DELETE CASCADE posted:

any recommendations for chemicals to get paint off a tile shower floor? on some tiles that are less worn, it scrapes right off in big chunks. on other tiles, it's like there are these tiny bits trapped in the tile and i can scrape all day and it won't come off

e: just to be clear this is not a case of "whoops i just spilled some paint on the tile", it's more like "motherfuckers PAINTED THE TILE and it's been there for years"

floWenoL posted:

Cool thanks, wire brush and Vaseline sounds like what I want!

Follow up question: re. "getting that 2nd picture's nut off without the bolt spinning in the retaining ring", would it help to grip the bolt with something (vise grip, etc.) while trying to get the nut off? I can see that loving up the threading, but maybe I can just grip the top part which I'd snap off anyway...

SkyeAuroline posted:

So if you were in an apartment, unable to drill or otherwise permanently modify the place, but needed some way to insulate a sliding glass door and a window that are both leaking ridiculous amounts of cold air even after complex maintenance comes out and seals the cracks... how would you do it?

Figuring out why my "heated" air is blowing cold is their problem, but my desk is near the glass door and my bed is near the window, and both get freezing cold after sundown.

SkyeAuroline posted:

I've got a pack of this for each one; I'd rather keep the patio access available if possible, and I'm hesitant to actually put it up with winter hopefully ending eventually, but since my concern extends into summer we'll see there.


Yeah, I'm looking at tension rods, the big issue there is nobody wants to list how much weight their tension rods hold reliably, and the few that do are "don't hang anything more than a sheet of bloody paper off this". Any recommendation?

Final Blog Entry posted:

Absolutely and I should have put more emphasis on the "high quality" part of my post. Spending an extra $10 or more per gallon to jump up in quality levels will be worth it every time in saved time, aggravation, and amount of paint used.

SkyeAuroline posted:

Requesting a moment of humoring a dumb question while I fight with my landlord to get poo poo fixed here. My heat in my apartment is not great, nor is it helped by imperfect insulation. All that said, I've tracked down another problem - a poorly mounted vent that's leaking a lot of the hot air my "furnace" (Apollo HydroHeat, it's basically a hot water radiator inside a forced air unit) generates into the mechanical closet instead of sending it up the vent. Which is probably why my "hot air vents" are putting out 72 F air to try and maintain 70 F, and why it's constantly running. From looking it over, it looks like one side isn't all the way down, and the air that leaks is coming from that corner and shooting straight out.


The corner that's leaking is directly behind the "cold return" pipe.

• Could I safely clean it off and apply that metallic duct tape to keep the air in as an interim measure, until I can get facility maintenance out to actually give a poo poo about checking their hardware? It wouldn't be a perfect seal but less leak is less leak; I just don't want a fire hazard or something.
  
• There are no visible brackets, screws, anything on this duct. Is there any way to get it better fitted? I only have hand tools and my dominant hand is currently limited on twisting/flexing due to an injury, so I'm working with really limited means here.
  
• Is there anything else I should keep an eye on with this unit? First time I've had one of these weird hybrid units and it's... less than effective.
  

Most of an overall view, minus the floor.

Farmer Crack-rear end posted:

The bedroom window in my apartment came with cheap blinds that are no longer in great condition. I want to install some curtains and am a little overwhelmed by options as far as curtain rods and brackets. Any pointers on how to select the appropriate hardware would be greatly appreciated.

melon cat posted:

I need some help re-doing my very, very old home's bathroom ventilation setup. Right now it's a dumb mess and I want to slap whoever did it.

• Is this un-insulated flexible white ducting (seems to be some sort of very thin plastic) appropriate to use? Because the way this attic got "finished" I don't have much space to work with and the existing ducting is already quite snug.
  
• Is it okay to have two fans join at a Y-connector like this?
  

I can put another hole in the roofing if necessary. Getting the whole roof re-shingled this spring so the timing to do so would be perfect.

Lawnie posted:

I’m going to be running cat-6 cable through the walls of my house. What kind of specs for the cable are important to shop for? I’m probably going to try to find a crimper to borrow so I’ll buy the cable in bulk.

quote:

Another question: while I’m at it I’m also going to be running speaker wire for a couple surround sound speakers through the attic. What’s the best practice for poking speaker wire through the drywall, both from the receiver into the stud bay and also back out to the speakers? It doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that needs a box, but I’m afraid I’m in the area of “knowledge enough to know the terms and tools but not the requirements” for wiring projects.

Jerk McJerkface posted:

That 40 year old tool you have a is an electric drill, not a screw driver. While it spins like a drill, it's way too powerful and blows through screws. Get yourself a lower powered battery powered screwdriver (like a Ryobi One+ hand tool) for doing simple screws, and use that beast for when you need to bore a hole in wood or metal. Post a pic of that tool. I'd like to see it. I have a dream of buying one of the old steel plugin drills that looks like a block of metal that has handles that thread in and is just a beast, but I can't find them.

Also, stand behind it and use your body weight to hold the screw bit into the screw, and don't sit in your butt, stay on your feet and work that way. Use your body mass and strong angles to keep the tool engaged.

Bioshuffle posted:

Thanks for the advice. I will definitely remedy the leak from the shower door first.

If I do a good enough job leak proofing the door, could I get away with mudding it and putting on multiple coats of primer? I believe they've already patched something into the bottom part of the column, and there is some kind of steel frame to the right.

Peering into the hole, I see some pink material which I presume to be insulation, but it does not appear to he affected in any meaningful way.

I want to do it right, but I'm apprehensive about cutting into my wall more than I have to. I was thinking of using drywall tape and mud to patch that hole.

brugroffil posted:

So we had some water damage in our recently refinished basement this week thanks to a faulty installation of some water treatment equipment (drain line for the filter popped itself out and backwashed all over our floor). The water treatment company is accepting responsibility fully, fixed the cause, and opened a claim with their business insurance to cover the damages.

The insurance company is getting ready to send out their independent adjuster, and I want to make sure I get absolutely everything I can covered. I put a couple hundred hours into this basement personally last year after we had a sump failure flood back in Fall 2019. Seeing all my hard work torn up and piled in the middle of the basement sucks.

I want to make sure that the insurance covers it getting fixed back to 100% of where it was Monday night. What are some things I need to be looking out for or pressing with the claims adjuster? I don't want them to try to get away from paying for new flooring, new trim, all labor, and damaged personal items.

Ockhams Crowbar posted:

I'm trying to replace a kitchen sink sprayer, which is busted and leaking and has a tear in the hose.



This quick connect piece is like 4" long and I can't find a manufacturer marked on it. Nothing in the plumbing aisle matches it and googling isn't turning up anything either. The black pieces on either side are pinched in to release. The quick connect piece itself buries way up into the faucet. Is there a name for this style, or does anyone have an idea who might have made it?

actionjackson posted:

I wanted to follow up on something from a while ago - I assume this light fixture is using a circular junction box. The light I'm interested in requires a four inch octagon box (I emailed them to check and they said that was required). Is there any easy way for an electrician to install that light here? Or am I just out of luck?

https://www.lightology.com/index.php?module=prod_detail&prod_id=880862

Danhenge posted:

Any ideas how this fixture is likely secured? Other than badly, i mean.



There are no obvious fasteners, including under the bulbs. The only clue is these tabs on the top and bottom:

Danhenge posted:

Yeah, y'all were right about this. Excitingly, one of the fasteners of the underlying plate seems to just spin in place, maybe just a hosed up drywall anchor? A peak under the part of the plate I could unscrew suggests that the same rear end in a top hat who put in the light fixture I posted earlier in this thread might have put up this fixture...I'm not convinced there's actually a box under there, maybe just wires peeking out of the drywall. Upside/downside kind of thing because my partner would like to relocate the fixtures, and if the holes are small it might be easier, if dangerous until it gets fixed.

mcgreenvegtables posted:

I got a lot of satisfaction removing 100 years of abandoned wiring from my house when I moved in. Coax, at least two generations of phone wire, abandoned security systems, knob and tube. Very satisfying to rip all that crap out.

Also called the state telcom ombudsman to make Verizon come and remove their copper run from the pole to my house. Highly recommend that route if you ever need help with a utility issue more complicated than upgrading your HBO package.

melon cat posted:

Back with a bath fan ducting question.

I replaced the lovely old vinyl ducting with rigid galvanized. But there's a slight air leak where the straight 4" ducting connects to the adjustable elbow ducting.



I added a second layer of foil tape, but no dice. The two pieces are connected nice and tight, but the leak still persists. Straight ducting is crimped and goes into the elbow, as it should. Any tips for fixing this leak? I've heard about ducting mastic but wasn't sure if it works or is appropriate for this.

H110Hawk posted:

Do you smoke? Have an incense stick? Or anything else that can generate small amounts of smoke? It can help you trace out exactly where it's coming out. Otherwise I bet just going hog wild with tape will solve your problem.

couldcareless posted:

Wife bought a ceiling fixture online for me to replace a boob light with. This is the light in question

The mounting it comes with doesn't match a standard ceiling box so I'm left trying to figure out how this thing is supposed to be mounted or how I can rig something together to make it work. See pictures for the confusion





The housing is smaller than a standard 4" box so if I somehow figure out how to mount this thing, I'm gonna need to source a small medallion to put around it. The bracket the housing attaches to doesn't fit standard holes on a 4" box. This decidedly poorly thought out fixture just has 2 packets of screws with drywall anchors and some decorative machine screws to attach the brass housing to the bracket.

I'm open to creative solutions, or even "You should probably toss that piece of junk"

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.

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.

AmbassadorofSodomy posted:

Thanks to the goons a few pages ago who replied to my painting questions, it was definitely information I can use.
I now have a few more questions.
Before I paint, I need to patch a few holes/gouges etc as mentioned in my other post.

Is Poly Filla the good poo poo? If not, whats another decent brand of compound to fill these spots in?

A few of these spots, the paper covering on the drywall is kinda messed up for example where a screw and drywall anchor have been removed, is there a good way to fix that up? Should I just take a razor blade and cut the paper covering flush with the wall? Should I cut it so that its like the hole is counter sunk (a tapered surface) and then put the filling compound in there?

I don't disagree that getting quality tape to mask things off is a good idea. Whats a good brand of masking tape for the job?

Thanks again. I just picked up a few tools, but still need to get brushes and all the real poo poo to start doing this.

TooMuchAbstraction posted:

That definitely sounds preferable to me. As for payback time, I live in a temperate coastal climate, the annual temperature swing is from like 40-70F. No need for cooling in the summer, limited need for heating in the winter.

I remember (from when I got the house inspected prior to purchase) there being some insulation in the attic, but it's a pain in the rear end to access because the hatch is partially over the stairs, so there's like a 15' drop below it and positioning a ladder safely is just a bit tricky. So I don't know how much insulation is in the attic. I know that that's the most important area to insulate when it comes to keeping a house warm.

TacoHavoc posted:

Flashing question. I have a bulkhead/bilco door and it was obviously installed with a poo poo flashing job. I am replacing the sheathing and anything underneath, but what is the right way to flash this so it doesn't happen again? The thing that has me unsure is that the previous installer cut out the sheathing around the area where the door lays against the house. This means the lip sits under the osb, as you can see in the picture. I don't understand how to keep the water from getting in the sides when it runs off the top though, since everything is recessed. Any ideas?

floWenoL posted:

Kaiser Schnitzel posted:

You could just like, staple black fabric under the floorboards/to the joists.

I don't know enough to make any other specific recommendations, but I know you should be relatively careful with vapor barrier kind of stuff in older houses that weren't built with climate control/insulation in mind. If you get the vapor drive backwards or whatever, you can relatively quickly make a house that's been perfectly happy for 230 years start to rot and have mold and moisture problems.

TerminalSaint posted:

After spending my life in houses with forced air heating my new house has hot water radiators, so I'm not entirely familiar with all aspects of their operation. The basement has a baseboard heater that I'd like to have put out a bit more heat. The heater doesn't have any valves or controls on it, but it's on it's own loop with quarter-turn valves on both ends near the boiler:

The PO left them both half open and I'm not sure why. I assume that if I open them further I would get more circulation and thus more heat. Does that have the potential to increase pressure and risk problems, or since it's a closed loop would the valves only affect flow?

Bioshuffle posted:

How complicated/safe is it to replace the garage door belt? The belt seems a bit worn out, but I don't know anything about garage doors, and I'm afraid the belt will snap my face in half if I cut it. Is that belt liable to injure me if I try to remove it? It looks safe, but why not ask first because garage doors in general just freak me out.

D34THROW posted:

Time has come to replace at least one of my smoke detectors since it won't shut the gently caress up with new batteries and screeches when plugged in. I can't really find any good resources on the different types of connectors and would really prefer to avoid having to engage an electrician to change the plug itself. Any idea what kind of connection these are?

Grumpwagon posted:

Is there a trick to unseizing this kind of water shut off valve? My dishwasher is dripping and I'd love to be able to turn the water off to just it until a plumber can come on Tuesday, but I can't budge the thing. I intend on getting the valves replaced with the quarter turn kind, but obviously that doesn't help me now.

melon cat posted:

While we're sort of on this topic (and not to take away from wesleywillis' flooring discussion) what kind of flooring would be best for a humid basement like in a century home? Here's what I have currently:



Relative humidity in the basement gets pretty high in the summer- up to about 60% RH. Basement isn't currently "wet" but has had a history of being pretty wet up until I put in a sump pump. I just want to rip out this dumb, cheap engineered particle wood poo poo since it has mold beneath it and put in something durable that can stand up to humidity and the occasional abuse from a home gym and is easily replaceable if I need to rip out a section to install a second sump pump. I don't care how ugly the new replacement flooring looks as I view my basement as more of a utility than a "room". I'd like to get this flooring replacement over with so I can finally add put in new, proper baseboard trim and keep the bugs out.

Red Robin Hood posted:

Is there a "how do I best clean this thing" megathread? Couldn't find one so posting here.

How do I keep my stainless kitchen sink from getting gross looking?

DaveSauce posted:

What's the he best way to fix this screen door?

The porch has settled and the door rubs/sticks. The top handle side corner rubs quite a bit, and there's a spot on the handle side vertical frame that rubs as well.

Here's the door:





So it looks like there's trim material in I can shave down. I'm thinking about 1/8 would be good? 1/16 doesn't seem like enough. I figure 1/8 is enough to expand/contract without opening too wide or rubbing anymore.

Follow-up: how do I do this without disassembling everything completely? I don't expect sanding is a good idea... I have a router attachment for my Dremel. Not sure it'll work very well, but better than nothing.

DaveSauce posted:

Really? Seems like it'd take forever to sand down 1/8" up the whole 80" of the door frame.

Haven't tried the screws yet, but I'm not convinced. Trying to plan for worst case scenario... if I could gain 1/16 that might be enough to call it good enough, but I don't think there's enough room.

I suppose to be clear: my plan is to remove the top and handle-side frame, remove 1/8" of the wood, and re-mount everything. Was planning on leaving the hinge side alone since it actually seems to be where it needs to be.

wesleywillis posted:

I'm a lazy pile of poo poo, but also a cheap pile of poo poo.

I want to do a bit of renovations on my pad. Its pretty small, like around 500 ish sq feet.
I specifically want to paint the walls to something lighter than they are as it gets fairly dark in here, even with the lights on. Probably some sort of off white/eggshell type colour, as currently the walls in most of the place are as my friend says "baby puke green".

Then I want to get the floors replaced as my "hardwood floor product" is kinda beat up and its swollen and bumpy in a corner near where my dishwasher leaked.

Lastly I want to get my kitchen and some storage cabinets refaced. I guess that can involve either just putting new doors on them, or could involve painting the outsides as well.

I don't expect I can get all done at once, or in quick succession, but I figure I can space them out over a year or so. One task done first, the next in a few months, and a few months after that the last one. If I were going to do that, which order should I do them in?

I have no idea if I will do these things myself or pay someone to do it. I'm leaning towards getting a pro as it would take them a day to do each thing whereas I'll take a month to paint one wall

Is the interior design thread a place to ask for more specific questions/advice or is that more the "crappy construction but for bad decorating decisions" thread?

wesleywillis posted:

For the floors, thats one thing thats really been off putting for me, like yeah I can buy some sweet sweet new tools, but they'll probably be used once every 10 years or something or maybe never again.... I've still been playing with the idea off and on about painting and still might do it, but I know that to do it right, particularly with a colour change, I'd have to do several coats (maybe not that big of a deal) and maybe prime too? And figure out which kind of paint it is, as I recall, you can put one kind of paint over another, but not the other way around Like paint X can go over paint Y, but paint Y can't be put over top of Paint X and I have no idea how to figure out which is which. DIYing it though, WOULD save me a few thousand probably which would of course mean I could spend a bit more on the hardwood, or cabinet work. gently caress me