|
the sill itself looks fine. No damage underneath from what I can tell What kind of maintenance is required?
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2022 17:38
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 8, 2024 11:39 |
|
|
I have a similar question as someone with wood windows. What maintenance can I do so that crap doesn't happen to me over time, at least quicker than it would otherwise? Besides noticing straight up water intrusion leaks on the interior and trying to remediate.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2022 17:49
|
|
|
Inner Light posted:I have a similar question as someone with wood windows. What maintenance can I do so that crap doesn't happen to me over time, at least quicker than it would otherwise? Besides noticing straight up water intrusion leaks on the interior and trying to remediate. Some sort of sealing paint I would imagine. It's what I did to my wood window frames and they're fine.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2022 19:20
|
|
|
Yeah, I believe they need to be re-treated over time. Even some of our windows that aren't rotted look like they need to be restained. I wasn't really familiar with wood windows before this so we had to just google it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2022 19:26
|
|
|
BaseballPCHiker posted:$1400 later and I'm about to have mostly lead free water in my house! Is this the cost of replacing your end of the service line onwards? I just did the same, but at least the utility went plastic at their end ages ago so I was replacing the 30 or so feet of lead between the house and the hookup. Feels good man.
|
|
#
?
Jun 30, 2022 21:50
|
|
|
Hello, I just bought a house. I'm trying to replace a shower head and handle, inspection also mentioned this goes hot to cold when it should be cold to hot. I'm looking at this valve cartridge I believe it's called. But it seems like the brands each have their own, and mine doesn't seem to look like the ones I'm finding videos about. What do I do? If I go buy say a Moen, will it just slide on or something? 
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 16:13
|
|
|
I dunno about Moen, but usually within brands there will be different cartridges. Delta has different cartridges for different showers, at least. Do you know exactly what model number/series you have? It should be somewhere on the cover/ring/plate/whatever you call it somewhere near the logo. That should be enough to go on Moen's website and find out which cartridges are compatible with it. They'll also have instructions on how to swap it out.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 16:18
|
|
|
Forgot to say, the existing handle and trim plate are totally generic with no name on them. They are super cheap.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 16:24
|
|
|
Someone here will probably ID it in the next post, but if you took a few photos to a local plumbing supply store (not Lowes/Home Depot) they could get you sorted out quickly.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 16:38
|
|
|
This reply will not be helpful, but this is one of those things that YouTube tells you is super cheap and easy (and it absolutely sometimes is). But, I paid a plumber to come and knock it out in 5 mins, find an exactly compatible unit from their supply house, and pop it in. Mine wasn't even completely broken, it was just hard to turn and squeaky after 20 years, smooth as butter now. You've already gotten further than a lot of homeowners so you might be fine to walk into the supply house with photos like ^ ol buddy said. Inner Light fucked around with this message at 16:41 on Jul 1, 2022 |
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 16:39
|
|
|
phosdex posted:Hello, Are you certain that the supply lines aren't reversed? I would bet that before the cartridge being wrong.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 16:43
|
|
|
Some cartridges are reversible so even if the supply lines are backwards, you can pull it out, rotate 180 and fix the problem. If it's old and the seals are sticking (or you have crap water), you might need a special cartridge pulling tool to get it out.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 16:48
|
|
|
tfw your walls are definitely nice & straight and there isn't a 1" gap on either side of your new bathroom countertop. Glad the Bad Stud was directly in the middle, making it as wonky as possible. Oh well, what's ripping out some drywall and flattening the wall?
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 17:17
|
|
|
phosdex posted:Hello, This is one of those projects that seems difficult to non DIY people but is pretty easy to do AS LONG AS your plumbing is done right and you know what brand faucet and cartridge to buy. This is one of the more frustrating categories of product at the hardware store because the are a million options. Every brand has their own proprietary stuff and then different models within their brand. There's all sorts of adapters and little do dad's you might need depending on your faucet. Two things might look identical but they're not. Brands might stop making certain cartridges in the 20 years since your faucet was replaced last. Sometimes you just need a plumber. I went through this with my step sister. She thought she would just buy a new kit for her shower and it turned into a whole thing. Most people think "this is like my last one but just looks different, I'll spend $100 and get new fixtures" but the cartridge might be completely different and requires a plumber to come out and change some stuff up, and cost a few hundred bucks.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 18:13
|
|
|
Recommendations for buying/installing a water softener?
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 18:28
|
|
|
Whole house or just a single out put in the kitchen? I did a simple under sink kit last year. Cost about $150 off Amazon and I needed a granite drill piece to make a hole to run the tap through. Works well enough and just use it for cooking and drinking.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 18:32
|
|
|
I called a plumber to look at the shower stuff. Also going to get a 4 zone mini split system installed. First company came out and quoted 16k for a bosch, 18k for lg, 18k for radiant floor cooling. I had a second company out today, waiting for their quote.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 18:35
|
|
|
BigPaddy posted:Whole house or just a single out put in the kitchen? Whole house - my wife especially wants it in the shower. Says it's better for hair and skin.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 18:36
|
|
|
Harriet Carker posted:Whole house - my wife especially wants it in the shower. Says it's better for hair and skin. Ahhhh, and we just had the "most solar companies are scammers" discussion. Might as well get this one out of the way too. So, most water softener/filtration/treatment companies are outright scamers. You will get mediocre and overpriced equipment, maybe even just on a lease, with all manner of fees, basically no checking of anything and just maximum extraction from your wallet. You can buy the same equipment they use if you're able to figure out how to size it, etc or you can be all in ones from a big box store and plumb them right on in. How difficult this will be depends entirely on your layout and level of plumbing skills. So are you asking about how to buy and install this yourself or who you call to just make all of that happen? Regardless, you need to get in touch with your local ag extension and ask them about water testing so you know what you actually need.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 18:42
|
|
|
gently caress replacing the cartridge on a bathroom tap when the PO never bothered to fix the drip, and only just tightened the tap further. If it's screwed up, they can be a real pain to fix (eg, when the rubber seal internally is shot). They can send you to murder levels of swearing at that point to pull out the cartridge. Anyeays, as was mentioned earlier - there's a million slight variations on the cartridge, so make sure you get the correct model - the pulling tool is more generic at least. Also, most cartridges include a small amount of the special grease. I might be still bitter about replacing mine. But it works great now after 6 hours of work.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 18:49
|
|
|
Harriet Carker posted:Recommendations for buying/installing a water softener? Howdy, boy do I have some info for you. They are very simple devices, and don't fall for all the marketing bullshit that Kinetico and other big brand, large marketing budget companies try to sell you on. I have neighbors that have spent 7,000 dollars on water softeners and there is just no need for that at all. It's really a simple ion exchange device, there's nothing magical happening inside a water softener. Step 1: Understand your water hardness, and how much water you use, then size appropriately. I believe in buying a little bigger than you need, it'll be more efficient on salt, and give you a little extra capacity those few times a year people might come visit or something like that. Step 2: Figure out if you want to go the DIY route, or hire a company to do it. If you hire a company, find a locally owned place that has good reviews, but doesn't advertise a ton. Ask them what kind of valve they use. You want the answer to be Clack. Other valves are OK, but I'd spend the money on a Clack valve. Step 3: Weigh out your options. Your water usage and hardness calculation should give you an idea of how large of a water softener you need. They're sized in "grains" or by cubic feet of resin in the system. Now the size of the water softener can be misleading as some companies will claim say 32,000 grain capacity, but that's at max salt dose which I find to be ridiculous and inefficient. Sure you can make 1 cubic foot of resin have 32K grain capacity if you throw 18 pounds of salt at it during regen. I don't want to get too into the weeds on the technical crap, you can read this for more information, and feel free to ask questions https://www.aquatell.com/pages/understanding-true-water-softener-capacity This could cost as little as 700 bucks, or 7,000 if you buy from some fancy place. I think a reasonable max cost is no more than 3,000 and that's being generous. I paid 1900 dollars for my Clack valve based system with 60,000 grains of capacity (2cu ft resin) to be installed with a 5 year warranty from a solid local company. I'm not in a HCOL area and that was about 4 years ago. I run my system like it's 48K capacity though so it's much more efficient on salt. *note, my house like many new homes these days was pre-plumbed for a water softener. Changes to plumbing may affect the overall price. I'm in the San Antonio area which has pretty hard water, so I feel like a water softener here is a necessity just from a cleaning/hard water build up perspective. edit: If I wanted to DIY a similar system the parts would have cost about 1200 bucks, plus whatever I needed to plumb the thing in. skipdogg fucked around with this message at 18:54 on Jul 1, 2022 |
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 18:50
|
|
|
One more solar question. Due to our roof shape and orientation we've decided to not proceed with the roof mounted solar project. However...we have a large back yard and were planning on building a shade structure (pergola or similar) and are now considering building the structure and then mounting solar panels to it. We can orient it so that it is facing the ideal direction so sunlight won't be an issue. Would the current 26% tax rebate cover the construction of the pergola as well as the solar panels? We would be building this all at the same time and I guess it could be considered part of the racking system but of course I don't want to run afoul of the IRS.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 19:54
|
|
|
Well one company came out and rambled a bunch of technology at me… 100% virgin vinyl instead of A grade vinyl (because A vinyl sucks and only lasts 5 years before warping apparently and it chalks) for 9 double hung and 3 slider windows. Double pane with some proprietary technology that apparently makes the argon gas leak less. $17k installed. 50 year warranty. He said grade A vinyl would be $5k less but “clearly not worth it” since it will break so quickly. He said recycle vinyl is poo poo and would be about $10k total and isn’t worth it. Dude spit good game but I don’t know what to believe…hence the need for more quotes and more bullshit presentations. The cheap guy had to reschedule. nwin fucked around with this message at 20:52 on Jul 1, 2022 |
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 20:48
|
|
|
sporkstand posted:One more solar question. Anything to do with taxes 100% talk to an accountant. I doubt it would work as then people would be bilking the rebate for building a house with solar on the roof.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 21:38
|
|
|
SpartanIvy posted:I just bought a $1,300 Toto toilet. Going to poop like a king while using 1/5th the water. So jealous
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 22:34
|
|
|
Inner Light posted:This reply will not be helpful, but this is one of those things that YouTube tells you is super cheap and easy (and it absolutely sometimes is). But, I paid a plumber to come and knock it out in 5 mins, find an exactly compatible unit from their supply house, and pop it in. Mine wasn't even completely broken, it was just hard to turn and squeaky after 20 years, smooth as butter now. The shower at the condo I rented before I got my house wouldn't shut off and my landlord thought he could fix it himself with this logic. They picked up the water bill for the next 2 months because it was in constant states of always running while they hosed around with different kits. He eventually gave up and called a guy and it was fixed in 10 minutes.
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 22:34
|
|
|
How do I tell if the Menards water softener is clack?
|
|
#
?
Jul 1, 2022 22:37
|
|
|
Do new dryers just suck? We got a new LG dryer which was one of the top consumer reports rated ones and it never fully dries clothes. The dryer vent is completely clean but the normal setting always leaves things just a little damp. Turning off “energy saver” mode helps a bit but not much.
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2022 13:30
|
|
|
Are you using an auto sensing setting? My experience with those is they don't dry enough.
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2022 14:38
|
|
|
I have a new dryer and have to set it specifically to high settings to get stuff dry.
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2022 14:44
|
|
|
If you're using those fabric sheets they shed threads that block the auto dry sensors. I switched to wool balls and got way better results
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2022 14:50
|
|
|
nwin posted:
Plastic molding houses can use a process called regrind, which is where they literally regrind and melt scraps then combine them with new plastic resins in the molding of new parts. This is good from a "reduces waste" standpoint but bad from a finished part quality standpoint. Anywhere I've been that develops products using plastic specifies no regrind on our plastic parts. Regrind plastic is one of those things that sounds like a good idea, and might be if handled in an ideal fashion. Realistically, you're going to get contamination, poor linking, and a lower quality plastic part. I would not purchase a recycled plastic product that lives in the harsh conditions of a window.
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2022 14:56
|
|
|
nwin posted:Do new dryers just suck? We got a new LG dryer which was one of the top consumer reports rated ones and it never fully dries clothes. The dryer vent is completely clean but the normal setting always leaves things just a little damp. Turning off “energy saver” mode helps a bit but not much. I think all the sensor based dryers finish a little early to goose the energy efficiency stats. I don't have too much of a problem with it since usually with my bosch at least it comes out warm enough that it's dry by the time I've folded stuff and put it away, but most new driers let you set an extra dry option that really leaves stuff coming out dry.
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2022 15:24
|
|
|
Anyone have advice on the best brand/flavor of stain for a PNW rainforest deck and fence?
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2022 15:50
|
|
|
Motronic posted:In super general terms, you should take that plug on your closed gas port to the hardware store to figure out what size it is if you don't already know. Then you should find yourself a nice flexible 1/2" gas hose with quick connects on each side (like what you would use for a gas grill) and see what adapters you need on each side to make it work. Finally circling back around to shopping for these parts. I believe this is what I need, appreciate you taking a look if you can before I hit the button. 1” to 1/2” reducer at the valve tap: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D2HD1GJ/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=A17VS4Z36UDX1I&th=1 1/2” male to male: https://www.amazon.com/Anderson-Met...000BQY9XW&psc=1 1/2” quick connect: https://www.amazon.com/Connect-Disc...ps%2C186&sr=8-5 12’ Hose with 3/8” quick connect for generator side: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CVTZZCL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1 Teflon tape: https://www.amazon.com/Sealant-Prop...ps%2C137&sr=8-2 Thanks again!
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2022 16:42
|
|
|
Assuming the supply side is in fact 1" then yeah, that all looks correct. One thing you might want to consider that I didn't think about at first is putting a 90 on the 1" outlet - either in 1" or 1/2". This will keep debris and rain from filling your quick connect if/when the cap doesn't get put on or eventually rots away in sunlight.
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2022 16:56
|
|
|
Motronic posted:Assuming the supply side is in fact 1" then yeah, that all looks correct. Yup, I took the cap into the hardware store yesterday and it thread into a 1” female 90. Good thought on the 90, will add that into the mix. Really appreciate the help! Thanks!
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2022 17:03
|
|
|
I’m planning to run about 100 ft of 3/4” PVC along the inside of my fence line to extend the water supply to the other end of my yard. It won’t be a permanently attached fixture, it’ll be hooked up to the supply by a short length of hose when I need it. Anything to keep in mind when I do this besides ensuring there’s a downward slope for drainage? I’ll probably attach it to the fence posts a foot or two off the ground with metal straps.
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2022 17:09
|
|
|
nwin posted:Do new dryers just suck? We got a new LG dryer which was one of the top consumer reports rated ones and it never fully dries clothes. The dryer vent is completely clean but the normal setting always leaves things just a little damp. Turning off “energy saver” mode helps a bit but not much. The LG sensors are rough. Run a timed dry on med/low for 20 minutes or whatever the minimum is. On most LGs the timed dry is not sensor beholden.
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2022 17:53
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 8, 2024 11:39 |
|
|
Our LG dryer does fine on the sensor settings, as long as we select "More Dry" instead of "Normal" in the extra settings. Plus I replaced the 5' of smashed flex hose the installers used with an offset box piece, because the vent through the wall is about 3" to the right of the outlet on the back of the dryer.
|
|
#
?
Jul 2, 2022 21:45
|
|
