Official home improvement/ remodel thread.

[Ed_C]

have you tried vinegar and baking soda mixed with boiling hot water? cheap and better than draino. the baking soda cleans really well and expands once the vinegar hits it. then boiling water finishes up the job. I do this in all my bathroom drains every couple months


Natural Drain Cleaner - Vinegar and Baking Soda

All the under-sink PVC plumbing is totally clear now, but there is still some kind of blockage past that point (the metal plumbing going through the wall). I took the PVC stuff apart again yesterday when I initially posted, have an uncle dropping off a drain snake tonight.

 

[RichinRidgewood]

Some idiot kept pouring cooking oil down the kitchen drain after frying stuff instead of into a container for disposal. Wouldn't you know it, the damn sink now takes overnight to fully drain, even with drano :nono:

The "sludge" I had to clean out of the under sink plumbing looked like greasy black dirt plus layers of just straight grease, smells amazing too :dizzy:

Those pipes and elbows are PVC and was put together in several pieces so everything was totally cleaned out. Unfortunately there's still some crap clogging up the metal drain pipe going into the wall, the coat hanger I poked in there must not go deep enough so next step is a snake before calling a pro.

PS idiot wasn't me, cousin and her husband rent from me. He may be a brilliant mathematician but lacks quite a bit of common sense. He poured the drano too.

Buy one of these Ed. My house is almost 100 years old and has steel drain pipes (for now) and I use this beauty to take care of the problems.

23 ft. Auto-Feed Handheld Electric Drain Cleaner

 

[Ed_C]

Must've been a really tight bend, wasn't able to feed the snake in too deep. So I put everything back together and poured in the sulfuric acid based drain opener my uncle included with the snake and let it sit overnight. It wasn't a full container of opener and was a little worried there wasn't enough of it to flow past the p-trap. Luckily the stuff worked, I really didn't want to remove the clean-out in the basement since it appears to not have been removed for several decades.

 

[YBstranded]

Doubled the size of my bathroom last Summer and stripped it to the studs. Love it! Dad and I did all of the work ourselves as I have remodeled a few bathrooms over the years.

I think it cost me around $4k when it was all done.

Next project is turning a spare bedroom into a fortified giant walk-in gun safe and reloading room.

 

[TK-422]

Hope this is a suitable thread to post in

My central AC unit is 24 years old. The last time we used it in September, it was still working perfectly. I have read some articles (like those on Building Automation System Easy Guide to Learning 101 ) that say that the life expectancy of central AC units is approximately 15 years. IMy fear is that it is going to die in the middle of July when the temp is 94 and the HVAC contractors are deluged with calls.

So, should I count myself as lucky that it lasted 22 years and buy a new one before it breaks? I've done my research but need your opinion also

Thanks

I would say yes. We replaced our 26 year old system last year with a much more efficient unit last year to avoid replacing it later at a higher cost in a high demand time of year. We saved a lot doing it in the off season. We bought the second to the most expensive unit and can run it 24/7 cheaper than the old one.

 

[FrankMathis]

You are well done. Really good job. But honestly, why not leave the living room for the rest? So, in such a way all the things from the garage will be moved to your house and the living room can become the garage but the garage will look like a living room. Anyway, if honestly, it looks very neat and spacious, not even a hint that it was not a living space. Frankly speaking, if you need, I can advise you where you can order some qualitative doors for an affordable price. We replaced ours for some months ago and I find these guys Modern Interior Doors by Belldinni: Frosted they offer very pleasant terms and prices. But when you are making repair works every penny count.

Is this the cheapest option that we can find around?

 

[leftyguns21]

I took a 2 week long road trip and when I do these long trips I unplug everything at home and turn off the water. I turned the breaker off that controls my dishwasher and my garbage disposal. When I got home yesterday I turned everything back on and my dishwasher works but my garbage disposal does not. I can hear a very faint noise from the motor, why would having the breaker turned off for 2 weeks cause this issue? it worked before I left.

 

[NW.OH.T4R]

I took a 2 week long road trip and when I do these long trips I unplug everything at home and turn off the water. I turned the breaker off that controls my dishwasher and my garbage disposal. When I got home yesterday I turned everything back on and my dishwasher works but my garbage disposal does not. I can hear a very faint noise from the motor, why would having the breaker turned off for 2 weeks cause this issue? it worked before I left.

Check your overload switch on the bottom of the disposal. They are pretty sensitive, so it's possible flipping the breaker back on resulted in overcurrent to the disposal. Should be a little red button on the bottom, if it is sticking out ~1/4" from the body of the disposal, just press it back up. Wait 30 seconds or so and try to use your disposal again.

 

[leftyguns21]

Check your overload switch on the bottom of the disposal. They are pretty sensitive, so it's possible flipping the breaker back on resulted in overcurrent to the disposal. Should be a little red button on the bottom, if it is sticking out ~1/4" from the body of the disposal, just press it back up. Wait 30 seconds or so and try to use your disposal again.

tried that couple of times. this one is on the side so it was hard to see but I could tell it was popped out some. I pushed it back in to click. waited a little and tried again, quite hum and nothing. it doesn't trip the safety on the disposal it just doesn't do anything. I made sure nothing is stuck in the disposal and blades spin freely. I don't seem to have the allen wrench on bottom to jiggle it for the plate. what's interesting is if I run an extension cord to another outlet as soon as I plug it in the disposal hums / clicks then the safety button does trip. that's why I was trying the stuck plate route

the disposal is about 12 years old and shares a double breaker with my dishwasher. not sure if the breaker being off surged it and fried motor or what. It seems like I might have to replace it

 

[Oldmanb777]

Use a stick, like the end of a plunger, or other suitable stick. Short broom handle etc, and use it to turn the plate inside the disposal. You may need to turn it back wards at first. If you don't have an allen wrench handy, this works. DON'T use your hands! Occasionally something gets stuck just past the blade plate and you can't see it, or find it. Turning backwards sometimes dislodges it. I think you already know that, but thought I'd mention it just in case.

 

[NW.OH.T4R]

tried that couple of times. this one is on the side so it was hard to see but I could tell it was popped out some. I pushed it back in to click. waited a little and tried again, quite hum and nothing. it doesn't trip the safety on the disposal it just doesn't do anything. I made sure nothing is stuck in the disposal and blades spin freely. I don't seem to have the allen wrench on bottom to jiggle it for the plate. what's interesting is if I run an extension cord to another outlet as soon as I plug it in the disposal hums / clicks then the safety button does trip. that's why I was trying the stuck plate route

the disposal is about 12 years old and shares a double breaker with my dishwasher. not sure if the breaker being off surged it and fried motor or what. It seems like I might have to replace it

I had this happen a few weeks ago - horrible timing as we were under contract to sell. I ended up finding a small screw lodged between the plate and the side-wall of the disposal. If it's an insinkerator, a 1/4" works if you don't have the "jam-buster" tool they provide.

 

[leftyguns21]

I had this happen a few weeks ago - horrible timing as we were under contract to sell. I ended up finding a small screw lodged between the plate and the side-wall of the disposal. If it's an insinkerator, a 1/4" works if you don't have the "jam-buster" tool they provide.

mines some no-name brand that came with the house. it doesn't seem like it has the plate to jiggle loose. Their site suggest jamming a broomstick inside and try to free it that way. I have poked around inside to make sure nothing is stuck and not finding anything. The blades move but I cant tell if the plate is free or how to get it to move. I was using a thick flat blade screwdriver to push on it and it doesn't do much.
I ordered a new one last night, Ill just replace it with a stronger and much quiter one. You don't realize how much you use one until it no longer works

 

[AveryMolly]

I am pretty new to renovating and this thread is really helpful! It's getting harder and harder to find people that are really good at their job. I was fortunate enough to work with professionals, but I've spoken with different friends and their experiences weren't that good. At one point, I had to change some patio doors and I've called a team of workers. Thankfully, they did a great job and I was really happy with the outcome. I am always documenting before deciding to change something around the house. This way, I am making sure that everything is going to work along with the plan

 

[volkinator]

Anyone else stalling on projects due to lumber/construction costs??? ugh. So glad we got the deck done last year before the spike and when you could actually find stuff. But $8 for a 2x4 stick hurts pretty bad, and paneled goods are just as bad.

Rant over, I guess it's a good time to get the plans done for the next projects, but might have to wait a bit...

 

[Oldmanb777]

2 years ago I paid $17 for 4x8x3/4 OSB. I just paid $54 for 4x8x1/2 OSB. Yes its inflation. Maybe just temporary, but gas is up $.30+ as well. So is the restaurant we went to last night. Up $2 bucks for the same meal we had in January. I still had the original menu from January loaded on my phone. I bought 10 gallons of paint for a house today. That was up almost 30% since fall. I don't know of anything that is down, or has remained the same over the last several months. Materials escalation clauses are a must in construction today. You just can't plan for the increases of materials. Labor is the same.
The shortage of people willing to hammer a nail, sweat a pipe or pick up a paint brush is real.

 

[Carten]

You are well done. Really good job. But honestly, why not leave the living room for the rest? So, in such a way all the things from the garage will be moved to your house and the living room can become the garage but the garage will look like a living room. Anyway, if honestly, it looks very neat and spacious, not even a hint that it was not a living space. Frankly speaking, if you need everything to be done the way it should be I greatly recommend to have a look at this service. It has tons of ready-made designs to choose from thus will save you a lot of time and money.

Thanks for the advice :tea: We are about to redecorate our kitchen but we are afraid that in a week we will get bored at the result and will want to change everything. Great that now we can be sure that everything will be fine! :reddance:

 

[pancakesfan]

I just built this bookshelf in my tiny apartment in Brooklyn with a hand saw. It sucked.

 

[CutthroatSlam]

Man cave bath shower and master bath shower finished at Montana home.

 

[CutthroatSlam]

Kitchen remodel completed at Fullerton home:

 

[Reinout]

I just built this bookshelf in my tiny apartment in Brooklyn with a hand saw. It sucked.

Looks great! Salvaged the legs from something else? Looks mid-century