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I got a few questions. I live in a house built in 82. We just bought it a couple of months ago. It used to have popcorn ceiling but it was completely renovated and they removed the popcorn ceiling in like 99% of the places. I decided to start going through the vents to check for mold. Just because the HVAC is old (there’s no evidence of mold anywhere so far…. but we feel a bit more sinusy all the time). Nothing I could really see so far. But I do see this in all vents… is this from spraying the popcorn ceiling originally? (the living room has had wood put up on the ceiling - that’s why you see the panels in this photo).  Also there are two air returns for the HVAC. Single floor, 1500 sq ft. And they’re about 15 ft apart. Is that odd? Both about 20 inches. They both also have this black batting/insulation. It’s so evenly black (minus the dust) that it seems like that was it’s original color. Is it just some old style? (also you can see where some white over spray got in here through the renovation)  
BonoMan fucked around with this message at 00:18 on Sep 25, 2022 |
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Sep 25, 2022 00:14
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El Mero Mero posted:If there's no vent or window in the bathroom there's nothing to truly stop it. You can buy a dehumidifier though and that can help a bit. Do people have homes on here with no vent OR window? I have lived in some questionable places and I can’t remember a bathroom that was completely sealed off. Some with no window or active fan but still had a louvered vent for the smallest bit of air. Usually in super old apartment buildings. A louvered vent is still not gonna do much to mitigate humidity damaging the paint though I imagine. Those apartments were also whitewashed with property manager grade paint by a maintenance person after every move out.
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Sep 25, 2022 00:17
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So my porch has dumb sheet metal tacked into all sides of our beams and posts. Is there a reason for this aside from cheap assedness and laziness? Does this style of... construction(?) have a name? Looks terrible.
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Sep 25, 2022 00:31
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El Mero Mero posted:If there's no vent or window in the bathroom there's nothing to truly stop it. You can buy a dehumidifier though and that can help a bit. There's a window but no way to install a vent really, the whole apartment is on a single 15-amp breaker so I'm already pushing it. On checking it says the Kilz oil-based spray primer is "not recommended for mildew-prone surfaces" which is weird because I thought the whole point of the Kilz brand is that it kills mold. But it seems like only some of their products do that. Also, the walls in the shower when I bought the place were already some kind of plastic paneling. Any reason I can't strip the ceiling and put the same kind of panel up there too? Seems like it would solve the issue as long as there's a way to keep mold from developing in-between layers. I think Home Depot sells 4x8 sheets of fiberglass reinforced plastic that might do the trick.
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Sep 25, 2022 00:32
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BonoMan posted:They both also have this black batting/insulation. It’s so evenly black (minus the dust) that it seems like that was it’s original color. Is it just some old style? (also you can see where some white over spray got in here through the renovation) I would say that’s just dirt. It’s what an old air filter looks like.
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Sep 25, 2022 00:35
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BigFactory posted:I would say that’s just dirt. It’s what an old air filter looks like. Interesting it's just so evenly colored (the flash illuminated the dust more than it looks like in real life).. but I guess over a long enough timeline
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Sep 25, 2022 00:42
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Zero VGS posted:There's a window but no way to install a vent really, the whole apartment is on a single 15-amp breaker so I'm already pushing it. I think it "Kilz" stains, as you noted only some of their products do that. Before installing a fiberglass panel on the whole ceiling I think you should ask your neighbors what solution they have, if they have similar layouts. Maybe a window mounted bathroom fan would work. Do you have an outlet in there or no?
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Sep 25, 2022 00:44
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Zero VGS posted:There's a window but no way to install a vent really, the whole apartment is on a single 15-amp breaker so I'm already pushing it. I looked for a lot of anti-mold solutions a few weeks ago and the consensus was that consumer grade products do not encapsulate or kill existing mold. Kilz mold-resistant products and the like only really claim to inhibit mold growth on the surface of the paint. Maybe they're intended to protect substrates better than regular primer and paint, but I didn't see anyone comparing the two in mold-prone areas. As far as surface mold resistance I saw Zinsser products usually recommended over Kilz but again, I'm not really sure what value any of them actually have when it comes to mold. I know if I owned the place you're talking about, I'd be asking this thread if I needed to put up cement board and roll on some red guard or something.
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Sep 25, 2022 01:00
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Vim Fuego posted:I think it "Kilz" stains, as you noted only some of their products do that. The window is at shoulder height in the middle of the shower, there's no electricity in the bathroom besides a single bulb over the medicine cabinet, but wiring anything to that window would be certain death. I guess if I could piggyback a low-power fan unit off that single bulb socket it could work.
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Sep 25, 2022 01:17
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Zero VGS posted:The window is at shoulder height in the middle of the shower, there's no electricity in the bathroom besides a single bulb over the medicine cabinet, but wiring anything to that window would be certain death. I guess if I could piggyback a low-power fan unit off that single bulb socket it could work. There isn’t an outlet to plug in a hairdryer or electric razor?
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Sep 25, 2022 01:24
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BigFactory posted:There isn’t an outlet to plug in a hairdryer or electric razor? No, but there's a slot there to dispose razorblades.
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Sep 25, 2022 01:33
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That will be a fun adventure if you ever open the wall! Bathroom fans are already pretty low power. Maybe you could find a battery powered one. A small annoyance but better than mold! E: reread it. You said the whole apartment is on that breaker. Um, quick question - is this a rental or do you own it? El Mero Mero fucked around with this message at 06:33 on Sep 25, 2022 |
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Sep 25, 2022 06:30
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I have a bay window with a ledge on it where my dogs like to hang out. The ledge used to be covered by a carpet covered piece of plywood. I removed the carpet ages ago and painted the plywood white to match the walls. It is now all scratched up from the dogs and in need of replacement. I bought a carton of Pergo XP laminate flooring to install over the OSB subfloor. I've never done laminate flooring or trim work, but I have experience in woodworking and have a bandsaw, radial arm saw, compound miter saw, and router with bearing guided flush trim bits if needed. What I don't currently have is a table saw, planer, or jointer. That being said, I plan to install quarter round trim around the back three sides, but I will have this big gap in the front and I don't know what is the best way to cover it up. Do I just get some window casing and use finish nails to fasten it to the laminate flooring and drywall or is there a better way?
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Sep 25, 2022 21:08
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Finish nails in laminate aren't going to last for more than about 15 minutes. Especially when there is downward pressure on the trim they're holding in from pets walking over to the edge. Is that drywall on the bottom of the picture? If so you're likely going to want to figure out how to attached whatever it is you're going to put there to the studs behind that. In fact you should have a 2x4 running the entire length below that OSB. That's what you can nail trim into. Or the OSB itself - anything is better than trying to nail sideways into laminate flooring.
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Sep 25, 2022 21:21
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Vim Fuego posted:Dryer is broken again, yay ( Dryer is fixed! The heating element was blown. Just a broken heating coil. I guess I should have replaced it while I was in there a month ago, but it tested good and I didn't want to swap it just because.
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Sep 25, 2022 23:11
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I'd skip the Pergo and just get some sort of hardwood that you could cut to fit and stain/lacquer. It'll inevitably get scratched up again, but I don't know that nailing a floating laminate to that is going to work. Our window ledges are all poplar planks, cut to fit and painted. The cats aren't terribly hard on them, but replacing them is at least relatively easy. It's just nailed down to the 2x framing underneath, and the drywall seam underneath is covered by a quarter round trim nailed back into the wall framing. Like this: 
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Sep 26, 2022 01:18
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Making progress on the bathroom reno, question about floor/doorway transition The new floor will be about a quarter inch (a 5.5mm underlayment plus height of the LVP) higher than the hallway floor, which is hardwood. I think the best way to put in a transition piece is to route out a groove in the middle of the doorway to install a T piece with a height reducer piece? Just concerned about getting the height correct. Or I just a plain wood flat transition piece and just send it over my router table to remove a thin layer from the high/bathroom side?
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Sep 26, 2022 17:58
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How about a marble threshold?
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Sep 26, 2022 18:52
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PainterofCrap posted:How about a marble threshold? Classy.  Edit: this is what it has now... literally nothing because the hallway/living room was c see rpet before I tore it out:  So what is cheap sheet vinyl will be covered with a sheet of underlayment then stick on LVP, which are 2mm thick, so a total of 7.5mm higher than the wood floor. DrBouvenstein fucked around with this message at 23:06 on Sep 26, 2022 |
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Sep 26, 2022 20:24
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I'm serious. Marble will work perfectly there; get a piece, it's less than $60; get it cut to fit; you may have to trim a little off of the doorway stops on both sides. You can get it flat, or bevelled; make a bed with grout right on the wood floor & it'll set solid with no voids.
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Sep 27, 2022 00:24
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Motronic posted:Finish nails in laminate aren't going to last for more than about 15 minutes. Especially when there is downward pressure on the trim they're holding in from pets walking over to the edge. I figured finish nails sideways in laminate wasn't going to work worth a poo poo. I need to make sure there is no gap between the casing and the flooring that the dogs' nails can catch on, so I'm going to cut the flooring slightly oversized, then use a flush trim bit on the router to trim the edge of the flooring to the drywall, then install the casing about 1/32 lower than the flooring using long enough finish nails to nail into the 2x4 behind the drywall. I'm going to test on some scrap to see how well the casing will bond to the edge of the laminiate with Titebond II for some added holding power. I'm guessing not very well.
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Sep 27, 2022 00:27
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SkunkDuster posted:I figured finish nails sideways in laminate wasn't going to work worth a poo poo. I need to make sure there is no gap between the casing and the flooring that the dogs' nails can catch on, so I'm going to cut the flooring slightly oversized, then use a flush trim bit on the router to trim the edge of the flooring to the drywall, then install the casing about 1/32 lower than the flooring using long enough finish nails to nail into the 2x4 behind the drywall. I'm going to test on some scrap to see how well the casing will bond to the edge of the laminiate with Titebond II for some added holding power. I'm guessing not very well. The only reasonable way I see of doing this is running trim along the wall/face of the laminate that has enough cross section to install more trim (like quarter round or something) on the top edge of the laminate. There's no scenario where butting this laminate against something is going to work and look well no matter what kind of glue caulk, etc is involved. I'm sure there are other ways to do this, but that's the first one that came to mind.
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Sep 27, 2022 14:10
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The power board in the fridge started having issues Thursday night, powering on for 30s then dying, eventually run ok for a while, repeat. It held up through the weekend, and basically died in the arms of the service guy I called. Part won’t be here until Friday, which is great when you have a fridge full of food. Don’t want to spend the $3k to replace it right now so part it is. Tried Restore, a used appliance place, zero used fridges out there on my side of town and I didn’t want to deal with CL/FB marketplace. So now I have a brand new garage fridge out there for backup and more freezer space for Costco runs once the main one is fixed.  
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Sep 27, 2022 16:07
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Paint sprayer chat -- I have done a good bit of painting with a Graco handheld sprayer with the large capacity cup. But I find it to be a kludge that is difficult to reload and the reloading happens far too frequently. I have regrets, because before I got this, I bought a used Titan Impact 400, but I was completely unprepared for it. I didn't realize that the 50' hose it came with would take almost a half gallon of paint just to load. I didn't have any idea about nozzle size/pattern, and I ended up with a nozzle that allowed too much volume of paint through, so I had to move super fast to cover without running. I sold that sprayer after my first project with it. That's my regret. I should have thought for a while, got a shorter hose and tighter nozzle, then learned more about it. So now I'm looking at buying a non-handheld sprayer again. Looking at Graco X7, which has been around forever, possibly a Pro X17, depending on price. I had good luck with the Titan, though, so I'm open to other brands/models. What's my best course of action?
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Sep 27, 2022 16:25
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EVERYWHERE 
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I have to install some rectangular door knobs that kinda looks like this: Is there a tool that can help me easily level the long edge against the long edge of the door? Using a level doesn't work because its an old house and the doors aren't necessarily level themselves. I've been googling but I can't seem to hit upon the right terms. I was thinking it would be some sort of right angle clamp with an adjustable straight edge? Something like one of these rulers, but instead of being able to adjust the black lip there up and down along the length of the ruler it would adjust in and out instead? 
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Sep 27, 2022 17:32
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PoopShipDestroyer posted:I have to install some rectangular door knobs that kinda looks like this: Those aren't supposed to be installed level. They're supposed to be installed square with the door. Those are likely two different things in a house old enough to have that style. You square them to the edges of the door by measuring and marking across the door from side to side in a couple different places.
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Sep 27, 2022 17:49
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PoopShipDestroyer posted:I have to install some rectangular door knobs that kinda looks like this: Use a speed square held against the long side of the door and mark a straight line across for the top edge of the knob plate and then move it to mark a straight line for the bottom edge 
Tiny Timbs fucked around with this message at 17:55 on Sep 27, 2022 |
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Sep 27, 2022 17:52
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meatpimp posted:Paint sprayer chat -- The Graco Magnum series (x7, x9, whatever) is their lower end offerings that are good for a homeowner or handyman who will use it occasionally. I consider them disposable units, because when the packings or prime valve or whatever eventually go out it doesn't make financial sense to repair it vs buying a new one. Clean and store it well and they can last just fine. They work well, but your limitation will be the gallons per minute and the maximum tip orifice size you can run on them while still atomizing. If you're not planning on spraying heavy bodied elastomerics, roof coatings, etc then something in the Magnum line should do everything you need it to. Going up to a "professional" grade sprayer your entry point would be a Titan 410 or Graco 390 which are probably going to start around $900 these days. Much more durable and repairable than a Magnum with higher GPM and max tip size, but probably not worth the coin for occasional home projects unless you get a great deal on a used one. Regarding hose length, you don't want to drop down too short. Think of the hose as your reserve of pressurized paint between the pump and the gun. Longer hose means you have more paint ready to go and that's less work on the pump to keep it full and pressurized. If you're going slow and not keeping the trigger held down constantly then you're probably fine with 25' but if you find that the pump is running non-stop and not keeping up the pressure then that's your problem.
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Sep 27, 2022 18:00
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meatpimp posted:Paint sprayer chat -- I bought an x7 to paint my house exterior and I love it. The finish is incredible and it was pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it. You definitely want to understand how the tip sizes work. Also look up the material you're using and adjust your pressure to it's specs. The primer I used took way less pressure to atomize then the paint did. My biggest issue is the dial on the pump. I wish it measured pressure in numbers vs just less or more. I always did a pattern test anyway. As for the paint in the hose, yeah a 50' hose uses a lot of paint but if you need a 50' hose for a project, that project is likely going to be more than a gallon or two. If it's a small project, use the 25' hose. Also learn how to recapture the paint in the hose when cleaning it out to save paint. If you're painting walls or an exterior I recommend two things. A must is a 15-20" gun extension. It allows you to cover more paint on one stroke with less physical movement. It also gets you further away from the overspray. The other recommendation is a flexible hose whip. It's about 3' of more flexible hose that goes between the regular hose and your gun making the gun infinitely easier to manipulate. Cleaning the sprayers is probably the worst part about owning one. It's messy, takes time and just sucks. I'm a pretty thorough guy and it makes me want to cut corners. I can only imagine how many of these things have been wrecked by people not cleaning them thoroughly.
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Sep 27, 2022 18:32
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Tiny Timbs posted:Use a speed square held against the long side of the door and mark a straight line across for the top edge of the knob plate and then move it to mark a straight line for the bottom edge This is the answer. Or a t-square if you have one. Open the door, hold it on the edge of the door, pencil (or wax pencil) a line. Go from there.
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Sep 27, 2022 18:35
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Final Blog Entry posted:The Graco Magnum series (x7, x9, whatever) is their lower end offerings that are good for a homeowner or handyman who will use it occasionally. I consider them disposable units, because when the packings or prime valve or whatever eventually go out it doesn't make financial sense to repair it vs buying a new one. Clean and store it well and they can last just fine. They work well, but your limitation will be the gallons per minute and the maximum tip orifice size you can run on them while still atomizing. If you're not planning on spraying heavy bodied elastomerics, roof coatings, etc then something in the Magnum line should do everything you need it to. Verman posted:I bought an x7 to paint my house exterior and I love it. The finish is incredible and it was pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it. You definitely want to understand how the tip sizes work. Also look up the material you're using and adjust your pressure to it's specs. The primer I used took way less pressure to atomize then the paint did. My biggest issue is the dial on the pump. I wish it measured pressure in numbers vs just less or more. I always did a pattern test anyway. Perfect, that was the feedback I was hoping for. Thank you. I'll keep the hose length in mind, my use will be just a few projects, about a dozen doors, a wainscotted hallway, general wall painting, etc. I don't think I need to go full commercial, I've limped the handheld along for several years, so I"m sure I can make a good homeowner grade sprayer work for a while. Hose whip definitely on the list. meatpimp fucked around with this message at 20:21 on Sep 27, 2022 |
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Sep 27, 2022 19:55
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Also, for spray tips there are new low pressure offerings that are awesome. Titan's are their HEA/High Efficiency Airless and Graco's are their LP or FFLP/Fine Finish Low Pressure tips. They'll effectively atomize paint at around 1,000psi lower than standard tips. This means a better finish, less overspray, and less wear and tear on the sprayer. The Graco LP/FFLP's will require their blue RacX tip guard, while a Magnum sprayer comes with the orange Rac5 guard, so you would be on the hook for a new guard for those. The Titan HEA's will drop right in to either an orange Graco guard or standard Titan tip guard.
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Sep 27, 2022 21:01
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PoopShipDestroyer posted:I have to install some rectangular door knobs that kinda looks like this: If you want the edge of the door knob plate parallel to the long edge of the door, the combination square in your picture is exactly what you need. Just adjust the ruler for the distance you need (1" in my picture), then put the black part against the door and a pencil against the end of the rule, then move them down at the same time to draw your line.
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Sep 28, 2022 03:36
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Learning cool poo poo about tools in my shed I seldom use ITT
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Sep 28, 2022 03:53
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If you don't have a pencil, you can pull out that ball shaped thing on the bottom and it has a pointy rod on it that you can use to score a line.
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Sep 28, 2022 13:27
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Literally every tool you have has a dozen secrets built in to it that makes it a billion times more useful. Trades people [usually] know these, but the weekend warriors usually only find out about them after using them wrong for years. e.g.: SkunkDuster posted:If you don't have a pencil, you can pull out that ball shaped thing on the bottom and it has a pointy rod on it that you can use to score a line. Also, they key for the ruler can be rotated 180 if you loosen it far enough, so that you can flip the ruler in to the orientation you need to make measurements easier (rather than counting backwards, for example). DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 13:38 on Sep 28, 2022 |
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Sep 28, 2022 13:35
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Final Blog Entry posted:Also, for spray tips there are new low pressure offerings that are awesome. Titan's are their HEA/High Efficiency Airless and Graco's are their LP or FFLP/Fine Finish Low Pressure tips. They'll effectively atomize paint at around 1,000psi lower than standard tips. This means a better finish, less overspray, and less wear and tear on the sprayer. I just have trouble with tip sizing, since I have virtually no experience. I can lay down a good, smooth, clean finish with the handheld, but I don't know how to translate that into a regular gun tip... the ones I used before felt like I was spraying a fire hose.
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Sep 28, 2022 16:51
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Were you using a new tip or an old blown out one that came with the used sprayer? As tips wear the orifice gets bigger and the pattern goes from a nice flat fan pattern to a rounded spray pattern. Paint manufactures will specify tip orifice size on the can and/or on the product data sheet. Most latex paint will say something like a .015-.019 recommended range. When you buy a tip the first number in the size is half of the fan width at 12" from the substrate and the last two numbers are the orifice. So a 515 tip is a 10" fan with a .015" orifice. Fan width is going to come down toyour preference and how big of something you're painting. The thing to remember is that at a given orifice size fan width will dictate how much milage you're laying down as you go. A 215 is going to put down twice as many mils as a 415 because you have the same amount of paint going on a 4" area instead of 8". From there you're controlling milage with how fast you're moving the gun.
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Sep 28, 2022 17:15
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That's what scared me about smaller tips. You need to move the gun faster because you're putting out the same amount of paint in a smaller area meaning you need to move faster to prevent runs and drips, especially on harder surfaces like metal.
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Sep 28, 2022 19:13
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Maybe not the right thread but; what vacuum cleaners do y'all recommend? The one I inherited from my grandma that she got in the 70s is finally about done. We have a lot of pets so something that's good with thick shag carpet and hairs, if such a thing exists.
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Sep 28, 2022 20:21
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