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Motronic posted:Where's the other end of it? It's probably clogged and there's nasty water sitting in the pipe. I do not know. I live in a condo and there's no pop up drain or whatever anywhere in my yard.
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Sep 23, 2018 17:00
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So what the heck do I do with this: It's in my front yard. Previous owners had a Dickensian lamppost just stuck in there as if a lower middle class suburban Mr. Tumnus lived there but it obviously rusted away and now I have some wires sticking out of the stump. I'm not opposed to having some wiring in the yard for whatever reason, but I have no idea if they're live or what. I'm assuming there's some kind of code for this stuff and I'm assuming that this is NOT compliant, lol, but I have no idea what to do with it.
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Sep 23, 2018 21:08
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Safest course is to find where it enters the house and disconnect it, short the hot & neutral on both ends, label both ends 'old wiring do not use', then stuff the outside end back down the pipe and seal it up with spray foam & paint, then cover it with rocks. If you can cut & pull it all out that'd be even better, then try and dig up / cutoff the top of that pipe.
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Sep 23, 2018 21:30
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Check your breaker panel to see if there is a breaker labelled something like "outdoor lights" or whatever. Shut that poo poo off if its on. Actually gently caress it, call an electrician get them to test, find the source, unhook that bitch. Don't gently caress with electricity, it'll kill you.
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Sep 23, 2018 21:31
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Good advice! I'll just call an electrician.
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Sep 23, 2018 21:45
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You don't have anything to check the wire to see if it's live? Would suck to spend money on an electrician that you could just spend on a multimeter. Though maybe you'd get an electrician with a soul that wouldn't really charge you much of anything for checking.
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Sep 23, 2018 21:54
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Get a non-contact wire tester to see if it's live. Cheap and easy to use https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Non-Contact-Voltage-Tester-NCVT-1SEN/100661787
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Sep 23, 2018 22:19
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Nevets posted:If you can cut & pull it all out that'd be even better, then try and dig up / cutoff the top of that pipe. Honestly it's fine to leave it in place. Old wires get left inside of house walls all the time. And if you ever do decide to run electricity out to this point, you can either use the old wires again, or use them to pull new wires. But yeah, get a tester or multimeter, it's easy to safely check if wires are live.
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Sep 23, 2018 22:21
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Also good advice! I've been meaning to get one anyway.
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Sep 23, 2018 22:28
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I bought a no-contact tester and I've tracked it to one of the 6(!) switches inside our front door. At least I know I can turn it off. I may just run it into a box or a pipe and bury it whenever I get around to removing that rusted pole until I can figure out wtf to do with a switched electrical hookup in the middle of my front lawn. Thanks everyone!
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Sep 24, 2018 16:11
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mutata posted:until I can figure out wtf to do with a switched electrical hookup in the middle of my front lawn. Halloween is coming. Use it to scare kids remotely.
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Sep 24, 2018 16:42
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H110Hawk posted:Halloween is coming. Use it to scar kids remotely.
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Sep 25, 2018 00:45
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Hi thread. I thought I took a few more pictures so I will add as needed, but I need some advice. I have this monstrosity of a door in my basement. It's a "closet" that was here when I bought the house. It no longer stays on the roller track - the pin in the top left goes into the hole in the top left of the track, the roller goes into the track, but the door doesn't prop up enough to actually function properly and falls off on people. I would like to have some idea what is needed to fix this, or replace it with something less janky. It seems there is something missing on the bottom left, there is a screw but it doesn't seem to really go into anything. I, of course, failed to capture a picture of said screw.    
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Sep 25, 2018 01:21
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That's a standard bifold door. Facing the door as you took the picture, the pin on the bottom left of the door has adjustment threads so you can unscrew it, raising the door so the top pin and roller fit securely into the hinge and track, respectively. Edit: I just saw that you're missing this piece. That's the bottom hinge that does all the adjustment. angryrobots fucked around with this message at 01:57 on Sep 25, 2018 |
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Sep 25, 2018 01:53
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angryrobots posted:That's a standard bifold door. Facing the door as you took the picture, the pin on the bottom left of the door has adjustment threads so you can unscrew it, raising the door so the top pin and roller fit securely into the hinge and track, respectively. Awesome, thanks, I was trying to find the drat name online and couldn't. That's exactly what I needed to know - you rock.
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Sep 25, 2018 14:06
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What kind of wall is this? There was water behind it earlier this year (unbeknownst to us) and mold came through the wall. After some cleaning and time to dry I cut this piece out to look inside but wasn't expecting whatever this is. Thanks. inside of room <--> inside of wall 
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Sep 25, 2018 18:30
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Can't help you on the wall type, but just to be clear, the mold didn't come through the wall. The water did, and mold grew on the wet surface. The spores are already in the air, they just need the right conditions to set up shop. Thank you for allowing me to be pedantic.
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Sep 25, 2018 19:12
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:Can't help you on the wall type, but just to be clear, the mold didn't come through the wall. The water did, and mold grew on the wet surface. The spores are already in the air, they just need the right conditions to set up shop. So I don't need to tear out part the wall and clean it all out?
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Sep 25, 2018 19:20
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Cat Face Joe posted:So I don't need to tear out part the wall and clean it all out? I mean there's a good chance there's mold behind the wall too. But as long as the water damage to the sheetrock/plaster/backer isn't bad, you can wipe it all down. But if those walls were wet for a while, they may be very brittle and you'll want to replace them because of that. Pictures of the damage would probably help.
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Sep 25, 2018 19:24
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Somewhat hard to tell from the photo but it looks like a plaster wall to me. Looks like they plastered it once, came back with a very different plaster and plastered it again, then put a skim coat over the whole thing.
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Sep 25, 2018 19:43
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:I mean there's a good chance there's mold behind the wall too. But as long as the water damage to the sheetrock/plaster/backer isn't bad, you can wipe it all down. But if those walls were wet for a while, they may be very brittle and you'll want to replace them because of that. Pictures of the damage would probably help. We wiped it down and I hit with mold retarder as soon as we found it. I'd say it was two wispy patches totalling the size of three softballs. There's no visible mold stains left on the paint, just the wipe marks. 
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Sep 25, 2018 19:43
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Amy mold inside the wall is essentially encapsulated at this point, and if you stopped the source of water it won't continue to get worse. If the wall isn't brittle, I'd just patch and paint. You *could* leave that hole open for a few more days to let it the cavity dry out a bit if you think there's still moisture in there.
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Sep 25, 2018 20:29
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:Amy mold inside the wall is essentially encapsulated at this point, and if you stopped the source of water it won't continue to get worse. If the wall isn't brittle, I'd just patch and paint. You *could* leave that hole open for a few more days to let it the cavity dry out a bit if you think there's still moisture in there. The wall is solid. My buddy has one of those little spy cams and I'm gonna borrow it and check in there. Thanks a lot for your help. I was not looking forward to this project. PremiumSupport posted:Somewhat hard to tell from the photo but it looks like a plaster wall to me. I was sawing through it like what the hell why's it so thick. That's what it looks like but there's no lattice behind it so I got no clue. Thanks.
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Sep 25, 2018 20:39
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Cat Face Joe posted:What kind of wall is this? There was water behind it earlier this year (unbeknownst to us) and mold came through the wall. After some cleaning and time to dry I cut this piece out to look inside but wasn't expecting whatever this is. Thanks. That's plaster on rock lath. Rock lath was very similar to drywall. It came in 1/2" sheets, the most common thickness for homes. It's also perforated with holes to help provide a mechanical bond. Eventually, installers figured out that it was faster, cheaper and more uniform to install flat sheets of plasterboard, then cover the seams and nail holes.
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Sep 25, 2018 23:22
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kid sinister posted:That's plaster on rock lath. Rock lath was very similar to drywall. It came in 1/2" sheets, the most common thickness for homes. It's also perforated with holes to help provide a mechanical bond. Eventually, installers figured out that it was faster, cheaper and more uniform to install flat sheets of plasterboard, then cover the seams and nail holes. Interesting. It's definitely not throughout the house. Everywhere else seems to be a single layer of plaster. Thanks for the info.
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Sep 26, 2018 15:22
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I'm redoing the kitchen in my new house, and have a question about my sink plumbing. The sink that I removed had no trap in the cabinet under the basin, but went straight through the floor into the basement. In the basement, it's connected with this thing, which I assume performs the function of a trap. What is this thing called, and is it an acceptable substitute for a p-trap directly under the basin? Should I just install a normal p-trap when I install the new sink, and if so do I leave this thing in place or remove it? 
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Sep 26, 2018 17:21
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Viper915 posted:I'm redoing the kitchen in my new house, and have a question about my sink plumbing. The sink that I removed had no trap in the cabinet under the basin, but went straight through the floor into the basement. In the basement, it's connected with this thing, which I assume performs the function of a trap. What is this thing called, and is it an acceptable substitute for a p-trap directly under the basin? Should I just install a normal p-trap when I install the new sink, and if so do I leave this thing in place or remove it? Assuming that cleanout comes out, that looks so much easier to clean than having to mess around under a sink. The top of the exit on the left is above the top of the lower pipe on the right, so there should be a full seal of standing water in it from sewer gas. (This is an uneducated guess.)
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Sep 26, 2018 17:29
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That's called a drum trap, specifically, a swivel drum trap. They're technically not allowed anymore, and can present some issues with gunk buildup. This article has more details: https://structuretech1.com/drum-traps/ However, yours looks to be in really good shape. I'd probably try to remove the cleanout plug and if you can, and there isn't a huge amount of buildup on the pipes, I'd let it be until you start to have issues. If you're doing a bunch of work and don't mind running a new drain pipe into the basement, just replace it with a standard under-sink trap (never double up traps.)
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Sep 26, 2018 17:39
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Cat Face Joe posted:Interesting. It's definitely not throughout the house. Everywhere else seems to be a single layer of plaster. Thanks for the info. I’ve had this in both 50’s houses I’ve owned and from experience, if you can get away with not demoing that poo poo that’s the path I would take. It’s far worse than modern sheetrock as far dust and debris is considered and its harder to remove from the wall generally. Also, since your house is probably around the same age as mine (I think builders only took this type of hybrid approach for a decade or two) there’s always the danger of kicking up a bunch of lead dust. BUT, on the plus side, it beats the poo poo out of sheetrock in terms of durability.
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Sep 26, 2018 17:50
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stupid puma posted:I’ve had this in both 50’s houses I’ve owned and from experience, if you can get away with not demoing that poo poo that’s the path I would take. It’s far worse than modern sheetrock as far dust and debris is considered and its harder to remove from the wall generally. Also, since your house is probably around the same age as mine (I think builders only took this type of hybrid approach for a decade or two) there’s always the danger of kicking up a bunch of lead dust. 1944, SE Michigan. Even the little piece I cut out is pretty heavy so I'm perfectly fine with not messing with it. I'm not super worried about lead since I've already been exposed to a bunch of asbestos in the attic.
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Sep 26, 2018 19:20
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Cat Face Joe posted:1944, SE Michigan. Even the little piece I cut out is pretty heavy so I'm perfectly fine with not messing with it. I'm not super worried about lead since I've already been exposed to a bunch of asbestos in the attic. These are two different things that affect completely different systems in your body? You can have harmful less exposure on top of potentially harmful asbestos exposure.
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Sep 26, 2018 22:21
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BigFactory posted:These are two different things that affect completely different systems in your body? You can have harmful less exposure on top of potentially harmful asbestos exposure. no the asbestos has made me invincible
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Sep 26, 2018 22:23
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I thot led eksposhur is ownly dayngerus to kids rite?
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Sep 27, 2018 00:57
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I'm trying to weigh cost/benefit on contracting having my insulation redone and ductwork resealed. 1740 sq ft attic and the quote I have is for $1155. It would cost me around $500 for insulation alone (R-38) which is a real rough estimate. It seems manageable to DIY from watching videos, but I've never done anything even close to this level before and the videos have unfinished attics while I have wires and duct work running all around. Plus, the attic access point is on one of the house and the roof is not very high so I would be squatting the whole time. Any advice from the thread? Dango Bango fucked around with this message at 01:35 on Sep 27, 2018 |
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Sep 27, 2018 01:31
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Satellit3 posted:I do not know. I live in a condo and there's no pop up drain or whatever anywhere in my yard. So....this isn't actually your problem to solve? Call maintenance.
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Sep 27, 2018 10:11
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Dango Bango posted:I'm trying to weigh cost/benefit on contracting having my insulation redone and ductwork resealed. 1740 sq ft attic and the quote I have is for $1155. It would cost me around $500 for insulation alone (R-38) which is a real rough estimate. If you do it yourself and gently caress up it's on you. On the other hand you might be more careful and do a better job because you have to live there. That's not a terrible sounding quote if the work is a pain in the rear end, it depends whether you value your time high enough to want someone else to sweat their rear end off in your attic.
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Sep 27, 2018 12:17
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Dango Bango posted:I'm trying to weigh cost/benefit on contracting having my insulation redone and ductwork resealed. 1740 sq ft attic and the quote I have is for $1155. It would cost me around $500 for insulation alone (R-38) which is a real rough estimate. I recently insulated my attic of half the size and there were times I wished I was dead so $1,155 seems like a p. good deal to me. Mine was a bit more involved though. If you do it yourself I recommend two large sheet boards to lay across the joists as it makes moving around much easier. I also sealed the ducts myself but in a much less professional manner. You'll need mastic and the bucket is a much better deal than the tubes. I just slathered it all over wherever air was leaking and it turned out fine.
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Sep 27, 2018 14:45
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Nevets posted:I thot led eksposhur is ownly dayngerus to kids rite? lol Seriously though kids are more at risk simply because they're more likely to put an item containing lead in their mouth, or to not wash their hands after handling lead leading to ingestion. Lead is also more easily absorbed into growing bodies. This doesn't mean that lead exposure is a non-issue for adults.
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Sep 27, 2018 15:02
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Motronic posted:So....this isn't actually your problem to solve? Call maintenance. People can own condos.
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Sep 27, 2018 15:29
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Dango Bango posted:
My advice is that if this company is reputable, cut the drat check.
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Sep 27, 2018 19:29
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