Home Zone: I see a baseboard and I want it painted black.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Home Zone: I see a baseboard and I want it painted black.

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

That's ba I love old houses (101 years here) and hope you post more stuff.

# ¿ Sep 12, 2016 23:10

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 08:01

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

I lived in a WW2 era apartment in Queens for a few years and I really only had two noise issues: the kids in the apartment next door would bounce a basket ball against the wall that my couch was on. It would make stuff rattle. They would also bounce the ball in the hall against people's front doors. When I asked the father to do something about it he complained that they had no where to play.

The other issue was the person above me with a piano. That was maddening.

# ¿ Nov 21, 2016 18:42

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

I need to know what�s through that door.

# ¿ Nov 21, 2018 17:24

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

Aren�t these European brands annoying when they age and need repairs and parts take weeks to show up?

# ¿ Dec 5, 2018 19:56

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

Make sure to use a good self leveling, alkyd based paint, like Benjamin Moore Advance: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/interior-exterior-paints-stains/product-catalog/awiap/advance-interior-paint

Preferably sprayed through a HVLP gun with Flowtrol mixed in with the paint.

We did a small kitchen worth of cabinets, 10 or so doors and 4 drawers and it literally took like 40 hours over a week and it turned out just ok. We went all in on prep, too.

So, don�t paint your cabinets.

# ¿ Dec 7, 2018 04:57

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

tangy yet delightful posted:

Follow up question re: HVLP gun

Would a 21gal Harbor Freight air compressor be good enough for the job (figuring I'd buy it for the job then sell afterwards, Home Depot charges only $20 less for a rental for a week)? Also what about a Harbor Freight HVLP gun? Or should I go Husky brand, or something else?

You may want to consider renting a gun with an attached compressor that can provide continuous pressure.

I was using a 60 gallon 1/2 HP compressor and wasn�t terribly happy with the results. The pressure would drop enough to kick on the compressor, which would cause fluctuations in the pressure and change the flow rate of the paint.

My suggestion was more a cautionary tale than an actual suggestion. Settle for rolled on self-leveling paint, expect to pay $70-80 a gallon for it, or have them professionally done.

I went way, way down the rabbit hole and still didn�t like the results.

# ¿ Dec 8, 2018 19:05

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

B-Nasty posted:

But HGTV told me that every house must have a fully open concept or it's a claustrophobic, outdated, shithole from the 80s. If I can't walk in the front door and see all your dirty pans in the sink, I'm telling my agent to scratch that house.

Seriously though, you already covered the ghetto fix: some type of temporary barrier sitting on that shelf or blanket from the ceiling. It would be worth closing it in correctly by ripping into the ceiling and extending a new frame down to the half wall's frame, after you stripped the countertop. Then, drywall the new frame. Most of the effort is drywalling/finishing work, the frame itself would be simple to build.

I love my old colonial with a giant kitchen totally separated from the giant living room by a formal dining room and the center hall.

It used to have a swinging door between the kitchen and dining room. So happy no former owner tore out the wall between the kitchen and the dining room.

# ¿ Jan 13, 2019 19:46

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

AFewBricksShy posted:

Would it be worth getting those garage door insulation kits if my garage doesn't have insulation in the walls? The walls are rocked, but without insulation.

I have modern insulated steel doors on my 105 year old garage. Walls are uninsulated plaster on lathe. The door insulation has made no difference, but the better seal compared to the old barn style doors has made it extremely humid inside due to the heat from vehicles condensing on cold windows/surfaces. My suggestion would be to do all or nothing.

# ¿ Jan 23, 2019 21:14

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

good jovi posted:

I have a weird old house with a very uneven concrete basement floor. The walls are made of a brick-colored sponge, mostly held together by efflorescence at this point. So we get a fair amount of water seeping in when it rains. Most of it tends to find a drain eventually, but not without some pooling, and not all of it.

Is it a thing to dig out drain ditches around the perimeter, filled with rocks or whatever, eventually connected to the actual drain? And does that sound like a thing I could reasonably do myself? I don't actually know what it takes to break through concrete, or how that might affect the integrity of the walls themselves.

Just saying that makes it seem like an even worse idea, but it might help to hear someone else say it.

https://www.aquaguardinjection.com/basement-waterproofing-services/interior-weeping-tile-system/

Don�t do it yourself. There are probably several dozen local dealers that sell their own versions and compete on price.

For reference, getting a ~1300sqft basement done where I live would run $17-20k.

# ¿ Feb 10, 2019 21:42

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

Motronic posted:

What bizarro world you you all live in where appraisers even bother to drive by a property, never mind actually enter it?

In all of my property transactions around here they have been loving useless, and obviously do nothing more than google street view and/or Zillow and MLS to do their "research."

The first appraisal on my current house included a 6 year old photo from street view in the report.

# ¿ Feb 12, 2019 16:34

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

I have this exactly same problem. Don�t connect those drains to the storm drain system without a professional involved. You could get Seriously hosed depending on local laws and where it discharges to.

# ¿ Mar 10, 2019 02:44

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

I feel like we should be close to �forever� roofing materials soon. Something engineered that will never rot, crack, or fade.

# ¿ Apr 19, 2019 19:58

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

Hubis posted:

You can go out and buy one right now if you want, in fact!

... How much were you looking to pay, again?

Well a normal asphalt roof on my house would be about $6k total, so... $20k?

Solar roof would be $80k

# ¿ Apr 20, 2019 00:15

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

I want to rip the whole deck off and do an insulated roof.

# ¿ Apr 20, 2019 01:32

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

overdesigned posted:

Thanks! It's a BioLite Firepit, we wanted a firepit/thing but we didn't want to build one into the patio itself and this seemed perfect. And we can toss it in the trunk when we do car camping trips too.

Is it really smoke free?

# ¿ Apr 28, 2019 20:44

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

overdesigned posted:

On the highest setting it cuts the smoke way back, but smoke-free is...not always guaranteed? I've only done two fires in it so far. On lower settings, not as much reduction, and the high setting is a little loud. If you load the thing past the upper jets near the rim of the unit you'll also get more smoke regardless of fan speed. I have found myself usually keeping it at setting 2 or 3 (of four) The fan does make fires start very easily, too, for what that's worth.

It's also still unpleasant to get hit with the blast of mostly smokeless fire air even if it is smokeless, too. It's still hot fire air. I would say the appeal of it for me was in the portability, design, and size; the smokeless fan thing was a secondary (but still meaningful) aspect. Haven't tried doing grilling on it since we haven't gone camping with it yet.

I don't want to say that I dislike it; I really like it, but if your #1 goal is the smokeless fire aspect you should probably manage expectations a bit.

I�m moving to a place in a subdivision with a much much much smaller yard and I�m sensitive to smoking out my neighbors. My current fire pit makes a ton of smoke.

# ¿ Apr 28, 2019 21:00

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

Teabag Dome Scandal posted:

Any ballparks on refinishing about 700 sqft of hardwood? No staining, just sanding and resealing.

Around $2k.

# ¿ Jun 5, 2019 21:01

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

Fallom posted:

Yeah true "custom" blinds are like $300 a pop but Home Depot will make you "custom fit" blinds by just slicing them to size

Just make sure you measure the width across both the top and bottom of the window

I did a bunch of windows with custom Levolor faux wood blinded a few years ago and it worked out to around $140 a window and I love them. They look great, feel substantial, and were super easy to install.

I considered doing plantation shutters but none of the locations would have been good for in-swinging shutters.

I just did a bunch of large windows in a rental with cut in store plastic no-cord blinds and I�m reminded how awful non-wood/faux wood blinds are.

# ¿ Jun 7, 2019 16:25

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

The blinds can reflect a lot of the light back out I assume. I get your point but I know for sure that heavy drapes/good shutters make a big difference.

# ¿ Jul 3, 2019 19:01

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

mutata posted:

I'm watching some wasps crawl behind some aluminum siding fascia and up into the soffits under the eaves. They're obviously camping out up in there. Any advice on how to diy murder them? Google's showing me something called Tempo Dust, but neither Lowe's nor Home Depot sell it..

Edit: Oh, Tempo is a brand name. Big box stores have other brands... Hmm..

# ¿ Jul 8, 2019 00:15

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

MetaJew posted:

Some questions or thoughts, since you guys are talking about tightening up old houses and stuff.

The air sealing in my house is poo poo, and if I'm not running the AC, the humidity normalizes with the outside. I think my 1991 single pane windows are partly to blame and probably need to be replaced. My siding is some wood fiber poo poo and should be replaced one day, too. The house doesn't have a house wrap, there is just shingles tar paper beneath the siding. A neighbor had his replaced with Hardie planks or shiplap, and the contractor put down some rigid foam sheets and then put a house wrap, like Tyvek, over that before installing the Hardie planks.

So, I know my house needs new windows, but doing siding simultaneously is probably out of my budget and I'm not sure what the correct thing to do is. I suspect doing windows first and then the siding later would create some tedious trim issues if thickness is being added to the house with that rigid foam. What would y'all do?

For my HVAC question, I think an additional remote return in my house would help circulation, but also my supply ducts are all made from that flex ducting material and i was told at one point that the duct running to my master bedroom had a kink in it. I've been considering getting the ducting completely replaced but it seems like no one wants to install rigid ducts. Is that a thing that is done in residential housing? That is, running rigid ductwork?

I think a whole house dehumidifier would also be good for my issues, but I don't know where to start spending my effort, time or money getting quotes.

At that point you probably need some sort of fresh air exchanger, right? This is seeming more complicated and expensive as I think about it.

Where is the best place to spend my money of I don't have plans of moving in the near future?

New builders here on Texas are still making wraps and gutters optional. Blows my mind.

# ¿ Jul 27, 2019 20:19

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

His Divine Shadow posted:

I don't think I've ever seen a house here built using house wrap here in Finland or any of the nordic countries. Only ever hear of it from north america.

Most residential construction is 99% wood frame with wood wall panels and loose fitting vinyl siding or a engineered wood or cement board product. Our houses will literally mold apart or get eaten by bugs if we aren�t extremely diligent.

It was easier when old growth lumber was used. That old wood was basically like concrete that could flex and rebound. New young lumber is wet and soft and gross.

# ¿ Jul 28, 2019 17:35

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

B-Nasty posted:

Well, we've been running the experiment where everybody buys houses in Northern California (with a no-heat/no-AC Mediterranean climate), and that doesn't seem to be working out all that well.

I think the answer is abandoning the whole county and giving it back to the indigenous peoples.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2019 01:42

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 08:01

Jealous Cow: Apr 4, 2002; by Fluffdaddy

Yeah my fathers side is Dutch...

# ¿ Aug 2, 2019 14:25

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Home Zone: I see a baseboard and I want it painted black.