heavy work but it only took about 20 minutes and didn't require any finesse). He saw that the connection was shoddy between the cold mains and the sink faucet, and was dripping water at a steady rate. While it's possible that you're right, I think you're falling for the fallacy of thinking that you're only paying for time and effort (and materials). While this is true, the main thing you're paying for is knowledge and experience. When you say he charged you $83 to smash some tiles and have a look, what I see is he charged your $83 to know which tiles to smash, that smashing tiles was the right thing to do, and to know what he was looking at once he did so. You also paid for his diagnosis and recommendation for next steps. Assuming he's competent, for $332 you're getting: - Purchase of the right pipework and transport to your property - Purchase of the right connectors and transport to your property - Wear (or rental) on the right tool with the right cutter - Use of the cutter without causing more damage - Running the pipe in a safe and futureproof manner according to your local codes - Providing the knowledge of what to do if things aren't straightforward - Insurance if something goes wrong with the repair - Opportunity cost of turning down another job IMO running water feeds is one of the easier plumbling jobs, but I only know that because I had to do some. If you've got the experience then yeah sure do it yourself, but I personally wouldn't begrudge a relative who wanted to pay a pro. If you're concerned about the price, get a couple of other quotes at this point. He's charged you for the diagnosis, so no big deal if you choose to go somewhere else for the repair, assuming you can find one cheaper.
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Aug 25, 2021 19:27
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Qubee posted:My aunt refuses because she thinks there's more to it than that, but it's literally just drilling a hole in the wall, and lego connecting piping together until it's re-connected to the source. Am I assuming it's easier than it is or? The source is a lever valve, I was planning on hacksawing the shut side and then PVC cementing the new pipe to it with an appropriate adapter. Worst case you flood the house and cause thousands and thousands worth of damage and your aunt hates you forever. Best case you save some amount less than $332 since you have to account for your time/materials/drill rental.
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Aug 25, 2021 19:35
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We're in a Middle Eastern country, so the professionalism is nonexistent compared to UK plumbers. As for knowing which tiles to smash, and whether smashing tiles was necessary, you underestimate how many cowboys have done jobs in this house: there was already a gaping hole between the hot and cold taps from the previous moron who installed the piping. So it was a straightforward diagnosis to go ahead and smash more tiles to see more of the underlying piping. The material costs of the piping and PVC Cement wouldn't be more than $50, and that's extremely generous. As for installing it up to code, they don't follow any, because the water isn't for drinking purposes, we have a separate filter tap that provides us drinking water. Which is why I figured it'd be okay to have a go myself, since I'm not potentially poisoning the water supply. I totally see where you're coming from, but you're using that level-headed and logical Western mentality. It's the wild wild fuckin' west out here. Tezer posted:Worst case you flood the house and cause thousands and thousands worth of damage and your aunt hates you forever. Best case you save some amount less than $332 since you have to account for your time/materials/drill rental. I 100% agree with this if the piping was all risky, but it's a single piece of laid pipe that goes along the top of our garden wall and then turns downwards into the kitchen wall. I'd just cut it at the point right after the lever valve (which is separating it from the mains supply to the house), so there's zero risk of flooding. Worst case scenario would be me cutting too much and not leaving myself enough pipe to fit an adapter and attach the new piping to. But that's an easy remedy cause I can just call someone out to sort out the lever valve which I'm too scared to gently caress with. There's also no differentiation between hot and cold pipe, it's all fed by the same pipe, because right now the summer temperatures regularly reach above 50 celsius. Qubee fucked around with this message at 19:42 on Aug 25, 2021 |
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Aug 25, 2021 19:38
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In that case then yes, running a cold water feed is pretty simple, but it's on you if it floods, which can be less than ideal in someone else's house.
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Aug 25, 2021 19:41
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I understand that the circumstances are different, but for the US, I would consider that cheap. Plumbers in my area charge a minimum $200 service fee just to show up.
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Aug 25, 2021 19:42
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The cost of a thing varies by location because of varying labor and materials costs and market forces, you not mentioning the country you're in much less the city renders the question pretty much impossible to answer. Nobody here knows what is or is not expensive for a plumber to do a particular job in "a middle eastern country." The going rate for work is controlled by supply and demand, not by some universal Proper Just Cost of Pipes or something.
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Aug 25, 2021 19:54
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Leperflesh posted:The cost of a thing varies by location because of varying labor and materials costs and market forces, you not mentioning the country you're in much less the city renders the question pretty much impossible to answer. Nobody here knows what is or is not expensive for a plumber to do a particular job in "a middle eastern country." The going rate for work is controlled by supply and demand, not by some universal Proper Just Cost of Pipes or something. come on it was obvious from his initial post that he lives in Bahrain
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Aug 25, 2021 20:01
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I appreciate the feedback. I'm not doing the work myself, we've told the plumber we're going to get a second quote from another plumber to see what they think. He immediately dropped the price, but we're still getting a second quote. We paid the $80 or whatever it is he charged to chisel the wall and pull out the pipe, which for this ambiguous country that shall not be named, is quite ridiculously high.
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Aug 25, 2021 20:28
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Is there a way to temporarily affix a bookcase to the wall (or otherwise prevent them from tipping over) without putting a hole in the wall for drywall anchors? The shelves are temporary but necessary and we really don't want to have to repaint the very, very large wall after patching a hole.
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Aug 26, 2021 00:20
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Manager Hoyden posted:Is there a way to temporarily affix a bookcase to the wall (or otherwise prevent them from tipping over) without putting a hole in the wall for drywall anchors? Command strips? The ones with the velcro? Enough of them may do the job. Not sure you should risk your kids life on my hunch tho.
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Aug 26, 2021 00:34
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Qubee posted:To rent an adequate drill for the job won't be expensive, and buying the piping will be cheap as chips, so why are we going to pay hundreds of dollars for something we can DIY.
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Aug 26, 2021 01:14
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Manager Hoyden posted:Is there a way to temporarily affix a bookcase to the wall (or otherwise prevent them from tipping over) without putting a hole in the wall for drywall anchors? I don't think there's anything delicate enough to not be a permanent installation on a wall is going to be strong enough to prevent a bookshelf from toppling over. Command strips and velcro type strips work because the forces are parallel to adhesion method which means an oversized force to dislodge it. Attaching a bookshelf securely would be a perpendicular force which would pop a command strip right off the wall like nothing. The only thing I could think of is affixing some sort of brace or frame on the bottom of the bookcase to prevent it from tipping over but that make be a tripping hazard or ugly FCKGW fucked around with this message at 03:12 on Aug 26, 2021 |
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Aug 26, 2021 03:09
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I'm not sure if this or the HVAC (seemed a bit advanced) thread would be the best place but I settled on asking here first. I'm getting my A/C redone and I was informed that rerunning 40-ish feet of copper would be an additional $3200. I've come across some piping material that is pretty flexible but I'm not sure of it's durability. Has anyone here had any experience working with this type of material? Would anyone here be able to recommend their favorite brand of flexible pipe material that is compatible with A/C split line systems (not mini)? I'm getting a new 3 ton condenser unit and furnace. Am I getting in way over my head? I'm pretty handy (I can solder and braze a bit) and it doesn't seem that difficult, I would be mostly saving the manual labor of having 2-3 people come in and run the copper pipe in my opinion.
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Aug 26, 2021 04:59
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a forbidden love posted:I'm not sure if this or the HVAC (seemed a bit advanced) thread would be the best place but I settled on asking here first. I'm getting my A/C redone and I was informed that rerunning 40-ish feet of copper would be an additional $3200. I've come across some piping material that is pretty flexible but I'm not sure of it's durability. Just looking at it as simple as possible, does it even need replaced? We had our whole hvac system replaced earlier this year and they just used the old lineset, was an old r-22 unit but they pulled a good vacuum on it, wrapped it in some additional insulation, and it's been working great.
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Aug 26, 2021 05:12
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Rakeris posted:Just looking at it as simple as possible, does it even need replaced? We had our whole hvac system replaced earlier this year and they just used the old lineset, was an old r-22 unit but they pulled a good vacuum on it, wrapped it in some additional insulation, and it's been working great. The short answer is yes. The long answer is yes because where it's run through now does not work for what my wife wants to get done to the house. We just bought the place and she wants to put in a big glass door to the back yard. The previous owner put the condenser on the side of the house with the line set running towards the middle of the home and then up into the attic and to the furnace. It would be a shorter run in the long run if I do what I have in mind.
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Aug 26, 2021 05:27
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Considering this place is selling a 40-foot lineset for under $150, i'd say there slightly up-charging you for labor. https://www.ferguson.com/product/jmf-14-x-12-in-x-40-ft-line-set-jdl04080640/_/R-7209278
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Aug 26, 2021 06:04
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a forbidden love posted:I'm not sure if this or the HVAC (seemed a bit advanced) thread would be the best place but I settled on asking here first. I'm getting my A/C redone and I was informed that rerunning 40-ish feet of copper would be an additional $3200. I've come across some piping material that is pretty flexible but I'm not sure of it's durability. I have multiple quotes right now for replacing our furnace and condenser, and the ones that line-itemed the lineset out (also around 30-40ft, run through a crawlspace) seem to be in the high 3-digits for it. This is San Francisco Bay Area - total costs were in the 20k+ range, so who knows how they are accounting for labor. 3200 seems ridiculous for a lineset based on what I have seen, even being generous with labor.
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Aug 26, 2021 06:48
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FCKGW posted:The only thing I could think of is affixing some sort of brace or frame on the bottom of the bookcase to prevent it from tipping over but that make be a tripping hazard or ugly That's exactly what I had to do once in a rental place. I took a couple of shelf brackets and screwed them into the bookcase at the bottom so it couldn't tip forward. Ugly and destructive to the bookcase but didn't harm the wall.
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Aug 26, 2021 07:58
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Slugworth posted:What is this wall made of that you need a powerful drill to access the pipe? Cement or concrete, it's tough stuff to get through, I don't think our handheld drill will be able to manage making a large hole through it.
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Aug 26, 2021 10:04
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Qubee posted:Cement or concrete, it's tough stuff to get through, I don't think our handheld drill will be able to manage making a large hole through it. That can be quite tough, an SDS hammer drill with a masonry bit should make short work of it. Fortunately you're only drilling for a water feed pipe so it's not a huge hole needing a full-on core drill.
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Aug 26, 2021 10:15
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a forbidden love posted:The short answer is yes. The long answer is yes because where it's run through now does not work for what my wife wants to get done to the house. We just bought the place and she wants to put in a big glass door to the back yard. The previous owner put the condenser on the side of the house with the line set running towards the middle of the home and then up into the attic and to the furnace. It would be a shorter run in the long run if I do what I have in mind. Ah, yeah I would get some more quotes, I looked up the quote I got in Jan and they quoted 550 if the lineset needed replaced and it's about 40ft though the attic. (Dallas if that matters)
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Aug 26, 2021 15:10
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The local area's government sanctioned plumber came out and said it's a $66 job lmao
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Aug 26, 2021 15:31
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FCKGW posted:I don't think there's anything delicate enough to not be a permanent installation on a wall is going to be strong enough to prevent a bookshelf from toppling over. I don't think it would be a perpendicular force. You're not hanging the shelf off the velcro, you're just putting it there to anchor the top of the shelf and prevent it from tipping. It's there to keep the shelf from pulling away from the wall. It doesn't need to be that strong for purely anti-tipping purposes. The point isn't to support the weight of a fully loaded bookshelf, it's just there to give some extra anchoring and resistance so that a relatively small tug at the top of the shelf doesn't lever the whole thing over using the front corners as a hinge. Think of an adult tripping and catching the top of the bookshelf or a child reaching up and pulling (it's child-safeing that a lot of this stuff is geared towards). That said, something like a command strip or the old ribbons and nails that used to ship with ikea shelves isn't going to resist a serious force - think a three year old trying to climb. The shelves I just put together last week came with an L-bracket that you're supposed to screw into the underside of the top shelf and the wall.
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Aug 26, 2021 15:43
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PainterofCrap posted:Considering this place is selling a 40-foot lineset for under $150, i'd say there slightly up-charging you for labor. That's what I was thinking! Do you know if that will fit most split A/C systems? I have a system with ducts and has a feed and vacuum line. ROJO posted:I have multiple quotes right now for replacing our furnace and condenser, and the ones that line-itemed the lineset out (also around 30-40ft, run through a crawlspace) seem to be in the high 3-digits for it. This is San Francisco Bay Area - total costs were in the 20k+ range, so who knows how they are accounting for labor. 3200 seems ridiculous for a lineset based on what I have seen, even being generous with labor. Yeah, I'm in San Diego; I was expecting high quotes but that number is outrageous especially considering the costs of the materials. Even if it took 3 guys at 50 p/h 3 hours to do it it wouldn't crack the 1k mark. Rakeris posted:Ah, yeah I would get some more quotes, I looked up the quote I got in Jan and they quoted 550 if the lineset needed replaced and it's about 40ft though the attic. (Dallas if that matters) I would but I'm getting the job done through my home warranty and what I'm asking for kinda (completely) goes outside the scope of the job I put in. I still don't think $3k+ is a fair amount. If anything I might subcontract that part out to a local handyman. These chain AC service places really try and stick it to you. Thanks everyone!
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Aug 26, 2021 16:27
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My A/C fan blower unit looks like it's acting up. I can see in the blower that the motor starts but doesn't seem to kick in to a fast enough speed to cause a noticeable air flow from the vents. I had stopped the blower yesterday afternoon and checked it this morning. I didn't see a pooling of condensation in the unit and given overnight, I wouldn't anticipate that the coils would still be frozen if that was the problem. I'd check since that's literally the other half of the blower unit, but it has some insulating tape around it that I don't want to disturb without reason. I normally just blame stuff like start capacitors here, but the thing does start to move. It just doesn't then go into a faster speed. I couldn't immediately tell if there was a run capacitor. Should I be looking for that as the likely culprit? Or should I assume the whole motor's toast?
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Aug 26, 2021 17:36
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Actual HVAC people in this thread can feel free to say I'm way off, but in my experience capacitors are really cheap and easy to replace so may as well replace them before anything else. It's more likely to be effective than you might think. The HVAC unit at my house for example has 2 capacitors on the blower, and I think which one is used depends on the speed, so if yours also has one of these double caps, only one of them may have failed. Also, people call them "start" capacitors but they're needed to get torque at all speeds not just when the motor starts, so there's some chance yours is degraded to the point that it can't get enough torque to move air at the higher speed. If you replace the blower you'll want to get a new cap anyway so just think of this as the first step.
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Aug 26, 2021 18:01
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Speaking of HVAC capacitors, anyone know a good reputable source to get them online? I google what I think are the right parts for my systems and dozens of appliance/etc. sites come up. I've picked sites at random and successfully got parts for my washer/dryer before, but I honestly don't know how to tell a good site from anything else. SEO has made me distrust google results in the past few years... it's impossible to tell which google results are good and which just paid a bunch of money for higher placement.
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Aug 26, 2021 18:30
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I looked at it a little more and still couldn't find any capacitors. One thread I found online that looked like the same unit had somebody responding that the unit doesn't even have separate capacitors; they're in the motor. I also saw the manufacture year was 2012 and I have a 10-year warranty that includes motors. I decided to just suck it up until somebody can come see it Monday. The house actually has two units so I can kind of teeter along in the half of the house that's easier to keep cool.
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Aug 26, 2021 18:51
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Hello all, I've been getting a couple of uninvited critters in my house and I think I found the hole they're arriving from. Specifically it's an opening between the small metal ramp/grate at the base of a door, and the concrete floor underneath. The door leads from outside into the garage. I'm going to have to eventually get someone to redo the door frame entirely because the wood at the base of the frame is partially rotted, but what material should I use to plug the hole temporarily? I have spackle on hand but is there something else I could use if I'm planning to redo the whole thing eventually anyway (I'm low on funds right now)? Would duct tape even be effective? e: the metal ramp is actually loose and somewhat disconnected from the base. so I would need something that is strong enough to keep the grate in place from the force of the door and people stepping over it The Klowner fucked around with this message at 23:44 on Aug 26, 2021 |
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Aug 26, 2021 23:40
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edit: I think I figured out how to move up the rubber gasket easily wait who changed my avatar  actionjackson fucked around with this message at 01:12 on Aug 27, 2021 |
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Aug 26, 2021 23:50
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The Klowner posted:Hello all, I've been getting a couple of uninvited critters in my house and I think I found the hole they're arriving from. Specifically it's an opening between the small metal ramp/grate at the base of a door, and the concrete floor underneath. The door leads from outside into the garage. I'm going to have to eventually get someone to redo the door frame entirely because the wood at the base of the frame is partially rotted, but what material should I use to plug the hole temporarily? I have spackle on hand but is there something else I could use if I'm planning to redo the whole thing eventually anyway (I'm low on funds right now)? Would duct tape even be effective? Is not using the door for awhile an option? Because then you can block it with a sheet of plywood, or just about anything flat really. Tape would probably last for a few weeks at least if you weren't opening/closing the door.
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Aug 26, 2021 23:53
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DaveSauce posted:Speaking of HVAC capacitors, anyone know a good reputable source to get them online? Over the years I’ve bought parts from Coast (local to me), RepairClinic and PartsSelect and never had a problem https://www.coastparts.com https://www.repairclinic.com https://www.partselect.com Most of these companies also sell on Amazon/eBay I’ve also found eBay to be very reputable since there’s a ton of appliance stores that sell part pulls on there. Just choose one with an actual part picture, not a stock photo. Probably not the best for common items like capacitors but it’s a way cheaper option for harder to find parts.
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Aug 27, 2021 00:29
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Is not using the door for awhile an option? Because then you can block it with a sheet of plywood, or just about anything flat really. Tape would probably last for a few weeks at least if you weren't opening/closing the door. No, it isn't unfortunately.
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Aug 27, 2021 02:27
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Hey, new homeowner problem: I'm attempting to install a NeverRust curved shower rod, one of these models, in my upstairs bathroom:  The major issue at the start of the project was the fact that this bathroom is butted right up against a very steep roof:  After a lot of measuring, leveling, and swearing, I did manage to get the screw mounting holes in the right positions and pilot holes drilled, but the terrible anchors included with the shower rod weren't going in right. The house was built in 1940, and some of the drywall may be about that old. I decided to switch to using these much stronger drywall anchors:  However, they wouldn't go deep enough into the drywall to be flush with the wall. I drilled deeper, but the one I was working on refused to go in more than 2/3 of its length, and then this happened:  The business end is in the wall now.  How do I salvage this project? I'd like to be able to take a shower without spritzing the entire bathroom, but I'm kind of at my wits end here. TIA
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Aug 27, 2021 03:42
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Have you hit timber (lath?) there? If so, potentially just screwing straight through the whole mess into the timber behind it will work.
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Aug 27, 2021 12:04
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NoSpoon posted:Have you hit timber (lath?) there? If so, potentially just screwing straight through the whole mess into the timber behind it will work. It's a blurry photo but I think I'm seeing horse hair in that plaster, so I'm voting lath too. Probably they're hitting the lath board, yeah. Problem is, lath is still run across studs, so there's no guarantee there's a stud behind where they're trying to fix to.
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Aug 27, 2021 14:22
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