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Bioshuffle posted:Two questions. Depending on the size of the hole, you might want to look at a patch kit, which will make a little more solid fix, more likely to last forever rather than cracking at some point down the line, but yeah, if it's small enough, just cram some mud into the hole. You absolutely don't need to fill the whole space with mud. That would be more or less impossible, but pretty drat funny to see, so let us know if you go that direction. It'll shrink a bit as it dries, so you may need to level it out with another coat when it's done.
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Aug 10, 2020 04:23
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Bioshuffle posted:I had to replace the light fixture. There are three bundles of wires. Copper, black, and white. Is it OK that I bypassed the green screw in the wall mount and connected the copper wire from the wall to the copper wire from the light fixture? I'm no electrician, but my understanding generally is that if something has a ground screw it should be grounded. That includes electrical boxes, which could otherwise get energized and cause a short which might start a fire. More generally, you should follow the installation directions that came with the fixture. quote:Secondly, the previous home owners drilled a hole from a closet to the living room so they could run a wire. Looks like they drilled right through it. Do I need to do anything special when patching said hole? I was going to cram as much mud into the hole and just patch it and call it a day. Do I have to ensure the entire space is packed with mud or something like that? What kind of wire are we talking here? House current shouldn't be run in exposed wires (not counting extension cords so long as they're not permanently installed); it should be protected by conduit so that there's reduced danger of accidentally cutting the wire open and electrocuting yourself, or of accidentally yanking on the cable and pulling it loose at one end. Relatedly, the wire's supposed to be secured at regular intervals and at the ends so that it's hard to pull loose. If it's not house current, then whatever. Holes in drywall can be patched with mud or caulk or probably a few other options too, just go with whatever's easiest.
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Aug 10, 2020 04:27
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They just ran a coaxial cable from room to room and decided to drill a tiny hole in the wall to do it. I did not test the copper wire with a multimeter, but plain copper is usually ground, isn't it? The black wire was stripped a little too far, so I just wrapped some electrical tape around it. Probably unnecessary since the white cable wasn't exposed, but I figured I may as well wrap it. My next thing on the list is hanging up mirrors. I'm terrified of hitting something I'm not supposed to like a water or electric line. Would a stud finder solve this issue?
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Aug 10, 2020 05:27
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El Mero Mero posted:
Process looks good. I like denatured alcohol for wiping down before painting but a basic cleaner/degreaser will work as long as it's something that doesn't leave a residue or you wipe it really clean. Pay particular attention to cleaning around the hardware where people's grubby oily hands touch a lot. Skip the oil primer and get a good water based bonding primer- I'd look at Sherwin Williams Extreme Bond, Insl-X Stix, or XIM UMA. These will all bond and adhere best with a thinner application, if you're seeing through the primer a bit you're doing it right and a foam roller is cool for that. I don't think two coats of primer is necessary but it won't hurt anything either. For topcoat there are good water based acrylic-alkyd hybrids and urethanes that will do well. Benjamin Moore Advance or Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane are good options. Skip the foam roller for the topcoat and use a thin microfiber or woven roller cover. I'd go for three coats of the topcoat. Those products are made to level very well, so don't over work them when applying, thin even coat and walk away or you'll end up creating brush and roller marks. Give everything the full recommended dry time in between coats to ensure best curing for adhesion and durability. Avoid handling the painted surfaces any more than is necessary or cleaning at all for several weeks as the topcoat fully cures.
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Aug 10, 2020 13:15
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Lester Shy posted:Is there any way to identify this bulb? I just bought some G8 LEDs to replace some of those, def look into that. Using 1/8 the wattage as before, and there was a good selection of light temps to choose from.
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Aug 10, 2020 14:23
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:I'm no electrician, but my understanding generally is that if something has a ground screw it should be grounded. That includes electrical boxes, which could otherwise get energized and cause a short which might start a fire. More generally, you should follow the installation directions that came with the fixture. Ungrounded junction boxes are both a fire and electrocution hazard. What happens is if the wire nut somehow slips off of the hot wire and the hot wire touches the junction box and it's grounded that should throw the breaker. If it's not grounded you now have a hot junction box just waiting for the next time somebody is in the attic or servicing the box. Maybe they touch it. Maybe they put some aluminum backed radiant insulation down on it temporarily. Either way it will likely be AOK for very long time but there is a small chance it could be very bad.
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Aug 10, 2020 15:02
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Bioshuffle posted:They just ran a coaxial cable from room to room and decided to drill a tiny hole in the wall to do it. quote:I did not test the copper wire with a multimeter, but plain copper is usually ground, isn't it? The black wire was stripped a little too far, so I just wrapped some electrical tape around it. Probably unnecessary since the white cable wasn't exposed, but I figured I may as well wrap it. If you have black, white, and bare, then it's a pretty reasonable assumption that the bare is ground. Something would have to be pretty loving wacky for that to not be the case. Re: mirrors, they're heavy, so you absolutely want them hung on studs and not just bare drywall. So yeah, use a stud finder. Where water and electricity have to cross studs, they're supposed to be run through holes cut in the middle of the stud. You can safely assume that a stud is at least 3.5" deep (a.k.a. the width of a 2x4), so as long as your screws don't go more than 1" into the stud you should be fine. Remember to account for the thickness of the drywall as well. I think there's also rules about putting said holes a certain distance from the ends of the studs. In any case it's pretty stupendously bad luck to hit a pipe or wire with a screw, but it's been known to happen. I don't know how to avoid it in the general case.
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Aug 10, 2020 16:41
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I'm a house painter but a ton of clients in the last few weeks have asked me to refinish their decks. Some with stain and some with paint.. I know prep work is everything when it comes to decking but what's the general consensus on non awful finishes that won't fail after one Midwestern winter?
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Aug 10, 2020 19:14
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Stack Machine posted:Ungrounded junction boxes are both a fire and electrocution hazard. What happens is if the wire nut somehow slips off of the hot wire and the hot wire touches the junction box and it's grounded that should throw the breaker. If it's not grounded you now have a hot junction box just waiting for the next time somebody is in the attic or servicing the box. Maybe they touch it. Maybe they put some aluminum backed radiant insulation down on it temporarily. Either way it will likely be AOK for very long time but there is a small chance it could be very bad.
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Aug 10, 2020 19:58
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Found a bottle of bleach that was leaking into the wooden floor. Looks like it may have eaten through the floorboard to the subfloor. What's the best way to clean up the bleach and determine if it's caused any other damage that needs to be addressed
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Aug 11, 2020 03:00
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My dishwasher is tilting forward; looks like there just a pair of chintzy brackets screwed into the particleboard counter than are pulling out. I stuck some shims underneath to keep it level; is that good enough as a semi-permanent fix, and if not what should I be buying to fix it right?
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Aug 11, 2020 15:16
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Toebone posted:My dishwasher is tilting forward; looks like there just a pair of chintzy brackets screwed into the particleboard counter than are pulling out. I stuck some shims underneath to keep it level; is that good enough as a semi-permanent fix, and if not what should I be buying to fix it right? There should adjustable feet at all 4 corners. You may have to remove a kick panel to get to them. If they’re past their adjustment range, shims. Those screws under your counter are just into particle board and shouldn’t be bearing the load of keep the washer level.
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Aug 11, 2020 15:35
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Plus, depending on the design of the dishwasher and/or how often you open it during the dry cycle, steam will turn that particleboard back into loose sawdust and you will get no purchase from the screw.
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Aug 11, 2020 16:04
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I think they are just there to keep the washer from walking out of it's cubbyhole over the years as it's opened & closed.
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Aug 11, 2020 16:49
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HycoCam posted:At least one 4" screw with star drive (vs philips or square) in the top hinge is a really good idea, especially if you have solid/heavy doors. I really want to get this fixed before the cats move in so I can have the door wide open. Here are some pictures of what I am working with. https://imgur.com/a/4zgmTpu
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Aug 11, 2020 17:47
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eddiewalker posted:There should adjustable feet at all 4 corners. You may have to remove a kick panel to get to them. If they’re past their adjustment range, shims. Are these vertical black rails the feet? They don't seem too adjustable but I didn't fiddle with them much (it's a mid-2000s ish Whirlpool, if that makes a difference)   It's just a slight tilt, so shims should do it.
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Aug 11, 2020 23:23
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Toebone posted:Are these vertical black rails the feet? They don't seem too adjustable but I didn't fiddle with them much (it's a mid-2000s ish Whirlpool, if that makes a difference) I’d expect the feet to be threaded into the horizontal silver rails. Maybe they were removed to fit into your cabinet opening.
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Aug 11, 2020 23:33
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Flash Gordon Ramsay posted:Plus, depending on the design of the dishwasher and/or how often you open it during the dry cycle, steam will turn that particleboard back into loose sawdust and you will get no purchase from the screw. I put a strip of foil tape under mine to deflect the steam for that reason. Nice easy step to take if you have some handy.
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Aug 12, 2020 00:00
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I have a hole in my drywall. How do I know if I need to add mesh tape to it or not? Basically, what is the size tolerance where you can get by with just some joint compound? It's a place where they drilled a big hole to run a coaxial cable, so I don't exactly need structural integrity. I just want that eyesore gone.
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Aug 12, 2020 04:03
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Coax should be fine. It’ll probably slightly shrink into a little divot, perhaps with a minute crack, just hit it again when it dries.
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Aug 12, 2020 04:31
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Here's is what I am dealing with. https://imgur.com/a/dnt3LAD So, basically, patch it with some mud, let it dry, sand, then repatch it, right? Bioshuffle fucked around with this message at 17:07 on Aug 12, 2020 |
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Aug 12, 2020 14:49
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Bioshuffle posted:Here's is what I am dealing with. Should be good, I think. Also, remove the . from your image url
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Aug 12, 2020 16:19
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My friend has been getting some water intrusion in her basement along the back wall. She has a sump pump in the corner back there, but there doesn't appear to be any sort of drainage channel to route water over to it, so the water that's coming in just rolls forward from the point of entry and never goes into the sump. Obviously one solution would be to cut a channel into the cement back there and put in proper drainage to move the water into the sump pump. I was thinking that as a less expensive, medium-term solution though, putting a one inch high barrier on top of the cement would work to steer the water over to the sump. Basically for the price of a bag of cement and some scrap wood to frame it out, we could buy a bunch of time to install something more technically correct. So my questions are, first is this a horrible idea for some reason I've not thought of yet? And second, is there a name for a product that could be expoxied down to a concrete floor for this purpose, or is pouring a little cement ridge also viable? I'm concerned that it might not adhere well enough, vs epoxying down a garage door seal, or some other sort of rubber barrier.
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Aug 12, 2020 20:07
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So Chicago area had a deracho storm blow through a couple of days ago, and a microburst exploded a big cottonwood tree in the back of my yard. Some pretty sizable limbs broke off, maybe half of the crown in all. Problem is, this cottonwood is surrounded by shorter pine trees, and the large branches are now all hung up in the adjacent trees. These limbs are probably 12-15" thick where they broke off, maybe 20' long. They look like they're wedged in place pretty solidly, but who knows when the pine trees will give and they'll fall. Is there any way to safely remove these limbs myself? Or is the only real option to call in a tree service/arborist?
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Aug 12, 2020 20:31
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Assuming your sizing is close to accurate and also assuming those look to be fairly high up, you need to get a pro out there. I cut up a slightly bigger downed limb a few years back that had one end on the ground and the other caught about 8ft up in another limb and even in that situation it required careful planning to not have the tension in the limb half resting on the ground to not kill me as I cut it up.
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Aug 12, 2020 20:51
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Yeah, break out the wallet. Call a pro. Per usual ask if they are licensed/bonded.
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Aug 13, 2020 01:34
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C-Bangin' it 
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Toebone posted:Are these vertical black rails the feet? They don't seem too adjustable but I didn't fiddle with them much (it's a mid-2000s ish Whirlpool, if that makes a difference) Whatever feet were therem were removed in the past. There might be a female-threaded face on the bottom of the black square post, but there isn't room to get the unit in there with tham on. Get yourself some shims, or split down a couple of cedar shakes. Get a flatbar, pry up the body and shim it.
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Aug 13, 2020 03:09
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armorer posted:My friend has been getting some water intrusion in her basement along the back wall. She has a sump pump in the corner back there, but there doesn't appear to be any sort of drainage channel to route water over to it, so the water that's coming in just rolls forward from the point of entry and never goes into the sump. Obviously one solution would be to cut a channel into the cement back there and put in proper drainage to move the water into the sump pump. I was thinking that as a less expensive, medium-term solution though, putting a one inch high barrier on top of the cement would work to steer the water over to the sump. Basically for the price of a bag of cement and some scrap wood to frame it out, we could buy a bunch of time to install something more technically correct. It doesn't seem worth it to do in concrete - it's going to be a pain to get that to adhere to the existing stuff. As far as products go, there's some specialty water diversion products, but they tend to be expensive. If you don't really care about looks, I'd probably just go with some vinyl quarter round and some construction adhesive. I'm not sure that'll fix the issue though. If there's no slope towards the sump, the water might just end up pooling.
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Aug 13, 2020 15:40
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devicenull posted:It doesn't seem worth it to do in concrete - it's going to be a pain to get that to adhere to the existing stuff. As far as products go, there's some specialty water diversion products, but they tend to be expensive. If you don't really care about looks, I'd probably just go with some vinyl quarter round and some construction adhesive. Ah, that is a good cheap option. The water will end up pooling, to be sure, but she got around 40 gallons of water the last big storm, and that would mostly end up in the sump. The lip of this "tub" would be high enough that water would flow into the sump before it would overflow the lip. The thought here is that $20 and an hour of work might at least contain the problem to be "water along the back wall of the basement" rather than "shallow water all over the basement floor". Proper drainage is the right answer of course, but I'm not comfortable cutting up her floor to put that in, and a basement waterproofing company is going to want a decent chunk of change.
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Aug 13, 2020 15:51
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Toebone posted:Are these vertical black rails the feet? They don't seem too adjustable but I didn't fiddle with them much (it's a mid-2000s ish Whirlpool, if that makes a difference) It also looks like someone decided to tile-in/trap the dishwasher there when they installed the flooring. I didn't want to destroy my tile or remove my countertop when that happened to me so I had to literally cut my dishwasher in half with an angle grinder to get it out.
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Aug 13, 2020 16:07
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El Mero Mero posted:It also looks like someone decided to tile-in/trap the dishwasher there when they installed the flooring. I didn't want to destroy my tile or remove my countertop when that happened to me so I had to literally cut my dishwasher in half with an angle grinder to get it out. Yep, same thing here with the flooring. I can't remember how I got the old one out but getting the new one in required me to crank all the legs up, jam it in, then take a 1/16 turn for eternity on a tiny ratchet on the legs again.
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Aug 13, 2020 18:17
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So I am moving into a new place next week, and I finally have a garage to set up my squat rack. I am going to build a 2.75m x 2m platform, with either a 25mm OSB or 25mm MDF sheet as a base, and 30mm rubber gym flooring on top. Problem is, the concrete is flat for about 1.5m but then it begins to gradually slope down towards the garage door. Not a massive drop, but would be enough to potentially snap the base wood or make it unstable. What would be the best way to level this off that doesn't involve cement or floor levelling compound (unless they make a removable one I don't know about), but could potentially take 200-300kg being dropped on it?
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Aug 13, 2020 21:11
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Attempting my first thing ever, and feeling dumb that I'm already stumped. I bought a pull-up bar to mount in my garage so my body doesn't become even more goon-like during this time and am trying to figure out how to mount it. Using a stud finder, I found what I thought were studs at the proper 48'' spacing, but upon drilling in, found it to be hollow underneath. I found a photo of my garage while it was still under construction and it seems to confirm it. The wood next to the window is recessed back which is why I didn't hit anything when I drilled in.  My plan is to get some 2x4s (2x6s?) and mount them horizontally, as shown below (brown outlines) to the studs (yellow vertical lines) and then mount the pull-up bar to the studs. However, the right side of the bar will be on 2x4s that are cantilevered out around 12'', since there's not much to attach them to on that side. There are 3 mounting points on each side on the pull up bar I have so the load is distributed across all 3 studs, so I think this should be strong enough, but just wanted to get another opinion before I start putting more holes in my walls. 
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Aug 13, 2020 21:15
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I have a set of three under-cabinet GY8.6 puck lights in my kitchen. One operates just fine. The other two used to work, but now they only light up if you're actively holding the bulb in the socket. Once you stop holding them, the pins slide out just enough to disconnect. Is there any way I can make the connection tighter? Obviously I'm not going to do it, but if I wasn't terrified of fire, you could wedge a little shim in there and hold the bulb in place. It just needs a tiny bit of encouragement to stay where it's supposed to.
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Aug 15, 2020 03:41
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Push the pins in towards each other a little, so they grab the holes? e: to this day, every time I see your avatar, I think that's a man doing a skit as a woman. I've watched the actual bit. It still gets me.
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Aug 15, 2020 06:09
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PainterofCrap posted:Push the pins in towards each other a little, so they grab the holes? Hey that did it! Thanks!
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Aug 15, 2020 06:27
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Could use some advice... I seem to have dug myself into a literal hole. Rented a tow behind auger, and after the fifth hole I seem to have hit a large rock which knocked it a bit kilter and then it dug itself in.  No problem, it’s got reverse, right? Nope! It’s stuck backwards and forwards. I can give it a little kick in either direction, and that’s about it. I moved the handle up and started digging out around it but ran out of daylight. I have this thing till tomorrow afternoon, but I’d like to get it out so I can finish my holes. I’m thinking I might disconnect the head and put a bigass pipe wrench and cheater bar on there and try twisting it out maybe? It’s probably about 3’ deep and cutting around with a drain tile shovel and posthole digger just isn’t doing as much as I’d hope.
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Aug 16, 2020 03:22
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Might be a two-person job, but repeatedly forward/reversing it while trying to pull it out might work? I've done similar things to unstick a drillbit.
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Aug 16, 2020 03:35
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Might be a two-person job, but repeatedly forward/reversing it while trying to pull it out might work? I've done similar things to unstick a drillbit. That was my first while spent working on it, digging out behind and forward/reversing it. It’s stuck good though. Put a hazard fraught pipe wrench on there and a cheaper bar, and snapped the pipe wrench.  Going to try a bigger one and put it around the bit so it’s grabbing around the expected axis 
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Aug 16, 2020 14:04
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OSU_Matthew posted:That was my first while spent working on it, digging out behind and forward/reversing it.  Sorry for your tragedy, but this is hilarious. "275 ft. lbs. torque (approximate)" is the power that got you into this mess and now it's probably literally a rock and a hard place holding you down. You're going to need quite the bit, quite the bite, and quite the cheater bar to get this thing out. Got a welder? I don't know what your daily rate on that thing is, but a new auger is $155 on the HD website. Attach your fence post to this auger. Were you at 100% throttle when it got stuck? Comedy option: Rent a second auger, dig a hole adjacent to it. For some reason my mind keeps wandering to water, like letting a hose go into the hole until it's a soupy mess, but with 3ft of depth to make soupy I have no idea if it would just compact everything more.
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Aug 16, 2020 15:10
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