Home Improvement Thread

[Willie Kool]

I've been spending most of my free time for the last year and a half scraping, sanding and painting both exterior and interior. I actually enjoy it, but it is time consuming - especially when you have to take everything down to bare wood / plaster first.

[Willie Kool]

Looks like the weather is going to turn wet and cool for a while, so even though I still need to fix the glazing and do some caulking, today I put a coat of paint on the porch windows that I've been working on.

Before I started:

Mostly scraped:

Hopefully I'll get another good weekend or two, but if not it can wait until spring.

[meow]

Amazing. Do you tape the glass or slop it on a scrap it when it is dry?

[Willie Kool]

If I'm working with fresh glazing, I'll usually tape it. This I just slopped on and will have to scrape later.

[shmenguin]

kitchen reno almost done...countertops and floors are in. on TV, they don't show you how every little thing turns your house into freaking soot-covered pompei.

had to scramble to pick a sink quickly. panicked and got the one that you touch anywhere and it turns on and off. i thought these were gimmicky and clumsy, but i will never have a sink that doesn't do this. i freaking love it.

and the LED cans look good on hardwood. they looked butt on tile.

[mac5155]

Electrical rough ins for casa de mac start today! woot.

Looking for advice. Anyone have a septic system? And use a garbage disposal? Obviously, we would not dump straight food in, but if you're rinsing a plate off, it would be nice to be able to get rid of the chunks of leftovers quickly.

[dodint]

Can anyone recommend a thermostat that can also control a whole home humidifier? I have two panels to work and would like to consolidate that down to one if possible. Do not confuse this with a thermostat that claims to be able to regulate humidity as that is a different beast.

Looking for Wifi and under $150 is possible.

Not interested in a Nest for a bunch of reasons, but the primary being that it only works with single wire humidifiers unless you're willing to have a pro install it. I'm not wiring in my own relays.

[meow]

Electrical rough ins for casa de mac start today! woot.

Looking for advice. Anyone have a septic system? And use a garbage disposal? Obviously, we would not dump straight food in, but if you're rinsing a plate off, it would be nice to be able to get rid of the chunks of leftovers quickly.

My uncle has septic and a garbage disposal, but I don't know if he takes any extra steps to protect his system.

[NTP66]

The ecobee3 and 4 can do it. When I was debating on whether or not to install a whole house humidifier, I had to investigate a new thermostat to handle it. Those ones did have the functionality to do so. Here's a note from them on it: https://www.ecobee.com/2014/11/guest-po ... e-comfort/

[dodint]

Thanks, great stuff. Ecobee was the reddit answer too but I hadn't seen that article.

[mac5155]

Electrical rough ins for casa de mac start today! woot.

Looking for advice. Anyone have a septic system? And use a garbage disposal? Obviously, we would not dump straight food in, but if you're rinsing a plate off, it would be nice to be able to get rid of the chunks of leftovers quickly.

My uncle has septic and a garbage disposal, but I don't know if he takes any extra steps to protect his system.

They make them with septic assist. I think I'm going to go for it.

[Silentom]

If it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown, flush it down. (sorry slappy)

[mac5155]

Appliance suggestions?
Home Depot running a killer sale right now on the GE Adora line. All of these units have 4+ star reviews. Looking at $2950 before tax for the set of 4. Then add on another $800 for a washer and dryer combo, as they are giving $500 instant savings for buying 6 appliances.

[Silentom]

Gas appliances, FTW.

[mac5155]

Yeah, going gas (LP) stove. But have to go electric dryer. It's not a yuge deal. Most of my stuff gets air dried.

[NTP66]

What @Silentom said. My mom has had a GE washer and dryer (HE front-loaders) for a long time now and has loved them. She did have an issue a few years back, but it was covered under the warranty. I would never buy a washer/dryer combo unless I needed an electric appliance.

[mac5155]

Sorry. They are two separate units. A combo of 1 washer 1 dryer. Lol

[willeyeam]

Just take the hose off, get a wrench and take the old spigot off and put a new one on they said. It won't bust the pipe on the inside of the house they said

[blackjack68]

They lied.

[willeyeam]

I hate everything. Between a sewage backup, the dryer vent coming apart and this I am terrified every time I go into my basement

[NTP66]

Just take the hose off, get a wrench and take the old spigot off and put a new one on they said. It won't bust the pipe on the inside of the house they said

I had one burst this spring. Replaced it with one that was higher quality.

[willeyeam]

Mine was not completely shutting off and wanted to take care of it before winter. So I started turning it to take it off, not knowing the entire pipe was turning with it and it busted at the elbow going into my shut off valve on the inside. So idk what the hell to do right now. My coworker has some rentals and is coming to help. I'll need water eventually so hopefully he can do the trick

[NTP66]

Oof. Assuming you've got some length of copper before the shutoff, which I assume needs to now be replaced, you could cut off the valve and simply install a new valve in its place. If you're not comfortable sweating new copper, you can get SharkBite adapters at any of the big box stores. They are awesome to work with (I use them on my Pex).

[meow]

Second on sharkbite and pex. If you want to borrow my pex crimper, you are welcome to drive to Charlotte and pick it up.

[willeyeam]

I got a shark bite adapter. Unfortunately none of the pre-soddered hose Bibbs and pipe were 1/2 inch pipe so we're doing a little soddering