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Official Pit Home Improvement/DIY thread

HeltonCreek said:
I've been helping a buddy do some improvements on the house he bought a few weeks ago. One issue we're having is with changing locks/deadbolts.

Specifically, the holes in two doors for the deadbolts are too small. Not the ones through the door on each face but the one in the side/edge. The whole is two small to fit the new deadbolt mechanism. I need to shave off just a little material to be able to get it to fit easily. Since the whole is already there, it will be hard to try to center a drill bit or a hole saw. Any ideas?
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I second the dremel.
 
HeltonCreek said:
I've been helping a buddy do some improvements on the house he bought a few weeks ago. One issue we're having is with changing locks/deadbolts.

Specifically, the holes in two doors for the deadbolts are too small. Not the ones through the door on each face but the one in the side/edge. The whole is two small to fit the new deadbolt mechanism. I need to shave off just a little material to be able to get it to fit easily. Since the whole is already there, it will be hard to try to center a drill bit or a hole saw. Any ideas?
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As ITC noted, Dremel will work.

Other methods include using a coarse small round wood file or rasp, probably what is know as a "rat tail" file. Buying one of these would be cheaper than getting a Dremel, but it will take more effort - hand work with a file.

You can also get rotary file bits for you electric drill. These cut on the side, not at the bottom end. They do the same thing as the rat tail file, but with a lotta help from your electric drill.

Third option is to get a twist drill big enough to make the new hole size. Probably not easy to find a 7/8 or 1 inch twist drill. Spade bit, forstner bit and hole saw, as you noted won't work.

Only way to use a hole saw is to cut a plug with a hole saw the size that will fit in your current hole, glue it in place, then use the size of hole saw you need to cut out the slightly bigger hole, including the plug you recently installed.

Hand filing out what you need is probably simplest if you only need to remove a little to make it fit. The hole doesn't have to be round, so only remove wood where you need to so the latch fits into the hole easily and doesn't bind.

Good luck!
 
HeltonCreek said:
That's what I was thinking. I don't have a dremel but do have a drill and I think I could get a sanding drum set for my drill.
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Use this as an excuse to get one. Seriously.

I don't always have the foresight to know when I'll need to use it, but more times than not I use the Dremel and think "That was the perfect tool for this job." Suffice it to say, I'm a big fan.
 
yeah, have to agree; I don't use it that much but it's really the perfect tool quite often. You can probably get by with the drill but the extra speed you can get from the dremel is worth it. I'd shell out for a variable speed version, if you end up looking into it.
 
Agreed on both its usefullness for things I wouldn't have thought of before I had it and the useful benefit of the variable speeds. I would say to try to find a coupon to get one with the largest accessory kit that you can find. You realize a lot more uses for it when you can see the various attachments in front of you.
 
2&2 Slider To Leyritz said:
Agreed on both its usefullness for things I wouldn't have thought of before I had it and the useful benefit of the variable speeds. I would say to try to find a coupon to get one with the largest accessory kit that you can find. You realize a lot more uses for it when you can see the various attachments in front of you.
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I'll second this about the Dremel. If you get one, get the accessories and preferably variable speed. But try to find it cheap. But don't get the Harbor Freight knock off.

In my previous posts I was simply trying to give a few cheaper alternatives.
 
I picked up a corded Dremel 4000 series with variable speed. My buddy kicked in a little cash since I've been helping him with a lot of stuff. I put on a sanding drum attachment and had the holes on two doors enlarged in less than 5 minutes. I figure I'll use it for other stuff around the house like sharpening my lawnmower blade. Glad I bought it.
 
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I have an asphalt driveway that is slowly deteriorating. Can this be fixed by using the buckets of tar that you'd get at Lowes an spread it or is it time to call a specialist for repaving?
 
DeacWatcher said:
I have an asphalt driveway that is slowly deteriorating. Can this be fixed by using the buckets of tar that you'd get at Lowes an spread it or is it time to call a specialist for repaving?
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Sorta depends: how badly has it deteriorated, how long do you expect to want to use it before doing something more and how much do you want to spend now?
If the driveway has a lot of larger cracks (larger means more than 1/4 inch wide and more than a foot long), is badly "alligatored" and/or has pieces coming loose, then it may really need to be repaved.

There are three kinds of driveway stuff available at home improvement/hardware stores: cold patch asphalt, crack filler and sealer/coater. Asphalt driveways should have seal coat put on every two or three years. Crack filler is for those cracks that aren't too big. If the cracks are large, then even crack filler won't totally fill them. It does help, and is much better than doing nothing. Seal coating is not a complex job; its just a lot of hard work that should be done on a warm dry day.

If you have holes or really big cracks and don't want to repave, sometimes cold patch asphalt will last for a while. Getting any holes cleaned of dirt and mud and getting them dry is important for getting the cold patch to last for a while. Also, need to do a good job tamping that stuff down and letting it set up before driving on it. Seal the whole thing after you do cold patch repairs.


There are companies that will do a seal coat, with some crack filler/repair. Make sure you get a reputable one. As a minimum, somebody who has been in business in the same area for several years. This particular service is a prime market for fly by night operators who just "happen to have some leftover material from another job and will give you a great price" only to find out that they put used motor oil or other useless stuff on your driveway.
 
Deaconblue said:
Sorta depends: how badly has it deteriorated, how long do you expect to want to use it before doing something more and how much do you want to spend now?
If the driveway has a lot of larger cracks (larger means more than 1/4 inch wide and more than a foot long), is badly "alligatored" and/or has pieces coming loose, then it may really need to be repaved.

There are three kinds of driveway stuff available at home improvement/hardware stores: cold patch asphalt, crack filler and sealer/coater. Asphalt driveways should have seal coat put on every two or three years. Crack filler is for those cracks that aren't too big. If the cracks are large, then even crack filler won't totally fill them. It does help, and is much better than doing nothing. Seal coating is not a complex job; its just a lot of hard work that should be done on a warm dry day.

If you have holes or really big cracks and don't want to repave, sometimes cold patch asphalt will last for a while. Getting any holes cleaned of dirt and mud and getting them dry is important for getting the cold patch to last for a while. Also, need to do a good job tamping that stuff down and letting it set up before driving on it. Seal the whole thing after you do cold patch repairs.


There are companies that will do a seal coat, with some crack filler/repair. Make sure you get a reputable one. As a minimum, somebody who has been in business in the same area for several years. This particular service is a prime market for fly by night operators who just "happen to have some leftover material from another job and will give you a great price" only to find out that they put used motor oil or other useless stuff on your driveway.
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is this a real thing?
 
ImTheCaptain said:
is this a real thing?
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Yes, this is one of the notorious scams that was commonly run in some areas. Unscrupulous people would get used motor oil from gas stations, charge people to "coat their driveway" spread the oil, take the money and be gone - shortly before the next rainstorm washed the "coating" into the street.

Here is one recent article. http://www.fredericknewspost.com/ne...cle_333fb540-3b15-5909-986d-27068f553c7c.html

A quote from another article on this subject,"Driveway Seal Coating Scams Driveway Seal Coating ScamsA typical seal coating scam often occurs in the following manner: the suspect approaches the homeownerwith a claim of having "left-over" coating material (usually in the bed of a pick-up truck), and contracts toseal the homeowner's driveway. Once the homeowner pays for the job, the suspect sprays a cheap oilymaterial on the driveway and leaves.Tips: Do not respond to door-to-door solicitors. If you need your driveway seal coated, you make thecontact. Rely on friends and relatives for recommendations and referrals."

Simply do a search on "driveway coating scam" or "driveway sealer scam"
 
Days like today make me wish I knew anything about home related stuff. We tried to turn our A/C on the other day and the outside unit wouldn't turn on. I don't know the first thing about how to go about troubleshooting that so I call the A/C people to come look at it. Guy looks at it today, goes inside to where our furnace is and locates some kind of pump that is plugged into the wall and sees that the wall socket has tripped. So he pushes the little button on the socket and the pump starts and the A/C kicks on. $250.
 
wfudkn said:
Days like today make me wish I knew anything about home related stuff. We tried to turn our A/C on the other day and the outside unit wouldn't turn on. I don't know the first thing about how to go about troubleshooting that so I call the A/C people to come look at it. Guy looks at it today, goes inside to where our furnace is and locates some kind of pump that is plugged into the wall and sees that the wall socket has tripped. So he pushes the little button on the socket and the pump starts and the A/C kicks on. $250.
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avatar45_1.gif
 
wfudkn said:
Days like today make me wish I knew anything about home related stuff. We tried to turn our A/C on the other day and the outside unit wouldn't turn on. I don't know the first thing about how to go about troubleshooting that so I call the A/C people to come look at it. Guy looks at it today, goes inside to where our furnace is and locates some kind of pump that is plugged into the wall and sees that the wall socket has tripped. So he pushes the little button on the socket and the pump starts and the A/C kicks on. $250.
Click to expand...

That is an expensive lesson in the first rule of anything electrical not working: Is it plugged in properly? Is it turned on at all possible switches/circuit breakers etc. Amazing how many "non-working" things get fixed by checking the plugged in/turned on items.
 
Deaconblue said:
That is an expensive lesson in the first rule of anything electrical not working: Is it plugged in properly? Is it turned on at all possible switches/circuit breakers etc. Amazing how many "non-working" things get fixed by checking the plugged in/turned on items.
Click to expand...

My bigger problem was not having any idea that there was some kind of pump inside that was connected to the A/C unit on the outside. But honestly, even if I did I'm not sure I would have noticed that the outlet tripped. I really need to try and find some classes somewhere that teach basic infor about HVAC, plumbing, electrical and general home repair stuff.
 
Deaconblue said:
That is an expensive lesson in the first rule of anything electrical not working: Is it plugged in properly? Is it turned on at all possible switches/circuit breakers etc. Amazing how many "non-working" things get fixed by checking the plugged in/turned on items.
Click to expand...

My first year of homeownership, I learned the same expensive way that my AC is controlled by a second fuse box on the outside of my house. It was too cold for them to check it during the home inspection, so when it didn't turn on, I checked the main indoor fuse box and it was fine, looked at the unit and it seemed fine... who knew that there would be a panel outdoors just for that!
 
My landlord just replaced our AC unit and they replaced the thermostat at the same time and my thermostat is no longer programmable.

How hard could it be to replace that?
 
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