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I want to clean up the miles of coax encircling my house. It was installed by Comcast/DirectTV techs that did it the super-cheap way - just drill through the siding, sheathing, and wallboard of this century+ year old home and shove it through. There's probably about six drops scattered around, I only need one. What's the best way to go about filling in the holes yanking this stuff out is going to leave? The interior's easy (just stuff a bunch of spackle in the plaster, and hope they didn't mess up the wood lath too much), but the exterior is a bit more concerning. Siding is aluminum that's probably over 50 years old, behind that I'm guessing there's a layer of Insul-Brick fiberboard/asphalt/possibly asbestos siding, and behind that is almost certainly old wood clapboard. Should I just shove a caulk gun in each hole and call it good? I'm planning on residing this entire home a few years down the line, but as it stands the aluminum siding is actually in pretty good shape, excepting that it needs paint badly.
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Jan 13, 2016 19:59
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^^ You too? I'm fairly certain most of the insulation in my walls is forgotten coax that's been repeatedly crammed in there over the years. In fact, I recently took down three different satellite mounts scattered around the roof. I just gobbed a bunch of silicone caulk up in there and some roofing tar on the holes from the satellite mounts. I figure it's supposed to be good for 40 years, so doubt it'll come back to bite me anytime soon. If you really wanted to, I'd get some spray foam and spritz that in first for insulation, though if your house is a hundred years old like mine, that's about as effective as patching cheesecloth. Anything bigger than the hole, you'd probably want to nip some aluminum flashing over it for good measure. You want to know just how bad of a thing running exterior coax like that is? Apparently the sheathing around mine had cracked and let water penetrate, which was causing enough signal feedback time Warner just tagged me out and blocked my service without telling me. Took two hours on the phone with support and a visit from a tech the next day to figure out what the heck happened, remove the filter and run new coax inside the house to get rid of the bad exterior section. Thank god I finally get rid of all of that coax, since I only need one line to feed my modem.
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Jan 13, 2016 20:53
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Zhentar posted:You are probably correct. Two stage and modulating furnaces exist, but they are not common. Yeah ours is pretty old tbh and I doubt it's got any fancy poo poo like that. Guess it's back to the store for me.
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Jan 13, 2016 21:46
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The +/- on a thermostat is what used to be called an anticipator. The more precise a setting, the closer it would stay to the set point. The older ones pulled some current to make heat to fool the mercury switch I think. Now it is some code that just sets how sloppy your stat is. If you are OK with more variation in temp, then it may result in longer furnace life with less on/off cycles.
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Jan 14, 2016 01:12
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minivanmegafun posted:Should I just shove a caulk gun in each hole and call it good? I'm planning on residing this entire home a few years down the line, but as it stands the aluminum siding is actually in pretty good shape, excepting that it needs paint badly. That should work. If you're feeling anal (no pun intended), get some wood dowel & lather it up with adhesive silicone caulk & tamp it into the hole so that it's recessed past the metal siding, then after a couple of days or so, top it off with a good exterior caulk. I have asbestos shingle siding & caulk works quite well for gaps & holes.
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Jan 14, 2016 03:34
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minivanmegafun posted:I want to clean up the miles of coax encircling my house. It was installed by Comcast/DirectTV techs that did it the super-cheap way - just drill through the siding, sheathing, and wallboard of this century+ year old home and shove it through. There's probably about six drops scattered around, I only need one. Sounds kind of like my house. I'm not sure on the age of the aluminum siding, but the house itself is 126 years old, and directly behind the aluminum siding is the original wood siding. Then a gap, then the interior wood wall. No insulation, which makes temperatures in the 20s not so fun. Instead of drilling more and more holes in the wall to run cables inside, I ran a piece of conduit through the wall into the living room so I can have DirecTV, OTA TV, and ethernet outside. I should have gone up one size though in case I need more space for wires. The conduit is angled down, so that if any water did reach it, it'd drain outside. the box has a gasket, and it looks so ugly since I spray foamed it to keep bugs/cold out. 
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Jan 14, 2016 03:56
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Can anyone recommend which Dan Holohan book to get? I have an 80 year old steam system that needs some maintenance. Mostly replacing/cleaning vents but one of my radiators has terminal cancer, too. I want to balance the system because right now my first and third floors are cold but the second gets too hot. And when my heat kicks on the whole house sounds like an off key reed section. Probably either "The Lost Art of Steam Heating" or "We Got Steam!" Seems like there's a lot of over lap in his books.
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Jan 16, 2016 06:33
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Hi, how dangerous is this? The roof drain is leaking, and the pipe runs through an interior wall to the sewer.
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Jan 16, 2016 15:12
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I have a flat roof/fake balcony deck over part of my garage. It pools water and leaks. Right now it looks like it has some kind of shingling with gravel on top. What is the best way to fix this? EPDM? Fiberglass resin? 30 cans of FlexSeal? I think the plan is in the next couple years to take the window out in the master bedroom overlooking this and install a door to be able to use this as a real deck.
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Jan 16, 2016 16:41
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Massasoit posted:Hi, how dangerous is this? The roof drain is leaking, and the pipe runs through an interior wall to the sewer. You have water coming out of your light switch, do you really need to ask?
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Jan 16, 2016 17:15
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Massasoit posted:Hi, how dangerous is this? The roof drain is leaking, and the pipe runs through an interior wall to the sewer. Middling dangerous. If you feel a tingle when switching on or off the light, then don't switch that light off anymore, and when the breaker pops, you'll know it's actually dangerous. It would be advisable to get that roof drain repaired, though.
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Jan 16, 2016 22:28
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Massasoit posted:Hi, how dangerous is this? The roof drain is leaking, and the pipe runs through an interior wall to the sewer. The water and electricity, so-so. The resulting mold from the wet drywall if you do nothing? Very. Fix the water leak first to keep your problem from becoming bigger.
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Jan 17, 2016 04:55
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Well, the property management company has been notified. And they were notified in November. So its up to them!
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Jan 17, 2016 06:03
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The joy and the curse of renting in one lovely snapshot!
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Jan 17, 2016 06:07
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I have a wine rack I'm planning to hang on the wall, and as it's fairly heavy the instructions call for me to screw the mount into the studs behind the wall for better support. It says I should use a "stud finder" to determine where the studs are, is this really necessary? For one they didn't have any in stock when I went to the hardware store, and moreover the wall is thin enough that I can knock in certain places and hear where there's something solid right on the other side and where it's empty, a la a Zelda game.
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Jan 17, 2016 06:35
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No need to overthink it. It's often really easy to tell whether your screw went into a stud, or empty space. Also, if you have to use empty space, molly bolts / toggle bolts may be strong enough even for a wine rack.
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Jan 17, 2016 07:03
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It depends on the capacity of the rack. If it's a couple/three bottles and a small affair, maybe you can get away with drywall anchors or toggle bolts. But it's liquid in glass on a rack, and Murphy looooves that poo poo, especially reds. Reds stain. Find the studs. You can try knocking, if you're confident you can hear the difference. If it's newer construction and you have a tape measure or some way of measuring a sixteen-inch distance, measure off from a corner or a light switch or wall receptacle in 16" increments to verify the spots found by tapping.
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Jan 17, 2016 17:13
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C-Euro posted:I have a wine rack I'm planning to hang on the wall, and as it's fairly heavy the instructions call for me to screw the mount into the studs behind the wall for better support. It says I should use a "stud finder" to determine where the studs are, is this really necessary? For one they didn't have any in stock when I went to the hardware store, and moreover the wall is thin enough that I can knock in certain places and hear where there's something solid right on the other side and where it's empty, a la a Zelda game. The knock method doesn't work as well with insulated walls. There are other ways to determine where your studs are in a wall than the knock method. One of the easiest is to find the nearest switch or outlet box on that wall since they're mounted to the sides of studs, you just need to figure out which side of the box the stud is on. Once you've found one stud, you can measure over every 16 inches to find the others. Another method is to use a strong magnet and try to find the nails or screws that fasten the drywall to the studs. That method is a bit harder since drywall is only fastened to the studs every foot or so vertically. You can drag the magnet right over a stud and not detect anything since there wasn't a nail or screw there. Still another method I've used before is to shine a light sideways across the wall and look closely for the fasteners. You may have to look EXTREMELY close and move the light source around to see them, just look for quarter inch circles. Once you think you've found one, look for others in a vertical line. This one works best if the walls haven't been painted 50 zillion times. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 19:34 on Jan 17, 2016 |
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Jan 17, 2016 19:16
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I will never go back to an electronic stud finder after picking up one of these. CH Hanson 03040 Magnetic Stud Finder https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000IKK0OI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_GZ-Mwb7HYENHF Just draw figure-8s on the wall until you feel a tug, then the magnets will hold tight enough to a screw head to hang a string and washer weight to mark the stud vertically. It even worked on my walls with a thick layer of plaster texture where the electronic finder got all confused. eddiewalker fucked around with this message at 20:43 on Jan 17, 2016 |
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Jan 17, 2016 20:38
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eddiewalker posted:I will never go back to an electronic stud finder after picking up one of these. If you want a magnetic stud finder, you can also just buy some rare earth magnets. And who doesn't want a bunch of rare earth magnets? They're great. I have a 1"x1/8" or thereabouts disc magnet and I can just slide it along the wall and wait for it to stick. As mentioned above, it's entirely possible to miss the stud several times because you don't slide the magnet where a fastener is, but it's just like an extra 30 seconds, maybe, of searching before you know where the stud is. I haven't had this method fail me yet.
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Jan 17, 2016 21:03
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Honestly, just invest in a stud finder. You will more than likely use it again in the future and you're gonna miss out on all the potential jokes about it going off when it's near you.
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Jan 18, 2016 17:22
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Speaking of studs, is it normal for them to not be in a logical place to hang something centered in a room? Two examples from my house... First, I went to hang a 36" diameter decorative disk above the mantel on my fireplace. There are no studs in the center of that wall. The only way to hang the disk so that it doesn't look retarded is dead center. Odd. Second, there's a wall in the kitchen where the previous owners had left us a Pottery Barn TV cover that looks like a wine rack (http://www.potterybarn.com/products/riddling-rack-wall-mount-media-solution/?pkey=call-art&&call-art). It is perfectly centered on that wall. When I went to hang the TV mount, the studs aren't centered along that wall either. I could only fit a 32" TV because in order to use a stud, you have to shift the mount closer to the edges. Is this normal, or is my house weird?
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Jan 18, 2016 20:06
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Totally normal. Studs are there to keep your walls from collapsing. Giving a sturdy place to hang stuff from is just a fringe benefit.
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Jan 18, 2016 20:13
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They start the studs at one end and go from there. Sometimes they're off by an inch or so.
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Jan 18, 2016 20:21
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Depending on how it's framed, there also might not even be any studs beyond the corners on the drywall in front of your fireplace, since it's essentially a big empty decorative box hiding the chimney and doesn't need the same rigidity of a wall. E: Speaking of studs, is it a bad idea to drill through the stringers on stairs? I ran some new wiring to replace the battery powered smoke detector on my basement stairwell, and stupidly didn't think twice about putting a 1" hole in the stringer to run the wire, but now I'm wondering if I may have really screwed up and substantially weakened the stairs? I'm pretty sure the stringers are attached to the studs, it's a balloon framed house with the stairwells in the center of it. Catatron Prime fucked around with this message at 20:34 on Jan 18, 2016 |
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Jan 18, 2016 20:23
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Omne posted:First, I went to hang a 36" diameter decorative disk above the mantel on my fireplace. There are no studs in the center of that wall. The only way to hang the disk so that it doesn't look retarded is dead center. Odd. On the upside, that thing is large enough that you can just cut a hole into the wall, install a fire break between two existing studs and mount what I am hoping is actually a massive replica of a 3.5" floppy. Less retarded would be to find where there are studs and attach some plywood over the drywall and use that as a backer for the mounting.
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Jan 18, 2016 20:30
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If it doesn't weight that much why not just use drywall anchors? They make pretty beefy ones.
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Jan 18, 2016 20:35
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OSU_Matthew posted:Depending on how it's framed, there also might not even be any studs beyond the corners on the drywall in front of your fireplace, since it's essentially a big empty decorative box hiding the chimney and doesn't need the same rigidity of a wall. You drilled a one inch hole to run a single romex cable? Single runs of that stuff need just a half inch. Omne posted:Speaking of studs, is it normal for them to not be in a logical place to hang something centered in a room? Two examples from my house... First, what everyone else said about studs being for support, not convenience. That being said, when my parents built their house addition, my mother specifically requested a dead center stud above the mantle for this reason. Second, you probably didn't shop around long enough for a proper TV mount designed to span between 2 studs. That link said the TV cover is 50" wide, which should at least 2 studs, possibly 3. Check out https://www.monoprice.com for TV mounts. You would be limited to a fixed a tilt mount though, so no full motion mounts. You may want to get a support designed for a larger TV simply to get one with a longer wall mount bracket, then you can slide the TV around on that bracket to center it in your TV cover. kid sinister fucked around with this message at 21:42 on Jan 18, 2016 |
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Jan 18, 2016 21:26
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Is there any such thing as a combined nut/set-screw sort of a deal that is threaded both externally and internally, to accept a bolt and act as one? Like... Kind of a bolt size converter. Use case: we have this play-gym that our parakeet really likes  It's basically a plastic tree set in a broad plastic bowl with a foot-long carriage bolt that runs through the center, top to bottom, to hold the whole thing together. At the bottom, it's secured with a wing nut. I have a decapitated floor lamp that I'd like to affix it to, so that it's a standalone piece of furniture at chest-level. The lamp has internal threading where the stem of the lighting element used to affix, and the whole deal would slam together in about five seconds if I could just buy a sheath to bump the threads on the carriage bolt to a larger size.
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Jan 19, 2016 04:06
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I wanted a full-motion mount, so I made that choice, I know I could have gotten a bigger TV with a fixed/tilt mount. It's all good, just thought it was strange. An unrelated question: I am unable to find my outside spigot shut-off valves. I know where the main is, but the others (one front, one back) escape me. The backyard spigot is on a wall that's opposite the master bedroom plumbing, but the only valves are to the sinks (and toilet, though that's on a different wall). I went to the hot water tank in the lower attic (same as our second floor; we have another attic that's the third level of the house) to try and follow the pipes. I can see the one to the master bath, the one going to the kitchen, and one going to the upstairs bathrooms, but nothing leading to the outside. All houses are supposed to have individual shut-offs for outside spigots, right? As it gets colder, I'm worried about pipes freezing and wanted to winterize them
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Jan 19, 2016 04:10
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Eikre posted:Is there any such thing as a combined nut/set-screw sort of a deal that is threaded both externally and internally, to accept a bolt and act as one? Like... Kind of a bolt size converter. Omne posted:All houses are supposed to have individual shut-offs for outside spigots, right? As it gets colder, I'm worried about pipes freezing and wanted to winterize them If you can't find the shutoffs, they make styrofoam domes for spigots that could buy you some time.
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Jan 19, 2016 05:30
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Omne posted:I wanted a full-motion mount, so I made that choice, I know I could have gotten a bigger TV with a fixed/tilt mount. It's all good, just thought it was strange. So throw a piece of plywood onto the wall between the two centermost studs, and then mount the TV mount through the plywood and drywall with some toggle anchors.
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Jan 19, 2016 06:38
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Eikre posted:Is there any such thing as a combined nut/set-screw sort of a deal that is threaded both externally and internally, to accept a bolt and act as one? Like... Kind of a bolt size converter. Mc Master-Carr to the Rescue Look for the Thread Locking inserts for metals. Might be hard to do if you have odd sizes to adapt between.
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Jan 19, 2016 21:03
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Eikre posted:Is there any such thing as a combined nut/set-screw sort of a deal that is threaded both externally and internally, to accept a bolt and act as one? Like... Kind of a bolt size converter. I used to work for a fastener company. Try searching for "bushings" and "threaded adapters". The problem you'll most likely encounter is that lamp parts use a lot of plumbing sizes, back from the days of gas lighting. Plumbing threads don't convert easily to screw sizes.
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Jan 19, 2016 21:07
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Eikre posted:Is there any such thing as a combined nut/set-screw sort of a deal that is threaded both externally and internally, to accept a bolt and act as one? Like... Kind of a bolt size converter. Could you replace the bolt in the bowl with a little bigger piece of all thread that would fit the lamp?
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Jan 19, 2016 21:46
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kid sinister posted:You drilled a one inch hole to run a single romex cable? Single runs of that stuff need just a half inch. Yup! I had to run a fish tape at a 90° angle a few inches beyond the stringer and it turned it to be a lot harder than I had originally anticipated because of old gas pipes in the wall blocking the tape. I finally managed to fish an inspection camera with a hook from the other end to snag the tape and move it around the obstruction. That's good to know though... I'll keep that in mind for next time!
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Jan 20, 2016 01:48
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Omne posted:I wanted a full-motion mount, so I made that choice, I know I could have gotten a bigger TV with a fixed/tilt mount. It's all good, just thought it was strange. So if you did get a full motion mount, then why stick with the TV cover? Post a picture of the outside hose connections you do have, and we'll tell you if they're frost free or not. If they are, then don't worry about them. Also, where the hell do you live that a 3rd floor attic would have a hose hookup that you could reach from the ground outside?
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Jan 20, 2016 07:57
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I'm building a black steel pipe version of this chandelier. The arms are attached to the base by a nipple and I would like let that nipple be tightened and loosened to allow for the arms to be moved. That means I can't spray paint it. http://www.instructables.com/id/Preserve-the-Beauty-of-Raw-or-Rusted-Steel-Iron-/ This guy used Penetrol to protect black steel pipe without painting, but it sounds like it would dry and not allow the arms to rotate. Any ideas for what I could apply to the black steel that would allow the arms to rotate but would keep the pipe from rusting?
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Jan 20, 2016 17:02
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Hashtag Banterzone posted:Any ideas for what I could apply to the black steel that would allow the arms to rotate but would keep the pipe from rusting? Powder coating would certainly work. Those pipes look too long for you to do at home so you'd have to contact an autobody shop or some sort of industrial paint place. That wouldn't necessarily be cheap though. Maybe Plasti Dip?
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Jan 20, 2016 17:40
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Hashtag Banterzone posted:I'm building a black steel pipe version of this chandelier. If you really want to go completely overboard, dab on some neverseize -- that'd definitely do the trick. Honestly, it's not in an extreme environment, so any kinda lube should do you nicely, except WD-40. Just a side thought, depending on how heavy that winds up being, it might be worth replacing the ceiling box with a braced one that is held up with tension between the joists, eg this one. That way it won't rip outta the ceiling
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Jan 21, 2016 04:12
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