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Official Pit Home Improvement/DIY thread

HeltonCreek said:
Was reading online about this and found a site that recommended either the deep scan stud finders or take a very strong magnet and tie it to a string. Since the wood lath is nailed to the studs, the strong magnet should stick some to those nails. You may have to move the magnet around, up and down, but that might work. You could also look at your outlets as those should be mounted to studs.
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Tried the magnet trick previously with no luck; Deep scan stud finder worked great.
 
leftcoastdeac said:
Tried the magnet trick previously with no luck; Deep scan stud finder worked great.
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My house is newer so I haven't had that issue but several of my friends have older homes built anywhere from the 1920s to the 1950s. A buddy has the deep scan stud finder which is what we've always used when we've done work on their houses but really didn't know how much they cost. I thought it might work but had not tried it. I've just used a cheap stud finder at my place which has been fine.
 
HeltonCreek said:
My house is newer so I haven't had that issue but several of my friends have older homes built anywhere from the 1920s to the 1950s. A buddy has the deep scan stud finder which is what we've always used when we've done work on their houses but really didn't know how much they cost. I thought it might work but had not tried it. I've just used a cheap stud finder at my place which has been fine.
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I found one at Home Depot for around $30 that worked just fine; some model from Zircon.
 
leftcoastdeac said:
Tried the magnet trick previously with no luck; Deep scan stud finder worked great.
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Always good to hear that suggestions work. Plaster over wood lath walls are interesting to work with. Particularly if the plaster is the good old fashioned two coat type. The undercoat of coarse plaster that is almost concrete, then the finish coat of smooth white plaster.
 
update RE: the tire - the ratchet strap trick worked like a charm. just in time for the snowfall this weekend.

thanks
 
How difficult would sanding and staining ~1,800 SF of hardwood floor be for a novice?

Worth the savings?
 
ImTheCaptain said:
It’s almost never worth the savings unless you’re into DIY
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Agreed. A hired crew can do it quicker and cheaper than it would cost you to rent and use the sander. If you don't know what you're doing, you can easily gouge the floor and royally FUBAR the flooring.
 
When we built our house, we used wire shelving in our master walk in closet. We're at the point of upgrading and I'm debating between designing and building my own or getting a crew to design and build a custom closet. Anyone have experiences with either method? I'm leaning towards designing and building on my own.
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
How difficult would sanding and staining ~1,800 SF of hardwood floor be for a novice?

Worth the savings?
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I will echo the above. Refinishing floors is better left to pros unless you really feel comfortable wrestling with a spinning steel drum sander, edger sander, scrapers etc. Dust control is a major issue. Drum sanders generate a LOT of dust. Dust cleanup is a big issue.

And that's just the prep. Getting stain down evenly over that much floor isn't easy either.

What do you plan to use as a finish coat? Polyurethane or something else?

One thing you can do is put an extra layer (or two) of your poly down in high traffic areas (stair treads in particular). Obviously after the rest is done. Check with the guys you hire to see what they use to put down the sealer and use the same thing.(Roller, brush etc.) so everything looks the same.

When it is all done, plan on dusting and vacuuming everything. Including places you wouldn't think to vacuum. Clean yor refrigerator coils even if the kitchen floor wasn't touched.
 
tsywake said:
When we built our house, we used wire shelving in our master walk in closet. We're at the point of upgrading and I'm debating between designing and building my own or getting a crew to design and build a custom closet. Anyone have experiences with either method? I'm leaning towards designing and building on my own.
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Some thoughts for you if you go the DIY on the closet. You can have "preliminary discussions with a closet designer and look at their collection of pictures of jobs as a way of getting ideas for what you want to do. Also, high end new house "open houses" can get you a look at some possibilities.

I like to be able to move clothes from one end of the closet to the other, so I used iron pipe (1 inch, I think, is the plumbers size that fits hangers. but check that.) Get it threaded and screw the pipe to floor flanges, then screw the floor flanges to the studs in the wall or to 1x4 plates. If you measure, many places will cut and thread the pipe for you. Galvanized is more expensive, but it won't shed black powder for the rest of its life like black iron pipe does. Pipe will allow you longer funs between supports than traditional wooden hanging rods.

Drawers or no drawers in the closet is always a big issue. If drawers, then how many and how big and where.But those are decisions for you and other users of the closet.

I like lots of light in the closet so I can see what I am getting out even on gray early mornings. Color temp of lights may be important, now that most new lighting is LED and available in multiple color temps. If the closet light switch is inside the closet and in a spot likely to be dark, a lighted switch is a nice touch.

If you paint surfaces that will have stuff sitting on them, make sure you get a paint that dries hard, and doesn't have residual stickiness. It is annoying to have boxes sticking to their shelves.

Sounds like a great project.
 
tsywake said:
When we built our house, we used wire shelving in our master walk in closet. We're at the point of upgrading and I'm debating between designing and building my own or getting a crew to design and build a custom closet. Anyone have experiences with either method? I'm leaning towards designing and building on my own.
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We had a guy build the shelving in our bedroom closets and kitchen pantry when we had had enough of the wire shelving (he also did built-ins in our family room, office, and the kids play room). Well worth it. He thought of design aspects that we never would have. Plus, he measured it all and then built it all offsite in his shop, so each closet only took an hour or two to install the shelving so we weren't completely displaced for a week or two like we would have been had I done it myself via trial and error.
 
2&2 Slider To Leyritz said:
We had a guy build the shelving in our bedroom closets and kitchen pantry when we had had enough of the wire shelving (he also did built-ins in our family room, office, and the kids play room). Well worth it. He thought of design aspects that we never would have. Plus, he measured it all and then built it all offsite in his shop, so each closet only took an hour or two to install the shelving so we weren't completely displaced for a week or two like we would have been had I done it myself via trial and error.
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We did the same with our pantry/mud room. Had a company come in and design, build off site, then install. Totally worth it.
 
I don't know a thing about electrical work and I need to cap some loose wires under my sink

Perusing articles, it seems simple enough, but they all seem to have you twisting wires together before capping. In my case, wires are different colors, but not sure on size. Photo is from an inspector and I haven't been home to check it out yet. Will I be stripping, twisting, and capping the two together or do they each get their own cap?

2rgaa78.jpg
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
I don't know a thing about electrical work and I need to cap some loose wires under my sink

Perusing articles, it seems simple enough, but they all seem to have you twisting wires together before capping. In my case, wires are different colors, but not sure on size. Photo is from an inspector and I haven't been home to check it out yet. Will I be stripping, twisting, and capping the two together or do they each get their own cap?

2rgaa78.jpg
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Unless you know what you are connecting, DO NOT twist the wires together.

Any idea what those wires were used for or connected to? White and red are odd to have randomly without a black wire.

I would not strip unless you connect to something. Just twist on wire nuts (caps) - one on each wire- and tape the wire nuts in place.
 
I assumed for a garbage disposal that has never been in place since I’ve lived here.

ft9woMs.jpg
 
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