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I need to rebuild a retaining wall and wanted to check something I'm not sure of. If using cinderblocks, should I fill the inside with concrete or can that expand/damage the wall as it cures?
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Jun 26, 2018 21:41
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lifts cats over head posted:I need to rebuild a retaining wall and wanted to check something I'm not sure of. If using cinderblocks, should I fill the inside with concrete or can that expand/damage the wall as it cures? FIll em up.
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Jun 26, 2018 22:23
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If you're building a retaining wall out of cinderblocks will it really matter because in five years it'll start toppling anyway?
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Jun 27, 2018 05:52
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Yes, you should grout-fill block for that sort of application. The way I watched pros build a retaining wall was to pour a concrete footer with rebar sticking out vertically to the height of the last course of block for the wall. The courses of block are set down onto the rebar so it goes through the hollows of the blocks, and at the end the block was filled with grout. The masons I worked with used wider 12 inch block at the bottom so they could brick over the block-face and make it look good. Then it was capped with stone.
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Jun 27, 2018 12:15
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I don't have any personal experience with retaining walls, but I've been watching Mike Haduck's videos on YouTube and he has one on retaining walls. The bottom line seems to be: if you want a retaining wall, overengineer the hell out of it, especially if you live somewhere where it freezes. Failing that, build it out of something irregular so that it's not obvious when it starts to fail/lean. But he would tend to recommend that instead you landscape such that no retaining wall is needed.
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Jun 27, 2018 15:26
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My (very limited) experience with retaining walls is that the forces on them are much greater than you imagine, and without proper engineering they will either begin to lean and look bad in fairly short order (best case scenario) or fail catastrophically and dangerously.
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Jun 27, 2018 15:35
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Yeah a real vertical retaining wall requires a lot of footing and anchoring - and even if decorative it needs to be below the frost line if you get serious winter weather.
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Jun 27, 2018 17:04
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So I got got with a citation from the city about my front yard. I'd been planning on ripping up the grass and replacing it with desert friendly landscaping, but I've been delaying. In broad strokes, what would be the potential problems with the following plan?
Wasabi the J fucked around with this message at 13:53 on Jun 28, 2018 |
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Jun 28, 2018 11:43
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I have a Kenmore Pro refrigerator, model # 253.44333600. It came with the house, and has worked fine for about 5 years but recently started to get warm. If I unplug it and leave it open for a few days, then plug it back in, it will work fine for a month or so, then start acting up again. It will lose the target temp for a few hours, then go back to normal, then lose it for a day or so and go back to normal, and finally lose it until I unplug it and leave it open again. Just unplugging it and plugging it back in doesn't fix it, it needs a few days. That makes me think water is collecting somewhere, but I can't find info online for it beyond the basic troubleshooting guide (which I have followed, cleaned the coils, etc.) Anyone have any ideas?
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Jun 28, 2018 13:06
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armorer posted:I have a Kenmore Pro refrigerator, model # 253.44333600. It came with the house, and has worked fine for about 5 years but recently started to get warm. If I unplug it and leave it open for a few days, then plug it back in, it will work fine for a month or so, then start acting up again. It will lose the target temp for a few hours, then go back to normal, then lose it for a day or so and go back to normal, and finally lose it until I unplug it and leave it open again. When it gets warm does the air still blow? It sounds like it's freezing up near the evap coil and cutting off air.
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Jun 28, 2018 13:15
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glynnenstein posted:When it gets warm does the air still blow? It sounds like it's freezing up near the evap coil and cutting off air. I can check that when I get home later.
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Jun 28, 2018 13:38
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armorer posted:I have a Kenmore Pro refrigerator, model # 253.44333600. It came with the house, and has worked fine for about 5 years but recently started to get warm. If I unplug it and leave it open for a few days, then plug it back in, it will work fine for a month or so, then start acting up again. It will lose the target temp for a few hours, then go back to normal, then lose it for a day or so and go back to normal, and finally lose it until I unplug it and leave it open again. Sounds like it freezing up. Check that fans are running, check the defrost timer and.......if those are good it's low on refrigerant.
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Jun 28, 2018 15:57
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My fridge had an issue with icing, that turned out to be that the defroster was running just fine...but the "exhaust" (liquid water) from the defroster was not reliably kept liquid all the way through to the evaporation pan. There was a short tube between the defroster and the pan which could freeze up, and when that froze, water couldn't get out, so it froze, and gradually backfilled the defroster until the fan couldn't blow. The fix was to wrap a wire around the bottom of one of the defroster heating elements, running down into that exhaust tube. That conducts enough heat that the water stays liquid through to the pan.
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Jun 28, 2018 16:23
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Wasabi the J posted:So I got got with a citation from the city about my front yard. I'd been planning on ripping up the grass and replacing it with desert friendly landscaping, but I've been delaying. liners don't really last-- best defense is at least 6" of rock which will prevent most weeds from getting tall enough to see light. For the rest a little hula-hoe action will be enough to keep em in check. Also before you rip out the turf, give it a great watering to green it up then murder it all with glycophosphate.
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Jun 29, 2018 00:03
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Wasabi the J posted:So I got got with a citation from the city about my front yard. The gently caress is wrong with your front yard?!
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Jun 29, 2018 02:58
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This is an old picture. The current state, due to my lack of lawn care and the desert, is scorched middle at some kind of fast growing thistle or feathergrass on the edges. We've been talking about replacing it for months, as the tree is also likely to push up the slab of the house.
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Jun 29, 2018 05:49
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Don't forget to salt the poo poo out of the ground.
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Jun 29, 2018 11:21
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I’m going to put up string lights on a tree right next to a shed that has power on the inside. Should I come up with some cute clever way to get the power for it through to the shed or should I just run an extensions cable out the door and throw some dirt on it? Lights will be used very very rarely and could possibly even be unplugged for awhile.
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Jun 29, 2018 14:07
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I got a kegerator from CL for free, but it doesn't get cold enough...wondering if there's anything I can do to fix it. It got to maybe 59 F or so when I got it, but I noticed the thermostat wire was right next to the cooling coils. It had a lot of slack in it, so I was able to pull it out and place it more in the middle, and that got it down closer to 50, but clearly still not cold enough. I'm thinking the problem is either the thermostat isn't reading right, or there's not enough coolant. I suspect the first, because if it wasn't enough coolant, I feel like I'd hear the compressor running pretty much non-stop as it continually tried to get down to temp. But it cycles like a regular fridge would, so that tells me it "thinks" it's hitting the target temp. I'm going to try and route the thermostat out of the fridge as the next test (since it's a kegerator, it has a small hole meant for CO2 tubing that makes it easy on the same side that the thermostat is on.)* to see if reading the 80 degree ambient air brings it down anymore. Anything else I should try? And if it's not the thermostat, is it even possible to "recharge" what is basically a minifridge? *And yes, I have plugged up both the CO2 hose hole and the hole at the top that goes to the tap, still doesn't get below like 53.
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Jun 29, 2018 15:15
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So I bought and installed a "Whole House Fan" which is working awesome. It's so awesome that I have a new problem: I mis-calculated the amount of peak vent my attic has, I'm 5 square FEET of net-free-area shy of the capacity I need. The fan is so powerful that it's pushing attic air out my rafter / soffits and is being sucked back into the house by the fan. The solution is simple, to install a big rear end gable vent - but I have very little experience working with siding and home penetrations. Here are the "installation instructions" they have:  http://www.alvcompany.com/images/miscimages/standard.png It seems straight forward, you rough cut a hole, mount the thing with the flange directly to the sheathing. But what do they mean by "properly flashed" ? If the siding buts up to the vent, I assume you just put a shitload of caulking down and the flange serves as the flashing? I'm an idiot so I may be misunderstanding what flashing means.
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Jun 29, 2018 16:06
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Caulk is not flashing. Flashing provides an overlap so that water would have to go up, against gravity, to get under the installation. Caulk is meant to cover small gaps and handle movement between different components of the structure. I'd treat this like installing a window, since they're basically similar. I'd use self-adhesive flashing (something like this)
Then you (re-)install siding on top of the flashing.
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Jun 29, 2018 16:52
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Wasabi the J posted:So I got got with a citation from the city about my front yard. I'd been planning on ripping up the grass and replacing it with desert friendly landscaping, but I've been delaying. I did this recently. - Depending on where you live, there may be rebates from the state or water company for removing your lawn. Check with them first as they often require application before you do the work. - Turf is a lot harder to rip up than you first realize. Kill it all first with Roundup. If you have Bermudagrass, treat with roundup several times over a couple of weeks. Get a good grub hoe and sharpen your shovel and dig it up. - Desert plants still need some water, especially when getting established. I capped off most of my sprinklers and ran drip lines. - I did not put a liner and am battling spots of Bermudagrass coming back up. I have about 3" of mulch, and am not seeing many weeds otherwise. Me in Grover position before:  During:  After: 
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Jun 29, 2018 17:02
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Funnily enough the rebate is how we think we got the citation. Two days prior I had called the water district to come take a look at it, they said they probably wouldn't be able to give us one because it hadn't been well maintained. Fast-forward 48 hours I have somebody from the city giving me a citation telling me that my grass is too long.
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Jun 29, 2018 19:16
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You need to maintain your lawn before getting rid of it? I got rid of mine because I don't want to maintain it. I plan on getting rid of more in the future.
FogHelmut fucked around with this message at 19:39 on Jun 29, 2018 |
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Jun 29, 2018 19:35
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Yes. I, too, was surprised.
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Jun 29, 2018 19:38
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FogHelmut posted:You need to maintain your lawn before getting rid of it? I got rid of mine because I don't want to maintain it. I plan on getting rid of more in the future. In a twisted sort of way it makes sense. The goal is to get you to stop watering. Of course in a reasonable world this wouldn't be an issue, but you would get people complaining you are just using it to get the city to pay for your landscaping. (  I realize that this is what the rebate is.)
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Jun 29, 2018 20:08
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DrBouvenstein posted:And if it's not the thermostat, is it even possible to "recharge" what is basically a minifridge? Possible? Yes. Economically viable? Not so much. Most times there are no ports (they fill at the factory and crimp/solder) so you'd need to add them.
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Jun 29, 2018 22:56
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DrBouvenstein posted:I got a kegerator from CL for free, but it doesn't get cold enough...wondering if there's anything I can do to fix it. So if you have all the hosing and such that came with it, the only thing you really need to do is purchase a chest freezer and a temperature controller... then just swap all the equipment over. Depending on what exactly you get, you can build a collar for it if you need extra height. Don't try to recharge it, the equipment you need would be way more expensive then building a keezer.
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Jun 30, 2018 01:44
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Ok so regarding my fridge that isn't holding temp: There is no ice anywhere in there, and the fan is blowing just fine.  No water pooling that I can see from here, I am going to try to access where the evap tray is if I can get to it now. Edit: The evap tray is bone dry as well. I poured some water into the bottom to make sure the hose to the tray was unobstructed, and it ran through just fine. The only thing that looks slightly odd here to me in that the hole in the aluminum surround around the coils doesn't line up perfectly with the drain to the dray, but it also doesn't really look problematic (and the water does drain, as I said above).  Edit 2: Also worth noting that the compressor is not running armorer fucked around with this message at 20:27 on Jun 30, 2018 |
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Jun 30, 2018 20:10
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armorer posted:Edit 2: Also worth noting that the compressor is not running If the compressor isn't running that would explain it not getting cold. You would need to figure out how it's supposed to get power to run, likely a relay somewhere. Make sure everything is getting voltage, the relay is closing, etc. Try shorting the wires on either side of it to see if it fires up. You'll want to find a wiring diagram if you aren't handy at tracing this stuff out, and you will need a multimeter or test light.
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Jun 30, 2018 21:45
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I'm in the process of fixing a retaining wall that happens to be next to a set of concrete stairs that are leaning. Is it possible to dig under the stairs a bit, lift it with a jack, and level it with something? Or am I likely to make it worse if I try? 
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Jun 30, 2018 22:27
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They're likely to crack honestly.
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Jun 30, 2018 23:03
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lifts cats over head posted:I'm in the process of fixing a retaining wall that happens to be next to a set of concrete stairs that are leaning. Is it possible to dig under the stairs a bit, lift it with a jack, and level it with something? Or am I likely to make it worse if I try? I would not try to correct the lean it has now, but you may be able to stop it getting worse. If the current slope is problematic, I'd start to plan a replacement instead of loving around with it.
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Jun 30, 2018 23:29
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Even if you tried to move it, there's probably a ton of dirt and gravel and things between the stairs and the wall.
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Jul 1, 2018 00:52
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I busted out the brick “bench” my fireplace had in preparation for refacing with faux stone and adding an electric insert.  Problem is, the mortar on the bottom has a very strong bond with the concrete floor. My plan was to use my air chisel to pop it off then fill in the low spots I create, but my chisel empties my 18gal compressor in about 5 seconds so it’s taken all day. Is there a better way to do this? I was thinking maybe a $10 HF air hammer would be more efficient than the 30 year old one I inherited, but I doubt it. Rent an electric SDS? Some other tool I haven’t thought of? Cool time capsule of garbage preserved within the brick, not even smashed: 
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Jul 1, 2018 01:34
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Grind it down?
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Jul 1, 2018 02:11
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FogHelmut posted:Grind it down? Is “flapwheel for concrete” a thing?
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Jul 1, 2018 02:19
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eddiewalker posted:Is “flapwheel for concrete” a thing? I haven't used them, but they make things like this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/DEWALT-4-1-2-in-Double-Row-Diamond-Cup-Wheel-DW4774/203061023
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Jul 1, 2018 02:24
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armorer posted:I haven't used them, but they make things like this: All right, then. Thanks.
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Jul 1, 2018 02:34
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eddiewalker posted:I busted out the brick “bench” my fireplace had in preparation for refacing with faux stone and adding an electric insert. Rent an electric demo hammer?
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Jul 1, 2018 15:09
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