Official Pit Home Improvement/DIY thread

[Chill22]

DC - any chance you bought the dishwasher on a credit card that extends the warranty 6/12/24 months beyond the original warranty provided by the manufacturer?

 

[wfudkn]

i live in courtyard building that has substantial basement space -- one of the basements has been converted to a fitness room, but sits right below a residential unit

we're looking at mitigating the sound as it has been bothering the resident just above

anybody have any soundproofing solutions they love? cost is a concern, so hoping to sound proof a ~400 sf concrete box for $1,500 or less

I used to live in a condo building where noise was a relatively common issue. I had heard that a few people were relatively pleased with spray foam insulation and I don't recall it seeming to be dramatically expensive. I think cost may depend on where the floor/ceiling joists are. But that may be more expensive than $1500 regardless. Since it's just a workout area and so aesthetics aren't really a huge concern, I think you could probably get some sound baffles that would work (or at least be better than nothing) for relatively little money.

 

[Donkey Deac Doug]

Ok, farming ideas. I'm probably gonna call an electrician.

I moved into an old farm house about two years ago. I've been remodeling as I go. Good construction in the original job. All the wiring is romex twelve or fourteen.

In the last year, breaker have started going bad. I think. Garage recepticals, exterior recepticals, at least two other breakers.

The breaker box hadn't been mapped, but I've done what I can to map it. Unfortunately, due to the (presumably) blown breakers, I can't tell which goes where.

I could pull all the breakers and just replace them, but I hate to do that if I'm just missing where the breaker leads instead of it actually being bad.

Any thoughts or should I just suck it up and replace all the ones I can't map in hopes that will help me find out where they go?

 

[Deaconblue]

Ok, farming ideas. I'm probably gonna call an electrician.

I moved into an old farm house about two years ago. I've been remodeling as I go. Good construction in the original job. All the wiring is romex twelve or fourteen.

In the last year, breaker have started going bad. I think. Garage recepticals, exterior recepticals, at least two other breakers.

The breaker box hadn't been mapped, but I've done what I can to map it. Unfortunately, due to the (presumably) blown breakers, I can't tell which goes where.

I could pull all the breakers and just replace them, but I hate to do that if I'm just missing where the breaker leads instead of it actually being bad.

Any thoughts or should I just suck it up and replace all the ones I can't map in hopes that will help me find out where they go?

The exterior outlets and garage receptacles comment raises the GFI outlet flag to me. GFI outlets go bad and won't reset. Breakers do go bad, but not that often. A bad GFI can kick out a breaker and not allow it to be reset.

 

[Donkey Deac Doug]

The exterior outlets and garage receptacles comment raises the GFI outlet flag to me. GFI outlets go bad and won't reset. Breakers do go bad, but not that often. A bad GFI can kick out a breaker and not allow it to be reset.

That's a good idea. I've tried resetting the GFI's by pushing the button, but I didn't think about the actual GFI going back.

 

[Deaconblue]

That's a good idea. I've tried resetting the GFI's by pushing the button, but I didn't think about the actual GFI going back.

Did the GFI actually reset when you pushed the button? I've had some that immediately popped when reset, even with no load.

 

[DCDeac]

DC - any chance you bought the dishwasher on a credit card that extends the warranty 6/12/24 months beyond the original warranty provided by the manufacturer?

A good thought, but it came with the house which was new construction. Although I will reach out to the builder and double check that there aren't any extended coverages.

 

[Deaconblue]

i live in courtyard building that has substantial basement space -- one of the basements has been converted to a fitness room, but sits right below a residential unit

we're looking at mitigating the sound as it has been bothering the resident just above

anybody have any soundproofing solutions they love? cost is a concern, so hoping to sound proof a ~400 sf concrete box for $1,500 or less

Also look at padding for the floor. Hard surfaces can reflect noise upward. Also, solid material can serve as a conductor of sound. Decoupling the exercise machines from the floor with rubber pads will help dampen that noise.

 

[Kory]

submitted first offer on first home - might have to skim through this thread in the future

 

[ImTheCaptain]

good luck

 

[tigerswood]

submitted first offer on first home - might have to skim through this thread in the future

Move in ready or fixer upper? If it's the latter, you'll spend hours on this thread (and Googling all sorts of house stuff) like I have.

 

[Deaconblue]

Move in ready or fixer upper? If it's the latter, you'll spend hours on this thread (and Googling all sorts of house stuff) like I have.

Feel free to post stuff. I enjoy sharing what I've learned so you don't have to learn it the hard way.

 

[Kory]

move-in ready, but the basement needs work for sure

want to re-laminate the laundry room floor and needs work on the lighting/ceiling

 

[tigerswood]

Feel free to post stuff. I enjoy sharing what I've learned so you don't have to learn it the hard way.

Well, recently I learned that if you're taking out walls and the load is over a >20 foot space, you pretty much have to use a steel beam over wood/LDL. Crazy how they install those suckers.

Also learned that quartzite is all the rage now in counter tops, and looks amazing IMHO. Basically the same fabrication/minimal upkeep of granite. We were able to find the last two Calcatta Taupe slabs at a warehouse they were trying to move out aggressively, and got them for less than half price. No chance we could have afforded them otherwise. Pretty pumped.

 

[Donkey Deac Doug]

Gotta love having a 1.5 year old dishwasher die. Started tripping the breaker every now and then, now it trips it for every run and can't make it through a cycle.

Took apart what I could but it's not readily apparent what the issue is. Going to need multiple hours of service work plus parts - probably 50% of the cost of a new one. Bite the bullet and replace it or go for the repair... Hate these decisions.

Appliances are complete fucking shit now.

I've bought top of the line Electrolux, and the cheapest Whirlpool I can find. In the past 10 years in two homes, I've gone through 5 clothes washing machines, 2 driers, 7 dishwashers, 3 microwaves and 4 refrigerators.

My strategy at this point: buy the cheapest thing on the shelf that suits your needs, then just fucking price in the longest warranty you can buy (typically 5 years).

If someone magically appeared before me right now and said, "I will sell you an appliance that has a 10 year shelf life" I would pay $2,000+ for it just to eliminate the fucking hassle.

 

[ImTheCaptain]

i have a $2k undercounter fridge and i've had to have it repaired twice in less than 18 months

 

[Kory]

seems like dishwashers are the real appliance headache?

 

[wfudkn]

Appliances are complete fucking shit now.

I've bought top of the line Electrolux, and the cheapest Whirlpool I can find. In the past 10 years in two homes, I've gone through 5 clothes washing machines, 2 driers, 7 dishwashers, 3 microwaves and 4 refrigerators.

My strategy at this point: buy the cheapest thing on the shelf that suits your needs, then just fucking price in the longest warranty you can buy (typically 5 years).

If someone magically appeared before me right now and said, "I will sell you an appliance that has a 10 year shelf life" I would pay $2,000+ for it just to eliminate the fucking hassle.

That's a pretty crappy run. We've been in this house for 8 years and although within the last 9 months we have replaced the fridge, dishwasher and range, none were replaced because they were broken, we just wanted something different/better. The washer and dryer are still going strong and seemingly work as well now as they did 8 years ago. For you to go through that many appliances is pretty crazy.

 

[wfudkn]

seems like dishwashers are the real appliance headache?

I've never had an issue with one in any place I've lived in ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Donkey Deac Doug]

i have a $2k undercounter fridge and i've had to have it repaired twice in less than 18 months

I bought a $2k electrolux that lasted about 11 months before repairs started. After the fourth visit, just bought a different one.

That's a pretty crappy run. We've been in this house for 8 years and although within the last 9 months we have replaced the fridge, dishwasher and range, none were replaced because they were broken, we just wanted something different/better. The washer and dryer are still going strong and seemingly work as well now as they did 8 years ago. For you to go through that many appliances is pretty crazy.

I'm not especially lucky, but, yeah, it's been frustrating as hell.