Fix It Fast: Start here for DIY help! (You'll know when it's a problem by smell.)

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Fix It Fast: Start here for DIY help! (You'll know when it's a problem by smell.)

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

Can anyone recommend a cheap manual wood plane I could use to shave two bedroom doors?

I�ve checked the hinges on both of them and they�re all tight, it�s just that both doors are hard to close and it seems like the upper side of the doors need shaved.

# ¿ Oct 28, 2020 22:46

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 02:44

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

kid sinister posted:

It might be easier to shim the hinges with paperboard.

And that�s why I asked!

What�s the process? Just cut some pieces of paperboard to the size of the hinge and insert between hinge and the door frame?

Actually, not sure how that would work. Would I put the paperboard on the hinge at the bottom to push that OUT so it�d bring the bottom in?

nwin fucked around with this message at 00:16 on Oct 29, 2020

# ¿ Oct 29, 2020 00:14

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

kid sinister posted:

You got the idea. You unscrew one of the hinges and cut a piece of paperboard like from a ~~beer~~ cereal box that fits the hinge's recess in the door frame. If it's a 2-hinge door, then shove a towel under the door to support its weight. Put the paperboard against the door side of the hinge, close the hinge on it and trace it. Cut it to size. Once you got one that's a perfect fit, you can trace it to quickly make more. You might need a few, like 5-6. Put each shim up to the recess and use one of the screws to dimple the holes in the shim. Stack up 4 or so. Put one screw through the hinge, then screw it through 4 or so shims. Put that screw against the door frame and screw it in.

To bring the top edge of the door down, shim out the top hinge. The bring out the bottom, shim the bottom. This can also be used to lower or raise the latch to the strike plate, respectively. If you get crazy with the shims and need like more than 8 at one hinge, you may want to add some shims to the middle hinge to keep it from binding and being squeaky. You can also add shims to all hinges if you just need to move the entire door over a little bit in its frame.

You might want to throw any extra shims into a junk drawer and save them. You may need to adjust this in a few months as your home expands and contracts with the seasons.

I've seen that happen. The knob is in a bind with the latch. It could be anything from a bad latch to a bad knob, to you just tightened the screws for the knob too drat much.

I don�t think I said it correctly.

The part of the door I highlighted is rubbing. The top doesn�t seem to be an issue.

# ¿ Oct 29, 2020 23:27

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

Motronic posted:

Shim the bottom hinge.

So I tried that, with as little as one shim, and it kicked the center out too much. The pet of the door where the lock meets the door jamb was hitting. It�s like I need to pull that part in.

# ¿ Oct 30, 2020 17:24

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

H110Hawk posted:

Do you own a chisel? Wood plane?

Negative. Willing to buy whatever I need though.

# ¿ Oct 30, 2020 17:49

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

HycoCam posted:

If you have a 4' level check both jambs and the top of the door. My guess would be the door and hinge side jamb aren't level and plumb. The top hinge will tend to sag over time, especially with solid core doors.

One trick is to remove the center screw on the top hinge and replace it with 4" long screw through the jamb and into the studs holding the door frame. You can get a better bite with the longer screw than the standard short hinge screws. Tighten the 4" screw enough to pull the jamb into plumb and that should also level your door.

The punt option is to shave the door. If everything is level and plumb and/or the 4" screw trick doesn't work, bust out a wood plane and go to town. Just remember it is very easy to take wood off a door, but not so easy to put it back on. i.e. if you shave a door and then level everything, you've got a chance of getting light gaps because your door is longer a rectangle.

The 4� screw got me 90% there!

Now it�s just the bolt that goes into the door, the mechanism itself...no idea what it�s called. The metal piece seems to be sticking out too much so maybe I can dremel around that a bit.

Thanks!

# ¿ Oct 30, 2020 21:06

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

Not looking to solve the problem, but trying to find out who to contact.

I live in Virginia, the house has a basement, and we�re having drainage issues in the backyard.

Normally, when it rains, the water comes in through a hole in the basement foundation into a pile of rocks and goes to a sump pump. He mentioned something about creating a French drain.

Anyways, after the water gets to the sump pump, it�s pumped to the backyard.

First problem was the pump was only pushing the water out about 5 feet past where it was coming in. So the water would just end up draining back to the sump pump and it would be a never-ending cycle. The backyard was soaked a muddy because it never had a chance to dry.

With the last two storms, no water is coming through the hole in the foundation. I looked and it seems that the ground closest to the house is slightly higher than the ground away from the house where the water is pooling.

I brought a landscaper out and he said it�s not draining far enough away from the sump pump. He wants to dig a trench about 50 feet and run pvc from the sump pump outlets all the way to the back of the backyard. He won�t come inside and look at the sump pump and that drainage.

So what do I need here? Either someone needs to fix it so that water comes in through the foundation and into the sump pump again, or I need a new sump pump outside to collect water where it�s currently pooling and redirect it.

Do I call a foundation guy or another landscaper or will I need both? The existing sump turns on just fine, the problem is no water is currently going to it.

Edit: here�s a pic where the water used to come in:

And here�s a pic of the backyard. All along the pavers is soaked. Underneath the patio is also soaked as far as I can see. The sump pump is supposed to pump out right between the patio and that outdoor room (near the gutter on the right).

nwin fucked around with this message at 19:29 on Nov 12, 2020

# ¿ Nov 12, 2020 19:11

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

nwin posted:

Not looking to solve the problem, but trying to find out who to contact.

I live in Virginia, the house has a basement, and we�re having drainage issues in the backyard.

Normally, when it rains, the water comes in through a hole in the basement foundation into a pile of rocks and goes to a sump pump. He mentioned something about creating a French drain.

Anyways, after the water gets to the sump pump, it�s pumped to the backyard.

First problem was the pump was only pushing the water out about 5 feet past where it was coming in. So the water would just end up draining back to the sump pump and it would be a never-ending cycle. The backyard was soaked a muddy because it never had a chance to dry.

With the last two storms, no water is coming through the hole in the foundation. I looked and it seems that the ground closest to the house is slightly higher than the ground away from the house where the water is pooling.

I brought a landscaper out and he said it�s not draining far enough away from the sump pump. He wants to dig a trench about 50 feet and run pvc from the sump pump outlets all the way to the back of the backyard. He won�t come inside and look at the sump pump and that drainage.

So what do I need here? Either someone needs to fix it so that water comes in through the foundation and into the sump pump again, or I need a new sump pump outside to collect water where it�s currently pooling and redirect it.

Do I call a foundation guy or another landscaper or will I need both? The existing sump turns on just fine, the problem is no water is currently going to it.

Edit: here�s a pic where the water used to come in:

And here�s a pic of the backyard. All along the pavers is soaked. Underneath the patio is also soaked as far as I can see. The sump pump is supposed to pump out right between the patio and that outdoor room (near the gutter on the right).

Any ideas?

# ¿ Nov 14, 2020 04:17

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

tater_salad posted:

There really isn't much more

The main way to reduce water ingress is to get the water away from the house.

Step 1 proper grading away from the house.
In your case. Step 2. Get that sump pump from dumping water close to the house.

Yeah here�s a horrible drawing I made looking at it from the side.

So it seems the two options are to grade everything towards the house where the sump pump inlet is located on the right. Or to install a new sump pump under the patio and grade the dirt away from the house.

# ¿ Nov 14, 2020 18:10

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

Here�s another question, this time for estimating construction costs.

I think our house used to be a 4 bedroom with the master bedroom right next to a guest bedroom. At some point they decided to break the wall down and have an add-on to the master bedroom. We�ve got no use for that space and would like to put the wall back up and use it for an office. It�s got an HVAC Duct, it�s own window, and it�s own door, which is what leads me to believe that a wall used to separate the two spaces.

Here�s a picture of the two rooms connected. Any idea what I�d be looking at spending for someone to put a wall back up? No outlets or anything, just some drywall, 2x4�s, and some molding on the bottom for the trim I�m guessing. I�d paint it myself.

# ¿ Nov 14, 2020 18:32

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

tater_salad posted:

You'd want to grade everything away from the house and not put a sump pump anywhere outside. You should not have that section of diet that dips down by your foundation..

Yeah I can�t tell if that section by the foundation was man made on purpose or not...there�s a few dips underneath but they look like a fox or a dog would have gotten down there and dug it out themselves. I�ve seen a fox since I�ve been here and the previous owner had dogs.

So if we move to grade everything away from the house, how would that work? The rest of the backyard is pretty flat and runs back to a forest which is also flat, so I don�t know how practical it would be to have the entire thing graded.

Why wouldn�t we want to install a pump outside? It seems like that would help collect the water in a central location and then redistribute it elsewhere without having to grade everything.

I�m renting this place and the landlord is in another state so I�m trying to ask all the right questions and look at all the possibilities. I�m not paying for the work to be done but I also don�t want to tell him the problem is �x� when in reality the problem is �x� and �y�.

# ¿ Nov 14, 2020 18:54

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

Motronic posted:

You should be telling him that the problem is the basement is flooding. Full stop. You are renting.

But the basement isn�t flooding. The water isn�t getting to the sump pump in the basement. Because of this, the backyard is flooding.

Regardless, I get your point. I should tell him that and let him deal with it. But if he�s asking me to hire someone and look at it, I don�t know who to hire, which was what my original question was. I had a landscaping company come out first and they refused to look at the sump pump/basement area, and I�ve got another landscaper coming tomorrow.

I�d think it�s more a landscaping issue than a basement issue since water is just pooling up outside, but it�s also weird that water used to come into the sump pump in the basement and now it doesn�t anymore.

nwin fucked around with this message at 20:25 on Nov 14, 2020

# ¿ Nov 14, 2020 20:19

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

tetrapyloctomy posted:

Can't be emphasized enough. Neither your money nor your time should go into this. Your landlord should be the one calling people to figure it out.

Yeah I guess you guys are right. It was his decision to rent and be located in another state. I guess I just try and put myself in the owner�s shoes and I�d hope that the renter would try and paint a decent picture of what�s going on and maybe make a few phone calls since I wouldn�t be in a position to come over and check things out myself.

And definitely not putting any money into this. The only time spent was on the forums and going out to take some pictures.

# ¿ Nov 14, 2020 20:41

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

H110Hawk posted:

You're being nice, that's certainly nice, but you should find out if your landlord even cares that the backyard is flooding. It's good will to be eyes and ears for the people they send to look at it, and help as a bullshit detector, occasional picture taker, and verbal/email updater but in the end it's a job you're paying someone else to do via your rent. They might tell you to piss off and wait for it to dry out, which then has its own decision tree associated with it.

Yeah the guy cares about his lawn and was glad I brought it up. At first he said �let me know if it keeps up. I�m willing to throw $400 on someone to do some digging�, and he was a bit shocked that the first quote came back at $2500 (digging a trench about 70 feet to lengthen the sump pump piping). I told him that it�s obviously up to him and I just wanted him to be aware of what�s happening because if I was the owner and came back to a hosed up backyard with no knowledge, I�d be a little pissed.

The main issue it�s creating for me is I�m responsible for lawn maintenance. When it�s this wet, the lawnmower is just tearing up all the grass even if it goes a week without raining.

# ¿ Nov 14, 2020 21:39

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

I�m peeling off wall decals in my sons room and they are not coming off as advertised...they�re peeling the paint and it looks like the first layer of drywall with them, so it looks like brown cardboard on the wall if that makes any sense.

What�s the best way to fix this? I think if I just do a layer or two of paint, you�ll still see the circles where it took the paint and drywall off. Maybe a layer of mud?

Also-is there a better way to prevent this on other walls I�ll be putting decals on? Maybe the surface wasn�t prepped correctly or something?

# ¿ Mar 27, 2021 20:42

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

H110Hawk posted:

Steam or goo gone probably will take them off.

Otherwise get some premix color change spackle and patch it first then paint it when dry. You will need a little knife thing to spread it on and feather it out plus some sandpaper to knock it down to match. How much texture is it? How many square inches of patching?

There�s probably 5 pieces, anywhere between 1-5� diameter.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2021 20:52

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

Over the past few weeks A woodpecker has made its way around my chimney. It�s been very intermittent, probably 3-5 times over the past few weeks and maybe for 10 minutes at a time.

The house is vinyl siding and when he pecks it sounds like he�s hitting some type of metal flashing maybe-without going up to the roof I�d assume it�s the metal flashing to prevent water from getting down into the chimney, but I have no way to verify this

I rent and the landlord had the fireplace cleaned professionally before I moved in last year and he always used to use the fireplace. We�re in northern Virginia and we have a toddler so I haven�t had the need to mess with the fireplace when our gas heat works fine.

So...besides calling my landlord-is there anything I can do/should be on the lookout for? Would running the fireplace once or twice maybe scare the thing off? It�s a wood fireplace, not one that uses a natural gas line.

# ¿ Mar 29, 2021 13:21

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

PremiumSupport posted:

As Motronic said, Nest is just a brand name riding the wave of IoT. They are hardly the only game in town.

If your HVAC system is made by a major brand I'd be willing to bet that the manufacturer offers a thermostat that does what you want and is actually designed to work with your unit.

No kidding? I�ll have to look into that. Literally the only redeeming thing I like about my nest is the ability to change the temperature while I�m in bed or coming home from vacation.

# ¿ Apr 4, 2022 21:36

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

I don�t like how expensive all the things I want are turning out to be�

# ¿ May 8, 2022 18:17

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

I hate baby gates. Now my bannister is loose and I�m not sure the best way to fix it.

We started out using the baby gate that applies pressure to the walls which have worked fine in the past-not so much with the bannister because it put too much force on it and made the bannister bow outward.

Here�s how it looks at its worst:

Kinda hard to see but the whole bannister bends outward�I�d guess 1/4-1/2� of play in the post.

Next we used a different type of gate which doesn�t apply pressure but requires both sides to be fixed�since the bannister is loose it doesn�t work that great:

What�s the best way to fix this? I�ve watched some videos and am unable to tell if there�s a dowel or a metal bolt in there holding it up. My first thought is to use some 6� structural screws through the bottom/middle of the bannister post like I saw on this old house, but just wanted to check with anyone else that might be familiar. I don�t think it has a metal bolt in it because I don�t see any plugs on the bottom of the post to access the bolt.

# ¿ Jul 2, 2022 12:38

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

Any recommendations on fixing this crack in my drywall? It�s about 12� long on both sides and my guess is it�s from the house settling but I have no way to be sure.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2022 19:31

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

So half the doors in my house don�t close, meaning the latch doesn�t engage with the strike plate. It�s the right height, but I just can�t push the door far enough in for the latch to lock into the strike plate if that makes sense.

Edit: never mind, the plate is too high so I think I need to lower it.

nwin fucked around with this message at 20:13 on Jul 13, 2022

# ¿ Jul 13, 2022 19:58

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

What�s my best option for removing a box like this so I can install one suitable for a ceiling fan?

The issue I�m having is I have no access to a similar box because there�s plywood nailed down on top of it in the attic. Yes I could pull the plywood up, but it�s right under some AC ducting and would be a pain in the rear end.

# ¿ Jul 18, 2022 17:17

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

Had a flooring company come and install flooring in the kitchen and bathroom. They finished the kitchen and said they�ll get the bathroom done tomorrow-great! I can paint the small space behind the vanity and toilet since they took them both out!

So without a p-trap there on the sink�it smells like poo poo. The toilet hole has some rags stuffed in it.

Am I going to die of a methane explosion or something overnight?

# ¿ Jul 27, 2022 00:44

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

PainterofCrap posted:

You are on the right track; after scraping/sanding/prepping that backsplash, I'd use clear adhesive silicone caulk. Apply enough that it pushes out at the seams a bit. Be prepared to scrape it off almost immediately and hit the backsplash & counter seam with acetone. In the worst case: once it cures, you can tidy it up with a (clean, brand-new) razor, although it'll be tough to trim it behind the sink basin since it's tight back there. It'll hold until the end of time & also be waterproof.

So no liquid nail? The clear adhesive silicon should be enough to hold it down? I�m concerned that since it�s currently sticking up on its own, that the silicon won�t hold it. Maybe I need to keep pressure on it for an hour or so for curing time?

# ¿ Sep 10, 2022 15:22

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

Motronic posted:

Good way or a cheap way?

Literally every wall and subfloor needs to be coated with a stain and odor blocking primer (like Kilz). It has to be treated like a fire reno job. And like a fire reno job if you skip anywhere you're gonna get whiffs of it from time to time. Yeah, I'm talking about things like the attic, bottom of the first floor if there's a basement, etc. These things will start stinkining under different and various circumstances, like the first time the heat turns on (oh yeah, you probably need to tear out all the ducts since you'll never get the sticky niccotine tar out of them), when it's too humid in the house, when it gets too dry in the house, when the sun shines the right way to heat up the attic more than the rest of the house, etc, etc.

That's a material defect and I wouldn't even consider buying a place like that. Just like I wouldn't buy a cat/dog piss house.

At some point someone in this process, likely a real estate agent on either side of the transaction, is going to suggest that professional level ozone generation will fix this. And it will. For about a month or two, which is plenty long enough for them to have cashed their commission checks.

Dog and cat piss sucks. We moved into a rental where the landlord admitted his dog had some accidents in the walk-in closet, but don�t worry because he had a maid service clean the carpet. It lasted until a day after we moved in and the urine smell was noticeable. He hired. A steam cleaner, etc�three times. Finally he gave up and had the carpet replaced and the guys sprayed the subfloor with a bleach/water solution. That ended up working for us and we didn�t have an issue for the next two years.

Smoking though? gently caress that. At least pets can piss in a certain, traceable area. Smoke just goes anywhere and everywhere.

# ¿ Oct 1, 2022 20:25

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

Got an issue with a saddle valve. Looking for a quick fix.

In short, it�s leaking. We got a new refrigerator delivered today and there was an existing saddle valve installed for the old water /ice maker. It looks like they reused that fitting but now it�s leaking. Looks like they half assed some Teflon tape.

The closest valve to secure the water near the saddle valve is the main water valve, which isn�t ideal obviously.

Planning on calling the appliance shop tomorrow and yelling at them but that doesn�t fix the problem now. Can I tighten or loose this thing at all?

Edit. Turning the t to the right just made it gush. Turning to the left increased the drip.

I ended up tightening the nut closest to the at and that seems to have worked for now.

I�m doubtful to think the appliance shop will do anything at all, so what�s the best solution? Would a sharkbite fitting be ok in this scenario or do I need a plumber to fix it proper?

nwin fucked around with this message at 00:28 on Oct 18, 2022

# ¿ Oct 18, 2022 00:16

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

Rakeris posted:

Where is it leaking from exactly? If it's the 1/8in fitting on the valve, it looks like a hosed up tape job and just some properly applied tape might fix it.

E: well it shouldn't leak when turned off though...

How does a saddle valve turn off? I thought it just pierced the valve and then it�s always on.

# ¿ Oct 18, 2022 01:34

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

redreader posted:

One walk-in closet in our house has a cat piss issue. We didn't get to it quick enough and it's got worse (I think a cat got locked in there for a few hours once and took a piss, and now it's a piss room! There's a litterbox right outside it!) and then another cat had the biggest vomit I've ever seen, in there too. So I used some anti-icky-poo on it, let it sit for a while and then and used a hoover wet vac on it twice with more anti-icky-poo in the soap dispenser.

I then put lots of fans on it and it's not dry yet, sure, but... It seems to smell worse at this point. (cats are no longer allowed in there! making sure of it!)

It's a small area and I'm wondering if I should get someone in to put in new carpeting or something. Since it's my house I suppose I could do it myself but I'm not at all handy. How hard is it to rip up carpet and put more carpet down yourself? It's about 3-4 square meters.

I went in there with a blacklight and saw the vom stain and a couple of cat piss stains too on the carpet, and about 4-5 marks on the wall just like a cat had pissed on it. I think the cat was actually pissing in the laundry basket that was in there, because the only piss stains on the carpet were straight lines on two of the four sides of the laundry basket. Would spraying the wall down be enough or do I need to repaint too?

If it sat long enough and there was enough urine, it�s possible it soaked into the padding and perhaps underneath it. Not a huge deal with a concrete floor but more so with plywood.

# ¿ Oct 26, 2022 18:44

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

I need help fixing the caulking around my tub.

A remodel is long overdue but not in the cards at this point. The existing linoleum is shot and when I moved in 6 months ago there were some visible cracks in the caulk between the tub and the floor. I scraped it all off, wiped with mineral spirits and allowed it to try before putting a new bead on.

It works great until about a month ago and now some cracks have appeared again. Not sure if it was a lovely job by me, poor prep, not a wide enough bead, or maybe the cold weather, but I�m looking for a fix to last another year or two before I can Reno the whole bathroom. This is the bathroom my kids use and we give them baths in, so my wife and I are constantly kneeling near the tub so maybe the pressure we�re putting on the floor at that angle isn�t helping either?

Here�s the pictures. If you zoom in you can see the cracks I�m talking about :

Any advice?

nwin fucked around with this message at 03:44 on Dec 23, 2022

# ¿ Dec 23, 2022 03:41

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

What�s this type of nut called? I�m missing some for a toddler conversion piece on our crib.

An allen bolt screws into the left end and the inside is threaded. The right side is for a hex key to go into.

# ¿ Aug 10, 2023 00:10

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 02:44

nwin: Feb 25, 2002; make's u think

Thanks for all the help with my nuts.

# ¿ Aug 11, 2023 00:50

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > Fix It Fast: Start here for DIY help! (You'll know when it's a problem by smell.)