Home Improvement/Remodel Thread

[BobbyPhil1781]

4 hours ago, theJ said:

The worst part of moving is packing/unpacking.  Having worked for a moving company for two years back in my high school days, lifting furniture into and out of a house is not that bad.  It's a nice workout.

Plus, i'm sure those staging companies use nice, light, slim furniture.

Still gotta load and unload those trucks lol. Unless the staging company leaves the furniture there which I'm sure would cost a pretty penny! I bet it's a hell of a workout but man, what a price! I only know what I see from renovation shows so I'm fairly naive but it's what I assume happens

[Heimdallr]

Last fall I had new windows and a new patio door installed, but now I'm having issues where something in the door is jamming and it won't close all the way. I called the company to have someone come fix it because it was clearly an installation error, but apparently they went out of business and my "lifetime" warranty is worthless.

I assume I'm just boned? 

[theJ]

4 hours ago, Heimdallr said:

Last fall I had new windows and a new patio door installed, but now I'm having issues where something in the door is jamming and it won't close all the way. I called the company to have someone come fix it because it was clearly an installation error, but apparently they went out of business and my "lifetime" warranty is worthless.

I assume I'm just boned? 

How handy are you? Unless something broke in the door, it should be fixable. Maybe something is off track or some sort of debris in the track?

Oh yeah, nothing you'll get out of that company haha. 

[Heimdallr]

On 7/15/2019 at 7:16 PM, theJ said:

How handy are you? Unless something broke in the door, it should be fixable. Maybe something is off track or some sort of debris in the track?

Oh yeah, nothing you'll get out of that company haha. 

The issue is that part of the weather stripping has bent so when the frame of sliding pane tries to move past the frame of the stationary pane, the weather stripping (or something similar) catches and stops the door from closing all the way. 

I've tried removing the sliding panel so I can bend things back into shape, but even when I retract the wheels there isn't quite enough clearance to get the door out, so I can't access the part that is catching. I have no idea how they got the door in there, and even if I get the panel out to fix it, I'm worried I won't be able to get it back in. 

 

[theJ]

1 hour ago, Heimdallr said:

The issue is that part of the weather stripping has bent so when the frame of sliding pane tries to move past the frame of the stationary pane, the weather stripping (or something similar) catches and stops the door from closing all the way. 

I've tried removing the sliding panel so I can bend things back into shape, but even when I retract the wheels there isn't quite enough clearance to get the door out, so I can't access the part that is catching. I have no idea how they got the door in there, and even if I get the panel out to fix it, I'm worried I won't be able to get it back in. 

 

Is it the company that installed the door that went out of business, or the company that manufactured the door?  If they're not the same, maybe you still have a glimmer of hope by calling the other.

[kgarrett12486]

Anyone have experience with the thermafiber acoustic insulation? I'm trying to determine best kind to buy for my basement ceiling (between the joists)...

[theJ]

On 6/25/2019 at 4:52 PM, Hockey5djh said:

On 6/10/2019 at 8:53 AM, theJ said:

Double post!

My next set of projects includes:

• Fixing the drywall i had to remove in order to fish the wire for the above post
• Mounting some bike hoists in the garage to clear some floor space
• Removing a built in dog kennel in the garage to clear some more floor space
• Putting the kids play set back together with a new rope bridge, monkey bar set, and fireman's pole
• Installing a dehumidifier in the crawl space
• Installing new 10 mil vapor barrier in the crawl space

I'm sure there will be more.  June is going to be busy (those last 2 will really suck).

Just checkin in on ya @theJ....you still alive?

Update!

Drywall I've left alone because of the next item...

Rewired the garage R-Sat. Have more drywall to do now because I had to partially demo the wall with the panel (new panel was larger and I have to frame in the new one to match the conduit feeding it). 

Bike hoists we've decided to hold off on for now. We want to see how the rest of the garage comes together first. 

Play set is back together with monkey bars and a rope bridge. Rope bridge is pretty dope. I'll have to post a picture. 

I've been avoiding the crawl space lol. 

[theJ]

Picture of the rope bridge.  Going to string up some of the orange rope on the sides tonight, and maybe close some of the larger gaps you can see at the bottom of the picture.  Monkey bars are above the bridge.

 

[theJ]

Also, i'm pretty proud of this.  As i had mentioned a few pages ago, my first go at electrical work was running a new cable for my dryer.  Just last week a friend came over to help three new circuits for some larger equipment in my shop.  After he came over and helped do that, i put in this new subpanel.  As mentioned two posts above, i had to frame in the new panel to match the center line of the conduit feeding it below.

For the keen eye, yes, there's a code violation here.  The feed should have a ground since it's a subpanel.  Figured that out part way through the job.  That will be rectified sometime in the next month.

 

 

[SimsZilla]

Anyone have recommendations on gutter guards? Just got new gutters and I want to get some guards over by my tree

[vike daddy]

3 hours ago, SimsZilla said:

Anyone have recommendations on gutter guards? Just got new gutters and I want to get some guards over by my tree

i am yet to find any that truly work. yes, they keep the leaves out out of the gutter itself, per se, but they end up creating a clog on top of the guard which then results in rainwater spilling over the gutter.

[theJ]

1 hour ago, vike daddy said:

i am yet to find any that truly work. yes, they keep the leaves out out of the gutter itself, per se, but they end up creating a clog on top of the guard which then results in rainwater spilling over the gutter.

I had some on my old house that were flat (no hump in the middle).  I never had anything accumulate on top of the guards.

Unfortunately they came with the house, so i know nothing about them, other than i never once cleaned out that particular section of gutter.

[SimsZilla]

5 hours ago, vike daddy said:

i am yet to find any that truly work. yes, they keep the leaves out out of the gutter itself, per se, but they end up creating a clog on top of the guard which then results in rainwater spilling over the gutter.

so would you recommend just cleaning them out twice a year? i just HATE getting up on the second story. 

[vike daddy]

15 hours ago, SimsZilla said:

so would you recommend just cleaning them out twice a year? i just HATE getting up on the second story. 

to each their own...

i put gutter guards on a two story house i rent out that is under some very large maple trees, but I still have to hire someone every year to clean the stuck leaf debris off the tops of them. which is probably easier/cheaper than cleaning the full gutters.

[MacReady]

I never knew I would enjoy yardwork, but there is something about having a house, having a yard and improving the way it looks.  The feels you get when you put all that manual labor into something and then see the result is better than any video game and any movie (with the exception of The Thing and a couple others).

I always hated, loathed and despised yardwork when the house was my parent’s or when I was renting.  Now?  It’s damn cathartic.  

So far I have turned one patch of weed-infested area into a mulch pad with a lilac bush to be planted, I’ve turned a mud/dirt filled spot in front of my fence into a beautiful river rock bed, and I’ve turned a root and weed and shaded dead spot in my back yard to a white marble rock bed with a tree in the middle.  Looks frickin majestic at night.  

And the best part is that I have done it all literally by myself and I’ve learned/improved with each new project.  The weed block is kinda sticking up in the first bed I finished, so I will have to go back and fix that, but the second one is flawless, having taught myself a few lessons from my mistakes.  

Cannot wait until I plant some grass in my backyard.  That first beer after a day’s work in a finished back yard is going to be amazing.  

I’m going to have my front and back yard completely finished by the winter, at which point I’m going to turn my attention to the interior.  

My spare bedroom is going to be turned into my office/library with an America/author theme.  Got some flag pictures, a couple Lincoln pictures and all the history books I’ve been collecting as well as a framed calligraphy poster of Poe’s Annabelle Lee and a Poe portrait.  I’ll be looking out for more of those.

My basement is going to be an epic movie theater room.  Going to drop about 5,000 on the biggest TV and best sound system I can buy and then fill it with all the movie memorabilia I’ve been collecting over the years.  

Might have a lot of questions in this thread come winter time because I understand the gist of landscaping and figured (correctly) I could learn as I go on my yard, but inside is when I’ll need a lot of help.