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Phanatic posted:My girlfriend is going to be traveling out of the country for the winter months and leaving her house in southern New Jersey unattended. She doesn't want her pipes to burst, so she looked into getting someone to winterize the place for her and was quoted a price of a few hundred bucks, which strikes me as a few hundred bucks more than it should cost to turn off her water and drain her pipes and water heater. So it's too expensive, but you don't actually know what needs to be done? More needs to be done that you have even come up with so far, and it depends on the house and the appliances. Somebody who actually knows about this needs to walk through the house and figure it out - you're not gonna suss this one out on the internet. And the first time doing this may require modifications. For example, it's hard to believe (but not impossible) that there isn't a main shutoff somewhere other than the curb. But if there isn't it's exceptionally likely that one needs to be installed with a way to drain it nearby.
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Sep 28, 2020 17:58
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Phanatic posted:My girlfriend is going to be traveling out of the country for the winter months and leaving her house in southern New Jersey unattended. She doesn't want her pipes to burst, so she looked into getting someone to winterize the place for her and was quoted a price of a few hundred bucks, which strikes me as a few hundred bucks more than it should cost to turn off her water and drain her pipes and water heater. Knowing the answers to these questions is why you pay someone a few hundred bucks. Depending on the system, they will need to clear it with compressed air, and treat the plumbing traps appropriately.
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Sep 28, 2020 18:06
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Jenkl posted:What are everyone's thoughts on bottom plates in basements? I keep reading a lot of conflicting things re: pressure treated vs. Non + vapour barrier/gasket vs. Both. Perfectly matching sill height isn't going to be something that telegraph's through to the finish, so I wouldnt worry about it. Using treated in this location, especially if it's a modern slab with a subslab vapor barrier, is done to mitigate a very small risk of moisture migrating through the slab and into the framing. It's most important in old buildings and where dirt may be placed up against the sill (like an exterior wall where a homeowner thinks they want grade up to the bottom of the siding). I believe you are talking about an interior wall (does not rest on the foundation), so the risk is already reduced. That said, the products known as sill seal or sill gaskets are uniformly poor. I would use treated wood with them, personally. If you use an EPDM gasket (check out conservation technologies), that's a situation where I've used untreated in the past. The IRC is not crystal clear on the requirement in this context (it revolves around what exactly an "impervious moisture barrier" is - I think an EPDM gasket qualifies and sill seal does not).
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Sep 28, 2020 18:16
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Motronic posted:So it's too expensive, but you don't actually know what needs to be done? This is 100% correct. My buddy has a cabin that is left empty for large chunks of time during the winter, in which the plumbing system was designed specifically to be easy to winterize, and there's still a 30 or so box checklist to make sure everything has been opened and drained, plunged, and had antifreeze poured into all the various traps. I can't imagine trying to get that process right for my house. There's a similarly long checklist for restoring water to everything. To be clear, the cabin is plumbed such that you can open a bunch of low-point drains and all the lines will clear out. This requires drains at all sinks, toilets, dish washer, washing machine, etc. To head off any "is all of that really necessary?" questions, even with the checklist and the plumbing set up the way it is, there have still been ruptured pipes because of subtle things missing from the checklist of not done correctly. Ever seen a toilet break in half by frozen water? That's why the checklist specifically includes plunging antifreeze down into the gooseneck. This is not a simple thing to get right, especially in an unknown property. Personally I would rather pay to keep my heat on low through the winter than risk it in my house.
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Sep 28, 2020 18:23
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Phanatic posted:My girlfriend is going to be traveling out of the country for the winter months and leaving her house in southern New Jersey unattended. She doesn't want her pipes to burst, so she looked into getting someone to winterize the place for her and was quoted a price of a few hundred bucks, which strikes me as a few hundred bucks more than it should cost to turn off her water and drain her pipes and water heater. If it'll help, I live in south Jersey. I imagine she's trying to save money on heating an empty house. However, purging your house of water to the point where freeze damage is highly unlikely is fairly involved. She doesn't need to turn off the water at the curb; there has to be a shutoff somewhere in the house, typically in-line with the main from the street into the house, and on the wall closest to the street. If she is bound & determined to shut the house down cold, then the entire heating system will have to be drained down to the lowest point on the boiler. This involves shutting off the feed from the main, them opening the drain cock, and going round the house and opening each & every radiator to be sure they vent & completely drain. Drain the water heater. Locate the house shutoff, and drain the plumbing supply lines at the lowest point in the house. Even so, you still run the risk of water standing in slumped or back-angled lateral supply lines. The only way to drain those is by blowing the lines out with compressed air. As far as freeze-proofing fixtures goes, she can buy a gallon (or two) of RV antifreeze; dump some in every toilet tank, every toilet bowl, and tub & every sink (to protect the water in the traps). The real cost is setting up the boiler to run again. Recharging the lines involves burping each & every radiator in the house, starting at the lowest level & working your way up, one at a time. In the long run: armorer posted:This is not a simple thing to get right, especially in an unknown property. Personally I would rather pay to keep my heat on low through the winter than risk it in my house. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 02:44 on Sep 29, 2020 |
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Sep 29, 2020 02:25
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PainterofCrap posted:If it'll help, I live in south Jersey. While that was a great effortpost, she just came back to one or more of the following: - Blown out sprayer hoses on sinks - Clothes washer destroyed - Dishwasher destroyed - Air conditioner(s)/condensate pumps destroyed - Water filters/softeners destroyed - Flooded basement/destroyed sump pump(s) - Floor drain traps broken/leaking into the slab - Septic system damage (potentially, depends on setup - some have traps that are not at a frost safe distance and depend on water through the season) - More that I have not thought of. This is SO house specific and very much a thing you prepare for in the basic infrastructure of the home if it's something you want to do this to (like a seasonal cabin). It makes trying to do this to a home that wasn't ever meant for it VERY difficult and very much "get a goddamn expert with insurance".
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Sep 29, 2020 02:43
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Motronic posted:...she just came back to one or more of the following:... I posted the absolute bare minumum. There's other crap you know we're both missing. In conclusion: keep the heat on at 65 minimum. If you're super-paranoid, leave the sinks dripping with the cabinet doors underneath open.
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Sep 29, 2020 02:46
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PainterofCrap posted:In conclusion: keep the heat on at 65 minimum. If you're super-paranoid, leave the sinks dripping with the cabinet doors underneath open. Curious: why is 65 the minimum? Of course you want some buffer zone in case of outages, but surely 40 or 45 would be adequate, and less expensive?
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Sep 29, 2020 03:24
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55 is usually the minimum I see on rental agreements and whatnot, safety buffer for pipes on exterior walls.
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Sep 29, 2020 03:34
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TooMuchAbstraction posted:Curious: why is 65 the minimum? Of course you want some buffer zone in case of outages, but surely 40 or 45 would be adequate, and less expensive? It again depends on the house. 65 is pretty drat safe. Less than that gets into "well, you haven't opened these cabinets under the sink in the last two days, I wonder how good the insulation is on that outside wall compared to the cabinet doors". I'm not too far from south jersey and I'll tell you we've been getting a few days to a week and a half of like 15 degrees for the last 3 or 4 years. It's NOT what these places were designed for and I've seen some "interesting" problems crop up, even in well designed places. PainterofCrap posted:I posted the absolute bare minumum. There's other crap you know we're both missing. We're on the same page here if we're both recognizing this is super bare minimum and somebody who doesn't know any of this saying that "a few hundred bucks" is too much is.....uhhh...pretty likely wrong. I'm not trying to argue with you: someone who actually knows something about this. Motronic fucked around with this message at 04:17 on Sep 29, 2020 |
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Sep 29, 2020 04:14
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Thanks for the explanations; that makes sense. Good thing I live somewhere where it doesn't freeze, because I usually keep my house under 65 during the winter. 
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Sep 29, 2020 04:30
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Motronic posted:While that was a great effortpost, she just came back to one or more of the following: Yup again! We've replaced the mixing valves on the washer at the cabin because they froze and broke (even after draining the feed lines of course, they're set up with quick disconnects). That cabin has a wood stove for heat, no AC, and the septic system and plumbing were specifically designed with winter in mind. So, it's "easy mode" as far as this stuff goes. One time we discovered a disused leg of copper in the ceiling that had frozen and ruptured. We found it because when we turned the water on, it started gushing and a large chunk of drywall came down. We were like "What the hell is that there for?!" shut the water off, cut it further back where it could drain right, and recapped it. Blowing the lines out wouldn't have emptied that. A standard home could have a similar dead end trap somewhere if there's a water hammer arrestor or something hanging off a T.
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Sep 29, 2020 10:51
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armorer posted:... Yup...there's always something that gets missed...and there are typically a lot of unknowns like this in an older home. What I know, I have learned from homeowner's claims. I work in the Philadelphia area, including south Jersey, along the coast - a huge area for seasonal/vacation homes. Every spring, we get an uptick in claims for freeze damage. One of the sneakiest is freeze-proof sillcocks which are installed improperly: they have to be pitched down slightly towards the mouth of the spigot, so that the line drains fully when turned off. When they are not, water accumulates in the back, around the shutoff valve. If there's enough, it can freeze and split the pipe right where it connects to the feed. Since this connection is on the inside of the wall, indoors, the following spring, you'll be out with a hose, turn on the spigot, and it'll start flooding your basement through the split...and you have no idea, since you're outside washing your car or whatever, perhaps wondering why the water pressure seems so low...
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Sep 29, 2020 15:59
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Is all closed-cell insulation roughly equal? I got 3 quotes and they all use different products. I checked the tech sheets and they do vary, though not wild (e.g 1.9 vs 2.03 vs 2.13 lb/ft^3, among others). Assuming I'm getting a similar R value, should I care? And thanks for the info on sill gaskets tezer.
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Sep 29, 2020 16:06
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Vindolanda posted:You should be able to screw into the stretcher - the wood the canvas is on - but just make absolutely sure to use short enough screws that you don’t go through the front. Screws are more usual than nails here. Thanks!
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Sep 29, 2020 19:20
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So I have an unfinished basement I want to semi-finish a corner of, but I want the ceiling to still be fairly easily accessible for doing any additional wiring and so on. I really need to seal up the ceiling for dust control, but I also can't add anything thicker than about 1/2" or my head will rub against the very low ceiling. I'd love something like a drop ceiling but without the drop part. Like cheap panels you can just screw into the joists and unscrew if needed for access? Any ideas?
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Sep 29, 2020 23:25
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Baronjutter posted:So I have an unfinished basement I want to semi-finish a corner of, but I want the ceiling to still be fairly easily accessible for doing any additional wiring and so on. I really need to seal up the ceiling for dust control, but I also can't add anything thicker than about 1/2" or my head will rub against the very low ceiling. I'd love something like a drop ceiling but without the drop part. Like cheap panels you can just screw into the joists and unscrew if needed for access? Any ideas? Drywall is about the cheapest thing you can find that will work for that. You could always cut strategic access holes and put in access panels. Or, just bite the bullet and repair the drywall as needed. If you did furring strips perpendicular to the joists to hang the drywall on, you wouldn't need to cut much to fish wires around, and you'd only lose another 1/2" or so in height on top of the 1/2" drywall. B-Nasty fucked around with this message at 00:27 on Sep 30, 2020 |
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Sep 30, 2020 00:25
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They make surface mount ceiling grid like this. I helped install some years ago they were a little bit of a pain not too bad. I cant speak to how easy they are to remove if you want to take some tiles down for access.
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Sep 30, 2020 04:56
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Midjack posted:Thanks! I should have said this before, but I assume this is a relatively light modern piece and not something passed down from the 1700s? I’d be more hesitant to do the screw into the back technique on the more expensive and heavy type of thing. Feel free to post/dm a picture if you like.
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Sep 30, 2020 08:50
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Vindolanda posted:I should have said this before, but I assume this is a relatively light modern piece and not something passed down from the 1700s? I’d be more hesitant to do the screw into the back technique on the more expensive and heavy type of thing. Feel free to post/dm a picture if you like. You’re correct. The pieces are somewhat valuable but I didn’t have to somersault through lasers to get them. Note Coke can for scale, top of piece is top of image: 
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Sep 30, 2020 09:15
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Midjack posted:You’re correct. The pieces are somewhat valuable but I didn’t have to somersault through lasers to get them. Note Coke can for scale, top of piece is top of image: For those types I’d say most that I’ve hung or seen hung would have very small eye bolts on each side and picture wire. Make sure to twist the wire enough that it won’t undo and put a small wrap of something like masking tape on the twisted ends to avoid stabbing yourself if you reach behind it while hanging (the twisted wires consistently find their way under fingernails). Basically short screws, pilot hole and don’t split the stretcher.
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Sep 30, 2020 09:49
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jeremiah johnson posted:They make surface mount ceiling grid like this. I helped install some years ago they were a little bit of a pain not too bad. I cant speak to how easy they are to remove if you want to take some tiles down for access. They are kinda easy to get down since they are stapled up. The issue is you can't just remove 3 tiles to get to where you need to get. They are interlocked.
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Sep 30, 2020 11:19
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Midjack posted:You’re correct. The pieces are somewhat valuable but I didn’t have to somersault through lasers to get them. Note Coke can for scale, top of piece is top of image: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RVLV6CY
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Sep 30, 2020 17:30
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Vindolanda posted:For those types I’d say most that I’ve hung or seen hung would have very small eye bolts on each side and picture wire. Make sure to twist the wire enough that it won’t undo and put a small wrap of something like masking tape on the twisted ends to avoid stabbing yourself if you reach behind it while hanging (the twisted wires consistently find their way under fingernails). Thanks! I was hoping I could get away with a sawtooth just because I'm a massive failure at ropes and knots (seriously didn't learn to tie my shoes until I was 6 or 7 and I barely made it through Boy Scouts), but I'm having no luck finding screws small enough to replace the tiny nails. A hanging wire should be within my modest skills, though. HycoCam posted:Enough supplies to do lots of frames: Thanks for the link - my local stores stock a similar set as well as a la carte supplies so I should be able to get in business.
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Sep 30, 2020 21:20
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I would hit that with a staple gun if you're worried about a screw. It looks light enough to hang by basically anything.
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Sep 30, 2020 22:06
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Can I just get some advice here? I'm about to start another flooring installation. This isn't my time doing this, I think I'm personally standing at about 20,000+ sq ft installed over the last 15 years so I know a fair amount about doing this. What I'm stumbling on is if I should put joiners in this time to ease installation or is that considered cheating and lazy? I previously did our old master suite and ran the LVT from the bedroom, into the bathroom and into the closet and I did it seamlessly with only two tiny visible gaps at doorframes.   About a year later I discovered two popped seams that would have required me to pull up the entire installation to fix. Had I put a seam in the closet and bathroom doorways I could have easily pulled the opposite side of the room up and fixed it without destroying the entire room. When I did our basement and foyer I again went seamless and ran into the closet for a cleaner installation   These were tricky but I was able to make it work with the seams hidden under the door frames. The new house has a much larger basement and the existing floor had several popped seams that because of how it was installed would have required pulling up the entire floor to correct. So they smeared caulk in there instead. So this is what I'm thinking, I'll put the T moulding in both closet doorways and the space between the two rooms (there is no physical door there). Am I overthinking this? Being lazy? Just looking for some input 
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Oct 1, 2020 12:48
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Having T-moulding for transitions is one of those things that I think you notice the first few times you look at it and then just stop caring about. So that's my opinion, for what it's worth.
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Oct 1, 2020 14:22
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Knicked a black 1" sprinkler line with a shovel. How do I patch it? I can't seem to find the same type of 1" flexible pipe at big box stores
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Oct 1, 2020 19:12
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Chef Boyardeez Nuts posted:Knicked a black 1" sprinkler line with a shovel. How do I patch it? I can't seem to find the same type of 1" flexible pipe at big box stores Those lines go together with hose barb fittings, if it's just a knick you may be able to cut it right there and put it right back together. We used to sell those lines and fittings at Ace Hardware when I worked at one years ago, so try someplace like that or see if you have a local irrigation/landscape supply store. The pain is digging it up far enough in each direction so you have enough flex in the pipe to get the barb in there. May be worth trying some plumbing repair tape if it'll hold, if splicing with a barb proves too difficult.
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Oct 1, 2020 19:28
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Home Depot / Lowes should definitely have 1" black poly irrigation line in the plumbing section. If it's just a small nick in the line you can cut it out, add a coupling and a few hose clamps, and you'll be good to go.
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Oct 1, 2020 19:30
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Chef Boyardeez Nuts posted:Knicked a black 1" sprinkler line with a shovel. How do I patch it? I can't seem to find the same type of 1" flexible pipe at big box stores Another, less elegant/going to blow up sooner, option is to slice a short piece of the same diameter hose so you can snap it over the hole and then zip tie the patch in place.
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Oct 1, 2020 19:31
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Rhyno posted:Can I just get some advice here? T-moldings are fine. I see them all of the time.
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Oct 1, 2020 19:50
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Final Blog Entry posted:Those lines go together with hose barb fittings, if it's just a knick you may be able to cut it right there and put it right back together. We used to sell those lines and fittings at Ace Hardware when I worked at one years ago, so try someplace like that or see if you have a local irrigation/landscape supply store. The pain is digging it up far enough in each direction so you have enough flex in the pipe to get the barb in there. May be worth trying some plumbing repair tape if it'll hold, if splicing with a barb proves too difficult. Thanks thread! My understanding is that I should have some hot water on hand to soften the ends.
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Oct 1, 2020 19:59
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My shop-vac was overheating and smelling of burnt plastic. Not great. Took it apart and cleaned it, but now it won't turn on at all. Any ideas on things I can check? It all looked fine to my eye but obviously I'm wrong.
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Oct 2, 2020 01:39
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Might be motor brushes. They get hot from arcing then fail completely. If power's getting to the motor and the fan spins freely with no resistance, then the brushes are the next thing to check. If those don't look too worn, something else inside of the motor has fused open and it's not looking good. If power's not getting to the motor it's possible there's a fuse or something internally that was blown, or that your reassembly missed part of the switch or similar. If you have a multimeter with a continuity setting you can trace from the plug to the switch to the motor lead and make sure it will get power when plugged in without having to cautiously alternate between connecting your leads, getting clear, plugging it in, unplugging, and repeating.
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Oct 2, 2020 04:50
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couple small kitchen cabinet questions - mine are framed cabinets with maple doors 1) the doors have these little rubber nub things, presumably to dampen the noise. On one cabinet they work really well, but on most of the others it's quite loud when you close the door. When I compared the two, the nubs are both in a similar position, and both touch the frame when closed. I'm not sure why this is happening, because in both cases, due to the rubber nub things, the door itself doesn't appear to touch the frame, i.e. it's not like the nubs are positioned too far from the corner that they just miss the frame completely. I can take a short video if it's helpful. 2) I was thinking about getting my doors and the frame painted, or just getting new doors and putting them in. Is there any way to create a more "frameless" look with framed cabinets? I was thinking about getting doors that had a larger overlay (mine is 1/2"), but I don't think that works on the hinge side. I wish there was some sort of magical hinge that let the door cover the whole frame.
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Oct 2, 2020 06:35
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Stack Machine posted:Might be motor brushes. They get hot from arcing then fail completely. If power's getting to the motor and the fan spins freely with no resistance, then the brushes are the next thing to check. If those don't look too worn, something else inside of the motor has fused open and it's not looking good. Thanks! I'll look into this. I don't own a multimeter but I've been looking for a good enough excuse to get one  .
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Oct 2, 2020 12:50
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actionjackson posted:couple small kitchen cabinet questions - mine are framed cabinets with maple doors Depending on how wide your face frames are, there may be hinges that will do that. I think they go up to an inch of overlay? Be careful though because the doors need a certain amount of clearance (~3/8"? on the ones I have) between each other or else they will bind when you open them. I'm not exactly sure how well they would work for a retrofit. Fitting hinges isn't always easy and you may need an installer to do it depending on your handiness, even with euro hinges.
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Oct 2, 2020 13:23
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actionjackson posted:couple small kitchen cabinet questions - mine are framed cabinets with maple doors This is definitely possible, did it about two years ago. It requires a whole lot of careful measurements and re-measurements. It really helps if you have CAD and are at least somewhat proficient at it. I definitely would have messed up some of our measurements without fully modeling it all out. You also need to consider adding some additional face frame for an area where two doors are going to open back-to-back, sharing a face frame, if you're trying to keep doors the same size across a certain area. I could take a picture of what I'm talking about because I'm sure that description is clear as mud. Used these hinges (or similar) with the appropriate overlay for each door. https://www.cshardware.com/blumotion-compact-39c-1-1-2-overlay-face-frame-hinge.html For doors, we got simple raw wood shaker panels with maple frames and MDF inserts (since we were painting, not staining) from here: https://www.cabinetdoorsdepot.com/ Everything came out exactly as I dimensioned it down to the 1/16 or 1/8".
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Oct 2, 2020 15:55
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Jenkl posted:Thanks! I'll look into this. I don't own a multimeter but I've been looking for a good enough excuse to get one There was just some multimeter chat over in the learning electronics thread and a cheap auto-ranging one that does at least volts, ohms, and continuity will probably be adequate for most household electrical projects and can be had for about 17 USD.
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Oct 2, 2020 16:22
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