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Official Pit Home Improvement/DIY thread

I bought from Apex windows and they take all the measurements and install them. That was a whole replacement of the frame and everything else.
 
related to my recent tenure as board member...

is blow-in insulation into the ceiling going to do much for dampening impact sound from above?

looks like noise reduction is generally pretty expensive and intrusive -- i.e. requires getting up under the flooring
 
JuiceCrewAllStar said:
related to my recent tenure as board member...

is blow-in insulation into the ceiling going to do much for dampening impact sound from above?

looks like noise reduction is generally pretty expensive and intrusive -- i.e. requires getting up under the flooring
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A lot of sound is conducted through the wood joists between the floor above and the ceiling below. Hence the intrusive need to put sound dampening material between the floor and the joists.

Sorta like why your voice sounds different to you when you hear a recording of yourself. What you hear live includes a lot of sound transmitted through the bones of your skull. That bone conducted sound is missing when you listen to recorded sounds.
 
My wife and I just bought a house in Denver NC after living in the same house for about 15 years when we only planned to be there a few years.

I was curious how often you all sealed your granite countertops? I think the recommendation is once a year but I was definitely slack in that regard at our old house. I want ours to be smooth and shiny like some other houses we visited. What else do you all do to clean or maintain them? Thanks!
 
iodeac said:
My wife and I just bought a house in Denver NC after living in the same house for about 15 years when we only planned to be there a few years.

I was curious how often you all sealed your granite countertops? I think the recommendation is once a year but I was definitely slack in that regard at our old house. I want ours to be smooth and shiny like some other houses we visited. What else do you all do to clean or maintain them? Thanks!
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You self-identified a big part of the problem. There are good reasons that experts recommend annual sealing. It isn't just because the word annual looks good in print. So, if you want the granite to look good, seal it ANNUALLY. Do it right before holiday entertainment season to have visitors ooh and aah about your countertops.

Re-apply sealer sooner if water no longer beads on the surface. High use areas, like beside the sink, should be considered for more frequent sealing, based on water beading, or lack thereof.

Wipe up spills and messes ASAP.

Clean countertops with warm water and granite cleaner. Usually daily for at least the frequently used areas. Yes, that stuff is expensive.

However, common cleaners have bleach/vinegar/ammonia/lemon/orange/grit etc that can damage and take the shine off. Soap will leave a residue that dulls the shiny look.

Don't store cooking stuff like cooking oil, vinegar etc on the countertop. Put that stuff on something like a tray.

Use coasters, trivets, pot holders under stuff.

Granite comes from the factory with the highly polished shine. You need to simply not mess it up.
 
We are currently building a home in the greater Asheville area. Any recommendations for things to include that might not be obvious? Clearly, it's easy to do things at this stage (foundation/waterproofing is complete and framing starts next week)
 
BacktoBack said:
We are currently building a home in the greater Asheville area. Any recommendations for things to include that might not be obvious? Clearly, it's easy to do things at this stage (foundation/waterproofing is complete and framing starts next week)
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More separate circuits in your kitchen. Not just outlets on the same breaker. More plug in appliances for the kitchen every year. Microwave oven, blender, food processor, mixer, sous vide machine, rice cooker, air fryer...

Electric outlets with built in USB ports where phones might be charged.

I like separate circuits in the bathrooms for the lights/ fan etc. and the "convenience outlet" used for hair dryers etc. That way if the hair dryer takes out its circuit, you aren't in the dark. Also, separate switches for the lights and vent fan. May want a (waterproof) light overhead in the shower with separate switch.

Consider tile (marble etc.) all the way up the walls and on the ceiling in shower and bathtub area. Easier to keep clean and mold free.

High on the wall outlets for TVs that will be wall mounted.

Outside electric outlets. For Christmas lighting, pathway lighting, deck lighting etc. How many circuits will depend on your Clark Griswold scale level. I'm up to four separate circuits. CG scale about 8. I did quads, with two outlets always o and two controlled by electric eye switches, so on from sundown to sunup.

Lots of insulation in attic and walls. Maybe more than builder standard. Check Dept. of Energy, Insulation Contractors Association, Air Conditioners Association etc for specific recommendations. Good vapor barrier on warm side of insulation.

If you are into woodworking, some 220 volt circuits in the future workshop area.

More outside water hose bibs. Depending on how and where you might use water outside. Gardening, possible future outside kitchen? Make sure they can be turned off and drained for winter with a separate cutoff/drain valve. I'm not a fan of those long stem valves.

Make sure water pipes on outside walls are on the warm side of insulation.

Cut off valves for bathtub/shower water. Usually there is an access panel backside, but no cutoff valves so the whole house has to be without water to change a washer or cartridge.

Taller "chair height" toilet for master bath. Elongated bowl instead of round bowl toilets.

Have builder pay attention to sealing gaps and cracks. The tighter the house the better.

Install 2x6 or 2x8 inside bathroom walls near toilet and tub/shower. For future installation of grab bars. You may not need them now, but if you ever do, the supports are there.

Tankless water heater(s) if that works for your family and house configuration.

Carbon monoxide detectors if you have any gas appliances in the house.

Pipe to future outside gas grill connection with cutoff valve and capped .

Laundry tub.
 
Couple more.
200 Amp electric service line.
Big enough circuit breaker box so you have some room to add a few circuits.
 
Read through this thread. Also ask over on chat for people to say what they love or hate about their houses.

Heated bathroom floors.

Pre-wired for surround sound and/or TV sound bar.
 
Deaconblue said:
Pre-wired for surround sound and/or TV sound bar.
Click to expand...

I was actually thinking about this today. I pre-wired my house for surround sound and a landline phone. Shortly after construction, Bluetooth surround sound and the push to 3G cell service rendered both obsolete. I've not used either in the 14 years I've lived here.

I'd add, if possible include more closets than originally included on the blueprints. You'll never have enough room to put shit.
 
tsywake said:
I was actually thinking about this today. I pre-wired my house for surround sound and a landline phone. Shortly after construction, Bluetooth surround sound and the push to 3G cell service rendered both obsolete. I've not used either in the 14 years I've lived here.

I'd add, if possible include more closets than originally included on the blueprints. You'll never have enough room to put shit.
Click to expand...

Also to go with that, where do you put your internet interface? And then, wire to wherever you put your router? Looks neater not to have coax along your baseboards.

And a strong endorsement for more closets.
 
Due to the size of my back deck and the tankless hot water heater exhaust, I had to place my water heater on one end of my house. Even so, I have hit water withing 15-20 seconds on the far end of my house. I'd have loved to have the water heater more centrally located though.
 
I've considered a tankless for upstairs and one for downstairs. Does that make any sense? Or just overkill? Any way to keep the water pressure up for the upstairs if the dishwasher or something is running downstairs?
 
Another follow-up. Hardwood floors are great and I really like them. However, they do not belong in kitchen, baths and laundry.room. And that goes for all permutations of bamboo and wood products.

I have seen too many times when wood product floor has gotten wet and warped. Stone, tile or plastic in potentially wet areas.

Bathroom flooring should go under the toilet up to the toilet flange. Then the toilet is put down on the floor. That way of the toilet has to be changed, the new toilet footprint doesn't have to be exactly the same as that of the old one.

I prefer that floor go under kitchen base cabinets and bath vanities and washer/dryer spaces. Better to have water impervious surface under all that rather than sitting on wood subfloor.

If you are picking tile or stone, make sure any of that stuff is rated for floor use if you plan to put it on floors. Floor tile is thicker to take the pounding from feet. Floor tile can be put on walls. Wall tile will not do well on floors.
 
BacktoBack said:
I've considered a tankless for upstairs and one for downstairs. Does that make any sense? Or just overkill? Any way to keep the water pressure up for the upstairs if the dishwasher or something is running downstairs?
Click to expand...
What is the square footage of your home? Ours is 2200, and we have a single unit. 1500 main floor, and 700 upstairs. 3 br, 2 ba, and the one is sufficient. There are different BTU options (at least there were in 2008 when I got mine), but I'd think unless you have a 4000 Sq foot or larger home, one would be fine.
 
tsywake said:
What is the square footage of your home? Ours is 2200, and we have a single unit. 1500 main floor, and 700 upstairs. 3 br, 2 ba, and the one is sufficient. There are different BTU options (at least there were in 2008 when I got mine), but I'd think unless you have a 4000 Sq foot or larger home, one would be fine.
Click to expand...

Two might make sense for us.
I think we'll be right around 4k. Thanks for your advice
 
The back of the toilet isn’t refilling but when I push down on the black thing inside the tank it does. How does one fix this?
 
The black thing is likely some version of a float that’s supposed to go down with the water level when you flush the toilet. The float is attached to the fill valve and when it goes down it opens the fill valve to fill the tank until the float rises and shuts off the fill valve.

If you can’t see an obvious and fixable reason why the float isn’t automatically dropping with the tank water level then you probably need to replace the whole fill valve, which generally includes a new float.
 
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