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tetrapyloctomy posted:Amana or Whirlpool fridge. Don't get anything in the door like ice or water dispensers, those are the parts that most commonly result in service calls. We have a whirlpool fridge, and can agree the ice maker is an absolute piece of poo poo.
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Aug 30, 2018 14:25
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Disagree. Get them if you want them (and like how the ones on that specific model work), but know that you might need to service them at some point. A service call isn’t the end of the world.
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Aug 30, 2018 16:54
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Yeah we'll probably get one with ice/water because they're so useful. But thanks for the brand recommendations
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Aug 30, 2018 17:34
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Just did a home test for radon levels in my basement and it came back at 24 pCi/L 
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Aug 30, 2018 23:07
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Our ice maker is internal. We refill a little water tank and cubes fall into a drawer. I never enjoyed the external door ice dispensers, but I never seen one any newer than 1995.
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Aug 30, 2018 23:13
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Ben Nerevarine posted:Just did a home test for radon levels in my basement and it came back at 24 pCi/L Is it conditioned space? If not, just get some external airflow going on and see what changes.
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Aug 31, 2018 00:04
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devicenull posted:Is it conditioned space? If not, just get some external airflow going on and see what changes. It's ventilated but not really conditioned. It's kind of a weird situation that I'd like to fix but I'm not sure what to do. There's a window at ground level (pictured) that is half-dedicated to a dryer vent and half-dedicated to a 8" fan that is the sole ventilation for the basement. There's a sump pump about 5 feet to the right of this window that I'm sure is the biggest culprit as far as radon is concerned. I borrowed a co-worker's digital radon meter a couple years ago to test short-term levels. With the fan off, the levels hover between 20 and 25 pCi/L. With the fan on, it plummeted down to 4-6 pCi/L. Still not great, but I don't spend a lot of time down there so whatever. The real problem is that this fan is open to the elements, so having it on during the winter is massively cutting into my heating efficiency. I did this latest mail-in test with the fan off as confirmation of the prior results and to get my bearings with the situation again. I live in the northeast US. I'd like to get this rectified before the weather gets cold again. 
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Aug 31, 2018 01:19
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Oh! I can contribute a little here. Had radon tested before buying our house - was a $100 add-on to the home inspection, but saved us around $900 that the previous owner footed before we'd sign. EPA guideline is 4 pCi/L, I think we were double that. Re-check put us around 1, I think. What the official radon mitigation guy did was seal off the sump pump hole by putting a clear plastic (lexite? acrylic?) panel over the top, sealed with clear caulk. That panel has an access port (I guess for if the sump pump shits itself) and a 3" or 4" PVC tube that leads to the outside, with a small fan inside that runs 24/7 to pull air out, and a mercury vacuum gauge to show if there's a leak in the system. Heat loss isn't that bad, although the basement isn't much of a conditioned space anyway. And there's a little sticker on it that estimates a $45/year cost for running the little fan 24/7. Not that far off from what you have now, just more direct.
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Aug 31, 2018 03:58
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Ben Nerevarine posted:It's ventilated but not really conditioned. It's kind of a weird situation that I'd like to fix but I'm not sure what to do. There's a window at ground level (pictured) that is half-dedicated to a dryer vent and half-dedicated to a 8" fan that is the sole ventilation for the basement. There's a sump pump about 5 feet to the right of this window that I'm sure is the biggest culprit as far as radon is concerned. I borrowed a co-worker's digital radon meter a couple years ago to test short-term levels. With the fan off, the levels hover between 20 and 25 pCi/L. With the fan on, it plummeted down to 4-6 pCi/L. Still not great, but I don't spend a lot of time down there so whatever. The real problem is that this fan is open to the elements, so having it on during the winter is massively cutting into my heating efficiency. If that's the only spot you have for ventilation, you could look into a two way erv like this: https://www.lunos.de/en/product/ego-mit-waermerueckgewinnung-e/
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Aug 31, 2018 11:27
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Thanks for your earlier replies! New question: Anyone have experience with insulating in the coastal PNW? Insulation is up now and I was going to do the vapor barrier but now I'm second guessing it. The house has cedar shingles over some sort of house wrap, over wood strapping. The fibre glass insulation is against this strapping, between the studs. The strapping all looks extremely good from the inside, considering the age of the house. No signs of rot that I can see. The area is extremely rainy, we don't use an air conditioner, and it's a rare day in winter that it drops below freezing. We're more likely to get rain in January than snow. Humidity is always fairly high. The rest of the internet defaults to 'vapour barrier in cold climates', or provides some ambiguous or technical answers that don't really apply to this house. In this case, something seems off about putting up a poly tarp over the insulation, but what the hell do I know. e. Pretty sure the house wrap is that extra heavy building paper stuff. just another fucked around with this message at 18:59 on Aug 31, 2018 |
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Aug 31, 2018 17:34
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TheNothingNew posted:Oh! I can contribute a little here. Thanks. That would be the straight up mitigation route which I think I'm going to do regardless. I have somebody coming out next week for a consultation. I could rig up something myself if I had the inline fan indoors just above the sump, but an indoor fan is against code and I'd run into problems when I go to sell the house, so I might as well do this right even though it'll likely cost ~$2k. At that point I could reclaim that window as... a window. However whalesteak posted:If that's the only spot you have for ventilation, you could look into a two way erv like this: https://www.lunos.de/en/product/ego-mit-waermerueckgewinnung-e/ I do some painting and gluing down there so I'd still want the ventilation. This seems like the best route though a little expensive from what I've looked at online. Are there are window-mounted ERV or HRV units out there? All the units I've seen are large boxes (wall- or ceiling-mounted) or 8" or longer inline units meant for going through walls which is not really appropriate to my situation.
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Aug 31, 2018 19:40
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Ben Nerevarine posted:All the units I've seen are large boxes (wall- or ceiling-mounted) or 8" or longer inline units meant for going through walls which is not really appropriate to my situation. Yeah, obviously if you want to upgrade to something that's not venting all of your heat to the outside you'd have to box in that half of the window to accommodate the ceramic core. I just assumed you were looking for something small enough to to avoid putting another hole in the basement wall. As far as I know, that brand is the only one out there that has all the mechanical elements contained in a single tube, but there are plenty of cheaper units (generally for bathrooms) that are larger, but would certainly fit just fine between floor joists.
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Aug 31, 2018 22:31
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whalesteak posted:Yeah, obviously if you want to upgrade to something that's not venting all of your heat to the outside you'd have to box in that half of the window to accommodate the ceramic core. I just assumed you were looking for something small enough to to avoid putting another hole in the basement wall. Yeah definitely, thanks for the heads up. I was going to rig up something to board up the window, some bastard MDF+insulation board monstrosity. I guess at that point it doesn't matter whether I go with this pipe unit or a vent for a mounted unit, I'm still jigsawing a hole in the thing either way.
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Sep 1, 2018 00:19
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Ben Nerevarine posted:I do some painting and gluing down there so I'd still want the ventilation. This seems like the best route though a little expensive from what I've looked at online. Are there are window-mounted ERV or HRV units out there? All the units I've seen are large boxes (wall- or ceiling-mounted) or 8" or longer inline units meant for going through walls which is not really appropriate to my situation. When I looked at it, ERVs were not really cost effective. Another option you have here is a whole house dehumidifer. We went with one of the Ultra-aire ones. If you also have moisture issues there, a ERV/HRV probably isn't going to help and then you're running that and a standalone dehumidifier at the same time.
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Sep 1, 2018 00:32
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devicenull posted:When I looked at it, ERVs were not really cost effective. Another option you have here is a whole house dehumidifer. We went with one of the Ultra-aire ones. That's good to know. I'm not nearly as concerned with humidity levels as I am about heat loss in the winter. I have a heat pump for A/C in the summer and primary heat in the winter, so that handles humidity levels on the first floor (which gets vastly more use than the basement) and unfortunately there's no duct work going to the basement. I'm already running a dehumidifier down there pretty much 100% of the time and honestly the dehumidifying aspect of an ERV didn't even really cross my mind. If I get the sump pump covered/ventilated, I may just cover up the window entirely aside from the dryer vent and avoid doing anything that creates fumes down there.
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Sep 1, 2018 00:50
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I'm looking to keep things as affordable as possible without looking poo poo in my garage renovation - If possible I'd rather not spend the £500 extra to skim plaster the whole space, since it'll be done using plasterboard with tapered edges and tape I was thinking I could just run some thin plaster down the joins and sand it - then paint over the top. If I use a chalky matt colour, it should be pretty invisible, right??
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Sep 2, 2018 11:58
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It'll look okay, though be slightly less resistant to scratches and damage. People do whole houses like that so yeah go for it.
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Sep 2, 2018 12:16
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You could also paper with plain wallpaper and then paint over the top. I did that for one wall which had incredibly dark paint over parts of it and it worked well, better than having to do dozens of coats of paint.
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Sep 2, 2018 14:01
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Excellent- I was mostly thinking about the roof which would be a PITA to plaster and paint myself, but if it can be done to a reasonable standard with just the joins + sanding and then a couple of coats of super matt white paint, then I'll take that.
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Sep 2, 2018 14:30
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Also : it's a garage E: if you can arrange it spraying an empty garage all white sounds easy and fun.
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Sep 2, 2018 15:05
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cakesmith handyman posted:Also : it's a garage Yeah, sounds all white
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Sep 2, 2018 15:28
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GROANcakesmith handyman posted:Also : it's a garage I just assumed rollers but my old man has some car spray guns - worth looking into? I was going to paint the walls something obnoxious... EDIT: Doe anyone have any ideas for super low profile lighting? I was thinking of using 4-6 of these against the ties going across the garage: https://www.amazon.co.uk/1500x75x23...ube+low+profile , but have also seen panels which could mount between the ties and up against the rafters (the distance is only about 25cm between the apex of the roof and the bottom of the tie). I'd rather not have to re-route wiring outside the plasterboard and there's already flourescents mounted roughly where I need the new lights to go (albeit on the side instead of bottom of the ties). Southern Heel fucked around with this message at 16:37 on Sep 2, 2018 |
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Sep 2, 2018 16:28
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Search for led panel 600*600, they're about 5-10mm thick.
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Sep 2, 2018 21:35
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cakesmith handyman posted:Search for led panel 600*600, they're about 5-10mm thick. Makes sense - right now there are flourescent tubes at intervals and lots of criss-crossed wiring - I guess I'm just going to have to take a stand and say 'the wire comes out here' and then put the rest in some plastic trunking, aren't I?
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Sep 2, 2018 21:59
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Southern Heel posted:I just assumed rollers but my old man has some car spray guns - worth looking into? I was going to paint the walls something obnoxious...
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Sep 2, 2018 23:36
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I had a very rewarding weekend working on restoring the original, stone windowsills that came with the house. The previous owners had covered them up with poorly-done blue tiling and thick white paint and now I'm a huge fan of CitriStrip:    
Tiny Timbs fucked around with this message at 01:35 on Sep 4, 2018 |
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Sep 4, 2018 01:32
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Do I leave the area behind my new plasterboard panelled walls, where rafters go down to meet the top of the concrete blocks behind plasterboard empty, or do I fill it up with expanding foam/etc. ?
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Sep 4, 2018 12:45
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Southern Heel posted:Do I leave the area behind my new plasterboard panelled walls, where rafters go down to meet the top of the concrete blocks behind plasterboard empty, or do I fill it up with expanding foam/etc. ? I do not have a firm answer for you but I think mine were left empty.
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Sep 4, 2018 13:24
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The ones I've seen behind have always been empty. Apart from the occasional fag packet and dead spider.
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Sep 4, 2018 14:07
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Thanks! I don't think I can stump up the cash to even buy the insulated plasterboard, let alone the consumables (it seems that dot-and-dab adhesive is just plain old expanding foam?) - so I think I'll just have to whitewash the walls for now and come back to it in a couple of months. I went with the 600x600 panels recommended, 20k lumens inbound 
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Sep 4, 2018 16:57
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Southern Heel posted:I don't think I can stump up the cash to even buy the insulated plasterboard, let alone the consumables (it seems that dot-and-dab adhesive is just plain old expanding foam?) - so I think I'll just have to whitewash the walls for now and come back to it in a couple of months. The "dab" in dot & dab is driwall adhesive, though I have seen builders use adhesive foam as a general purpose lazy adhesive (and screwfix sure seem to think it's the way forward). Driwall adhesive is what my plasterer recommended, and I've seen other plasterers turn their nose up at foamed boards.
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Sep 4, 2018 18:58
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What would be the best way of joining two insulation boards end to end? Hot glue with maybe a layer of caulk around the outside of the join?
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Sep 4, 2018 21:03
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What type of insulation? Expanding foam and gorilla glue are both viable methods.
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Sep 4, 2018 21:11
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Staple gun? Tape?
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Sep 4, 2018 21:13
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cakesmith handyman posted:What type of insulation? Expanding foam and gorilla glue are both viable methods. Expanding foam might do it but that could get messy. This is the junk here: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Owens-C...-88WD/202085958 Jaded Burnout posted:Staple gun? Tape? I'm asking because I'll be using these for their insulating properties, so I probably want the connection sealed.
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Sep 4, 2018 21:22
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Ben Nerevarine posted:I'm asking because I'll be using these for their insulating properties, so I probably want the connection sealed. Sure, I'm just trying to think of what home DIY scenario would require that tight a seal on insulation outside of that terrible home-made walk-in fridge that was posted somewhere. A common insulation approach is sheets of rock wool jammed between joists; no seal there.
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Sep 4, 2018 21:36
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Jaded Burnout posted:Sure, I'm just trying to think of what home DIY scenario would require that tight a seal on insulation outside of that terrible home-made walk-in fridge that was posted somewhere. Yeah you may be right, I really have no idea what I'm doing. This is in service of rigging something to fit into this window frame I posted earlier in the thread to replace the fan and dryer vent. My plan is to fit and cut some MDF then slap some of this insulating board on the inside. Unfortunately I was only able to get the boards in 2'x2' squares which is not wide enough for one to do the trick.
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Sep 4, 2018 21:42
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I'm no expert either, but insulation works by trapping air and making it awkward for heat to pass through it, so I'd think as long as there's no obvious gaps and the panels are tightly butted up against one another it would be fine. But CSHM's ideas sound fine also.
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Sep 4, 2018 21:46
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Jaded Burnout posted:The "dab" in dot & dab is driwall adhesive, though I have seen builders use adhesive foam as a general purpose lazy adhesive (and screwfix sure seem to think it's the way forward). Thanks bud - I assumed that but keep seeing stuff like this: https://www.wickes.co.uk/Everbuild-Pink-Grip-Dry-Fix-750ml/p/132396 so I wasn't sure. It certainly seems easier coming out of a tube...
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Sep 5, 2018 07:38
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Southern Heel posted:Thanks bud - I assumed that but keep seeing stuff like this: https://www.wickes.co.uk/Everbuild-Pink-Grip-Dry-Fix-750ml/p/132396 so I wasn't sure. It certainly seems easier coming out of a tube... Yeah I guess that is the hot new thing all the crabby spreads are griping about, might try it myself when I have to do a few bits, save me buying a mixer. It's also possible my builder just used normal expanding foam rather than something designed for the job.
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Sep 5, 2018 09:34
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