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Sirotan posted:Stopped by my house for the first time since I put on the last coat of poly. I put three coats of water based floor poly on my cork floors. What I discovered was that bubble formation is highly dependent on your applicator and technique. I tried using a very thin foam roller that some had suggested, in the master closet and got a poo poo ton of bubbles. But the lighting is bad in there and I don't care. I then went out and found a synthetic pad applicator and used the technique of straining the poly into a watering can, putting a thin puddle of poly and then pulling it across the floor with the pad, kind of like a squeegee. I know that the maker of the applicator also sells a wool pad used for oil based poly, I believe. I bought them at Home Depot, but I don't recall the brand. It wasn't located anywhere near the flooring poly or paint section.
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Nov 8, 2019 00:02
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I'm at the house now and just finished sanding one of the bedrooms. When I wipe it down with mineral spirits, it looks really nice and smooth. Now that I'm staring at it, I can see my brush strokes still visible in places, especially where I had to go in at an angle. I think thinning it will really help.
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Nov 8, 2019 00:18
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Sirotan posted:I'm at the house now and just finished sanding one of the bedrooms. When I wipe it down with mineral spirits, it looks really nice and smooth. Now that I'm staring at it, I can see my brush strokes still visible in places, especially where I had to go in at an angle. I think thinning it will really help. Absolutely do better if you can, but understand that you will never notice that poo poo again after a few months of living there with things in the rooms.
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Nov 8, 2019 02:07
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I can see the brush strokes in my floor poly. Wabi Sabi, my dude.
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Nov 8, 2019 02:30
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I can accept less than perfect but even my half blind mother could see it looked like poo poo. Put down another coat on one room + a hallway. Thinning it with mineral spirits made a huge difference. I'll stop by tomorrow afternoon and see how it looks.
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Nov 8, 2019 04:55
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Yep, definitely always thin with mineral spirits. This means it will take more coats to get proper coverage, but it won't have bubbles. I use wipe on poly or just regular poly thinned with mineral spirits for all of my finishing now after being frustrated by bubbles in the past.
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Nov 8, 2019 14:11
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So, I own a duplex (or semi-detached, whatever you want to call it), built in the 1950s. My family and I live on one side, and I have tenants renting out the other side. Right now, we have an unfinished basement, and my wife and I are looking to spruce it up as cheaply as we can, but without it just flat-out sucking. First of all, we need to declutter it, as we keep a lot of boxes filled with crap we likely don't need or want anymore. Secondly, we're thinking of putting down vinyl tiles throughout most of it, though I'm probably not going to bother putting those around where the washer, dryer, water heater, and furnace are (they're all in one section of the basment). We also are looking to put down mats, either foam or otherwise, to make the whole place cozier and more liveable, but that's after we try and fix up the walls. The basement isn't in bad shape, but it's just kind of gross, in general. There doesn't seem to be any major problems with it, but it's going to need some work done. I'm not necessarily looking for advice yet (though it's welcome); I'm mostly posting this as we'll be starting our work on it tonight, and I'll be updating the thread with our progress (edit: with pictures, of course). I'm far from handy, but I'm legitimately looking forward to this, especially since we have two kids, and having an extra area that would be good enough for them to play in sounds great and is generally our aim with this project. Rupert Buttermilk fucked around with this message at 16:37 on Nov 8, 2019 |
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Nov 8, 2019 16:06
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Rupert Buttermilk posted:First of all, we need to declutter it, as we keep a lot of boxes filled with crap we likely don't need or want anymore. One thing which has greatly improved our (my) hoarding of junk is to buy a zillion reasonably sized identical sterilite/Rubbermaid bins with the clips on the side to keep the lid on. Sort your crap and label them, then you have easily stackable, shelvable, labeled, visible junk. Don't go into it thinking you need to get rid of anything. Now you can get rid of all those musty rotting paper based boxes. It's OK if some or half of them are not completely full or super optimised. It is way nicer to have easy to lift / move units of "Halloween" than a grab bag of junk.
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Nov 8, 2019 16:45
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H110Hawk posted:One thing which has greatly improved our (my) hoarding of junk is to buy a zillion reasonably sized identical sterilite/Rubbermaid bins with the clips on the side to keep the lid on. Sort your crap and label them, then you have easily stackable, shelvable, labeled, visible junk. Don't go into it thinking you need to get rid of anything. Now you can get rid of all those musty rotting paper based boxes. We actually have a few of those already, and they work great. Right now, though we have a LOT of boxes, so we definitely have to pair (pare?) down first, and then see whatever's left to then likely store in totes, as you mentioned.
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Nov 8, 2019 17:08
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Rupert Buttermilk posted:We actually have a few of those already, and they work great. Right now, though we have a LOT of boxes, so we definitely have to pair (pare?) down first, and then see whatever's left to then likely store in totes, as you mentioned. Pare, as in paring knife, something which can be used to pare down a pair of pears.
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Nov 8, 2019 17:46
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Jaded Burnout posted:This happened when I bought my house too, the estate agent basically scoffed at my offer, so I left it at that. A few weeks later they came crawling back asking if the offer was still on the table. Just as an update, this is exactly what happened.
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Nov 8, 2019 17:50
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Nevets posted:Pare, as in paring knife, something which can be used to pare down a pair of pears. Ah, gotcha. Ok, so this has pretty much sold me on vinyl planks. Any thoughts from anyone? Tips? Things to look out for? We have one drain in our basement with the floor dipping down for water flow, but that's all near our water heater and washer/dryer, which isn't somewhere I'd be bothering with putting this. EDIT: I should add that I'm nowhere near water or rising water levels, so my basement only has sort of a general mustiness to it, but doesn't get super damp or flooded whatsoever.
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Nov 8, 2019 18:47
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Rupert Buttermilk posted:We actually have a few of those already, and they work great. Right now, though we have a LOT of boxes, so we definitely have to pair (pare?) down first, and then see whatever's left to then likely store in totes, as you mentioned. I mean like buy 24 of them and keep the receipt, you can get 60 day returns at some stores. Then there is no pressure to pare down your pairs of junk to singles of junk. It helped us actually get it done. Don't let perfect be the enemy of done for stuff like that. Rupert Buttermilk posted:Ah, gotcha. I am posting this atop https://www.homedepot.com/p/LifeProof-Fresh-Oak-8-7-in-x-47-6-in-Luxury-Vinyl-Plank-Flooring-20-06-sq-ft-case-I96711L/300461638 in my office which is a room attached to my garage with a leveled concrete slab. It is awesome in the month I've had it.
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Nov 8, 2019 18:58
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Rupert Buttermilk posted:Ok, so this has pretty much sold me on vinyl planks. Any thoughts from anyone? Tips? Things to look out for? We have one drain in our basement with the floor dipping down for water flow, but that's all near our water heater and washer/dryer, which isn't somewhere I'd be bothering with putting this. I've installed this twice in the last year or so. First was a 1 story house that has cement and no basement, seamless across all rooms. Tiny place, 800sq feet (2bedroom, living room, bath, kitchen, mechanical area). This house was the vinyl plank at home depot per above, although a different color. Second was a bathroom in a different house. General thoughts are that it's moderately finicky. The edges are quite precise and you cannot have any particles or grains of dirt or whatever on the edges at all or it won't snap together properly. Basically you have to cut it in a different room/area to keep it clean. You absolutely cannot snap them together by hand, you have to have a tool made to bang on with a mallet + a hammer + a pry bar to pull in from certain corners. It makes a nice pleasant snap feel/noise when it comes together. It takes much longer to install than you think, at least in my cases 90% of the install was cutting ends and around corners. Be sure to lay it in the right direction and plan to not have short pieces on end, so measure and think about it a lot. If you're just doing one room and that room is a rectangle, its fine. When you do an entire house and have to install some of it 'backward' ie the tongue under the groove to keep it seamless, it gets much harder. One trick I learned far too late was to cut cleanly in and around door jambs, get one of those oscillating saws that can cut flush on the ground and cut out some of the door jamb from under/behind the trim. The ground has to be pretty flat. If for example your drain slopes a few feet around it, you wont be able to install it right up to the drain, youll have to cut it back to where the slope begins. Durability wise, time will tell. I was happy with the ones I did when I did them, but no longer live at either of those places. I may use this to replace some 80s floor in my newer place for some bathrooms and kitchens, but not in a rush to do that quite yet.
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Nov 8, 2019 19:28
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falz posted:I've installed this twice in the last year or so. First was a 1 story house that has cement and no basement, seamless across all rooms. Tiny place, 800sq feet (2bedroom, living room, bath, kitchen, mechanical area). This house was the vinyl plank at home depot per above, although a different color. Second was a bathroom in a different house. This is super helpful! Thank you, and thanks to the goon above for the link!
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Nov 8, 2019 19:46
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falz posted:Correct, no earthquakes worth a poo poo in Wisconsin. Just have to account for snow load and frost heave. If we got a legit earthquake so much more poo poo would be hosed. Important to remember Simpson's entire business is selling connectors and fasteners, so expect to see lots and lots in the guide. HycoCam fucked around with this message at 20:40 on Nov 8, 2019 |
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Nov 8, 2019 20:38
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Checked on my floors a bit ago, my test room isn't perfect but it's incredibly smooth and flat. Hail satan. I'll finish up the rest on Sunday and hopefully that's the last floor work I'll have to do before I move in.
Sirotan fucked around with this message at 02:47 on Nov 9, 2019 |
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Nov 9, 2019 02:43
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The one issue with installing vinyl planks I have is that the surface underneath them needs to be extremely flat, or you will feel difference in heights while walking over them barefoot. Otherwise, it makes sense from a reliability/price/what's in style standpoint.
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Nov 9, 2019 06:01
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Failed at DIY Step 1. I need to add hooks to the back of my bathroom doors and the supplied screws are going to be too long. Bought a box and when I try to use them I've bought some loving Torx things. All shops here are shut on Sundays. I probably have the right screwdriver bit somewhere but then will have the spectre of being possibly unable to remove them in the future.
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Nov 10, 2019 09:37
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Torx are a superior screw.
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Nov 10, 2019 09:55
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knox_harrington posted:Failed at DIY Step 1. I need to add hooks to the back of my bathroom doors and the supplied screws are going to be too long. Bought a box and when I try to use them I've bought some loving Torx things. All shops here are shut on Sundays. Try cutting them down with a hacksaw or bolt cutters? I had to do that with a hook for a door in my bathroom.
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Nov 10, 2019 13:04
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Jaded Burnout posted:Torx are a superior screw.
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Nov 10, 2019 13:21
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Slugworth posted:I'm just surprised his box of Torx didn't come with the bit. I'm sure they're sold without, but I've never seen it. Depends on the size of the box, I guess.
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Nov 10, 2019 13:59
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Torx are the best. I try to use them exclusively now.
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Nov 10, 2019 14:42
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Square/roberts head 4 life. But really anything but flat/phillips is okay.
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Nov 10, 2019 14:45
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Square/roberts head 4 life. Other than Kreg pocket screws we don't really see those in the UK, Torx best second though.
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Nov 10, 2019 15:02
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Feeling very chastened about my screw based knowledge rn. I will buy a torx screwdriver when the shops can manage to be open. Luckily the instruction book for my central heating is 128 pages long (and in French) so I have something to occupy me.
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Nov 10, 2019 15:20
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cakesmith handyman posted:Other than Kreg pocket screws we don't really see those in the UK, Torx best second though. From wikipedia: quote:Robertson had licensed the screw design to a maker in England, but the party that he was dealing with intentionally drove the licensee company into bankruptcy and purchased the rights at a reduced price from the trustee, thus circumventing the original agreement. Robertson spent a small fortune buying back the rights, and subsequently refused to allow anyone else to make the screws under license. When Henry Ford tried out the Robertson screws, he found that they saved considerable time in Model T production, but when Robertson refused to license the screw design, Ford realized that the supply of screws would not be guaranteed and chose to limit their use in production to Ford's Canadian division.Robertson's refusal to license his screws prevented their widespread adoption in the United States, where the more widely-licensed Phillips head gained wider acceptance.
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Nov 10, 2019 15:29
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I think I stripped out like 4 Phillips screws yesterday so please continue to get your torx on.
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Nov 10, 2019 15:46
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Finally cut a hole in my roof and installed my range hood that's been sitting in a box for almost a year, probably. We did rigid duct from the roof to the ceiling, but pin pointing the hood to the ceiling with rigid duct seemed too hard. And then we discover that the "chimney" telescoping pieces of stainless steel are just slightly too long and doesn't fit between the hood and the ceiling. Byaybe a quarter inch. So now I am debating cutting down the chimney by a small amount or reinstalling the hood maybe an inch lower. 
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Nov 10, 2019 18:21
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MetaJew posted:Finally cut a hole in my roof and installed my range hood that's been sitting in a box for almost a year, probably. We did rigid duct from the roof to the ceiling, but pin pointing the hood to the ceiling with rigid duct seemed too hard. If moving the hood would involve drilling new holes in that tile I know what my decision would be.
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Nov 10, 2019 22:51
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I've got the tile drill bits and it wasn't too hard. Juat have to drill and widen out two 1/2" holes for the drywall hangers. It was relatively painless. If I owned an angle grinder and cutoffs I might be more tempted to DIY but in my current situation I either have to borrow the tools from my friend or go to a metal shop in order to trim it.
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Nov 10, 2019 23:02
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Would the unused holes be visible or covered up by the hood? I supposed you could fill them with caulk either way and they won't show too badly against your white tile. I'd just be concerned that they'd look more noticeable after a few years of grease build up / cleaning cycles.
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Nov 10, 2019 23:22
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Tomorrow I'm starting on a bathroom update. Replacing the floor and sink + vanity. Our bathroom is laid out approximately like this The tops of the "T" are 32.5" wide, and the sink that's in there is only 24" wide so we're constantly knocking poo poo down into that gap. Gonna be picking up some vinyl plank flooring to replace the self-adhesive tiles that are starting to peel off, this sink from Ikea, and then I'm gonna build a sink cabinet. Basically just need support for the sink and a faceframe, and maybe I'll find some drawers in the Ikea as-is section to use. I've got the week off so I'm hoping to have it done by next Sunday (lmao yeah right).
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Nov 11, 2019 02:59
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Nevets posted:Would the unused holes be visible or covered up by the hood? I supposed you could fill them with caulk either way and they won't show too badly against your white tile. I'd just be concerned that they'd look more noticeable after a few years of grease build up / cleaning cycles. None of the holes are visible. We remounted it about two inches lower. 
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Nov 11, 2019 04:40
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I’ve been tearing out carpet so I can lay vinyl plank. There are some gaps in the subfloor between 1/4 and 1/2. Whats the best/correct way to fill these? Also finding a lot of old over spray, do I need to scrape that off?
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Nov 11, 2019 08:21
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DIY carpet laying is a bad idea, right?
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Nov 11, 2019 14:00
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Jaded Burnout posted:DIY carpet laying is a bad idea, right? Carpet always seemed like a hassle but I've heard its pretty okay to DIY? I assume this is using tack stips and not glued down or something like that.
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Nov 11, 2019 14:21
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Jaded Burnout posted:DIY carpet laying is a bad idea, right? How many rooms and how complex? Because I think by the time most of us would get half-good we'd have finished and won't touch it for another ten years. I say pay, but our living circumstances are very different.
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Nov 11, 2019 14:34
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Spring Heeled Jack posted:Carpet always seemed like a hassle but I've heard its pretty okay to DIY? I assume this is using tack stips and not glued down or something like that. The vibe I've been seeing around is "easy to do, hard to do well". cakesmith handyman posted:How many rooms and how complex? Because I think by the time most of us would get half-good we'd have finished and won't touch it for another ten years. I say pay, but our living circumstances are very different. Uh.. relatively simple layouts, with doors and fireplaces being the biggest obstacles. 5 rooms in total.
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Nov 11, 2019 14:48
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