Home Improvement Thread

Postby **mac5155** » Sun Jan 20, 2019 10:42 pm

That was my question.. So my heat pump will shut off below a certain outside temp?

Postby **AuthorTony** » Sun Jan 20, 2019 10:45 pm

Yes.

Edit: Mine shuts off around 30. Also, if I turn the heat up by more than 2 degrees (say, from 66 to 69) it switches over to the oil furnace because, in theory, the regular furnace is more efficient at rapidly raising the temp.

Postby **mac5155** » Sun Jan 20, 2019 10:57 pm

Yeah my electric aux will turn on when I have a sudden temp increase request.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Mon Jan 21, 2019 1:22 pm

I'm about to get rid of my Nest. A typical morning:

-Wake up. The heat is at 68 as per the schedule, but the heat never turned on despite the Nest saying the heat is on. House is at 58 degrees.
-Manually turn dial down below 58, wait a second, turn back to 68. Heat now actually turns on.
-House gets to 68 degrees. Heat shuts off, as it should.
-House drops down below 68. Nest says heat is on but heat is not running. Temperature plummets until I manually turn it down and back up again.

Postby **AuthorTony** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 2:36 pm

I was thinking of using those 1/4 bricks they sell at home improvement stores as a backsplash in my kitchen, but I'm wondering if I can go right over the tongue and groove pine. I know I shouldn't, but what are the odds that doing so would cause me any headaches down the road?
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Old-Mill-Thin- ... 1000223607

Postby **mac5155** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 2:38 pm

I would do a thin scratch coat over it.

Postby **mac5155** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 2:39 pm

Or at the very least put mesh down first.

Postby **NTP66** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 2:42 pm

I don't know how well mortar would adhere to wood. I'd probably look at buying thin (1/4") hardiboard, screwing it in place, and tiling over that. Maybe with a highly modified thinset it would work? Definitely something you'll need to ask around more for IMO.

Postby **AuthorTony** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 2:43 pm

Thanks for the info, guys!

Postby **mac5155** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 2:48 pm

I did my fireplace in a drystack stone. I can't seem to find a finished pic but I used 1/2 inch hardibacker. 1/4 inch should be sufficient for your application.

I suggest using Ardex X77 polymer modified thinset mortar. It is expensive, but it heavily compensated for my lack of experience. It was like $35 a bag and i needed 1.5 bags to do the fireplace, which went from floor to 13' ceiling.

Postby **mac5155** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 2:55 pm

https://imgur.com/a/88NvUIs

Postby **AuthorTony** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 2:56 pm

Damn, that looks nice! Where did you get your stone?

Postby **AuthorTony** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 3:04 pm

And another question. Here are two pics of my kitchen. Would you put stone/brick behind the oven? That has me so confused because I feel like it would look weird with that one small section of wall that goes floor to ceiling camera left. But if I stick with the wood behind the oven, will it look right to have just that small bit of stone/brick over the counters?

Postby **NTP66** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 3:11 pm

I don't think it would look weird because there's a large break in the area to the right of the stove. You could always do some sort of bordered backsplash directly behind the stove... but even as I type that, I'm not sure what would work with wood paneling and brick.

Postby **blackjack68** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 3:12 pm

I wouldn't do brick in that kitchen. The stone that Mac showed is more appropriate to that country/cabin feel you have.

Although, neither would clean up very easily.

Postby **AuthorTony** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 3:18 pm

Thanks, NTP66.

blackjack68 - I agree. I love that stone. I'd previously been looking at a type of stacked stone at Lowes, but had the same concerns regarding cleaning.

Postby **AuthorTony** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 3:20 pm

I'm also jonesing so hard to rip those old ceiling tile down.

Postby **willeyeam** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 3:28 pm

if you could pull off making the wall to the left of the stove stone as well I think it'd have a nice look

Postby **mac5155** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 3:34 pm

@AuthorTony I got the stone from Home Warehouse in Uniontown, PA. It was very cheap - much cheaper than Lowes - I wanna say around $5/sq ft.

The stone is StoneCraft Farmledge in Winchester color

http://stonecraft.com/farmledge.php

Postby **shafnutz05** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 4:41 pm

Upon further review (and the LED codes on my furnace) I think the issue might be my flame sensor. I think it is dirty, not detecting the flame, and shutting the gas off and thus the furnace off. That would explain why the Nest thinks the heat is on. I am going to attempt to get into the furnace and clean the flame sensor tonight...wish me luck.

Postby **blackjack68** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 4:56 pm

Postby **NTP66** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 5:01 pm

Upon further review (and the LED codes on my furnace) I think the issue might be my flame sensor. I think it is dirty, not detecting the flame, and shutting the gas off and thus the furnace off. That would explain why the Nest thinks the heat is on. I am going to attempt to get into the furnace and clean the flame sensor tonight...wish me luck.

Had that issue in the past with my furnace. Is your system natural gas or propane? The flame sensor is at the end of the line of your burner tubes, and any debris inside those tubes can cause it to not light. Compressed air and a vacuum is your friend here, and if the tubes are clear, you could rub the sensor with a dollar bill.

Postby **shafnutz05** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 5:08 pm

Upon further review (and the LED codes on my furnace) I think the issue might be my flame sensor. I think it is dirty, not detecting the flame, and shutting the gas off and thus the furnace off. That would explain why the Nest thinks the heat is on. I am going to attempt to get into the furnace and clean the flame sensor tonight...wish me luck.
Had that issue in the past with my furnace. Is your system natural gas or propane? The flame sensor is at the end of the line of your burner tubes, and any debris inside those tubes can cause it to not light. Compressed air and a vacuum is your friend here, and if the tubes are clear, you could rub the sensor with a dollar bill.

LP. I've looked through the little window and can see where the sensor is next to the burner tubes. I see the flame comes on, and it seems to be kicking full blast. This is also an intermittent problem, so I'm not sure if the sensor is just only catching it sometimes. I think it's a four second cutoff for it to reset and turn the gas off again.

The burner tubes face away from the front of the furnace--how do you get the compressed air flow back there?

Postby **Viva la Ben** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 5:18 pm

Flame sensors are cheap, just buy the right one. They are relatively easy to replace with twist wire connectors. I did mine a few years ago after cleaning made it work for a few weeks.

Postby **NTP66** » Tue Jan 22, 2019 5:18 pm

Is it a York furnace? Most will have the gas line parallel to the front of the furnace, with the jets pointer front to back in the burner tubes (individual tubes). I aim the air just under the parallel bar and into the individual burner tubes.

Mine was intermittent, as well, but happened most at 2 o’clock in the god damn morning. I wound up replacing the original burner tubes due to corrosion, and I’d bet on you having to do the same eventually. It’s not expensive, and is a relatively easy fix. LP just does a number on metal thanks to the moisture.