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dwoloz posted:They are glazed ceramic. If your shoes are not spotlessly clean, the dirt will track on the tiles. It needs to be scrubbed out usually too. So, bit of both In total seriousness: Door mats Swifter wet wipes broom thing. Not the sprayer just the hockey stick. I swear by Murphy's oil soap. It's just one of those things. Bathmats get damp, change the water on cut flowers. Cleaning the floor should take less than five or six minutes. I have a two-year old and have broken my cleaning routine by what I can do while he naps.
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Dec 3, 2013 00:35
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I have a Fridgidaire Ultraquiet III dishwasher, that leaks from the very bottom. It seems to come out where the motor fits in to the bottom of the wash tub. It doesn't have to be running to leak; if I pour a cup of water in, it will drip steadily. The two gaskets that seal the motor in the housing seem oversized. I don't know if they're stretched, swollen, or supposed to be this way:   They fit loosely into their grooves, but not snugly. Should I just replacement them to be safe? If that doesn't work, is there any other way to resolve this leak?
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Dec 3, 2013 05:52
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mr.belowaverage posted:Should I just replacement them to be safe? If that doesn't work, is there any other way to resolve this leak? Replacing O-rings is never a bad idea and is usually pretty cheap. However, are you absolutely sure that the leak came from the seals and not anything else? Be sure to check extra close for any hairline cracks in the plastic. If you find any, it's not necessarily the end of the world...
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Dec 4, 2013 05:40
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Lubricant question: I live in an older condo from 1981. The furnace is original and it has a big ole belt driven squirrel cage drum fan. This furnace needs replacement and I very much intend to get that done in early 2014 hopefully, but I am stuck with this POS for a few months. Last night the drum fan partially seized up and almost burned out the motor as it struggled to turn the fan. I took the fan out and cleaned it a bit, and thought maybe I could lube it up as a temporarily solution. All I had in the house was WD-40, and I know WD-40 shouldn't really be used as a lubricant, but it's gonna be -22 degrees F out this week, and we need heat. I just needed it to work, and apparently nobody sells these old fan cages anymore (I called about a dozen repair shops). The WD-40 did the trick, and the drum fan spins pretty good now. I'm just worried about it surviving the next few months. Is there a better lube out there I can get for this? Preferably something that does well in colder temperatures? The fan spins pretty fast, I'm worried about the WD-40 "wearing out" after a few days and seizing up again. Edit: The area I am spraying is very tight and not really "user accessible". So I need something that's thin and penetrating. BANME.sh fucked around with this message at 07:40 on Dec 4, 2013 |
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Dec 4, 2013 07:25
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BANME.sh posted:Lubricant question: Are there bearings you can grease? If not try some SAE30 oil. You can likely dip a popsicle stick or something similar into the bottle then dab it where it is required if it is a tight fit. Thin oils like WD40 will not stick around long in a high rpm situation.
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Dec 4, 2013 13:34
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I'd check how much replacing the fan part is.. A lot of time grainger will have them a lot cheaper than you think.
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Dec 4, 2013 13:51
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BANME.sh posted:Lubricant question: Did you remove the whole fan/housing assembly? I have a similar sounding furnace, and printed on the fan housing are instructions for greasing the bearings. kid sinister posted:Replacing O-rings is never a bad idea and is usually pretty cheap. However, are you absolutely sure that the leak came from the seals and not anything else? Be sure to check extra close for any hairline cracks in the plastic. If you find any, it's not necessarily the end of the world... Not absolutely sure, but I looked very closely at all the plastic and can't see any cracks. I've got the unit out and upside down in the basement. This is the only opening this low, and the water doesn't seem to originate any higher. I'll pop a couple new o-rings in; they're in stock at my local appliance parts place. mr.belowaverage fucked around with this message at 15:48 on Dec 4, 2013 |
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Dec 4, 2013 15:37
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I am trying to find a cleaner way to hang up some Christmas lights at my parent's house. I was hoping I could just take over one of the external fixtures while keeping the light there, but I can't find anything that makes this really possible. We set them up with external motion sensitive lights when we moved them in. One of them is connected to a switch of its own, which makes it a good candidate for controlling Christmas lights. The fixture that switch controls needs to have the motion sensor kind of looking more outward, but the roof overhangs in front of it. So I was thinking of getting an extender for it anyways so it pokes down and clear. In my fantasy world, there'd be 4" round outlet extender that had a power outlet on either side of it. Then I could plug my Christmas lights in to it. Is this a thing? Is there a way to do something similar to this without cutting into anything, and without burning down the house from doing something stupid? Right now the lights are plugged into an external outlet beside the recessed front door, so the extension cords look like poo poo climbing up to the roof line.
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Dec 4, 2013 19:27
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Rocko Bonaparte posted:In my fantasy world, there'd be 4" round outlet extender that had a power outlet on either side of it. Then I could plug my Christmas lights in to it. Is this a thing? Is there a way to do something similar to this without cutting into anything, and without burning down the house from doing something stupid? Right now the lights are plugged into an external outlet beside the recessed front door, so the extension cords look like poo poo climbing up to the roof line. It sounds like you are describing this thing:  http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-Socket-with-Outlets-White-R52-01403-00W/100184555#.Up92ZY1kWaY Are you not describing this thing? If you are describing this thing, and it's not long enough, they make extender-only ones that'll add about an inch http://www.homedepot.com/p/Halo-1-in-Socket-Extender-H1999/100647410#.Up928o1kWaY
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Dec 4, 2013 19:38
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Nope I meant actually extending the outlet box for the light so the whole fixture is shifted down. If that wasn't an issue, those bulb socket extenders would still be no good since the Christmas lights would be tied to the logic in the Christmas light. This means they would be motion activated only, and then dim on and off. The security lights have dimmers in them so stuff doesn't just come right on and off. We have some old-school bulbs that could withstand dimming, but we were pondering some LED ones that I don't think in particular took kindly to it. Mostly the problem would be they'd only turn on for at most 20-minute chunks when somebody walked up the driveway. If I had the extender, I could get some outlets in front of the light itself, so it would dodge the problem.
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Dec 4, 2013 19:53
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I can't figure out a better place for this. Short version: Are chimney liners important or not? I bought a (30 year old) house 2 months ago. There is a chimney with a fire place on both floors. I called a local chimney place to come clean and check it out. My wife had to let them in because I couldn't be there. They left a report with a different letterhead than the company name. An offer to "fix" the chimney for 4k but if I agreed today, they'd discount it.  They never asked for money for "inspecting" it and I never heard from them again (bill, etc)So I did some more research and found a list of supposedly trustworthy chimney people. I called him out and he poked around and said one fireplace was unusable and the other one that was sketchy and he would install a liner in each for $4000. This guy seemed legit and talked to me about chimneys so long I started to doze off. He charged $75 for his time. I don't know what to think. Some internet articles act like liners are bullshit. Some say your house will burn down if you don't install one. I can't keep calling chimney people, regardless there isn't much money to be made inspecting chimneys, a $4000 / week for what appears to be $400 in material and a couple hours work isn't bad so I assume they just tell everyone the same thing.
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Dec 4, 2013 21:42
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I think you're confusing "a liner in an otherwise sound and clean chimney is bullshit" (generally true, especially for a wood fire place) and "my chimney is an old piece of poo poo and the cheapest way to make it safe and serviceable is to line it as replacing the whole thing is much more expensive." You had a professional inspect your chimney(s) and they found them to be deficient. If don't believe him, call someone else and ask for another opinion. Yes, using a fireplace with a bad chimney is a really high quality way to burn your house down. Don't do it.
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Dec 4, 2013 23:14
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Seconding. Do not dick around with a chimney liner. I'm usually there the day after, and it's ugly: about the most severe house fires I've handled were chimney escapes. On the other hand, see if a stainless-steel spiral liner is code in your area. They're a hell of a lot less labor to install than knocking out the old clay & grouting in new. http://www.rockfordchimneysupply.com/ Definitely get a couple more opinions; don't tell anyone that others have looked at it, though. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Dec 5, 2013 |
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Dec 5, 2013 00:33
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Rocko Bonaparte posted:Nope I meant actually extending the outlet box for the light so the whole fixture is shifted down. If that wasn't an issue, those bulb socket extenders would still be no good since the Christmas lights would be tied to the logic in the Christmas light. This means they would be motion activated only, and then dim on and off. The security lights have dimmers in them so stuff doesn't just come right on and off. We have some old-school bulbs that could withstand dimming, but we were pondering some LED ones that I don't think in particular took kindly to it. Mostly the problem would be they'd only turn on for at most 20-minute chunks when somebody walked up the driveway. If I had the extender, I could get some outlets in front of the light itself, so it would dodge the problem. aha! http://www.homedepot.com/p/Red-Dot-1-Gang-Metallic-Round-Box-Extension-S130E/202077418#.Up-8FY1kWaY You could then either use a really short cord attached with a clamp in one of the side knockouts, or put a box like this coming out of the side with a very short piece of pipe and install a regular outlet. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Red-Dot-1-Gang-Rectangular-Weatherproof-Box-S106E/100114047#.Up-8lY1kWaY
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Dec 5, 2013 00:37
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Bruce Hussein Daddy posted:I can't figure out a better place for this. Short version: Are chimney liners important or not? Long shot but if you are in Dallas my brother does fireplace/chimney installs and maintenance for a living. When I bought my house in Denver he gave me a full inspection before we used it when he visited (although my home inspector also checked it out) and gave me a clean bill of health. He did say that you see terrible installs all the time because inspectors aren't around enough and the lowest bidder always wins out with developers.
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Dec 5, 2013 02:53
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No, I'm in Greenville SC. It's just how many chiropractors tell clients on their initial visit they are in perfect alignment or whatever and to have a great day? I would bet 0. Apparently people have been building fires in this chimney for 30 years but now it needs this and that and 4k plz. I guess we just won't build fires. It's not that big of a deal.
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Dec 5, 2013 03:09
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Qwijib0 posted:aha!  I didn't think about conduit. Thanks.
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Dec 5, 2013 04:05
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One of the cable lines in my house is cut for whatever reason. I have all the right tools, but I've never had to fix this sort of thing. Can someone point me to a good guide (maybe video or with photos) on how I go about stripping the ends and reconnecting the two ends? Sorry for the incredibly basic question.
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Dec 5, 2013 18:59
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Like, coax? You get a cheap-as-poo poo coax stripping tool which peels off the outer jacket for an inch or so, and the inner jacket for half that, with the right lengths left over for a push-on coax fitting. It's like a little tube that hinges along its length, they're insanely easy to use and are practically foolproof. Just head down to home depot or loses and go to the tele-com section. Once you've stripped the ends off with that one-step tool, you push a female end on and connect the two wires with a male-male barrel. Stripper:  Bad Munki fucked around with this message at 19:08 on Dec 5, 2013 |
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Dec 5, 2013 19:06
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Yeah, coax. I have a standard pair of wire strippers but I'm guessing the coax is too thick for them since they're pretty small - I'll pick up one of those and the right connectors after work, thanks.
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Dec 5, 2013 19:18
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Just don't spend $20 or whatever on coax strippers. The above cylinder stripper will do it perfectly every time and is only going to be a few bucks. But yeah, you do want at least some sort of proper tool (like the cylinder) because screwing up that metal sheath will hose your signal quality: for example, a couple punctures in that foil sheath from, say, a cat bite, can drive the signal quality to practically nil. The way the connectors will go on is that the stripper will remove the outer jacket, leaving the shield on the inner jacket for about an inch (if I recall). Then, the other end of that stripper will pull the inner jacket off the last half inch of the core. The push on connector will slip over the outer jacket, making contact with the shield, and the core will stick out through the middle of the connector, which is the pin you'll see in any other connector. That is, the wire itself is the pin, rather than connecting to the pin. It's super duper easy to do because of that. Bad Munki fucked around with this message at 19:26 on Dec 5, 2013 |
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Dec 5, 2013 19:24
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If you're not doing a ton of them, it's totally reasonable to strip coax with a utility knife.
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Dec 5, 2013 22:52
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So it's 3:15 am and the whirly turbine vent on my roof is making a poo poo-ton if noise, enough to wake me up. It sounds like there's something caught in the rotors or the blades are bent, and it's making a clunk-click-click noise in a rhythmic fashion as it rotates. I'm in the Midwest and we're getting hit with snow and ice right now, so no real chance of getting up there for a few days, at least. Is this anything to be really concerned about for the next few days, or just an annoyance? Any ideas for how to quiet it down to not keep my whole street awake at night?
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Dec 6, 2013 10:19
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Laminator posted:So it's 3:15 am and the whirly turbine vent on my roof is making a poo poo-ton if noise, enough to wake me up. It sounds like there's something caught in the rotors or the blades are bent, and it's making a clunk-click-click noise in a rhythmic fashion as it rotates. I'm in the Midwest and we're getting hit with snow and ice right now, so no real chance of getting up there for a few days, at least. Is this anything to be really concerned about for the next few days, or just an annoyance? Any ideas for how to quiet it down to not keep my whole street awake at night? The turning of a turbine vent doesn't add a lot use as a vent-- Hot (moist) air will still rise through it even if it's not spinning. You could safely jam it to stop the movement until you can replace the bearings. Here's some Data!  The two lines that are mostly together are the two houses, the 3rd is outdoor ambient. The dotted line had turbine vents, the solid line had same amount of static ventilation. The turbines had a tiny effect on attic air, and basically none on roof deck. Later in the study they found turbines _can_ reduce stratification, as the Turbine'd house had an insulation temperature that was higher indicating better mixing of air. Long story short, though, stop the noise and worry about fixing it when you have time.
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Dec 6, 2013 15:25
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Perfect, thanks. Just need to figure out how to access it and shut it up. I also forgot to run my kitchen sink's hot water last night and it looks like the pipe froze  . Desperately trying to thaw it from indoors, not really wanting to get in my crawlspace right now... poo poo, I hope it thaws soon.
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Dec 6, 2013 16:35
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My grandma runs an incandescent lamp under her sink with the cabinet doors closed. She swears it keeps her pipes from freezing. Seems silly to me, but the electricity is probably cheaper than a burst pipe.
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Dec 6, 2013 16:40
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eddiewalker posted:My grandma runs an incandescent lamp under her sink with the cabinet doors closed. She swears it keeps her pipes from freezing. It may be silly if she doesn't need it, but that's a tried and true farmer's trick for heating pump/well houses or whatever else. In a space that small it makes a lot more sense to spend $15 on a proper piece of heat tape, which is going to use a lot let electricity as it's thermostatically controlled to only turn on when the pipe gets below 40F or so.
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Dec 6, 2013 17:49
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Bad Munki posted:Just don't spend $20 or whatever on coax strippers. The above cylinder stripper will do it perfectly every time and is only going to be a few bucks. But yeah, you do want at least some sort of proper tool (like the cylinder) because screwing up that metal sheath will hose your signal quality: for example, a couple punctures in that foil sheath from, say, a cat bite, can drive the signal quality to practically nil. Qwijib0 posted:The turning of a turbine vent doesn't add a lot use as a vent-- Hot (moist) air will still rise through it even if it's not spinning. You could safely jam it to stop the movement until you can replace the bearings.
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Dec 6, 2013 19:37
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Hooooo, got the water running again. I haven't ever been in my crawlspace so I got to explore around in there, and when they re-did my house before I bought it it was plumbed with Pex. I got over to the sink area and was trying to figure out where the pipe was frozen, so I gently bent them to feel for stiffness and heard ice cracking. Water started flowing after that. I've also got a space heater running under the sink to keep the area warm. Gonna get some pipe insulation and fix my crawlspace vents now... Glad that wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been
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Dec 6, 2013 20:12
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Laminator posted:Gonna get some pipe insulation and fix my crawlspace vents now... Glad that wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been Good, now make sure you don't set your kitchen on fire in your efforts to prevent your pipes freezing.
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Dec 7, 2013 05:53
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I am a huge retard, can someone explain to me and/or link to a good youtube video about measuring poo poo with a voltmeter?
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Dec 7, 2013 06:48
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Totally TWISTED posted:I am a huge retard, can someone explain to me and/or link to a good youtube video about measuring poo poo with a voltmeter? First, read the manual. Then, edit: or just watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW3Wj7UD-_s GWBBQ fucked around with this message at 19:06 on Dec 7, 2013 |
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Dec 7, 2013 19:03
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Here's a decent one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF3OyQ3HwfU
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Dec 7, 2013 19:18
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My wife and I are planning our flooring replacement for next year. Our desire is hardwood flooring throughout most of the main level. We were considering a 3/8 bamboo product or at least a prefinished flooring plank. The problem is that we have a dog who is generally good, but does occasionally have accidents inside the house. In light of this, I am concerned that a prefinished hardwood floor may not be ideal due to the possibility of his pee seeping between the planks. The good news is he is a 4 lb yorkie, so an accident for him is about 1oz of liquid. 1) is this concern valid 2) can I mitigate it by using some silicone between the boards when I install them 3) am I better off getting a wide plank that is unfinished, and dealing with the extra work of sanding, staining and putting down extra coats of poly myself? I am assuming that if done correctly this will create a finish that doesn't have gaps between the planks.
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Dec 8, 2013 23:58
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It doesn't sound like anything short of tile would be acceptable in that situation. Whatever kind of wood you use, it's going to be nasty if it's pissed on regularly.
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Dec 9, 2013 00:11
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adorai posted:1) is this concern valid 4) teach your dog some manners
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Dec 9, 2013 00:14
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It's a yorkie, it was my impression they were bred solely to yap and piss everywhere.
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Dec 9, 2013 03:40
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So...euth? Wait, this is fix it fast, not pet island. Oh well, I'll stand by my advice, it's still the fastest fix. 
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Dec 9, 2013 03:48
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Is there a website that lets you specify dimensions and order a cut countertop or tabletop? Everywhere I've seen wants to come out a do estimates and stuff. I only need one little piece cut for a bar I built but the laminate at Ikea and Home Depot is too big and too thick, and needs to be 30+ sq. ft.
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Dec 9, 2013 04:29
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If you really just need some scrap, try craigslist or a local (not chain) countertop place, you can often get deals that way on used/scrap material.
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Dec 9, 2013 04:33
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