Fix it Fast: The Early Years 2008-2020

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Corla Plankun: May 8, 2007; improve the lives of everyone

Brown Moses posted:

A door repair question now. One of the doors in my new home had loose hinges, so I removed the door, drilled 6mm holes into the screw holes in the door, and hammered short pieces of dowel rod into the holes, held in place by glue.
This was fine for one hinge, but unfortuantly the door is actually hollow, and the other hinge has partly collapsed, meaning the dowels aren't solid, so as soon as I try to put a screw into them they become loose.

Now I'm looking at what I can do to repair the hinge, I'm thinking the only way to is chisel out the broken area and glue in a new piece of wood. Can anyone think of another less drastic option?

Its really hard to imagine what is going on with that second hinge. In what way did it collapse? A picture would really help a lot.

# ? Sep 28, 2009 15:24

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# ? May 28, 2024 00:32

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

I've done a crappy MSpaint image:

The wood is about 3mm thick, and wood between the lower two holes has collapsed, so it's just a void between the two holes. The wood around the broken away area has started to splinter, so when I hammer the dowels in they've not got much to secure them, even after I've glued them into place.

It's this kind of door, so it's not exactly expensive to replace.

# ? Sep 28, 2009 15:33

Micomicona: Aug 7, 2007

So, my kitchen is a third-world country kitchen, and I'm trying to remedy that the best I can on a budget (I'm renting, my landlord sucks and won't fix it, and I'll be damned if i do a super fancy fix on the bastard). I'm starting on the floors, which are pretty awful; a hodgepodge of patchwork hardwoods and plywood with plenty of gaps and cracks.

My working plan is to take some canned air to the cracks to clear out the lions share of the crap that is stuck in them, patch them with something, then prime and paint the floor; which seems the easiest solution as it is way too dirty and uneven for vinyl and that is probably a bit more expensive anyway.

My question is this: what material should I use to patch the floor? Caulk seems too mushy (the biggest cracks are about the size and depth of a quarter), spackle seems too chalky and brittle. It needs to dry hard and wear well, stand up to being stood upon, and take paint (after priming, at least). Any suggestions?

# ? Sep 28, 2009 16:25

kid sinister: Nov 16, 2002

Brown Moses posted:

I've done a crappy MSpaint image:

The wood is about 3mm thick, and wood between the lower two holes has collapsed, so it's just a void between the two holes. The wood around the broken away area has started to splinter, so when I hammer the dowels in they've not got much to secure them, even after I've glued them into place.

You could try some wooden shims, cutting them to size and gluing those into place. Don't hammer them too tightly into the gap, you might accidentally cause the crack to widen more.

Micomicona posted:

My question is this: what material should I use to patch the floor? Caulk seems too mushy (the biggest cracks are about the size and depth of a quarter), spackle seems too chalky and brittle. It needs to dry hard and wear well, stand up to being stood upon, and take paint (after priming, at least). Any suggestions?

They actually make a product called "floor leveling compound". I'd try that.

kid sinister fucked around with this message at 19:39 on Sep 28, 2009

# ? Sep 28, 2009 19:36

Micomicona: Aug 7, 2007

kid sinister posted:

They actually make a product called "floor leveling compound". I'd try that.

I thought about that--as far as i understand it, you have to pour it over the whole floor and let it dry/cure etc, which, considering that through the kitchen is the only way to the bathroom, backyard, and laundry room, isn't super viable... Plus, the whole house kind of slants, so I'd be afraid that it would all just pour into the living room(or drain through one of the holes into the basement). Trying to get it perfectly even is going to be a fool's errand, I just want something to fill the bigger holes with.

# ? Sep 28, 2009 23:30

Archives: Nov 23, 2008

Micomicona posted:

So, my kitchen is a third-world country kitchen, and I'm trying to remedy that the best I can on a budget (I'm renting, my landlord sucks and won't fix it, and I'll be damned if i do a super fancy fix on the bastard). I'm starting on the floors, which are pretty awful; a hodgepodge of patchwork hardwoods and plywood with plenty of gaps and cracks.

My working plan is to take some canned air to the cracks to clear out the lions share of the crap that is stuck in them, patch them with something, then prime and paint the floor; which seems the easiest solution as it is way too dirty and uneven for vinyl and that is probably a bit more expensive anyway.

My question is this: what material should I use to patch the floor? Caulk seems too mushy (the biggest cracks are about the size and depth of a quarter), spackle seems too chalky and brittle. It needs to dry hard and wear well, stand up to being stood upon, and take paint (after priming, at least). Any suggestions?

If there arent that many cracks you could try using wood putty (plastic wood) and letting it dry before sanding it. Comedy ghetto option: mix sawdust with white glue, use instead of wood putty.

Edit: if the cracks are one inch wide, maybe try putting some wood in there and nailing it down before applying the putty?

# ? Sep 29, 2009 01:32

Canary Yellow: Sep 18, 2006

kid sinister posted:

Sure can. Do you have a drill bit index? I'd first stick the bits in the hole by hand until you find the current size of the hole, then go up by one bit at a time until you reach the size you need. If your plastic is thin and weak enough, you might even be able to work the bits by hand, not even needing a drill.

Thanks for the help.

# ? Sep 29, 2009 07:36

Brown Moses: Feb 22, 2002

kid sinister posted:

You could try some wooden shims, cutting them to size and gluing those into place. Don't hammer them too tightly into the gap, you might accidentally cause the crack to widen more.

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

# ? Sep 29, 2009 09:29

kid sinister: Nov 16, 2002

Micomicona posted:

I thought about that--as far as i understand it, you have to pour it over the whole floor and let it dry/cure etc, which, considering that through the kitchen is the only way to the bathroom, backyard, and laundry room, isn't super viable... Plus, the whole house kind of slants, so I'd be afraid that it would all just pour into the living room(or drain through one of the holes into the basement). Trying to get it perfectly even is going to be a fool's errand, I just want something to fill the bigger holes with.

No, you don't have to pour it over the entire floor, only the low spots. You'd be surprised, the stuff is about as thick as a milkshake. If you're worried about some of the stuff leaking through to the basement, just put some cardboard up from the basement side and duck tape it into place.

First thing to check is if your floor really is as off level as you think. Get yourself the straightest board you can find and a level. This will also give you an idea of how deep the lowest spots are.

Before you put anything down though, you want to make sure your existing flooring is good and tight to the floor joists. Any movement in the floorboards can break up the compound. You also want to check the depth of the cracks again, by screwing the boards tighter to the joists, you may have made the dips lower...

# ? Sep 30, 2009 00:26

Bigass Moth: Mar 6, 2004; I joined the #RXT REVOLUTION.

he knows...

One of my walls has what appears to be drywall tape peeling off. What's the easiest way to fix this? Should I joint tape, putty, and paint over it?

# ? Oct 2, 2009 00:12

Flay Minion: Sep 23, 2004; hepme

well, you could run a razor blade the length of the tape on one side then remud/reglue with some finishing topping under the tape. Run your knife down the tape to remove extra mud and repaint. That would be the easiest.

if that doesn't work, gotta strip the tape (use a razor) and redo the whole joint.

# ? Oct 2, 2009 05:06

PainBreak: Jun 9, 2001

Where can I buy vinyl (from a roll, I assume) that looks like perforated leather? Does JoAnn carry something like that?

# ? Oct 2, 2009 16:38

Caedar: Dec 28, 2004; Will do there, buddy.

I just replaced my refrigerator's defrost heater. the coils themselves are now defrosting at regular intervals, but there is still MAJOR frost buildup on the back of my freezer, which eventually blocks the flow of cold air into the refrigerator. Is this normal? If not, what could the reason be for this? The fridge is a FRT16NRG I'm in New Jersey, if demographic info helps. The model is a Frigidaire FRT16NRGW4.

# ? Oct 4, 2009 00:18

BonerGhost: Mar 9, 2007

I was told in the DIY stupid little questions to bring this here.

Knitting question:

When you buy socks in the store, they have the toe seam over the toes, like this:

When I knit socks, the only patterns I can find are with a seamless kitchener's stitch for the toes that looks like this:

How can I knit a toe like the first one? I don't like circular needles so I always work on DPNs, and I prefer to work cuff down. Can the over-the-toe seam be knitted cuff down?

# ? Oct 4, 2009 00:37

Isis Q. Dylan: Feb 19, 2008; Don't wanna be your man, just wanna play with you.

I'm not entirely sure if this goes here or not, but I am about to scrape my eyeballs out with my putty knife.

The Mr., baby, and myself recently purchased a home where the previous owners thought it would be awesome to put decal/sticker/wallpaper things up in the kids' bedrooms. This is all well and good, but I'm not sure my son will appreciate Tinkerbell stickers everywhere.

Anyways, my question is, how do I get these off? Normal wallpaper removal methods worked fine for the border, but these stickers on the walls aren't coming off so easily. When I try to peel them or scrape them, they crumble. :mad:

I don't think that the fabric softener + warm water thing will work with this if the wallpaper removal chemicals aren't working. I'd say these sticker/wall decal things are a square foot at most. I wish I could just paint over them. They're driving me nuts.

# ? Oct 4, 2009 03:19

Flay Minion: Sep 23, 2004; hepme

Isis Q. Dylan posted:

They're driving me nuts.

Tried an iron set on high steam yet?

# ? Oct 4, 2009 04:42

Isis Q. Dylan: Feb 19, 2008; Don't wanna be your man, just wanna play with you.

I'll give that a try, In lieu of this working, would goo gone work? It's not necessarily an adhesive removal problem. It's just that these sticker things are super thin, so no matter what I do they just crumble and I get maybe a mm of a corner off of the wall. They're so thin it's like they got painted on.

# ? Oct 4, 2009 05:58

Flay Minion: Sep 23, 2004; hepme

Isis Q. Dylan posted:

I'll give that a try, In lieu of this working, would goo gone work? It's not necessarily an adhesive removal problem. It's just that these sticker things are super thin, so no matter what I do they just crumble and I get maybe a mm of a corner off of the wall. They're so thin it's like they got painted on.

Worst case, if they're that thin, retexture the wall. You can rent them like this and just do a light texture and knockdown and repaint. Pretty inexpensive and maybe somewhere else in the house needs it too. Unfortunately, you may have to do the whole room to get the walls to match. I've never used the goo stuff on painted drywall so you might try a little corner first.

# ? Oct 4, 2009 06:15

Western Backstroke: Oct 19, 2008; Be Cool Like Carl

I'm making a paper mache mask for Halloween and I made the base by sculpting clay around a cheap white mask base:

I sprayed sealant onto the clay and I then applied paper mache:

However, now I don't know what to do. It's still drying, but I have a bad feeling I won't be able to pry it off. I'm not too familiar with paper mache. Also, how many layers of paper mache should I add? Any tips would be appreciated!

# ? Oct 4, 2009 18:55

huge sesh: Jun 9, 2008

How complicated is it likely to be to remove shutoff valves for two sinks and replace them with plumbing caps? I'm not 100% sure but I think the piping is galvanized and the connections are threaded. Can I just go to a hardware store to get the caps, shut off the water, replace the valves and be done?

e: Might be copper but it appears the connections to shutoff valves are threaded? I just want to be reassured that no soldering/epoxy will be involved here.

huge sesh fucked around with this message at 22:08 on Oct 4, 2009

# ? Oct 4, 2009 22:04

teknicolor: Jul 18, 2004; I Want to Meet That Dad!
Do Da Doo Doo

NancyPants posted:

I was told in the DIY stupid little questions to bring this here.

Did you mean this thread?

In any case, I don't think I've ever seen a knitting pattern that had a toe anything like what we buy in stores. My inclination is that this is a machine-knit option only. Honestly though who wants an unsightly seam on the top of the toe?

# ? Oct 5, 2009 16:20

BonerGhost: Mar 9, 2007

teknicolor posted:

Did you mean this thread?

In any case, I don't think I've ever seen a knitting pattern that had a toe anything like what we buy in stores. My inclination is that this is a machine-knit option only. Honestly though who wants an unsightly seam on the top of the toe?

Well I was linked to this thread and told to bring it here so I'll try there too.

I honestly want an unsightly seam at the top of the toe. My shoes fit better when my socks have a top seam.

# ? Oct 6, 2009 08:08

Richard Noggin: Jun 6, 2005; Redneck By Default

The (acrylic?) base of my shower has developed a 4" crack in the floor, most likely due to my crappy installation job. It would be a lot of work and expense to replace it, so I'm looking for repair options.

# ? Oct 6, 2009 14:30

Elguapo: Jan 23, 2005

Ive been wanting to hang a flag on my wall for some time but cant figure out how too. Ive tried hanging it with thumb tacks but the it droops in the spaces between the tacks.
Any suggestions?

# ? Oct 6, 2009 19:26

teknicolor: Jul 18, 2004; I Want to Meet That Dad!
Do Da Doo Doo

Elguapo posted:

Ive been wanting to hang a flag on my wall for some time but cant figure out how too. Ive tried hanging it with thumb tacks but the it droops in the spaces between the tacks.
Any suggestions?

If its a flag with a sleeve for a pole and you want it to hang down, slip a dowel through the sleeve, attach string or wire to the ends of the dowel, and hang.

If you want to hang it by the long side (assuming this is a standard flag shape), you'll have to do something similar, attach corners of the flag to a dowel, attach string to ends of dowel, hang.

Or you could just use more tacks.

teknicolor fucked around with this message at 19:55 on Oct 6, 2009

# ? Oct 6, 2009 19:51

Canary Yellow: Sep 18, 2006

kid sinister posted:

Sure can. Do you have a drill bit index? I'd first stick the bits in the hole by hand until you find the current size of the hole, then go up by one bit at a time until you reach the size you need. If your plastic is thin and weak enough, you might even be able to work the bits by hand, not even needing a drill.

Thanks for the help. The plastic varies in thickness so I switched drill/hand as necessary, and it turned out great.

# ? Oct 7, 2009 14:01

cakesmith handyman: Jul 22, 2007; Pip-Pip old chap! Last one in is a rotten egg what what.

Richard Noggin posted:

The (acrylic?) base of my shower has developed a 4" crack in the floor, most likely due to my crappy installation job. It would be a lot of work and expense to replace it, so I'm looking for repair options.

If the crack is due to shoddy installation, a repair will most likely crack. Also, a repair will always look nasty. If you want to try a repair go for an epoxy resin, ask in a hardware store. Then, fix it properly :haw:

# ? Oct 7, 2009 19:06

BEHOLD: MY CAPE: Jan 11, 2004

I was quoted something like $1500 to replace a 40 gallon gas hot water heater; this seems incredibly outrageous. Thoughts/advice?

# ? Oct 8, 2009 22:44

Isis Q. Dylan: Feb 19, 2008; Don't wanna be your man, just wanna play with you.

We recently replaced our 40 gallon water heater and it only cost us $315. That's for just the water heater. My dad installed it. I don't know if they're charging you a ton for installation, or if they're trying to sell you the top of the line model or whatever, but $1500 is pretty outrageous.

Oh, and

Flay Minion posted:

Tried an iron set on high steam yet?

This worked beautifully. It still came off like a cracked eggshell, but I could scrape it off in bigger chunks. Thank you so much.

# ? Oct 9, 2009 00:20

ndPunkOne: Aug 5, 2002

BEHOLD: MY CAPE posted:

I was quoted something like $1500 to replace a 40 gallon gas hot water heater; this seems incredibly outrageous. Thoughts/advice?

http://www.costhelper.com/cost/home-garden/water-heater.html

# ? Oct 9, 2009 01:27

That Genuine Stank: Apr 25, 2004

daspope posted:

Sorry, I plan on making a clear six sided box with Plexiglas for the sides, and if possible soldered together. Or will I need to make a frame, screws or glue? As far as the strength of it, I want it to be able to hold it self together but I will not be putting weight on it.

Edit: Now that I think about it, could I just melt the edges/corners together?

I know this is a month late and you are likely finished with your project but, http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=149130 is a link to a tutorial on how to make acrylic boxes. You have to register to see the pics, but its free to do so.

# ? Oct 10, 2009 14:36

dinozaur: Aug 26, 2003; STUPID
DICK

With winter approaching, I'm trying to figure out my utility bills. First off, I have gas heat plus a wood stove that I use for most heating. However, in my basement bedroom I sometimes use a small electric/oil space heater. I hooked it up to a Kill-A-Watt and it shows it to be using minimal electricity.

Now here's the strange thing from last winter: my electric bill skyrocketed during the winter months. I'm talking about 3-4x as much as when I'm running the air conditioner in the summer. Keep in mind that I have gas heat. Can anyone make sense of this?

# ? Oct 12, 2009 22:30

Slick: Jun 6, 2003

Hi! I bought a house and have been massively improving it's heating system. I need some help wiring up a few relays. I've labeled my photos, got the pdf's from the manufacturer, but I cannot make sense of the diagrams.

I've googled, have a basic understanding of how a relay should be wired. My furnace controller module has 3 coil relays that are 24vac/120vac, I can't grasp how they want the relays connected. What I expect the system to do, thermostat closes, triggers relay, relay powers zone pump, furnace kicks on if needed to bring furnace back up to temperature.

Tools I have, multimeter, spare jumper wires, beer. (plus access to any other tool needed) I would much rather have this all wired up myself than pay a furnace guy $$$ to hook up a few relays. Mspaint overlays onto the wiring diagram or controller picture would help the best (no internet yet at my house, so I have to print out anything to take home).

Click here for the full 800x600 image.

Wiring diagram:

Click here for the full 760x495 image.

dinozaur -the electric heater isn't calling for heat, yet. Other considerations: lights on more indoors during the winter,more electrical appliance useage. different rates?

Slick fucked around with this message at 01:04 on Oct 13, 2009

# ? Oct 13, 2009 01:01

babyeatingpsychopath: Oct 28, 2000; Forum Veteran

Ok. Have you been messing with it any? If so, there's some stuff you need to take off.

I'm guessing the relays are R1, R2, and R3, in that order.

That means the contacts should look like

code:

 R1   R1     (Coil contacts)
1R1  1R1  NO (Normally Open)
2R1  2R1  NC (Normally Closed)
3R1  3R1  NO

The yellow coming off the transformer is your 24VAC.

Hell, hit me up on AIM/ICQ/MSN/Yahoo (info in profile) and I can straighten you out, but it's way way too much work to scribble all over that pic with GIMP.

# ? Oct 13, 2009 02:44

D-Pad: Jun 28, 2006

Quick question about the DIY forums...

What ever happened to the goon retreat in Hawaii? I can't seem to find the thread and I want to see what progress has been made.

# ? Oct 13, 2009 17:12

Fire Storm: Aug 8, 2004; what's the point of life
if there are no sexborgs?

D-Pad posted:

Quick question about the DIY forums...

What ever happened to the goon retreat in Hawaii? I can't seem to find the thread and I want to see what progress has been made.

He did something bad in the past so goons hate him, got the thread gassed.

The project has been moved to a blog.

# ? Oct 13, 2009 17:27

Slick: Jun 6, 2003

yep the relays are R1, R2, and R3, in that order.

continuity testing shows the relays are setup more accurately like this:

code:

 R1   R1     (Coil contacts)
1R1  2R1  NC (Normally closed)
1R1  2R1  NO (Normally open)
1R1  2R1  NC (Normally closed)

Functionally it was hard for me to grasp that each relay is 2 switches in one device dpdt :downswords:

. Relay 2 by the diagram; switches a switch triggered by another switch(thermostat), all this then enables 3 more switches on the furnace controller if a call for heat is needed!

Good news is my furnace now actually shuts off the zone pump when no zones are calling for heat, Yay lower electric bills! By wiring a thermostat(s) into the furnace controller it now takes a temperature differential between inside & outside air temps, modulating how hot the furnace actually gets, saving me heating oil too!

The previous homeowner had the furnace wired to stay at temperature no matter what along with zone pump running constantly with no method to shutoff the zone pump. :doh:

)

thanks

# ? Oct 13, 2009 20:01

sbyers77: Jan 9, 2004

stizu posted:

I know this is a month late and you are likely finished with your project but, http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=149130 is a link to a tutorial on how to make acrylic boxes. You have to register to see the pics, but its free to do so.

Also late to the party, but what you want to do is called "solvent welding". You hold the two pieces of plastic together, then flood the joint with a plastic welding solvent. The solvent will be drawn into the joint via capillary action, then it will literally melt the plastic together. When the solvent dries the two pieces are now one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hT6Ow_cBTps
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNPNiIeAi5g

If you are lucky you will have a TAP Plastics near you and they can set you up with everything you need plus instructions. They even gave me a few pieces of scrap for free to practice on before I attempted my project.

# ? Oct 14, 2009 11:49

Sockser: Jun 28, 2007; This world only remembers the results!

I want to make one of these expensive-rear end dog beds like so:

However, I wager that if I make it myself, it'd be $10-15 since it's pvc, some bolts, and then that material.

Problem: What kind of material is accessible, affordable, and kinda washable. Like hose-able. Lots of things spring to mind but I don't really know where I could get something to use.

Ideas?

# ? Oct 14, 2009 19:59

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# ? May 28, 2024 00:32

kid sinister: Nov 16, 2002

I try Walmart's fabric department. See if they have any heavy nylon.

I'd also put the estimate closer to $20.

# ? Oct 15, 2009 05:14

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