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Prefab unit baths are awesome, go hog wild!
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Apr 12, 2019 08:38
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Speaking of bathooms - mine is tiny and I was thinking about renovating it - but in the meantime I'm fighting a constant battle against black mold in the corners - I thought I was fairly diligent about keeping a window cracked and always have the extractor fan going when I'm having a shower, but to no avail - any ideas on what I might be able to do to preclude it coming back so frequently?
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Apr 13, 2019 10:12
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you'll want a continuously running extractor rather than only using it when the shower is on. keep the bathroom door open when not in use and make sure there's a good airflow to the rest of the house to stop the moisture collecting in one spot. there could be heating and insulation complications, but let's start with the simple steps obviously clean up the mold in the meantime but airflow and stopping the moisture collecting in one spot should be your main focus. i'm basing off of a humid temperate climate, and you'll need an appropriately sized fan for the bathroom - you did say it was small though so try these steps out first
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Apr 13, 2019 10:31
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Thank you! The fan is about 6" in diameter, for a bathroom approximately 5' x 10' - mold is only showing up in inner corners of the false roof above the bath. The weather is temperate here, but my house in general is fairly humid. I tend to run the extractor from when I enter the bathroom until I leave (i.e. after towelling off and shaving), are you saying it should be on 24/7? Also, bathroom door closed while showering, but open afterward? Similar question for the window - it feels like I'll just be throwing money away with both a toilet and bathroom with a window cracked, adjacent ot each other in the house - but if that's what's required 
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Apr 13, 2019 10:37
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you shouldn't need the fan active and the window open at the same time. yeah 24/7, unless you get a humidity sensor trigger. make sure the fan has good air pressure (e.g. hand over it - can you even tell its working?) keep in mind it's working to remove the moisture out of your entire bathroom before the moisture settles. likewise turn your heating on regularly. if it turns out to be a more serious damp issue rather than condensation it'll be a bit more complicated how much mold are we talking about? tiny patch near a corner away from any airflow, or half of a wall? e: tbf window can work i'm more advising standard practices that work around bad habits
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Apr 13, 2019 10:52
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My instinct would be humidity sensor trigger combined with lightswitch trigger, so it's on when you're using it but also kicks on unattended as necessary. You can see this set up here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCYFSAQlpho
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Apr 13, 2019 12:38
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Not much - just speckles in the corners a few inches around. That video looks excellent - I have a pull cord for my fan that's in the roof of the bathroom already, so if I could replace that with a humidity/light sensor that would be great. I see he discusses it around 4:25 but not sure what I should be searching for on screwfix/etc. - The fan itself is right above the shower, i.e. zone 1 - it looks like those are pricey  maybe why the one in there when I moved in was so poo poo.
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Apr 13, 2019 16:24
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Southern Heel posted:The fan itself is right above the shower, i.e. zone 1 - it looks like those are pricey I'm not so sure about that. I'm not an electrician, but I think the area *above* the shower head is zone 2, but in any case the minimum requirements for zones 1 and 2 are the same; IPX4. So unless you're going to be spraying it directly with water I wouldn't worry about it. Southern Heel posted:That video looks excellent - I have a pull cord for my fan that's in the roof of the bathroom already, so if I could replace that with a humidity/light sensor that would be great. I see he discusses it around 4:25 but not sure what I should be searching for on screwfix/etc. This is the humidistat he's installing, but here's a fan of the same brand with a humidistat built in. You might also be able to find a cheaper humidistat that perhaps is of a lesser brand or not as adjustable.
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Apr 13, 2019 16:50
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Southern Heel posted:Not much - just speckles in the corners a few inches around. That video looks excellent - I have a pull cord for my fan that's in the roof of the bathroom already, so if I could replace that with a humidity/light sensor that would be great. I see he discusses it around 4:25 but not sure what I should be searching for on screwfix/etc. - The fan itself is right above the shower, i.e. zone 1 - it looks like those are pricey I mean bathrooms get a little bit of mold/mildew from normal use. You can try running the fan for an hour or two after your shower as well. Remember that once you dry off your towels and shower basin then spend a few hours evaporating into your bathroom. When you clean it up are you just wiping it off or using something made to clean mold? If you're not using a commercial mold killer (think something like tilex) try that and see if it improves. Overall a few spots in the worst corners is largely expected and not going to kill you as long as you clean your bathroom regularly. (Every few weeks.) H110Hawk fucked around with this message at 17:08 on Apr 13, 2019 |
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Apr 13, 2019 16:52
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Can we do some Lawn Chat? I'd like to overseed the lawn, but that hasn't worked out in the past -- the seeds just never seem to take root. Do I need to go whole hog and dethatch / seed / roll in order for it to be worthwhile? Also, watering the Whole Goddamn Lawn would be a huge pain in the rear end -- do I time it so that I seed right before it rains?
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Apr 15, 2019 18:06
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null_pointer posted:Can we do some Lawn Chat? I'd like to overseed the lawn, but that hasn't worked out in the past -- the seeds just never seem to take root. Do I need to go whole hog and dethatch / seed / roll in order for it to be worthwhile? Also, watering the Whole Goddamn Lawn would be a huge pain in the rear end -- do I time it so that I seed right before it rains? I'll do hell of lawn chat when I'm not phone posting, but where (state/general growing zone) are you? Are you looking for warm or cool season grasses? How much sun are we talking about -- 0-3 hours, 3-6 hours 6+ hours? How much money/effort are you willing to put in (at least for the one season)? When you say "hasn't worked out" what happens? It sounds like they germinate -- do they not survive into the winter/spring? Do they not make it through summer?
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Apr 15, 2019 19:02
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Awesome. I'm in Eastern CT, and there are varying levels of sunlight, across the lawn. Some of it is pretty shaded, others are direct sun. I tried to put a shade sun mix, overall, and then, when that didn't seem to work, put sun / shade grass in specific spots. That didn't seem to improve the coverage, either. The lawn is still scrubby, with different types of grass in different spots. The only spot that seems to have consistently thickened up was a spot that I just completely ripped up, put new soil onto, seeded, covered in hay, and watered. Took till the next year to really take root (but now there's a patch of nice grass surrounded by lovely grass). So, really, "not worked out" means the seeds simply haven't taken root, or had any real effect on the overal quality of the lawn.
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Apr 15, 2019 19:49
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plx
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Apr 16, 2019 00:23
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null_pointer posted:Can we do some Lawn Chat? I'd like to overseed the lawn, but that hasn't worked out in the past -- the seeds just never seem to take root. Do I need to go whole hog and dethatch / seed / roll in order for it to be worthwhile? Also, watering the Whole Goddamn Lawn would be a huge pain in the rear end -- do I time it so that I seed right before it rains? Explain what "overseed" that you have done in the past means. Is it literally just throwing seed on the lawn? Because that is never likely to work. The specifics of what you need to do depend on what everything looks like now, but chucking seed out there is never a good option. In my area, core aeration with 2 1/2" or so spoons (less than a real aeration) followed by seeding and then dragging does the trick almost always. I'm actually looking at a spool aerator that has 4" and 2.5" spoons on it so I can just do that all in one shot. e: https://www.everythingattachments.com/Drum-Lawn-Aerator-p/eta-pluggerv2.htm 
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Apr 16, 2019 01:18
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Let's talk paint. I did a test painting of a room a while ago, 1 layer Leyland latex-based primer, 2 layers Dulux silk. It needs sanding back and repainting anyway, but an issue I have is that the finish has a rubbery characteristic that I don't like. You can feel it as a bit of give and resistance when you run your nails over it, and peeling a small amount away results in a slightly plasticy stretch in the paint. Is this a normal effect of any gloss or part-gloss paint? Is it an issue of application? I thought it might be the latex undercoat but that was fairly thin and is staying on the wall when I peel away paint.
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Apr 16, 2019 09:22
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Jaded Burnout posted:Let's talk paint. Prime one section and paint over half of it to find out?
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Apr 16, 2019 09:31
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Synthbuttrange posted:Prime one section and paint over half of it to find out? I'm pretty sure it's not the primer
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Apr 16, 2019 09:42
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Jaded Burnout posted:Let's talk paint. You painted the walls of a room with glossy paint?
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Apr 16, 2019 13:16
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wooger posted:You painted the walls of a room with glossy paint? No, I painted the walls of a room with silk paint, like I said, but it has a shine to it in the nature of being a silk finish. It's the wall equivalent of a satin finish for woodwork.
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Apr 16, 2019 14:24
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null_pointer posted:Awesome. I'm in Eastern CT, and there are varying levels of sunlight, across the lawn. Some of it is pretty shaded, others are direct sun. I tried to put a shade sun mix, overall, and then, when that didn't seem to work, put sun / shade grass in specific spots. That didn't seem to improve the coverage, either. The lawn is still scrubby, with different types of grass in different spots. Alright, so solid cool-season territory. Two more quick questions: 1) How big of a lawn are we talking about? 2000sqft, 5000sqft, 10000sqft? 2) What is the main problem you are trying to fix -- overall thinness or larger bare patches? Back to your initial questions: null_pointer posted:Can we do some Lawn Chat? I'd like to overseed the lawn, but that hasn't worked out in the past -- the seeds just never seem to take root. Do I need to go whole hog and dethatch / seed / roll in order for it to be worthwhile? So seeding/overseeding is very much a case of "you get out what you put in". Everything that you do for seeding is to increase the odds of each of three things happening: 1) The seeds germinating in high rates and good time 2) The seedlings establishing themselves in the soil before temperatures drop 3) The new grass building a dense and healthy root system In your area #3 isn't has bad as it is for me in the Transition zone (where it's basically a race against time to get them dug in deep before the hell of summer starts). However, #1 and #2 are possibly trickier because you have earlier frosts. Without seeing the lawn itself it's hard to say exactly where things might be having trouble. Here's what I would say about things that might be worth doing/might not be necessary: 1) Water: Watering is by far the most important part. Consistent, shallow watering will make sure your seeds germinate. Covering with a thin mulch of peat moss can help. See more below. Hard rains, on the other hand, are bad and can wash your seed into basins where it may drown. Mulching can help prevent the wash-out somewhat. If you have poor drainage and lots of water, those areas will not grow well. Since these areas are usually also low spots it can be helped by raking up the area and adding in some top soil to try and even things before seeding. 2) Soil: Seed-Soil contact is critical for the grass to do well. This means removing thatch and ideally loosening up the top layer of soil so the seed can get down into the surface. More than core aeration, I'd say renting a dethatcher/scarifier is a very useful component to overseeding as it will remove dead grass along the surface AND open up the dirt to help the new seed along. Core Aerating is good, but doesn't really have anything to do with seeding. you can punch a bunch of holes and that will help remove compaction over time, but the holes don't help the seeds actually grow -- they're too deep, and any seed that would fall in them would probably fail to thrive. On the other hand, if you break up the plugs on top you end up kind of top-dressing the lawn, which would help with seed/soil contact. The core aeration is also not something you want to do once the seeds are down, so might as well do it first. If you aerate and then scarify afterwards the scarifier will break up the plugs for you. 3) Fertility: You want to make sure your soil has the right macro- and micro-nutrients for your grass to do well. Make sure you're putting down a good starter fertilizer with the seed. I like the Scott's Starter w/ Weed Preventer as it has a good mix of nutrients for new grass (phosphorous in particular) and also contains a pre-emergent herbicide that interestingly does not affect turf grass seeds. This won't prevent all weeds but will help reduce the number of cool-season weeds that come up as a result of your disturbing the soil. Now would be a great time to do a soil test and see if you need any other base-line amendments, or need to do things like adjust the pH. 4) Competition: Grass seedlings need sun, and if you are overseeding you have competition already from the established turf. Before seeding, I would progressively lower my mower height (probably down to 2", maybe less if you know you have mostly bluegrass) so that it is as low as possible before seeding whithout damaging the turf. This lowering will also reduce vigor of the established turf somewhat giving the seedlings more time to come up. 5) Timing: Looking at some rough estimates, your average first frost is sometime in early October. You want ideally 40 days of growth before the frost, and with 1-2 weeks germination time (more like 2 weeks for bluegrass) that has you putting down seed sometime in the first two weeks of August. Note that I am focusing on late summer/fall as opposed to seeding now -- that is because grass that you seed now will not have had a lot of time to establish good roots before soil temperatures rise and the growth slows down. Contrary to instinct, seeding in the Spring is generally not a worthwhile endeavor (at least for cool season grass). When you seed in the fall you have all fall and then all of the following spring to get established. So what I would do is look at right now as an opportunity to prepare your lawn for seeding in August, and then go whole hog there if you can. Do a soil test and see if you need to adjust your pH. Start putting down Humic Acid to add carbon back to the soil and make the existing nutrients more bio-available. Throw down some Organic Fertilizer that will add organic matter to the soil and provide slow-release nitrogen (as well as phosphorous which your seedlings will need later) and help loosen up the soil. Start top-dressing low-spots now. Order the amount of sun+shade seed you need from Seed Super Store (just use the mixes they recommend based on your ZIP code) so you have it ready to go when the time comes. Seed this fall, feed aggressively going into winter, then grow it out next spring. It may still be a little thin and spotty; however, because the SSS mixes contain a fair bit of creeping grasses they should fill out as you fertilize more. So NEXT fall plan to start putting down about 0.75-1.0lb of N per month from August through October (AKA "The Fall Nitrogen Blitz"). This will cause your grass to explode out during its optimal growing season and fill in any gaps just fine. NOTE: If you just have general thinness and not any large bare spots, you could try skipping ALL the seeding and just do a heavy nitrogen blitz this fall instead and see if that works. If you do that then make sure you're watering -- the grass needs Water to go with the N or it will grow itself to death. null_pointer posted:Also, watering the Whole Goddamn Lawn would be a huge pain in the rear end -- do I time it so that I seed right before it rains? You water the Whole Goddamn Lawn, twice daily, every day, for two weeks. Seed needs two things to germinate: Moisture and Heat. If you want to have the best possible odds of success then you want as much of your grass to germinate as possible, and you want that to happen as quickly as possible (so that the seedlings have time to establish before soil temps get too low). Not enough moisture (or not consistent enough) and your seeds won't germinate at all, or they will germinate late and the seedlings will freeze before they establish themselves. Seeding into rain is tricky, and probably inadvisable. The problem is that unless you've got VERY consistent, VERY light rain, the seed will get washed out. Before the seedlings start to root the seed is very mobile, and will happily wash from your even distribution down into local low spots, where when it does germinate it will be over dense and at risk for fungal problems. Additionally, like I mentioned earlier you really want consistent moisture over the 14-21 days after seeding for maximum benefit. Seeding into a single rainfall might help get things started, but you're still going to have to water consistently unless it's going to be raining on a pretty much daily basis for the next three weeks. You can make this a bit easier on yourself by mulching the seed with a thin layer of either peat moss or a special seeding mulch. These products will help hold the seed in place under watering (the seeding mulch is generally better at that) and will retain a fair bit of moisture after watering, so you won't be quite as sensitive to irregularity. Even then though you will still need to be watering. If your yard is small, an oscillating sprinkler like this or this on a simple hose timer like this can cover your needs. If it's large enough/shaped such that you might want a couple zones they have dual and quad timers. Alternativelty, do what I did: - quad hose timer - Combo Sprinkler Body/Heads - Ground Spikes to mount the sprinklers on - A bunch of 1/2" Connectors to connect the heads to the spikes - A couple Wye splitters to balance the zones where needed I then bought a bunch of light-duty garden hose and some repair connectors to make as many links as needed. It would be a lot of up-front effort for a large yard, but for a small-medium one it's not that bad. It's also not crucial that the watering be perfectly even -- you just want to get everything a little wet, without any one place getting drowned. With either solution, you want to set up your timers for something frequent and short: probably no more than 5 minutes at a time, but often (like 4 times a day). The idea is to keep the seeds evenly wet for the whole germination period. After 2 weeks step it back to one watering per day for a week. After that every other day for a week, then every third day, etc. Wean the seedlings off of shallow water as time goes by so their roots drive deeper. Motronic posted:In my area, core aeration with 2 1/2" or so spoons (less than a real aeration) followed by seeding and then dragging does the trick almost always. I'm actually looking at a spool aerator that has 4" and 2.5" spoons on it so I can just do that all in one shot. Jealous.
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Apr 16, 2019 16:10
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Jaded Burnout posted:No, I painted the walls of a room with silk paint, like I said, but it has a shine to it in the nature of being a silk finish. It's the wall equivalent of a satin finish for woodwork. Not mixed thoroughly enough?
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Apr 16, 2019 16:10
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My house came with no fence on the driveway, but it does already have metal posts (and hinges on one side) where one was at one point. I want to put in one with a metal frame and wood front. People have pointed me towards an adjust-a-gate kit like this for the hardware, but it looks like this is meant for square wooden posts. Is this one likely to fit onto the existing hinges and will I be able to attach a latch to the other side? If not does anyone know of similar kits what would fit? Heres the opening (I know I really need to weed) :  The post with hinges:   The opposite post: 
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Apr 16, 2019 17:04
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Hubis posted:Not mixed thoroughly enough? Always possible though I mixed it well during use and the effect is the same on 3 walls. No after some considerable digging it turns out that the "retail" paint tubs (and their datasheets!) leave out any indication of what binder is used in their emulsion paints. It's PVA. The "trade" version is labelled "vinyl silk", I guess that's a faux mot when marketing to DIYers. So I'll need to find a different paint next time, but at least I know what I need to avoid.
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Apr 16, 2019 17:14
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Jaded Burnout posted:Always possible though I mixed it well during use and the effect is the same on 3 walls. If you used it according to their labeling and it's not adhering properly because the formulation is wrong you should get your money back. If it's truly not labeled correctly they may be in bigger trouble than just owing you some rollers and $100 in paint back.
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Apr 16, 2019 17:24
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H110Hawk posted:If you used it according to their labeling and it's not adhering properly because the formulation is wrong you should get your money back. If it's truly not labeled correctly they may be in bigger trouble than just owing you some rollers and $100 in paint back. I think the adhesion and rubbery texture are two different issues, the former is likely my fault for only understanding 80% of how different paint types interact, and the latter isn't a bad mixture but an intended (but undocumented) effect of using dulux emulsions.
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Apr 16, 2019 17:36
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Southern Heel posted:Not much - just speckles in the corners a few inches around. That video looks excellent - I have a pull cord for my fan that's in the roof of the bathroom already, so if I could replace that with a humidity/light sensor that would be great. I see he discusses it around 4:25 but not sure what I should be searching for on screwfix/etc. - The fan itself is right above the shower, i.e. zone 1 - it looks like those are pricey Can you access the attic area over your bathroom? Is the current fan vented out properly? Is it possible that it's clogged? Might be worthwhile to get a cheap thermostat/hygrometer off of amazon and track the humidity to get an idea how bad it is and if it's constant. If the fan is old you could also look at replacing it with a newer one that moves a higher volume of air. My bathrooms were old and just had a heater installed. I had it replaced with new vent fans with lights and it made a world of difference.
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Apr 16, 2019 19:00
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Hubis, that was an amazing post. Thank you, so much. Gonna read it a few times and reply when I can.
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Apr 16, 2019 19:40
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null_pointer posted:Hubis, that was an amazing post. Thank you, so much. Gonna read it a few times and reply when I can. I can write up more specific steps if you want, links to products I like, and a few different YouTube videos/channels that are basically my source for everything. You can go very deep in terms of effort and detail if you want, but it doesn't HAVE to be that way -- sometimes the"why's" are useful, but the steps themselves are pretty straightforward.
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Apr 16, 2019 21:44
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I just want my lawn to not be lumpy, but we think there's a stump rotting out the other side of the fence so it'll continue sinking for a few years.
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Apr 17, 2019 10:43
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cakesmith handyman posted:I just want my lawn to not be lumpy, but we think there's a stump rotting out the other side of the fence so it'll continue sinking for a few years. Mine's also lumpy but I think that's on account of compression from a century of indiscriminate use.
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Apr 17, 2019 11:10
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Jaded Burnout posted:Mine's also lumpy but I think that's on account of compression from a century of indiscriminate use. My lawns all lumpy and clay, so the drainage is super hosed. I've got 2 swales and a few french drains, and i still have places with standing water next to the house when it rains. It does drain over the next day or so, but bleh. Basically, the sidewalks are lower than the dirt (over time) and well, that's where the water goes.
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Apr 17, 2019 16:38
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lol nice just got a letter of cancellation for my homeowners insurance demanding that I trim a tree and replace my entire roof (about 20 years old at this point)
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Apr 17, 2019 17:04
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Spring Heeled Jack posted:lol nice just got a letter of cancellation for my homeowners insurance demanding that I trim a tree and replace my entire roof (about 20 years old at this point) What insurance company and how many claims have you filed in the past? I've heard of ins companies being up peoples' asses about things they don't like about their houses, but I've never gotten anything close to that from State Farm.
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Apr 17, 2019 18:50
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Jaded Burnout posted:I think the adhesion and rubbery texture are two different issues, the former is likely my fault for only understanding 80% of how different paint types interact, and the latter isn't a bad mixture but an intended (but undocumented) effect of using dulux emulsions. Dulux Trade posted:The amount of binder in a retail product is higher than retail [sic] as it is designed to be a little more forgiving to customer without prior knowledge of painting. It may be that the polymer used has migrated to the surface in this instance and is giving the abnormally rubbery feel. I'm not 100% sure what the effect of less binder in an emulsion paint will actually be, perhaps less glop and stickiness during application.
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Apr 17, 2019 19:45
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B-Nasty posted:What insurance company and how many claims have you filed in the past? Homesite via Geico. I moved under a month ago (From MD to PA) and kept the same insurance. I had trimmed the particular tree like 2 weeks ago of my own volition, but gently caress replacing a perfectly okay roof a month into new homeownership. I offered to have a licensed roofer give it a 'health check' but they wouldn't budge. I've been shopping quotes so now I just have to get all my poo poo transferred. What a hassle!
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Apr 17, 2019 21:49
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Spring Heeled Jack posted:Homesite via Geico. I moved under a month ago (From MD to PA) and kept the same insurance. I had trimmed the particular tree like 2 weeks ago of my own volition, but gently caress replacing a perfectly okay roof a month into new homeownership. I offered to have a licensed roofer give it a 'health check' but they wouldn't budge. People in my area get pushed to replace roofs every 4 years. It's loving wild and a massive waste of money.
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Apr 18, 2019 00:49
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Fallom posted:People in my area get pushed to replace roofs every 4 years. It's loving wild and a massive waste of money. What the hell kind of area is this. What the hell are the roofs made of!?!? No poo poo I got a new roof like 8 months before I moved. They guy said the company warranty is like 30 years but I could expect the shingles to last 60 or so.
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Apr 18, 2019 00:57
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Spring Heeled Jack posted:What the hell kind of area is this. What the hell are the roofs made of!?!? Colorado gets a lot of hailstorms but people spread "replace your roof every 4 years" as a rule of thumb instead of the far more sensible "get it inspected if the hail was the size of baseballs."
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Apr 18, 2019 00:58
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i thought 20y was an outlier. with minimal maintenance here you'd be looking at 60y+ before replacing a roof no extreme weather though so i'd expect it to reflect best-case. what's the intended renewal cycles for your other major components?
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Apr 18, 2019 09:53
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What kind of gold plated shingles are we talking about here? 60 years sounds insanely old for a shingle roof. 20-30 for standard shingles is my general understanding with a bit longer if you get nicer ones. This is for temperate climates without goofy weather that eats up shingles.
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Apr 19, 2019 02:23
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