Home Improvement Thread

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

One of the prior owners ran coax for both cable and a sound system, so it was a coin flip everytime I was trying to connect a TV.

[count2infinity]

Installed the railings on the deck today… they look nice but they’re rounded on the top. Didn’t notice until now. My wife puts planter boxes on the deck railings that need a flat surface. Ideas? I can only come up with zip tie a 2x4 to the railing, but that seem sketchy.

[meow]

they make hooks. like giant christmas stocking fire place hook thingys

[count2infinity]

Yeah, but I already have a crap load of the ones that belong on the top of the rails

[Morkle]

Pressure washed the deck today. F all that.

[AuthorTony]

Has anyone had their air ducts professionally cleaned? If so, is if worth it?

[Joegap]

I had mine cleaned.. not sure if it was a placebo or what but my house just felt cleaner

[NTP66]

^Same. I did see the filter after all was said and done, and it definitely wasn't empty.

[skullman80]

I had ours done when we had our furnace/ac replaced. I wasn't sure if it had ever been done since the house was built in 75...so figured if I was gonna do it that was the time.

[tifosi77]

We've only ever lived in one place together long enough to actually consider doing it. I'm pretty diligent about changing the filter monthly*, but we've been here 5 years now, so we're probably due.




* We change it that frequently because we spend about 85% of the year with all windows & doors closed up.

[RonnieFranchise]

Top couple shelves in the fridge weren't cooling properly, bought new evaporator fan for $30 and replaced it myself in about an hour and a half. Saved probably $150 and it's working fine so far. Pretty proud of myself not being mechanically inclined and all.

[AuthorTony]

I noticed a bit of water dribbling out of the bottom of my heat pump (the part that's indoors). I called my usual HVAC guy but he's out of town on vacation. Is this something that can probably wait, or should I get someone else to check it out sooner?

[NTP66]

I noticed a bit of water dribbling out of the bottom of my heat pump (the part that's indoors). I called my usual HVAC guy but he's out of town on vacation. Is this something that can probably wait, or should I get someone else to check it out sooner?

Do you have central AC, or is your heat pump for heating and cooling?

[DigitalGypsy66]

If you have a wet/dry vac, you can hook up your vac to the PVC drain outside and try to suck out any gunk in the drain.

[NTP66]

If you have a wet/dry vac, you can hook up your vac to the PVC drain outside and try to suck out any gunk in the drain.

That's one of the places I was going with this. If he has central air with an air handler and coil, which is what this would be leaking out of, most of the time it's going to be a clogged condensate line in the drain. Shop vac on the end or manually clearing it would do it, but I would also have one of these installed:

I have one on mine and it saved me a wet basement last summer. If the line becomes clogged and the switch is flipped, it shuts off the air handler immediately. It also has a cleanout cap to manually clear the trap.

The other possibility - which I have also experienced - is a cracked pan (under your coil). If you look in the rear of your coil, take the panel off. The pan is connected to the condensate drain, and no water should be beneath the pan. If it is, you'll need to replace that pan. It's not urgent unless it's leaking on electronics. In my case, it was leaking on the floor, so no real harm.

[AuthorTony]

Sorry for the delay. I was outside mowing. My heat pump heats and cools. There's no drain inside that I can see, just a pump that has a tube that carries the water outside. That's not clogged as far as I can see, and it's a clear tube so I'd think it would be pretty obvious.

There are two sides with panels/doors on the inside portion. One side is where I change out the filter. The other side has the motor and wiring (I assume it's the motor anywhere, this stuff is greek to me). Then there's a big middle section which doesn't seem to have any way to access it. It's from that middle section where the water is draining. And it's not much water. Half a cup or a cup at the most.

[NTP66]

Ah, I can't be of much help then. If your HVAC guy is the only one you trust, I'd probably play it by ear and see how it is tomorrow. If it's still leaking or getting worse, I'd call somebody else (not Horizon, if they service your area).

[NTP66]

Got any photos? My guess is that it's still condensation. If you've got a pump for the condensate line, perhaps that failed, and water is building up in the panel?

[AuthorTony]

I can grab some pics. I'll post them when I have a chance to take some and upload them.

It's been super humid here so I thought too it might be condensation or maybe something iced up a bit inside this weekend. I'm not in that part of the basement often, so it could have done the same thing last summer and gone unnoticed.

[NTP66]

I can grab some pics. I'll post them when I have a chance to take some and upload them.

It's been super humid here so I thought too it might be condensation or maybe something iced up a bit inside this weekend. I'm not in that part of the basement often, so it could have done the same thing last summer and gone unnoticed.

How has the cooling been lately? If your unit has been struggling to keep up, I wonder if it's low on refrigerant, which can also cause ice on the lines. I've only ever seen this happen once, and it was while on vacation. Had to shut off the unit for nearly 24 hours to defrost the lines before we could turn it back on, and it was crazy humid (Hilton Head).

[AuthorTony]

I wondered about the refrigerant too. It was working fine all winter, no issues as far as heating, but I've only had it turned on for cooling Sat and Sun. It seems slow to cool, but that could be my imagination. I do think I'm going to have someone come and check it out though.

[NTP66]

Still waiting on my next electric bill to compare the energy usage from last year, but I'm liking what I feel at home and see in beestat with the new AC. It runs on Stage 1 90% of the time, and only seems to require Stage 2 for smart recovery before my sleep comfort profile in ecobee.

[mamaemeritus]

Going to do a shower/bathroom remodel in about 6 weeks. Need to pick shower tile, flooring and new bath furniture/fixtures. Anyone have any recommendations that aren't Home Depot and/or Lowe's? I don't mind the big box stores, just looking for other options. Never done this before.

[mac5155]

Going to do a shower/bathroom remodel in about 6 weeks. Need to pick shower tile, flooring and new bath furniture/fixtures. Anyone have any recommendations that aren't Home Depot and/or Lowe's? I don't mind the big box stores, just looking for other options. Never done this before.

The Tile Shop is nice. A bit pricey but if you're only doing like 30-50 sf then who cares if it's $10 per.

[Beveridge]

Check local. Sometimes those mom and pop places have a much nicer selection and not too much of a difference in price from your big box stores.