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No Butt Stuff posted:I have a dual zoned system with one unit. I would recommend going with the variable stage motor. Yeah that sounds like a good idea. Do you have to change out your furnace too in order to get the variable speed fan? We might since the furnace is around 25 years old anyways. The variable fan is different from the variable compressor right? Sort of confusing whether I also need the variable stage compressor.
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Jul 2, 2018 20:27
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Motronic posted:Listen to these scrubs who've never had to replace a septic system, drill another well, or repair foundation/drainage issues. Yep! At least a roof you get to pick color and texture.
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Jul 2, 2018 21:02
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potatoducks posted:Yeah that sounds like a good idea. Do you have to change out your furnace too in order to get the variable speed fan? We might since the furnace is around 25 years old anyways. Yes. Variable displacement compressors are the new hotness for energy-saving. Variable speed fan is a fan speed controller integrated into the forced air unit.
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Jul 2, 2018 21:03
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Bird in a Blender posted:I would think a new roof is your most expensive purchase you don't get to show off. Water heaters are like $500-$1,000 depending on the size, and fairly easy to replace. I put a metal roof on my house and folks are always like “dang that roof is metal right?” And I say “hell yes it is. Now let’s go downstairs and I can show you my tankless water heater with sick flame decals on it.”
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Jul 2, 2018 21:31
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What is greater than LOL to cover the idea of a water heater being the mos expensive purchase you don't get to show off? Like you don't see framing, electrical, plumbing, hvac...
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Jul 2, 2018 23:08
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I need to cut a recess in my bathroom wall for a medicine cabinet. I have never done such a thing before, or even remotely similar. Should I hire a contractor, or read/watch some tutorials and do it myself? I have read about the importance of finding studs using a stud finder to ensure I don't cut into them, but that's about it.
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Jul 3, 2018 00:28
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enraged_camel posted:I need to cut a recess in my bathroom wall for a medicine cabinet. I have never done such a thing before, or even remotely similar. Should I hire a contractor, or read/watch some tutorials and do it myself? This is all a question of how much research you're willing to do and how much you trust yourself to be able to produce a result you'll be happy with (and how much you're willing to pay for expertise). There's no great secrets here; the contractors are just more familiar with the work and have more practice. What's your overall plan here? Make an opening between studs, fit cabinet into opening, screw cabinet to adjacent studs, call it done? Because that sounds pretty reasonable to me and should be doable by a homeowner. The big question is if the studs are positioned in a way you'll be happy with; if you insist on the cabinet being centered where the sink is, and the sink isn't centered between two studs, then you're gonna be upset. The other big potential gotcha is if there's wires or pipes in the space you want to use. But I don't think you're going to be able to tell that for sure without opening up the wall anyway.
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Jul 3, 2018 00:49
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For folks who go on their roof to do maintenance, what do you use for fall protection? I don’t even know what I would tie off to. There’s a chimney on one side I could use but it’s not centrally located. My roof has a very shallow grade but it’s metal so it can be very slick if it’s wet. Are there traction shoes I could get that would grip better? I almost fell off my roof twice today so I’m kinda over almost dying.
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Jul 3, 2018 01:08
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HEY NONG MAN posted:For folks who go on their roof to do maintenance, what do you use for fall protection? You tie off to something reasonable, like a truck or tree on the other side of the peak. It depends on the situation. With complex peaks anchors you install on the house is a good choice. Actual roofers around here wear sneakers/running shoes, not boots.
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Jul 3, 2018 01:16
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I’ve been wearing sneakers but it hasn’t seemed to help. My roof is super simple. It’s nearly flat to be honest but it has maybe 9-12 degree slopes on either side of a simple peak that runs the span of the house. The chimney is on one side of the house but that’s it. I guess I could tie off on my front deck when I’m doing the back half and then switch to the back deck when I’m cleaning the front?
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Jul 3, 2018 01:25
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:This is all a question of how much research you're willing to do and how much you trust yourself to be able to produce a result you'll be happy with (and how much you're willing to pay for expertise). There's no great secrets here; the contractors are just more familiar with the work and have more practice. Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking, thanks for confirming. I guess I'll get a contractor to do it and watch them.
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Jul 3, 2018 02:58
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HEY NONG MAN posted:For folks who go on their roof to do maintenance, what do you use for fall protection? Self Confidence.
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Jul 3, 2018 03:25
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StormDrain posted:Self Confidence.  Also I only have a one story house so I like to think I wouldn't die
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Jul 3, 2018 04:03
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Now I need to figure out where the roaches are entering. I have a feeling they enter through the cabinet that contains the furnace. Whoever installed it (waaay back in the day) did a horrendous job.      I don't know much about HVAC but shouldn't all these holes be sealed?
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Jul 3, 2018 05:00
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enraged_camel posted:I need to cut a recess in my bathroom wall for a medicine cabinet. I have never done such a thing before, or even remotely similar. Should I hire a contractor, or read/watch some tutorials and do it myself? Studfinder and drywall saw, and go to town, easy peasy. Alternatively, Ikea just has bathroom cabinets you mount up on the exterior you might look at.
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Jul 3, 2018 11:52
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Roaches can come in almost anywhere and I doubt you'll ever be able to stop them completely, but yeah, you should put some caulk or expanding foam around those holes to seal them up better.
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Jul 3, 2018 13:37
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Do I need to prime my wooden baseboards before painting, or can I use a paint+primer? They're cleaned up and sanded.
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Jul 3, 2018 13:55
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enraged_camel posted:I need to cut a recess in my bathroom wall for a medicine cabinet. I have never done such a thing before, or even remotely similar. Should I hire a contractor, or read/watch some tutorials and do it myself? It looks like you're hiring a contractor now, but just as an FYI, it's not necessary to completely avoid the studs. Generally, your studs aren't load bearing. They just help hold up the drywall/plaster and allow for mounting electrical boxes and such. When doing a recessed medicine cabinet, you can cut through a stud and box out the hole for the cabinet, similar to a window. I recently had bathroom redone in my 110+ year old house, and opted for a recessed cabinet. Lathe and plaster walls, with the studs turned "sideways", so the wide part runs parallel to the wall. Very old school stuff. My contractor actually had a tool that would slide between the stud and the lathe, and sheared off the nail heads on the lathe, cutting out the portion of the stud, without disturbing the plaster. The cabinet was then boxed in, with a little trim around the cabinet to make up for the thinner than normal wall. As others said, none of this stuff is fine art, it just takes time, tools, and skill. The skill is more about doing it efficiently and avoiding mistakes. So if you want it done quickly and without worry, hire someone. If you have time to screw around and maybe patch up a mistake or two, then you can DIY.
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Jul 3, 2018 14:12
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Is anyone aware of some material I could use to lay paths in my crawlspace? It's only a couple feet high at the highest point so every time I go down there my coveralls and everything gets covered in fine dirt dust which I then track up into my house when I'm crawling out. I was thinking if there's some kind of plastic sheet or rubber mats I could put down there it would make my life a lot easier. Obviously I dont want something that will trap moisture or attract insects. Nor do I want something temporary that I'll have to pull back out. I want to lay it down and be done with it. One thought I had was to lay paving stones down there, but something a little softer would be better for crawling around on.
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Jul 3, 2018 17:13
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Maybe look at some landscaping fabric?
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Jul 3, 2018 17:19
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SpartanIvy posted:Is anyone aware of some material I could use to lay paths in my crawlspace? It's only a couple feet high at the highest point so every time I go down there my coveralls and everything gets covered in fine dirt dust which I then track up into my house when I'm crawling out. I was thinking if there's some kind of plastic sheet or rubber mats I could put down there it would make my life a lot easier. Obviously I dont want something that will trap moisture or attract insects. Nor do I want something temporary that I'll have to pull back out. I want to lay it down and be done with it. Lots of damp crawlspaces get covered in rubber sheeting with vulcanized seams to eliminate moisture issues to the floor/rest of the structure. It's pretty nice to work on, but more importantly deals with any moisture issues.
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Jul 3, 2018 17:21
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SpartanIvy posted:Is anyone aware of some material I could use to lay paths in my crawlspace? It's only a couple feet high at the highest point so every time I go down there my coveralls and everything gets covered in fine dirt dust which I then track up into my house when I'm crawling out. I was thinking if there's some kind of plastic sheet or rubber mats I could put down there it would make my life a lot easier. Obviously I dont want something that will trap moisture or attract insects. Nor do I want something temporary that I'll have to pull back out. I want to lay it down and be done with it. Geotextile fabric?
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Jul 3, 2018 18:21
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Motronic posted:Lots of damp crawlspaces get covered in rubber sheeting with vulcanized seams to eliminate moisture issues to the floor/rest of the structure. It's pretty nice to work on, but more importantly deals with any moisture issues. My last basement was 100% taped plastic sheeting for the radon mitigation system. It got squishy underneath after a 100 year storm and a sump pump failure but dried right back out.
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Jul 3, 2018 18:56
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Bought a brick house from 1954 this July 1st from my in laws. Ended up pulling out some old shelves from the living room (30 m^2) that have been in the house for 40+ years and some old wood paneling from the floor to about 70 cm in height) from the master bedroom (15 m^2) and spare bedroom (8 m^2). The wallpaper in the master bedroom is impossible to pull off, so we're leaning towards just cleaning the walls and putting up glassfabric. There's virtually no unevenness. I had decent luck scraping off most of the wallpaper in the spare bedroom, but there's still some stubborn spots left. There was no wallpaper behind the shelving, so we'll (eventually) have to redo the living room too. There's plaster behind all of it. I wonder whether the spots that are left in the spare bedroom are going to be susceptible to the steam wallpaper stripping machine we've borrowed. Anyone have any input? It's my first time renovating a house.
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Jul 3, 2018 21:01
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My wife thought she heard water dripping in the walls today. We investigated further and found something much, much worse.... yellowjackets. They're actually living right where we had found an old ant nest a year or so ago... Considering they are in the wall, we have an exterminator coming.. I'm not sure I could get sufficient coverage with spray to really do anything. We found the exterior entry point, which definitely looks like this has been a problem in the past. The PO caulked it up, but not well enough.
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Jul 4, 2018 01:56
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StormDrain posted:My last basement was 100% taped plastic sheeting for the radon mitigation system. It got squishy underneath after a 100 year storm and a sump pump failure but dried right back out. My man.....we are talking the same language. My current house is below (undetectable) levels for radon, the new one a mile away needs and has an active mitigation system. Just depends where you are on the ridge line......... Struensee posted:The wallpaper in the master bedroom is impossible to pull off What have you tried? Because the standard in the US seems to be some steam poo poo, but what I've found to be even better than that is super simple: hot water and some dish soap (maybe 5% dish soap....just squirt some in) sprayed on the paper. Spray that poo poo all over and have a beer (15 minutes or so). "All over" meaning manageable sections.....like 2 square freedom units (or meters) to start.....you'll figure it out if you can do more or less). If it's water resistant only the seams come up. If it's not it all comes up. Start scraping and pulling from there. Keep doing that. Plastic scrapers are great for this. It comes off. Keep going on and repeat. If it's water resistant and you can only rip off (any part of) the top layer DO THAT. When you wet it the next time you are golden. Then you need to wash and scrub the walls VERY well with TSP to get the rest of the glue and poo poo off. If this doesn't work after 3-5 times get a hammer and a bin to rip out the sheetrock and/or find some super slim (1/4" ) drywall to top dress.
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Jul 4, 2018 03:59
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Motronic posted:My man.....we are talking the same language. My current house is below (undetectable) levels for radon, the new one a mile away needs and has an active mitigation system. Just depends where you are on the ridge line......... Someone recommend water and liquid fabric softener to me. I'm not sure If the active ingredient is different/better than just dish soap, but it worked like a charm for me. The glue became a big gooey mess, but it scraped off in nice big clumps. I went through and scored the surface with a razor first to get better penetration, but I was dealing with a pasted on photo print rather than wallpaper that you might be able to get off cleanly in one pull. They do make little tools that are basically pins on rollers that you can use to poke micro holes in the paper as well.
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Jul 4, 2018 11:53
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I just have to say I love the constant mysteries of home ownership. I just dug out the bag of keys I got when I bought the house and I've discovered there are 5 unique sets. Two of them were for the front and rear doors before I rekeyed them. The other three  I thought they might be to the locks on the storm doors but noooooope.
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Jul 4, 2018 18:46
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Motronic posted:My man.....we are talking the same language. My current house is below (undetectable) levels for radon, the new one a mile away needs and has an active mitigation system. Just depends where you are on the ridge line......... I tried some wallpaper removal solution which kinda works OK, but I'm much more fond of the steamer I borrowed. This is a couple of hours of work with a steamer and a wallpaper stripper (basically a half metre stick with a boxcutter blade at the end).   I really don't know if this is decent progress or just a terrible waste of time.
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Jul 4, 2018 18:51
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Struensee posted:I tried some wallpaper removal solution which kinda works OK, but I'm much more fond of the steamer I borrowed. The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask / Tell > Bitcoin, Forex, and Candles > Homeownership: I really don't know if this is decent progress or just a terrible waste of time.
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Jul 4, 2018 18:55
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FCKGW posted:The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask / Tell > Bitcoin, Forex, and Candles > Homeownership: I really don't know if this is decent progress or just a terrible waste of time. I'm voting for this.
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Jul 4, 2018 18:57
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100%.
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Jul 4, 2018 19:05
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SpartanIvy posted:I just have to say I love the constant mysteries of home ownership. I just dug out the bag of keys I got when I bought the house and I've discovered there are 5 unique sets. Two of them were for the front and rear doors before I rekeyed them. The other three Just save them so you can pass them all to the people you sell too.
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Jul 4, 2018 21:09
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My mysteries are usually more of the "ok which PO can I blame this crap on" variety
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Jul 5, 2018 00:18
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If used this as a deck stain - do I need to apply another coat of sealant on top? https://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/products/superdeck-exterior-oilbased-semitransparent-stain
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Jul 5, 2018 00:43
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My bitchin new water heater is close enough to my tub that the hot water and diverter handles are hot to the touch all the time. This is probably not great for the stem washers, but can anyone think of a reason it would be a problem otherwise? I assume the old water heater had the same "issue".
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Jul 5, 2018 01:21
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I mounted a giant mirror to the wall, and it's got a manufacturer sticker on the corner of it. Peeling it is fruitless, it's extremely thin and tears, and I will literally be here for years trying to pull this loving thing off cleanly. How do I do this? Won't a razor blade scratch the mirror?
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Jul 5, 2018 02:44
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The "mirror" coating is on the back(unless there's been a recent change in mirror technology), so you should be fine to take a razor blade to the front of it. E: and to answer your question, you shouldn't be able to scratch glass with a razor. Come at it at a shallow angle and it will scrape right off. Finish it off with a little goo gone.
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Jul 5, 2018 02:46
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Also only slide the blade in one direction and lift it off the glass. Otherwise some grit can get stuck under the blade and scratch the glass. I’d probably soak it in goo gone first too.
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Jul 5, 2018 03:21
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Sab0921 posted:If used this as a deck stain - do I need to apply another coat of sealant on top? No, I don't even think grandpas use stain only stains anymore how old are you 100?
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Jul 5, 2018 03:45
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