Home Improvement/Remodel Thread

[MacReady]

11 minutes ago, Dome said:

If your lawn is in good shape already, I’d look at a reel mower too.

Eh, I thought about this but I have a lot of trees and I want to be able to mow so I don’t have to rake 37 times each year.

[Dome]

Just now, Outpost31 said:

Eh, I thought about this but I have a lot of trees and I want to be able to mow so I don’t have to rake 37 times each year.

Yeah, reel mowers are neat and low maintenance...  but only work for a select few

[theJ]

On 4/4/2020 at 9:49 AM, JTagg7754 said:

I can't see this being too far-fetched on an idea and I'm sure it exists but my basic searching lead my nowhere so I'll ask here.

Is there an app that you can use to take a picture of an existing room and remove stuff and add new stuff and change flooring and wall colors?? Wife and I are going to do our bathroom next year and she wants all those crazy floors you see on HGTV and I'd prefer to see how they look lol. 

I think one exists for wall colors but flooring may be more of a challenge

I work for an engineering design company.  We have some hardware and software that allows us to do what you're talking about (3D scanning).  It scans objects in 3D, and the render somehow (magically) groups parts of the point cloud together so that you could remove whole objects.  But the hardware was multiple thousands, and the software even more expensive (for corporate licenses).

I had heard that some smart people are developing 3D scanning software/hardware for phones or tablets.  You would plug the device into a phone and get decent renderings.  But the software to digitally remove things i'm guessing is still very expensive.

You can, of course, use photoshop to do what you're describing.  But it's much more labor intensive and not what you're looking for.

There's also the option of using a software like SketchUp.  You could model your room/furniture and move it around.  I can't be certain what software they use on HGTV shows, but it's something like that.  They don't go from pictures.

[BobbyPhil1781]

34 minutes ago, theJ said:

I work for an engineering design company.  We have some hardware and software that allows us to do what you're talking about (3D scanning).  It scans objects in 3D, and the render somehow (magically) groups parts of the point cloud together so that you could remove whole objects.  But the hardware was multiple thousands, and the software even more expensive (for corporate licenses).

I had heard that some smart people are developing 3D scanning software/hardware for phones or tablets.  You would plug the device into a phone and get decent renderings.  But the software to digitally remove things i'm guessing is still very expensive.

You can, of course, use photoshop to do what you're describing.  But it's much more labor intensive and not what you're looking for.

There's also the option of using a software like SketchUp.  You could model your room/furniture and move it around.  I can't be certain what software they use on HGTV shows, but it's something like that.  They don't go from pictures.

That is pretty cool!! Let me know if you can get me the friends and family discount lol.

But really I was thinking Photoshop as I'm skilled enough in that to do it but you're right in that it's extremely labor intensive. In my field, I am working from home but a lot of our clients are on lockdown so time is my friend right now but I still need to make myself busy enough to appease the higher ups.

I have never heard of SketchUp before but I see Google SketchUp is free and I just did a brief look into it and that might be what I can use or something similar. Thanks for that suggestion. I think I can work w/ this!

[theJ]

3 hours ago, JTagg7754 said:

That is pretty cool!! Let me know if you can get me the friends and family discount lol

We're cutting out travel costs right now because of the corona, so we could probably do this for a cool $5K. 😏

[BobbyPhil1781]

3 hours ago, theJ said:

We're cutting out travel costs right now because of the corona, so we could probably do this for a cool $5K. 😏

With everything going on now, seems like a good idea to start chucking cash around for a small bathroom protect that will probably cost less than the quote. You'll be hearing from me!!

Edited April 7, 2020 by JTagg7754

[Shanedorf]

7 minutes ago, JTagg7754 said:

small bathroom project

OK, how about this.
Find and print some color pictures of the flooring options you're considering and lay them out on the floor.
Might help with the visualization even more than a picture or an app.
You could even go to Home Depot or a tile/flooring store and take pics, then print some up at home

[BobbyPhil1781]

12 minutes ago, Shanedorf said:

OK, how about this.
Find and print some color pictures of the flooring options you're considering and lay them out on the floor.
Might help with the visualization even more than a picture or an app.
You could even go to Home Depot or a tile/flooring store and take pics, then print some up at home

This is actually a really good idea that never crossed my mind. It's only 10x5 so it'd be easy to accomplish. Thanks a lot for the suggestion!!

[theJ]

8 hours ago, JTagg7754 said:

With everything going on now, seems like a good idea to start chucking cash around for a small bathroom protect that will probably cost less than the quote. You'll be hearing from me!!

Happy to have your business.

[Fl0nkerton]

moving into a house & we noticed that in the bathroom, there's a space between where they didn't finish putting in the hardwood floor & the vanity. It's probably a 2" or less gap, but what's the best way to clean that up? Just use a transition strip?

[skywindO2]

I decided I want to re-finish my deck. I'm almost certain the HOA requires it to be white but I'm checking on that. I think the previous owners just used a latex based exterior paint(there is a quart container left in the garage) on the railings last year but after winter, it's all peeling off in huge junks. Do they make white stains and if so, anyone have a recommended product? 

Is there anything I need to know about the project as a whole? My plan was to just clean, sand, and stain but want to know if there's another step in there too.

Edited May 2, 2020 by skywindO2

[theJ]

14 hours ago, skywindO2 said:

I decided I want to re-finish my deck. I'm almost certain the HOA requires it to be white but I'm checking on that. I think the previous owners just used a latex based exterior paint(there is a quart container left in the garage) on the railings last year but after winter, it's all peeling off in huge junks. Do they make white stains and if so, anyone have a recommended product? 

Is there anything I need to know about the project as a whole? My plan was to just clean, sand, and stain but want to know if there's another step in there too.

Re: white stain, I think so. They make every color. You'll have to check home depot's or someone else's site. 

Also, I would use a power washer instead of sanding. Sanding off paint is a huge pita. Especially on the rails. 

[Shanedorf]

On 5/1/2020 at 6:27 AM, Fl0nkerton said:

moving into a house & we noticed that in the bathroom, there's a space between where they didn't finish putting in the hardwood floor & the vanity. It's probably a 2" or less gap, but what's the best way to clean that up? Just use a transition strip?

Congrats on the new house
You can do it with a transition strip or you can choose something completely different and make it look like an accent.
Our friends did a bathroom where they put in a strip of colored tile and it looked really cool. I couldn't find a similar pic next to a vanity, but here's some colored tile next to hardwood to give you the general idea.You can find some pretty cool glass tiles for the job

 

[BobbyPhil1781]

Anyone here have some magic to fix the age old problem for older homes: The Creaky Floor!!

I go to bed later than my wife at times and our bedroom is upstairs. Floors are so creaky it wakes her up sometimes. I'm not wanting to tear up any boards or my ceiling on the first floor to fix the problem but I'm curious if any other methods exist. Been looking through stuff online and found WD40 might work so I might try it on a sample area later today unless someone here has some suggestions. I saw this Squeeeek No More kit and while it gets good reviews, if I can avoid screwing anything in, I'd like that to maintain the look of the hardwood.

Thanks for the suggestions.

EDIT: Actually just watched a video for that kit I mentioned and it actually breaks the screw in half so you don't see the hard which is what I was concerned about..... that might be an option.

Curveball: Anyone ever used that type of kit before? Simple enough?

Edited May 7, 2020 by JTagg7754

[theJ]

9 minutes ago, JTagg7754 said:

Anyone here have some magic to fix the age old problem for older homes: The Creaky Floor!!

I go to bed later than my wife at times and our bedroom is upstairs. Floors are so creaky it wakes her up sometimes. I'm not wanting to tear up any boards or my ceiling on the first floor to fix the problem but I'm curious if any other methods exist. Been looking through stuff online and found WD40 might work so I might try it on a sample area later today unless someone here has some suggestions. I saw this Squeeeek No More kit and while it gets good reviews, if I can avoid screwing anything in, I'd like that to maintain the look of the hardwood.

Thanks for the suggestions.

EDIT: Actually just watched a video for that kit I mentioned and it actually breaks the screw in half so you don't see the hard which is what I was concerned about..... that might be an option.

Curveball: Anyone ever used that type of kit before? Simple enough?

Never used it.  But the theory is simple enough.  The floor creaks because the hardwood is separated from the subfloor (or the subfloor is separated from the joists).  If you can securely fasten those layers together, it should not creak.

I do not think WD-40 is your solution here.  It solves all sorts of problems, but probably not this one.

 

I have a few areas that creak as well in the upstairs.  I was planning on addressing it once we replace the carpet in a few years (after our 2 year old is out of the destruction phase).  I don't really want to pull up the carpet to see what's going on there, unless i'm going to replace the carpet at the same time.