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On 10/8/2019 at 2:27 PM, skywindO2 said:

My toilet started making noise over the weekend, just a consistent dripping noise and occasionally what sounded like a flush although the toilet itself didn't flush. Bought and installed a new flapper and now it's silent again. 

I think I'm ready for a more advanced project now. 

It worked fine for a little bit but now my flapper is falling too fast and toilet doesn't flush unless I hold it down. is there a better way to adjust the chain or is it always just trial and error, with a lot of wasted water?

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On 21/10/2019 at 11:53 AM, skywindO2 said:

It worked fine for a little bit but now my flapper is falling too fast and toilet doesn't flush unless I hold it down. is there a better way to adjust the chain or is it always just trial and error, with a lot of wasted water?

When you say "flapper", are you just talking about the lever you push to flush the toiler?  Or the rubber stopper attached to it?

More importantly though from the sounds of it...You know you can also adjust the bobber too, right?  Which affect how full the tank gets and how good a flush you can get out of it...

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1 hour ago, Tugboat said:

When you say "flapper", are you just talking about the lever you push to flush the toiler?  Or the rubber stopper attached to it?

More importantly though from the sounds of it...You know you can also adjust the bobber too, right?  Which affect how full the tank gets and how good a flush you can get out of it...

The rubber thing inside the tank. I'm no Mario so the second line makes no sense to me. 

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51 minutes ago, skywindO2 said:

The rubber thing inside the tank. I'm no Mario so the second line makes no sense to me. 

Well call me Luigi...

 

It kinda sounds like you've over-tightened that chain from the flapper to the flopper or whatever it's technically called, when you replaced it.  That's usually not even the problem anyway.  But you'll have to undo that to fix the toilet.  You'll want that chain at the right tension.  Not 100% taught, but not jangly loose either.  Like 99% tight?

(Not A)Pro tip:  Shut off the water to that toilet, flush it until the tank is empty...then fiddle around with things until it feels right, if you're not already doing that.  You want the flange to seal nicely with just a tiny bit of slack on the chain.  Should be able to feel where that is.  Just a bit less crisp than you'd want because it'll get heavier with water in the chamber.

 

The thing to adjust is the float.  There's generally two things to adjust on the float.  You'll either have a dial and a screw, or two screws probably?  Usually the hinge-most screw is the one to mess with.  On the big bobby thing that floats on top of the water?  That's the unit that adjusts how much water enters the tank - which determines how much pressure there is on that flush lever.  Which is why when you try to flush a toilet twice in a row with no water in the tank, it just feels like you're flapping a pinball machine (or would have to hold it down to flush fully).

 

See Toilets use gravity, so plumbers are basically Newtonian scientists.

 

Though if you have a fancy industrial toilet or something with automated flushing and features that mostly just annoy people, i have no clue what's wrong and i've seen in insides of some and they make absolutely no sense if they don't have those same basic components.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Need a drywall expert (or even an amateur).

 

The electrician i hired to replace my main panel months ago did a butcher's job on the drywall around the panel.  The flange of the panel cover doesn't cover it (he was realllly sloppy).  The panel is something like 40" tall, and i need to replace about 2" of drywall all around it.  Should i cut it back about 4" and leave the existing drywall just hanging without proper support along that length?  It would still be anchored to the drywall above and below the panel.  Or do i need to put in some sort of bracing?

Also, the wall has an orange peel texture to it.  Do i need to scrape that off before i mud, or can i just mud over it?

The drywall in question is in the utility room, so it doesn't have to be super super super nice, but i'd like it to look like someone knew what they were doing when i'm finished.

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16 hours ago, theJ said:

Need a drywall expert (or even an amateur).

 

The electrician i hired to replace my main panel months ago did a butcher's job on the drywall around the panel.  The flange of the panel cover doesn't cover it (he was realllly sloppy).  The panel is something like 40" tall, and i need to replace about 2" of drywall all around it.  Should i cut it back about 4" and leave the existing drywall just hanging without proper support along that length?  It would still be anchored to the drywall above and below the panel.  Or do i need to put in some sort of bracing?

Also, the wall has an orange peel texture to it.  Do i need to scrape that off before i mud, or can i just mud over it?

The drywall in question is in the utility room, so it doesn't have to be super super super nice, but i'd like it to look like someone knew what they were doing when i'm finished.

i've done many, many drywall patches in my days, and daze...

a technique i use in a situation you describe is to screw 1x'4 strips as backing through and behind the existing drywall, leaving an inch or two of them showing in the void. providing then a surface to screw the new drywall patch pieces to. that make any sense?

as to your question of taping over the existing texture... just scrape it down the best you can with a stiff knife and mud over the new seam you have created. i like to use "hot mud" in that situation, which dries so hard and relatively fast that you don't need paper of fiberglass tape.

Edited by vike daddy
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18 hours ago, theJ said:

Need a drywall expert (or even an amateur).

 

The electrician i hired to replace my main panel months ago did a butcher's job on the drywall around the panel.  The flange of the panel cover doesn't cover it (he was realllly sloppy).  The panel is something like 40" tall, and i need to replace about 2" of drywall all around it.  Should i cut it back about 4" and leave the existing drywall just hanging without proper support along that length?  It would still be anchored to the drywall above and below the panel.  Or do i need to put in some sort of bracing?

Also, the wall has an orange peel texture to it.  Do i need to scrape that off before i mud, or can i just mud over it?

The drywall in question is in the utility room, so it doesn't have to be super super super nice, but i'd like it to look like someone knew what they were doing when i'm finished.

Tbh, since it's in a utility room out of sight...i'd almost want to just cut it back square to the studs so it looks "intentional" and leave it with access.  In case you need to do more work behind the panel at some point.  If the electrician did a hatchet job and left it, who knows what else they may have half-assed that might need fixing.

 

I could give amateur advice on patching a hole square to the studs and making it look nice.  Just cut it square back to the studs, screw a couple 2x2s or so into the studs so you have something to screw the patch piece into, and a cross-brace 2x2 at the top if you wanna go hard.  But an electrical panel in the middle...idk.  The only one i've ever drywalled around, was mounted to a plywood wall flush with the drywall on the outside of the studs.

Is your panel box inset mounted straight to the studs?  What's their spacing 'n stuff?  Or straight through drywall which would be...mildly concerning?  Or set out in front of the wall face for access, which is imo...actually convenient and good?

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@vike daddy @Tugboat

Here's a crude sketch of what i'm dealing with.  I don't think my words adequately conveyed it.  Usually i would do what you suggest and put in some sort of backing piece, but i'm not actually sure how to get one in there without removing a lot more drywall.  I can toe something into the stud, but it will just be hanging on the other side.  At that point i question whether the support is supporting the drywall, or the drywall is supporting the support.

Blue are studs.  Red is the panel.  Green is the hack drywall job.

So basically my question was: can i cut back the drywall past the studs, and leave the existing drywall supported only above and below the panel?

95go1TC.png

 

 

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5 hours ago, Tugboat said:

Is your panel box inset mounted straight to the studs?  What's their spacing 'n stuff?  Or straight through drywall which would be...mildly concerning?  Or set out in front of the wall face for access, which is imo...actually convenient and good?

It's mounted in the wall, flush with the studs, attached to the studs.  Studs i believe are 24" on center.

5 hours ago, Tugboat said:

Tbh, since it's in a utility room out of sight...i'd almost want to just cut it back square to the studs so it looks "intentional" and leave it with access.  In case you need to do more work behind the panel at some point.  If the electrician did a hatchet job and left it, who knows what else they may have half-assed that might need fixing.

Eh, i'd rather it looked finished.  If the door is left open, you can see the panel from the kitchen.  It wouldn't be a great look, since it's an outside wall full of insulation.

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31 minutes ago, theJ said:

If the door is left open, you can see the panel from the kitchen.

If you're concerned with aesthetics, just hang a picture over it -  that's what we did. 
Unless you're a drywall pro, its probably not going to look "great", so just cover it up with fabric, a picture or even a calendar of Bengal players/cheerleaders 
You can easily remove it if/when needed and the final product probably looks better

ff_2784922_full.jpg&w=900

 

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1 hour ago, theJ said:

@vike daddy @Tugboat

Here's a crude sketch of what i'm dealing with.  I don't think my words adequately conveyed it.  Usually i would do what you suggest and put in some sort of backing piece, but i'm not actually sure how to get one in there without removing a lot more drywall.  I can toe something into the stud, but it will just be hanging on the other side.  At that point i question whether the support is supporting the drywall, or the drywall is supporting the support.

Blue are studs.  Red is the panel.  Green is the hack drywall job.

So basically my question was: can i cut back the drywall past the studs, and leave the existing drywall supported only above and below the panel?

95go1TC.png

 

 

Man, when it's set in like that...it sucks, because you can't even just hammer nails in, on account of wires probably in the way.  Did they like, rout holes in the studs for all the wires to get out?  That's definitely not how they generally do it here, in quickfab land.

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1 minute ago, Tugboat said:

Man, when it's set in like that...it sucks, because you can't even just hammer nails in, on account of wires probably in the way.  Did they like, rout holes in the studs for all the wires to get out?  That's definitely not how they generally do it here, in quickfab land.

Wires go up or down through the box, then into the ceiling or crawl to route to the fixtures.  That's standard practice for most dwellings in my area.  Maybe it's code?  I dunno.

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6 minutes ago, theJ said:

Wires go up or down through the box, then into the ceiling or crawl to route to the fixtures.  That's standard practice for most dwellings in my area.  Maybe it's code?  I dunno.

That's probably the right way to do it.  But everything here is built in a hurry, and easy.  The electrician who did some of the stuff originally was defs drunk, and almost nothing is actually labelled correctly.  And it's pretty much the same with any other panel i've worked around.

 

But not having wires out the sides probably makes things...not that much easier.

 

Is the panel not actually overlapping on the front of the studs at all like the graphic?  Like it's boxed in behind the wall face?  Or do the flanges stick out into the blue Stud areas?

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