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Well, today I went to the house to let in the electrician and decided to give the stove a polish. Not bad, huh? Not sure how I can make the grouting look nice, though... Unfortunately my electrician found that the ground floor wiring was already a radial with each point having a spur - so no opportunities to add any sockets. That wasn't a big loss since we only wanted an additional socket by the dining table (which already has one), but I've ponied up for him to rewire the top floor fully since we wanted to add five more there. Southern Heel fucked around with this message at 10:39 on Dec 6, 2017 |
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Dec 6, 2017 10:24
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I don't really want to strip all the wallpaper in the new place unless I have to - so I was thinking of just painting over the top. I've done this in the past without any major problems, but I have noticed there are a few areas where the existing wallpaper has curled away at the bottom (presumably some spill or heat, or just badly hung). Is there anything I can do to re-seat that?
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Dec 7, 2017 11:26
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More wallpaper paste and thumb tacks to hold it down until it dies
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Dec 7, 2017 11:56
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cakesmith handyman posted:More wallpaper paste and thumb tacks to hold it down until it dies Excellent shout, thank you. Southern Heel fucked around with this message at 13:44 on Dec 7, 2017 |
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Dec 7, 2017 13:37
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I'm tired of sanding the corners (edges, really) of freshly plastered rooms, and I've only done two so far. Do I just have to suck it up or is there some fun tool that will help speed things along?
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Dec 8, 2017 20:19
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Jaded Burnout posted:I'm tired of sanding the corners (edges, really) of freshly plastered rooms, and I've only done two so far. Weed?
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Dec 8, 2017 20:37
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Jaded Burnout posted:I'm tired of sanding the corners (edges, really) of freshly plastered rooms, and I've only done two so far. Electricity?
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Dec 8, 2017 21:31
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H110Hawk posted:Electricity? I'm wary of overdoing it. It's not so much a matter of power as it is leverage and awkwardness.
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Dec 8, 2017 21:51
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Jaded Burnout posted:I'm wary of overdoing it. It's not so much a matter of power as it is leverage and awkwardness. You haven't described your process. Are you taking bare sandpaper to plaster with your hands? Putting sandpaper inside a block of wood? Sandpaper on a stick? Electric palm sander? Electric palm sanders are pretty nice, though I have never sanded plaster. (Please tell me you're wearing a respirator.) Edit: This came through, surprising no one. At least they're being honest now and not sending out scammy emails: kiddie posted:Thank you for participating in Kiddes fire extinguisher replacement program. Customer safety is our priority and we are pleased by the strong response to our recall announcement. However, due to high demand the most comparable replacement for your unit is backordered.
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Dec 8, 2017 22:52
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I got 2 of them even though I only had 1 to begin with.
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Dec 8, 2017 23:30
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H110Hawk posted:Are you taking bare sandpaper to plaster with your hands? Yes. H110Hawk posted:Putting sandpaper inside a block of wood? Yes. H110Hawk posted:Sandpaper on a stick? No, but also a rubber block and several kinds of sponge blocks including angled. H110Hawk posted:Electric palm sander? Not yet, but I thought a while after our conversation and ordered a cheap one for Monday. I'll see about being gentle with it and finish by hand. H110Hawk posted:(Please tell me you're wearing a respirator.) A very comfortable one rated for plaster particles. And eye protection. The difficulty that comes with the other techniques is that blocks lack finesse for that sort of work as you're dealing with a tight corner with differing heights and blobs of plaster as well as dips and swells, while trying not to oversand areas that don't need it including the other wall. Working with paper and fingers is good for dexterity but it's awkward as poo poo below chest height. Also it needs to be quite fine grit to not scratch the finish which clogs real easy, "anti clog technology" be damned.
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Dec 8, 2017 23:32
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I could really use some advice if anyone can help. I have a couple of things I'm trying to figure out. 1.) Does anyone have experience with Article furniture, especially this couch? It got a good review in Wirecutter but I can't find a lot of regular-person reviews online for it. I've been hoping for a sale on the sofa but I haven't ever seen it go on sale. 2.) My guest bedroom is totally empty right now. It's not a tiny room, but it's a little small. My goal is to get a bed large enough for two adults in there, plus a little table/entertainment center for a TV and a couple of comfortable chairs (ideally but not necessarily armchairs). I've mapped it out:  The blue at the top is a window, the green at the lower-left is the doorway. The closet is a sliding door, so it doesn't open into the room at all. I'm not dedicated to either the bed or entertainment center locations; but those were my initial thoughts. Any advice on how I could lay this out? I've been wondering if my only option is to do a daybed with a pop-up trundle or something. surf rock fucked around with this message at 00:29 on Dec 10, 2017 |
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Dec 10, 2017 00:25
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surf rock posted:I could really use some advice if anyone can help. I have a couple of things I'm trying to figure out. I don't know, maybe do a Murphy bed / cabinet on the right wall opposite the closet. You could substitute a decent writing table that doubles as a desk instead of the entertainment center, put a decent sized flatscreen on it as a TV / computer monitor. Toss in a bookcase against the bottom wall and with those things you have an office area that converts to a spare bedroom. https://www.murphybeds.com/
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Dec 10, 2017 05:04
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Guest bed under window. TV by door. No armchairs, it's not a hotel.
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Dec 10, 2017 05:54
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How much performance should I expect out of my bypass humidifier? Ive changed the pad, opened the damper and turned on the water supply. I see water coming out the condensate drain when the furnace is running, but the house is still at 27% RH. If the thing isnt going to do anything, Im going to quit special-ordering the water pads.
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Dec 10, 2017 15:50
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eddiewalker posted:How much performance should I expect out of my bypass humidifier? Ive changed the pad, opened the damper and turned on the water supply. What's the outside temperature?
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Dec 10, 2017 19:39
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tetrapyloctomy posted:What's the outside temperature? Around 30F lately.
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Dec 10, 2017 22:27
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eddiewalker posted:Around 30F lately. Okay, you've still got some room, then; you don't want it above about 40% at that temperature. Where are you measuring 27% -- at the vents, or elsewhere in the house?
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Dec 11, 2017 03:36
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How do you guys go about finding a decent general contractor? All my prospects through work dried up because they ended up doing the typical rear end in a top hat contractor poo poo of threatening to sue people for bad reviews over shoddy work. I want to have a proper vent hood installed over my oven so I'll need a guy to modify the existing cabinets and run the vent through the attic and out through the roof or a soffit. Thankfully the electrical's already been run.
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Dec 11, 2017 05:30
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TheGreasyStrangler posted:How do you guys go about finding a decent general contractor? All my prospects through work dried up because they ended up doing the typical rear end in a top hat contractor poo poo of threatening to sue people for bad reviews over shoddy work. If you are on good terms with any realtors, ask them. Lots of times agents or brokers spot good investment opportunities to fix up, or have a lot of fixer uppers bought by the same investors/contractors. I have an advantage because I am in a charity organization (Lion's Club) with a *bunch* of realtors and mortgage brokers, and I always feel like I can get a good inside scoop by having access to an impartial real estate agent. Ideally you would want a review coming from someone who has experience with what contractors do, realistic expectations, and an understanding of what the budget constraints and limitations may be.
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Dec 11, 2017 06:31
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tetrapyloctomy posted:Okay, you've still got some room, then; you don't want it above about 40% at that temperature. Where are you measuring 27% -- at the vents, or elsewhere in the house? As measured by the Nest at the center of the house. The RH is a product of the inside temperature, so I should be shooting for the same number indoors regardless of outside, no?
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Dec 11, 2017 08:24
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eddiewalker posted:As measured by the Nest at the center of the house. The RH is a product of the inside temperature, so I should be shooting for the same number indoors regardless of outside, no? Yes. Also the RH numbers go UP as temperature goes DOWN so if anything you'd want a higher RH as measured at a lower temperature to get you something comfortable at room temperature. I was recently dealing with the opposite problem (93%RH indoors) and found this calculator quite handy because I could (clunkily) compare the absolute humidity (g/m3) inside with the same outside and determine whether to just open my windows and let it sort itself out. Perhaps not the best option for you given the temperature outside. Turns out even when it's actually raining at 10șC outside it was still drier than my house was inside.
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Dec 11, 2017 09:02
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Jaded Burnout posted:Yes. Also the RH numbers go UP as temperature goes DOWN so if anything you'd want a higher RH as measured at a lower temperature to get you something comfortable at room temperature. This never occurred to me (although obviously that would be the 'relative' part). So is "RH %" in terms of saturation at a given temperature?
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Dec 11, 2017 18:27
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Hubis posted:This never occurred to me (although obviously that would be the 'relative' part). So is "RH %" in terms of saturation at a given temperature? Yeah, it's the percentage of water held in the air relative to the amount that air can carry at that specific time, which is related to temperature and pressure and possibly other things, though pressure doesn't usually change too much in a house. Hotter air can carry more water per volume so ~50% of what 10șC air can hold is ~27% of what 20șC air can hold. This reads as 50% RH and 27% RH respectively, without changing the actual amount of water floating about. I don't know what mechanism causes the same amount of water to *feel* drier and to all intents and purposes *be* drier in warmer temperatures but that is the case nonetheless. RH isn't very helpful if you're trying to actually manage the water in your air but it's useful in that it provides a consistent target for human comfort. Edit: This is why you get condensation on cold windows, by the way, because the air touching the window cools past its dew point, which is the temperature at which it reaches 100% RH and starts dumping (condensing) water into droplets on the glass. See also mist & fog at ground level, clouds when up in the sky oh don't get me started I can talk about the water cycle all day. Jaded Burnout fucked around with this message at 18:44 on Dec 11, 2017 |
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Dec 11, 2017 18:35
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Yeah, when air enters a home and heats up, the RH drops, which is why I asked where he was checking the RH -- if it had been at a register with warm air, that 27% RH would be higher when it cooled further airway from the vent. Anyway, the reverse is why you don't want much more than 40% RH if it's around 30 degrees outside, as it can cause condensation damage.
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Dec 11, 2017 19:01
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It's all really very simple, guys. Grab your wet-bulb thermometers and your enthalpy charts.
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Dec 11, 2017 19:09
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Insulation question: is it possible to insulate air ducts from the inside? My duct work runs through an uninsulated crawlspace and I think I could keep a good deal more heat coming up into the house and not radiating out into the crawlspace if the ducts themselves were insulated. Unfortunately, there is quite literally no way to reach 95% of the ductwork from below--there's a maximum of about 18" between the floor joists and the ground with the exception of a 6'x5' space that used to be a root cellar that currently houses my furnace and water heater. Ideally I would like to insulate between the floor joists but I can't think of a way to do that that doesn't involve either pulling up the floor and insulating from above (expensive and difficult) or digging out a deeper crawlspace (even more expensive and difficult).
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Dec 12, 2017 19:26
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Magnus Praeda posted:Ideally I would like to insulate between the floor joists but I can't think of a way to do that that doesn't involve either pulling up the floor and insulating from above (expensive and difficult) or digging out a deeper crawlspace (even more expensive and difficult). You could get insulation blown in. Edit: I'm aware I've just committed the classic SA sin of not answering your question: I don't see any problem with it as such but I guess you're going to want something non-toxic and non-fibrous like solid sheets, not sure how you'd fit them, you'd restrict your airflow, and you'd have to be careful that it was safe to take the heat. Jaded Burnout fucked around with this message at 19:43 on Dec 12, 2017 |
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Dec 12, 2017 19:37
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In my house, I felt way more benefit from hand-spreading duct sealant than I did from trying to box in ductwork with sheet foam. Helping more conditioned air reach its intended destination seemed way more effective than worrying about radiated heat. I was really surprised how much air I could feel escaping out of even small holes. I just picked up a $10 tub of duct mastic and some rubber gloves at Home Depot and went hog-wild on every accessible joint and seam. For larger gaps, I supported the goop with mesh drywall tape. To a certain extent, you can even do some of that from inside the duct, at least as far as your arms reach.
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Dec 12, 2017 20:58
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eddiewalker posted:In my house, I felt way more benefit from hand-spreading duct sealant than I did from trying to box in ductwork with sheet foam. Helping more conditioned air reach its intended destination seemed way more effective than worrying about radiated heat. I was really surprised how much air I could feel escaping out of even small holes. Brilliant! There is, apparently, something called "Aeroseal" that is a duct sealant that's applied to the inside of the ducts. There's a couple places nearby that do it, so I may call one of them and get a quote.
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Dec 12, 2017 21:17
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I want to put up a kitchen pegboard a la Julia Childs. I purchased two 1x2 4 foot pieces of wood and a 2'x4' piece of pegboard. The idea is to drill the wood into the wall and then the pegboard into the wood. I live in a row house built in the 1800s and I'm 95% sure that all of the walls on the outer part of the rooms are plaster over brick. My plan was to measure carefully, use a masonry bit on a (borrowed) hammer drill to drill holes through the plaster/into the brick, drill Tapcon screws (4 for each piece of wood - starting 4 inches down, a screw every 10 inches) into the hole, and then drill the wood so the screw goes about two inches into the brick. Hopefully, I won't miss the pilot hole... Does this seem right? I've never done anything into brick before.
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Dec 12, 2017 22:04
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Fired clay bricks are relatively soft, compared to concrete walls. The real challenge with drilling mounting holes in a brick wall is to not hit the mortar, especially not if you'll be putting serious loads on the hole. (A pinboard is fine, a storage rack for pans probably not.) If you know the dimensions of the bricks, and can assume they're all in the same orientation and not cut short, you should space your holes based on that. If you feel confident about the hole spacing, drill the holes in the wooden boards first, then use that as a template to mark out the holes on the wall. I'm not familiar with whatever screws you're considering, but I'd always use dowels or rawlplugs for mounting anything in brickwork. Drill hole, insert dowel, screw into dowel.
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Dec 12, 2017 22:41
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Good call on measuring out to hit bricks instead of mortar and drilling the holes through the wood first. It's going to be a peg board, not pin, so it will probably be holding up a few pots/pans/utensils, maybe even a dutch oven if I'm feeling really confident in it. Tapcons are self-tapping screws, but I may go with lead anchors/rawlplugs instead since I've seen those mentioned more often online as a better option.
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Dec 13, 2017 21:26
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May or may not be cultural differences but rawl plugs have been the go to for hanging anything more serious than a poster since I was a wee lad and it was me da drilling into walls. They're easy peasy. As for your hammer drill borrowing, drilling into brick ain't hard either for this sort of thing, I've got a couple of drills knocking about and even my little 10.8v cordless does just fine. For brick you don't need anything special (other than a hammer setting) unless you're doing core drilling. Oh, and stick some tape on your drill bit so you know when you've drilled out enough for your plug, unless your drill has a spacer attachment ruler thing. Doesn't have to be mm perfect. Edit: Also if you can get yourself a marker punch, they usually come with most drill bit sets. They're a small pencil-looking piece of hardened steel that you place on the brick and hit with a hammer to leave a small dent, which then holds your drill bit steady while you get the real hole started. Makes life easier. Jaded Burnout fucked around with this message at 21:57 on Dec 13, 2017 |
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Dec 13, 2017 21:52
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If you want to do heavy things like a dutch oven I would consider using dyna bolts but honestly using more tightly spaced rawls is probably fine.
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Dec 14, 2017 03:02
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My floors are soon to be finished! And then of course I have removals men coming to stamp gravel and scrape heavy metal objects across it in two days. What (if anything) can I do to mitigate against immediately loving my new floor up, or do I just need to place it in the hands of the minimum wage day labourers who are going to be shifting my furniture around? I thought about cardboard but it seems that no matter where I ask, there's almost nowhere that keeps their boxes for the public anymore...
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Dec 14, 2017 15:19
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Southern Heel posted:I thought about cardboard but it seems that no matter where I ask, there's almost nowhere that keeps their boxes for the public anymore... If you're just looking for cardboard, check a moving supply store / truck rental place like a U-Haul. Those places have boxes for sale that you can cut up. Or, for maximum comedy, post offices generally have free flat-rate boxes that you can take home and use.
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Dec 14, 2017 15:29
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B&Q sell thin sheets of black corrugated plastic for exactly this purpose. Don't do what my builder did and put it down after the second fix without sweeping, so a billion bits of wire and insulation and boot grit got trapped and ground into the flooring.
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Dec 14, 2017 15:33
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Jaded Burnout posted:May or may not be cultural differences but rawl plugs have been the go to for hanging anything more serious than a poster since I was a wee lad and it was me da drilling into walls. They're easy peasy. Thanks for the tips! I've never really had to use anchors before, so I think it's my lack of knowledge more than a cultural difference (the only thing heavy I've ever hung was a TV, and I just went into studs for that). I don't think my drill has a hammer setting - it's a pretty old one. I'm going to be going through plaster to get to the brick, so I should be OK just marking it with a pencil.
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Dec 14, 2017 15:47
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cakesmith handyman posted:B&Q sell thin sheets of black corrugated plastic for exactly this purpose. I've never used the B&Q ones but the ones currently being used in my house go by the brand name "antinox", basically double-thickness corrugated black plastic sheets, so presumably v similar.
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Dec 14, 2017 15:58
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