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Kilersquirrel posted:You could probably do that, yes. I'd recommend fusing your connection somehow if you do, just use some alligator clip wires and a spare blade fuse or something. The unit's battery is rated 17A, so I guess 20A slow-blow? I don't care if the thing melts if it's broken anyway, as long as my car battery isn't damaged. Edit: Dammit... this thing is 6.5"x7"x3" and all I can find at auto parts stores is 6.5"x7"x3.5". There's a battery specialty store that's a little farther away, though. ejstheman fucked around with this message at 00:19 on Mar 3, 2014 |
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Mar 2, 2014 22:23
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I'm helping my mom replace an old wall cabinet with shelves and had a few questions. First, this wire is coming out of the wall and going right back in. Why would someone have done that, and more importantly what should I do about it? It's an exterior wall if that matters, and it was too stiff to shove back in the hole. At least I didn't want to shove harder than that on a live wire.  Second, I had a lot of trouble consistently finding studs on this exterior wall. She wants to put in shelf with the metal tracks. Is a toggle bolt going to work with those if I can't find studs? Any tricks to finding the studs? I have the usual zircon stud finder and it wasn't finding anything where I expected it to be. It's an exterior wall with a span of a little less than 4 feet. To the left is a wall and on the side is the back door. To the right is a window. Third, in the door way between the kitchen and utility room there is a "bump" in the floor. The material is vinyl sheet but there's no seam near the bump. It's sticking up enough you can notice it when you step on it and it's soft enough to push down. It's maybe 4-6" in diameter. The house has crawlspace access but I haven't taken that plunge yet. I'm trying to convince her to put vinyl plank in the kitchen/dining room at least and that would be an opportunity to take a closer look, but is this serious enough that I should find the cause right now? Cpt.Wacky fucked around with this message at 00:32 on Mar 3, 2014 |
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Mar 3, 2014 00:30
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I can offer advice on the first two: I bet that wire is cut and the cut end was doubled back so it would not fall into the wall and be a PITA to recover. Whoever did that never got around to finishing whatever their final plan was. If you pull you can probably find the end just inside the hole. For finding the studs, you could try the "dangle a rare earth magnet from a string" trick. It will try to grab onto the drywall screws.
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Mar 3, 2014 02:05
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ejstheman posted:The unit's battery is rated 17A, so I guess 20A slow-blow? I don't care if the thing melts if it's broken anyway, as long as my car battery isn't damaged. I'd do a 17 if you can get one, or a 15 slow blow. It's not to keep it from blowing specifically, it's to keep it from lighting something on fire and it spreading to something in your engine bay(assuming you're going to leave the battery connected when you do this to avoid having to reactivate your stereo and set the radio presets again).
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Mar 3, 2014 02:57
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Cpt.Wacky posted:Any tricks to finding the studs? Try removing the faceplate of that outlet, you might be able to see the stud that it's attached to. Measuring off from there might help you get within an inch or so of the other studs and mark them with a piece of tape. My place had 16" spacing between studs.
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Mar 3, 2014 04:35
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rt_hat posted:Try removing the faceplate of that outlet, you might be able to see the stud that it's attached to. Measuring off from there might help you get within an inch or so of the other studs and mark them with a piece of tape. My place had 16" spacing between studs. This is what I would do. Also try 18" and 24". You can also take a 1/16" drill bit and see if you hit the wood.
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Mar 3, 2014 04:46
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rt_hat posted:Try removing the faceplate of that outlet, you might be able to see the stud that it's attached to. Measuring off from there might help you get within an inch or so of the other studs and mark them with a piece of tape. My place had 16" spacing between studs. Sometimes you can stick something thin like a popsicle stick in the drywall gap to feel for a stud too. Cpt.Wacky, as for that bump in your floor, that sounds like the subfloor popped loose from the joist. If you pull up the flooring in there before putting in a new one, you can screw it back down. If you can't wait, there are methods for fastening it down from underneath. That wire was there for some in-cabinet power of some type. Loose wires like that are usually switched on and off. Is there a mystery switch nearby? The safest way to verify if that's live or not would be with a non-contact voltage detector. Obviously, they won't detect it on if that switch is turned off. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 17:23 on Mar 3, 2014 |
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Mar 3, 2014 17:12
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I'm brainstorming right now, and I'm hoping to get a bit of inspiration. I'm trying to create a simple valve that can control the direction of water flowing through it without human intervention of electricity. Basically, water would flow into the input, and then either based on the physical orientation of the valve, or possibly if a lever or button is actuated on the valve, the water will flow through one of two possible outputs. The water flow would not be high pressure at all, maybe 1-2 PSI at the most. So far, my cheapest, easiest idea is to take a small tee fitting, drop a bearing in it that's the same diameter as the inside of the fitting, then somehow narrow the ends of the fitting so that the bearing doesn't just slip right out of it. The input would be at the top of the fitting, and then depending on which way the fitting is tilted, the bearing will fall to the lower side, blocking the water flow out of that output. The only problem with that is how do I narrow the ends of the fitting so that the bearing won't roll out of it without restricting water flow when the end is open?
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Mar 3, 2014 19:35
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neogeo0823 posted:I'm brainstorming right now, and I'm hoping to get a bit of inspiration. I'm trying to create a simple valve that can control the direction of water flowing through it without human intervention of electricity. Basically, water would flow into the input, and then either based on the physical orientation of the valve, or possibly if a lever or button is actuated on the valve, the water will flow through one of two possible outputs. The water flow would not be high pressure at all, maybe 1-2 PSI at the most. Is there any reason you can't just have a pair of these? Source flows into a T-junction, outputs from the T-junction each have one of those on it, you flip the switches on them to open one and close the other. I tried to find an actual T-junction with a built-in valve that could be flipped between two of the outputs, but they're all several times more expensive (for example) and all you gain is that there's a single valve to switch instead of having to switch two valves.
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Mar 3, 2014 19:44
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Is there any reason you can't just have a pair of these? Source flows into a T-junction, outputs from the T-junction each have one of those on it, you flip the switches on them to open one and close the other. quote:I tried to find an actual T-junction with a built-in valve that could be flipped between two of the outputs, but they're all several times more expensive (for example) and all you gain is that there's a single valve to switch instead of having to switch two valves.
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Mar 3, 2014 20:27
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Mercury Ballistic posted:For finding the studs, you could try the "dangle a rare earth magnet from a string" trick. It will try to grab onto the drywall screws. Or you can buy one: http://www.amazon.com/CH-Hanson-03040-Magnetic-Finder/dp/B000IKK0OI/ Best stud finder I've ever had.
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Mar 3, 2014 20:30
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The previous owner of our house had an alarm system that I am removing. Under where the keypad was next to the front door (instead of a small hole for the wiring) there is a small cut-out about 1" x 2". I was thinking of just running some fiberglass tape over the hole and then patching it with compound. Will that be strong enough for this size hole? Essentially what I am thinking I want to do what this guy does in this video, although he uses spackle instead of joint compound (not sure which is better to use in this situation). My hole is about the same in total surface area but rectangular.
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Mar 3, 2014 20:32
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neogeo0823 posted:The setup I'm going to have is going to be something like 1/2 or 1/4 inch clear flexible tubing, with maybe 1 or 2 PSI moving through it at the speed of gravity. It's not going to be a very powerful system at all. That's why I figured that a ball bearing should be sufficient to block the flow, provided I could stop it from outright rolling out of the valve. I guess the more appropriate question in this situation is how do I accomplish that? Not that I'm remotely an expert in this kind of thing, but if you could get a rubber gasket into the tube, it ought to produce a decent seal against the bearing as long as the bearing is firmly pressed against it. The "open" (i.e. unblocked) direction wouldn't be obstructed too much, since the gasket doesn't need to be very large, assuming that the ball bearing already basically fills the tube. But it occurs to me that you have a problem: you need gravity to hold the bearing against the gasket (or whatever you use to block the flow) because otherwise you won't get a good seal. But that means that the direction that actually is flowing isn't going downwards, and you probably don't have the pressure needed to overcome any kind of significant hill.
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Mar 3, 2014 20:42
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Not that I'm remotely an expert in this kind of thing, but if you could get a rubber gasket into the tube, it ought to produce a decent seal against the bearing as long as the bearing is firmly pressed against it. The "open" (i.e. unblocked) direction wouldn't be obstructed too much, since the gasket doesn't need to be very large, assuming that the ball bearing already basically fills the tube. The big question is how do I best get the gasket to stay in the tube? Maybe use caulk or resin to glue it in there? You are correct in that the water will flow downward into the junction, then upward out of the higher end, but I don't need the water to go more than a couple of feet upward from that point, so it shouldn't be much of an issue.
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Mar 3, 2014 20:51
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neogeo0823 posted:I'm brainstorming right now, and I'm hoping to get a bit of inspiration. I'm trying to create a simple valve that can control the direction of water flowing through it without human intervention of electricity. Basically, water would flow into the input, and then either based on the physical orientation of the valve, or possibly if a lever or button is actuated on the valve, the water will flow through one of two possible outputs. The water flow would not be high pressure at all, maybe 1-2 PSI at the most. Something similar already exists. They're called 3 way ball valves. edit: wait, so it's gravity-activated? You could do it with a tee and a pair of swing check valves on either side of the tee. You would just need to orient the check valves the right way to open or close via gravity. edit2: no, that wouldn't at pressure. Plus if it's gravity operated, where is the balance point and what would be keeping valve from balancing its weight until it's level? kid sinister fucked around with this message at 21:57 on Mar 3, 2014 |
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Mar 3, 2014 21:44
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Mercury Ballistic posted:I can offer advice on the first two: I shut the breaker off and started pulling. After about 18" the end popped out. Good call. I stuck it back in and told her to have the electrician deal with it next time he's there. Zhentar posted:Or you can buy one: http://www.amazon.com/CH-Hanson-03040-Magnetic-Finder/dp/B000IKK0OI/ Picked one of these up at the local Ace Hardware and it is indeed awesome. Thanks! So the shelves are up now. She didn't want to go all out filling the holes and painting yet, and they're easy enough to take down when it's time to paint. It looks a hell of a lot better than the dark wood cabinets that were there before. 
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Mar 4, 2014 05:31
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neogeo0823 posted:I'm brainstorming right now, and I'm hoping to get a bit of inspiration. I'm trying to create a simple valve that can control the direction of water flowing through it without human intervention of electricity. Basically, water would flow into the input, and then either based on the physical orientation of the valve, or possibly if a lever or button is actuated on the valve, the water will flow through one of two possible outputs. The water flow would not be high pressure at all, maybe 1-2 PSI at the most. Captain Cool fucked around with this message at 06:09 on Mar 4, 2014 |
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Mar 4, 2014 05:58
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sbyers77 posted:The previous owner of our house had an alarm system that I am removing. Under where the keypad was next to the front door (instead of a small hole for the wiring) there is a small cut-out about 1" x 2". I would make a patch out of a piece of drywall. Basically, you cut and peel away the back side of the drywall. Since a picture is worth 1000 words, look at http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-patch-drywall-or-fix-a-hole-in-sheetrock/?lang=de Specifically, the second picture. One tip - when I do this, I try to square off the hole as much as possible, but it sounds like you already have that. Home Depot or Lowes sells drywall pieces (not the whole sheet) for a couple of bucks.
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Mar 4, 2014 19:10
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emanonii posted:I would make a patch out of a piece of drywall. Basically, you cut and peel away the back side of the drywall. Since a picture is worth 1000 words, look at http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-patch-drywall-or-fix-a-hole-in-sheetrock/?lang=de Specifically, the second picture. One tip - when I do this, I try to square off the hole as much as possible, but it sounds like you already have that. Home Depot or Lowes sells drywall pieces (not the whole sheet) for a couple of bucks. They sell 2 foot squares of 1/2" thick drywall. If your existing drywall is any other thickness, you'd have to buy an entire 4 foot x 8 foot sheet. The good news is that you can get a full sheet for only 10 bucks and they will cut it down for you to fit in your car. They also make stick on mesh panels for patching holes. Basically, you peel off the wax paper, stick it over the hole, then mud over it and sand it flat once dry. As for drywall compound vs spackle, spackle is for patching holes only, not for taping or panel joints. Spackle also doesn't shrink when it dries and it's slightly toxic. Drywall compound can be used for any patching purpose, but it can shrink as it dries. I had the worst shrinkage with DAP brand compound (8 coats for a 1 inch hole!). I wouldn't make a habit of it, but drywall compound isn't toxic. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 19:28 on Mar 4, 2014 |
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Mar 4, 2014 19:25
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kid sinister posted:They also make stick on mesh panels for patching holes. Basically, you peel off the wax paper, stick it over the hole, then mud over it and sand it flat once dry. I've had a lot success with these. They cover surprisingly huge holes, and they are very strong when properly mudded.
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Mar 5, 2014 14:30
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We want green flooring installed in our house, and specifically have settled on linoleum. We have 1500 sq ft of floor we want covered and will need subflooring laid down on top of it before the sheet linoleum is applied. The quote we got from the only flooring place around that actually knew what linoleum meant (no I don't want vinyl that isn't a green flooring substance) was about 17000 (may be a bit more or less depending on type). Is this in the right ballpark for that much flooring? I had no idea what the cost was going to be but was (I guess naively) hoping it would be hitting under 10000. EDIT: That also includes carpet disposal and removal Chin Strap fucked around with this message at 15:06 on Mar 5, 2014 |
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Mar 5, 2014 15:00
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Why do you need a new/additional subfloor? Armstrong linoleum is about $3 a sqft. So $4500 in material. If it is all carpet you are removing that should be dirt cheap, $500-$1000. Double the material cost for labor and you are at $10k. Add in all the sub floor and labor. Maybe another $5k. $2k profit? They should have broken the quote down, not just one number. It seems in the ballpark. Are you redoing all the baseboard? You probably are going to get a bunch of gaps that will look bad or it will be too tight to the floor and not fit under it.
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Mar 5, 2014 15:52
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spwrozek posted:Why do you need a new/additional subfloor? Armstrong linoleum is about $3 a sqft. So $4500 in material. If it is all carpet you are removing that should be dirt cheap, $500-$1000. Double the material cost for labor and you are at $10k. Add in all the sub floor and labor. Maybe another $5k. $2k profit? They should have broken the quote down, not just one number. Baseboard was noted as extra but we will do it. They will give me a more firm itemized quote when I come in and pick out actual material. Subfloor is needed because we have vinyl asbestos tile under the carpet, so it needs to get encapsulated.
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Mar 5, 2014 16:42
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Chin Strap posted:Baseboard was noted as extra but we will do it. They will give me a more firm itemized quote when I come in and pick out actual material. Subfloor is needed because we have vinyl asbestos tile under the carpet, so it needs to get encapsulated. Linoleum is not very popular around here but I have seen carpeting and laminate installed right over old vct more times than I can count. It's not releasing fibers unless it is being pulverized.
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Mar 5, 2014 17:23
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Slugworth posted:This bit about the vct doesn't make sense to me. Underlayment won't encapsulate it any better than linoleum. It in fact seems much more likely to get it airborne - The underlayment will be nailed/screwed/stapled into the vct, while the linoleum would not. Well he didn't say encapsulation or that the vct was the reason why subfloor was needed, I just guessed at that. The flooring is also very uneven so maybe that is why. I'll ask about the reasoning.
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Mar 5, 2014 18:43
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Chin Strap posted:Well he didn't say encapsulation or that the vct was the reason why subfloor was needed, I just guessed at that. The flooring is also very uneven so maybe that is why. I'll ask about the reasoning. Ahh, yeah, unevenness is probably the reason. Best of luck
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Mar 5, 2014 19:12
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There's no need to seal in the asbestos tiling unless it's literally falling apart. Frangible asbestos (like in insulation) is what you need to be more careful with, the solid stuff like tiles is fine as long as you don't sand it or break it up in some way. Just lay the linoleum directly on top of it and you should be fine.
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Mar 5, 2014 19:13
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Could a self leveler be a cheaper option than putting down a new sub floor?
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Mar 5, 2014 19:14
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AFewBricksShy posted:Could a self leveler be a cheaper option than putting down a new sub floor? Depends how uneven. Self level gets expensive fast
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Mar 5, 2014 19:26
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Is it possible to insulate the floor as well since I am dealing with the hassle of doing subfloor already? In some bed rooms, there wasn't vct under the carpet but the actual original wood. You could look between the planks and see the daylight of the basement area underneath it (not a real basement more like a crawlspace). I feel like that could maybe benefit from being insulated.
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Mar 5, 2014 19:47
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Chin Strap posted:Is it possible to insulate the floor as well since I am dealing with the hassle of doing subfloor already? In some bed rooms, there wasn't vct under the carpet but the actual original wood. You could look between the planks and see the daylight of the basement area underneath it (not a real basement more like a crawlspace). I feel like that could maybe benefit from being insulated. Heat rises and trapped air makes a pretty good insulator. As long as there isn't a draft down there, I wouldn't worry about it.
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Mar 5, 2014 21:47
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I would. Cold floors blow.
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Mar 5, 2014 22:02
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Do the stairs too, while you're at it.
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Mar 5, 2014 22:03
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kid sinister posted:Heat rises and trapped air makes a pretty good insulator. As long as there isn't a draft down there, I wouldn't worry about it. I don't know about insulation being a priority, but getting those holes closed should help. vvvvv What I meant, yeah. Flipperwaldt fucked around with this message at 00:31 on Mar 6, 2014 |
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Mar 5, 2014 22:15
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Flipperwaldt posted:It's not trapped if he can see between the planks though. He is. He's going to be covering them with linoleum.
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Mar 5, 2014 23:18
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Last year I installed a retractable screen on our front door and we love it, except for the fact that the bottom of the screen doesn't 'lock' into the bottom track. It just kinda sits there, so it keeps bugs out, but it can easily be pulled out by the toddler and the cats can slip through. I'm thinking maybe I can sew beads to the bottom edge at regular intervals so the screen can't be pulled out of the track as easily but it shouldn't add too much bulk so the screen can still retract. Does anyone else have a retractable screen/this same issue?
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Mar 6, 2014 23:04
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I'm trying to find empty lots to purchase. Is there an easy resource to search an area? Zillow seems useless. At this point I'm going to consider downloading the parcel data for the area and manually referencing that against google earth to find empty lots. Basically I need at least a 120' by 75' empty lot, what's the best way to locate such things?
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Mar 7, 2014 18:15
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Amykinz posted:Last year I installed a retractable screen I spoke with a sales dude at a home show, and he said this is loose at the bottom by design, so if it gets kicked or walked through, it flexes instead of tearing.
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Mar 7, 2014 18:24
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JIZZ DENOUEMENT posted:I'm trying to find empty lots to purchase. Is there an easy resource to search an area? Zillow seems useless. At this point I'm going to consider downloading the parcel data for the area and manually referencing that against google earth to find empty lots. I know that Redfin will list empty lots, but they don't have data in a lot of places.
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Mar 7, 2014 18:25
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JIZZ DENOUEMENT posted:I'm trying to find empty lots to purchase. Is there an easy resource to search an area? Zillow seems useless. At this point I'm going to consider downloading the parcel data for the area and manually referencing that against google earth to find empty lots. Do a search for "city, state mls", and you can usually find the local MLS site that the local/regional Realtor association uses. It should have lot listings along with houses.
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Mar 7, 2014 18:35
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