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Official Pit Home Improvement/DIY thread

If you have trouble getting the galvanized stuff apart, might want to try liberal application of liquid wrench or other stuff used to loosen rusted nuts and bolts. Threads are threads, whether on a bolt and nut or two pieces of pipe.
 
To continue on the plumbing theme, a friend of mine had an outside faucet that had a serious lack of water pressure and gave the sound of running water when the valve was open, but the nozzle connected to the hose was shut. Yup, there was a major leak. Water all over the crawlspace floor.

Investigation under the crawlspace showed a half inch linear freeze crack in the supposed "freeze proof" sillcock that has the actual shutoff valve a foot or more from the outside handle. Apparently it was installed slightly incorrectly, without the necessary downslope from the connection to the water outlet.

Fun times crunched up in a crawl space with a torch heating the pipe to first get the old one off (it was sweat soldered directly to the pipe) then sweat soldering a fitting on the end of the pipe and screwing the new "freezeproof" sillcock into the new fitting. The only saving grace was the cuttoff valve for the outside water was properly installed, easy to reach, and worked like it was supposed to - no leak at all.
 
when our contractor redid our basement he installed one of those freeze-proof faucets so that we "wouldn't have to worry about putting in a cut-off valve for the winter. Of course, that faucet now no longer operates. It doesn't leak it just doesn't actually open the valve. Problem is the pipe runs along the ceiling of the basement which is drywalled.

Facepalm

Can't believe I let him talk me into that.
 
ImTheCaptain said:
when our contractor redid our basement he installed one of those freeze-proof faucets so that we "wouldn't have to worry about putting in a cut-off valve for the winter. Of course, that faucet now no longer operates. It doesn't leak it just doesn't actually open the valve. Problem is the pipe runs along the ceiling of the basement which is drywalled.

Facepalm

Can't believe I let him talk me into that.
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Does the handle turn and nothing happens or is the handle frozen? If its frozen, have you tried shooting some rust dissolver up the tube? You would need to take the outside end apart to get access.

Do you know whether the plumber soldered it on or screwed it into a fitting? (They can be installed eithwr way.)
 
zero issues with the showers all figured out. whew.

next project is adding a spigot to the utility sink in the wash room; it's current purpose is only to catch the drain line from the washer.
 
Deaconblue said:
Does the handle turn and nothing happens or is the handle frozen? If its frozen, have you tried shooting some rust dissolver up the tube? You would need to take the outside end apart to get access.

Do you know whether the plumber soldered it on or screwed it into a fitting? (They can be installed eithwr way.)
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Handle turns and nothing happens. It did work and slowly (over the summer and into fall) the amount of water dropped until now nothing. I could try the rust dissolver.

I don't know how the connection was completed, unfortunately. I was away for a day or two and the plumbing and drywall was all done and never thought about it being an issue.
 
I need a plumber (or maybe a handyman/contractor) in Winston - any recommendations?

Our second floor bathroom shower is leaking, and we've got visible water damage on the ceiling underneath it.

Further edit: I'm such a n00b at this. I'm fairly certain my Home Warranty will cover this, so I guess I won't have much of a choice, but at least I know who to call.
 
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awakeandready said:
Forgive me if I've asked this already. Any recs for someone to do a bathroom reno in Winston? If not, what kind of person do I look for- just a general contractor?

Next question: we have a big garden tub and then a tiny stall shower. I want to turn stall shower into a linen closet and do something instead of the garden tub. Do people still want tubs in the master (thinking about resale time)? Should we do a tub/shower combo or use the space for a larger, more modern shower space?
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Bumping this, as well. This is the same bathroom, so maybe two birds with one stone?
 
if you don't get any recs here, sign up for NextDoor and ask for recommendations; i find it particularly useful for this kind of thing where Angie's List is really hit or miss
 
lbE08 said:
zero issues with the showers all figured out. whew.

next project is adding a spigot to the utility sink in the wash room; it's current purpose is only to catch the drain line from the washer.
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You will be glad you did this. Not having H/C water supply to laundry sink was giving me the "what was the builder thinking" vibe. You will be glad you did this.
 
Deaconblue said:
You will be glad you did this. Not having H/C water supply to laundry sink was giving me the "what was the builder thinking" vibe. You will be glad you did this.
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I think we will be glad we did this.
 
So I'm looking to get some fairly significant work done on the house (need to repoint part of, if not the entire house). Considering two offers we received for the work and they are night and day different - not in terms of price but in terms of style.

For the first, the guy was at the house for less than 5 minutes, looked around for 10 seconds and gave me a price on the spot for the emergency area (source of a major leak in the house) and then said if I give him that work then he will do the entire house for $X. No written offer, no scope, just $X.

For the second, the guy was there for maybe 30 minutes, took measurements, asked questions, and came back today with a written offer with tons of detail about square footage, amount of scaffolding, exactly what the work will entail, etc. He only quoted me on the emergency section and I guess will get back to me on the entire house. He came in cheaper for the emergency section, but it's difficult to tell if he will be doing as much work as the first. The first guy waved his hands and said, I'll do all this for $X. The second is being very specific as to exactly what will be done - while in my head that should include everything that the first guy will be doing, the specificity makes me think maybe not. The second is also doing some extra work on my neighbor's property (which we would likely benefit from) that the first guy isn't going to do (thus making his price even less than the first).

So the question I have is whether I should be wary of the first guy just waving his hands about and throwing out round numbers at me. Part of me thinks that maybe it's ok because he's been doing this work for 30 years and knows what it costs to do it. Especially if we agree that the price is the price and that there won't be any change order kind of shit, which would definitely be the case with the second offer. Both places have A+ ratings on Angie's List and otherwise good internet reviews.

Any thoughts?
 
What does NextDoor have to say about it? (kidding. kind of.)

We had a guy much like Option #1 do our floors, and it was great. He did his thing, we knew it would look good (and checked up on it as he went), and we paid him the originally stated price.
As much as I love a lot of communication, sometimes it opens the door for all those nit-picky little changes like you're talking about, and that's kind of annoying and almost 0% chance the change is in your favor. Why does the amount of scaffolding matter? Is he charging per section of scaffolding and is going to come back and say "Oh, we needed more reach = more scaffolding = more $." Noooope.

I would maybe clarify what #1 is saying he'll do, put something in writing, and go with him. That's what I'd do, anyway.
 
Anyone ever fixed the seal on a freezer/fridge before? Easy to do, or should I just hire a handyman?
 
lbE08 said:
What does NextDoor have to say about it? (kidding. kind of.)

We had a guy much like Option #1 do our floors, and it was great. He did his thing, we knew it would look good (and checked up on it as he went), and we paid him the originally stated price.
As much as I love a lot of communication, sometimes it opens the door for all those nit-picky little changes like you're talking about, and that's kind of annoying and almost 0% chance the change is in your favor. Why does the amount of scaffolding matter? Is he charging per section of scaffolding and is going to come back and say "Oh, we needed more reach = more scaffolding = more $." Noooope.

I would maybe clarify what #1 is saying he'll do, put something in writing, and go with him. That's what I'd do, anyway.
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This is kinda where I'm at. The lawyer in me likes stuff in writing, but it goes both ways (the potential for getting screwed, that is). And yeah, he's pricing out the scaffolding by the sq ft, which to me seems a little odd. Shouldn't they just have scaffolding (like they do ladders and other contractor equipment)?
 
wfudkn said:
This is kinda where I'm at. The lawyer in me likes stuff in writing, but it goes both ways (the potential for getting screwed, that is). And yeah, he's pricing out the scaffolding by the sq ft, which to me seems a little odd. Shouldn't they just have scaffolding (like they do ladders and other contractor equipment)?
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You'd think so, but in my experience the smaller guys rent scaffolding as the jobs require and pass that along in the cost. Scaffolding can be expensive and requires a lot of space for storage since the amount required varies by job.
 
wfudkn said:
This is kinda where I'm at. The lawyer in me likes stuff in writing, but it goes both ways (the potential for getting screwed, that is). And yeah, he's pricing out the scaffolding by the sq ft, which to me seems a little odd. Shouldn't they just have scaffolding (like they do ladders and other contractor equipment)?
Click to expand...

LCD's explanation for scaffolding cost makes sense.
... I get it, but I still don't like it being part of the equation- especially if both companies have A+ grades on Angie's List.
 
tigerswood said:
Anyone ever fixed the seal on a freezer/fridge before? Easy to do, or should I just hire a handyman?
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This is a moderate do it yourself project. I assume you have a source for gaskets that will properly fit the make and model of your refrigerator. All such gaskets are not the same.

The difficulty of this project depends on:

1. How easy or difficult is it to remove the door of the refrig/freezer? This is usually not too hard. Usually the hinge at the top is easily removed and the door then slips off the bottom hinge.

2. How difficult or easy is it to take the door itself apart? The fasteners are usually inside the gasket. Are they standard screws or something exotic? You can generally find them by gently rolling the existing gasket toward the outside of the door and looking underneath.

3. Do you have a bathtub? The new gasket needs to be warmed up to go on more easily. The best way is to put it in bathtub of hot water. Smaller sinks/laundry tubs don't work as well because the gasket has to be crumpled up too much. But they can be used. Just need to be careful to refold a couple of times to avoid kinks.
 
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