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Lawnie posted:I ordered a whirlpool fridge recently with an interior water dispenser and an ice maker in the that dumps into a bucket in the drawer. I think it’s about the least moving parts you can get in a standard consumer-grade fridge and still have water and ice making. This is the exact setup my new Bosch has. I thought it'd bother me more compared to in-door dispensing but it's fine.
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May 4, 2021 23:34
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I'm looking to replace my 28" 2 door fridge with a french door, thankfully it's only hemmed in by cabinets on one side, but the other side is against a doorway, so I can't get 36" of space without a total remodel. But I can do 30, and I think I can even do a little shaving do a 34" fridge. It looks like a lot of the french door fridges of that size have the interior water dispenser plus ice bucket in the freezer, which is a perfectly fine combination for me.
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May 4, 2021 23:43
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Inner Light posted:Nope not dented at all, just the smallest layer (less than 1mm) of the top finish is scratched. It's in the unfortunate valley where anything I do to remediate will probably end up highlighting the area more than the scratch itself. I have a GE fridge. I have been fighting this for YEARS. That motherfucker freezes up at the word "chilly." The way it is designed (at least on mine and older ones) is that the dispenser is right where the ice comes out. So it's eventually gonna freeze. I open the freezer door and shoot a hair dryer at it for about 10 minutes off and on. Yes, my freezer door is open for longer than I'd like but not enough to ruin any food. After a bit water will flow when you press the dispenser toggle. This will last for about 1 goddamn day. I almost bought a special heater but I found a better, simpler way to keep it from freezing again. Get some small sized bubblewrap (some people have just split open a padded mailer) or small cell foam. I harvested mine from a package I got. Duct tape it to the area you just spent for-loving-ever aiming a hair dryer at. Make sure it's sealed nicely against the plastic. This *should* keep it insulated just enough to not freeze. I did this a few months ago and it has not frozen up since. Here's a pic. https://imgur.com/a/A4Akfov Looks horrible, but I do not care.
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May 5, 2021 02:55
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More fridge chat: my Samsung ice maker seized up a few weeks ago. Finally got into it and there a mess of ice matting the entire thing. I was able to chip most of it off and take the thing about 80% apart to make sure it was pretty cleared out. Couldn’t remove the unit itself but hopefully I won’t have to. Apparently the ice machines on these units are notorious for having this issue. Is this a Samsung thing or an all fridges thing? Cuz I’m close to writing off Samsung, except for maybe TVs. Fingers crossed it works and I can have tasty icy drinks again. Will remember to get in there and chunk off some ice regularly
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May 5, 2021 03:14
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Two good days of rain here and now I own a small submersible pump and have learned a lot about the contours of my basement floor. Also. I think my wife learned why I wanted her to put all of her boxes on shelving.
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May 5, 2021 03:19
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Fridge update: I unplugged it -- a pain in the dick because every time I slide the fridge out from inside the built-in cabinet area to access the plug, I'm afraid I'll scrape the floor more -- and after thawing the water works! I'll have to see if it reoccurs and if so explore the funny insulation options, or some other goon said he injects warm water into the spigot with tubing lol. My model is gss25sgpess, there are a few similar ones with the same bad design. How this ever passed even the most basic testing or design approvals, I have no idea. topenga posted:Here's a pic. This is hilarious, nicely done. Inner Light fucked around with this message at 04:08 on May 5, 2021 |
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May 5, 2021 04:04
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Inner Light posted:Fridge update: I unplugged it -- a pain in the dick because every time I slide the fridge out from inside the built-in cabinet area to access the plug, I'm afraid I'll scrape the floor more -- and after thawing the water works. I recommend just flipping the breaker switch for your fridge next time if this is an option for you
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May 5, 2021 04:07
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hobbez posted:I recommend just flipping the breaker switch for your fridge next time if this is an option for you Yes that's a good way, I thought of that and decided against it at the time because I wanted to check out the area behind the fridge anyway. Also it wasn't strictly necessary since I could have turned the digital temp control to 0 for fridge and freezer, I think that accomplishes the same goal.
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May 5, 2021 04:09
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I've heard lots of poo poo about Samsung fridges being... poo poo, so I'm planning on just avoiding them entirely. I was looking at a GE fridge with ice/water, but it's a hidden interior water dispenser with a non-dispenser ice maker in the freezer drawer, so water line freezing issues shouldn't be a problem there, with the water line never going through the freezer and all...
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May 5, 2021 15:00
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Kitchen cabinet question. Want to "upgrade" mine by just replacing the doors/drawers. Frame of the cabinet is a natural wood color, the doors and drawer fronts are builder grade poo poo from the mid-90's that appear to be press board or something with a "paper" type poo poo on the front. Know of any places that just sell cabinet doors? I've measured them all from the insides, the hinges are not recessed so that should be easy to replace. I don't want to dump $10K on a new kitchen set when the cabinets are in fine shape aside from the door fronts starting to peel off from the front.
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May 5, 2021 15:05
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Douchebag posted:Kitchen cabinet question. Want to "upgrade" mine by just replacing the doors/drawers. Frame of the cabinet is a natural wood color, the doors and drawer fronts are builder grade poo poo from the mid-90's that appear to be press board or something with a "paper" type poo poo on the front. There are a bunch of regional cabinet companies around cities of all sizes that will quote and do this work. For finding one I guess it would be the same as any other contractor, Yelp would be one place, or if you've worked with a tradesperson before they may have referrals to give, as a lot of the business is word-of-mouth from my understanding. Some quality people won't have easily findable websites or Yelp listings unfortunately. And from what I've read on the forums, the person you want is the one booked up for a few weeks, not the one ready to go tomorrow.
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May 5, 2021 15:11
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hobbez posted:More fridge chat: my Samsung ice maker seized up a few weeks ago. Finally got into it and there a mess of ice matting the entire thing. I was able to chip most of it off and take the thing about 80% apart to make sure it was pretty cleared out. Couldn’t remove the unit itself but hopefully I won’t have to. It's s Samsung fridge thing. I work in major appliance repair and I can't even begin to tell you how many of these things I've dealt with. This icemaker issue has been ongoing for so long that they've developed a pretty solid fix for it, and depending on how old the fridge is, Samsung might pay for the parts to fix the issue. You'll still be on the hook to pay the repair guy to come out though. In my market the parts can run $200-450 retail so it's worth it to go after Samsung to pay for it.
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May 5, 2021 15:16
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Is 2.5% on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage a decent interest rate for refinance? Is there a better rate out there that I'm missing?
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May 5, 2021 15:20
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rt4 posted:Is 2.5% on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage a decent interest rate for refinance? Is there a better rate out there that I'm missing? Whether or not refinancing makes sense depends on more than just the interest rate of the new loan, there are also points and what your upfront costs will be. In a generic sense, it does seem like interest rates in the US hit their bottom from what I skimmed around.
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May 5, 2021 15:27
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FISHMANPET posted:I've heard lots of poo poo about Samsung fridges being... poo poo, so I'm planning on just avoiding them entirely. Not a bad idea. There's 2 major issues I'm aware of with them. 1 is the icemaker thing, and the second is a drain line on the refrigerator evaporator area doesn't drain properly and freezes the coils into a block of ice. Both are fixable, there multiple youtube videos on fixing those issues. If you're handy you can pick up a few year old Samsung that someone else is super pissed off with on FB or Craigslist for super cheap, and fix it yourself. Avoid the Family Hub fridges. It might be cool to have a giant tablet built into your fridge, but Samsung has a real nasty habit of abandoning stuff after only a few years. I have a friend with a Samsung Smart TV that has basically been abandoned by Samsung, can't update it, most of the apps don't work anymore. I'm not buying a 4,000 dollar fridge for them to just abandon the built in computer after 3 years. I do agree it's probably best to just avoid the headache and avoid samsung all together. To be honest, almost all new appliances these days have some sort of issue. The quest for more and more energy efficiency, plus cost cutting has led to a real decline in appliance longevity imo. I have a 3500 dollar LG french door, and there was a defect with the filter drier in the cooling system, where the filter drier gets clogged, creates a restriction in the compressor, and eventually burns the compressor out. I had it replaced under warranty, and it's been fine ever since. My super basic Whirlpool I had before this was a champ though, ran really well for over 8 years. I'm generally not a fan of buying extended warranties on things, but I made sure to get a 5 year on the fridge. I have 7 years total on my Samsung Flex washer and dryer, but those have been going strong for over 3 years with zero problems at all. I've been really happy with those. Frigidaire seems to be a pretty solid brand these days in my limited experience, and if I was buying again, I'd probably lean in that direction. rt4 posted:Is 2.5% on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage a decent interest rate for refinance? Is there a better rate out there that I'm missing? That's like an all time historic low. Lock that in if you can.
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May 5, 2021 15:43
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All the appliances in my new build are all Samsung so I expect to replace them all in the next few years, exactly one day after the warranty ends.
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May 5, 2021 15:45
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Douchebag posted:Kitchen cabinet question. Want to "upgrade" mine by just replacing the doors/drawers. Frame of the cabinet is a natural wood color, the doors and drawer fronts are builder grade poo poo from the mid-90's that appear to be press board or something with a "paper" type poo poo on the front. Yes. I want to do the same thing because the cabinets are in great shape, but the doors are a bit haggard although perfectly functional, just a bit dated. I'm going here: https://www.cabinetdoorworld.com/ No idea if they're any good, but they're reasonably priced and have an assortment of doors and finishes. Floor chat: Our new house has gorgeous bamboo floors throughout, although the top floor is a bit darker than the bottom and it makes me wonder if that's a laminate or composite of some sort. The bamboo downstairs has a few scratches, much like Inner Light's, not enough to replace but enough to bug me. I haven't polished the floor yet--the cleaners start coming next week and I can't be hosed to do it before then--but I don't think that will be enough to fix it. You can't really refinish bamboo since it's not wood, and I'm not sure if I have any options. I'm okay with letting it go if I have to, but if there is a possible fix, my OCD won't let me let it go unless I've tried everything. Edit: tried the first thing I found on a blog: rub a walnut over the scratch. It worked! Such an easy (and delicious) solution--you can't even tell they were there! I don't know if the walnut oils will survive the cleaners or whatnot but it's a perfectly good solution even if I have to do it periodically. So of course I am waiting for a guy to come measure my closet with a nut in my hand, diligently inspecting every scratch on my floors. Supposedly it works on a number of wood floors, so maybe try that if you have scratches? Maggie Fletcher fucked around with this message at 16:14 on May 5, 2021 |
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May 5, 2021 15:51
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skipdogg posted:That's like an all time historic low. Lock that in if you can. *unless you're paying a poo poo-ton in origination fees/points for the privilege. And/or refinancing from 3% or something close.
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May 5, 2021 16:03
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Samsung appliances are poo poo. We replaced our Samsung dishwasher with a Bosch a few months ago because the door on the old one would not stay closed unless we leaned heavy objects on it. We have a Samsung fridge too and the water dispenser just started giving me poo poo. Have a new filter on order but I'm not expecting this to be the end of it. I'd avoid them personally.
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May 5, 2021 16:31
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Switching to light switch chat! My new place has a bunch of the standard wall toggle switches. I want to convert at least some to smart ones. Pic of current, a bunch of bottom barrel Lutron things:  Any goon favorites in this list? https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-in-wall-wireless-light-switch-and-dimmer/ Incidentally, there are SEVERAL switches throughout the condo that appear to do nothing, so either they're wired to something in a ceiling box that isn't used or they toggle an outlet in the room that I haven't figured out, is my guess. Soon I'll start unscrewing the covers and trying to figure out what fun stuff is happening, with zero electrical knowledge whatsoever, other than the need to turn off the breaker.  This might veer into handyperson territory (already working with a guy) if it gets out of my knowledge / comfort zone, I don't really want to be cutting up my wall. Inner Light fucked around with this message at 17:09 on May 5, 2021 |
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May 5, 2021 17:04
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Inner Light posted:
First: go buy a non-contact voltage tester, the Klein one seems pretty commonly suggested. Any time you go to put your hands/tools/whatever into a box hit it with the non-contact tester. Every time. Even if you have done it before. Make it a muscle memory. Then go hog wild ruining your condo with dumb switches to replace your lovely functional paddle switches and dimmers.  there is a wiring thread in DIY that can help.
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May 5, 2021 17:12
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Inner Light posted:Switching to light switch chat! My new place has a bunch of the standard wall toggle switches. I want to convert at least some to smart ones. Almost certainly they are for switched outlets. The non contact testers are cheap and can answer that question quick, or a lamp. All switches to off and see where it doesn't work. Sometimes the switched outlets are mounted upside down. Sometimes only half the outlet is switched.
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May 5, 2021 17:36
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Inner Light posted:Switching to light switch chat! My new place has a bunch of the standard wall toggle switches. I want to convert at least some to smart ones. I have a complete mish mash of smart switches and outlets in my house because I just buy whatever on Amazon. GE z-wave switches and dimmers - work great. I even have an outdoor one I used at xmas for decorations. Kasa WiFi switch - a little cheap feeling but works well. The GE feels the same as any other switch, the Kasa feels plasticy and hollow. Still works great though. WeMo and Kasa WiFi smart outlets, no issues. Really it comes down to the ecosystem you want
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May 5, 2021 17:56
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Lawnie posted:I ordered a whirlpool fridge recently with an interior water dispenser and an ice maker in the that dumps into a bucket in the drawer. I think it’s about the least moving parts you can get in a standard consumer-grade fridge and still have water and ice making. Okay, I talked to a local plumber today and he said he could just put a valve on the 1/8th inch (I think) copper tube from the floor for about $100, and putting the shutoff in the wall would be significantly more expensive since it would need new pipe run and drywall cut, which makes sense. This isn’t my forever home so I’m more interested in making sure that the fridge installers will hook up the water line for the fridge to whatever the plumber hooks up, but I also don’t want to have a flood in my kitchen because capping the line and putting a valve on is the dipshit cheapskate way to do it. The other thing I had quoted was installing an exterior faucet through my crawlspace foundation in the backyard. There’s a water line running parallel to the wall I want to put the faucet on, so I don’t imagine it would be too terribly complicated of a job, and the plumber quoted me at least $350 and probably more like $500 for this job. I’m getting another estimate tomorrow so I’ll see how competitive that price is, but I’m interested in opinions on whether I’m getting ripped off for a pretty simple job. Pics of the crawl along the wall I want to put the faucet in. Faucet goes on the same wall as the crawlspace entrance, first pic shows looking left along that wall from the entrance and the 2nd pic shows the same wall looking right from the entrance. The first pic shows the water heater plumbing, and the 2nd pic shows the kitchen sink plumbing. Lawnie fucked around with this message at 18:21 on May 5, 2021 |
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May 5, 2021 18:18
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Is there a reason you're not doing both of those things? Seems pretty easy and would cost less than $100 in parts and tools if you have absolutely nothing.
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May 5, 2021 18:58
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NomNomNom posted:Is there a reason you're not doing both of those things? Seems pretty easy and would cost less than $100 in parts and tools if you have absolutely nothing. I have no plumbing experience and only 1 bathroom in my house, so if I gently caress something up my 3 months pregnant wife is not going to be very happy she no longer has access to a working shower or toilet. It’s not that I don’t think I could do it, but I also don’t really know WHAT I would be doing, particularly with the outdoor faucet installation. I could probably handle shutting off the water to the fridge, cutting the line near the floor, and installing a new fitting just fine, and I might just do that to give myself some confidence in doing plumbing. Drilling through the masonry, cutting the water supply line to my hot water heater and being unable to reconnect it, loving up the joint in the crawlspace or at the faucet so it leaks into my crawlspace are my main fears with trying the faucet install myself. If I’m just being a baby, and any idiot can cut three inches out of a water supply line, solder in a t-fitting, and run a foot of copper pipe through a foundation in an afternoon, then I might talk to my wife and see if she’ll let me try it. If I only need a few tools and the only thing wasted will be a bit of my time, she might go for it. My dad always hated doing plumbing when I was growing up, maybe I’ve internalized that without realizing it.
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May 5, 2021 19:42
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Quoted $26,520 for a 12x20 trex deck 4 feet off the ground 
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May 5, 2021 19:47
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Lawnie posted:I have no plumbing experience and only 1 bathroom in my house, so if I gently caress something up my 3 months pregnant wife is not going to be very happy she no longer has access to a working shower or toilet. Is there a reason you're thinking of soldering and not Sharkbites? Any idiot can use sharkbites.
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May 5, 2021 19:53
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Sputnik posted:Is there a reason you're thinking of soldering and not Sharkbites? Any idiot can use sharkbites. Total lack of experience, more than anything. If this is what the plumber would do at both the supply split and the faucet, then maybe there isn’t really a very good reason not to do it myself. I assume I can drill a hole through the masonry just fine on my own, but I assume I would need to fill around the pipe in the hole and again, not something I’ve ever done before. Suppose I should do some research on sharkbites.
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May 5, 2021 20:03
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yeah, reonvations are expensive currently.
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May 5, 2021 20:22
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Lawnie posted:Total lack of experience, more than anything. If this is what the plumber would do at both the supply split and the faucet, then maybe there isn’t really a very good reason not to do it myself. I assume I can drill a hole through the masonry just fine on my own, but I assume I would need to fill around the pipe in the hole and again, not something I’ve ever done before. Suppose I should do some research on sharkbites. I redid a bunch of plumbing in my old place with PEX and sharbites, they are great.
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May 5, 2021 20:25
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I'm potentially comfortable with plumbing, for me growing up drywall mudding and sanding was always the task my dad hated, and I also need to get a line installed for my fridge. I've got an exposed basement below the kitchen so easy for me to run things down there. I think I'd be fine with just a line running up from a hole in the floor (as long as there's an inline valve accessible upstairs I can turn off) rather than going all out and installing a full valve into the wall, that can wait until we do a full remodel sometime in the future. Is there a downside to the method of just pushing a supply line up from the basement as opposed to installing a valve in the wall to connect to? Existing plumbing is all copper, so I know it's not quite as easy as cutting some PEX and sticking valve in there, which is what I did when I helped my friend set his up a few years ago.
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May 5, 2021 20:52
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BigPaddy posted:I redid a bunch of plumbing in my old place with PEX and sharbites, they are great. Aren't these not great for in-wall/concealed spaces? I've got some upcoming plumbing projects and think I'm going to buy some copper pipe and just learn how to sweat them since my entire house is copper already.
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May 5, 2021 21:05
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Lawnie posted:Total lack of experience, more than anything. If this is what the plumber would do at both the supply split and the faucet, then maybe there isn’t really a very good reason not to do it myself. I assume I can drill a hole through the masonry just fine on my own, but I assume I would need to fill around the pipe in the hole and again, not something I’ve ever done before. Suppose I should do some research on sharkbites. I'm not a doctor of plumbing (or masonry) but if I was drilling a hole to run something through my concrete wall, I'd just fill it back in with Great Stuf (the expanding foam in a can) or caulk or something.
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May 5, 2021 21:06
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Simplisafe system arrived today and it took all of 30 minutes to setup and now I am protected* *from my own paranoia
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May 5, 2021 23:22
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I've got a 3" square hole in my aluminum siding from a previous light fixture. Can I just put some foil tape over it, then apply a few layers of caulk to smooth it over, then sand and paint? Or is there some better method to it? All the videos/guides I've seen deal with vinyl siding, or how to take off an entire board of aluminum siding for replacement. Kinda overkill.
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May 6, 2021 01:33
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Do you have any spare chunks of aluminum siding to patch over it?
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May 6, 2021 01:44
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Negative, closest thing I have is a beer can. Still has beer in it, but I can fix that.
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May 6, 2021 01:51
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Inner Light posted:Switching to light switch chat! My new place has a bunch of the standard wall toggle switches. I want to convert at least some to smart ones. Most of the discussion on this is in https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3635963 I just installed a ton of the new gen, released in Mar '21, Leviton Decora Smart and love them. Since you likely have neutrals and it looks like you don't need wireless remotes, you have a ton of options.
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May 6, 2021 01:53
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MJP posted:I've got a 3" square hole in my aluminum siding from a previous light fixture. Can I just put some foil tape over it, then apply a few layers of caulk to smooth it over, then sand and paint? Or is there some better method to it? All the videos/guides I've seen deal with vinyl siding, or how to take off an entire board of aluminum siding for replacement. Kinda overkill. I have a similar issue and am dreading trying to match 20 year old siding.
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