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DrBouvenstein posted:Same...what program was used? I think those are standard sketchup textures.
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Dec 4, 2019 18:22
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TofuDiva posted:I adore your map (plan? rendering?) of the house and its annotations. Thanks! Yeah I just used Sketchup, it's free and super easy for a 3D program. I just plopped a copy of my house's survey down for the outside dimensions and then lined up a copy of the floorplan, traced the walls, and extruded them straight up. Anyway, the plumbing used to run below the house but when they fixed the foundation, they moved the incoming water to the attic, which makes me wonder if there is a leftover pipe coming from under the house (maybe under the tub?). But yeah, I guess I need to find someone who knows what they're doing (and by that I mean put it off forever and eventually move).
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Dec 4, 2019 20:40
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Air vents??? The stink will always win.
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Dec 5, 2019 00:18
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peanut posted:Air vents??? It's highly unlikely for there to be air vents under a slab. My house is on a slab and all the lower level vents are in the ceiling. If the mothballs were near an air intake it might cause issues, but then I would expect the whole house to have that wonderful mothball aroma.
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Dec 5, 2019 15:23
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DrBouvenstein posted:I plan to remove a tiny, pointless closet that's right up against the vanity, and replace it with just a couple floating shelves, try to open up my tiny bathroom as much as possible. So speaking of this, I've looked into how to make floating shelves and it looks like there are two main ways. 1) Get a big slab of wood as thick as you want the shelves to be, and cut it to length and depth. Then drill 1/2-1" wide holes for dowels, rip off ~2" from the backside, screw that backer piece to the studs, then insert dowels and glue and slide on the rest of the shelf. Paint/stain at some point before it goes on the wall, then maybe a quick sand and another coat after it's on the wall to hide the seam. 2) Build a small frame of tuba-fours, screw that into the studs, then cover it with 1x boards and/or plywood and stain/paint. It seems like 1 is a bit easier, though it does require finding a big slab that's thick enough, but I have no table saw OR drill press. I can rip the back part of the shelf with a circular saw with its guide attached, that shouldn't be a problem, but I DO question my ability to drill a straight hole that deep. I know I can make a jig/guide out of a smaller piece of wood to keep it straight, but...I don't even trust myself to get THAT hole straight/true. I guess I need to do some sort of Russian nesting doll of increasingly thicker pieces of wood I drill holes in to slowly get myself to a nice hole drilling jig.
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Dec 5, 2019 15:57
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DrBouvenstein posted:I know I can make a jig/guide out of a smaller piece of wood to keep it straight, but...I don't even trust myself to get THAT hole straight/true. I guess I need to do some sort of Russian nesting doll of increasingly thicker pieces of wood I drill holes in to slowly get myself to a nice hole drilling jig. Would something like this be helpful? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0001P19PY/
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Dec 5, 2019 16:07
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DrBouvenstein posted:So speaking of this, I've looked into how to make floating shelves and it looks like there are two main ways. Are you thinking of a drill guide? https://www.google.com/search?q=dri...x1UayFkGHIaZHM:
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Dec 5, 2019 16:27
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Oh sure, if I was just MADE of drill accessory money I could go get one real quick. I guess that is the best option, I've been trying to avoid buying tools for my "soft" home renovation, just to save on the budget, but that's obviously not going to break the bank.
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Dec 5, 2019 16:46
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PremiumSupport posted:It's highly unlikely for there to be air vents under a slab. My house is on a slab and all the lower level vents are in the ceiling. My last house had airvents through the slab used by some prior HVAC system. They'd been replaced by duct work attached to the ceiling, though
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Dec 5, 2019 16:48
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My hideous Cthulhu stump is being removed on Friday the 13th. 
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Dec 5, 2019 16:59
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Sirotan posted:My hideous Cthulhu stump is being removed on Friday the 13th. Nice! What turned out to be the best way to remove it?
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Dec 5, 2019 17:26
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He's moving.
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Dec 5, 2019 17:31
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TofuDiva posted:Nice! What turned out to be the best way to remove it? Paying someone else to do it!
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Dec 5, 2019 17:35
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Post pictures of the removal!
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Dec 5, 2019 17:36
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SpartanIvy posted:Post pictures of the removal! I absolutely will. Stump grinding might happen on a different day, though.
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Dec 5, 2019 17:38
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Sirotan posted:Paying someone else to do it! 
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Dec 5, 2019 17:58
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DrBouvenstein posted:Oh sure, if I was just MADE of drill accessory money I could go get one real quick. What is a home/car project but an opportunity to acquire more tools?
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Dec 5, 2019 18:12
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DrBouvenstein posted:Oh sure, if I was just MADE of drill accessory money I could go get one real quick. Isn’t the point of a home project to acquire more tools? If not I think I may be doing this wrong.
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Dec 5, 2019 19:13
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I buy tools for projects I haven't even started yet
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Dec 5, 2019 19:25
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^ ^ ^ I've done that PLENTY of times...I've yet to REALLY use my router and router table, did 1 small project with them, and the table was only used because the router was already in it, could have easily done it while holding the router. ^ ^ ^ Obsoletely Fabulous posted:Isn’t the point of a home project to acquire more tools? If not I think I may be doing this wrong. Normally yes, but my goal with the bathroom is to be cheap and nice. I got the flooring on clearance for $15, the paint was someone else's mis-tint for $8, vanity and sink were not on clearance or anything, but I did use my last 15% off coupon to Home Depot from my change of address packet to save money there, etc... Looks like the tile will be the only major thing I'll have to buy at cost...my buddy has some leftover subway tile he's willing to give me, but it's not near enough. I GUESS I could try to then only buy half the tile I need in another color and try to do a pattern, but I'd rather plain white tile, with maybe 1 accent row to add a little "pop" of color since everything else is grey and white. But I suppose a $30 drill guide won't put me over budget. DrBouvenstein fucked around with this message at 20:06 on Dec 5, 2019 |
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Dec 5, 2019 19:59
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I bought my home this spring have have been trying to perform lower budget renovations myself. One thing I've come to terms with is that tools will generally outlast your project by many years, so yeah, it's $30 on a dril press now that you didn't want to spend, but next time you just own the drill press and don't have to spend a dime. Of course, that assumes you aren't spending several hundred hours on niche devices
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Dec 5, 2019 23:37
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SpartanIvy posted:I buy tools for projects I haven't even started yet I bought a jigsaw because I thought I might need it for some project that I don't even remember now. Didn't use it for at least a year but now I've used it probably a dozen times and it was the perfect tool for a job my wife asked me to do just 2 days ago. Debating what my next long con tool purchase will be now.
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Dec 6, 2019 02:20
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tangy yet delightful posted:I bought a jigsaw because I thought I might need it for some project that I don't even remember now. Didn't use it for at least a year but now I've used it probably a dozen times and it was the perfect tool for a job my wife asked me to do just 2 days ago. Look just because I bought my router 6 months ago and it's still in the box. I bought it for a project which is only now getting going.
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Dec 6, 2019 12:13
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DrBouvenstein posted:^ ^ ^ I've done that PLENTY of times...I've yet to REALLY use my router and router table, did 1 small project with them, and the table was only used because the router was already in it, could have easily done it while holding the router. ^ ^ ^ As a man who is an utter disaster when it comes to home projects, I can definitively say that when trying to do things inexpensively, trying to do it with a suboptimal tool is a great way to save $30 in up-front cost only to have to spend more to fix the repercussions of that decision.
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Dec 6, 2019 15:49
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SpartanIvy posted:I buy tools for projects I haven't even started yet I've got a nice battery powered brad nailer still in it's box that I bought a year ago to do some baseboard work. Still haven't done the baseboard work...
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Dec 6, 2019 17:14
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Pretty sure my crown moulding jig will never actually be used.
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Dec 6, 2019 17:21
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Before moving into my new house a month ago I was thinking about buying a whole-house water filter, because I live in Michigan and while I'm not particularly worried about lead, I am about PFAS. Couple weeks back when I did a bunch of research I found that really the only way to deal with PFAS at home is with a reverse-osmosis system. The under-sink kinds require a dedicated faucet, which I hated the idea of. The whole-house versions are $$$$. Then there's the fact that they waste a bunch of water, like 4:1 on some models. I decided I'd just use a Brita filter for now, and left it at that. Woke up this morning to this news: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2019/12/05/detroit-bulk-storage-revere-copper-detroit-river-uranium/2618868001/ which, may end up being nothing (lol, yeah, sure). Anyhooooo it kinda freaked me out a bit since my city gets its drinking water from Detroit. Decided on a two-pronged approach: general whole-house filter with an RO system under the kitchen sink. I'll live with the extra faucet, and I'm hoping I can get a bit creative with the waste water, maybe dump it into a rain barrel type of dealy into my basement, and use the water in the washing machine or for plants, idk. Just some poo poo I learned today that I wanted to pass on: -Reverse osmosis systems can remove uranium, as well as PFAS -Carbon filter and ion replacement pitcher-style filters typically cannot remove PFAS or uranium, unless they are NSF P473 certified -You can find out which products are certified by searching here: http://info.nsf.org/Certified/DWTU/ -Some products will say they exceed NFS standards without actually being certified, it's up to you to decide if you trust this -Uranium in drinking water occurs naturally in Michigan's Upper Penninsula, so a health department there has some good info on it: http://wupdhd.org/environmental-hea...ate-well-water/ I ended up buying this: https://www.aquasana.com/whole-house-water-filters/600k-gallon-rhino $610 shipped with the pro install and a year's worth of pre-filters (I'll get 5% back too thanks to paying via Paypal with my Chase Freedom card). There is a 10yr model too, it is not NSF certified. I had previously considered buying this model back when I was first thinking about this, and have seen that the prices on Aquasana's site can vary greatly. It was over $1000 just a couple of weeks ago. Check out the price changes on their Amazon listing to get a better idea on this: https://camelcamelcamel.com/Aquasana-Whole-House-Filter-System/product/B00XAJKA4E?context=search I don't know yet what kind of under-sink RO system I am going to buy. Maybe this: https://www.aquasana.com/drinking-water-filter-systems/reverse-osmosis-claryum I plan to remodel my kitchen in 6-12 months and would need to replace my sink at the bare minimum to even get an RO system working today, and I don't think I want to spend $200+ on a sink that may need to be immediately replaced. I'm going to do some more research before pulling the trigger here. If you've got one, feel free to give me a rec. Me, after buying a house: 
Sirotan fucked around with this message at 19:12 on Dec 6, 2019 |
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Dec 6, 2019 19:09
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Interesting. I briefly looked into it here recently (I get a lot of limescale deposits from the hard water) and there seems to be pretty much a monopoly here, with a lot of hard sell bullshit. The company likes to hide what their costs are, but turns out to be around £1900. It also adds a bunch of salt to the water (not sure technically what kind of system that makes it) so you can't use it for drinking water and have to bypass it for any taps you'll use for that. I decided it wasn't worth it, but I don't have uranium in the water.
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Dec 6, 2019 19:38
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You can definitely drink softened water, but I personally hate it and also hate the way it feels when you're trying to wash (slimy). Luckily I don't have any issues with hard water at my new place, so I did not have to add on a softener. I probably would never buy a house that needs a water softener system, if I have any choice in the situation.
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Dec 6, 2019 19:46
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Agreed, soft water is the worst. I have been thinking of getting a small RO system for brewing though.
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Dec 6, 2019 19:50
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Sirotan posted:You can definitely drink softened water, but I personally hate it and also hate the way it feels when you're trying to wash (slimy). Luckily I don't have any issues with hard water at my new place, so I did not have to add on a softener. I probably would never buy a house that needs a water softener system, if I have any choice in the situation. That's definitely a thing when a water softener isn't calibrated properly. You're wasting a ton of salt (and recharge water) if the system is set up like that. My well water is so hard soap doesn't work and any water sitting in a sink will dry white and chalky without a softener, but when I calibrated the system (which requires actually testing water hardness a few times) I've got it adjusted to about 60 PPM, just on the lowest end of what's considered "moderately hard." It's like....regular water. Motronic fucked around with this message at 21:13 on Dec 6, 2019 |
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Dec 6, 2019 21:09
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Motronic posted:My well water is so hard soap doesn't work Huh? The tiny town in oklahoma where my grandmother lives used to have really soft water and the only reason I know they've started to fix it is because I don't have to spend ages trying to rinse off the slimy "there is still soap on me" feeling. What does hard water do?
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Dec 6, 2019 22:46
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I think the soap doesn't lather up.
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Dec 6, 2019 23:01
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Friend posted:Huh? The tiny town in oklahoma where my grandmother lives used to have really soft water and the only reason I know they've started to fix it is because I don't have to spend ages trying to rinse off the slimy "there is still soap on me" feeling. What does hard water do? It makes soap about 1/5 to 1/10 as effective, so there’s a lot less to rinse off. Hard water does taste better, but having moved to an area with reasonably soft water recently, I’m loving having a kettle with no limescale in it, and using way less soap for anything.
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Dec 6, 2019 23:08
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Hard water also leaves yellow deposits anywhere that water evaporates, e.g. around plugs and showers. Also you have to buy special teabags.
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Dec 7, 2019 07:38
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Tell me more about special teabags, because I sometimes work with a teabag company about teabag products (I'm just a translator, not an Ideas Guy).
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Dec 7, 2019 15:00
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peanut posted:Tell me more about special teabags, because I sometimes work with a teabag company about teabag products (I'm just a translator, not an Ideas Guy). https://www.yorkshiretea.co.uk/brew-news/a-proper-brew-how-hard-can-that-be I don't drink tea so that's all I know I'm afraid.
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Dec 7, 2019 15:12
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I had a contractor in to replace a bathroom fan and paint the ceiling. Dude sucked at drywall, so the contacting company sent their professional drywall crew out (comped as they normally have like a $400 job minimum). They went above and beyond and did some drywall patching on the walls by mistake. Now my whole bathroom is getting repainted. 
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Dec 7, 2019 15:23
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Friend posted:What does hard water do? In addition to the soap lather thing, it also kills water-using appliances and plumbing fixtures. With hard water, the calcium/magnesium deposits in and clogs small passageways like solenoid valves, strainers, and tubing. It's really worth getting a softener if you have hard water, and most areas, even on public water, probably do. Test strips are less than $10 on Amazon.
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Dec 7, 2019 16:32
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Water doesn't taste like anything. Hard and soft water are typically issues related to well water. If you are on city water and have calcium, magnesium, and iron in your water--that sucks. If you are on city water and worrying about radioactivity--fyl. Hard water has taste because of the stuff that is in the water--the Total Dissolved Solids, of which calcium, magnesium, and probably iron are in there in some amount. Soft water is also known as rain water. Softened water is done by running your water past "charged" resin beads that removes the calcium and magnesium from the water. Based on the size of your softener, those resin beads need to be recharged periodically. This is where the salt comes in--the system is backflushed with a brine solution to release the captured calcium and magnesium from then resin beads and replace the ionic bond with sodium so the system will keep softening water. Most systems recharge once every week or two unless they are under heavy use. If you are recharging your resin beads correctly, the sodium introduced to your water is minor. But if you are concerned about sodium, RO is the only way to go. The sodium is only a problem inside your body, which is why point of use isn't a big deal. You'll want the RO system in your kitchen because that is the only place most people typically consume water. If you think about it, most folks aren't guzzling down while standing in the shower or doing more than rinsing toothpaste out of their mouth at the bathroom sink. Another nice aspect of a kitchen based RO unit is it can be easier to stay on top of maintaining the filters. How far your RO system extends is a function of money. A dedicated faucet is the least expensive. Connecting your main faucet, pot filler, and fridge gets a little trickier, and more expensive, in an existing kitchen. One last trick with the water softeners is adding filter medium like charcoal and/or a redox media like KDF 55. Someone smarter than me might be able to explain KDF 55 filter medium. My experience is to add 10lbs or so to the top of a resin tank to deal with removing heavy metals and sulfur smells from water. Not sure it will work with uranium though--it is rated to handle mercury and lead, I know. My GoogleFu shows a whole house filter insert that will handle uranium? https://ariesfilterworks.com/products/af-series/uranium-removal Google found me this link which goes into a little more detail on the softening process: https://www.freshwatersystems.com/blogs/blog/what-is-a-water-softener-and-how-does-it-work As for shopping for a system--they are all variants of the same thing just with different company stickers. The systems sold on ebay, on Amazon, and across the internet are the same the ones your local water company wants to install. If you aren't comfortable with plumbing or putting 40lb bags of salt in a barrel--find a local company to do the install and servicing. But if you are comfortable with a bit of plumbing, don't mind the hassle of lugging 80-120lbs of salt around every month or so, and willing to use a water test kit--you can do it yourself for about half the cost. I swear I paid less than $50 for a Hach water test kit for hardness, iron, pH, TDS, and chlorine, but not finding it on Amazon for less than $200! Yikes... Water Test kit: https://smile.amazon.com/Pro-Products-Spectrum-Standard-Hardness/dp/B00SE5S2EY Total Dissolve Solids tester: https://smile.amazon.com/Accurate-HoneForest-Temperature-0-9990ppm-Aquariums/dp/B073713G5F The area I live in has water in the 24gpg range of hardness with iron and coal ash seepage into the aquifers. I've been buying from the same guy in Kansas for a long time. Bought my 1st system from him when ebay and paypal were a new thing! Not the best price, but over the years the consistency of the product and their willingness to answer just about every stupid question I can think of keeps me coming back. Don't want to be pimping out sites on SA, but if your looking for info and budgeting prices https://store.afwfilters.com/ has my recommendation. Just to make this tale goonie. In the past, I have had an RO system connected to a toilet. But to be fair it was the toilet the dogs liked to drink out of... This post got too long--quick!
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Dec 7, 2019 17:35
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