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Official Pit Home Improvement/DIY thread

RollTheQuad06 said:
The project started as a bathroom renovation, but then I realized that my electrical needs are all over the house, so I went with a separate electrician to take care of everything first.

I may look into a contractor/handyman/bathroom company for the rest of the bathroom part instead of individual people for the separate parts - moving/updating plumbing, new subfloor and possible mold remediation, tiling, installing new vanity.
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I've got a firefighter in my dept who is a good general contractor, and he also tubes with us (Tim). I can get you his contact info if you'd like. I'm sure he'd do you right.
 
Electrical question.

I've got two retaining walls extending out from my basement, both with a motion detection light at the end of them. My plan is to tie into one of the lights and run power to an electric water pump. The water pump shouldn't pull too much power, considering I had it plugged into a standard 110 outlet previously. There should be no issue pulling off the existing light should there? Typically the pump would be run at dusk, so the likelihood of the pump and light be on simultaneously is low.
 
You probably are fine but it really depends what else is on that circuit. Its probably on a 15 amp breaker. Worst case scenario is the breaker trips when the pump is running and you plug in a vaccum cleaner or something inside.

Put in a gfi for the pump to plug intp
 
I buried the conduit and wire today. It wasnt connected to the outdoor plugs like I thought, so I'll have to figure out which circuit its on. No big deal, it just meant I wired it hot.
 
i've got an electrical question, too. we recently put up some fluorescent lights in our garage. if we had the single light on before we put them up, nothing in the house would flip. but now with the two fluorescents, it flips the whole house if a few things are on. how much power do they draw and this is clearly the cause, right?
 
YoungBuck95 said:
i've got an electrical question, too. we recently put up some fluorescent lights in our garage. if we had the single light on before we put them up, nothing in the house would flip. but now with the two fluorescents, it flips the whole house if a few things are on. how much power do they draw and this is clearly the cause, right?
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What do you mean by "flips the whole house?" Do you get a "blink" where the other light bulbs dim for a fraction of a second or do breakers trip? Two lights should not take out the rest of the house unless they are improperly installed or you have other electrical issues.

The addition of a few fluorescent lights should not appreciably increase your current draw. The 40 watt four foot long T-12 fluorescent tubes draw about 1/2 amp per tube (newer T-8 tubes draw less and give more light), or about 1 amp per two tube fixture. Four of those on a 15 amp breaker should not have a noticeable impact on the rest of the house.
 
The pump is hooked up, and I'm getting power, as I can hear it buzz, but it buzzes for a few seconds and then shuts off. Its hard wired, and since its an alternating current, it shouldnt matter which pole the wire was connected to, but I'm going to switch it this afternoon just in case. The pump is primed, my only other check is to see if the intake backflow valve may be stuck and not opening.
 
After taking the pump completely apart, it ended up being a simple fix. A dirt dauber had starting building a nest in the motor and was impeding the switch that activates the starter solenoid. So we cleaned out the nest, and the switch, and it works like a charm. Tomorrow afternoon it'll be back in business. Luckily my FIL is an electrical mechanic so AC motors are right up his alley.
 
tsywake said:
After taking the pump completely apart, it ended up being a simple fix. A dirt dauber had starting building a nest in the motor and was impeding the switch that activates the starter solenoid. So we cleaned out the nest, and the switch, and it works like a charm. Tomorrow afternoon it'll be back in business. Luckily my FIL is an electrical mechanic so AC motors are right up his alley.
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Those kind of things are what really can drive you crazy when something doesn't work right. A wasp building a mud nest and impeding operation of a switch is not high on my list of "what might be wrong here?" options.

Glad you found it
 
I had already made up my mind to just get another pump. It was a fluke that I peered into the motor and saw the nest. Maybe my freshly sewn grass has a chance afterall.
 
Way behind on this thread, so apologies if discussed, but has anyone tried any of the porch paints on the market now? Our back porch is getting a little hagered.
 
I have a plumbing question for the Pit.
I live in an ~ 95 year old house. We had some plumbing things re-done a year or so ago to help set up a laundry room in the basement. Now I am left with two issues.

1. My guest bathroom can develop a foul smell that is definitely sewer gases. We use the bathroom enough that I don't think the issue is a dry trap. The system does have a P trap in place.
2. Whenever someone flushes the guest toilet it gurgles and makes a noise in our kitchen.

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=df260fd05a&view=att&th=14da9e23470314b7&attid=0.1&disp=safe&realattid=1502687290055458816-local0&zw

The picture shows the best I can my current set up. The large pipe in the background coming straight down goes from the guest bathroom toilet into the main sewer drain. The horizontal line to the right of the picture goes to the kitchen. The horizontal line in the foreground is the drain line to the guest bathroom.
None of these lines appear to be directly vented in any way. In an ideal world I think they would vent to the stack to prevent the negative pressure siphon effect and also the backflow of sewer gas. Since this isn't possible I'm wondering if I need an AAV or studor valve?

I'm happy to call the plumber, but wondered if my line of thought is correct. Thanks in advance.
 
I need to refinish my back deck and have been seeing all of the Behr Deckover commercials on TV, but when I went to the Behr site there were a ton of horrible reviews saying that the paint peels off within weeks or months. Anyone used this stuff or have any alternate recommendation?
 
BacktoBack said:
I have a plumbing question for the Pit.
I live in an ~ 95 year old house. We had some plumbing things re-done a year or so ago to help set up a laundry room in the basement. Now I am left with two issues.

1. My guest bathroom can develop a foul smell that is definitely sewer gases. We use the bathroom enough that I don't think the issue is a dry trap. The system does have a P trap in place.
2. Whenever someone flushes the guest toilet it gurgles and makes a noise in our kitchen.

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?u...=safe&realattid=1502687290055458816-local0&zw

The picture shows the best I can my current set up. The large pipe in the background coming straight down goes from the guest bathroom toilet into the main sewer drain. The horizontal line to the right of the picture goes to the kitchen. The horizontal line in the foreground is the drain line to the guest bathroom.
None of these lines appear to be directly vented in any way. In an ideal world I think they would vent to the stack to prevent the negative pressure siphon effect and also the backflow of sewer gas. Since this isn't possible I'm wondering if I need an AAV or studor valve?

I'm happy to call the plumber, but wondered if my line of thought is correct. Thanks in advance.
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If you don't have the system properly vented, the traps can be siphoned dry. That may be the noise you hear. The flushing of the toilet creates enough vacuum to empty the P trap and let the sewer gas into the room.

An air admittance valve (AAV) could be the solution to this problem if doing a vent on the new part of the stack is not feasible. Studor is one (the most common and popular) brand of AAV. Your stack needs at least one legit vent somewhere.
 
I'm sure everyone has been anxiously waiting. I installed the studor valve today and it has fixed the problem. No loud noises from the sink when we flush the toilet and no smell in the powder room anymore. Total spent ~ $30 with the valve and plumbing supplies. Simple job overall.
 
Glad the job went well. Some things actually are simple, and can be done yourself for minimal cost.
 
Question for any pool owners, having a hell of a time getting the liner clear of algae so far...especially the deep end. Any suggestions before I call in professionals?
 
Anybody have any experience with installing a bat house in your yard? Probably a little late for this season, but have some plans/instructions from Bat Conservation International, but wondered how having a bat house has worked - I've heard that they are sometimes have to get colonized (although we do see bats in our neighborhood at night).
 
Anybody had an issue with gnats? They're all over our house. No food left out as far as I know.
 
DeaconCav06 said:
Anybody had an issue with gnats? They're all over our house. No food left out as far as I know.
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I've got them. What can we do besides a fly strip? I've tried the vinegar/dish soap in a jar covered with plastic wrap and a small hole. That catches a few, but there are more.
 
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