Home Improvement

We have a couple big projects that I'm not comfortable doing myself (mainly roof/foundation repair).

I've had a couple contractors out that I found on google and have been very displeased. Their work might be good but jesus the salesmen they send out.

They range from overly aggressive to incompetent.

So how do you find good contractors? I've noticed the bigger the company, the worse the impression.

Hi all. I have a 2 storey, ~1200 sq ft home in a hot climate. I have a single HVAC unit...central air and ductwork, electric AC/heat. There is no zoning to the system. The thermostat is downstairs.

Everything is great in the winter months. But in the summer months, the upstairs is absolutely stifling. I don't have a thermostat upstairs, but it feels like it stays at least 10 degrees hotter than downstairs. I get that hot air rises, but considering the bedrooms are upstairs, it makes things unbearable.

My HVAC air handler and condenser are from 2008, so they are rather old and I'm likely to have to replace them soon. When I do so, I want to figure out how to keep the upstairs more comfortable.

Before I start asking companies for quotes, I want to figure out what I'm doing first. Some things I've come across...

1. Install something like a Nest system with a remote temperature sensor. Place the temperature sensor upstairs and have the Nest use that to figure out when to cycle the AC on instead of the downstairs thermostat. I could install something like this myself instead of needing an HVAC company, though it isn't necessary very efficient.

2. Consult with an HVAC company about having dampers/a zoning system installed. From what I've read online, it seems like people are saying this isn't really financially worth it. But if I'm at the point where I want a new system anyway, would it make sense?

3. Window AC units are an obvious "solution", but I can't have them due to the HOA.

4. I have read of suggestions of people saying to close the vents downstairs in the summer, but it seems like this is bad advice, as supposedly it will stress your HVAC and cause it to fail prematurely.

Edit: Just found a new one...setting the fan on the thermostat to "on" instead of "auto". Although some people seem to warn of mold growth.

Would love to hear any and all suggestions. Thanks!

I'm framing up a non-load-bearing wall that has two closet doors on it, close together (the king studs for the two openings are 13" apart). Unfortunately, they are aligned such that one of the 16" OC common studs would fall within that gap. In fact, it would only be 1/2" away from the left king stud, so not even anywhere near the middle of the space.) Is it still normal/expected to include that stud, or can I omit it?

(BTW: both doors will go to the same closet so there's no perpendicular wall teeing into this one, in case that matters.)

My goal is to keep hot/cool air from seeping between floors. Is canned spray foam the way to go? Any recommendations? Pest resistance is a bonus.

Id do it like this but two people told me other way... Not sure?

I had a heat pump installed about a year ago. It came with one free service and the installing company has been calling me almost every week to come out and do the complimentary tune up. I know that I obviously should take a free tune up, but it made me wonder. How often do I actually need this done? What are they actually "tuning up"?

I am very much a DIY'er and doing my own HVAC repairs have never been out of the question. Actually, I have rebuilt a couple of systems, less the pressurized parts of the system.

HVACs are great until they aren't and the need for repairs always comes up at the worst possible time. It would be nice to know more details for those reasons.

If you ignore the direct question about charging an HVAC, there could actually be a small, slow leak in my system as it stands. That'll get troubleshot in due time. (Still, I don't think I have ever had a system that didn't need the system to be topped off after a few years, even with no detectable leaks...)

It doesn't seem difficult: Ensure system is at correct temperature; attach a gauge; depressurize/pressurize as needed.

There has to be some "gotchas" in there somewhere. The equipment is cheap enough and I am fairly sure I can source the correct refrigerant easy enough.

Aside from needing to store and manage a small supply of refrigerant and that there are some annoying risks (like a system freezing over, etc..), what cost factor and equipment am I not taking into account?

Recently had a new standing seam metal roof installed. Roofers could talk the talk but I was not impressed with the quality of work overall. My main complaint is that they installed the roof so that most of the sewer vents go right through the middle of a seam. The boots are clearly not designed to accommodate this and they've succeeded in creating more work for me in the future; which is what I was trying to to avoid by spending the extra money to upgrade to metal. The boots are going to leak. In fact, they already have.

I was pretty pissed about this initially and told the owner of the roofing company that if they had bothered to tell me this was going to happen, I would have moved the damned vent pipes myself if they weren't going to. The right fix would be to replace the panels and move the vent pipes but I have a feeling getting them to do that is going to be difficult if not impossible.

Is there a boot that's designed for this kind of install or a better way of sealing these? Or, am I going to be stuck checking and resealing them every couple of years?

Edit: Resolved. Decorative brick is actually a chase and doesn't need to be completely filled in. Thanks to @Death_[email protected] for advice on rebuilding the crown.

I have a double sided wood burning brick fireplace which is honestly just a big collection of code violations. It was converted to propane shortly after -- I'm assuming -- the people who built the house 50 years ago discovered that it smoked badly in the house. I fixed all the major issues with the firebox and smoke chamber and converted it back to wood burning this past winter.

I had a new steel cap fabricated to replace the old brick and concrete cap, which I removed. During this process, I discovered that the brick is basically just a facade. There are huge gaps on either side of the flues which are encased in 4" cinder blocks. My understanding of fire code (at least in the US) for masonry fireplaces is that the material surrounding the flue is not permitted to have any gaps in it. NFPA says all gaps in the brick should be filled with mortar. However, I'm not sure what to do with a gap this large. I'm not sure if filling it with mortar or concrete is an option. I've considered installing a steel flue liner but those are expensive and there are two flues. I'm also concerned about steel liners changing the draft characteristics since the chimney is on the short side.

If money were no object, I would tear this thing out and put a more efficient steel insert in but that is cost prohibitive.

Anyone have any experience fixing something like this?

EDIT: I ended up using epoxy. Thank you for the help.

I've tried scrubbing it several times with bar keepers friend soft cleanser and although it improves, it never goes away completely and it always comes back.

We have a motion activated sprinkler to deter deer from eating our tomatoes and I'm looking for a timer that will shut off the water flow during the day. The ones I've seen at the store seem to only want to water intermittently, instead of completely off/on. Does anyone know of one?

So my home office is in our basement while my wife’s is in a finished attic space. We have a mini split system, but it has to be all heat or all cooling, and many days it’s cold in my office, but hot in my wife’s office.

Thanks to a defunct chimney, I have a pretty decent path from the attic to the basement that could easily accommodate some kind of ducting.

I’d like to make a system that can push air from my office to hers or vice versa as needed. I think this would really help the house in general as cold air tends to pool in the basement.

I’ve seen plenty of ducting booster fans, but I’d like something with a speed (or at least direction) control accessible from the outside.

Does something like this exist? It would need to force air through maybe 30-40’ of ducting.

Had a nice little foundation leak during the last rain storm. Installed a drain line last fall to divert two downspouts and front walkway run off away from the house which helped a lot. Front walkway and a big retaining wall next to it ultimately need to be removed and reinstalled with proper grading and drainage. That's going to be a huge and expensive project so for now I'm just replacing all the worn out concrete sealant and hoping for the best.

I am not familiar with this bronze colored nut that is holding my current Grohë Ladylux kitchen faucet to the counter. Does anyone know the best way to remove this? Thanks very much in advance!

EDIT: I figured it out. You CANT unscrew the bronze colored piece from below. You have to Disassemble the upper part and then there's an internal threaded bit in the upper part that you have to unscrew. The guy in the video whips out some special tool that hasn't been seen or mentioned before in the video and uses it to unscrew the interior threads. I don't have that magical tool, so I just used pliers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRZ1QOinJsE

Renovating the bathroom and found these dark patches in the joists and roof lumber surrounding the old vent pipe. The PVC part is new.

Anything bad here? Anything we need to address?

General info: Looking to get current attic ventilator fan replaced. The attic is about 1400 sq. ft. Current attic ventilation fan is a foot from the ridge of the roof. Live in USA.

Handyman wants: To install two 1500 CFM fans. Two 120 volt 20amp dedicated circuits, one for each fan. He wants to install the second fan 4 feet away from the current fan. He stated that the attic ventilator fan would need to be replaced within 6 years.

My questions: Would two fans be better than one fan? Would I need two 120 volt circuits to run two fans? Is there an attic ventilator that has a user replaceable fan?

Thank you in advance for any help.

It's on everything, my fingernails are glued to my skin underneath, I hate everything and most of all I hate spray foam.

Thanks for letting me rant. I normally read instructions before using a product and now I'm avoiding the room where it's on everything... How fucked am I?

Update: We've cleaned most of it up from the room... Our hands, not so much lol. I appreciate the advice and support, hopefully y'all got a good laugh on our behalf :)

Ps. It works great as a diy wax for hairy arms!

Okay, my first ever drywall and I know what I did wrong. I just didn't think that small indifference would make it look obviously bad.

But here it is, I will do it different on the rest of the walls but I'm just gonna leave it for what it is: me acting like someone who can do drywalls and wanted to save money lol

Didn't do the bottom part yet so I am def not done but holy moly...

How bad can someone mud? Me: Hm My wife: "Well atleast it's done. Not good, but done and we saved money for vacation"

What makes it even more hilarious is that in my mind I was sure if I use paint that has sand in it it's gonna cover that LOL. Fail....

So I was using a wood sealer (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AQTX3XU) on my newly built catio. Unfortunately I didn't notice how much I had sprayed on the adjacent window.

Now I have cloudy/foggy windows (https://imgur.com/a/TKD9wim). I've tried cleaning them with:- - - -

• water via the hose directly on the window.. very little progress
• windex.. very little progress
• dish soap followed by host.. very little progress
• vinegar.. very little progress

Any ideas for what might get this stuff off easily?---

Looking for help in solving a problem where the lower door hinge pin on my entry door keeps creeping up and causing the deadbolt to become slightly misaligned making it more difficult to lock. Reading online, I keep coming across suggestions of tightening a screw that’s supposed to lock the pin in place but my hinges don’t seem to have that screw.

Anyone have any other ideas on how to fix this problem?

Currently installed is a recent (about 10 years) Harbor Bay 5 blade ceiling fan with 44" blade diameter.

In a box I have a recent (about 10 years) Harbor Bay 5 blade ceiling fan with 52" blade diameter.

Yes, the large blades will run the motor harder.

Would these two fans likely use the same motor, so that I can just swap the larger blades and leave the current motor? Or is there a high chance the motors are sized specific to their blades, and I would need to fully swap the motor to use the larger blades?

The blades appear to use the same connection.

Hi folks,

I want to refinish and paint my kitchen cabinets, but before touching the doors I want to ask opinions on how to repair this peeling on edges of 3 cabinets. Looks like steam from the range and kettle did this.

I was thinking to trim off the excess bit that has peeled and expanded, then sand down and fill with wood/general filler before painting with bullseye 123. Is there a better approach?

I'm pretty new to this. I was considering replacing it with something else because it leaks slightly from the valve if it gets moved around at all, but I don't know what this connection is to start with. It goes to a dishwasher.

I am currently redesigning my kitchen in a 1930's Midwestern USA house. The kitchen has a decent floor area but the floor plan is oddly restrictive.

My space next to the sink is such that I can either have a standard 24" dishwasher next to the sink and a slightly weird cabinet adjacent to it, or I could have an 18 inch dishwasher at 45 degrees flanked by two small but reasonably sized cabinet doors (or drawers), although the 45 degree plan would dictate a somewhat shallow custom counter depth on the flanks (like 18-20 inches).

I think I would be more proud of the accomplishment of building the angled design, and I think the ergonomics would be optimal.

But I'm not sure about the smaller dishwasher. I have never used a smaller one. It seems like it would be enough for my small family and still plenty helpful for gatherings.