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DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
So I just bought a house and the seller left a nice Samsung french door refrigerator behind at our request.

We closed on a Thursday, and there was ice in the freezer and the ice dispenser and everything was at the temperature it should have been. I dumped the ice out of the freezer on Friday so that it would make some fresh ice, but aside from that we didn't do anything else.

On Sunday, the ice in the Samsung fridge had all melted and the whole thing was no longer cold. The compressor sounded like it was working really hard (compared to how it sounded a few days earlier), so we unplugged it.

A day or two later we plugged it back in, and neither compartment will cool any more...the whole thing just gets warmer than room temp by 4-5 degrees if we leave it running overnight. Both compartments, too...neither of them get cold, they both just heat up.

It supposedly has some diagnostics using the front LED panel, but the diagnostics don't indicate any faults whatsoever. I even tested that by unplugging a fan, and the diagnostics showed a fault for that fan. I cleaned a bunch of dust off the condenser coils with canned air, and it still won't cool for poo poo. Not sure if I cleaned the coils thoroughly, but they look pretty clear to me.

I've been in and out of this thing trying to figure out what's wrong. Here are the things that I have confirmed work to some degree:

1) Compressor runs
2) Condenser fan runs
3) The 2 fans in the freezer by the evaporator run

I think there's a 4th fan somewhere, not sure where...I think it's in the fridge portion, but I haven't dug in to anything in there yet. I also have no idea if the fans are spinning at their proper speed, but they do spin without having to push them to start so I guess that means they're fine.

Is there anything else I should check?

My concern is that all of this seems to point to the fact that the system may have lost its coolant. How likely is that? And how do I confirm that for sure? It seems unlikely since it seemed to work fine on Thursday and then suddenly on Sunday it couldn't cool anything anymore...unless there was a sudden catastrophic leak, I can't imagine how it would have happened so fast.

The fridge was supposedly manufactured in 2009, so it's not very old. For the cost of what a new version of this one goes for, I can't imagine that it has a leak already.

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DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
The temp settings default to -2 and +38 for the freezer and fridge respectively. I'm not sure if there's an "enable" button or anything to actually start cooling, though... All I can see to do is cycle through setpoints...I think the freezer goes from -8 to +8 in 2 degree increments, and the fridge goes from 32 - 40 in 2 degree increments or something like that. So I guess long story short, if it's plugged in, it should be doing something. I definitely can't set the thing to 75 degrees, so unless I missed something it should be working.

I do know that the compressor is in fact running, so I can't imagine that it's NOT trying to cool...but I don't know if maybe it closes some dampers to prevent things from cooling down or what.

I don't have the exact model number handy, so when I get home I"ll see if I can look up a better manual. The manual that the sellers left behind doesn't tell you how to do much of anything...the only way I found the diagnostics was because there's a sticker on the back of the fridge that shows how to run diagnostics (they usually only run on power-up), and how to read it. It seems to have a code for just about every failure I can think of, so the fact that it indicates nothing is a little strange.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
Do light fixtures need to be rated special for use in a bathroom?

We bought a house late spring and one of the light fixtures in the master bath is all corroded. It's one of those ceiling dome light fixtures. It's over the toilet in a little alcove (but not a water closet) but clearly has been exposed to boatloads of humid air since the shower is 2 feet away around a corner. The vanity fixtures also show sign of rust on the light bulb socket, and so does the air register from the HVAC, so I'm pretty sure the previous owners never ran the exhaust fan while they showered.

So can we just buy any dome fixture to replace it with, or does it have to be special for the humid bathroom environment?

I ask mainly because we just replaced one of the bedroom domes with a ceiling fan, so we have a spare dome fixture now. It's not even remotely the right style/design/color for the bathroom, but it's functional and not corroded.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
OK stupid question time:

I'm in North Carolina. What do I need to do to winterize my house?

I'm from MN originally, so I'm used to everything being fortified against winter. All you need to do is use an internal shutoff for the outside water spigots and drain them...all done. If you have a sprinkler system you need to get it blown out, but that's about it.

Around here, there's no basements just crawlspaces...and nothing is insulated because effort. So when it gets cold, everyone freaks out and you're supposed to open under-sink cabinets (to let the heat get to the pipes) and leave faucets running at a trickle and whatnot.

So all I really know to do is get insulating covers for the spigots, because there's no shutoff valve. Is there anything else I need to worry about?

My house was built in 1999, and a guy at work said that the plastic tubing used for water can actually expand quite a bit, so worst case they freeze but don't burst. Is that correct? Or am I in for a nasty surprise?

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

kid sinister posted:

If it was built in 1999, probably nothing. It should have modern insulation, frost free sillcocks, etc. Does it?

Guess I'm not sure the question. I'm not sure how to know if the sillcocks are the kind you're referring to. But if they are, does that mean I don't need to worry about them? I have access to them all via the crawl space, so I can replace them if it saves me the hassle of winterizing every year. They're pretty cheap plastic, so it's probably not a bad idea to replace them anyway.

The problem I see is that the crawl space is uninsulated. So I'm not just worried about the sillcocks, I'm worried about all the plumbing that runs through the crawl space.




Also now I have an electrical question:

The previous owners had their cable coax jack in the living room in a funny place. I want to move it, and there's a phone plug where the TV is, so I figured that I'd be able to just fish the coax through there and replace the plate with a dual phone/coax connection.

So I got some fish tape, and failed to poke through. Thought I got through a few times but never found my tape on the other side. The next thing I tried to do was to tape the coax to the phone line, then I was going to use the phone line to pull the coax down to the crawl space, then pull a pile of coax through so I could use that to pull the phone line back up.

No dice...the phone line didn't budge. I thought it was snagged or took some weird route through the wall, and then it dawned on me that the phone line is most likely being held by that canned expanding foam insulation stuff.

So how do I do this? Is it possible to use like a metal coat hook to bust up the foam until I can pull through? Or am I looking at drilling a new hole?

If I drill a new hole, what's the best method? Google says I'll need a 4' long flexible drill bit to drill down from above (and a little bit of luck to avoid hitting a nail). Is this the best method?

And how do I use this flexible drill bit? I've found a few things on google and it looks pretty straight forward. Is there a trick to it? I'm just going 2ft down through the floor to the crawl space, it's not like I'm trying to drill a straight hole through 3 studs or anything fancy.

And then as far as putting in a new outlet box, looks like the "old work" boxes just clamp against the drywall, is that right? Is this the best way without tearing up drywall?

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
What do I need to look for to select a good handyman and/or general contractor for house work?

For a handyman, we spotted some peeling paint on some fascia that is way up on the roof, I'm assuming there's some rot. The last Handyman we used did good work, but he was a pain to work with so we're going to go with someone else this time. I've found several options, but I'm not sure how to narrow it down.

One thing I'm concerned about is that this is on the highest corner of the house, like 3 ft from the edge...so in the event someone falls, would I be liable if the handyman doesn't have proper insurance? So is this something where we need to ask them for proof of insurance?

The next thing is that we're thinking about looking in to adding a screened in porch in the next year or two. The current deck is original (from 1999), and the previous owners clearly never took care of it...I don't think they ever re-painted it, and there's split/rotting boards all over. So the plan is to replace it with a screened-in porch. I'm assuming we would want to use a general contractor for this? Or are there porch/deck companies that would do this no problem?

What do we look for in a general contractor (or porch/deck company)? Of course there are tons of options, so what are some key things to look for to start narrowing down the field? Are there questions I should be asking before even letting them come out for an estimate?

And finally, we'll need to get the roof re-done in a few years, since it is original as well. Would this be something we use a general contractor for, or would they just sub it out to a roofing company and add some fees on top? Follow-up, would we be able to save some money if we had it done at the same time as the screened in porch? The porch would need roofing done, which is why I ask. I figure there is a certain base cost for all the core work of acquiring materials, permits, dumpster/cleanup, etc., so I would assume we could save a little bit there by doing it all at once. If not, the roof has 3-5 years left on it, so we'd rather postpone it if there's no savings to be had.

Maybe the answer to all of this is Angie's List? Is that worth the money, or is it a waste?

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
Quick question about installing landscaping rocks/gravel:

We bought a house last year and it's becoming ever more apparent that the previous owner didn't take good care of the landscaping. The house and the interior is great, but the yard sucks in comparison. It could be worse, but they really let a lot of the plants grow out of control. The main issue is that the area under the deck is overgrown by plants. Well, one plant specifically...it used to be part of the landscaping and has now gone nuts and taken over the entire space under the deck. They had put down weed block, but that seems to be it.

Is it just as simple as putting down new weed block and then whatever rock we want? Or should we put down a layer of sand or small gravel first?

Something to note is that it's on a slope. So the deck is about 12' wide: One side is about 2' off the ground, the other is about 8' off the ground. I'm probably exaggerating, but there is definitely a slope. Does this change anything? The only thing we know is an issue is that a gutter downspout drains under the deck, and it's cut quite a trench over the years, so we're going to get a downspout extension to route it somewhere safe.

The only other concern we have is about erosion control...being that it's a slope, should we leave the plants be so they can hold the soil in place? Or will the rocks provide adequate erosion control?

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
OK, so I have overflowing, clogged gutters. They're way high up and I can't safely reach them...our house is on a slope and even if I can reach the highest part of the roof with a ladder, a) I'm not comfortable that high up and b) it's on a slope so the ladder wouldn't be safe anyhow.

Will a long plumber snake work to go from the bottom up? I tried electrical fish tape but either it wasn't long enough, or I couldn't manage to wiggle it past the elbows near the top. Will I have better luck with a plumbing snake? I 'd worry about it getting too "floppy" that high up. Or should I just call someone?

edit: one of my hesitations would be getting caught up on all the sheet metal screws holding the gutters together.

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 02:03 on Apr 25, 2017

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

CzarChasm posted:

How high up are the gutters we are talking about? Because something like this might help you
https://www.amazon.com/Guttermaster-Classic-Telescopic-Waterflow-12-Feet/dp/B00JVNHS98

Telescoping, hook shaped hose attachment to blow the poo poo out of your gutters. Doesn't need a pressure washer.

The gutters that are clogged are a good 20'+ high. Second story on a house on a slope....I can stand up straight in the crawl space, if that tells you anything about the ground versus the gutters on that side of the house.

I have no problem getting on a ladder for over the garage or anything on the 1st story...but this is pretty high up.

That said, there is a balcony....so something like that I might be able to reach from the balcony maybe. I'd have to crook it around, but it might be possible.

Is there any merit to the plumber snake idea? This would basically attack the clog from the bottom. I can swing by the hardware store tomorrow. I'm sure they have something similar to what you posted. I can get a hose up to the balcony, just need something crooked that can reach around.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

cakesmith handyman posted:

I'd be surprised if you can do anything effective to your gutters by putting a snake up your downspout. If the hose attachment listed can't reach just call someone. Don't die falling off a ladder.

Yeah dying falling off a ladder is the last thing I want to do....not planning on it.

I picked up this at Lowe's yesterday:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Orbit-Telescoping-Cleaning-Wand/4363277

Looks like a cheap POS, and it probably is, but I figure all I need is some extra reach, which this affords, and a way to angle water the right direction. Worst case, if this can't blast the clog, then I can strap a wire coat hanger to the end of it and just use it as a long stick to jam in to the downspout elbow and loosen the clog...then the rest of the year I can use it to actually wash debris out of the gutters BEFORE they clog up.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
Stupid newbie painting question:

What's the best way to touch up missed spots on walls/ceilings? I did a really poor job cutting in and there are some obvious places that I missed around the edges. Not like big sections, but smaller than dime-sized spots. Maybe 1/4" x 1/2" at the biggest. Big enough to be noticeable, but small enough where it seems like overkill to take a 2" brush to it.

If I just go back at it with a brush am I going to leave visible brush strokes, or will it be fine? Should I get one of those foam brush things, or stick with a normal brush? Or is this where I should get a set of those tiny model airplane type brushes?

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

Motronic posted:

Do not use cat 6 unless you really need it.

Unless you know what youa re doing you will spend a bunch of money to end up with something the same or inferior to cat 5e. Cat 6 is a pain in the rear end and not so much an upgrade form cat 5e but a "dammint, I actually need to run this in cat 6 because my very very expensive switches and host machines won't run at 10 Gigabit"

Chances are good you don't really need 10-GigE everywhere in your home, or even own a 10-GigE capable device.

You want future proofing? Maybe pull cat 6 cable and term it on 5e jacks/panels. But even that arguable, especially since you're pulling through existing which means you just installed pull cables for you next upgrade (6, some manner of fiber, something we haven't even heard of yet......)

MC Jaded Burnout posted:

This is why I'm running cat 7a and terminating it to 5e sockets (plus grounding on the panels). The routes through the house are too windy and often too small for conduit so a lot of the cables are getting tacked in place. They're not getting pulled under any circumstances.

The cost difference really was minimal.

So to piggy back on this, what's recommended for a person trying to wire their house for networking? I'd hate to run cat 5e everywhere and then have to replace it all in 10 years.

If I'm reading this right, is the only downside to higher grades of Ethernet the fact that the shield is a pain in the rear end to terminate? Or are there other issues that make it a hassle?

Also, any advice for retro-fitting network in to a house? Ours was built in 1999, so we have phone jacks everywhere connected via Cat 5. However, they're all daisy chained together, so unless I can get tiny 3-port switches installed inside all the boxes and use PoE to power them, I'm stuck running new lines. My tentative plan would be to run everything up to a patch panel in the attic, then I dunno from there. My main concern is getting everything to one spot. I haven't thought it through completely yet, just something I'm planning for in the future some time.

I should be able to get to MOST of the old jacks by drilling a hole from either the attic or the crawl space, so it's not unrealistic for me to do this without tearing up walls. The only issue would be to get from the crawl space up to the attic, and then from the service entrance to the attic.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
I have a bunch of unused space under my staircase that I'd like to turn in to storage.

Here's a google image of something nearly identical:



And here's what it looks like under the stairs (actual images)







I want to say the bottom of the landing joists are about 3' or so from the sub floor (edit literally a guess, can't get in there to measure).

The HVAC is a return line for the downstairs zone and goes down in to the crawl space then back outside to the gas pack. For reference the filter is 20"x20" square, so that's the appx dimensions of the metal box there.

The bundle of wires are coming out the back of the closet from the alarm system control box. I'd like to blow a hole in that wall and put in a knee wall door so we can access this space. My logic being that it's insulated (right side is house exterior, under the sub floor is the crawl space which has some insulation... so it's not a climate controlled space, but it'll be way more moderate than the attic or the crawl space.

Main question is: what do we need to do, if anything, to reinforce the wall if we put a door in it? I can't imagine it's bearing any load for the stairs, right?

edit: in other words, do we need a header, if so what size?

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 01:31 on May 1, 2019

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
So first, how would I size a header here? I'm guessing the door would span 2 studs. All that's over it is the stairs, so would I put a couple 2x4s in there? Or would I need a couple 2x6, 2x8, 2x10...?

And second... just because now I'm curious, what is wrong with the construction aside from the pile of trash they left behind? I don't know poo poo about framing/construction so I barely know what I'm looking at.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
Hey I did a possibly stupid thing.

So I'm drilling holes vertically through walls so I can run Ethernet/Cable through my house. Part of my plan is to run a "backbone" from the attic down to the crawl space. I located what I thought was a good wall to do that without any horizontal runs, it was adjacent to the staircase so it spanned the entire 2 stories of my house.

I found where to drill in the attic and it went just fine. Just as thick as I expected.

Then I drilled from the 2nd floor down to the first and... I'm not sure what I drilled through but it was thick.

Here's a crappy image from the 3D model I'm building:



The red line is the intended route of the cable (between the drywall). Basically I picked a spot between the exterior frame and the 1st stud in the wall. The circle is where I hit trouble. Basically I had expected to hit air at some point before I got to the downstairs wall, but I didn't. The hole goes straight through about 12" of "solid" wood.

I did some research after and discovered that drilling vertically like this through joists or beams is usually Bad News, so I'm kind of paranoid that I screwed something up. The thing is I'm pretty confident that this is not a load bearing wall. It runs parallel to the joists in the crawl space and attic (I'm not sure which direction the mid-floor joists run). There's also no other wall in the same plane, so I'm doubtful that a 5' chunk of wall is critical to the house's structure. And I guess even if it is load bearing, it's not really spanning any distance where I drilled. The beam/joist/whatever is supported by the wall below it for a while yet, so I can't imagine there's much stress where I drilled through.

I also doubt that I drilled perfectly straight through a 2x10/2x12 joist. I encountered no nails, and I'm doubtful that I could drill that straight for that far.

My guess is that this is a rim joist? I know nothing of framing but googling indicates that this is the right term. Google also indicates it shouldn't be as big as it seemed to have been... based on the hole location, it's either 2 2x10 (2x12?) sistered together, or it's a 4x10 (4x12?).

Is this a problem, or am I good to go? I mean I'm not worried that the house is in danger of imminent collapse, but I need to know if I need to do something to reinforce this or if I can safely ignore it.

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 00:55 on May 4, 2019

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
look I'm an Expert DIYer I don't need you assholes telling me I'm wrong even if I am :mad:



GWBBQ posted:

You drilled through a joist.

So seriously I did a quick check with a stud finder and the floor joists in that area are parallel with that wall... so it seems to me that this is an extra wide rim joist. Again, ZERO air gaps...it was solid all the way through.

Is this an actual problem that I need to address? I was hoping to actually fish cables this weekend but I'm not going to bother if this needs to get fixed.

edit: I know it was a joke but all the joists in my house that I can see are solid boards, no engineered I-joists

DaveSauce fucked around with this message at 18:25 on May 4, 2019

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
I have a front loading washer (Bosch Nexxt 500 if it matters, not sure what vintage since it came with the house) and it's leaking from the door. Finally replaced the door gasket and naturally it's STILL leaking.

Any ideas on what to try next? Only thing I can think of is that maybe the door lock is worn and not holding the door tight enough?

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

kid sinister posted:

How sure are you that it's leaking from there?

Literally watched it. The water is definitely coming down the front facade of the machine. There were obvious streaks from before replacing the gasket, and when I noticed a small puddle after the 1st load (after replacing the gasket that is), I checked the next load periodically and actually saw water coming down the front.

I suppose this doesn't mean that it's coming through the gasket, but it's coming through the door somewhere.

Just checked and the gasket doesn't look like it's sealed evenly all the way around. It's running a load right now (no leaks currently), but I just noticed there's a bit of a crease on one section. Not sure if this is normal or if the door is somehow mis-aligned...

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

kid sinister posted:

What's the door made of? If that part at the seal is plastic, is it cracked?

Door itself is plastic. Not sure if the clear part is glass or thick plastic. Either way, no visible cracks that I can see. Not around where it seals, at least. Didn't check the entire door, just around the sealing area.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
Weird question:

We have an old triple dresser with a big mirror. In our old place we wall mounted the mirror. In our current place, there's light switches on the wall that would interfere with that. The dresser mount hardware is mostly missing, and doesn't look very robust anyhow.

Any ideas how best to do like a standoff mounting from the wall? There are rings on it for wire mounting. I'm thinking like 4" off the wall or something. Be kinda weird, but it'd work.

Or would it be easier to try to find new mounting hardware to dresser mount it?



Epiphyte posted:

Is there a good free software I can use to mock up a carpentry project?

We want to build a bench/shoe storage combo to place in a nook in the laundry room, and I'd like to have less re-cuts than my last project

Ive messed with SketchUp in the past but it seemed more gear towards visualization, is there a better or more focused alternative?

I've been using FreeCAD to make a model of my house. It's more along the lines of things like SolidWorks and Inventor if you're familiar with professional options. Basically they're parametric 3D modeling programs that are used to create and model things like cars, industrial machines, etc. Those all sound impressive, but a carpentry project would probably be a perfect application... you're just working with wood instead of metal.

But there's a learning curve. The downside to its power (and bugs because lol freeware) is that it takes time to learn. But I'm an engineer with 2D CAD experience, so my broken brain considers it a fun challenge.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

tangy yet delightful posted:

Pictures and dimensions could help in this. If the back of the mirror [frame] allows for it you could do like a french cleat setup that's super chunky to get a 4" standoff that's also very firm since being 4" off the wall the mirror won't be able to balance on the wall like a normal wire mounted mirror or piece of art does.

Otherwise you could mount a 4" block for the wire ring to hang from and then strategically mount other 4" blocks near some edges of the mirror for stability for it to rest upon.

The ease of finding new mounting hardware for the mirror to attach to the dresser likely rests on pictures but if it's like my old dresser/mirror combo my plan was to find slightly bigger in diameter screws and very carefully drill out the old holes bigger and then mounting with new screws (again very carefully because the old dresser wood won't have a ton of give before cracking). But then we found the old screws and just reused them.

edit: could you also move the light switches perhaps? also is the plan to reach behind the 4" standoffed mirror to actuate the light switches?

Don't have pictures handy, but might be able to produce some tonight. Your line of thinking was more or less what I was thinking; a standoff to hang it from, then a pair of standoffs on the bottom to give it stability (likely mounted to the mirror itself). Was mostly asking if there was any sort of easily available option, but the more I think about it the more this sounds like a not-so-great idea.

Moving the switches is a no-go. Would take WAY more effort than I would expect is worth it. It's kind of a funny wall that's just wide enough for the dresser, then there's a door on each side. I mean, they're rarely used so covering them up isn't a big deal, but the second I do cover them I'll want to use them... but yes, the plan was to reach behind the mirror to get to them, hence the 4" standoff.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

What's the difference between this and the gray:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/3M-10-1-oz-Fire-Block-Sealant-FB-136/100390499

I've got a tube of the gray that I'm going to start using to seal up some cable runs.

From reading, it seems like the red is rated for commercial and the gray is not (but tray is still good for residential). Is that all?

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
Drywall patch question:

So first, what's a GOOD way to do a solid drywall patch? I've read several, including the "California patch" which I've been told is a hack job but I dunno I've never actually done a patch before.

Second, here's my situation, which may change the above answer:



I'm replacing the old-rear end alarm system, and instead of drilling a small hole for wires they punched this giant rectangle. The issue being that it's about 1" from the trim on the left. What's the best way to patch this?

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

SouthShoreSamurai posted:

Looks like one is right next to the opening already.

The angle of the picture is funny... it's actually covered by the door trim, and I'm not about to rip out the trim just to patch some drywall. To give you an idea, the screw I took out of that hole on the top left was at an angle to get to the stud.

I don't feel like ripping up another foot or so of drywall just to get to another stud unless it's going to end up with a significantly nicer patch. I guess I'll concede the possibility, since thinking about it it's not really ALL that much more work. But the other issue is I don't have matching paint for the original contractor grade stuff from 20 years ago, and this room is a very low priority for painting, so a smaller patched of unpainted or mismatched wall is better.

re mud/tape: all I've ever heard are horror stories about mudding drywall. Is there a easy, but effective, way to do this for someone who has never done it before?

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
Paint question:

What color is the generic contractor beige that every home gets slathered in?

Doing some drywall patches, and the places they're done are spots that are unlikely to be painted any time soon. I realize that after 20 years, the paint has probably faded a bit form fresh, but I just need something close.

I can try to bring in some of the old drywall to get it "color matched," but in my experience the color-matching computers at the hardware store are hit or miss.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

Final Blog Entry posted:

Even a "bad" color match will be closer than "one gallon of beige please lol". Go into a closet or behind the fridge or something and cut a 2" or so square of drywall out and just get it matched. You'll likely do better getting it matched at a Sherwin Williams, Ben Moore, PPG, etc than at a Home Depot or Lowes.

Homebuilders are all over the place with their colors, some have a standard, some have options and upgrade colors. If you know who the builder was and what paint manufacturer they used, it could be worth a try to call that paint store and see if someone there knows what paint they may have been using, although 20 years back may be a long shot.

Gotcha. I figured that there was some particular color/manufacturer that had cheap paint by producing in mass quantities, rather than each contractor/painter having to order/mix batches every time they need to paint a house.

I have the bit of drywall I took out to make the patch, which should be enough. Honestly I just need something close... we won't be properly painting these spots for quite a while I expect, but given that they're the original contractor garbage I couldn't care less about the quality of the touch up as long as it doesn't stick out too bad. I almost want to by REALLY cheap paint to make it match better...

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
Electronics thread is here:

https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2734977

Those are in fact capacitors, and the color bands are telling you the pertinent information.

https://www.eeweb.com/studying-the-color-codes-of-capacitors/

Digi Key is probably your best bet for buying them. Electronics thread will probably help with your other questions.

DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.

TerminalSaint posted:

How hard did you pull on it with the screws out? The cover might be stuck on with paint.

That's my thought. Looks like it's just a sheet metal cover with decades of paint holding it on.

A few passes over the seams with a fresh razor blade would do wonders. Could hulk it with a screwdriver, but that'd probably bend it once you put enough force on to break the paint. Also if you don't use a razor blade, the paint will break unevenly and you'll have jagged paint flakes all over.

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DaveSauce
Feb 15, 2004

Oh, how awkward.
Stupid question, but do gas water heaters have the same issue? I understand sediment still exists, but I know the electric calrods tend to attract sediment more readily.

Our water heater was replaced in 2009 by the PO, and hasn't been drained at least since we moved here in 2016... probably longer.

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