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Checking moisture content of materials. Lots of different applications, including monitoring water damage to homes and checking whether lumber is dry enough to work with.
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Feb 16, 2017 16:10
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Safety Dance posted:Also check and see if your moisture meter needs calibration. I was messing with an old one that we dug out of storage today, and we discovered that the our cast iron table saw table has a moisture content of 11.5% For a pin type meter, aren't they calibrated to wood and drywall and just measure electrical resistance? Which is to say if you put them against metal, they're gonna give a reading because current is flowing.
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Feb 16, 2017 16:13
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Safety Dance posted:Also check and see if your moisture meter needs calibration. I was messing with an old one that we dug out of storage today, and we discovered that the our cast iron table saw table has a moisture content of 11.5% Lol rust never sleeps
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Feb 16, 2017 17:22
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:For a pin type meter, aren't they calibrated to wood and drywall and just measure electrical resistance? Which is to say if you put them against metal, they're gonna give a reading because current is flowing. Yeah, but according to this dork, wood with 11% moisture is going to show a resistance of around 200-1000 ohms. I guarantee that meter was miscalibrated, because the table saw table should be a lot more conductive than that.
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Feb 16, 2017 17:54
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Slugworth posted:As long as the pilot holes are smaller than your pins, sure. That being said, I poked walls with a moisture meter for 7 years and never ran into one I couldn't easily puncture. You sure it's drywall? Plaster is harder, but still shouldn't require pilot holes. Maybe? I don't know. This is all pretty new to me. It was difficult enough that I had to work them into the wall which resulted in pushing one of the pins into the meter. I pulled it back out with some pliers and the test procedure worked. I'll let my friend decide if I need to buy him a new one. I'm trying to figure out if a ceiling leak has also seeped into the walls. re: calibration The instructions only had me use my fingers to test if it was reading. There didn't appear to be anything else and there are only two buttons on the thing.
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Feb 16, 2017 18:29
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hogmartin posted:Aside from the obvious "it measures moisture, you idiot", what is a moisture meter for? I've never heard of one. Is it for detecting water intrusion in a void space or something? Checking to see if crawl spaces are too damp and would support mold growth, if firewood is properly seasoned, if your subfloor is dry enough to install hardwood on, etc
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Feb 16, 2017 18:37
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Have a GE Top freezer fridge, making a low hum. Fridge wasn't as cold as it should be, freezer had lots of stuff that had thawed (melted ice cream). Took the panel out of the base of the freezer and the fan at the back was stopped because of a small amount of ice build up. The coils are arranged in 2 rows in front of the fan and have maybe 1/2" of ice around the bottom of them. edit: there's maybe a 1/4" of ice and theres a thin aluminum pan under the coils  I poured a little hot water on the ice at the back to release the fan, but should I remove the rest of the ice? I don't want to start stabbing into it, since its all styrofoam around and underneath. The compressor is running ok as far as I can tell and is a little warm, but not hot which would indicate to me to be a problem. Also in the past the drain coming from the freezer into the fridge area had small icicles on occasion and would drip so it wouldn't hit the little funnel that would take it to the pipe out the rear. I assume thats related. jeff8472 fucked around with this message at 20:04 on Feb 17, 2017 |
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Feb 17, 2017 19:51
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 Son of a bitch. A couple years ago I posted about my joists notched down to nothing, then set on a 2x4 just floating in the lower flange of the I-beam. Guess what, I found 15 more on the other side of the house. Every contractor involved in this house must have been high.
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Feb 17, 2017 20:44
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jeff8472 posted:Have a GE Top freezer fridge, making a low hum. Fridge wasn't as cold as it should be, freezer had lots of stuff that had thawed (melted ice cream). Took the panel out of the base of the freezer and the fan at the back was stopped because of a small amount of ice build up. The coils are arranged in 2 rows in front of the fan and have maybe 1/2" of ice around the bottom of them. The fan might have stopped working first, which would cause the coil to ice up as not enough heat was transferred out of the coil.
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Feb 17, 2017 22:14
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eddiewalker posted:
Ouch. You gotta post this in crappy construction tales, man.
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Feb 17, 2017 22:30
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glynnenstein posted:The fan might have stopped working first, which would cause the coil to ice up as not enough heat was transferred out of the coil. Maybe....the fan is working now. Going to keep the panels out and monitor it overnight. The freezer is freezing now. The main compartment seems to be coming back down in temperature slowly. Its fairly full. Once the temps stabilize I will see if it goes into a defrost cycle. Just hope thats all it is. Had to replace a hot water tank last week, so don't need any more unexpected expenses now.
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Feb 17, 2017 22:57
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If it's not the fan it could be a leak or a problem with the defrost cycle, but you seem to be on top of it. You might want to make sure you have a backup plan for your perishables!
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Feb 17, 2017 23:59
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Thanks. Already tossed everything from the freezer, thawing & refreezing stuff is terrible. Just a few dairy & meat things to worry about in the fridge. Canned & bottled drinks, some of the condiments & veggies will be ok.
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Feb 18, 2017 01:06
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Is there a landscaping thread? I wasn't able to find it in search.
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Feb 18, 2017 10:38
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lol internet. posted:Is there a landscaping thread? I wasn't able to find it in search. I swear I remember one ages ago. Which part of landscaping do you need help with, plants or decoration? We do have both plant and gardening threads here.
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Feb 18, 2017 18:51
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kid sinister posted:I swear I remember one ages ago. Which part of landscaping do you need help with, plants or decoration? We do have both plant and gardening threads here. I basically have a un-landscaped backyard on a small slope. I need to essentially completely rip it up, even it some patches and grow new grass. I have a game plan but wanted some opinions and recommendations/advice based on it to make sure I don't gently caress it up.
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Feb 19, 2017 02:42
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lol internet. posted:I basically have a un-landscaped backyard on a small slope. I need to essentially completely rip it up, even it some patches and grow new grass. I have a game plan but wanted some opinions and recommendations/advice based on it to make sure I don't gently caress it up. "Completely"? It's that bad? If you're going to that extent, now would be an excellent time to correct any grading away from your foundation. Basically, you want your house to be the high point and all water to flow away from it. How steep is the slope? If you tear everything up, you'll have no roots to prevent erosion. Do you have any buried utilities in your back yard? You'd probably only have to worry about the shallow ones like phone, TV or data. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 03:12 on Feb 19, 2017 |
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Feb 19, 2017 03:09
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Instead of ripping it up you can kill it all with roundup and then reseed if it is just grass and weeds.
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Feb 19, 2017 13:50
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I've got a bigger renovation thread brewing, but in the meantime, is this (mock up) an insane idea for ambient lighting?
Jaded Burnout fucked around with this message at 16:05 on Feb 19, 2017 |
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Feb 19, 2017 16:01
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devicenull posted:I've been using these guys so far: http://www.buildingsciencesllc.com/ ... however they haven't done any work yet (aside from an energy audit). I was happy with them through the sales process so far! I had them come out last night. Quote was 15k for a high velocity a/c and entirely redo the insulation in the attic. It's a 1100sqft cape cod with a finished attic, so they are just redoing the insulation in the knee wall recesses. It breaks out to 10k for the a/c and 5k for the insulation. If I do it all I can get 2k in rebates bringing the job to 13. I can then get a 0% seven year loan on 10k. For reference a 5 unit ductless minisplit AC was 12 for the AC. I think it's a little expensive but they are so highly recommended it seems reasonable. I have another guy coming next Friday from a different company for a second quote. I need to find a third guy and get one more.
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Feb 19, 2017 16:57
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Arachnamus posted:I've got a bigger renovation thread brewing, but in the meantime, is this (mock up) an insane idea for ambient lighting? I think you'll end up with odd shadows-- most ambient like that is a cove near the ceiling, so you end up with the ceiling as a giant diffuser.
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Feb 19, 2017 17:02
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Qwijib0 posted:I think you'll end up with odd shadows-- most ambient like that is a cove near the ceiling, so you end up with the ceiling as a giant diffuser. Yeah, I hate the ceiling-style ones.
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Feb 19, 2017 17:48
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Bozart posted:Instead of ripping it up you can kill it all with roundup and then reseed if it is just grass and weeds. Uhh, Roundup is a suspected carcinogen, if you're considering this method.
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Feb 19, 2017 17:49
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kid sinister posted:Uhh, Roundup is a suspected carcinogen, if you're considering this method. Only when wet. Glyphosate rapidly breaks down in sunlight, so if you follow the label instructions it should be completely safe - those directions tell you to apply when the plants are dry and on a sunny day. If you do this not only is it safe for humans and animals, but you can reseed in 14 days.
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Feb 19, 2017 17:52
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jeff8472 posted:Have a GE Top freezer fridge, making a low hum. Fridge wasn't as cold as it should be, freezer had lots of stuff that had thawed (melted ice cream). Took the panel out of the base of the freezer and the fan at the back was stopped because of a small amount of ice build up. The coils are arranged in 2 rows in front of the fan and have maybe 1/2" of ice around the bottom of them. Your defrost drain is clogged, that ice is meltwater that backed up and froze solid instead of flowing down to the bottom where it can evaporate from a tray. And if it's at all like my mom's GE fridge that we had to junk a few years ago, the drain is internally molded to the plastic of the fridge casing, so it's a bitch to try and get anything in there to clear the drain. Your story sounds exactly like ours; thin layer of ice in the bottom causes the fan to seize, causing the fridge to warm up despite the coils being cold as ever. After a couple weeks of opening the coil compartment and chipping the ice away, the defrost coil shorted out, so instead we got frost fill up the whole compartment like a snowdrift. At that point we just replaced it. If you have any portion of the drain that's externally accessible you can try and clear the clog that way. The remaining ice will cause the meltwater to back up again, so you will have to keep going in there unless you can get the drain flowing again and get all ice cleared out; there's a good chance there's a plug of dust and ice somewhere down the line.
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Feb 19, 2017 18:34
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Arachnamus posted:I've got a bigger renovation thread brewing, but in the meantime, is this (mock up) an insane idea for ambient lighting? How far will the lights be recessed? Will there be a gap dust and fluff can drop into? How about raising the skirting/baseboard and having the light shine out from underneath?
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Feb 19, 2017 19:31
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cakesmith handyman posted:How far will the lights be recessed? Will there be a gap dust and fluff can drop into? How about raising the skirting/baseboard and having the light shine out from underneath? Not sure what you mean by recessed lights. These are LED strips. The gap is around 10mm, and will be capped with either clear perspex or more likely a diffuser material. Not sure about the light underneath because there's less spread on a carpet? But I can try it and see.
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Feb 19, 2017 19:57
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cakesmith means how far are the lights from the top of the baseboard. Bigger distance = bigger cavity = more space for stuff to get stuck in and for dirt to accumulate.
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Feb 19, 2017 20:22
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kid sinister posted:"Completely"? It's that bad? If you're going to that extent, now would be an excellent time to correct any grading away from your foundation. Basically, you want your house to be the high point and all water to flow away from it. Bozart posted:Instead of ripping it up you can kill it all with roundup and then reseed if it is just grass and weeds. Here's the picture: http://i.imgur.com/HMuLhKA.jpg The slope is already going away from my house. I need to double check but I assume the soil is re-usable as you can see spots of green, it looks like poo poo can grow in it. Current game plan: Mid summer - Remove straw/rocks/random poo poo that shouldnt be there - Weed + Grass Round - destroy anything and everything that is living - Clean up dead debris from round up - Till the gently caress out of everything - Get some soil and level out the areas I circled in red above - Wait for some time, see if any weeds grow from the tilling poo poo (I guess 1.5 weeks?) - Weed + grass round up - destroy whatever crops up - Wait some time (however long you should wait after roundup is applied before seeding) September (Labor day weekend) - Seed (haven't decided the yet but PNW mix or some sort of kentucky blue grass with ryegrass mix) - Add seed cover on that 2.5-3ft slope so they dont blow away - WATER WATER WATER The hill is not steep so I don't think? Do I need to worry too much about erosion, it looks like nothing is there right now. The long game plan would be to have some vegetation on that slope though to help. I would ideally want to grow this next year after the grass has been established. Also, we plan to extend a wooden deck out from the cement patio, probably up until the slope begins. This would all be a project for next summer. I don't think there is any utility lines as there's a wetland behind the fence. Only thing to be careful for is the drainage from the house as the pipes run back there (probably along the fence.) lol internet. fucked around with this message at 21:28 on Feb 19, 2017 |
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Feb 19, 2017 21:24
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:cakesmith means how far are the lights from the top of the baseboard. Bigger distance = bigger cavity = more space for stuff to get stuck in and for dirt to accumulate. Oh right. That's TBD. The depth on that mockup is about 30mm but that's just the difference in height between the current board and the mockup board. I've got some aluminium profile samples on the way with samples of some RGBW strips, I believe they're around 10mm deep and are topped by perspex of varying opacities (got samples of the diffusers on the way too). The intent would be for any diffuser to run flush with the top of the board to prevent that issue, and the LEDs to be an appropriate depth below that to get the best light, either just on a cut out in the wood or in one of the aluminium runners. Jaded Burnout fucked around with this message at 22:00 on Feb 19, 2017 |
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Feb 19, 2017 21:32
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I've got a Rubbermaid Roughneck storage shed in my backyard, and it takes these thingies to hook to the walls to hand shelves: But they are $2.50 a pop. Wondering if anyone knows of a generic equivalent? https://www.lowes.com/pd/Rubbermaid-Silver-Steel-Steel-Storage-Shed-Anchor/3554860 There's got to be someone that makes one for the correct price of considerably less. I figure i could even get some bolts and just bend them, I think it's madness to pay that for these shelves.
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Feb 19, 2017 22:06
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Enourmo posted:Your defrost drain is clogged, that ice is meltwater that backed up and froze solid instead of flowing down to the bottom where it can evaporate from a tray. And if it's at all like my mom's GE fridge that we had to junk a few years ago, the drain is internally molded to the plastic of the fridge casing, so it's a bitch to try and get anything in there to clear the drain. Once it's thawed this thread taught me to use string trimmer line. Seems to have worked for us. After having it happen a dozen times we found a trick where you wrap some ~14 AWG wire around the defrost element and get it down into the drain pipe, but ours had a problem of it freezing over right at the top inch or so of the line.
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Feb 19, 2017 23:54
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Honestly $2.50 for something like that feels about right to me. I'd be surprised if you could find them for much cheaper...and the thing about cheap metal stuff is that it tends to be pretty bad quality. Poor fit, poor materials.
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Feb 19, 2017 23:56
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Don't know where else to ask this, and google isn't giving me anything. Is there a name for this type of concrete block pattern? 
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Feb 20, 2017 02:05
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lol internet. posted:Here's the picture: http://i.imgur.com/HMuLhKA.jpg That's it?!? You made this sound like an overgrown wilderness that you would need to spend weeks clearing, not some spot that's already bare. You're making this way harder than it has to be. Remove the rocks, leave the straw, fill in the low spots, throw out some seed this spring, water. That's it. Also, Forget the roundup. A lawn that small and bare could be weeded by hand.
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Feb 20, 2017 03:15
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kid sinister posted:That's it?!? You made this sound like an overgrown wilderness that you would need to spend weeks clearing, not some spot that's already bare. You're making this way harder than it has to be. Remove the rocks, leave the straw, fill in the low spots, throw out some seed this spring, water. That's it. Also, Forget the roundup. A lawn that small and bare could be weeded by hand. Seriously......this is something you can tend to in minutes per day once a week for a few months while things are getting established. I didn't think you were talking about a postage stamp yard. You need a rake and a bag of grass seed. And hands.
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Feb 20, 2017 04:39
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When I researched a bit into leaving the straw.. I came across something about having to add fertilizer because when the straw breaks down there's too much nitrogen which is why I wanted to remove the straw, because then I'd have to fill the yard with fertilizer. There seriously must be more to the process then what you guys listed. You're telling me to leave the straw, remove the rocks, and just throw a ton of 75 pound bag of seeds down? The straw needs to be removed sooner or later through dethatching I'd imagine if you want to have a proper lawn?
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Feb 20, 2017 08:43
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Millennial Sexlord posted:Don't know where else to ask this, and google isn't giving me anything. There probably is, but it'll likely be regional as decorative block was generally localized to the manufacturer. In Arizona, for example, superlite still makes a couple patterns they've churned out for years.  but if you want _that_ block, you're going to end up doing a lot of trolling through google images I think.
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Feb 20, 2017 16:08
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lol internet. posted:When I researched a bit into leaving the straw.. I came across something about having to add fertilizer because when the straw breaks down there's too much nitrogen which is why I wanted to remove the straw, because then I'd have to fill the yard with fertilizer. Once the grass is established you can rake up the straw if you want to. If not don't worry about it. Your yard is not a university lab. Any nitrogen imbalance is going to do what? Make your grass greener and grow faster on top and not root as well. Which means it's gonna big enough to crowd out weeds faster. And then when it burns off the nitrogen in a few weeks it will......be regular grass and root better. And, buy/rent some sort of broadcast spreader for the seed (even just a hand held one) or it's going to come in really uneven.
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Feb 20, 2017 16:12
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lol internet. posted:When I researched a bit into leaving the straw.. I came across something about having to add fertilizer because when the straw breaks down there's too much nitrogen which is why I wanted to remove the straw, because then I'd have to fill the yard with fertilizer. Unless there are some amazing perspective tricks you've pulled here the sq ft just isn't that high. If you feel the work is overwhelming that's fine, you could likely get it all done in 1-2 days and $1000 to a landscaping company, including seeding. A 50lb bag is upwards of 5k sq ft (70ft square) in a seed spreader (<$50). Pulling rocks is hard work, I personally would pay a day laborer to do it, but our dirt is close to 50% rock by volume if it hasn't been dug up previously.
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Feb 20, 2017 17:02
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