Home Improvement Thread

Silentom
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Postby Silentom » Tue Apr 24, 2018 10:03 am

Image

meow
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Postby meow » Tue Apr 24, 2018 11:54 am

Get some of those giant Japanese hornets.

mac5155
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Postby mac5155 » Tue Apr 24, 2018 12:07 pm

Carpenter bees, while huge and annoying, are rarely a threat to sting, right?

mac5155
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Postby mac5155 » Tue Apr 24, 2018 12:07 pm

Also, if you can find their holes, shove a brillo pad in there

shafnutz05
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Postby shafnutz05 » Tue Apr 24, 2018 12:23 pm

Carpenter bees, while huge and annoying, are rarely a threat to sting, right?
Male carpenter bees (the big, annoying ones that get all up in your grill) do not have stingers. The females are rarely seen because they are generally already bored up in the wood. Whenever the males get aggressive with humans, it's generally because we are unwittingly right near her nest.

When I am out on my deck, I generally just sit there with a tennis racket and go to town when one is nearby. That said, make sure you are 100% certain it is not a bumblebee. They are fairly easy to tell apart.

robbiestoupe
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Postby robbiestoupe » Tue Apr 24, 2018 12:50 pm

Apparently diatomaceous earth can kill the suckers. @algeron

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Tue Apr 24, 2018 1:22 pm

Also, if you can find their holes, shove a brillo pad in there
This reads like Mad Libs for pr0nhub channels.

mac5155
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Postby mac5155 » Thu Apr 26, 2018 2:28 pm

FINALLY (!!!) getting my propane tank installed today. So I can put my grille, camp stove, and toaster oven back in storage :pop:

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Postby mac5155 » Mon May 14, 2018 10:42 pm

Bump.

Any plumbers here, amateur or otherwise?

I have a low pressure situation at our new house. We're only a few feet in elevation change from the tanks which supply the water pressure. And the water has to come up our driveway. So, basically we have crap pressure.

I put a gauge on the hose bib at the service entrance a while back and got a reading of around 50 psi. This was before the house was plumbed. We simply had a hose bib on the end of the service entrance. Now that the house is plumbed, when I measure pressure at a laundry room hose bib, I get around 25. Is it expected to have that much pressure drop throughout the house? My pressure regulating valve is cranked the whole way in. I was wondering if it's faulty or what the deal may be, or if I'm just SOL.. And have to go with a pressure boosting system.

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Tue May 15, 2018 7:19 am

The simplest guess would be the regulator. Do you have a pressure gauge with the spigot fitting? If so, put it on somewhere in the house and test the pressure. Then, have somebody flush a toilet (not on the same water line, in case yours aren't separated). The pressure shouldn't waver much at all. If it does, and your PRV truly is wide open, then you might want to simply replace it.

robbiestoupe
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Postby robbiestoupe » Tue May 15, 2018 8:41 am

Bump.

Any plumbers here, amateur or otherwise?

I have a low pressure situation at our new house. We're only a few feet in elevation change from the tanks which supply the water pressure. And the water has to come up our driveway. So, basically we have crap pressure.

I put a gauge on the hose bib at the service entrance a while back and got a reading of around 50 psi. This was before the house was plumbed. We simply had a hose bib on the end of the service entrance. Now that the house is plumbed, when I measure pressure at a laundry room hose bib, I get around 25. Is it expected to have that much pressure drop throughout the house? My pressure regulating valve is cranked the whole way in. I was wondering if it's faulty or what the deal may be, or if I'm just SOL.. And have to go with a pressure boosting system.
If the plumbers sucked and put in 90s everywhere, that could cause some pressure drop. 25 psi drop is a bit much though. What size did they use internally? If I remember correctly, you were bringing in a 2" line, so that seems big enough.

Check your aerators. If you don't flush out your lines with the aerators off, all the crap in there from the original build will clog at the faucets. Clean those suckers out and see if it helps. Not sure if your laundry spigot has an aerator or not.

You may have already done this, but check the regulator. You said it is cranked in, but for some regulators, "in" means fully restricted.

mac5155
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Postby mac5155 » Tue May 15, 2018 2:38 pm

Bump.

Any plumbers here, amateur or otherwise?

I have a low pressure situation at our new house. We're only a few feet in elevation change from the tanks which supply the water pressure. And the water has to come up our driveway. So, basically we have crap pressure.

I put a gauge on the hose bib at the service entrance a while back and got a reading of around 50 psi. This was before the house was plumbed. We simply had a hose bib on the end of the service entrance. Now that the house is plumbed, when I measure pressure at a laundry room hose bib, I get around 25. Is it expected to have that much pressure drop throughout the house? My pressure regulating valve is cranked the whole way in. I was wondering if it's faulty or what the deal may be, or if I'm just SOL.. And have to go with a pressure boosting system.
If the plumbers sucked and put in 90s everywhere, that could cause some pressure drop. 25 psi drop is a bit much though. What size did they use internally? If I remember correctly, you were bringing in a 2" line, so that seems big enough.

Check your aerators. If you don't flush out your lines with the aerators off, all the crap in there from the original build will clog at the faucets. Clean those suckers out and see if it helps. Not sure if your laundry spigot has an aerator or not.

You may have already done this, but check the regulator. You said it is cranked in, but for some regulators, "in" means fully restricted.
I don't think they put in 90s. Most of the joints have like a curvy looking thing on them. Not sure what exactly to call them, but there aren't a ton of 90s.
Yes, 2" pipe.

All my fixtures are brand new, so I don't think it's an aerator problem...
My PRV is a Zurn, and I did look on their site and it says cranked the whole way in is least restrictive. I wonder though, if I crank it the whole way out, will it eventually fall out, or is there a stop on it? I can try either way.

mac5155
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Postby mac5155 » Tue May 15, 2018 2:41 pm

The simplest guess would be the regulator. Do you have a pressure gauge with the spigot fitting? If so, put it on somewhere in the house and test the pressure. Then, have somebody flush a toilet (not on the same water line, in case yours aren't separated). The pressure shouldn't waver much at all. If it does, and your PRV truly is wide open, then you might want to simply replace it.
I do have a gauge, that's how I was testing in the laundry room (my utility sink has a hose fitting on the faucet).

When you say 'same water line'... now you have me wondering. I have two 'mains' running the length of my house, 3/4" each. I think each fixture then splits off of it somewhere. That's normal, right? Not 'on the same line' by your definition?

nocera
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Postby nocera » Tue May 15, 2018 2:48 pm

Can anyone recommend a local, reputable, and reasonable basement waterproofing company? Been having an issue for a while with dampness in one corner of the basement. Never had standing water, but definitely get a nice circle of constant wetness. I did everything I could think of that I can handle on my own and need a professional...

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Tue May 15, 2018 2:53 pm

The simplest guess would be the regulator. Do you have a pressure gauge with the spigot fitting? If so, put it on somewhere in the house and test the pressure. Then, have somebody flush a toilet (not on the same water line, in case yours aren't separated). The pressure shouldn't waver much at all. If it does, and your PRV truly is wide open, then you might want to simply replace it.
I do have a gauge, that's how I was testing in the laundry room (my utility sink has a hose fitting on the faucet).

When you say 'same water line'... now you have me wondering. I have two 'mains' running the length of my house, 3/4" each. I think each fixture then splits off of it somewhere. That's normal, right? Not 'on the same line' by your definition?
I must have been half asleep... I meant another location further away, like having the gauge in a utility room or hose spigot, and flushing an upstairs toilet. When you say you have two main lines, do you actually have two main cold lines and two main hot lines? Or are those two mains just one hot and one cold? The former seems incredibly unlikely, I'd think.

mac5155
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Postby mac5155 » Tue May 15, 2018 3:18 pm

The simplest guess would be the regulator. Do you have a pressure gauge with the spigot fitting? If so, put it on somewhere in the house and test the pressure. Then, have somebody flush a toilet (not on the same water line, in case yours aren't separated). The pressure shouldn't waver much at all. If it does, and your PRV truly is wide open, then you might want to simply replace it.
I do have a gauge, that's how I was testing in the laundry room (my utility sink has a hose fitting on the faucet).

When you say 'same water line'... now you have me wondering. I have two 'mains' running the length of my house, 3/4" each. I think each fixture then splits off of it somewhere. That's normal, right? Not 'on the same line' by your definition?
I must have been half asleep... I meant another location further away, like having the gauge in a utility room or hose spigot, and flushing an upstairs toilet. When you say you have two main lines, do you actually have two main cold lines and two main hot lines? Or are those two mains just one hot and one cold? The former seems incredibly unlikely, I'd think.
Sorry, yeah one main hot, one main cold. We are in a ranch, so everything's the same elevation on the main level.

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Tue May 15, 2018 3:53 pm

We just had a teal front door installed, and a wood-grain fiberglass garage door a month ago. Coupled with the landscaping we did last summer, and the painting we had done earlier this year, our house actually looks kinda nice now. I have to say, tho, that I'm having a hard time with the teal door; it looks nicer in photos of mid-mod houses than on our actual mid-mod house.

mac5155
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Postby mac5155 » Tue May 15, 2018 3:57 pm

My wife wants a brick-red color paint on our exterior door. We have regal blue siding. I think the clash will look nice, but part of me says just paint it white.

Beveridge
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Postby Beveridge » Tue May 15, 2018 4:02 pm

My wife wants a brick-red color paint on our exterior door. We have regal blue siding. I think the clash will look nice, but part all of me says just paint it white how the wife wants it.
You're welcome.

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Tue May 15, 2018 4:21 pm

I’m a fan of colored front doors (paging LBL). Ours is currently black, matching the shutters, but I imagine that we’ll eventually paint it.

blackjack68
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Postby blackjack68 » Tue May 15, 2018 4:27 pm

I’m a fan of colored front doors (paging LBL). Ours is currently black, matching the shutters, but I imagine that we’ll eventually paint it.
So you’re saying the doors match the shutters?

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Tue May 15, 2018 4:31 pm

Yes, yes I am.

tifosi77
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Postby tifosi77 » Wed May 16, 2018 12:13 am

I want to be clear, we're matching our interior 'design' by going with the teal door. The alternative was orange, and I was not about to have that.

mac5155
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Postby mac5155 » Wed May 16, 2018 10:19 am

My wife wants a brick-red color paint on our exterior door. We have regal blue siding. I think the clash will look nice, but part all of me says just paint it white how the wife wants it.
You're welcome.
Well duh

eddy
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Postby eddy » Thu May 17, 2018 2:41 pm

we have a red house with yellow door. I like it. Teal door on back.

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