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Official Pit Home Improvement/DIY thread

birdman said:
This fucking microwave....The magnetron is dead, its the key piece of equipment that accelerates the electrons to heat up the food. The replacement part is $300 and the repair guy said, at that price it is probably best to just get a new microwave...but it is all linked in with my regular oven so I'd have to replace the oven and the microwave, which will run >$2000 to get a similar size and quality appliance. Fuck. I think we could probably just get a $100 counter top microwave that would easily fit inside my other dead microwave but my wife said "That's a dumb idea."
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Who will lead the Decepticons now?
 
DeacsATS said:
My neighbor is having a "tree house" built in the woods behind his house and it is legit bigger than that tiny house (which is awesome, btw). This guy has to be paying like $30-40k for this thing (if not significantly more). I'll snap some pics when I can.

Workers have been over there for 3 weeks now.
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That's awesome. Still remember when my dad built my brother and I a treehouse back in the 80s. First cussword in a song was heard in that house. It was "Roxanne, Roxanne" by UTFO. You got the land it's a fun project especially, not being on the clock, no pressure. You learn so much and the main reason mine has taken so long other than real jobs is that I keep changing mind on the interior. I literally ripped all the drywall out a couple weeks ago lol! Great practice though!
 
birdman said:
This fucking microwave....The magnetron is dead, it’s ood grief. the key piece of equipment that accelerates the electrons to heat up the food. The replacement part is $300 and the repair guy said, at that price it is probably best to just get a new microwave...but it is all linked in with my regular oven so I'd have to replace the oven and the microwave, which will run >$2000 to get a similar size and quality appliance. Fuck. I think we could probably just get a $100 counter top microwave that would easily fit inside my other dead microwave but my wife said "That's a dumb idea."
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Good grief that’s a pain. So the microwave is so integrated with the oven you can’t replace the microwave only? Oof. Note to self, don’t buy something like that.

So your options are…

1. Live without a microwave

2. Replace oven with a different design…maybe a double oven and get a counter top microwave

3. Replace oven and microwave with integrated setup as long as the microwave is the new one is removable/replaceable (do they make this?).

4. Keep the oven and dead microwave and add a counter top microwave.


?
 
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ConnorEl said:
Good grief that’s a pain. So the microwave is so integrated with the oven you can’t replace the microwave only? Oof. Note to self, don’t buy something like that.

So your options are…

1. Live without a microwave

2. Replace oven with a different design…maybe a double oven and get a counter top microwave

3. Replace oven and microwave with integrated setup as long as the microwave is the new one is removable/replaceable (do they make this?).

4. Keep the oven and dead microwave and add a counter top microwave.


?
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Option 5 I guess is to spend the $400 to get this microwave repaired, which is what I guess we'll do. Were I the sole decision maker I'd live with out a microwave and use the broken in wall one as a bread box, but my wife doesn't really cook and relies heavily on the microwave when ever I travel. She also has a thing for aesthetics and a counter top cheap machine will not pass the eye test.
 
birdman said:
Option 5 I guess is to spend the $400 to get this microwave repaired, which is what I guess we'll do. Were I the sole decision maker I'd live with out a microwave and use the broken in wall one as a bread box, but my wife doesn't really cook and relies heavily on the microwave when ever I travel. She also has a thing for aesthetics and a counter top cheap machine will not pass the eye test.
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Can we see pics of this integrated microwave/oven combo thingy so we all know what to avoid?

ETA: Don't forget to include those beautiful thumbs!
 
birdman said:
Option 5 I guess is to spend the $400 to get this microwave repaired, which is what I guess we'll do. Were I the sole decision maker I'd live with out a microwave and use the broken in wall one as a bread box, but my wife doesn't really cook and relies heavily on the microwave when ever I travel. She also has a thing for aesthetics and a counter top cheap machine will not pass the eye test.
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I went through this exact same situation about 8 months before we sold our old house. Had a Bosch microwave/oven combo and ended up replacing the entire thing. Then it turns out the old one was very likely DIY installed and was very shoddily done, so the installer of the oven had to do a bunch of work to get the new one to mount properly, and his wife (who runs his company with him) got a bit mad at him for putting in so much extra work even though I compensated them for it. So if that's what you're going through, I feel for ya, those combos suck.
 
The door sweep (? not even sure that’s what it’s called) on the bottom of my front door has come apart from the door, leaving a gap where air/water/dirt/etc. can come in. My question is whether it is possible to replace it without taking the door off or if the door has to come off? The original one appears to be stapled in from the bottom, which leads me to believe the door has to come off, but it just feels like something that should be able to be replaced easily (I am also a complete moron when it comes to anything home improvement related, so my “feels like” may indicate the exact opposite). Either way, is this something a general handyman should be able to do?

For what it’s worth this is kind of what the one on my door looks like now - has a lip or something that comes up on front of the door on the exterior side, but just seems to be kind of flush along the bottom on the interior side.

 
Wakelaw2006 said:
The door sweep (? not even sure that’s what it’s called) on the bottom of my front door has come apart from the door, leaving a gap where air/water/dirt/etc. can come in. My question is whether it is possible to replace it without taking the door off or if the door has to come off? The original one appears to be stapled in from the bottom, which leads me to believe the door has to come off, but it just feels like something that should be able to be replaced easily (I am also a complete moron when it comes to anything home improvement related, so my “feels like” may indicate the exact opposite). Either way, is this something a general handyman should be able to do?

For what it’s worth this is kind of what the one on my door looks like now - has a lip or something that comes up on front of the door on the exterior side, but just seems to be kind of flush along the bottom on the interior side.

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Those sweeps are easily replaced. However, depending on how much or how little clearance you have to get under the door, it probably has to come off. The hinge pins come out and the door comes off with half the hinge on the door and half on the door jamb. Many door hinges have a hole on the bottom for easy removal. Put a small metal rod (or a nail) thats fits into the hole and use a hammer to drive the pin out. Or use a flat blade screw driver and hammer between the pin head and hinge to drive out the pin.

Replace sweep. Put door with hinges back into place. Re-insert hinge pins. Grease hinge pins before re-insertion. Use petroleum jelly if you don't have anything else. The pins are a snug fit. Lube helps.

N.B: make sure the sweep you get is the proper one for the gap between the door and threshold when the door is closed.

The sweep you linked is for small gaps. They make sweeps for larger if you need that.
 
Deaconblue said:
Those sweeps are easily replaced. However, depending on how much or how little clearance you have to get under the door, it probably has to come off. The hinge pins come out and the door comes off with half the hinge on the door and half on the door jamb. Many door hinges have a hole on the bottom for easy removal. Put a small metal rod (or a nail) thats fits into the hole and use a hammer to drive the pin out. Or use a flat blade screw driver and hammer between the pin head and hinge to drive out the pin.

Replace sweep. Put door with hinges back into place. Re-insert hinge pins. Grease hinge pins before re-insertion. Use petroleum jelly if you don't have anything else. The pins are a snug fit. Lube helps.

N.B: make sure the sweep you get is the proper one for the gap between the door and threshold when the door is closed.

The sweep you linked is for small gaps. They make sweeps for larger if you need that.
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Blue, I feel bad you spent the time typing all that out, but I’ll be watching the handyman I call and make sure he follows your steps 😀
 
I kinda want to teach myself how to do more shit, but i don’t have much as far as tools/saws. I’ve got a battery powered drill.

What are some basics you would recommend to get started?
 
Deaconblue said:
That is my short hand for saying that a good selection of hand tools will be more useful to many than a collection of power tools.
Hammer-16 ounce claw
#0,1,2,3 plus stubby #2 Phillips screwdrivers.
Flat blade screwdrivers-1/8,1/4, 3/8, stubby 1/4.
Flat pry bar.
Slip joint pliers
Locking pliers (aka "Vice Grips)
Putty knife/scraper (metal and plastic blades)
Channel Lock pliers
Adjustable wrench
Open end/box end wrench set. 1/4 inch through 1 inch.
Metric wrench set 7 mm - 24 mm
Ratchet 3/8 drive.
Sockets 3/16 through 1 inch
Metric sockets 5 mm - 25 mm
Allen wrenches, inch fraction and Metric sizes.
Ratchet screwdriver with multitude of bit types and sizes. Flat, Phillips, Torx, Robertson, Allen.
Nail sets
Level
Stud finder
C clamps.
Chisels 1/4 to 1 inch set or as needed.
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Because I was asked, I'm re posting this list. Once you get past the midpoint of the list, what you need to do should strongly influence what you get.

A wide variety of driver bits as well as drill bits for your cordless will save your wrist and arm.
 
MHBDemon said:
I kinda want to teach myself how to do more shit, but i don’t have much as far as tools/saws. I’ve got a battery powered drill.

What are some basics you would recommend to get started?
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Acknowledging Blue's list of hand tools, as far as power tools go, I think you can get through like 80% of DIY projects with a drill, an impact driver with both driver bits and socket attachments, and a circular saw. Anything else is more project-specific.
 
2&2 Slider To Leyritz said:
Acknowledging Blue's list of hand tools, as far as power tools go, I think you can get through like 80% of DIY projects with a drill, an impact driver with both driver bits and socket attachments, and a circular saw. Anything else is more project-specific.
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Don't even really need the impact driver. I find a cordless brad nailer way more useful.
 
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