Fix it Fast: The Early Years 2008-2020

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c0ldfuse: Jun 18, 2004; The pursuit of excellence.

XmasGiftFromWife posted:

His GIRLFRIEND.

I think he is talking about loose floor boards in a 100 year old house. Which means noisy, no nail will help.

It's ridiculously noisy. And sorry for sparse words, I meant the wood floor to the sub floor--but the reality is I don't know where the squeak is coming from whether is floor to sub floor or sub floor to joist or 3rd comedy option all of the above.

# ? Oct 2, 2013 20:42

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# ? Jun 2, 2024 20:59

Motronic: Nov 6, 2009

c0ldfuse posted:

It's ridiculously noisy. And sorry for sparse words, I meant the wood floor to the sub floor--but the reality is I don't know where the squeak is coming from whether is floor to sub floor or sub floor to joist or 3rd comedy option all of the above.

You have a subfloor under the wood floor of a 100 year old house? That would indicate the floors aren't anywhere close to original.

# ? Oct 2, 2013 20:48

c0ldfuse: Jun 18, 2004; The pursuit of excellence.

Motronic posted:

You have a subfloor under the wood floor of a 100 year old house? That would indicate the floors aren't anywhere close to original.

When I say subfloor I mean planks (not sure what technical term is):

Which is visible from basement to 1st floor. Obviously bottom of my floor is closed off to 1st floor apartment ceiling.

# ? Oct 2, 2013 20:56

EvilMayo: Dec 25, 2010; "You'll poke your anus out." - George Dubya Bush

c0ldfuse posted:

When I say subfloor I mean planks (not sure what technical term is):

Which is visible from basement to 1st floor. Obviously bottom of my floor is closed off to 1st floor apartment ceiling.

Try this: brush some talcum powder in the spaces surrounding the squeaky board. If there is a gap between the boards then sol

vvvv Seconded.

EvilMayo fucked around with this message at 16:39 on Oct 3, 2013

# ? Oct 2, 2013 23:45

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

c0ldfuse posted:

I currently rent in a very old but beautiful house that has settled significantly over the 100 years it's been built. I honestly doubt there is any space in the house were the floor is truly level. We're the entire second floor and there is a large attic apartment where someone lives above us.

Long story short, the girlfriend is being driven insane by my movement in the mornings due to the floor--but to be fair it is very loud, from both our apartment and the one above us.

Would using a finishing nailer (I have a very nice one) be the best method to fixing? I know there are special screw kits but we're talking about 1350sqft in my apartment (I could localize my work around the bedrooms) and ~800sq ft in the attic space (again can localize). It'd be a lot of expensive screws and I hope finishing nailer would work best.

Probably easier just to dump her.

# ? Oct 3, 2013 03:06

c0ldfuse: Jun 18, 2004; The pursuit of excellence.

Corla Plankun posted:

Probably easier just to dump her.

I split the difference and filled her with talcum powder.

# ? Oct 3, 2013 19:09

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Hashtag Banterzone posted:

Some people are willing to pay for the convenience of the batts.

What really pissed me off when I did my insulation was that 22" wide rolls were more than twice as exensive as 16" rolls.

I was frustrated by the same thing; had to do the math several times because I couldn't believe it

# ? Oct 3, 2013 20:37

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

Motronic posted:

You have a subfloor under the wood floor of a 100 year old house? That would indicate the floors aren't anywhere close to original.

Our 100 year old bungalow has oak strip flooring over a douglas fir subfloor. The bedrooms have painted "subfloor" as their finished surface (the kitchen and bathroom used to also originally be this way but have been since tiled)

socketwrencher posted:

This is Oakland CA. And I called back to ask about something else and it's actually $75/yd. I'll call around tomorrow and see if I can find a better price- thanks for the tips.

Acapulco tends to be cheaper than American Soil & Stone (both in Richmond)

# ? Oct 3, 2013 20:40

socketwrencher: Apr 10, 2012; Be still and know.

dwoloz posted:

Acapulco tends to be cheaper than American Soil & Stone (both in Richmond)

Thanks I'll look into them both tomorrow. I suspect that the delivery fee to Oakland might offset the lower gravel price but we'll see.

# ? Oct 4, 2013 06:28

Killing Flies: Jun 30, 2007; We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English, and the English are best at everything.

c0ldfuse posted:

I split the difference and filled her with talcum powder.

Finish nails won't do it. They aren't long enough or strong enough. It might give you a day or two of peace. A week at most. After that, the tiny nails will either break off from the flexing and expansion/contraction as the weather changes, or lose their grip on the old wood and just be useless. Screws aren't just the best option, they're really the only option. The break-off screws you mention are good if you're going through carpeting to screw the flooring and subfloor to the joists. Depending on the kind of finish on the floor, you might not need them really. If you've got plush carpeting, you could use small head trim screws if you can find some the right length. Really, the best thing to do is pull up the finish and screw it down, then replace the carpet or whatever.

Squeaking floors like that come from a couple different place. Only part of it is the boards rubbing together. The other part is the board rubbing against the nails that were put in to begin with. My concern with using finish nails is that they'd pull out after a week or so, and provide even more place for the board to rub against, making it even worse.

Either way, if you're renting you should probably secure the owner's permission first. Also, if you do go hog wild and start nailing/screwing it down - don't just go randomly all over. The fastener needs to go through the floor, subfloor, and into a joist. In older houses like that, we're talking 3/4" for the flooring, 3/4" for the sub, so you'll need screws about 2.5"-3" long or so. I once renovated the living room in an older house, and the previous tenants just went loving nuts with a finish nailer trying to secure the flooring. I stopped counting after hitting 75 in a 2'x2' area.

# ? Oct 4, 2013 19:23

dwoloz: Oct 20, 2004; Uh uh fool, step back

I had luck with the "no squeek" screws where you predrill a small hole, then carefully drive the screw in, then go hog wild with torque and the head breaks off leaving a pretty clean small hole. They're a little pricey but it does the job.

# ? Oct 5, 2013 03:55

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

I was looking for a yard thread, but didn't see one, and gardening doesn't really fit this question, so here goes:

I have a small 6'x6' patch of dirt in my backyard that I want to make grass. There is a boganvilla (sp?) plant that I've trimmed down and a tree stump in there. Here's a picture after it's cleaned up:

And one of the stump:

As you can see in the pictures, there is some bamboo poking through the fence. Meet my lovely neighbor who has decided to plant this beautiful bamboo and not give a gently caress about his neighbors. I rent, he owns, so I'm a bit out of luck on this part of it, as my landlord doesn't give two shits.

Anyways, I bought some topsoil and seed today, and went to town cleaning up. The pictures you see are the 'after' pictures. There were so many bamboo roots in there that it was impossible for me to finish. Some I was able to yank up, others were so deep that all I could do was cut them and load em up on roundup.

For the stump, the thing seems to be pretty deep, and it looks like it starts to go under the fence.

So here's my two questions:

1) What to do about the bamboo?
2) What to do about the stump?

There would be no way to get a backhoe into the backyard to just yank it all out (plus that probably wouldn't work in a small space with the gas line right there!), so that's out of the picture. I'm also trying to not go broke doing this. Suggestions?

# ? Oct 5, 2013 21:01

Motronic: Nov 6, 2009

Welp, nothing short of several inches of metal or running water stops bamboo.

As far as the stump goes, you can drill it full of holes and fill it with stump remover (usually made of mostly potassium nitrate....it speeds up rotting). It will take a few weeks, but you can keep busting pieces off, drilling, and adding more as it rots until you get it a few inches below your final grade depth.

# ? Oct 5, 2013 21:50

socketwrencher: Apr 10, 2012; Be still and know.

Installing can lights in a small kitchen- about 11x 11.5 feet. Would 6 lights be too many? We're using 6" LED cans with 620 lumens which is supposedly equivalent to a 65w flood light. Initially planned for 4 but that would mean no light right above the sink. But 6 would mean less than 4 feet between them. Any thoughts would be appreciated- thanks.

# ? Oct 5, 2013 23:30

Motronic: Nov 6, 2009

socketwrencher posted:

Installing can lights in a small kitchen- about 11x 11.5 feet. Would 6 lights be too many? We're using 6" LED cans with 620 lumens which is supposedly equivalent to a 65w flood light. Initially planned for 4 but that would mean no light right above the sink. But 6 would mean less than 4 feet between them. Any thoughts would be appreciated- thanks.

400 watts (equiv) in 120 square feet? Install a dimmer.

I agree with not having them too far apart, and in my opinion more is better because I don't like shadows in working areas. But you could probably downsize the cans and bulbs quite a bit if you want to.

# ? Oct 5, 2013 23:48

socketwrencher: Apr 10, 2012; Be still and know.

Motronic posted:

400 watts (equiv) in 120 square feet? Install a dimmer.

I agree with not having them too far apart, and in my opinion more is better because I don't like shadows in working areas. But you could probably downsize the cans and bulbs quite a bit if you want to.

Thanks Motronic. A dimmer is a great idea. These LEDs are interesting, they seem much brighter (a whiter brightness) than CFLs or incandescent but their spread seems less. When I marked locations on the ceiling for 6 lights, it just seemed like too many for the small space but I agree with you about avoiding shadows. I just don't recall ever seeing can lights placed less than 4 feet apart in houses.

# ? Oct 6, 2013 00:26

Cpt.Wacky: Apr 17, 2005

nwin posted:

There would be no way to get a backhoe into the backyard to just yank it all out (plus that probably wouldn't work in a small space with the gas line right there!), so that's out of the picture. I'm also trying to not go broke doing this. Suggestions?

Pulaskis, pick mattocks and cutter mattocks are great for digging crap like that out, but it's still a lot of hard physical labor. Good luck.

# ? Oct 6, 2013 01:09

Qwijib0: Apr 10, 2007; Who needs on-field skills when you can dance like this?; Fun Shoe

socketwrencher posted:

Installing can lights in a small kitchen- about 11x 11.5 feet. Would 6 lights be too many? We're using 6" LED cans with 620 lumens which is supposedly equivalent to a 65w flood light. Initially planned for 4 but that would mean no light right above the sink. But 6 would mean less than 4 feet between them. Any thoughts would be appreciated- thanks.

If you can still take the 6" cans back, the lithonia 3" and 4" LED cans are nice, I have them in my bedroom and the smaller size would probably look less odd. The 3" are available in an aimable version too so you could adjust them all to minimize shadows on work surfaces.

# ? Oct 6, 2013 05:12

EvilMayo: Dec 25, 2010; "You'll poke your anus out." - George Dubya Bush

What is the going rate for a couple of yards of dirt delivered?

# ? Oct 6, 2013 17:25

Motronic: Nov 6, 2009

XmasGiftFromWife posted:

What is the going rate for a couple of yards of dirt delivered?

A couple? Call a landscaper. It's not going to be cheap compared to getting 5+ yards delivered, that's for sure. And what kind of "dirt"? Topsoil? Clean fill? Mushroom soil? Compost?

How much it will cost really depends on how far they need to travel.

# ? Oct 6, 2013 18:43

kid sinister: Nov 16, 2002

Motronic posted:

Welp, nothing short of several inches of metal or running water stops bamboo.

As far as the stump goes, you can drill it full of holes and fill it with stump remover (usually made of mostly potassium nitrate....it speeds up rotting). It will take a few weeks, but you can keep busting pieces off, drilling, and adding more as it rots until you get it a few inches below your final grade depth.

Depends on the bamboo. Clumping bamboo is a little better about not being as invasive.

Cpt.Wacky posted:

Pulaskis, pick mattocks and cutter mattocks are great for digging crap like that out, but it's still a lot of hard physical labor. Good luck.

Seconding a cutter mattock, but you'll need a good aim working that close to the fence.

XmasGiftFromWife posted:

What is the going rate for a couple of yards of dirt delivered?

What kind of dirt, fill dirt or good dirt? You can usually get fill dirt delivered for free. Of course you got to advertise it a bit so that dumpers know you can take it. Then again, it might not just be "dirt". It may have chunks of concrete and crap in it.

kid sinister fucked around with this message at 19:04 on Oct 6, 2013

# ? Oct 6, 2013 19:00

socketwrencher: Apr 10, 2012; Be still and know.

Qwijib0 posted:

If you can still take the 6" cans back, the lithonia 3" and 4" LED cans are nice, I have them in my bedroom and the smaller size would probably look less odd. The 3" are available in an aimable version too so you could adjust them all to minimize shadows on work surfaces.

Unfortunately the cans and lights were bought from a friend of a friend and are unreturnable. This is my sister's place and the budget is tight so we'll stick with them for now. But I know what you mean about the 4" cans- we installed one in a washer/dryer nook and it's perfect. If you don't mind my asking, what are the dimensions of your bedroom and how many lights did you install? Thanks Qwijib0.

# ? Oct 6, 2013 19:35

MrHyde: Dec 17, 2002; Hello, Ladies

I bought a house about 4 years ago and it has a whole house fan. I installed a timer switch[1] pretty quickly so we could run the fan before bed. Everything ran smoothly.

Then about 2 years into owning the house, the motor went. It didn't wind down or make any noises or anything. One day I just hit the switch, it jerked a bit like it got about a brief moment of power and then it stopped as if there was no power.

I checked the switch with a multimeter to see that it was sending power to the fan. It was so I went into the attic and checked there. It had power as well so I assumed the motor was dead and I removed it. On pulling it out of the attic I noticed it was only about 5 years old. I thought that was strange since those motors are supposed to last much longer than that but just chalked it up to bad luck.

I put a new motor in around the beginning of spring 2013. It worked great all summer and then the same exact thing happened to me just recently. Motor moved a tiny bit when I hit the switch and suddenly stopped working. It had power and no indication anything was wrong before the sudden stop.

The motors don't smell burnt, the power seems ok to the fan. I'm not an electrician but I'm getting right around 120V at the switch. Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Did I just get 2 dud motors in a row? I hate crawling around in that attic.

# ? Oct 6, 2013 20:14

wormil: Sep 12, 2002; Hulk will smoke you!

So I've been battling a hive of yellow jackets that took up residency in the eaves or attic, or both. They are directly above my bathroom and you can hear them; and a few found a way into the house though I haven't discovered how yet. I've set a trap but only caught one and tried 2 brands of hornet killer but I can't spray directly on the nest. It's definitely killing them as I found dozens of dead ones but the hive is still there. Any other ideas before I have to break down and call an exterminator?

MrHyde posted:

The motors don't smell burnt, the power seems ok to the fan. I'm not an electrician but I'm getting right around 120V at the switch. Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Did I just get 2 dud motors in a row? I hate crawling around in that attic.

First thought was bad capacitor, second thought is tripped thermal switch.

# ? Oct 6, 2013 22:32

kid sinister: Nov 16, 2002

MrHyde posted:

I bought a house about 4 years ago and it has a whole house fan. I installed a timer switch[1] pretty quickly so we could run the fan before bed. Everything ran smoothly.

Then about 2 years into owning the house, the motor went. It didn't wind down or make any noises or anything. One day I just hit the switch, it jerked a bit like it got about a brief moment of power and then it stopped as if there was no power.

I checked the switch with a multimeter to see that it was sending power to the fan. It was so I went into the attic and checked there. It had power as well so I assumed the motor was dead and I removed it. On pulling it out of the attic I noticed it was only about 5 years old. I thought that was strange since those motors are supposed to last much longer than that but just chalked it up to bad luck.

I put a new motor in around the beginning of spring 2013. It worked great all summer and then the same exact thing happened to me just recently. Motor moved a tiny bit when I hit the switch and suddenly stopped working. It had power and no indication anything was wrong before the sudden stop.

The motors don't smell burnt, the power seems ok to the fan. I'm not an electrician but I'm getting right around 120V at the switch. Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Did I just get 2 dud motors in a row? I hate crawling around in that attic.

If sounds like both motors are fine, it's just that their circuit breakers got tripped. Motors do that to protect themselves if they can't spin. Did you ever check to see if the blade spins freely by hand?

# ? Oct 6, 2013 22:35

PainterofCrap: Oct 17, 2002; hey bebe

wormil posted:

So I've been battling a hive of yellow jackets that took up residency in the eaves or attic, or both. They are directly above my bathroom and you can hear them; and a few found a way into the house though I haven't discovered how yet. I've set a trap but only caught one and tried 2 brands of hornet killer but I can't spray directly on the nest. It's definitely killing them as I found dozens of dead ones but the hive is still there. Any other ideas before I have to break down and call an exterminator?

First thought was bad capacitor, second thought is tripped thermal switch.

If you can seal off the room/area they're in I highly recommend Raid Fumigators. They react with water to produce smoke, not an aerosol. 1-can does a 12X12 room.

If you can't seal it airtight (i.e. your eaves/soffits are ventilated) try to pick a day with still air and fire up twice as many as you will need. In any event, you & anything you wish to keep alive (including plants) should vacate the home for at least 3-hours.

You also have to find out how they are getting in. Nest-builders want to go upwards, so check the exterior for cracks, rotted areas, gaps, etc that would allow entry upwards.

I had a nest above my dining-room windows, and they were getting into my dining room through the openings for the pulleys on my (85-year-old) windows. Turns out there was a horizontal gap between two pieces of exterior wood trim that led into a void above the windows. I sealed the gap & put aluminum foil in the pulley area; this eventually killed them by thirst/starvation. Never found the nest.

PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 23:25 on Oct 6, 2013

# ? Oct 6, 2013 23:21

babyeatingpsychopath: Oct 28, 2000; Forum Veteran

wormil posted:

MrHyde posted:
The motors don't smell burnt, the power seems ok to the fan. I'm not an electrician but I'm getting right around 120V at the switch. Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Did I just get 2 dud motors in a row? I hate crawling around in that attic.

First thought was bad capacitor, second thought is tripped thermal switch.

I concur. If there's power at the motor, try to spin the fan with a stick. If it starts up, bad starting circuit: cap, centrifugal switch, contact, something like that.

Usually, if the motors don't smell burned, there's a replaceable component that's failed. Pull the motor apart and see if you see anything broken inside.

# ? Oct 7, 2013 01:46

wormil: Sep 12, 2002; Hulk will smoke you!

PainterofCrap posted:

If you can seal off the room/area they're in I highly recommend Raid Fumigators. They react with water to produce smoke, not an aerosol. 1-can does a 12X12 room.

If you can't seal it airtight (i.e. your eaves/soffits are ventilated) try to pick a day with still air and fire up twice as many as you will need. In any event, you & anything you wish to keep alive (including plants) should vacate the home for at least 3-hours.

You also have to find out how they are getting in. Nest-builders want to go upwards, so check the exterior for cracks, rotted areas, gaps, etc that would allow entry upwards.

I had a nest above my dining-room windows, and they were getting into my dining room through the openings for the pulleys on my (85-year-old) windows. Turns out there was a horizontal gap between two pieces of exterior wood trim that led into a void above the windows. I sealed the gap & put aluminum foil in the pulley area; this eventually killed them by thirst/starvation. Never found the nest.

Thanks. They are getting into the attic/eaves through a small gap between the siding and soffit. I could seal that gap but I'm not sure that will kill the nest, they might have another way out. The only way I can see them getting into the house is either by getting inside the wall and coming out around the electrical panel in the closet or by navigating the vent stack, as unlikely as that seems, because I found dozens of dead ones in and around the sink. I might be able to seal off the outside corner of the house with Visqueen and a fogger might works it's way into the nest. Worth trying.

# ? Oct 7, 2013 02:45

NorskHotDog: Oct 23, 2010

I need to put curtains over this sliding glass door, but the door goes strait into a perpendicular wall, so there is no room for mounting a curtain rod in the way that I am used to. I figure these is some way to mount it on the perpendicular wall itself, and then as usual on the other side, but I don't know what to look for as far as a mount.

Anyone know how to help me out? I'll attach a picture because I know my description was terrible.

So how am I supposed to hook a curtain rod for that left side and doesn't look horrible / is useless?

Bonus: any idea for "locking" this thing securely, other than a pipe that makes it so that it will not open?

# ? Oct 7, 2013 03:17

tangy yet delightful: Sep 13, 2005

Why can't you just put a curtain rod mounted to the wall above the door?

# ? Oct 7, 2013 04:20

NorskHotDog: Oct 23, 2010

Totally TWISTED posted:

Why can't you just put a curtain rod mounted to the wall above the door?

I could but then the bracket will get in the way of the curtain, making it so light will easily escape on the side.

# ? Oct 7, 2013 04:23

Motronic: Nov 6, 2009

NorskHotDog posted:

I could but then the bracket will get in the way of the curtain, making it so light will easily escape on the side.

Then attach it to the wall on either side right up against the.......whatever that is.

Which leads to the next part: what is that (a window or a door) and why doesn't' it have proper locking hardware on it already? Surely it was manufactured with some.

# ? Oct 7, 2013 04:44

socketwrencher: Apr 10, 2012; Be still and know.

NorskHotDog posted:

I could but then the bracket will get in the way of the curtain, making it so light will easily escape on the side.

I had a similar situation once- used one each of these and a piece of 1x2 in the track for security.

(Don't know why pics didn't attach but one was a standard closet rod bracket and the other a standard curtain rod bracket)

socketwrencher fucked around with this message at 05:18 on Oct 7, 2013

# ? Oct 7, 2013 05:14

ShadowStalker: Apr 14, 2006

XmasGiftFromWife posted:

What is the going rate for a couple of yards of dirt delivered?

Depends on what type of soil you want. Topsoil around here runs about $25/yard plus a $50 delivery fee

# ? Oct 7, 2013 09:38

EvilMayo: Dec 25, 2010; "You'll poke your anus out." - George Dubya Bush

I'm looking to fix the grade around the foundation finally and correctly. I can get free compost and mulch from the city, but I am reluctant to circle my house in compost.

# ? Oct 7, 2013 14:46

Qwijib0: Apr 10, 2007; Who needs on-field skills when you can dance like this?; Fun Shoe

socketwrencher posted:

Unfortunately the cans and lights were bought from a friend of a friend and are unreturnable. This is my sister's place and the budget is tight so we'll stick with them for now. But I know what you mean about the 4" cans- we installed one in a washer/dryer nook and it's perfect. If you don't mind my asking, what are the dimensions of your bedroom and how many lights did you install? Thanks Qwijib0.

I've got 4 in a 10x10 bedroom.

# ? Oct 7, 2013 15:58