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In my experience, the hole in the top plate for running coax is always just big enough to fit the coax itself and nothing else. Hopefully your life is a little easier than mine.
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Jul 25, 2019 16:08
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Ah, that's something I didn't think about. Here's hoping whoever installed the coax didn't have the right size spade bit and made them too big. I gotta get up in the attic first and see what I'm working with.
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Jul 25, 2019 17:15
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If you already have access for running the line, drilling another hole doesn't seem like that big of a deal. You can still pull to the same box.
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Jul 25, 2019 17:32
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Enos Cabell posted:If you already have access for running the line, drilling another hole doesn't seem like that big of a deal. You can still pull to the same box. Yeah. The hard work has (probably) been done for you, which was to determine the correct location on the top plate that corresponds to that stud cavity with the faceplate. They've also (probably) determined that the stud bay in question doesn't have any insulation or the dreaded fire blocking that would get in the way. Hopefully the box is one of those simple low-voltage boxes that doesn't have a back - that will make it a pretty easy task.
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Jul 25, 2019 19:16
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I started work today on a 69x16 foot mobile home I bought for 3 grand. Highlights: - None of the windows are installed properly and must be reinstalled. -The front door doesn't latch since the move. Surprise, it's off level now that the place has been professionally leveled on my property. Gonna reframe and add a screen door. - Leaned my hand on the side of the back door directly through the frame into a colony of carpenter ants. They bite. Whole back door area needs to be demo'd and rebuilt. - Meth addicts definitely owned this place before me. Outlets installed everywhere. Lighting fixture wiring is there, but who knows if it connects to anything. - tiles broken to pieces in the bathroom. Gonna remove, sand, stick down sticky-back tiles. I ain't fancy. Same with the kitchen.
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Jul 25, 2019 19:31
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B-Nasty posted:Hopefully the box is one of those simple low-voltage boxes that doesn't have a back - that will make it a pretty easy task. "Low volt ring" FYI.
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Jul 25, 2019 20:34
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Sometimes I wish life was like Minecraft and I could just make myself my own home.
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Jul 25, 2019 21:51
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You should check out the Richard Proenneke documentaries then. Super compelling.
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Jul 25, 2019 22:26
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Can I get some advice on installing a wall mounted range hood in my one story house. I've vented a bathroom fan before, so I know how to cut a hole in the roof and seal stuff under the shingles. What I don't quite know how to do is sealing around the rigid duct running through my ceiling and into the attic. I'll be using 6" rigid duct. Is there some sort of flange I need to buy that mounts to the ceiling drywall or anything like that? Or do I just cut the hole, and after it's all mounted and routed, fill any gaps with expanding foam?
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Jul 26, 2019 02:46
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Do you have to go out the roof or can you send the vent out the side of your house? Much less risk going out the side of your house when it comes to leaks and such.
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Jul 26, 2019 13:59
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And to answer your specific question, I don't think I've ever seen any form of seal on the inside, i.e. between the internal room and the roof/wall space. I'm sure expanding foam or similar would be fine if you wanted an extra good seal. What are you specifically worried about? Insulation? Structural rigidity?
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Jul 26, 2019 14:45
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Jaded Burnout posted:And to answer your specific question, I don't think I've ever seen any form of seal on the inside, i.e. between the internal room and the roof/wall space. I'm sure expanding foam or similar would be fine if you wanted an extra good seal. Best practice is to seal all air space between the interior space and the attic. It prevents heat from escaping up during cold seasons and prevents low quality air (dust, insulation fibers, etc) from being pulled in through the attic space when you have a vent on somewhere. Proper air sealing is probably tied with sufficient insulation thickness for home energy efficiency. Of course it won't matter as much if you live in a place without a substantial cold weather season. I'm not an HVAC guy, when I installed my bathroom vents I was able to just tape around the edges of the fan to seal and then cover with insulation. However, I assume there's some kind of non-expanding caulk or mastic you could use to seal up the gaps. I don't think you'd want to use expanding foam just because it would make such a mess? Actually, now that I think about it, they make a "low expansion foam" specifically for sealing around window and door casing (specifically to reduce mess) that might work for you.
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Jul 26, 2019 14:59
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To answer more specifically about how to seal around the hole you for the exhaust... if you can get a hole saw that's just slightly bigger than your duct, its very easy to just caulk the gap.
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Jul 26, 2019 15:04
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Hubis posted:Best practice is to seal all air space between the interior space and the attic. It prevents heat from escaping up during cold seasons and prevents low quality air (dust, insulation fibers, etc) from being pulled in through the attic space when you have a vent on somewhere. Proper air sealing is probably tied with sufficient insulation thickness for home energy efficiency. Fair enough, I think we don't bother because the temperature differences aren't that dramatic and we could actually do with more air venting, generally. Hubis posted:I'm not an HVAC guy, when I installed my bathroom vents I was able to just tape around the edges of the fan to seal and then cover with insulation. However, I assume there's some kind of non-expanding caulk or mastic you could use to seal up the gaps. I don't think you'd want to use expanding foam just because it would make such a mess? I've found a "little goes a long way" approach to expanding foam works for me, couple with a wide knife for trimming afterwards, but I suppose that depends how contained you need it to be.
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Jul 26, 2019 15:05
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Anybody here have a recommendation for vinyl roller shades? I ordered some from Blinds.com and when they finally got here the quality was really disappointing. I know I bought the cheapest ones, but the bottom weight was attached really poorly and the tube was made from cardboard. I'm thinking of returning them, but if all the companies are like this I may just have to accept it.
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Jul 26, 2019 15:06
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Nevets posted:Anybody here have a recommendation for vinyl roller shades? I ordered some from Blinds.com and when they finally got here the quality was really disappointing. I know I bought the cheapest ones, but the bottom weight was attached really poorly and the tube was made from cardboard. I'm thinking of returning them, but if all the companies are like this I may just have to accept it. Call up a local blind place and they’ll show up with samples and measure for you, don’t buy blinds online it’s a huge mistake unless you know exactly what you’re ordering. You can even go through Home Depot, not all blinds are poo poo.
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Jul 26, 2019 17:05
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Jaded Burnout posted:Fair enough, I think we don't bother because the temperature differences aren't that dramatic and we could actually do with more air venting, generally. Depending on the age of the house it can be a waste of time anyways. The same thing that makes air sealing so important (you can lose a lot of R-factor due to a relatively small gap) makes doing it incrementally kind of pointless. Unless you really want to go through and "do it right" with a smoke stick/heat camera you won't see much improvement because you'll still have plenty of leaks elsewhere. On the other hand, you could do something like this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpTdrVESqJg
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Jul 26, 2019 17:14
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Hubis posted:Depending on the age of the house it can be a waste of time anyways. The same thing that makes air sealing so important (you can lose a lot of R-factor due to a relatively small gap) makes doing it incrementally kind of pointless. Unless you really want to go through and "do it right" with a smoke stick/heat camera you won't see much improvement because you'll still have plenty of leaks elsewhere. Interesting. Lots of new approaches to consider for new builds.
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Jul 26, 2019 17:25
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Nevets posted:Anybody here have a recommendation for vinyl roller shades? I ordered some from Blinds.com and when they finally got here the quality was really disappointing. I know I bought the cheapest ones, but the bottom weight was attached really poorly and the tube was made from cardboard. I'm thinking of returning them, but if all the companies are like this I may just have to accept it. If you buy cheap poo poo you're going to get cheap poo poo. Hope that helps. ElCondemn posted:Call up a local blind place and they’ll show up with samples and measure for you, don’t buy blinds online it’s a huge mistake unless you know exactly what you’re ordering. Ironically blinds.com is Home Depot. Definitely go touch things before buying. Bali is the brand of cordless cell shades we've bought and they're fine. Our toddler plays with them and so far they haven't broken. Note how the cheapest price on homedepot's website is basically 1/4 the price of Bali. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bali-Cu...spsrc/207181093 Cheap poo poo I assume they bought: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Achim-Tear-Down-White-Cordless-Vinyl-Light-Filtering-Roller-Shade-37-in-W-x-72-in-L-TRL376WH12/302823639
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Jul 26, 2019 17:46
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H110Hawk posted:Cheap poo poo I assume they bought: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Achim-Tear-Down-White-Cordless-Vinyl-Light-Filtering-Roller-Shade-37-in-W-x-72-in-L-TRL376WH12/302823639 No, they were the ones here: https://www.blinds.com/p/blindscom-economy-blackout-vinyl-roller-shade/503433 Not all that much cheaper than those Bali Shades.
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Jul 26, 2019 18:13
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Thanks, goons.extravadanza posted:Do you have to go out the roof or can you send the vent out the side of your house? Much less risk going out the side of your house when it comes to leaks and such. Yeah, you're right but my only option is through the roof since the range is on an interior wall. I've done the roof vent before for a bathroom exhaust fan. It's not too hard. Jaded Burnout posted:And to answer your specific question, I don't think I've ever seen any form of seal on the inside, i.e. between the internal room and the roof/wall space. I'm sure expanding foam or similar would be fine if you wanted an extra good seal. Just air sealing/keeping the mast dust/air from my attic separated as best I can from the conditioned air. My house is not well air sealed, but I try my best not to make it worse. Hubis posted:Best practice is to seal all air space between the interior space and the attic. It prevents heat from escaping up during cold seasons and prevents low quality air (dust, insulation fibers, etc) from being pulled in through the attic space when you have a vent on somewhere. Proper air sealing is probably tied with sufficient insulation thickness for home energy efficiency. extravadanza posted:To answer more specifically about how to seal around the hole you for the exhaust... if you can get a hole saw that's just slightly bigger than your duct, its very easy to just caulk the gap. Yeah I think my hole saw for 6" can lights cuts a 6-3/8" hole and will work perfectly for 6" duct. In that case the gap should be small enough to use window and door jamb low expansion foam to air seal the attic, and if I am feeling more try-hard I can use some fiberglass tape and mastic or caulk.
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Jul 26, 2019 18:25
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Jaded Burnout posted:Interesting. Lots of new approaches to consider for new builds. Yeah, That guy is a big advocate for "Build Tight and Ventilate Right". I came across his channel when I was investigating getting an ERV system for my house so we could get some fresh air through without having to suck in all the heat/humidity/cold during the "closed window" seasons. The thing is, as he points out, if you build that air tight then you really do have to be on your airflow and moisture control game. Any insufficiencies in HVAC supply/return balance or accumulation of moisture via condensation, etc. is going to end up causing way bigger headaches than with a "looser" build. However, if you are able to do the work to design it right from the get-go there is a serious efficiency and comfort advantage.
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Jul 27, 2019 01:34
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Yeah, this is an issue here because people tighten up old houses without accounting for that, and it's a crapshoot for whether new builds handle it better, while also adding huge amounts of water to the build process. Also a lot more worth doing in e.g. Texas.
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Jul 27, 2019 11:18
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Some questions or thoughts, since you guys are talking about tightening up old houses and stuff. The air sealing in my house is poo poo, and if I'm not running the AC, the humidity normalizes with the outside. I think my 1991 single pane windows are partly to blame and probably need to be replaced. My siding is some wood fiber poo poo and should be replaced one day, too. The house doesn't have a house wrap, there is just shingles tar paper beneath the siding. A neighbor had his replaced with Hardie planks or shiplap, and the contractor put down some rigid foam sheets and then put a house wrap, like Tyvek, over that before installing the Hardie planks. So, I know my house needs new windows, but doing siding simultaneously is probably out of my budget and I'm not sure what the correct thing to do is. I suspect doing windows first and then the siding later would create some tedious trim issues if thickness is being added to the house with that rigid foam. What would y'all do? For my HVAC question, I think an additional remote return in my house would help circulation, but also my supply ducts are all made from that flex ducting material and i was told at one point that the duct running to my master bedroom had a kink in it. I've been considering getting the ducting completely replaced but it seems like no one wants to install rigid ducts. Is that a thing that is done in residential housing? That is, running rigid ductwork? I think a whole house dehumidifier would also be good for my issues, but I don't know where to start spending my effort, time or money getting quotes. At that point you probably need some sort of fresh air exchanger, right? This is seeming more complicated and expensive as I think about it. Where is the best place to spend my money of I don't have plans of moving in the near future?
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Jul 27, 2019 19:34
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MetaJew posted:Some questions or thoughts, since you guys are talking about tightening up old houses and stuff. New builders here on Texas are still making wraps and gutters optional. Blows my mind.
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Jul 27, 2019 20:19
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Oh yeah my house had no gutters when I bought it. The POs were the original owners as best I could tell. 25 years of rain had dug a little bit of a trench around the house. I really need to go buy we of those concrete gutter downspout pan things so that my gutters spouts aren't tenching the grass.
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Jul 27, 2019 20:41
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Unless you badly need the extra insulation on the walls (because the wall cavities aren't properly insulated) all you really need is Tyvec/house wrap. That should make the whole window thing a lot easier. As to which you should do first/which makes the biggest difference, I'm gonna say windows. Because even if they aren't leaking THROUGH the windows I bet they were installed like poo poo, and you should make sure the replacements are properly foamed around. Then you should make sure the interior trim is properly caulked. If found those two things to make the biggest difference in performance.
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Jul 27, 2019 21:00
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Rigid duct doesn't tend to be done in residential unless you work in sheet metal and can get a good deal from your shop. It's a lot more expensive and easier to gently caress up than just running flex everywhere.
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Jul 27, 2019 22:20
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Motronic posted:Unless you badly need the extra insulation on the walls (because the wall cavities aren't properly insulated) all you really need is Tyvec/house wrap. That should make the whole window thing a lot easier. Yeah, I have at least one window that I know for sure isn't sealing-- I had the foundation inspected before I bought the house, and I haven't noticed any cracks in the drywall or other signs of settling, but I have one aluminum window that has something out of wack and I can't completely latch it. I guess I could get a few quotes from people and see what they say about the siding-- without suggesting the insulation or not. I got some quotes for vinyl, double pane windows from a window installer-- but what you mentioned about the installation and trim being done right is a sort-of-concern. Anecdotally: I watched a poo poo-ton of videos on how to flash and install a new window before I did this:    Versus the cheapo window my contractor replaced for me over the sink, in a sort of "might as well do it while we're here". I hired him/his crew to do a portion of my kitchen remodel (drywall, trenching the slab to run electrical to the island, framing the pony wall):  So, I know for a fact that I did a more thorough and better job of flashing the sill and and everything when I installed the long window-- but I dont' think I have the energy or time to DIY the remaining windows in the home. If I'm going to pull out a window, it's very tempting to remove the entire section of siding so I can get all the sill tape and everything done right, and I just don't have the confidence that a contractor or window installer that I hire is going to do as thorough of a job. The end result:  I'm in Austin, TX -- so our summers are fairly hot/lengthy-- and we get some freezing in the winter, but typically not more than a handful of days. The exterior walls are framed with 2x4s and have batt insulation in them as far as I know. Additional insulation on the exterior walls probably couldn't hurt, but it adds some complication. I would probably be better off redoing the blown-in insulation in the attic, but again the PO clearly had some rodents up there in the past and the existing insulation is pretty gross so it's tempting to have that removed first.
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Jul 28, 2019 00:13
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I like those kitchen windows!  Do windows before siding because the new windows/frames may vary in size. Wrap and cement fiber boards are the standard here. Sometimes people get Italian-inspired? mortar walls but the local humidity means they get mossy and grungy after just a year or two.
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Jul 28, 2019 00:25
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So should I build a porch (long-term solution, but eats into my door shenanigans) or use some of my hundreds of cinder blocks to build a temporary porch to focus on reframing the front door first?
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Jul 28, 2019 14:44
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Depends. Would the temporary porch actually be temporary or are you like me and 'temporary' actually means 'never got around to finishing it so it's effectively permanent'?
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Jul 28, 2019 15:07
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Jealous Cow posted:New builders here on Texas are still making wraps and gutters optional. Blows my mind. I don't think I've ever seen a house here built using house wrap here in Finland or any of the nordic countries. Only ever hear of it from north america.
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Jul 28, 2019 16:26
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His Divine Shadow posted:I don't think I've ever seen a house here built using house wrap here in Finland or any of the nordic countries. Only ever hear of it from north america. I've not seen it on brick/block houses but my neighbour (who is a chippie) put up a wood framed shed-house and wrapped it before cladding it.
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Jul 28, 2019 16:35
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His Divine Shadow posted:I don't think I've ever seen a house here built using house wrap here in Finland or any of the nordic countries. Only ever hear of it from north america. Most residential construction is 99% wood frame with wood wall panels and loose fitting vinyl siding or a engineered wood or cement board product. Our houses will literally mold apart or get eaten by bugs if we aren’t extremely diligent. It was easier when old growth lumber was used. That old wood was basically like concrete that could flex and rebound. New young lumber is wet and soft and gross.
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Jul 28, 2019 17:35
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His Divine Shadow posted:I don't think I've ever seen a house here built using house wrap here in Finland or any of the nordic countries. Only ever hear of it from north america. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlplalGNfFM I mean, if we're linking this guy's channel-- European construction seems like it actually tries to insulate things and use good materials. Maybe housewraps are only used with our cheapo dimensional lumber framing? (I have no idea what I'm talking about.)
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Jul 28, 2019 17:37
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I want to point out that like 90% of houses in the nordic countries are also lumber framed and we don't use old growth lumber either for framing. IMO there's nothing inherently wrong with lumber frame construction. Stone houses really don't work here where it's so cold. Even most brick houses are actually a lumber frame house with a brick facade, that's not thermally bridged to the inside. Maybe they are just a cheap and easy way to get results, or maybe the US is hotter, more houses are actually colder on the inside than outside, opposite of the nordic countries, and that puts more importance on slowing down moisture ingress from the outside in.
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Jul 28, 2019 17:50
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Bathroom is plodding along!
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Jul 28, 2019 22:44
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His Divine Shadow posted:I want to point out that like 90% of houses in the nordic countries are also lumber framed and we don't use old growth lumber either for framing. IMO there's nothing inherently wrong with lumber frame construction. Stone houses really don't work here where it's so cold. Even most brick houses are actually a lumber frame house with a brick facade, that's not thermally bridged to the inside. Bingo Where it's not hot all the time (south, Southwest) it's usually cool (Mid-Atlantic) or cold (northeast and Midwest) in the winter and often warm enough to require or at least really appreciate air conditioning (mid Atlantic and Midwest)
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Jul 29, 2019 00:21
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hailthefish posted:Depends. Would the temporary porch actually be temporary or are you like me and 'temporary' actually means 'never got around to finishing it so it's effectively permanent'? Ah. I see we are the same person.
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Jul 29, 2019 13:46
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