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So, I have a dryer venting issue. I bought a 1950s era house a couple weeks back and the washer and dryer were 70s era poo poo so I had them replaced before I did even 1 load of laundry. The installers came out and installed the new unit and hooked up the unit to the existing in-wall vent in my finished basement. I was washing dishes during a dryer cycle the other day when I noticed that hot, humid dryer air was coming out of the HVAC register under the kitchen sink(!). I checked outside and there is air coming out of the dryer vent, but I'd say the exhaust is split half and half with the outside vent and heat register. I'm guessing I have 3 problems: 1) there is a clog in the vent and 2) there is a leak in the vent somewhere between the clog and the dryer. Unfortunately the third problem is that because the basement is finished the vent goes up an interior wall shared with a basement bedroom and through the ceiling above that bedroom (for some reason) before venting outside. I'm guessing that the vent does at least two 90 degree turns and has maybe 15ft of vent length before hitting the outside. I also noticed when the installers were connecting the vent hose up to the in-wall vent that the vent was very loose and there was a really lovely patch job around it like someone had probably opened the wall before. So, who knows what's going on in there. Do I have to open up that wall and/or ceiling or are there other options here? I thought about buying a cleaning snake from Home Depot and getting the clog out to see if that fixes it for the most part, but obviously the air is escaping from the vent somehow that problem would remain. For now we're using the dryer, but the risk of mold in the wall and a potential fire has me very concerned. I know there are vent cleaning companies out there, but are there any that use cameras? What might that cost? Maybe it's worth calling a pro before getting nuts with a sawzall and getting my entire house full of sheetrock dust. Thoughts?
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Aug 13, 2013 04:55
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| # ¿ May 20, 2024 11:29 |
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Yeah, the lovely thing is I'd have to cut a long channel because I have no idea where the problem is, and this channel would include a ceiling which has a texture of some sort on it. It just seems like a bigger job than I'd like right now given all the other stuff that's on my to-do list. And I'd probably have to hire someone to mud and do the ceiling texture because I'm horrible at it. I've cut open walls with a sawzall and a drywall blade before without any problems. Is that not a preferred method?
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Aug 13, 2013 13:00
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That's a really good idea. I'll call my local fire dept and see what they say. Otherwise, I think my friend has access to an infrared thermometer.
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Aug 13, 2013 18:55
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To extend the recent ac unit chat, what are recharge costs these days? My ac unit isn't working on the hottest day of the year (although it worked 2 months ago when I last tried it). The fan starts up, it sounds normal, etc. so I'm guessing there is a refrigerant leak. Rather than pay to have the system recharged, I'm thinking about having a new unit installed. From what I read, the r-22 refrigerant that my 10 year old unit uses is being phased out and will be getting increasingly more expensive, so if there's a leak and they don't find it, I'll just be paying a bunch for them to come out and recharge a year or two from now. Thoughts? I'd rather not buy a new unit right now, but I also want to be smart about where my money is going. Is something like ac unit/installation price negotiable?
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Aug 26, 2013 22:34
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So I talked to my friend who sells commercial HVAC. He said that it probably wouldn't be low refrigerant issues if the pipe wasn't frozen. He was right. Guy came out yesterday and discovered a voltage issue and installed a hard start kit and fixed a small oil leak. Good to go!
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Aug 28, 2013 13:28
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I've been looking at something like these to make a kitchen table. Maybe they would work for a countertop? http://www.hairpinlegs.com/
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Sep 5, 2013 04:33
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Frohike999 posted:http://www.lowes.com/pd_10700-77999-10700_4294859728__?productId=3406588&Ns=p_product_price%7C0 Pretty sure you can't cut a hollow core door more than the solid 3 or 4 inches on each end because, well, you know, it's hollow. Besides, who wants to use a hollow core door for anything? Yuck.
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Sep 6, 2013 14:07
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Insane Totoro posted:Okay let's assume that I actually want to purchase a new washer and dryer.... Any recommendations? I just bought LG front loaders. I guess they're the most popular brand now. They're awesome so far, although the washer now causes a water hammer that I'm going to deal with this weekend. You might be able to service 20 year old machines but they won't clean/dry your clothes as well or as efficiently IMO. They also look a lot better in your home than the old stuff if they are visible in your basement bathroom because you own a 50s split level like I do.
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Oct 15, 2013 13:44
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I have a furnace issue. The heat is turned on via the thermostat, but sometimes the blower will run and the air coming out of the vents isn't heated. The blower will run forever while the temperature in my house drops. If I cycle the heat off and then on again via the thermostat that will result in the system resetting and everything works like it should. I have a digital thermostat that's a very basic programmable model and I've changed the batteries to no effect so I don't think that's the cause. Any ideas? It's been doing this intermittently for the past week.
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Dec 5, 2014 14:41
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Thanks for the reply. Called a guy and turned out it was a dirty flame sensor. Easy fix but I would've had no idea.
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Dec 5, 2014 23:32
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I have the Ryobi trimmer. It's worked well for me but if you're tall expect your back to hurt with prolonged use as it's pretty short.
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May 11, 2016 18:16
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That seems like one of those things where the next people who move into your house will remove the fan and go "who the hell would do something like this and why???"
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Jun 23, 2016 04:42
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I've somehow got a 3 inch hole in the black flexible rubber/vinyl transition between the furnace blower and the ducting to the house (not sure what to call it). The previous owners tried to patch it with black duct tape and you can guess how well that worked. How should I patch it? Can I use some kind of vinyl patch? Not really sure what it made of so I'm curious if anyone has any idea.
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Jul 31, 2016 03:38
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glynnenstein posted:That's a vibration isolator. I always try to patch with tape first and the foil mentioned would be my first go-to. Be careful of using chemical patches because the material isn't always vinyl; it can neoprene and other stuff, too. Thanks man. I used foil as you and the previous poster mentioned. I had to tape the poo poo out of it but mission accomplished I think. We'll see if it holds. It's such a big gash- looks almost like a squirrel tried to enter the ductwork or something. The furnace was replaced last year so more realistically the install dude did it and then tried to patch it with a single piece of black duct tape.
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Aug 3, 2016 15:13
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Does anyone know anything about roofing materials? We're getting a new roof on our new to us 50s rambler and because the house had an ice dam a couple years ago our guy recommended WR Grace Ice and Water Shield as underlayment which it looks like is a premium product. For $550 less we can go with GAF Weather Watch which seems to get decent reviews although not as good as the other product. As a part of the new roof we're also getting our soffit vents replaced and adding more vents (I think the problem before was that there weren't enough and the ones that were there are clogged with cellulose) so I'm hoping that this will take care of the ice dam problem - if that's the case is there any difference between the two products? My feeling is that if water gets down to the underpayment it means you've got a problem somewhere. I'm hoping that we won't have any of those going forward after all is done so perhaps the underlayment is superfluous to an extent. Given all that, I'm leaning toward the cheaper stuff. Any opinions either way?
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Aug 30, 2016 17:59
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Anyone with renovation experience where there was pre existing lead paint? We hired a contractor to do the renovation work on our kitchen as I just don't have the time but we're doing the demo ourselves. It's a significant project and we'll be taking out walls. I used some 3M tests and it looks like we have lead paint under a couple layers of newer stuff (house was built in '57). I've read about how to handle the demo (n100 respirators, plastic over exits, hepa filter in the shop vac, wetting down surfaces before demo, plastic on the floor etc.). Does it sound like I have a good handle on this or should I leave it to the pros? Seems like they wouldn't be doing much different than I would but I wonder how worried I should be, especially with a toddler around.
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Nov 29, 2016 04:00
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OSU_Matthew posted:Eh, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just wear a respirator, and don't eat the paint chips. If you're really worried cover over your air intake vents. You're not sanding and grinding the paint off, so it shouldn't be airborne. Yeah I don't think I'd be concerned except I do have a developing child. It's hard to know what a "pro" would do vs what I would do after having read a couple government guidelines for handling the stuff. Some online resources say just to be careful and it's not a huge deal while others make it sound like your house is a superfund cleanup site.
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Nov 29, 2016 14:11
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If you kicked those stupid sensors like I always seem to do then it might be that you need to bend them back into alignment. I can override the safety mechanism on mine by holding down the close button which can work in a pinch so people don't steal your poo poo while you're at work.
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Dec 13, 2016 17:56
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Rubiks Pubes posted:Getting ready to pull up some linoleum and replace it with ceramic tile. Plywood beneath the linoleum on top of whatever the base floor is (house has a crawl space so it's wood). Reading up suggests the best route is to lay down concrete board and then tile on top. Won't this create a noticeable "step up" from the adjacent rooms though? After pulling the tile you'll have to determine how many layers of plywood or planks or whatever you have and what the total thickness is. The required subfloor thickness for tile depends on your joist spacing so you'll have to plug your measurements into an online deflection calculator to see if you need to add a layer. If you're thinking you could have transition issues you may want to look at using Schluter Ditra (1/8") instead of 1/2" cement backer board. If there's a transition issue you can always use a metal or wood transition piece. Pretty common in older homes.
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Jan 1, 2017 15:43
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Elysium posted:In the house I just bought (which was a flip), they used grout for all the tiling in the two showers, including the corners. There is now a vertical crack all the way down the grout in all the corners. My understanding of what I should do is dremel out the grout, and then just get a silicone caulk and caulk the whole line down the corners, which will stretch and move as the house does and therefor not crack. Does that sound right? Yes. Best practice is to use caulk at any change of plane unless you're super sure your walls won't move due to temp, moisture, etc.
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Jan 12, 2017 19:39
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I would definitely negotiate closing costs based around that. That's a lot of cash for something that's non optional. If the seller didn't at least lower their asking accordingly I'd definitely walk on the deal. That might be serious enough that your insurance company or mortgage company would require it be completed before they'll sign off on the purchase. A main line backup can be very costly.
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Jan 16, 2017 19:45
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What's the thickness of your underlayment? What size tile are you using? If you have sufficient underlayment thickness given your joist spacing and thickness (1/2" ply at a minimum usually) then I'd just lay your ditra and float out the tile a bit to level the floor assuming it's not mosaic tile.
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May 9, 2017 21:36
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I'm not an expert but I've tiled 5 floors, 4 with Ditra. 2 with unlevel flooring like this. With tile that big I'd just float it out, personally. With tile that big you'll probably be back buttering anyway so I'd just put some extra on and put a level on it. Sounds like your underlayment is adequate so at this point it's just a cosmetic issue, unless you're concerned about something else. I haven't done a shower pan before (I'm in the process of doing my first Schluter shower kit currently) so I won't weigh in on anything in relation to the shower.
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May 9, 2017 22:10
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Mr. Mambold posted:That's unlikely. I'd put some self-leveling mix down in the area first, then go over it with hardi-board, or if you're so sold on it, Ditra. I'm not familiar with it, is it for floors that have a lot of movement or something? Ditra is an uncoupling membrane so you're exactly right - it's good for floors with movement. I use it because with the Ditra and thinset it's only 1/4" high and you can put right over plywood. Helps to match up transitions by 1/4" as you don't have to lay down .5" of cement board. In bathrooms it's also nice because it's completely waterproof aside from the seams.
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May 9, 2017 22:15
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Having done a bunch of tile work in old houses as of late, I'd say there's no way you're going to get around re-hanging Sheetrock or cement board. You need at least a reasonably smooth surface to start with. You might be able to get a drywall guy to patch and skim coat it but that seems like a worse option.
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Aug 3, 2017 19:03
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Josh Lyman posted:The pump motor assembly is $183 and literally requires disassembling the entire dishwasher, so I've mostly convinced the homeowner to replace the washer. I had that model in my old house, installed by the previous owner along with other similarly bottom of the barrel appliances. If you enjoy the sounds of jets taking off in your kitchen for like literally 6 hours while the dishwasher runs a cycle, this could be the dishwasher for you!
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Sep 25, 2017 19:34
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Sub Par posted:More bathroom reno questions from me. I've installed cement board around the shower now, and there's about a 1/8 to 1/4 inch gap (depending on the wall) between the top of the backer board and the ceiling (which is plaster). I have setting type joint compound, and I plan to just shove some of that poo poo into the gap and feather down - is there any problem with this? I'll allow extra time for it to set before applying the Redgard over it since it may be kind of thick in places. Unless you're doing a steam shower I wouldn't worry about it. Tile up to the ceiling and then caulk where the tile meets the ceiling. If anything I'd just shove some some mortar up there beforehand and call it a day.
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Sep 28, 2017 02:29
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Raised by Hamsters posted:So, related to this. If you buy an appliance somewhere and you are having it delivered, demand to know who the delivery company is and go look them up. The appliance delivery saga was one of the worst parts of our kitchen remodel because of the lovely, lying delivery company. Totally agree. The delivery company that Best Buy used when we bought a washer/dryer years ago wouldn't give us a 4 hour time frame for delivery until the night before and no delivery was available on weekends. I made my way through 2 levels of management to try to get a specific time (cause my wife and I have to, like, you know, work most of a weekday) and neither of them were willing to do anything.
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Sep 29, 2017 13:52
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Ripoff posted:Weird question for you all: I'm currently tearing out a 1960's kitchen out of a house we just purchased, and the original owners did exactly what I feared and only ran the hardwood up to the base cabinets themselves. Now we're not doing a 100% like-for-like replacement as we are getting rid of a terribly-placed peninsula cabinet as well as the the ugly (and greasy-as-all-hell) old wall oven and cooktops, replacing them with a bog standard range. An electrician is coming by next week to take a look and give some quotes to make sure we're 100% up to code, but I'm more interested in what I can do with the floor. I've had similar work done in my 1958 rambler. Is it 3/4" red oak or something like that? You can likely match something like that with new stuff pretty easily, though you'll probably have to sand and poly the entire floor up to some kind of natural stopping point (or find someone skilled at sanding and color matching with stain) if you go that route. I wouldn't do a contrast piece. It'll look weird. You're also going to want to lace in the new pieces and that may require some relatively skilled cutting depending on how the floor is put together. As a guy who has done a lot of weekend warrior jobs on several 1950s houses, this is a job I would try to hire out, personally. Expect over-bids for such a small job that may not turn out well unless you have them also refinish the whole floor. I tried to bid out something similar and it took me 3 bids to even find someone willing to only refinish my kitchen/dining room and not the whole house because they wanted to upsell/didn't think it there was a good stopping point as the hardwood runs throughout the rambler (I had it stopped at a threshold to the living room and it looks fine).
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Oct 16, 2017 13:47
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Have you tried changing the battery in it? I’ve gotten that with thermostats before if the battery is going bad.
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Dec 26, 2017 19:56
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It probably won’t matter in the end, but why would you suggest a drywall screw instead of a proper wood screw? Just a little weird is all.
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Apr 10, 2018 17:53
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I used Benjamin Moore Aura on the exterior of my house. Went on extremely easily (1 coat, no primer) and it’s held up perfectly for 2 years now. Water beads off it really well. I’m guessing I’ll get 10 or more years out of it. I decided to paint my house myself so I figured I might as well buy the most expensive paint I could in an effort to have it last the longest. Well worth the $750 imo.
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Aug 20, 2018 03:51
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Cat Face Joe posted:Interesting. It's definitely not throughout the house. Everywhere else seems to be a single layer of plaster. Thanks for the info. I’ve had this in both 50’s houses I’ve owned and from experience, if you can get away with not demoing that poo poo that’s the path I would take. It’s far worse than modern sheetrock as far dust and debris is considered and its harder to remove from the wall generally. Also, since your house is probably around the same age as mine (I think builders only took this type of hybrid approach for a decade or two) there’s always the danger of kicking up a bunch of lead dust. BUT, on the plus side, it beats the poo poo out of sheetrock in terms of durability.
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Sep 26, 2018 17:50
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If your shower is constructed properly it really shouldn’t be leaking even with a crack in the grout. There should be a membrane behind the walls that would shield the water from leaking into the floor below. Caulking might be a short term fix but I’d really think about replacing that shower at some point in the relatively near future. No tile/grout is completely waterproof and depending on how many showers are taken in that bathroom you may have moisture behind the tile even if you caulk every crack.
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Dec 26, 2018 05:37
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How can tile directly on sheetrock not just rot out the wall within a month?? I dunno, I did a shower with Ditra personally, but the others I’ve seen done at friends or family members’ houses used Redban or at least thick mil plastic that would have funneled the water to the concrete drain pan in a cracked grout situation. Maybe I just don’t realize the shower horrors out there...
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Dec 26, 2018 06:18
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nosleep posted:I needed some shelves to store some extra kitchen equipment and came across some ideas for floating shelves that are supposed to be pretty sturdy, and it seemed easy enough so I made some this weekend. My main worry was making sure they were secure enough into the wall to hold the weight of what I wanted to put on them, which are a couple heavy dutch ovens and some other random kitchen supplies. Luckily I had two available studs for a 42 inch long shelf. I used two 3 inch screws at each location (2 spots) on both shelves. Additionally I have 3 100lb rated cobra drywall anchors for each shelf. So I'm pretty confident that the shelf is well secured to the wall. I have a very similar setup in my kitchen (pine 2x2 framework screwed into 2x6 blocking within the stud bays). I’d say your shelves are good for maybe 30lbs each with that setup and the weakest part will be the framing. I have a stack of 16 plates and bowls on one shelf and it’s started to sag a bit over the past 2 years. I suspect it’s the pine frame bending as the blocking was really secure. Some day I’ll take them down and replace the brackets. Maybe with dimensional lumber or steel pipe or a combo. Haven’t really thought that out entirely. I do know that some companies make steel brackets that screw into the wall for this purpose though I don’t have any brands to look up. I’m sure Amazon sells them. It’s probably worth exploring.
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Jan 15, 2019 05:03
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Also buy the best paint you you can get your hands on (Ben Moore Aura is my go-to now - don’t trust the Behr line at HD for a job like this) and maybe add a little Floetrol to it.
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Jan 26, 2019 20:58
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With regard to homeowner remodel, a lot will depend on how old the house is that you’re working on and whether you are changing anything structurally. Generally, I’d say plan on hiring out the rough in plumbing and maybe electrical, depending on how much you are changing around. Sheetrock and muddling, tiling, vanity install, plumbing fixtures, maybe cabinet install depending on scope, are all things you can learn and are very doable by a homeowner if you have some time. Building a shower is doable (waterproofing, pan install) but I wouldn’t recommend it. Same with tub install.
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Jan 27, 2019 06:01
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If you’re hiring out the plumbing rough in i think it’s usually a pretty trivial additional amount for the plumber to come back out for an hour to set fixtures later on. Agreed that if you are hiring it out separately that you’re probably going to end up paying a premium for a licensed plumber or taking a gamble on a sketchy handyman. That being said, setting fixtures is definitely one of the areas I’d suggest doing on your own. Usually the directions are clearly printed and it’s just a matter going through the steps. Pretty hard to gently caress up. Setting a tub can probably be bundled into that category too, though the reason I would hire it out personally is because if you’re going with cast iron it’s a horribly heavy bitch to get into your bathroom and either way you are connecting plumbing that will likely be buried in a wall or ceiling and personally I don’t trust my plumbing abilities that well, but that’s just me. I’m not an expert, but I’m currently on my 3rd remodel of a 50s bathroom in the past 5 years so I do have some context.
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Jan 27, 2019 14:33
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| # ¿ May 20, 2024 11:29 |
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Plus almost certainly lead and maybe asbestos. For a bedroom, I’d just knock off the loose poo poo and sheetrock over the plaster and lathe, personally.
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Apr 11, 2019 02:43
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