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Quick question, related to the plaster question above that wasn't answered. I have a really old house, it was possibly built in the 1750s, so all the walls are plaster. There's also a lot of gaps going on everywhere, like say between trim and walls, or between walls and wooden window frames. What is right material to use to fill in these gaps and try and get a nice seal in the rooms? Patching plaster? If so do you just use it like spackle? Also, in our living room are exposed wooden ceiling beams. Again, the beams against the walls have quite a bit of a gap, like maybe 1cm. I was thinking of very lightly using some spray insulation there, just so I know there's a seal going on. Is that the right move? Thanks!
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Aug 26, 2011 14:36
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| # ¿ May 3, 2024 01:06 |
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Oh hey Nirox that's awesome! I just bought a house in Springfield PA like 15 miles west of Philadelphia, might have to PM you often! I do have one quick question about it. Our basement get's pretty wet, we even noticed that out washer seems to empty out right in the one corner that it leaks and we get a small puddle in our basement just from running it. My question is would trying to plug that leak potentially put stress somewhere else in the foundation and cause a new leak? I would love to minimize the amount of water that comes in, but if it's just going to cause new leaks I rather stick with where it leaks now because it eventually ends into our sump pump. Also, can we sort of dig a decent trench around the basement wall to direct the water instead of having it puddle? Thanks so much! The house was built in 1750 so it has a lot of little quirks.
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Sep 1, 2011 14:32
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Mike Hawk posted:I hope that there are some plumbers in the crowd There's a whole thread dedicated to plumbing.
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Oct 6, 2011 14:32
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I wonder if you could use like a durable exterior paint or if your dogs nails are generally sharp he's probably going to always go through it. My quick idiot question: One of the GFCI outlets in my kitchen tripped, but the reset buttons don't seem to be working now. Is there any right way to go about fixing that?
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Oct 7, 2011 15:32
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But doesn't that imply that one of the pipes is leaking and that should be fixed first or is that assumption wrong?
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Nov 18, 2011 21:05
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Every out tdoor light in my house is on one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Intermatic-EJ351C-Programmable-Mechanical-Security/dp/B000Q9YUGU/ref=sr_1_6?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1326309308&sr=1-6 But those digital Honeywell ones look super tempting.
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Jan 11, 2012 20:15
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The one I linked to you can't hear at all, but if you're installing a new one I don't see why you wouldn't get a digital one with a battery backup.
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Jan 12, 2012 01:44
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This may be a retarded question but I am, in fact, retarded. Say I have a telephone line and a wallplate in my kitchen and I really just want to get rid of it, patch it over, and repaint the wall because telephones are probably never happening in my house, and definitely not in that location, what is the proper thing to do? Should I be remove the wiring completely (if possible)? Is it wrong to just leave it behind the wall and patch over it in the event land lines become popular or it's needed for something in the future?
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Feb 13, 2012 18:46
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I have 2 mechanical timers in our living room and we don't really notice the bulk because the outlets aren't that out in the open. Another con is you can hear their slight ticking. Other than that it's nice we haven't manually turned a light on in there in months.
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Feb 20, 2012 13:54
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Quick question sort of. I have an old iron thumb latch on our master bathroom door. It's cool and I don't need that door to have a sturdy handle/lock, so I'll keep it. It's an old barn style door anyway. The problem is there's no keeper on the door frame so the door can't stay forced shut. It just sort of hovers shut and if my Corgi wants to push it open while you're trying to go to the bathroom she can (and will). Now I can really use any random thing to use as a keeper as long as the latch can clear it, I would really like to use a legit part though that looks like it's part of the set. I found one on ebay that looks similar to what I have, but it's not worth it to buy a whole thumb latch set for basically a small iron hook. This is a screen of what I need (pointed out with the red arrow):  Does anyone know somewhere I can get just that little keeper? Been having trouble finding it.
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May 8, 2012 15:19
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drat. I'm not worried about damage I just really would like to have the door shut, is it really my best bet to just try to rig up my own?
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May 8, 2012 15:41
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I'm almost tempted to go to LED lights to replace my kitchen floodlights just to get away from the ridiculous heat that comes off of them.
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Jun 4, 2012 21:52
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Maybe tell the landlord the exact scenario and if he won't let you out of your lease early without a fee maybe you can negotiate him to half it.
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Jun 5, 2012 12:55
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Need some help removing part of my recessed lighting can. Posting pics and will edit with more info in a second. EDIT: Okay so I'm looking to replace my really hot and annoying flood lights with LED down lights. The problem I am having is there isn't enough depth in my cans for the new lights to fit. It seems like to me that there's an inner canister that could be removed, then I would just have the free handing socket and I could install the light no problem. The problem getting that inner part out is the two metal clips you see at the rim of the light. They seem to have a little rivet that I'm not sure is the key to getting them out of the way or not. So far I have found a tool that I can fit up in there and mess with it, and I just wanted to post to see if anyone was familiar with this model light and had any pointers. Part of me wants to just bend them but I don't want to do anything I can't undo.  
The Dave fucked around with this message at 21:58 on Mar 9, 2013 |
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Mar 9, 2013 21:55
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I know this doesn't help and is just anecdotal but I've been told by a couple of people to avoid Installs from Home Depots / Lowes because they just use random sub contractors and there's little liability for them and you have no clue about the quality of work you're getting.
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Jun 26, 2013 02:58
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I forget what thread it was in (this one?) but people were saying to avoid it if you live in an area that gets heavy hail.
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Aug 21, 2013 17:16
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Looking for some advice on my sliding screen door: Basically it's becoming stuck and hard to open and close. Looking at it, it appears there are two screws at the top of the door holding it in place and allowing the height to be adjusted. It seems like raising it a bit is the fix, however (and what I'm assuming cause the problem) it looks like the holes for the screws are completely stripped out. What's the best way to fix this? I was wondering if I could just force in bigger screws if the hole in the door is fine, if not drill new holes in the guide and door? http://imgur.com/a/G4MIl
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Aug 25, 2013 20:28
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ShadowStalker posted:Just replaced the track on my sliding door this weekend because the door was hard to close and the track was damaged. You can generally remove the screen or the doors by lifting the door up into the upper track and pulling the bottom out at the same time. Yeah this is how mine is, no wheels on the bottom you can pop it out from there as my Corgis have done once or twice running into it. The track seems fine, it's just that with the screw holes up top stripped out the door isn't hanging and needs to be lifted a bit to slide.
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Aug 26, 2013 14:09
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I feel like Pinterest is the easiest way to go. And if you're looking for prints, society6 is pretty hipster.
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Feb 6, 2014 14:53
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Even with local people estimates can vary by crazy amounts. My brother got 3 fence estimates and the highest and lowest were apart by $6k. Referrals from people you know are the best thing you can have when picking a contractor / company.
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Feb 19, 2014 13:57
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I'm trying to mount a 32inch TV on a very small wall between a window and a chimney (yeah I'm an rear end in a top hat for not having pics or measurements). There's one clear stud available according to the stud finder, it has trouble finding a second stud but tonight I'm going to try and test with a nail and or magnet to confirm the location of the studs (and I'm returning the stud finder because the majority of my house is plaster and lathe). I guess what I'm wondering is what is my best option to have a centered TV? - Is this just a bad wall for this (will make me sad) ? - Should I get one of those mounts that can swivel out? Is it safe to have the TV swiveled out most of the time? (TV only weighs 20lbs) - Should I get a larger (more expensive) mount that bolts into two studs that should fit the TV and potentially will look centered?
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Feb 21, 2014 17:43
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I'm not that worried about strength, I'm more concerned with getting it centered on the wall.
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Feb 21, 2014 17:47
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I should have been more clear. This wall is drywall. The majority of my house is plaster/lathe and that's just why I'm returning the stud finder after this project. The original section of my house (my house has two major additions) is from the 1750s, so there's always fun to be found.
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Feb 21, 2014 17:55
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ntd posted:Seconding just use the mount you have. A stud on one side and an anchor on the other will certainly hold your 20lb TV and the mount. Personally, I never use the wall anchor the mount comes with, I keep some snap toggles around: http://www.toggler.com/products/snaptoggle/overview.php The current mount I have only goes into one stud, it's a smaller one.
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Feb 21, 2014 19:35
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Do you already have the fan? What if you got one with a remote? I think the previous owner of my house was in the same situation, because our bedroom fan has a remote to keep it off but if our power goes out when it comes back on the fan lights come on automatically.
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Mar 18, 2014 12:19
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You also never pay full price for anything at michaels. They always have, at the least, 20% off coupons. They host them all on their site and you should be able to stack offers.
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Mar 22, 2014 17:21
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My mom has the old schooled push power spinning blades and for her extremely tiny yard it works great. You just have to make sure you stay on top of everything because if the grass gets long it might be a pain to work with it. I would recommend it though if you have a small yard and also want to get a baby work out from it.
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Apr 10, 2014 20:20
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Hey gang. Winter was pretty brutal here in Philly and my patio was not a fan of it. It looks like the material used for my slab just wasn't ready for it, or some cracks allowed water to mess things up when it froze. Is there any easy way to fix that and make it look good? I'm assuming there's no way to make it look anything like the original non-damaged area.  
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Apr 18, 2014 16:04
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Getting Great Stuff foam on your skin sucks so much. In my experience it needs a little scrubbin then some time to just wear off through out the next day.
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Apr 27, 2014 04:05
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Do you have dogs? I have two female dogs and I think it's their goal to kill all the grass before their lives are over.
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May 8, 2014 13:38
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There's a very good chance you'll go through all that work and grow nothing. You should contact a couple of local lawn guys just to pick their brains a bit and maybe they can even do something for cheap that would help you out.
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May 10, 2014 22:01
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Insane Totoro posted:Well... yes I understand that. But again all I am getting from them is very expensive estimates and not much explanation of what they are going to do. Literally "give us money and we will take care of it for you" with no explanation. Who is 'them' though? AFAIK you mentioned on contractor. I would specifically talk to lawn people that know the area and talk to any neighbors about their experiences. For example through chatting with my neighbor I learned that it really helps the soil in our area if we put down some lime every year. The one service I'm contemplating is getting the yard aerated and overseeded because it seems like my soil is pretty hard and it's one of the cheapest of the lawn services.
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May 11, 2014 18:06
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We had trouble catching a mouse with a spring trap until we started putting two in a row. Found him caught in #2.
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May 27, 2014 13:01
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Yeah I thought it was basic rule of thumb to always use Teflon tape anytime you're connected pipes.
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Jun 5, 2014 15:23
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I would absolutely never pay to have someone paint. However, painting can be a real pain in the rear end.
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Jun 10, 2014 00:12
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I have a dark green kitchen, red living room, dark brown dining room, and aqua-ish master and they all look bad rear end. Let loose those boring chains. ( Not sure if my graphic design profession makes me biased or not. )
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Jun 10, 2014 14:17
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White trim / accents / cabinets usually make darker colors wayyyyy easier to accept. That's why dark green works so well in my kitchen, there's white trim and white cabinets, the dark paint is refreshing.
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Jun 10, 2014 16:18
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I'm going to repost this because the patio is getting worse and worse. Since this post more stone has eroded away. Hey gang. Winter was pretty brutal here in Philly and my patio was not a fan of it. It looks like the material used for my slab just wasn't ready for it, or some cracks allowed water to mess things up when it froze. Is there any easy way to fix that and make it look good? I'm assuming there's no way to make it look anything like the original non-damaged area.
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Jul 27, 2014 15:02
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I did use rock salt on it, not sure if it matters or not that it was pet friendly rock salt. mr.belowaverage posted:edit: looking at the other area of damage, why don't you just pour another 1" pad on top, seal it and be done? Thanks for all that information. I'm not completely ruling out a brand new surface, just had no idea what my options were.
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Jul 28, 2014 15:38
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| # ¿ May 3, 2024 01:06 |
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Yeah when we were buying our house we went into one and about 5 minutes into it our agent said "Guys this is a flip, let's get out of here you don't want this."
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Aug 1, 2014 01:40
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