Home Improvement Thread
Home Improvement Thread
I imagine most already know this, but WD-40 should not be used as a lubricant because it's not really a lubricant. It was designed to displace water and leave a rust-inhibiting layer behind, which means that it will gum up over time because that's what it was intended to do. Its earliest use was spraying down Atlas rocket tanks in Florida. The early Atlas rockets used "balloon" tanks that were made of almost paper-thin steel, and they kept their structure only because they were kept constantly pressurized at all times. (The video below shows what happens when one depressurized; it collapsed like a leaky balloon.) The heat, humidity, and salt air was causing them to rust, which could lead to weaknesses in the thin skin that would cause bursting, so Convair developed a spray that would leave a gummy layer on the tanks to shield them from moisture.
Home Improvement Thread
Be that as it may the larger concern is that people dedicating time to lubricate garage door openers are most certainly serial killers.
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Home Improvement Thread
we need to have a chandelier installed in a 20' space. i assume the only way to do this (safely) is with a scaffold? i assume a stepladder tall enough is unsafe to work with hanging the chandelier as well?
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this guy just judged me for drinking transfusions at the country club
Home Improvement Thread
At least he's attempting to DIY it.
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Home Improvement Thread
this guy just judged me for drinking transfusions at the country club
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You'll need the same amount of stepladders as you did spoilers there.
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Just don't forget to press record before you attempt this.
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Home Improvement Thread
So I think I mentioned we had water coming through three interior windows a few weeks ago. It was a one-time event during a really freakish storm, where the water came under the vinyl siding roof on our porch to the flashing above the windows. Very strange.
Anyway, 84 Lumber was the installer, and they were out checking their work. The 84 Lumber van had PA plates with a Bowser dealership plate holder on it. I know 84 Lumber is based in Pittsburgh, but are they really shipping work vans down 79/77 to Myrtle Beach? Can't a local dealership handle fleet sales?
Anyway, 84 Lumber was the installer, and they were out checking their work. The 84 Lumber van had PA plates with a Bowser dealership plate holder on it. I know 84 Lumber is based in Pittsburgh, but are they really shipping work vans down 79/77 to Myrtle Beach? Can't a local dealership handle fleet sales?
Home Improvement Thread
84 (and nemacolin woodlands my wife's former employer) always gave me the "spend a dollar to save a dime" vibe.
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That's the power of Bowser.
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Yeeeaaaahhh
Home Improvement Thread
Route 51 south on top of the hill
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After 7 weeks and 2 days the bathroom remodel quoted to us last year as a 2 week job (to be fair I probably should have known right there this was no 2 week job) has been mostly completed. They ordered the wrong shower door and in a hurry to get to the next job, they made a completely asinine attempt to install a latch for the barn door that is an absolute joke. No final payment or discussion of extras till that's fixed. Good thing the owner wasn't here, Mrs. Franchise would have ripped him a new one. The worker (there was only one assigned to this job, hence the amount of time it took) said that's what the owner told him to do. I'm sorry, I know you're just the worker, but I'm pretty sure the guy looking for the last 25% of the payments didn't tell you to make an absolute disaster of the brand new wall.
The Baird Brothers Fine Hardwood floor, installed by a buddy of mine who does great carpentry work, looks incredible.
The Baird Brothers Fine Hardwood floor, installed by a buddy of mine who does great carpentry work, looks incredible.
Home Improvement Thread
Nothing but the best from Baird Brothers fine hardwoods
Home Improvement Thread
Finished the basement in time for the appraisal, then went on vacation to Wildwood for a week. Came back last night and discovered the new carpet in the basement bedroom closet was soaked, after never having any problems with moisture in the basement in 5 years.
So quick before work I cut the carpet out to try to save it (I've seamed carpet before, no biggie) and as I'm walking out I hear a breaker trip. It's the kitchen on the main floor, and the AFC?/GFCI breaker won't even reset long enough to give me a blinking light and tell me what went wrong. So I swapped it with the breaker above it and of course now everything is working fine.
Seriously, WTF.
So quick before work I cut the carpet out to try to save it (I've seamed carpet before, no biggie) and as I'm walking out I hear a breaker trip. It's the kitchen on the main floor, and the AFC?/GFCI breaker won't even reset long enough to give me a blinking light and tell me what went wrong. So I swapped it with the breaker above it and of course now everything is working fine.
Seriously, WTF.
Home Improvement Thread
Where did the water come from? Was it the cause of the GFCI trip?
Home Improvement Thread
I have not determined the answer to either of these questions. I believe I've reached a steady state where the house isn't trying to burn itself down or flood, so I went into work.
*It's not coming from above the closet, the walls and ceiling show no evidence of water damage. I used beadboard panels for the ceiling, so I had made it halfway through pulling it down before I left, so I'll double check but it doesn't seem likely.
*The worst of it was the carpet touching the back wall of the closet, there's a sump pump line there that I had redone, but it feels bone dry this morning (doesn't mean it was dry for the time we were gone) and hasn't been a problem in the 3 months since I rerouted it.
*There's a small possibility the sump failed, and the sump well is right next to the closet in a separate 1" recessed area. The problem with that idea is that nothing in the recessed area is wet (except the usual tiny bit of moisture from the A/C drain)
*The 1' of visible concrete foundation above this closet (it's a 7' tall closet due to overhead ductwork) in all directions appears dry.
We apparently got about 2" of rain in the last week, after going all month with none which was dry cracking everybody's yards. When I get back home I'm going to trip the sump and see if it a) works, and b) leaks somewhere on the way out. It's possible that whatever the cause was it happened when we got the bulk of the rain (1.25') on the 27th and all evidence has dried out except for the carpet. The bottom of the pad feels drier than the top though which is interesting.
The kitchen GFCI is a head scratcher. It was a very humid morning with condensation everywhere. It's possible there was an issue somehow inside the house that could have tripped it, but it should have still done it 5 minutes later when I flip-flopped the breakers. My hope is it's just a breaker going bad.
*It's not coming from above the closet, the walls and ceiling show no evidence of water damage. I used beadboard panels for the ceiling, so I had made it halfway through pulling it down before I left, so I'll double check but it doesn't seem likely.
*The worst of it was the carpet touching the back wall of the closet, there's a sump pump line there that I had redone, but it feels bone dry this morning (doesn't mean it was dry for the time we were gone) and hasn't been a problem in the 3 months since I rerouted it.
*There's a small possibility the sump failed, and the sump well is right next to the closet in a separate 1" recessed area. The problem with that idea is that nothing in the recessed area is wet (except the usual tiny bit of moisture from the A/C drain)
*The 1' of visible concrete foundation above this closet (it's a 7' tall closet due to overhead ductwork) in all directions appears dry.
We apparently got about 2" of rain in the last week, after going all month with none which was dry cracking everybody's yards. When I get back home I'm going to trip the sump and see if it a) works, and b) leaks somewhere on the way out. It's possible that whatever the cause was it happened when we got the bulk of the rain (1.25') on the 27th and all evidence has dried out except for the carpet. The bottom of the pad feels drier than the top though which is interesting.
The kitchen GFCI is a head scratcher. It was a very humid morning with condensation everywhere. It's possible there was an issue somehow inside the house that could have tripped it, but it should have still done it 5 minutes later when I flip-flopped the breakers. My hope is it's just a breaker going bad.
Home Improvement Thread
Maybe a year after I bought my house, I got some water coming into my laundry room during a torrential rainstorm. So far as I know, that has never happened again in the more than 10 years since.
Home Improvement Thread
Probably came in through your now-clogged lint vent.
Home Improvement Thread
The Best Labor Day Home and Furniture Sales of 2022 (So Far!)
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/m ... ales-2022/
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/m ... ales-2022/
Home Improvement Thread
Turns out I fired a trim nail through the sump pump exit line. Much easier to fix than a cracked foundation.
Still no lead on the kitchen GFI, both breakers continued to work normally throughout the day.
Still no lead on the kitchen GFI, both breakers continued to work normally throughout the day.
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