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Capn Beeb posted:Honestly, the plug you'd find on a beach ball is exactly what I'm after from a function standpoint, but I have no idea where to look for one. Short of buying a ball and cutting the plug off
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Jul 1, 2012 20:55
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Jebediah posted:
I helped a friend cover windows with something like automotive tint, but it's designed for home windows to reflect heat and I think UV. You should be able to find it in wal*mart with the curtains I believe.
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Jul 1, 2012 21:28
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I'm getting ready to lay vinyl flooring in my bathrooms. I checked the floor and it's level (thank god), however, pulling off the baseboards the current linoleum flooring has curled up slightly. I should cut that section out and then use liquid level to fix that, right? Then lay over the existing floor?
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Jul 1, 2012 21:59
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Can you replace the glass in a metal screen door like this or should i just get a whole new door?
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Jul 2, 2012 02:51
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Can anyone recommend an effective way to remove a stripped screw? The cheap, soft crews they ship with IKEA furniture have caused me a problem with some furniture, and it didn't take long for the screw to become unusable.
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Jul 2, 2012 06:55
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Regnevelc posted:I'm getting ready to lay vinyl flooring in my bathrooms. This is perfectly acceptable, yes. peepsalot posted:Can you replace the glass in a metal screen door like this or should i just get a whole new door? Good luck. Unless you can unscrew or prise out the window retaining trims you're out of luck. melon cat posted:Can anyone recommend an effective way to remove a stripped screw? The cheap, soft crews they ship with IKEA furniture have caused me a problem with some furniture, and it didn't take long for the screw to become unusable. Hardware stores sell screw extractor bits, you put them in a drill & they dig into the ruined screw, driving it out.
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Jul 2, 2012 07:18
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Powdered Toast Man posted:The HVAC contractor checked the pressure and said it was slightly low, and he topped it off. No effect. The outside unit is running just fine, as far as I can tell. What could be wrong with the coil, exactly? Since the pressure is OK it isn't leaking...does that mean that something is blocking the flow of coolant?
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Jul 2, 2012 10:50
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Jebediah posted:Next question. I need to hang curtains in my room and insulate the window from the heat. It's absolutely awful. My wife found some curtains made for this, they have a bright white liner. Also, definitely call your landlord about the vent.
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Jul 2, 2012 17:43
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Cakefool posted:This is perfectly acceptable, yes. I found out that they already had placed a second layer over the existing floor, so I just ripped it all out.
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Jul 2, 2012 18:15
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Regnevelc posted:I found out that they already had placed a second layer over the existing floor, so I just ripped it all out. Ahh, multiple flooring strata. Our bathroom was like that, as is the kitchen. Even the siding has had this done to it. The outer later is cedar shake with an under course, nailed directly on top of lap siding. What parts of the lap I've seen while replacing the cedar seem to be in reasonably good shape, so I don't know why they decided to cover it up. 
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Jul 2, 2012 18:37
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grover posted:There really isn't much to fail in the coils themselves besides a leak, but sounds like your pressure is fine. Is the compressor running? The compressor has to be running in order to check the freon pressures.
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Jul 2, 2012 20:51
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I'm getting mixed answers from google so I'll try here: is my house going to fall to pieces because of the ivy I've got growing up the rear wall? House built in 1949, brick. Ivy's been there since at least 2009 when I moved in; a few of the roots at the base are garden-hose-thick so I'm guessing it's been there for a while. The ivy's spread about 15" across and up to the bottom of the second story windows. I've peeled sections of it off before and everything seems fine, but I doubt I'd notice if there was something wrong. From what I'm reading it seems like the kind of thing that won't cause damage in modern houses (60 year old house isn't exactly ancient, but is it still "modern"?) unless it's allowed to go wild for a few decades. I should note, I really enjoy it, it adds some personality to the backyard. If it's going to cause problems during my ownership of the house I'll get rid of it, but if it's the kind of problem that's decades away (when I'll have either sold the house or cut it down myself after getting tired of it) then I'm not gonna sweat it. I don't have a picture of it today, but I did find a picture from when we bought it; this shows the growth over three years: 
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Jul 2, 2012 21:16
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jackpot posted:I'm getting mixed answers from google so I'll try here: is my house going to fall to pieces because of the ivy I've got growing up the rear wall? That depends on how good of condition your mortar is in, regarding structural problems. The main problem with ivy is that it grows anywhere and attaches to everything. If you don't keep it trimmed, it will cover windows and screens, pop off gutters, downspouts, roofing tiles, fascia boards, you name it.
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Jul 2, 2012 21:21
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kid sinister posted:The main problem with ivy is that it grows anywhere and attaches to everything. If you don't keep it trimmed, it will cover windows and screens, pop off gutters, downspouts, roofing tiles, fascia boards, you name it. As far as I can tell the mortar is in good shape; there's no difference at that I can see between ivy-covered and bare sections of brick on the other sides of the house. Sometimes when I pull it off it leaves those damned roots behind stuck to the brick, but a power washer takes them off with little effort.
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Jul 2, 2012 22:04
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peepsalot posted:Can you replace the glass in a metal screen door like this or should i just get a whole new door? This screen door has the top panel which doesn't slide, and the bottom glass panel which slides up and down to either open up the lower screen area for airflow, or to seal it airtight. The lower glass just has little tabs that you push in to slide up and down, if you push them in all the way you can swing out the bottom edge, then tilt it a bit to get the top tabs out of the way. Once the slidy panel was removed I could see that the top glass panel basically just rests in a notch assisted by gravity. Just lifted it a little bit and was able to remove the whole panel (glass + metal frame that it is caulked into). The hardware stores didn't have replacement pieces like that, but they said if I had the manufacturer/model I could order a replacement part from them. I looked all over the screen door but didn't see any markings. For now I've just left the broken part removed, and slid the movable pane up to the top so that it looks kinda normal I guess.
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Jul 3, 2012 03:07
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This isn't really a 'fix it' thing but I didn't feel it needed its own thread. Anyone know of a product that works like plasti dip claims to? http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Plasti_Dip I have some foam parts that I would like to give a rubber or hard plastic shell to, but I bought a can of this stuff and sprayed it on... it was pretty much just black spray paint. No thickness or 'coating.'
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Jul 3, 2012 05:27
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bobua posted:This isn't really a 'fix it' thing but I didn't feel it needed its own thread. do more coats
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Jul 3, 2012 05:31
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peepsalot posted:Update: I looked at this closer, and from the inside of the screen it's pretty simple to remove the top panel. Measure the broken panel including frame & thickness, speak to local double glazing firms about a replacement.
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Jul 3, 2012 08:08
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stubblyhead posted:Did you find a vendor you like? I've been looking into this myself recently but I'm not sure where to start either. I ended up getting a quote for Conestoga RTA cabinets since they seem pretty well made and require me to use glue and staples/brads to put them together. Seeing as that's how I have made my cabinetry and would do so if I had time to make all the cabinets, that seemed like the right way to go. I quoted about $5800 without trim for a painted, glazed finish versus an equivalent Merillat full plywood cabinet at about $14,000. There are a few things I need to update the quote on to get a real apples to apples comparison, like two slide-out drawers, but otherwise it's almost dead-on identical. The trim seemed reasonably priced. That said, it's going to take me a weeks worth of nights to get them built, as I really don't like the idea of not using parallel clamps during glue setup and I only have one set large enough to do, so it'll be two cabinets per night.
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Jul 3, 2012 16:13
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Good news: I got my own lab space for crystallizing proteins! Bad news: the temperature in the room seems to be fluctuating wildly throughout the day and I need it to stay constant. The room currently has a bunch of open doorways and windows that I'm going to close off in order to separate the room from the rest of the building and the hvac system. I'm looking for a few cheap temperature and humidity sensors that will log data every 5 min or so to a computer so that I'll be able to tell when I've actually accomplished my goal. What's the best/cheapest way to do that?
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Jul 4, 2012 03:25
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Appachai posted:Good news: I got my own lab space for crystallizing proteins! I am in the metrology department for a bio-pharma/life sciences company and deal with data loggers regularly. You could try Dickson brand data loggers. Marathon Products also has good loggers. Or just check out Fisher Scientific and see what they are slapping their name on.
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Jul 4, 2012 04:23
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MH Knights posted:I am in the metrology department for a bio-pharma/life sciences company and deal with data loggers regularly. You could try Dickson brand data loggers. Marathon Products also has good loggers. Or just check out Fisher Scientific and see what they are slapping their name on. Thanks!
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Jul 4, 2012 04:28
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Where can I get/what kind of doorknob is this called? Its from an old house, I don't need the mechanism or anything. All I need are two knobs and the part in the middle. Do they even make these anymore and would it be cheaper to just buy something modern? Edit: Apparently what I was looking for was located here: http://houseofantiquehardware.com/decorative-door-knobs-bennington-rim-lock-with-iron-shanks a dingus fucked around with this message at 16:30 on Jul 7, 2012 |
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Jul 4, 2012 23:26
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Smeed posted:Where can I get/what kind of doorknob is this called? Its from an old house, I don't need the mechanism or anything. All I need are two knobs and the part in the middle. Do they even make these anymore and would it be cheaper to just buy something modern? I'd search for mortise locks. They still make them as there are plenty of old houses around that need new hardware while still keeping a classic look. You just might not find any at Home Depot.
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Jul 5, 2012 00:03
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I don't know where you are located, but there's a vendor at Renninger's Flea Market in Denver, PA (near Reading, E/NE of Phila) that has a good selection of these (salvaged from old homes). The knobs appear to be burl, not sure of the species, and that setup is for a mortise lock.
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Jul 5, 2012 00:33
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Antique stores in general tend to have old hardware like that, it's worth a look regardless of where you live.
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Jul 5, 2012 02:24
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Smeed posted:Where can I get/what kind of doorknob is this called? Its from an old house, I don't need the mechanism or anything. All I need are two knobs and the part in the middle. Do they even make these anymore and would it be cheaper to just buy something modern? Surprising enough they have or had them at Wal*Mart. I was in disbelief when I found them since I needed some for my house. I saw them at several different stores priced about $5. They were glass "crystal" ends. If I could only find parts for the glass door vents above my doors (name escapes me at the moment) I'd be really happy.
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Jul 5, 2012 04:12
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uapyro posted:Surprising enough they have or had them at Wal*Mart. I was in disbelief when I found them since I needed some for my house. I saw them at several different stores priced about $5. They were glass "crystal" ends. If I could only find parts for the glass door vents above my doors (name escapes me at the moment) I'd be really happy. I've seen the glass ones at big-box hardware. Usually sold with a mortise lock. The shaft is of a smaller diameter than the old one, though...wouldn't fit in my front door. What do you need for your transoms? A good local hardware store can have a surprisingly large selection of stuff you can adapt: hinges, slides, screw-locks...
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Jul 5, 2012 06:22
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PainterofCrap posted:I've seen the glass ones at big-box hardware. Usually sold with a mortise lock. The shaft is of a smaller diameter than the old one, though...wouldn't fit in my front door. I guess mine are a different size. The ones I got all were a perfect fit. Various parts. I think there's one complete one, but over the last 30 years it has countless layers of paint freezing it up. I think mine are squeeze locks. I managed to break paint on one, and that part squeezes, but the rest of it's still painted shut and doesn't move
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Jul 5, 2012 09:54
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Tim Thomas posted:I ended up getting a quote for Conestoga RTA cabinets since they seem pretty well made and require me to use glue and staples/brads to put them together. Seeing as that's how I have made my cabinetry and would do so if I had time to make all the cabinets, that seemed like the right way to go. I was wondering more where you bought them, but a brand recommendation is good too. Local dealer, or online? About how big is your kitchen? Mine is pretty small, and I haven't really thought a lot about how I want to change the layout (which currently sucks).
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Jul 5, 2012 22:36
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Thanks Ill search around for mortise locks. I tried sifting through Amazon but they've got thousands of door knobs and I really didn't have the slightest clue what it'd be called. I'm like the guy who walks into a mechanic's shop and says "My car goes 'grshkk grshk grshk' what's wrong with it?"
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Jul 5, 2012 22:52
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I'm trying to fix a problem with a 2x2 fluorescent light fixture installed in a drop ceiling. The fixture has 1 ballast that powers 3 lamps. The lamps are the 40w long twin t5 4-pin type (same as here: http://www.greenelectricalsupply.com/40-watt-pl-l-4-pin-4100k-rs-osram-dulux-l-40w-2g11-ft40dl841rs.aspx) The problem is that one of the lamps recently stopped working. The other 2 lamps light up just fine. I've swapped out the bulb itself with 2 other known good bulbs and none of them so much as flickered. The contacts in the fixture appear to be in good condition. Could the ballast go bad in a way that only affects one of the lamps in the fixture? Or something else?
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Jul 6, 2012 05:50
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Daedalus101 posted:I'm trying to fix a problem with a 2x2 fluorescent light fixture installed in a drop ceiling. The fixture has 1 ballast that powers 3 lamps. The lamps are the 40w long twin t5 4-pin type (same as here: http://www.greenelectricalsupply.com/40-watt-pl-l-4-pin-4100k-rs-osram-dulux-l-40w-2g11-ft40dl841rs.aspx) It's unlikely that the ballast is bad. If there's a problem with a ballast, all the bulbs go out, not just one. I'm a handyman at some retail stores, I had that happen once. You'll have to take apart the fixture. Get down to the problem socket. Either the socket is bad, or there's a problem with the wiring going to the socket. Fluorescent sockets use spring terminals where you just stick in the wire. Who knows: maybe the spring wore out, they forgot to strip the wire before they stuck it in, or so on.
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Jul 6, 2012 18:11
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stubblyhead posted:I was wondering more where you bought them, but a brand recommendation is good too. Local dealer, or online? About how big is your kitchen? Mine is pretty small, and I haven't really thought a lot about how I want to change the layout (which currently sucks). There are a surprisingly large number of "custom cabinetry" places that are actually just ordering parts from Conestoga and putting them together. I am going through the Cabinet Joint and am waiting on a sample. I did all the design in Sketchup as a rough-out and might re-model in Pro/E at some point if I find it necessary. The kitchen will be an L shape that is 13' by 9' with an island. Right now, it's an L shape rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise such that the gas is in a wall that will no longer exist, the refrigerator is on a wall that will no longer exist, and the sink is on an interior wall. The new design will move the sink to a larger window, the range to the spot where the sink used to be, and the refrigerator to the end of the L. If you're good with design or imagination, you might as well sketch stuff out with pen and paper and cutouts that signify your appliances before you get a designer to design stuff for you, if at all.
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Jul 6, 2012 22:38
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Had my water heater for about a year, so it seems like a good time to drain/flush it. Looked up some basic instructions, got out a garden hose, and then went to screw the hose into this: Umm... at the risk of sounded like a complete idiot, where's the valve that would allow the water heater to drain from this?
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Jul 7, 2012 18:55
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So I've been thinking about building a very basic bookshelf as a way to introduce myself to woodworking and handiness in general, but I'm hung up on how to approach it. Does anyone have any advice on the general procedure when building a piece of furniture like this? Not specifically bookshelves, but like a "scientific process", except for woodworking. e: Asking here instead of the woodworking megathread because I'm kinda hoping for some wisdom applicable to more than just woodworking. Invisible Ted fucked around with this message at 03:15 on Jul 8, 2012 |
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Jul 8, 2012 03:13
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I just bought a house with a pool and decided I would clean the DE Filter grids myself; a bad idea but I got through it (after 3 hours of trying to fit the grids back in). I had to replace the pressure indicator because the old one was rusted and the plastic screen turned yellow. The pressure relief valve and the pressure gauge were on a T-fitting which was on top of my American Titan Vertical Grid Filter. As I was tightening the pressure gauge my hand slipped and I broke the relief valve off. I searched all day at various pool supply stores for a replacement but they were all closed, too far away for me to get to today, or they didn't have them. Now my question is: Do I really need a specific relief valve, can I just use a cap? From the way the other one looked it wasn't anything special. Other than a little spigot on the side it just looked and acted (I'm guessing) like a cap.
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Jul 8, 2012 03:55
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Ballz posted:Had my water heater for about a year, so it seems like a good time to drain/flush it. Looked up some basic instructions, got out a garden hose, and then went to screw the hose into this: I think you turn the whole thing.
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Jul 8, 2012 04:19
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Invisible Ted posted:So I've been thinking about building a very basic bookshelf as a way to introduce myself to woodworking and handiness in general, but I'm hung up on how to approach it. Does anyone have any advice on the general procedure when building a piece of furniture like this? Not specifically bookshelves, but like a "scientific process", except for woodworking. This is a difficult question to answer because there are so many ways to make any particular joint. Best start is to Google plans & designs, see how they're all put together. Decide what is within your ability & make or modify a design to fulfill your requirements and be within your means. An introduction to woodworking book will be a great start.
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Jul 8, 2012 07:49
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I'm back with another picture from my terrible apartment. I have no idea what this is: Clicks through to full size. What you're looking at is the top of a room threshold. That wall was formerly an outside wall, and now it goes to an enclosed, semi-indoor, but not winterized porch. Is that just a puttied-over nail and a hole looking at insulation? Or what?
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Jul 8, 2012 10:04
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