dwoloz posted:

I'm in the midst of bathroom demo. There is subfloor rot in one area and some work will need to be done to sister joists

What is the best method to remove the tile and plywood substrate? (no backerboard was used)

My concern with a prybar is that it will damage the salvageable subfloor in the non rotted ares

Beer4TheBeerGod posted:

How hard is it to replace a window? How much should I expect to pay if I don't feel like it's a DIY job?
...
The impression I've gotten is that the blown-in stuff will get everywhere, and that I may want to remove or relocate it before I push the wallboard back up and screw it in
...
How hard would it be to remove the existing water heater vent and replace it with the stainless steel vent called for by the manufacturer?

Beer4TheBeerGod posted:

The wallboard ceiling was installed using smooth nails, and the weight of the blown insulation on top has caused the ceiling to sag in places (up to 1 inch in some spots). I'm debating the best way to repair everything. The impression I've gotten is that the blown-in stuff will get everywhere, and that I may want to remove or relocate it before I push the wallboard back up and screw it in place using drywall screws on 8 inch spacing. One idea I've played with is completely removing the insulation and using spray foam instead, but that seems exorbitantly expensive. Any thoughts on what I can do here?

dorquemada posted:

A great big prybar is probably your best bet, but how much space are you talking about? Putting down new subfloor is almost always easier in this case.

keykey posted:

...using the sawzall on some bad spots of drywall and replacing with drywall/tape and repainting, fixing some 4ft light fixtures in the garage. The house I'm actually living in.. Well, don't even get me started, between the 2 houses there could have been a how to fix everything in the house yourself megathread..

Ahz posted:

A serrated knife will do, but hey have fun with that.

slap me silly posted:

Are you trying to save the shell? I think it's gonna weigh 295 pounds once you get the guts out. The last one of those I saw was made with a fuckload of wood, and wood is heavy.

Leperflesh posted:

That said, I urge you to have it looked at by an antique electronics dude.

Richard Noggin posted:

Can I cheat and lay peel-and-stick over what's already there?

dv6speed posted:

Richard Noggin posted:

I have a half bath that we need to repaint, but we'll need to change the flooring. The current flooring is vinyl (not peel-and-stick squares, but actual sheet vinyl). Can I cheat and lay peel-and-stick over what's already there, or do I really have to remove it first? If it's the latter, what's the best way to remove it?

The Easy Way Out posted:

Can I install 12" X 12" tiles over an existing vinyl sheet floor?
Yes. We recommend no more than two layers of vinyl flooring at a time unless the flooring is on concrete, below grade. If that is the case, we do not recommend installing a second layer of flooring. In other situations, if you already have two layers, we suggest you put down new wood underlayment before installing your tiles. If you have only one layer of vinyl, prepare the floor with Armstrong One-Part Embossing Leveler, to prevent the old vinyl pattern from telegraphing through the new pattern of tile flooring.

Richard Noggin posted:

OK, what if it's manufacturer approved?

Richard Noggin posted:

OK, what if it's manufacturer approved?

keykey posted:

You can try it, but it's always better to start with a bare surface rather than putting new stuff down on top of old because you never know about the original adhesive or how long it's been there or is going to last.

kid sinister posted:

Have you ever laid tile before? Tile is easy to do, but even easier to screw up if you take shortcuts. Get a utility knife, measuring tape, pencil and a steel square.

Make sure your floor is absolutely spotless first, this is important. Anything in between the tile and floor will cause the tiles to not stick properly.

You may want to take the kickboards and door threshold off the walls and floor carefully first so that your installation will look better. Try using a flexible putty knife on the kickboards. Since the threshold and kickboards will cover the very edges when you're done, you don't have to be perfect with those cuts.

The thing with stick on tiles is that most DIYers start in one corner and start laying them from there, laying them along a wall and then working out into the room. Here's the problem: walls are never straight, ever. So don't use them as the starting line, you will only get little gaps all over in the middle of the floor and you won't know why.

Instead, draw a short line in the center one way and use a square to draw the perpendicular center line to make a 2 foot X. Measure out your bathroom floor from the center lines before you lay anything down though. You might end up with tiles almost reaching the walls and you would have to cut thin strips for the edges. Depending on how rigid your tiles are, cutting thin strips may be impossible. If you do end up with having to cut thin edges, you can start your first tile by centering it on the center line instead. You'll end up with much wider edge tiles that way. Don't forget to do this for both directions! Once the first tile is set in the middle of the floor, lay all of your other tiles off of that one. This is also important, this is how you avoid mid-floor gaps.

Remember how walls aren't ever straight? Don't assume edge pieces are rectangles, measure once, draw a line straight across with a square and cut a tile that leaves a gap on one end. Edge tiles are ALWAYS trapezoids. Measure the distance on both edges, mark them on the tile and cut a straight line in between those two marks with a straightedge.

Richard Noggin posted:

embossing leveler

kid sinister posted:

Have you ever laid tile before? Tile is easy to do, but even easier to screw up if you take shortcuts. Get a utility knife, measuring tape, pencil and a steel square.

Make sure your floor is absolutely spotless first, this is important. Anything in between the tile and floor will cause the tiles to not stick properly.

You may want to take the kickboards and door threshold off the walls and floor carefully first so that your installation will look better. Try using a flexible putty knife on the kickboards. Since the threshold and kickboards will cover the very edges when you're done, you don't have to be perfect with those cuts.

The thing with stick on tiles is that most DIYers start in one corner and start laying them from there, laying them along a wall and then working out into the room. Here's the problem: walls are never straight, ever. So don't use them as the starting line, you will only get little gaps all over in the middle of the floor and you won't know why.

Instead, draw a short line in the center one way and use a square to draw the perpendicular center line to make a 2 foot X. Measure out your bathroom floor from the center lines before you lay anything down though. You might end up with tiles almost reaching the walls and you would have to cut thin strips for the edges. Depending on how rigid your tiles are, cutting thin strips may be impossible. If you do end up with having to cut thin edges, you can start your first tile by centering it on the center line instead. You'll end up with much wider edge tiles that way. Don't forget to do this for both directions! Once the first tile is set in the middle of the floor, lay all of your other tiles off of that one. This is also important, this is how you avoid mid-floor gaps.

Remember how walls aren't ever straight? Don't assume edge pieces are rectangles, measure once, draw a line straight across with a square and cut a tile that leaves a gap on one end. Edge tiles are ALWAYS trapezoids. Measure the distance on both edges, mark them on the tile and cut a straight line in between those two marks with a straightedge.

kid sinister posted:

FYI do not mix that stuff until you're ready to pour and smooth it! Floor leveling compounds begin to set up in as short as 10 minutes. Do a quick job, you can always sand it flat later.

quote:

Pour a small amount of S-199 onto the floor and fill the embossed areas by using a smooth-edge trowel. Continue pouring small amounts on the floor and troweling smooth. Hold the trowel at a 60° angle and apply the leveler with the same motion as spreading a conventional adhesive, troweling at a 45° angle to the embossing. Smooth any ridges that may form. Remove S-199 from the raised unembossed areas with the trowel. Working time is approximately 15-20 minutes.

Drying time is one to two hours depending on temperature, humidity and thickness of application. S-199 must be completely dry before proceeding with the installation of new flooring. After the leveler is completely dry, trowel ridges and unevenness can be removed by scraping with a wallpaper scraper or the front edge of the trowel.

Under most conditions, one application of S-199 will sufficiently level the existing flooring. If the new flooring has very little embossing, the installer should inspect the initial application for smoothness after it has dried. The installer may determine a second application of S-199 is needed to properly smooth the substrate. The second application must be made after the first has completely dried (1-2 hours). The second application must be allowed to completely dry before proceeding.

wormil posted:

walls

dwoloz posted:

Will I be able to find a threshold?

morethanjake32 posted:

The only problem I see is that on the current drawing the top chord is supported at 1/3 spacing and on the new it is at 1/2 spacing. It looks like the only thing that you should really change design wise is the new lintel and the additional columns.

dur posted:

I just bought a house built in 1908 that is a renovated vacant - in order to be sold, it had to basically be gutted and brought up to code, with proper permits pulled and city inspections and all. This means all the wiring - electrical, cable, phone - is shiny new and (assuming the city inspector isn't a total hack) done correctly.

The thing I'm trying to figure out has to do with the wiring for the phones. It looks like Cat5 was used to wire all the phone jacks, and the extra wires that didn't fit into the RJ11 were just cut back. I have no idea how the phone jacks are wired in relation to each other, nor do I really know how to find out. Does this sound like something where I can replace the RJ11s with RJ45s and have a proper network in the house? Like, so I could plug a router into one jack and then all the rest will magically have internets available through them?