Fix It Fast: Start here for DIY help! (You'll know when it's a problem by smell.)

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Fix It Fast: Start here for DIY help! (You'll know when it's a problem by smell.)

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

I'm looking for a good wood filler. I want something that is fine grained, sandable, and stainable. I'm refinishing some old cabinet doors. They were previously painted and have white wood filler where the holes for the handle bolts were. I want to coat it with a better filler that will take a stain then fake the grain with paint before polyurethane. Anyone have a recommendation?

# ¿ May 27, 2023 00:28

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 08:49

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

PainterofCrap posted:

Old Reliable: https://www.lowes.com/pd/DAP-Plasti...wE&gclsrc=aw.ds

That's topped the lists I saw online. Thanks!

# ¿ May 27, 2023 01:21

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

Gripweed posted:

I would just like to point out. Over the course of this discussion the addition you guys have been wanting me to put on the wall has gone from 1/8th of an inch to 1/4 of an inch to 3/8th of an inch to 3/8th of an inch suspended half an inch away from the original wall. I am not a fool. I see what's going on here. You people are trying to crush me.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2023 07:32

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

TooMuchAbstraction posted:

3. add a board to the bottom of the wood, to buy me some extra space to work

Option 3 is aesthetically displeasing, and gets worse the thicker the board is. Option 1 is a little concerning, mostly because if I break the prongs then I'm down a button and will have to order more. I'm not the world's greatest at electrical soldering, but I should be able to handle it. Heck, I should be able to just wrap wire through and around the prong and then glob some solder on and it'd suffice.

Any suggestions or advice?

I don't understand the aesthetic concern with option 3 because I don't understand how the side of the board will be exposed in the final product.

Is the board just supposed to contain the buttons in itself, or is it the face of a box? If it's the face of a box just glue a sheet of mdf to it.

If the board is supposed to contain the buttons then I think you've got 2 aesthetically acceptable options. 1. MDF with edge banding, probabyl black. Or 2. get another board in a highly contrasting wood. Contrast looks way better than a slight mismatch.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2023 07:38

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

The Seimitsu PS-15 is recommended as a shallow arcade button.

# ¿ Jun 24, 2023 15:17

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

Dr. Lunchables posted:

New house, new (to us) fridge. Someone else’s stink. I’ve gutted it down to the coils, washed with bleach, 30% acetic acid, and baking soda solution. The stink is embedded in all lubricants, the plastic, and the styrofoam air channels. Right now I’ve got stuff sitting in sunlight covered with baking soda. I’ve tried to remove all silicone grease, and I’ve sprayed the coils multiple times.

If I can’t get this out I might have to sell this fridge. It’s only like two or three years old at most, but the previous owners apparently had a power outage and just let poo poo rot in there.

e: for clarity, I did not bleach then vinegar and inhale deeply.. Thorough soakings in between, each an unsuccessful attempt at removing stink.

That sounds like new fridge time to me

# ¿ Jun 25, 2023 19:32

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

Use a rubber reducer coupling and caulking rope. Just kinda cram it in there.

# ¿ Jul 16, 2023 07:23

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

TooMuchAbstraction posted:

I have a covered exterior outlet where the cover is looking kinda grody:

I'm guessing the fix here is just to wire brush off the loose paint and rust, then prime and paint it? Anything I ought to watch out for?

Yep. If you're really feeling like it use a "rust converter" or rust reformer before the grey primer and finally the paint.

# ¿ Aug 6, 2023 04:55

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

Yeah. 2 years ago, it's not spreading, and no one is getting mold allergy symptoms? Just paint over it. Mold can only grow if it's wet enough. That's just discoloration at this point.

# ¿ Aug 12, 2023 20:24

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

What's the right product to secure these loose bricks?

I have a fireplace. It was a wood burning fireplace. Previous owners installed a gas insert. I have taken out the gas manifold and currently don't use it, it's just for decoration. It is possible that someday that will change. Most likely it will eventually have another gas fireplace installed. Unlikely but possible it will be reverted to wood burning.

Two of the bricks are loose. The cat occasionally knocks them out running around. I plan to stick them back in. Is construction adhesive ok? Or should I use a different product because the fireplace may actually be used again someday?

# ¿ Aug 21, 2023 17:44

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

I have a rickety harbor freight tool stand. It is made of bent sheet metal. I want to attach plywood panels to the sides of the legs it to stiffen it up. The scrap I have laying around is only quarter inch but it should help to prevent shear/wobble.

What's the best way to attach the 1/4 inch ply to the metal legs?

1. Drill hole through wood and metal, bolt with washer and nuts
2. Drill hole through metal, very short wood screw into the plywood with the screw head on the metal side
3. Drill pilot hole in the plywood and metal, run a self-tapping screw into it

I'm inclined to go with the self-tapping screw. But I figured I'd ask

# ¿ Oct 17, 2023 18:16

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

Can you buy solid bypass closet doors? As opposed to the hollow ones. If so, where?

# ¿ Oct 30, 2023 04:15

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

I scraped up some bubbled paint on the window frame. What's the best filler to bring it level before repainting? I have drywall mud and wood filler. I'm willing to buy bondo if it's the best option.

# ¿ Oct 31, 2023 22:09

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

TooMuchAbstraction posted:

I have at least one mouse in my attic. I can hear them at night, and there's spoor left around the boxes of my old possessions. Said old possessions are mostly going to get tossed -- they've been sitting up there for over a decade without me using them, so clearly they aren't important. Is there anything in particular I need to watch out for while tossing them? I figured I'd mask up, wear old clothes and my gardening gloves, bag everything, and haul it to the dump, then toss the clothes in the laundry and shower.

The stuff I want to keep is old videogame consoles and the games themselves. Figure I'd wipe them down with lysol and let them air out; should that be sufficient?

As for the mouse, I'm leaving out snap traps. I just wish it was less of a pain in the rear end to check on them.

Just hantavirus. Don't breathe the poop, you'll be fine

# ¿ Nov 11, 2023 00:11

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

Yeah. The cheapest ones are like $67 on Amazon, $75 at home depot, $80 at HF. If you can't rent just buy one

# ¿ Nov 24, 2023 07:56

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

PainterofCrap posted:

The code folks who oversaw my garage build waited until the slab had set before inspecting & telling me that I had to have hurricane bolts every 3' (22x24 and 16X16 pads)

# ¿ Nov 25, 2023 19:31

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

C-Euro posted:

Planning to repaint our kitchen the same color that it currently is.

1. There's no need to do a coat of primer if I'm just painting the same color, right? Just give the wall a good cleaning/patching and paint the new color coat on.

2. I'm not sure that the PO left us enough kitchen paint to redo the whole thing (if what they left is still useable to begin with). The lid on the can still has the formula of the base and pigmentation, if I take this information back to the people who sold them the paint then I could probably get a new can that's an exact match, correct?

1. Probably don't need primer. I recommend TSP, tri sodium phosphate, for cleaning grease off kitchen walls. If by patching you mean new drywall or new mud/spackle I would prime that rather than just paint color on it. Zinsser spray primer is the best spray primer I have found, it's good for quick work on small areas.

2. Yes you can get an exact match to the mix. The color as applied to the walls will have faded over time so new paint is likely to look different once it dries. How much different depends on color and conditions. If you're painting entire walls it'll be fine. If you intend to patch you'll probably be able to tell but other people won't really notice

Vim Fuego fucked around with this message at 19:08 on Dec 2, 2023

# ¿ Dec 2, 2023 19:05

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

SMH

# ¿ Dec 2, 2023 21:29

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

No idea about the product but A cheap trail cam will catch if its someone turning it on. If you catch a chupacabra you have to let the thread name it

# ¿ Jan 17, 2024 02:05

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

Leperflesh posted:

I mean, another option is to not have rats in your walls

Motronic posted:

So you're saying to not live in the bay area? Or just do'nt use pex there?

Look to your left. Now look to your right. If you do not see a rat, you are the rat

# ¿ Feb 23, 2024 21:24

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

Leperflesh posted:

Hm.

Perhaps I'll try this new futuristic "rubber" material next time I need to deal with the rear end end of a toilet. (The top part, that your rear end goes on, is the mouth end of the toilet)

trying to report this

# ¿ Feb 25, 2024 07:37

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

Leperflesh posted:

no I'm just gonna say absolutely do not make a trap with a gun, nobody I hope is taking that remotely seriously

I am and I will, yr not the boss of me

# ¿ Feb 29, 2024 22:27

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

I have a deck and the boards are laid too close together. Water pools up in some areas.

I think I have two options.
1: Pull them all and relay them spaced out properly to allow drainage. Essentially rebuild the entire deck surface.

2: Run a saw down the joins between the boards to saw like 1/8 inch gap into them.

I'm trying to do option 2 because it sounds like way less work than 1.

Is there such a thing as a "wide kerf" blade for a 6 1/2 inch circular saw? Is there a better option?

# ¿ Mar 2, 2024 18:35

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

You can search troubleshooting for your exact model. Stoves aren't pleasant to disassemble but swapping parts isn't too hard mechanically. It's totally a DIY job in my house because the cost and time of getting a pro out is not worth it to me

# ¿ Mar 7, 2024 17:45

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

H110Hawk posted:

Do not look into laser with remaining eye. It's hilarious how yolo people get with lasers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa_tCzIMJjE

# ¿ Mar 8, 2024 04:53

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

Hah. If you're out for revenge post that on their online reviews

# ¿ Mar 8, 2024 04:55

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

A small piece of vinyl wrap might work. Or if you can remove the handle use bondo, then sand and spraypaint.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2024 22:57

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

For small areas of crumbling plaster- over rock lath, not wood slats- is there any reason to repair with actual plaster instead of hot mud?

Just a general question, not asking about obi_ant's window

# ¿ Mar 17, 2024 23:58

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

Usually the paint can has a 1-800 # you can call the product manufacturer and ask

# ¿ Mar 18, 2024 17:24

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

TooMuchAbstraction posted:

The point was that they weren't actually doing the hard math of calculating sines/cosines and measuring out angles. They put the responsibility of that work onto technology, just like we do, except their technology was "a stick" and ours is "a ridiculously powerful computer"...and the stick is better.

So you're saying we should avoid... Too much abstraction?

# ¿ Apr 9, 2024 01:18

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

tuyop posted:

I located some wasps in a gutter getting warmed up for their daily tasks.

I have this spray but it says not to use it on vinyl or aluminum. These gutters came with the house so I'm not sure what they are. Is it safe to just blast this Doktor Doom spray into that gutter?

Other than that, there are lots of wasps around. How do we know when to call an exterminator?

PainterofCrap posted:

They’re probably nesting under the roof, getting access through the gap between the roof & the fascia. They’re pulling water from the gutter, which is aluminum (as is the fascia).

I've used this to kill small nests in enclosed spaces: BioAdvanced Termite and Carpenter Bee Killer Plus, Foam, 18 oz https://a.co/d/4xVIxV7

# ¿ Apr 18, 2024 19:04

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# ¿ May 14, 2024 08:49

Vim Fuego: Jun 1, 2000; I LITERALLY SLEEP IN A RACING CAR. DO YOU?
p.s. ask me about my subscription mattress; Ultra Carp

A MIRACLE posted:

the skunk dug up and ate a whole hornet nest by himself so I’m not that mad at him even if he stinks up the yard a bit

what a bro

# ¿ Apr 19, 2024 05:36

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Fix It Fast: Start here for DIY help! (You'll know when it's a problem by smell.)