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Holy cow, that is awful. How long does it take to remove the three or four faceplates in a room? 45 seconds, 90? The amount of poo poo I have had to redo and mend because of a previous lazy owner is ridiculous. I hope you just had lazy painters! But yeah, clean it up, spackle, sand, paint. I imagine you can sand it while you are sanding smooth the rest of the awful paint job that must be covering your walls.
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Jun 22, 2012 19:00
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Associate Christ
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emocrat posted:Sand it smooth, spackle it, sand that smooth then paint it would be the way probably. Or just buy oversized cover plates like this one: You forgot "cut off any paint chips with a utility knife", but emocrat has the right idea. Oversized outlet plates will cover the ratty edges, but the paint will still be left on the outlet faces that go through the cover plate holes. If you go this route, make sure to get "oversized" ones, since your existing plates look to be "midsized", which is already a larger size than "standard". Personally I would spackle and sand, turn off the circuit and replace the receptacles with new, code-legal tamperproof ones and get standard plates again.
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Jun 22, 2012 19:11
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Forget the paint, Lowes and the like have XL sized decora cover plates.
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Jun 22, 2012 20:40
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I just want to chime in and let the world know that I hate mudding drywall. 3 coats in and sanded and I'm still finding places that you can feel either a dip or a bump. Humbug. Also, corners. Screw mudding and sanding corners.
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Jun 22, 2012 22:15
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Voodoo posted:My wife and I are getting ready to paint our living and dining room in the house we recently purchased. Naturally the previous painters did us the wonderful service of painting over all of the outlets and light switches. Feeling adventurous, I took one of the outlets off last night. I carefully cut around the edges, but still had to basically pry the cover off. It looked like the outlets had been painted over more than once, giving it a nice glued effect. Forced to prying it off naturally meant that I ripped off some of the old paint and drywall. As a result, the new covers have a nice little border to them. You can buy oversized ("jumbo") covers, Lowe's & Home Depot sell them for receptacles and switches: http://www.lowes.com/pd_43594-334-2...ex%20receptacle (edit) beaten like a lazy painter PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 04:28 on Jun 23, 2012 |
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Jun 23, 2012 04:26
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I'm cutting out half of a hardwood floorboard in my kitchen. I want to keep one half embedded in the rest of the floor, and I need to remove the other half. I have cut across the width of it with a circular saw, but there is a small amount of material left that I can't figure out how to remove since it's butted up against another wood piece that I don't want to damage. My jigsaw just bounces against it. How do I remove this material so I don't snap the wood when separating the two halves? Should I just set my circular saw depth deeper so there's less material? Edit: I used the smallest drill bit and just drilled a bunch of holes in it, then it broke off. I can sand or chisel the rest off. kripes fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Jun 26, 2012 |
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Jun 26, 2012 22:39
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Ive been using electrolysis to remove rust and paint from sme old tools. I'm almost done, and I'm not going to have any more use for the water after this. Do I need to worry about how I dispose of the water? It feels like something I shouldn't just put down the drain, but I can't find anything conclusive either way online.
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Jun 27, 2012 16:21
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So, I don't see an HVAC thread...which I guess sort of makes sense considering that it isn't really a DIY thing. That being said, I have an issue I need some guidance on if there are any people skilled in HVAC... We have a really lovely air conditioner for our apartment and we've known that from the start, but it's gotten much worse this summer. Last summer we had some minor issues with insufficient cooling but our electric bill was reasonable and we made sure to turn it up during the day to help. This month, we got a $160 electric bill which is more than twice the highest one we've ever had. I complain to the landlord and he gets his HVAC dude to come out and look at it, assuming it needs a recharge. Now, I keep reading that supposedly you should have an 18-20 degrees Fahrenheit difference between the return and a vent. The most I measured was about 6 with a Fluke IR thermometer up close to the return/vent. I've also observed several times when it is really hot outside (90+) I'll have the air set on 70 or so, it's been running for a couple of hours at least and it's still 76 or more inside. It just isn't cooling. The HVAC guy finds that it does not, in fact, need a recharge. Puzzling. He comes in and puts his hand in front of a vent and declares it to be "cooling well". This was, however, at around 9 AM and it was less than 80 outside. Our apartment is part of a triplex and is around 1800 square feet with two levels. Cooling has always been lovely upstairs but now it's lovely everywhere. The unit is so drat old I can't even find identifying information on it. I'm trying to come up with a way to convince my landlord (who is a loving miser) to replace the whole thing. Unfortunately, even in the south A/C is technically a "luxury" and the leasing laws do not require a landlord to even provide it. So, am I right in my evaluation that the A/C system is dying and that's what's driven our electric bill up? Any tips for convincing him to replace it?
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Jun 27, 2012 18:08
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Does the fan spin when the condenser comes on outside? Are the coils clean?kripes posted:I'm cutting out half of a hardwood floorboard in my kitchen. I want to keep one half embedded in the rest of the floor, and I need to remove the other half. I have cut across the width of it with a circular saw, but there is a small amount of material left that I can't figure out how to remove since it's butted up against another wood piece that I don't want to damage. My jigsaw just bounces against it. How do I remove this material so I don't snap the wood when separating the two halves? An oscillating tool is perfect for a cut like that.
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Jun 27, 2012 22:59
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Powdered Toast Man posted:A/C not cooling From what I know, 15 degrees is a normal drop between the return and vent. Overall, our A/C is pretty similar, in that it can't cool the place below about 75 or so if it's really hot outside, but our issue is that the unit is much too small for our apartment. It could be undercharged, but it could also be that airflow through the unit is blocked, the fan isn't spinning, or the condenser coil has frozen over. Good luck getting your landlord to do anything about it, though.
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Jun 27, 2012 23:38
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kid sinister posted:Does the fan spin when the condenser comes on outside? Are the coils clean? You mean like a jigsaw? I tried mine and it just bounced on the subfloor in the middle of the cut.
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Jun 28, 2012 02:22
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Powdered Toast Man posted:So, I don't see an HVAC thread...which I guess sort of makes sense considering that it isn't really a DIY thing. That being said, I have an issue I need some guidance on if there are any people skilled in HVAC... Do you use gas, heat pump, or electric heat strips for heat in your system? In my experience, if a bill spikes like yours did (assuming the HVAC tech was correct in saying it is properly charged) it is usually because the system has electric heat strips and there is a short causing the heat to run at the same time as the a/c resulting in roughly room temperature air circulating through the system. Jaweeeblop fucked around with this message at 02:58 on Jun 28, 2012 |
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Jun 28, 2012 02:55
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kripes posted:You mean like a jigsaw? I tried mine and it just bounced on the subfloor in the middle of the cut. No, like one of these http://www.boschtools.com/Products/Tools/Pages/BoschProductDetail.aspx?pid=MX25EK-33
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Jun 28, 2012 04:26
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thelightguy posted:Well his options are using a proper modern dimmer, which has like an 80% chance of working (more like 100% since he's using high quality Philips LEDs) for $25 and change or buying an externally controlled fixture and the necessary hardware to feed it DMX, which will have a 100% chance of working and a $2500 price tag. 
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Jun 28, 2012 18:02
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Jaweeeblop posted:Do you use gas, heat pump, or electric heat strips for heat in your system? In my experience, if a bill spikes like yours did (assuming the HVAC tech was correct in saying it is properly charged) it is usually because the system has electric heat strips and there is a short causing the heat to run at the same time as the a/c resulting in roughly room temperature air circulating through the system. I thought it was gas, but perhaps I've been misinformed (I haven't actually looked). If it is gas, is it possible there are electric strips in there anyway for "emergency heat"? The inside unit is vertical, with an access panel at the bottom where the blower is and the filter slides in next to it...well, sort of. It's a total piece of poo poo and the filter gets held in place with a metal thing and it is horrendous to replace. I suppose if there's no gas line I could assume it's electric. I'll check on it tonight.
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Jun 28, 2012 19:03
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I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but i just bought a house, and immediately found myself wondering if there is a Joy of Cooking equivalent book for basic home/garden repair/maintenance kind of things? Something to have as a reference where I can look up something that I want to do and see basic advice on how to do it would be amazing. Most of the DIY websites I've looked at are more like "here's a neat project" rather than "here's how to do the basics that you will have to do".
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Jun 28, 2012 20:06
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oneof3steves posted:I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but i just bought a house, and immediately found myself wondering if there is a Joy of Cooking equivalent book for basic home/garden repair/maintenance kind of things? The Black and Decker book of Basic Home Repair. I see them at Home Depot all the time. Lots of full-color glossy pictures. Goes from hanging pictures to remodeling bathrooms. Covers plumbing, electrical, light carpentry, painting, siding, roofing, and maybe some other stuff.
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Jun 28, 2012 21:27
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oneof3steves posted:I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but i just bought a house, and immediately found myself wondering if there is a Joy of Cooking equivalent book for basic home/garden repair/maintenance kind of things? My parents gave me this when I bought my first house and it's been pretty handy, if a tad simplistic.
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Jun 28, 2012 22:17
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alucinor posted:My parents gave me this when I bought my first house and it's been pretty handy, if a tad simplistic.
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Jun 28, 2012 22:21
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Tim Thomas posted:Looking into redoing a kitchen, and I'm tempted to go the RTA route. As much as I'd love to make the cabinets myself, I really don't have the time nor inclination, especially when it comes to running a raised panel bit. Never really liked the idea of router spinning that sort of bit and I don't want to buy a shaper, so that is that. Did you find a vendor you like? I've been looking into this myself recently but I'm not sure where to start either.
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Jun 28, 2012 23:03
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I verified a few things: - No electric heat of any kind. All gas. - The unit on the inside of the house is dated 1982. Great, the air conditioner is as old as me. - The unit on the outside appears to be running fine, but is newer and a different brand. Interesting. - It's 94 outside. It's about 78 inside, and the air coming out of the register is 80. Yep, you read that right, 80. So if the coolant level is fine and everything appears to be working normally, what the hell is wrong with it?
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Jun 29, 2012 01:23
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grover posted:Shoot, that looks absolutely unchanged from my parents' 1970s edition. Are the photos dated, or has it been updated? There's a revised edition which looks okay. The first one I linked is 99% drawings and maybe 1% photos, but that 1% is vintage 1985. Now, if you want dated, get the original. Every picture was taken prior to 1972, but hey, it teaches you all the essential homesteading skills like how to fell trees, raise chickens, play cats-cradle, bake johnnycakes, and make candles!
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Jun 29, 2012 02:54
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Powdered Toast Man posted:I verified a few things: I'm beginning to question if your system is charged properly. Outside at the condensing unit there are 2 copper lines, a skinny one and a fat one. When the system is running the fat line should be cold to the touch with lots of condensation on it, and there should be really warm air blowing out the top of the unit. There's no way of telling for sure if it's charged right without having gauges hooked up to read the pressures, but this is a good starting point.
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Jun 29, 2012 05:56
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Powdered Toast Man posted:I verified a few things: If it's blowing warm air, sounds like the fan is working but the coil isn't. Are the condenser coils on the outside unit getting hot? Can you tell if the compressor is running? grover fucked around with this message at 15:13 on Jun 29, 2012 |
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Jun 29, 2012 15:09
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I live in New Mexico and have a tar and gravel flat (positive pitch) roof on my house. When I moved here in November, the flashing on the roof was re-sealed since it was pulling away from the stucco in places. I got up there today to inspect it: A lot of it looks like this. No cracks, perfect. Some of it looks like this:   It's cracked, but there aren't any obvious spots where it's pulling away from the stucco. The cracks all seem to have tar underneath and it's just the silver coating that's cracked. Monsoon season is about to start here which means frequent short, heavy rains. Is it worth putting another coat of sealer over this or is it fine? If it needs to be repaired, is it as simple as brushing something on? Could I do it myself?
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Jun 29, 2012 17:19
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Re-seal it. It's cheap. Don't take a chance
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Jun 29, 2012 23:54
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I'm planning on insulating my ceiling, but I've run into a rather annoying problem. The ceiling batts come in sheets 430mm wide, but the gaps between joists in the ceiling vary from 500-550mm wide. Would I be better off laying sheets parallel to the joists and cutting pieces lengthwise to fill the gaps, or laying them perpendicular to get a lot of short segments?
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Jun 30, 2012 02:29
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stubblyhead posted:No, like one of these Thanks! Those are also awesome for cutting down nails that you can't remove and other nifty things I don't know about yet!
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Jun 30, 2012 04:31
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The Donmeister posted:I'm planning on insulating my ceiling, but I've run into a rather annoying problem. The ceiling batts come in sheets 430mm wide, but the gaps between joists in the ceiling vary from 500-550mm wide. Would I be better off laying sheets parallel to the joists and cutting pieces lengthwise to fill the gaps, or laying them perpendicular to get a lot of short segments?
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Jun 30, 2012 04:34
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Our central a/c thermostat display suddenly shut off, turning off the a/c with it. No amount of button pushing makes a difference. Are thermostats usually battery powered, or are they usually powered through the a/c unit? I've checked circuit breakers and everything else seems to be normal. Any advice on getting my a/c on again?
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Jun 30, 2012 23:11
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Reed posted:Our central a/c thermostat display suddenly shut off, turning off the a/c with it. No amount of button pushing makes a difference. Are thermostats usually battery powered, or are they usually powered through the a/c unit? I've checked circuit breakers and everything else seems to be normal. Any advice on getting my a/c on again? Take the face off of the thermostat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6JJ5nqEff4 Not all thermostat faces come off this way so look for release latches before you start yanking on it.
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Jun 30, 2012 23:35
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Jaweeeblop posted:Take the face off of the thermostat. Did this. No sign of batteries. The power comes from a cord that goes into a hole in the top of the interior a/c unit. Can't access it without unscrewing the unit.
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Jun 30, 2012 23:52
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Reed posted:Did this. No sign of batteries. The power comes from a cord that goes into a hole in the top of the interior a/c unit. Can't access it without unscrewing the unit. If you take the doors off of your unit there should be a little 3 or 5 amp car fuse either on a circuit board and wired into the transformer. Next to the unit should be a disconnect box to shut off power to the system. Shut power off before you go digging around in there. Here's an example of a board with a 5 amp fuse.  Here's what a fuse wired to a transformer looks like.  Check to see if the fuse is blown.
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Jul 1, 2012 00:41
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also check to see if a breaker tripped, as a tripped breaker will cause this, too. If it tripped, find out why. If it's tripped, have someone stand near the condensor, ready to pull the disconnect (or shout to open the breaker) if the compressor sits there humming. Also, be aware there is often a 5 minute timed delay before it will turn back on, so hang around at least 5 minutes after you restore power, even if it looks like nothing is happening.
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Jul 1, 2012 00:59
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grover posted:
The HVAC contractor checked the pressure and said it was slightly low, and he topped it off. No effect. The outside unit is running just fine, as far as I can tell. What could be wrong with the coil, exactly? Since the pressure is OK it isn't leaking...does that mean that something is blocking the flow of coolant? Honestly I don't want it to be "fixed" at this point, I want the whole loving business replaced. The guy is coming out again after I complained to the landlord.
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Jul 1, 2012 03:24
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Anyone know where I could get a hold of a stopper/plug 6mm in diameter for a piece of PVC piping? I need something that'd be fixed to the pipe so it doesn't get lost. A simple straight piece of pipe would be involved, but if I could get ahold of a pipe with a tiny stem poking up from it, that would work as well. Honestly, the plug you'd find on a beach ball is exactly what I'm after from a function standpoint, but I have no idea where to look for one. Short of buying a ball and cutting the plug off 
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Jul 1, 2012 04:41
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I just moved into a new apartment and my room faces the hot as gently caress South Carolina sun. When the A/C is running, it does a reasonable job of cooling the 2 bedroom apartment, and my roommates room gets a strong cool breeze from the vent. My room gets a dribble (including the vent in the bathroom in my room). I've gone as far as to block the other vents in the apartment to see if it increases the air-flow into my room and it doesn't. All the other vents are strong as well, so I suspect a leak in the duct work in the ceiling, which I will have to call the complex about. Does this sound like a reasonable problem? Next question. I need to hang curtains in my room and insulate the window from the heat. It's absolutely awful. The warmth radiating from this gigantic window in my bedroom is enough to keep my room 15 degrees cooler than the living room right next to it, and that's with the door open and my box fan blowing. Can anyone suggest some cheap methods to insulating the window from the heat? I'm not worried about the winter time and keeping the cold out. I'm too hot natured to care.
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Jul 1, 2012 15:04
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There may be doors in the ductwork closer to the furnace, or controllable in the ceiling/walls near the furnace (i/e rods or handles through the wall or ceiling that appear to do nothing), to balance the airflow. It could also be that they just installed undersized duct to the bath & bedroom  Ask the landlord.You could try putting automotive window tint on the glass. When you get curtains, get the heaviest, darkest ones you can. Or double them: put white ones up closest to the window, and dark ones over them. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 16:54 on Jul 1, 2012 |
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Jul 1, 2012 16:51
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Capn Beeb posted:Anyone know where I could get a hold of a stopper/plug 6mm in diameter for a piece of PVC piping? I need something that'd be fixed to the pipe so it doesn't get lost. A simple straight piece of pipe would be involved, but if I could get ahold of a pipe with a tiny stem poking up from it, that would work as well. Just get some rubber stoppers, a big sewing needle and some thicker fishing line, maybe like 20 to 30 pound test. Thread the needle, poke a hole in the side of the stopper across the top half with the needle ( you may need pliers to pull the needle and line through), tie the fishing line in a big knot, tie a loop in the other end of the fishing line and slide it over the pipe. You might want to use a drop of superglue to keep the line in place on the pipe.
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Jul 1, 2012 16:55
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Hey guys, I have a quick concern. Its been hot the last couple of days and my Central air has been running non stop almost. When i got home from a 5 hour trip today, i noticed that there is a weird noise in the living room. It almost sounds exactly like a toilet filling up for a few seconds and then goes away. This repeats every 30 seconds. I cannot pin point it, so i went up in the attic, no noise. Went outside, no noise. came inside, I hear the noise. I went upstairs in teh attic and put my head against the copper return line for the AC and I hear it in the line. I turned off the AC And the sound went away. The lines run across the top of my living room in the attic. Its a 6 year old home, I've always had a problem with the AC unit; since day 1. Coils in the attic, compressor, and thermostat have been replaced since the install of this AC. What do you guys think it is? I tried tracing the line in the attic but dont see anything obvious. I have a new born so i'm concerned about a freon leak and dumping the poo poo in my house. Any suggestions or questions would be appreciated. Thanks Edit: turned off AC... waited couple of minutes and turned back on. Sound is gone now... I'm sure it will be back b0g fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Jul 1, 2012 |
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Jul 1, 2012 20:42
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