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to me it sounds like they're saying that they're installing fiberglass, but they're not installing sound isolating insulation, basically if you bitch later on that it's not as quiet as you want they'll say "hey we said right here it's not an actual sound dampening product"
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May 10, 2021 17:58
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Phil Moscowitz posted:I’m in the middle of a substantial but not complete gut renovation of an older (100+) house. We’re installing batt insulation in interior walls and floors, mostly for sound insulation as opposed to temperature. We really just want it to be less obvious when people are using the powder room, help keep it a little quieter when washing dishes at night, etc. There was no interior insulation before so anything is better than that. Fiberglass insulation isn't the best for sound. Other than actual acoustic insulation which I've seen a few times you probably want to specify rockwool rather than fiberglass. IIRC it does about twice as good of a job at slightly over twice the price for materials.
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May 10, 2021 18:09
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Anyone know if it's possible to cut already installed quartz countertops? Discovered that the space for out stove isn't square on one side, and it makes the stove not fit quite right.
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May 10, 2021 18:11
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The Slack Lagoon posted:Anyone know if it's possible to cut already installed quartz countertops? Discovered that the space for out stove isn't square on one side, and it makes the stove not fit quite right. Eh....not really. You need to cut it with a diamond blade wet saw, then it needs to be sanded to finish the edges. Even if you could find a wet saw that would "work" for what you're trying to cut you'll basically trash your kitchen. How much are you talking about? Because maybe, just maybe it could be ground off with a diamond grinding wheel and an angle grinder. It's still gonna be REAL messy.
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May 10, 2021 18:17
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Motronic posted:Fiberglass insulation isn't the best for sound. Other than actual acoustic insulation which I've seen a few times you probably want to specify rockwool rather than fiberglass. IIRC it does about twice as good of a job at slightly over twice the price for materials. For somewhere like a powder room, using solid doors make a huge difference. Hollow core doors are terrible for sound.
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May 10, 2021 18:24
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What the hell is a powder room? e: Nevermind googled it, ah you mean a shitter. Insulated for dropping big logs presumably.
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May 10, 2021 18:34
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Right, it’s the genteel southern way to say shitter. It’s the downstairs toilet that guests will be using, between the kitchen and the dining room, so would be nice to have a bit of privacy. The doors are all solid wood, most of them pretty old. The existing walls are all lath/plaster too, but I’ll see if we can change out the fiberglass batt to something better.
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May 10, 2021 18:44
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Motronic posted:Eh....not really. You need to cut it with a diamond blade wet saw, then it needs to be sanded to finish the edges. Even if you could find a wet saw that would "work" for what you're trying to cut you'll basically trash your kitchen. Between the front and the back it's off by a 1/2 inch.
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May 10, 2021 18:54
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That's the fault of your countertop installer. They measure and should be able to account for all sorts of wonkiness, houses are rarely square.
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May 10, 2021 19:05
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Just got an estimate from the waterproofer for 15k and I’m loving dry heaving. I want off this wild ride.
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May 10, 2021 20:17
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The Slack Lagoon posted:Between the front and the back it's off by a 1/2 inch. Sure it is not some composite poo poo like Silestone? Not sure what kind of range you have but I’d probably try to get creative with some trim if it is stainless. Just get something that runs down the side and wraps around the front and top of the countertop an inch or so and hide the uneven gap that way. Hard to say without seeing it in person. Could look like poo poo, just tossing out some ideas. My local shop could knock something like that out for me in an hour for a small amount. Clayton Bigsby fucked around with this message at 20:32 on May 10, 2021 |
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May 10, 2021 20:28
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:For somewhere like a powder room, using solid doors make a huge difference. Hollow core doors are terrible for sound. I have an exhaust fan that does not exhaust anywhere (other than a joist space) in my powder room. I threatened to take it out when I was doing drywall/paint in that room, but my wife would not allow it. I should have suggested replacing it with a speaker that plays white noise or cannon balls dropping into the ocean.
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May 10, 2021 20:34
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Ball Tazeman posted:Just got an estimate from the waterproofer for 15k and I’m loving dry heaving. I want off this wild ride. You're jumping the gun here. Are the gutters discharges extended far enough away from the foundation in an a way/slope that the water isn't piling back up against the house? Yes, the "waterproofer" will do that, along with the other $14,900 worth of work. And it may just be that last bit that actually needed to be done.
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May 10, 2021 20:39
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Motronic posted:You're jumping the gun here. Are the gutters discharges extended far enough away from the foundation in an a way/slope that the water isn't piling back up against the house? Yes, the "waterproofer" will do that, along with the other $14,900 worth of work. And it may just be that last bit that actually needed to be done. Even if the slope is disagreeable, what we do here is dig a hole and bury a decent size plastic mesh box wrapped in fabric or go old school and use a big pile of rocks instead of the box, then lead the drain into that underground. Gets it down and away from the house and out of sight. Of course if you have slow draining soil you need a big volume so it might become a significant project. I found that a m3 or so hole per downspout (5 of them) was enough here. Materials were cheap and the exercise free. (Maybe it’s a terrible idea in the US for some reason I am unaware of though) Clayton Bigsby fucked around with this message at 20:54 on May 10, 2021 |
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May 10, 2021 20:50
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Selling my house and I have a low patch that constantly collects water. It's just in my side yard right under the gate to the backyard. 12" x 12" catchbasin into a french drain (that runs about 30 feet) and the french drain into a discharge pipe that runs another 40' to the ditch. $3,000. Maybe I'll just make it a rain garden.
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May 10, 2021 21:06
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Clayton Bigsby posted:Even if the slope is disagreeable, what we do here is dig a hole and bury a decent size plastic mesh box wrapped in fabric or go old school and use a big pile of rocks instead of the box, then lead the drain into that underground. Gets it down and away from the house and out of sight. Of course if you have slow draining soil you need a big volume so it might become a significant project. I found that a m3 or so hole per downspout (5 of them) was enough here. Materials were cheap and the exercise free. (Maybe it’s a terrible idea in the US for some reason I am unaware of though) Absolutely. So it may cost a bit more depending on slope, but this is the very FIRST think that should be tried. Not somebody who want to dig up the outside of the foundation to waterproof, tearing up the yard in the process or even worse, overpriced "french drains" on the surface. Or sump pits, etc, etc. The point is that it's not time to freak out of this estimate yet.
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May 10, 2021 22:16
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Yea I had some waterproofers out for estimates last month for some water in our basement. 2 of 3 wanted 10k+ to redo the entire below grade drainage system by jackhammering the floor, sealing the walls and install a new sump pump. This was after I changed the previous downspout underground drain to above ground and ran it out 15 feet. Looks ugly but seems to do the job cause I haven’t seen any water in our basement since. Last guy was more reasonable and said he could do that stuff but no guarantee that’s what the problem was. He cut some holes in the dry walls and looked for cracks and couldn’t find any and said it was probably just the bad underground drain. edit: unless it’s a literal flood basements are probably gonna get wet at some point. Get some pig water absorbent mats and some 10$ water alarms and wait and see how real of a problem it is before spending 15k slave to my cravings fucked around with this message at 22:36 on May 10, 2021 |
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May 10, 2021 22:34
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We were quoted like 18k for a fancy interior French drain system with two sump pumps. We decided to not move forward. We later spent an order of magnitude less for LeafFilter and replacing/unfucking some of our downspouts, which I think has provided some minor improvement. Next steps are repointing the basement walls (it is stone), adding concrete flooring to the section of basement that has dirt floor, and fixing the walkout door by improving drainage and adding an outer cellar door so the basement won't get inundated during heavy rain. Basement needs repointing anyway, so if we do that and it improves the weeping/humidity, then great. The walkout door situation is due to recent bad design/improper implementation of new steps and door (thanks previous owner) and a long-missing outer cellar door, so that also needs fixing anyway and should solve the rainwater inundation issue. Like, I'm still not convinced that a huge fancy system isn't overkill for us. Our basement is damp but not excessively wet. It has flooded, but that was due to rainwater coming in through the walkout. And we have a (most likely grandfathered) floor drain so when water does get in, it goes away pretty quickly and so far has not needed to be pumped out. Also it's an unfinished old house basement and I think it was just assumed it'd be damp and gross all the time.
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May 10, 2021 23:07
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When we bought our place, the previous owners paid for a sampler pack of basement issues. There were water issues on three different exterior walls and some structural issues. A bunch of the money went to the carbon fiber strapping on two of the basement walls. Two of the walls with water issues were solved by having minimal downspout extensions, but one now sports some sort of elaborate drainage system. Given how much the sump pump runs when we get heavy rain, I'm inclined to think it is doing something. We also had them rebuild the front porch because it was sinking, thanks to their downspout that went nowhere. The ground here is terrible, terrible clay. Go down six inches and you're mining creamy Silly Putty. Our whole neighborhood is Basement Issues, Virginia. In the two years we've lived here, 3 out of 12 houses on our cul-de-sac have had waterproofing work done.
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May 10, 2021 23:27
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Motronic posted:You're jumping the gun here. Are the gutters discharges extended far enough away from the foundation in an a way/slope that the water isn't piling back up against the house? Yes, the "waterproofer" will do that, along with the other $14,900 worth of work. And it may just be that last bit that actually needed to be done. We have extended downspouts that seem to be directing water away but we will re-assess those. A lot of the water seeping is coming directly up from the cement flooring, which makes sense since a lot of the ground is heavy soil and clay. I don’t know if I posted it in this thread but when we did our final walkthrough there was water on the floor and when we asked the seller about it, we were told it was just because they had mopped earlier that day. We wouldn’t have paid what we did had we known about the water issue, and our hopes are that we can get them to pay for at least some of the waterproofing because the more time we spend in the basement, the more it looks like an issue that was covered up. I have some pretty severe anxiety and depression issues, so all of this compounding, the mice, the water, the possibility of going to court, and all the other fixes we are doing has made my life pretty miserable, especially after seeing the 15k price tag for basement drains and a sump pump.
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May 11, 2021 00:38
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Ball Tazeman posted:We have extended downspouts that seem to be directing water away but we will re-assess those. A lot of the water seeping is coming directly up from the cement flooring, which makes sense since a lot of the ground is heavy soil and clay. I don’t know if I posted it in this thread but when we did our final walkthrough there was water on the floor and when we asked the seller about it, we were told it was just because they had mopped earlier that day. We wouldn’t have paid what we did had we known about the water issue, and our hopes are that we can get them to pay for at least some of the waterproofing because the more time we spend in the basement, the more it looks like an issue that was covered up. I have some pretty severe anxiety and depression issues, so all of this compounding, the mice, the water, the possibility of going to court, and all the other fixes we are doing has made my life pretty miserable, especially after seeing the 15k price tag for basement drains and a sump pump.
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May 11, 2021 00:50
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Ball Tazeman posted:We have extended downspouts that seem to be directing water away but we will re-assess those. A lot of the water seeping is coming directly up from the cement flooring, which makes sense since a lot of the ground is heavy soil and clay. Okay, this is a good start. Then next time it's raining hard go on out there and look at where the water is running. Not only out of the downspouts/extensions, but also the yard. If you have "negative slope" towards the walls of the house it could be as simple as building up some dirt there to redirect the water away. And yeah, "directly up from the cement flooring" is how this works. Your basement is like a boat in water. A really leaky boat. Keep the water away, which could take a while after you make these changes, and it very well may dry out pretty well. But when the water is going right up against the walls it's just creating hydraulic pressure against your foundation and it's gonna squeeze in where it squeezes in. Seriously, don't sweat this. Just keep paying attention and making changes that make it better. Like the Kaiser said, this is not a problem that needs to be solved RIGHT NOW. If you can afford it I would suggest one of these: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hisense-60-Pint-3-Speed-Dehumidifier-with-Built-In-Pump/1000558897 I have one in my mom's basement as well as my own now. They are very power efficient, relatively quiet, and have a pump in them so you can just run the hose out a window or whatever to get started rather than remember to empty a bucket twice a day to keep it going. My old house (where my mom is now) will have water puddled on the floor during very rainy times, but with a dehumidifier running it doesn't happen at all unless I miss a clogged gutter or similar that is putting water too close to the foundation.
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May 11, 2021 01:18
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The sellers of my home paid a foundation company to install a perimeter drain and sump pump plus carbon fiber straps on two of the basement walls due to issues discovered during my inspection. I'm pretty sure I solved all the basement water issues by reconnecting the downspout in the backyard which was just laying on the ground connected to nothing. The brand new sump pump has never run a single time and there has never been water in the pit. The sellers paid $18k for all the work and I honestly feel kinda bad about it
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May 11, 2021 01:36
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A fool and their money.
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May 11, 2021 01:38
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Hmm, maybe a gas range under a microwave wasnt the smartest decision. Used the super burner last night to boil some water for pasta and it got so hot above the microwave handle was painfully hot to the touch. Looking online seems I am not the only one who has experienced this. Now I should probably use a bigger pot but even our drat handles on the pots were hot to touch and we needed an oven mitt. I read the clearance should be about 18" so need to measure when I get home but UGH. More $$$$. Considering getting rid of this and buying a proper hood and get our old microwave back from the parents (it was a loving nice Breville Quick Touch that reheated and defrosted things so well - it was programmed properly and varied the power as you worked).
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May 11, 2021 17:53
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I've noticed we have a slight gap between our quartz countertop and our electric cooktop - looks like it was cut not quite straight. What's the best way to seal that? Use a clear silicone caulk?
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May 11, 2021 19:47
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Omne posted:I've noticed we have a slight gap between our quartz countertop and our electric cooktop - looks like it was cut not quite straight. What's the best way to seal that? Use a clear silicone caulk? Is it possible your cooktop wasn't secured properly to the counter and it's been pushed to one side revealing the cut? Otherwise I will say yes that is what to use, with the caveat that there might be a high temp silicone caulk that you'd want to use instead of just like whatever random tube you have lying around.
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May 11, 2021 20:20
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They make silicone/rubbery strips that rest in the gap between the stove and counter- if it’s a decent gap something like that might be good to keep the space covered.
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May 11, 2021 22:01
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Q for some folks - i have a patio (16'x24') that consists of really old poured concrete, with the concrete sloping away from the house but with some pooling spots + settling from a long time ago. I'd like to either tile or pave this patio. Does the need to be completely jack-hammered out or for tiling would it be possible to resurface with mortar and then tile over it?
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May 12, 2021 01:56
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Vintersorg posted:Hmm, maybe a gas range under a microwave wasnt the smartest decision. Used the super burner last night to boil some water for pasta and it got so hot above the microwave handle was painfully hot to the touch. Looking online seems I am not the only one who has experienced this. Now I should probably use a bigger pot but even our drat handles on the pots were hot to touch and we needed an oven mitt. I read the clearance should be about 18" so need to measure when I get home but UGH. More $$$$. Are you running the microwave's vent fan when using ~max heat~ on the range? FWIW, it sounds like you just had the heat too high for your cookware. Those Super Boil high BTU burners on highest are meant for big pots that will absorb the bulk of the heat as opposed to letting it go upwards around it. Your pot handles shouldn't be nearly turning red from boiling some water. See how it is when your heat is at the correct setting and/or the diameter of the burner is better matched to the cookware. If you have the counter space, a proper hood is certainly nice. I don't, and my microwave-on-top-of-gas is generally fine and wonderfully compact. admiraldennis fucked around with this message at 05:06 on May 12, 2021 |
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May 12, 2021 04:59
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This is exciting. A socalgas truck has been at my neighbors house for 5 hours, I said hi to him around then when he was setting up with what I presume is a sniffer saying there is a small underground leak near my neighbor's service entrance. Now at 10pm (5hrs later) a second much larger socalgas truck just joined them. This guy claims nothing to worry about and that it's still just a small leak. 
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May 12, 2021 06:18
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ntan1 posted:Q for some folks - i have a patio (16'x24') that consists of really old poured concrete, with the concrete sloping away from the house but with some pooling spots + settling from a long time ago. I'd like to either tile or pave this patio.
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May 12, 2021 13:42
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H110Hawk posted:This is exciting. A socalgas truck has been at my neighbors house for 5 hours, I said hi to him around then when he was setting up with what I presume is a sniffer saying there is a small underground leak near my neighbor's service entrance. have a smoke while you watch them and you'll find out if it's a big problem quickly
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May 12, 2021 13:50
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admiraldennis posted:Are you running the microwave's vent fan when using ~max heat~ on the range? Thanks for this - me and my wife were a bit concerned but we'll try to use this a bit better. It's our first gas range! I am using a basic "Heritage" brand set my parents gifted us from Sears many years ago and it mostly looks like this but no black interior, all stainless steel:  We have a couple Zwilling pans but the handles stick far back and don't get hot. I'll be careful with choosing the size of pot - too used to using whatever as the little coils didn't heat things up too much if left open. It's been fun with the few meals we've cooked on it. It's much faster and I have to cook at lower dial settings - usually a smidge below medium for most things.
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May 12, 2021 14:26
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In case anyone here knows anything about linoleum: If you wanted the old timey checkerboard pattern, do you have to use linoleum tiles or can you find something like that as a sheet? I haven't been successful finding it as a sheet but I don't know if that's because you can't manufacture linoleum that way, or because it's a niche product here in Canada. I lived in a house once with the linoleum tiles that had started to spread apart, leaving ugly gaps between the tiles, and so I was hoping using the sheet product would prevent that. I know you can get it as vinyl sheets but even the best vinyl sheet feels cheap to me.
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May 12, 2021 16:06
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falz posted:I have no answers but more questions - what environment do you live in, is it tropical 100% of the year? That's the only time I've ever seen outdoor tiled spaces. Anything that gets to freezing, ever, would crack, break off, be slippery, and generally turn to poo poo in 1 year. We're not tropical in the bay area, but quite temperate (it doesnt generally freeze, so exterior tiling is a potential thing here).
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May 12, 2021 17:33
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Oh god dammit. Wait, nope, gently caress THAT. I’m making it someone else’s problem to deal with 
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May 12, 2021 17:33
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They make fixit flanges! Drops in from the top and expands to fit tightly. Oatey Twist-N-Set 4 in. PVC Open Toilet Flange https://www.homedepot.com/p/Oatey-Twist-N-Set-4-in-PVC-Open-Toilet-Flange-436512/100062268 SKU# 100062268
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May 12, 2021 19:02
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Oh poo poo, thanks! Time to run to Lowe’s and maybe cancel the appointment.
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May 12, 2021 19:09
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just another posted:In case anyone here knows anything about linoleum: Sheet linoleum exists but is mostly solid colorways now, perhaps with some marbling or speckling. It used to be readily available in both forms decades ago, but as it’s become a niche product the checks and patterns you see in new/restorative installations are generally from tiles, sometimes painstakingly cut if to recreate some of the older more intricate patterns.
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May 12, 2021 20:10
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