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Official Pit Home Improvement/DIY thread

Anyone have any thoughts/tips on getting hard water spots off shower door glass? I've tried regular cleaner that says it'll remove them (nope), rubbing vinegar on them for a while (nope), same with CLR (nope). I just ordered some cerium oxide powder and big polishing wheel for my drill which should be able to do it considering it can polish out actual scratches (and the internet says it works). Assuming there's no other option, anyone have any tips/advice for a first time try at that?

On a related topic, we're on a well with no water softener. Yes we have a filter, but obviously our water is really hard. House is a year old and we have rings in our toilets, buildup on the shower door, some buildup in our sinks. Would a water softener help with that? And if so, is it true that using potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride makes the water not feel so...slimy? Wouldn't be doing this until covid times (hopefully) end, but figured I'd ask now.

Some thoughts:
Is your hard water from limestone/calcium carbonate, iron (reddish) or some other mineral?

try taking the doors down so you can leave them horizontal for a while. Put vinegar rags on the spots and let them sit for a while (maybe hours). It sometimes takes time for vinegar to dissolve the calcium.
 
Some thoughts:
Is your hard water from limestone/calcium carbonate, iron (reddish) or some other mineral?

try taking the doors down so you can leave them horizontal for a while. Put vinegar rags on the spots and let them sit for a while (maybe hours). It sometimes takes time for vinegar to dissolve the calcium.

There's also a half panel of glass that has spots, and I'm not comfortable enough with my DIY skills to put that back in, so instead I kept looking for cleaning products. The glass company that did the install a year ago recommended this product called Sparkle (not the spray bottle, it's more a thin white liquid kind of like Soft Scrub but without the grittiness). It says "Can cause cancer" on the bottle, so it must be good!

Rubbed it on, scrubbed a bit with a rough white towel, then wiped off when it dried and it worked pretty well. I figure if I use it with an actual scrubbing sponge instead it should work well.
 
There's also a half panel of glass that has spots, and I'm not comfortable enough with my DIY skills to put that back in, so instead I kept looking for cleaning products. The glass company that did the install a year ago recommended this product called Sparkle (not the spray bottle, it's more a thin white liquid kind of like Soft Scrub but without the grittiness). It says "Can cause cancer" on the bottle, so it must be good!

Rubbed it on, scrubbed a bit with a rough white towel, then wiped off when it dried and it worked pretty well. I figure if I use it with an actual scrubbing sponge instead it should work well.

Most of those products work best if given some time in contact with the spots. If the Sparkle will stick, sprsy it on and let it sit before scrubbing. You may get better result with less work.

The spots are usually calcium carbonate and the mild acid in vinegar (acetic acid) will slowly dissolve them. This is why Coca Cola also works. It contains dilute carbonic acid.

To minimize future problems, get a squeegee for the shower and use it after every shower.
 
This is kind of the opposite of the topic here, but whatever. Anyone have a recommendation for a handyman in the Winston area to repair some vinyl siding that blew off in the storm today? The company I used a few years ago said that they don't do repairs anymore, just installations. Unfortunately the construction across the street finished their siding last week, so I can't grab them.
 
Use it as an excuse to replace with hardboard or shake siding perhaps, if you can handle the expense? Vinyl is pretty out these days, and I imagine nice looking new siding would help resale value, if that's a consideration any time in the near future.

No help to your original question, though.
 
This is kind of the opposite of the topic here, but whatever. Anyone have a recommendation for a handyman in the Winston area to repair some vinyl siding that blew off in the storm today? The company I used a few years ago said that they don't do repairs anymore, just installations. Unfortunately the construction across the street finished their siding last week, so I can't grab them.

How bad is the damage? If it is just a couple pieces, you can probably get a pack of siding nails (100 pack for $6) and put them back on yourself.
 
How bad is the damage? If it is just a couple pieces, you can probably get a pack of siding nails (100 pack for $6) and put them back on yourself.

Only a couple of pieces, and I salvaged them. The problem is that it is about 15 feet up and I don't have a sufficient ladder, much less two of them, to do the job. That makes it a more costly affair.
 
We need some trim work done on our house, and we were hoping to wait until next year because lumber prices are insane right now. And then this motherfucker came along.

4a84bce9856d00ea2b75637136f3b1e9.jpg


I blame birdman
 
Has anybody replaced a thermopile/thermocoupler on a propane fireplace? A few years ago, I just got some fine sandpaper and cleaned it off and it fixed it.

Now, the pilot lights but the fireplace won't turn on. By looking at it, i can see burn/scorch marks on it.

thanks.
 
We need some trim work done on our house, and we were hoping to wait until next year because lumber prices are insane right now. And then this motherfucker came along.

4a84bce9856d00ea2b75637136f3b1e9.jpg


I blame birdman

Have you tried a fake owl/hawk as a deterrent?
 
Has anybody replaced a thermopile/thermocoupler on a propane fireplace? A few years ago, I just got some fine sandpaper and cleaned it off and it fixed it.

Now, the pilot lights but the fireplace won't turn on. By looking at it, i can see burn/scorch marks on it.

thanks.

Can you smell gas when you have an unsuccessful lighting?

Fire = fuel + oxygen (air) = ignition source. You seem to have the last two. (air and burning pilot ignition source). Therefore, the first must be missing.

Is there some automatic safety or control valve that is not opening to allow the main fire to light? Or is there something blocking the gas orifice? Are there a separate control valves for the pilot light and the main fire?
 
Can you smell gas when you have an unsuccessful lighting?

Fire = fuel + oxygen (air) = ignition source. You seem to have the last two. (air and burning pilot ignition source). Therefore, the first must be missing.

Is there some automatic safety or control valve that is not opening to allow the main fire to light? Or is there something blocking the gas orifice? Are there a separate control valves for the pilot light and the main fire?


I wasn't really smelling any gas. Physically looking at the part, it looked worn out (burn/scorch marks on it). About 45 bucks for the part, it was relatively easy to replace... just in time for the cold spell...

Spent about 1.5 hours on Sunday looking to replace our garbage disposal (was "humming" but blades not spinning... it was original from our house in 1998 so I thought it needed to be replaced). Turns on there is reset button the bottom which trips to protect the motor. I then manually spun the blades and freed up whatever was stuck.... was not looking forward to replacing the garbage disposal.
 
Anyone on here have a range with a built in griddle? If so, do you actually use it. Our contractor is pulling out a very nice, barely used, 2 year old 36 inch (what we need) Kitchen Aid from a pro baseball player's house, and they've agreed to sell it to us for less than 1/3 of what a new one would cost. They're putting in some ridiculous 60 inch Viking.

It has 4 burners (we'd never use more) and a fancy built in chrome griddle. Cleaning looks to be a bit of a pain (though not much different than a nice pan), and only the grease tray is removable. We don't really think we'd use it that much. Should we be concerned about this, or just move forward and save a bunch of $$$?
 
Anyone on here have a range with a built in griddle? If so, do you actually use it. Our contractor is pulling out a very nice, barely used, 2 year old 36 inch (what we need) Kitchen Aid from a pro baseball player's house, and they've agreed to sell it to us for less than 1/3 of what a new one would cost. They're putting in some ridiculous 60 inch Viking.

It has 4 burners (we'd never use more) and a fancy built in chrome griddle. Cleaning looks to be a bit of a pain (though not much different than a nice pan), and only the grease tray is removable. We don't really think we'd use it that much. Should we be concerned about this, or just move forward and save a bunch of $$$?

Trying to figure out the downside of putting in that range.
Price? Nope
Size? Nope
Enough burners? Yep


Sounds like you would have a stove that meets your needs, with a shiny place where you can place hot pots and pans. And maybe someday cook a few pancakes.

What's not to like?
 
Thanks guys. After a night to marinate on it, we're good to go. We watched a video on the Kitchen Aid website, and it looks pretty easy/fun to clean - basically like a hibachi flattop. Seems odd that it takes ~15 min to get to 350 degrees, but whatever.

They're going to pay for it to be professionally cleaned/inspected as well, which will be good for peace of mind.
 
Thanks guys. After a night to marinate on it, we're good to go. We watched a video on the Kitchen Aid website, and it looks pretty easy/fun to clean - basically like a hibachi flattop. Seems odd that it takes ~15 min to get to 350 degrees, but whatever.

They're going to pay for it to be professionally cleaned/inspected as well, which will be good for peace of mind.

Checked with a friend who has a stove with the griddle. She loves it. The removable grease catcher will be quite handy if you decide to use it. Try it. You'll like it.
 
i had a 36" range with 4 burners and a griddle insert. tried it once or twice and then never used it. the center burner just never seemed to get that hot and the griddle plate was too small.

we did get a cheap electric griddle for free from a relative and i sort of pooh pooh'd it but it works very well for griddle things. heats up very quickly and cleans easily and then i put it away.
 
i had a 36" range with 4 burners and a griddle insert. tried it once or twice and then never used it. the center burner just never seemed to get that hot and the griddle plate was too small.

we did get a cheap electric griddle for free from a relative and i sort of pooh pooh'd it but it works very well for griddle things. heats up very quickly and cleans easily and then i put it away.

Yeah, we have a griddle on our stove and we NEVER use it. It's too hard to clean, and it feels like anything we put on it scorches.
 
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