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Motronic posted:Those are returns. And your lovely builder likely left a gap under the bedroom/non-returned room doors (which isn't big enough) to kinda make the system work. Oh man, we have returns in almost every room of the house (unless they're fake returns, I never actually checked) but our master bedroom get's SLAMMED shut if it's not open the entire way so it is flush against the wall. I always just assumed this was because the upstairs is on it's own HVAC unit from the downstairs and the upstairs hallway is basically part of the conditioned space of the downstairs (big open 2 story foyer that runs mostly the entire length of the hallway. I guess our HVAC system unbalanced instead? I'm assuming this isn't something you can fix without installing a new system? What are the downsides?
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Sep 6, 2016 14:29
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Steampunk Hitler posted:Oh man, we have returns in almost every room of the house (unless they're fake returns, I never actually checked) but our master bedroom get's SLAMMED shut if it's not open the entire way so it is flush against the wall. I always just assumed this was because the upstairs is on it's own HVAC unit from the downstairs and the upstairs hallway is basically part of the conditioned space of the downstairs (big open 2 story foyer that runs mostly the entire length of the hallway. I guess our HVAC system unbalanced instead? I'm assuming this isn't something you can fix without installing a new system? What are the downsides? Depends on what is wrong. This can often be solved with proper dampening. You'll want to find someone who knows what they are doing to check the flow from your registers, etc. and see if you can achieve sufficient cooling/heating with reducing the supply airflow in that room. It has little to do with the system itself (like the unit in your basement/closet/wherever) - it's mainly a ductwork issue.
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Sep 6, 2016 18:22
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Is there anything stopping me from swapping the locations of a washer and electric dryer? I assume they make longer versions of the cords, inlet hoses, drain hose, and dryer exhaust? All the stuff is set up for the washer on the right currently, which is fine with the piece of poo poo 2000-era stuff there now. We are thinking of upgrading to frontloaders, and the washer door opens to the left and the dryer to the right. There isn't an option to switch the door hardware either.
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Sep 6, 2016 19:36
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uwaeve posted:Is there anything stopping me from swapping the locations of a washer and electric dryer? I assume they make longer versions of the cords, inlet hoses, drain hose, and dryer exhaust? All the stuff is set up for the washer on the right currently, which is fine with the piece of poo poo 2000-era stuff there now. We are thinking of upgrading to frontloaders, and the washer door opens to the left and the dryer to the right. There isn't an option to switch the door hardware either. Pick different appliances? Google suggests reversible door front loaders exist. They also make top loading washers which are super high efficiency.
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Sep 6, 2016 19:49
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In theory you could buy longer things, but I don't think excessively long washing machine drain hoses are a thing. Or at the very least there would be issues with one that long draining properly? NM they are a thing, go for it.
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Sep 6, 2016 20:54
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I have a wood bed frame (don't know what wood, but it's relatively recent so nothing antique or high quality) that squeaks a lot when the screws back out a bit. Rather than take the mattress off every couple months to tighten things up I was thinking it might be good to use something to keep things tight. Is there a good option. It needs to be reversible in case I need to removed the bed for new carpet installation, etc.
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Sep 6, 2016 21:40
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BeastOfExmoor posted:I have a wood bed frame (don't know what wood, but it's relatively recent so nothing antique or high quality) that squeaks a lot when the screws back out a bit. Rather than take the mattress off every couple months to tighten things up I was thinking it might be good to use something to keep things tight. Is there a good option. It needs to be reversible in case I need to removed the bed for new carpet installation, etc. Machine screws or wood screws?
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Sep 6, 2016 22:37
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uwaeve posted:Is there anything stopping me from swapping the locations of a washer and electric dryer? I assume they make longer versions of the cords, inlet hoses, drain hose, and dryer exhaust? All the stuff is set up for the washer on the right currently, which is fine with the piece of poo poo 2000-era stuff there now. We are thinking of upgrading to frontloaders, and the washer door opens to the left and the dryer to the right. There isn't an option to switch the door hardware either. It's probably about time to switch out your laundry hoses anyways, they tend to burst after sixish years and flood whatever room they're in. Moving them a few feet is no problem, just make sure you have sufficient elevation on your drain hose and there are no tight bends on your dryer exhaust vent, and you should be good!
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Sep 7, 2016 01:48
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OSU_Matthew posted:It's probably about time to switch out your laundry hoses anyways, they tend to burst after sixish years What the crap have you been buying? Whatever it is.....stop it and buy something decent.
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Sep 7, 2016 02:52
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Motronic posted:What the crap have you been buying? I think there's a warning on the inside of my washing machine that says "GE RECOMMENDS REPLACING SUPPLY HOSES EVERY 5 YEARS"
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Sep 7, 2016 03:00
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That's got to be some kind of minimum lifespan rear end-covering thing, like if your washer is somewhere with very hard water that's also subject to wide temperature variations or something. I don't think I've ever heard of someone replacing their hoses except when they replaced the appliance as well.
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Sep 7, 2016 03:03
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Motronic posted:What the crap have you been buying? I've got the generic stainless steel braided hoses. I've never had one burst on me, but I'm pretty sure laundry hose breaks are one of the most frequent causes of flood damage in the us, because the way the hoses are crimped, combined with the way the pressures tend to spurt and hammer the rubber over the crimp, especially with washers being in out of sight places. Either way, replacing hoses is a cheap insurance policy in my book E: Reason why hoses burst--water hones the edge of the fitting down to a razor edge over time and it cuts into the hose Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 03:29 on Sep 7, 2016 |
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Sep 7, 2016 03:22
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OSU_Matthew posted:I've got the generic stainless steel braided hoses. I've never had one burst on me, but I'm pretty sure laundry hose breaks are one of the most frequent causes of flood damage in the us, because the way the hoses are crimped, combined with the way the pressures tend to spurt and hammer the rubber over the crimp, especially with washers being in out of sight places.
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Sep 7, 2016 03:27
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Slugworth posted:I don't have actual numbers, but anecdotally from 7 years of flood restoration, I can only think of a couple cases where the washing machine was the source. Refrigerator supply lines, on the other hand... Guys, buy the best fridge supply line available, replace it every 6 months, and also just never run any water through it, ever. Just don't hook it up. I get it, ice without filling a little tray, it's great. Your house is gonna flood. Wait, uh... poo poo how do I find mine.
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Sep 7, 2016 04:46
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Bozart posted:Wait, uh... poo poo how do I find mine. It goes into the back of the fridge, and isn't the power cord.
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Sep 7, 2016 05:05
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Slugworth posted:I don't have actual numbers, but anecdotally from 7 years of flood restoration, I can only think of a couple cases where the washing machine was the source. Refrigerator supply lines, on the other hand... Guys, buy the best fridge supply line available, replace it every 6 months, and also just never run any water through it, ever. Just don't hook it up. I get it, ice without filling a little tray, it's great. Your house is gonna flood. Are the flexible copper lines more resilient, or is it just the flexible lines? Are the stainless braided any better than the straight rubber? Is there a usual break point? Do you see similar issues with stuff like dishwasher hoses, or is it just fridges? You've gotta be a gold mine of knowledge... What's the best course of action to take if say your house does flood, for whatever reason? Did you see a lot of issues with old cast iron waste pipes? Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 14:37 on Sep 7, 2016 |
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Sep 7, 2016 14:34
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OSU_Matthew posted:Are the flexible copper lines more resilient, or is it just the flexible lines? Are the stainless braided any better than the straight rubber? Is there a usual break point? Do you see similar issues with stuff like dishwasher hoses, or is it just fridges? As to dealing with a flooded house, there's no real industry secret other than "have access to a poo poo ton of air movers and massive dehumidifiers". A restoration company is basically a bunch of barely trained guys with access to expensive equipment. They won't do anything that you wouldn't think to do yourself, but they have stuff like this - http://www.jondon.com/dri-eaz-rescue-mat-system.html that you don't.
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Sep 7, 2016 16:02
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:That's got to be some kind of minimum lifespan rear end-covering thing, like if your washer is somewhere with very hard water that's also subject to wide temperature variations or something. I don't think I've ever heard of someone replacing their hoses except when they replaced the appliance as well. I've replaced dryer hoses before when I've needed to work on dryers, mostly because they're cheap goodamn pieces of poo poo that always tear or start peeling apart at the spiral or I get cut on the sheet metal and then it becomes personal.
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Sep 7, 2016 16:37
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poo poo and now i'm at work thinking about my new fridge and the plastic hose that they installers put on there. 
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Sep 7, 2016 17:19
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I've got a plumbing question for you guys. Flushed the toilet, water backs up into the tub. Washing machine backs up into the Tub, second toilet on the same line really slow to drain. Shower, which is on the outside wall drains fine. We are on a septic and when the main line backed up, the shower backed up too, so I know the main line isn't clogged outside of the house. I pulled the second toilet, as it's closest to the outside. Standing water in the pipe, I have a closet auger that I tried to clear, but its not long enough. I also have a smaller longer snake, but it doesn't seem to have any force behind it. ? Do I just need to go rent a motorized one from Home Depot? Is there any chance I can damage my pipes with a motorized one? Any suggestions? Chappy fucked around with this message at 22:50 on Sep 7, 2016 |
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Sep 7, 2016 22:37
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kid sinister posted:Machine screws or wood screws? Machine screws, I believe, although some may be wood screws.
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Sep 7, 2016 23:02
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BeastOfExmoor posted:Machine screws, I believe, although some may be wood screws. Machine screws won't really hold wood at all well, due to the very shallow threads. You might try adding some wood screws next to them.
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Sep 7, 2016 23:10
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Chappy posted:I've got a plumbing question for you guys. Are there multiple floors involved? Is your vent pipe free of debris? Maybe draw a diagram.
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Sep 7, 2016 23:43
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Machine screws won't really hold wood at all well, due to the very shallow threads. You might try adding some wood screws next to them. You've really never put together any "some assembly required" furniture, have you? They all have barrel nuts. Anyway, if you got barrel nuts with machine threads, there is always Loctite Threadlocker in the color for your screw diameter: purple, blue and red, in increasing diameter. For loose wood screws, do the toothpick trick.
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Sep 8, 2016 01:11
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How does Loctite work that it has different formulas for different screw widths? Ive only ever seen the blue stuff.
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Sep 8, 2016 01:24
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OSU_Matthew posted:I've got the generic stainless steel braided hoses. I've never had one burst on me, but I'm pretty sure laundry hose breaks are one of the most frequent causes of flood damage in the us, because the way the hoses are crimped, combined with the way the pressures tend to spurt and hammer the rubber over the crimp, especially with washers being in out of sight places. Screw that. I have one of these: http://www.timeoutbykeeney.com/ and braided hoses. Even if they were to burst, it would be while I was home doing laundry (and I'd presumably notice before everything flooded too much!)
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Sep 8, 2016 01:50
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HEY NONG MAN posted:How does Loctite work that it has different formulas for different screw widths? Ive only ever seen the blue stuff. I would imagine that it has to do with backing out force and being able to move that screw later. For instance, if you used one of the stronger products on a smaller screw, then no one is ever going to be able to unscrew that screw ever again.
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Sep 8, 2016 01:51
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HEY NONG MAN posted:Are there multiple floors involved? Is your vent pipe free of debris? Maybe draw a diagram. Sorry. Single floor. The toilets and drain all follow one pipe Toilet2 Wall Washing machine Wall Toilet1
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Sep 8, 2016 02:02
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kid sinister posted:You've really never put together any "some assembly required" furniture, have you? They all have barrel nuts. It's been years, I admit. But just because there's a nut doesn't mean that the nut grips properly. For example, if the nut is embedded in a countersunk hole, then the hole might be improperly-sized, allowing the nut more motion than it should. I maintain that adding some new wood screws would most likely eliminate any wood motion caused by ineffectual fasteners.
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Sep 8, 2016 03:01
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:It's been years, I admit. But just because there's a nut doesn't mean that the nut grips properly. For example, if the nut is embedded in a countersunk hole, then the hole might be improperly-sized, allowing the nut more motion than it should. I maintain that adding some new wood screws would most likely eliminate any wood motion caused by ineffectual fasteners. You've really never worked with particle board, have you? kid sinister fucked around with this message at 03:08 on Sep 8, 2016 |
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Sep 8, 2016 03:06
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kid sinister posted:You've really never worked with particle board, have you? This is the first mention of particle board I've seen for this discussion. The OP specifically said it was made of wood. I grant it is possible the OP can't recognize real wood when they see it, but I personally prefer to assume that people are competent until they demonstrate otherwise.
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Sep 8, 2016 03:28
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kid sinister posted:I would imagine that it has to do with backing out force and being able to move that screw later. For instance, if you used one of the stronger products on a smaller screw, then no one is ever going to be able to unscrew that screw ever again. The colour codes the strength, actually. Red is basically permanent, blue not so much. The size of the fastener brings forces and torques into the picture, which affects the capability of the thread locker.
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Sep 8, 2016 03:44
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:This is the first mention of particle board I've seen for this discussion. The OP specifically said it was made of wood. I grant it is possible the OP can't recognize real wood when they see it, but I personally prefer to assume that people are competent until they demonstrate otherwise. It's "real" (IE solid) wood. Any machine screws have nuts where they screw in. I'll give locktight a try. Thanks all!
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Sep 8, 2016 06:12
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I'm going to be putting in a new fence in October (well..paying someone to put in a new fence, that is...I don't have the time to really do a good enough DIY job.) Cedar or vinyl? Cedar looks so much nicer, IMO, and is like 60% the price of vinyl...but I'm just worried it'll rot. Even with yearly applications of sealer, it just won't last as long as vinyl, in theory. Though to be fair, I'm soured on wood cause our current fence is wood and is poo poo. Just poorly painted, non-pressure treated pine (I don't even think the support posts are pressure treated.) I'm not sure if the previous owner put it in or the one before him, but a bad job all around (support posts also aren't set in concrete.) My fiance's concern that vinyl looks really tacky, though I think that can be mitigated somewhat if we choose the right style and color (it'll be a privacy fence, beyond that we haven't decided on any stylistic choice.)
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Sep 8, 2016 16:48
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What, if anything, can I do about slime in faucets? It's 71ºF/47% RH inside pretty much year round, and I have air conditioning. The basement smells like every other 80 year old basement I've ever been in, and the inspector found no evidence of water intrusion or mold anywhere (and I haven't seen any either, even in heavy rain or snowmelt). Still, about once a week I have to take the aerators out of the bathroom faucets and blast out this pinkish gray slime. I'm on city water, and from what I can tell they use chloramine. Any ideas?
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Sep 9, 2016 03:14
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hogmartin posted:What, if anything, can I do about slime in faucets? It's 71ºF/47% RH inside pretty much year round, and I have air conditioning. The basement smells like every other 80 year old basement I've ever been in, and the inspector found no evidence of water intrusion or mold anywhere (and I haven't seen any either, even in heavy rain or snowmelt). Still, about once a week I have to take the aerators out of the bathroom faucets and blast out this pinkish gray slime. I'm on city water, and from what I can tell they use chloramine. Any ideas? I don't have anything specific to help you with, but we had a dishwasher that had the thermal breaker tripped and thus didn't heat to dry so until that got diagnosed we dealt with pinkish orange slime. Researching that I found out it's likely airborne spores that settle on someplace wet then really get going, so there's a possibility there's nothing wrong with your water or how watertight the house is. Good luck that poo poo was gag-inducing to scoop out of the dishwasher and spray arms.
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Sep 9, 2016 03:50
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hogmartin posted:What, if anything, can I do about slime in faucets? It's 71ºF/47% RH inside pretty much year round, and I have air conditioning. The basement smells like every other 80 year old basement I've ever been in, and the inspector found no evidence of water intrusion or mold anywhere (and I haven't seen any either, even in heavy rain or snowmelt). Still, about once a week I have to take the aerators out of the bathroom faucets and blast out this pinkish gray slime. I'm on city water, and from what I can tell they use chloramine. Any ideas? You can try soaking them in white vinegar - take out the aerator and scrub it and the faucet, and then leave the aerator in a cup of vinegar, and put a zip lock with vinegar over the faucet head and tape it there for a few hours. Maybe it will reduce the frequency of cleaning.
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Sep 9, 2016 14:02
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I've got a railing on top of treated lumber steps that is a bit loose. It's not connected to anything other than the steps, so the looseness must be from under-secured posts. Some of the wood/railing attached around the posts is coming loose too. My plan is to drive good exterior wood screws (with pilot holes and countersinking) about 1" into the post to secure the attached wood, then drive 2 long screws through the post into the lumber steps for each post. Caulk up the countersunk screws, make a very minor patch or two, sand and paint. Does this sound reasonable, or am I about to wreck my railing?
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Sep 10, 2016 03:08
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UK Goons where are the best places to go to buy tools? I'm relatively inexperienced when it comes to DIY and the tools my father have given me were one he took from when he was working on building sites a few decades ago. As a result they're not very good so I was looking to replace them.
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Sep 10, 2016 09:38
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Ultragonk posted:UK Goons where are the best places to go to buy tools? I'm relatively inexperienced when it comes to DIY and the tools my father have given me were one he took from when he was working on building sites a few decades ago. As a result they're not very good so I was looking to replace them. We actually do have a tools thread here in DIY. They might know best.
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Sep 10, 2016 17:34
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