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Zahgaegun posted:
If they're plastic fibres, you can torch them and they'll melt into a little blob, which won't unravel. Otherwise, just tie it off and then attach a new cord to it using a double fisherman's bend or similar knot.
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Sep 18, 2015 15:35
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Zahgaegun posted:
Option one, get another piece of string with a pull tab or heavy ballast attached, and tie it to the existing cord with a figure 8 knot. That's probably the best knot out there in my opinion, everyone should learn how to tie at least that. Easy to tie, easy to undo, never unravels and is exceptionally strong. Option two, I'd take apart the lamp, there should be a screw or something to disassemble the base (unplug it from the wall first!!) and from there you can see how the pull chain (cord) is attached to the switch inside the lamp. Usually it's a ball end inserted into a groove. I'd replace it with a ball chain for extra durability, something like this. I think you'd really be surprised at how simple it is inside the lamp once you see it for yourself! DrBouvenstein posted:Is there any sort of easy-ish/quick/temporary fix for this? I've read that I can carefully pull up and re-glue the pieces if they're loose, but that's not really the problem here. Nope! At least not that I'm aware of. Soft floors can be either the joists underneath are sagging and need more support, or perhaps there's padding or something underneath the files which can be removed/replaced accordingly. Either way you're going to be ripping up the floor or cutting out the drywall ceiling in the basement to get to the sagging joists to reinforce or jack them up. *side note about jacks, you'd also need reinforced footing underneath to support the extra weight, and if it's a finished basement I doubt you'd want that exposed. e2: re-reading your description, I'd almost bet the subfloor is water damaged or rotten. Probably easiest thing to do is peel up a couple of tiles and see for yourself. Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 16:48 on Sep 18, 2015 |
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Sep 18, 2015 16:42
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OSU_Matthew posted:e2: re-reading your description, I'd almost bet the subfloor is water damaged or rotten. Probably easiest thing to do is peel up a couple of tiles and see for yourself. Yeah, after reading up some more, I'm certain it's the subfloor. The description of how it feels matches that more than a sagging joist. Problem is, the "tiles" aren't loose in any way, the glue is still super-secure, so I'm afraid that trying to pry a few up will result in breaking them. Guess I'll just live with it for a year* until we replace the floors. *Who am I kidding, it'll be like 4-5 years (who am I kidding, like 6-7), other projects have priority, like my drat roof. Thankfully, I did roofing for 6 straight summers for my uncle in high school and college, so that stuff I know.
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Sep 18, 2015 19:17
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Zahgaegun posted:
Do like OSU_Matthew recommended and take them apart. Either replace that string with a chain of possible, or replace the sockets with ones that have chains for their pulls. Either way, you're looking at about a $10 fix per lamp. If you have to swap the sockets, then that is about the easiest electric job there is. I would imagine that there are tons of examples on YouTube. All you would have to do is swap 2 wires and maybe learn how to tie an underwriter's knot.
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Sep 18, 2015 22:15
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I want to install some bi-fold doors for a closet I just renovated, but have a problem in that the vertical opening is 81.75" while common door sizes are designed for 80.5" or 84" openings. This means I'd have to either build out a 1.25" spacer somewhere and live with an odd gap, find a way to shave a few inches off a larger door without collapsing the hollow core part, or get something custom made. None of those options are particularly appealing of course. Any other ideas as to how I could make this work? Unfortunately there aren't any original doors to use since the previous owner had a fugly shower rod and cloth curtain thing going on. e: Pic of what I have to work with, including the 80.5" door* I bought before realizing it wasn't gonna fit due to the 2.75" gap on top. Also, if there were some way to avoid drilling the bottom hinge into the hardwood floor that'd be great.  * Actually a 79" door panel, but designed to work with an 80.5" opening once the mounting hardware is installed.
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Sep 19, 2015 16:51
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PDP-1 posted:I want to install some bi-fold doors for a closet I just renovated, but have a problem in that the vertical opening is 81.75" while common door sizes are designed for 80.5" or 84" openings. This means I'd have to either build out a 1.25" spacer somewhere and live with an odd gap, find a way to shave a few inches off a larger door without collapsing the hollow core part, or get something custom made. None of those options are particularly appealing of course. You don't really have an easy or even physically possible solution if you want to not have a big gap AND not want to put the hinge into the hardwood. It sucks, but you will be best served by removing the moulding, lowering the top by the 1 1/4 inch, cutting the moulding, mounting the door properly and repainting. Consider it a healthy reminder about why people should never do finishing touches first. There isn't much to be done about installing into the hardwood. I guess you could try to attach something that an L-bracket or similar into the wall, but then you are just putting that massive gap at the bottom instead. If that works, then the fix would be to put a decorative sweep/kick plate on the bottom that hangs lower than the door and then pretend like you meant for it to look like that. I don't think that would look particularly attractive, but that might be "easiest"
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Sep 19, 2015 17:32
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Antifreeze Head posted:It sucks, but you will be best served by removing the moulding, lowering the top by the 1 1/4 inch, cutting the moulding, mounting the door properly and repainting. Consider it a healthy reminder about why people should never do finishing touches first. The moulding on the outside of the closet is original, I only had to tear up the bits on the inside when I drywalled it. I could stick a plate on the top and re-work the exterior moulding to hide the change, but I'll have to be careful that I don't trap in the top row of storage totes. They have a 1.5" clearance now to the top of the existing closet opening. I could put in a 0.5" full plate on the top of the closet and maybe some 0.75" blocks in the bottom corners for the lower hinge to go into. Since the guide rail for the doors is 0.5" that'd still leave a 0.5" clearance for the top storage totes which is closer than I'd like but do-able. Thanks for the suggestion!
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Sep 19, 2015 18:23
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Edit edit: Actually I just remembered there is a dedicated thread for this. I will re-post there. Replacing a dimmer switch: It all fit when I took it apart. (Regular -> LED compatible to hopefully remove flicker.) Replacing a regular dimmer switch which was hooked up to a fan (thanks!) with a light switch. I want to add a grounding wire while I have it open. Box doesn't have an obvious place for it, but the back of the metal box has two holes. Youtube has told me I can just use any old screw/bolt to attach the wire to those holes. Is there a common size for that hole? I have some extra 14AWG green wire, is that sufficient or should I get 12AWG? Edit: Turns out there are 2 outlets, 8 recessed halogens, an outside porch light, 3 fans w/ quad lights, and 3 other misc light fixtures on this 15A breaker. It spans all 3 bedrooms and the living/dining room. All bulbs have been replaced with LEDs now (see other dimmer switch.) I haven' tested any other outlets yet for fear of finding more things hooked up. H110Hawk fucked around with this message at 01:41 on Sep 20, 2015 |
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Sep 19, 2015 20:49
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Two years ago we bought a house that had cheap carpet in it. The house is now 8 years old and the carpet is fraying along some of the seams. I spoke with a guy at a flooring store and he said I have two options: have the seams redone ($150) or install transition strips to cover the seams ($30). My wife is cheap so we're using transition strips. On the upstairs with wooden subfloor it's easy, I have an aluminum track base with teeth and a tack strip, and I know I just use them with the teeth pointing in and kick the carpet into the teeth, and pop the vinyl t-molding into the track base and we're done. But in the basement the subfloor is concrete. And the guy sold me flat track base so it glues properly. Will I have to put tack strips on each side now, to hold the carpet tight against the track base?
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Sep 20, 2015 00:14
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Do those bifold door hinges ever screw into the floor anyways? I've only ever seen them screwed to the door frame. 
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Sep 20, 2015 01:59
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eddiewalker posted:Do those bifold door hinges ever screw into the floor anyways? I've only ever seen them screwed to the door frame. I have essentially the same bracket that is in your picture, mine comes with a #8 screw that is supposed to go through the hole on the tip. Having a tie-down point there would prevent a lot of torque from being placed on the door frame screws. Anyway, I just got back from my shop and have all the wood pieces cut up and planed to thickness for building up the frame to fit a modern standard door. Gonna do a rough fit to see if it looks silly or not, if it looks ok I'll start painting up the parts this afternoon.
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Sep 20, 2015 16:57
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I am 2 years a homeowner in VA and I still don't understand vinyl siding. Like what is this thing? It is about where the joists for the second floor would be. It's not for my dryer, and all my bathroom fans vent through pipes in the roof. http://imgur.com/HUmuyEH Turnquiet fucked around with this message at 18:07 on Sep 20, 2015 |
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Sep 20, 2015 18:01
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Turnquiet posted:I am 2 years a homeowner in VA and I still don't understand vinyl siding. Like what is this thing? It is about where the joists for the second floor would be. It's not for my dryer, and all my bathroom fans vent through pipes in the roof. Might be a soffit vent. Helps keep the attic ventilated so it doesn't get horribly hot and humid and cause mold and rot.
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Sep 20, 2015 18:47
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Where does your kitchen fan vent?
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Sep 20, 2015 19:01
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Saw one of those connected to a central vacuum system. Filters aren't perfect, so might as well dump the stuff that makes it through outdoors.
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Sep 20, 2015 21:39
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I feel like I am missing something really obvious when trying to make a foundation for my garage. Local requirement are that I need a 40" deep 1' wide foundation around the perimeter. I dig, the walls crumble in in spots. I can put OSB sheets up to hold up the walls and brace each side against each other with a 4x4 wedged in place and lightly tamp the earth on both sides. But do I just leave the 4x4 in when I pour the concrete? I tried removing one and the walls on both sides wanted to collapse. Or should I just use stacks of pre-formed concrete blocks to brace? I am in Michigan, so the ground is basically sand after the first foot or two and in one corner I keep digging the dirt our that collapsed into the trench and ended up with a 6' wide hole.
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Sep 21, 2015 04:05
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The safest way would be to dig a gentler slope. If you have to shore up the walls, generally you would have to run bracing across both sides of the "trench" along with other safety measures. If it's gonna be inspected, I would just slope out the area until soil doesn't fall into the trench. You also want to keep heavy equipment and the soil that was dug up at least a few feet away from the trench. 5 feet and less shouldn't require any additional measures, so you should be good. Anything deeper than that would require osha safety measures. E:https://www.osha.gov/dts/osta/otm/otm_v/otm_v_2.html The loose soil should be kept 2 feet away from the edge of the slope. The angle of the slope depends on the soil but the worst case would be 34 degrees. E2: Also, if you do decide to brace you should leave it braced until your concrete is set. Trenches are dangerous even 40" deep. The Gardenator fucked around with this message at 04:36 on Sep 21, 2015 |
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Sep 21, 2015 04:26
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Turnquiet posted:I am 2 years a homeowner in VA and I still don't understand vinyl siding. Like what is this thing? It is about where the joists for the second floor would be. It's not for my dryer, and all my bathroom fans vent through pipes in the roof. That's a generic louvered vent cover, and has nothing to do with your having vinyl siding. It's probably a vent for your first floor bathroom (venting it through the roof would be a bit unusual).
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Sep 21, 2015 05:33
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PDP-1 posted:I want to install some bi-fold doors for a closet I just renovated, but have a problem in that the vertical opening is 81.75" while common door sizes are designed for 80.5" or 84" openings. This means I'd have to either build out a 1.25" spacer somewhere and live with an odd gap, find a way to shave a few inches off a larger door without collapsing the hollow core part, or get something custom made. None of those options are particularly appealing of course. You can buy a 84" door, cut it to size and then glue a new piece of wood inside the hollow core and along the bottom or top. Much easier than redoing the closet opening imho.
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Sep 22, 2015 18:12
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Question: We have some pretty ugly carpeting at one of our stores and the terms of our lease don't currently allow for replacing it. We want to do something to make it look better so we were brainstorming and came up with this We want to take a few of these carpet protectors  We'd then glue various comic and game covers to them (I manage a comic and game store). We'd then want to coat them to protect the art, probably with something like garage floor epoxy. But I think that it might not work or wouldn't be at all flexible. If there any type of clear epoxy that would be flexible enough that it wouldn't crack if we had to move the mats?
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Sep 22, 2015 21:31
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I would try using spray adhesive to glue some clear vinyl like this on top: http://www.joann.com/disco-vinyl-fabric-clear/1532449.html I'd also do one, then leave it in a high traffic area for a few weeks as an experiment before making more. Also, print off the cover to Action Comics #1 and hide it in the collage to see who has a heart attack.
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Sep 22, 2015 21:41
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Safety Dance posted:I would try using spray adhesive to glue some clear vinyl like this on top: http://www.joann.com/disco-vinyl-fabric-clear/1532449.html I was initially thinking of just doing something like that but I worried about people maybe slipping and falling. WIth the epoxy you can mix in a non-slip additive that roughs up the surface.
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Sep 23, 2015 06:58
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So in regards of heating, the room I'm putting an electronic thermostat needs to have the mechanical one on the radiator fully open, right? I've been trying to figure out why my gas boiler was slowly creeping up to maximum pressure during operation (on the manometer, anyway), turns out I have my knob thermostat set to a tiny bit over 20°C while the smart thermostat was at 20° (the knobs in the other rooms are way lower). This was a dumb gently caress up from my part, wasn't it?
Combat Pretzel fucked around with this message at 12:03 on Sep 23, 2015 |
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Sep 23, 2015 12:00
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Combat Pretzel posted:So in regards of heating, the room I'm putting an electronic thermostat needs to have the mechanical one on the radiator fully open, right? I've been trying to figure out why my gas boiler was slowly creeping up to maximum pressure during operation (on the manometer, anyway), turns out I have my knob thermostat set to a tiny bit over 20°C while the smart thermostat was at 20° (the knobs in the other rooms are way lower). This was a dumb gently caress up from my part, wasn't it? I'm a little confused. Does the electronic thermostat control the valve on the radiator, or is the radiator valve manually operated? What does the thermostat control? The boiler off/on?
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Sep 23, 2015 14:14
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Rhyno posted:I was initially thinking of just doing something like that but I worried about people maybe slipping and falling. WIth the epoxy you can mix in a non-slip additive that roughs up the surface. I can't imagine it being slippery unless it's in the rain or something.
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Sep 23, 2015 16:58
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I have a large shop area 12'x40' in the corner of a large pole barn. The barn has it's own lighting mounted to the trusses approx. 16' AFF. I want to add (4) 4' 2 bulb florescent fixtures approx. 10' AFF above the shop area. I had an electrician come out to give me an estimate... for the above lighting, 4 new duplex outlets, a 220v outlet for a welder, and a new exterior light on another building... the estimate was $1648.00. I told him that was more than I wanted to spend and could he give me a copy of his estimate breakdown so I could start cutting out some things I really didn't need to get the price down. He said he would drop it off at my house that day. It's now 3 weeks, and 2 phone calls later and I have heard nothing from him. So I'm going to see if I can make this work myself. Questions... I was just going with the regular T12 fluorescent bulbs... and figured anything would be better than what I have now. I'm going to get one I think and put it in the actual space before finalizing this decision. What about LEDs? never seen them in a shop application, and for whatever reason I still question LEDs in anything larger than a flashlight. They where going to run a new outlet and attach it to the truss above, one for each light. Any reason I can't just daisy chain these lights together? It'd be about 4 amps right? And the total run would be about 30' to a wall outlet that is right at the breaker box.
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Sep 23, 2015 20:14
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Installing new T12 fixtures is dumb. Don't do it. T8 fixtures are the easy choice. If there's a good deal on good quality LED fixtures, they're a fine choice too, but LEDs don't have any significant advantages over T8 flourescents and low quality ones can be significantly worse.
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Sep 23, 2015 22:29
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I live in a old apartment with a tall williams brand wall gas furnace. Whats the best way to clean it? Is there a filter i can change or rig onto it? Im pretty sure the moment I turn this on I will be spreading dust all over my living room.
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Sep 24, 2015 01:16
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Zhentar posted:Installing new T12 fixtures is dumb. Don't do it. T8 fixtures are the easy choice. If there's a good deal on good quality LED fixtures, they're a fine choice too, but LEDs don't have any significant advantages over T8 flourescents and low quality ones can be significantly worse. Thanks. Can you expand on T12s being dumb? With my very limited experience with T8 bulbs I didn't see an advantage. T12s just always seemed brighter to me and much more available, and maybe cheaper? I don't know. I'm googling now... but still interested in real people opinions. EDIT: I just read they were going to stop manufacturing T12 in 2012. ??? I guess they would be dumb to use... Why do they even still sell T12 fixtures? FrankeeFrankFrank fucked around with this message at 13:52 on Sep 24, 2015 |
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Sep 24, 2015 13:47
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T12s are inefficient, and for the most part have awful color quality. T8s have good efficiencty and excellent color quality, and aren't really any more expensive. Even without the T12 phaseout, they're still bad lights.
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Sep 24, 2015 15:42
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X-posting from the home buying thread. I'm looking at a house in a great area that's under priced by like 25% for 3 reasons. It needs cosmetic updates and a new kitchen, but most importantly the upstairs is only 3/4 height and is an awful layout. Going from the top of the below floor plan on the left, it goes 2nd floor bath, awkward tiny 2nd bedroom, staircase and then master bedroom. I'm thinking a double dormer (I guess thats what you would call it?) in the middle of the house to turn the 2nd bedroom into a master bedroom and suite would make it liveable and not break the bank. The right floor plan is what I mocked up. Red lines are the roof lines, red arrows show the slope of the room. Am I crazy? 
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Sep 24, 2015 18:11
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That's a cross gable, not a double dormer. Are you crazy? Maybe. What's your definition of "not break the bank"?
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Sep 24, 2015 18:34
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FrankeeFrankFrank posted:Why do they even still sell T12 fixtures? Because companies still have inventory to get rid of. For the record, it is usually pretty easy to convert an existing T12 fixture to take T8 bulbs since they have the same pin spacing. You have a swap the ballasts. The hard part about that is determining how to attach the wires from series-wired T12s to parallel-wired T8s.
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Sep 24, 2015 19:11
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Zhentar posted:That's a cross gable, not a double dormer. I figured there was a better way to describe it than double dormer. Not really sure what my limit would be price wise. Under $15k I think. It's a slate roof which I know is going to increase the cost, though the slate looks to be in good condition and could hopefully be reused to save on materials. The cross gable would be like 20'x20'. Homewyse says $4-$6k for the slate roofing. Costhelper.com says $10-12 per sqft for the framing, so like $4-$5k. Then another grand or two for windows, electrical, drywall? I'm in Ohio if that helps.
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Sep 24, 2015 19:16
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Hey, you guys like crossposting? I have a colleague who is looking to me for housebuying advice, which I give at great length whenever he'll listen. He has an accepted offer with no inspection contingency, and therefore has to decide by the P&S date whether to go forward. I offered to post some screencaps of his inspection report online for anyone to tell me whether or not the things that gave me (a complete non-expert) pause were things that were trivial, fixable for short money, or red flags to run like hell from. Highlights include: - temporary roof cement with evidence of prior leakage - residing over existing siding (is this ever OK) - sewer gas odor from laundry drain (private septic) - overnotched joists (is this floor being held up by what are essentially 2x3s?) http://imgur.com/a/ZRrXl         
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Sep 24, 2015 19:23
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I'm playing around with the idea of installing a radon remediation system in my house, and I could use some help. My house is pretty new (built in 2003) and I bought it in 2009. Probably ~50% of the houses in my neighborhood have a radon system installed. We've run a few tests in our house, before and after we bought it. Some of the tests came back high, some came back low. When we started getting worried about buying the house, the real estate agent offered to throw in $1k to install a system. Of course, we never actually spent that $1k on a radon system. Now that we're thinking about selling the house, I figure I should probably install something. From what I've been reading, installation seems pretty straightforward, but most of what I've read assume a certain level of prior knowledge. My basement does have a covered/sealed sump pit in the corner of the unfinished portion. As I understand it, all I should need to do is install/seal a 4" pipe in the sump cover, run the pipe up through the wall to the attic above the second floor, connect it to a fan, and vent the tube out the roof. Alternatively, I could run the tube outside, connect it to a fan, and run the vent up the outside of the house (obviously I'd prefer to have it contained within the house, but plenty of houses in my neighborhood have the fan/tube outside). Is there any reason why suctioning from the sump pit wouldn't work in a modern house? Is it going to be super hard to run 4" PVC from the basement to the attic for someone without a whole lot of plumbing/etc experience? Should I just suck it up and pay someone to do it all?
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Sep 24, 2015 20:09
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Hashtag Banterzone posted:Not really sure what my limit would be price wise. Under $15k I think. It's a slate roof which I know is going to increase the cost, though the slate looks to be in good condition and could hopefully be reused to save on materials. The cross gable would be like 20'x20'. Homewyse says $4-$6k for the slate roofing. Costhelper.com says $10-12 per sqft for the framing, so like $4-$5k. Then another grand or two for windows, electrical, drywall? I'm in Ohio if that helps. In that case, yes, I do think you're crazy. You'd have to start by paying a structural engineer $1k or so for the design. If everything works out well, $5k for framing it might be doable - but if it doesn't, you could be looking at several times that. As for windows and finishing, a grand or two is totally unrealistic, even completely DIY. You're looking at at least $5-10k there. I very much doubt you could get that done for under $20k.
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Sep 24, 2015 21:53
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uwaeve posted:Highlights include: Residing like that is a thing that is legitimately done, although it's generally not a great idea. Based on the description, the other end of the joists is supported by a beam and aren't notched, so it's not quite as bad as 2x3s, but yeah, that's not great. Overall, it looks to me like it's had a history of cheap maintenance & remodels that back up expensive-looking finish materials with shoddy work. As the inspector recommended, check the permit history.
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Sep 24, 2015 22:27
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FrankeeFrankFrank posted:I have a large shop area 12'x40' in the corner of a large pole barn. The barn has it's own lighting mounted to the trusses approx. 16' AFF. I want to add (4) 4' 2 bulb florescent fixtures approx. 10' AFF above the shop area. I bought some decent LED fixtures this week. I think they were Cooper Bussmann branded, and the LED board says Eaton all over. They are a single row and and seem brighter than the various dual bulb T12 and T8 fixtures in the same warehouse. They are directional in nature which may explain the perceived difference in light output. The downside... The fixtures were $220 each. I would gladly put them in my own garage and barn if they were a bit less expensive.
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Sep 25, 2015 02:24
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Let's talk about chainsaws: I need to build a bridge out of logs and all I have right now is a big knife and an axe and also some shears. I also have a STIHL chainsaw that some idiot left sitting for 10 years without fogging so the carb is all jammed up with jank and it will not start to say the least. I don't want to think about the state of the chain or bearings. Either I fix some old but very expensive from-30-years-ago chainsaw, or buy a new one, or chop trees with an axe. Hitting trees is fun, but slow. I know my axe is sharp, but I can't swing as hard as I need to as I have exploded something in my lumbar spine. So I need a chainsaw. Are electrics any good at all? Like, is a lovely 10" battery electric worse than a lovely 10" gas-powered? I want to cut down a pair of big thick cedar trees for as cheap as possible without exploding the L4/L5 squishy thing in my spine. I haven't used anything made more recently than 1985. What's good for cutting big wood cheaply?
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Sep 25, 2015 08:36
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