I've been inspired, but not enough to do it right, going to rent a dethatcher and overseed.
- 1
Home Improvement
- Thread starter Picasso3
- Start date
Dandai
<WoW Guild Officer>
- 5,937
- 4,552
Lol. Dethatcher is definitely good enough. Little late in the season for WV I’d think, but throw down a bag of milorganite for every 3-5k sq ft of lawn and it’ll do well enough. Water water water!
- 1
Lanx
<Prior Amod>
- 72,561
- 171,418
Daezuel
Potato del Grande
- 25,541
- 66,692
So it's been a long time since I've painted anything and all I really have is a ladder. Need to paint at least 2 rooms, maybe more, any advice on tools/paint? Any other things you'd do before moving into your new house? Planning on bug bombing, cleaning carpets, changing locks, and painting over the next week here.
lurker
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
- 1,948
- 5,045
Get some canvas drop cloths. The long runner type are especially handy to lay along the base of the wall you’re painting. You’ll use them some other day to make walkways to rooms for other projects. Don’t use plastic drop cloths. They’re non-absorbing and slippery.
Buy quality brushes and take care of them. They’ll last a long time if you clean them well when you’re done using them. Buy a quality roller handle and good rollers. Pro-tip: If you’re done painting for the day but will do more tomorrow, roll your paint roller up in Saran Wrap and stick it in the fridge over night. It’ll keep for a few days. Use tray liners and throw rollers away.
Buy good paint. Don’t believe that ‘paint and primer’ bullshit. It’s marketing. It started with HD and then Lowes jumped on board followed by Sherwin-Williams and on and on. If you need a primer, buy a primer. Same with one-coat coverage. You might get away with one coat, but count on two. Two coats of color is not the same as one coat of primer and one coat of color. You get what you pay for with paint. More expensive paint covers better and holds up to abuse better.
- 2
Lanx
<Prior Amod>
- 72,561
- 171,418
Vinen
God is dead
- 2,793
- 498
Wish I had a good before...
Was an old 2 door detached garage with a flat roof.
Said roof was leaking and just tons of damage there. Funny watching the demo as the wood was so rotted away it took almost no effort to take it down.
Primarily going to be used 1 car and storage.
PS: Labor is retarded expensive in MA. Work I'm getting done would be a 1/2 to 1/3 as much in any other location.
Last edited:
- 2
- 1
Dandai
<WoW Guild Officer>
- 5,937
- 4,552
107 heat index here today. I’ve been watering 10 minutes every couple hours in the areas in direct sunlight. The grass is coming in unevenly, but almost all the thin spots are showing signs of the beginning of germination. Slopes like this are a real challenge to water adequately
Edit: As of 3:30PM
Edit: As of 3:30PM
Last edited:
Dandai
<WoW Guild Officer>
- 5,937
- 4,552
Daezuel
Potato del Grande
- 25,541
- 66,692
Myself! Nah, I don't even know, wife just hates spiders mostly, don't think there is an infestation or anything. (also this is a house we just bought and we arent moving in for another week so we have time to clean it)
- 1
Dandai
<WoW Guild Officer>
- 5,937
- 4,552
I imagine it sucks to redo a yard anywhere lol. It’s just unseasonably warm right now. The forecast for the next week is much more favorable. Living in the transition zone you can get good results from both cool and warm season grasses, and while both have their challenges, cool season grasses seem to have a tougher time - especially if you follow conventional wisdom on lawncare.
As for irrigation, I installed a small irrigation system in the front lawn that connects to a hose spigot and a timer. My water output is barely 5 gallons per minute so I can only run 6 heads at a time. This meant I had to install a second, separate run of 6 heads. The coverage is great, though, and it only cost me about $250 in parts (another $20ish in repairs for a spot where they ran fiber and nicked the underside of my buried funny pipe).
It wasn’t fun trenching out the runs for the pipe, but it was very satisfying the first time I turned it on. I learned a lot about the basic aspects of plumbing and drainage and to cover everything threaded in a couple layers of Teflon tape!
My father in law helped me run a dedicated pvc line (or whatever the common plumbing pipe is called, pex?) to the existing spigots and add a third. We put a shut off valve at the T where it runs to the spigots so I can winterize the lines without needing to turn off water to the whole house.
Dandai
<WoW Guild Officer>
- 5,937
- 4,552
If there isn’t an active infestation, spraying the foundation perimeter will go a long way to keeping pests out. If you’re gonna spray it, read the directions and wear proper protective equipment. I’m sure there’s lots of good video guides on how to mix and spray if you haven’t done it before.
I’d recommend getting a commercial grade chemical as the stuff you can get off the shelf at a hardware store has very little active ingredient (and thus less effective). With the commercial grade stuff you gotta actually pay attention to the measurements though (an example with made up numbers:1.5 Tbsp of product per gallon of water covers 500 sq ft). If you’re heavy handed with it you’re probably just wasting your money but you might also cause more die off than intended in the area around your house. If you’re too light with it it obviously won’t be as effective.
- 2
Erronius
<WoW Guild Officer>
- 17,397
- 45,170
RE: air tools
Was at work, went for one, and realized I only ever use two of them 99% of the time
I'd never looked before, but both are 20k RPM (I just kind of assume that's 'standard'). Apparently there is some sort of Shrek~esque Ogre foot in the pic.
Work bench is all steel, BTW, if you're wondering what is up with the 'table', A wood bench wouldn't last long, I don't think.
I use the belt-sander one whenever I'm working on something too large to carry over to a bench grinder. It can also get into some hard-to-reach spots. But I'll use a bench grinder when I can, because the replacement belts I have are old enough that the adhesive has started to dry out, and if you aren't careful you'll have to replace belts long before they wear out. But I'll be damned if I don't get as much use out of them as I can before buying new ones
Die grinder...so useful. You can also make really good Nascar sounds with it. Makes a sawzall look like a kids toy.
If you're going to get air tools, keep an eye out for the old-style metal frames/bodies. A lot of people have gone to plastic shit. Plastic...is shit...IMHO.
This is a 'before' pic. There's a Transformer mounted on the underside of the steel plate, and that's one of the mounting bolts. But I often need to mount stuff on this side. That length is a PITA, and is always in the way. Trying to mount anything over it, makes components crooked/canted, and grinding it off is the quickest solution (note-pad inserted underneath so that I don't spray metal-dust into the assembly underneath)
It doesn't need to be perfect; it just needs to be somewhat flush so I can mount stuff over it. It takes longer to grab the grinder and pull the hose off a reel than it does to actually do the grinding.
BTW, P Picasso3 is a cool dude.
Here is another part on the same assembly build. Again, bolts are too long. Dropping 1/4" in length is too short, so...grind it off. The mounting plate in the pic is a spare plate I keep specifically so that I can mount the circuit board on the backside to grind the bolts off to the exact length, then I remove it and mount it to the actual component/assembly. If I don't grind these off (I think these are 6-32s, off the top of my head, so fairly small) then they will push into the opposing component and cause things to bow out pretty badly. (multiple sets of holes SUPPOSEDLY for numerous other mounting options, but I think I've only ever used one set of 2ea holes)
Now, I apologize for this not really being homeowner relevant, but 1) you can blow me, 2) halfway to drunk right now, 3) I still owe
Dandai
a steak dinner, 4) if you want to do a hobby that involves stuff like this, or maybe a lot of auto work, OR you just like USING REALLY LOUD AIR TOOLS WHILE SPORTING A CHUB, then I hope this helps. There is NO FUCKING WAY I'd want to do this with a hand file (ugh), bench grinder (not really economical to take EVERYTHING APART just so you can carry subcomponents over to the grinder), or a cordless drill (slower, less options, plus I wanna wrek shit )
Was at work, went for one, and realized I only ever use two of them 99% of the time
I'd never looked before, but both are 20k RPM (I just kind of assume that's 'standard'). Apparently there is some sort of Shrek~esque Ogre foot in the pic.
Work bench is all steel, BTW, if you're wondering what is up with the 'table', A wood bench wouldn't last long, I don't think.
I use the belt-sander one whenever I'm working on something too large to carry over to a bench grinder. It can also get into some hard-to-reach spots. But I'll use a bench grinder when I can, because the replacement belts I have are old enough that the adhesive has started to dry out, and if you aren't careful you'll have to replace belts long before they wear out. But I'll be damned if I don't get as much use out of them as I can before buying new ones
Die grinder...so useful. You can also make really good Nascar sounds with it. Makes a sawzall look like a kids toy.
If you're going to get air tools, keep an eye out for the old-style metal frames/bodies. A lot of people have gone to plastic shit. Plastic...is shit...IMHO.
This is a 'before' pic. There's a Transformer mounted on the underside of the steel plate, and that's one of the mounting bolts. But I often need to mount stuff on this side. That length is a PITA, and is always in the way. Trying to mount anything over it, makes components crooked/canted, and grinding it off is the quickest solution (note-pad inserted underneath so that I don't spray metal-dust into the assembly underneath)
It doesn't need to be perfect; it just needs to be somewhat flush so I can mount stuff over it. It takes longer to grab the grinder and pull the hose off a reel than it does to actually do the grinding.
BTW, P Picasso3 is a cool dude.
Here is another part on the same assembly build. Again, bolts are too long. Dropping 1/4" in length is too short, so...grind it off. The mounting plate in the pic is a spare plate I keep specifically so that I can mount the circuit board on the backside to grind the bolts off to the exact length, then I remove it and mount it to the actual component/assembly. If I don't grind these off (I think these are 6-32s, off the top of my head, so fairly small) then they will push into the opposing component and cause things to bow out pretty badly. (multiple sets of holes SUPPOSEDLY for numerous other mounting options, but I think I've only ever used one set of 2ea holes)
Now, I apologize for this not really being homeowner relevant, but 1) you can blow me, 2) halfway to drunk right now, 3) I still owe
Dandai
a steak dinner, 4) if you want to do a hobby that involves stuff like this, or maybe a lot of auto work, OR you just like USING REALLY LOUD AIR TOOLS WHILE SPORTING A CHUB, then I hope this helps. There is NO FUCKING WAY I'd want to do this with a hand file (ugh), bench grinder (not really economical to take EVERYTHING APART just so you can carry subcomponents over to the grinder), or a cordless drill (slower, less options, plus I wanna wrek shit )- 2
This isn't really home improvement, but this is the closest thread there is for this and it's within the same realm
My desk setup is very similar to this:
But with a different (and lighter) countertop for the desk surface. Also, it's on carpet that is about 1cm deep.
I'm looking to be able to pull the desk out from the wall (about 76cm) and push it back with ease to be able to use a large screen as both a monitor and TV/Console usage, but without the desk just sitting out in the middle of the floor when it's not being used as a monitor.
The issue is that the drawer units are flat bottomed and heavy, so something is going to need to be attached that allows it to slide on carpet. They're 60cm deep and 36cm wide, and I can't for the life of me find any carpet furniture sliders that would fit the entire bottom. Using smaller ones at each corner of them might work, but I'm still not sure if even that would be sufficient due to the weight of the entire desk. Also trying to keep the cost lowish as there would be simpler options at a higher pricepoint.
Anyone have some suggestions?
My desk setup is very similar to this:
But with a different (and lighter) countertop for the desk surface. Also, it's on carpet that is about 1cm deep.
I'm looking to be able to pull the desk out from the wall (about 76cm) and push it back with ease to be able to use a large screen as both a monitor and TV/Console usage, but without the desk just sitting out in the middle of the floor when it's not being used as a monitor.
The issue is that the drawer units are flat bottomed and heavy, so something is going to need to be attached that allows it to slide on carpet. They're 60cm deep and 36cm wide, and I can't for the life of me find any carpet furniture sliders that would fit the entire bottom. Using smaller ones at each corner of them might work, but I'm still not sure if even that would be sufficient due to the weight of the entire desk. Also trying to keep the cost lowish as there would be simpler options at a higher pricepoint.
Anyone have some suggestions?
Dandai
<WoW Guild Officer>
- 5,937
- 4,552
As far as I know, nothings going to easily roll over carpet. I’m American so all your science measurements give me a headache, but it sounds like you want to move the desk a significant distance?
The best solution off the top of my head is a rigid plastic mat and putting casters under your desk. You’ll probably need to put some plywood or 2x4 across the bottom of your drawers and attach the casters to those. Edit: looking at my picture it dawned on me that I’ve got tall carpet under my desk and it rolls easy enough. It’s probably a lot lighter than yours though as it doesn’t have drawers.
I just put a little shelf across the bottom of my desk (it happens to already have casters). I used angle iron and 3/8” plywood. You couldn’t stand on it, but it’s sturdy enough to hold the weight of my PC case and UPS.
- 2
It's roughly 30 inches that it needs to be pulled out.
It wouldn't be possible to mount casters large enough to handle the weight as the thickness of the bottom is maybe half an inch. The drawer units along are 60lb each, with the top being 46lb, and then there's the actual drawer contents as well. Probably ~210lbs altogether.
Also, a mat isn't really an option as it would be sticking out when it's pushed back, which would negate trying to keep the space clear when pushed back.
A desk like you're using is my second option, with it being moved into position when needed, but I would much prefer to just modify what I already have rather than buying a whole new desk.
GuardianX
Perpetually Pessimistic
- 7,983
- 20,862
Trying to understand, why do you want to move the desk?
Do you have some BIG screen TV you roll into place behind the desk or something?
---
I mean, the solution you have seems to be a lot of work, one way or another, just to "Switch Modes" so to speak.
You will be moving your current monitors to use the TV behind them?
Also, whats the point of moving the desk 75 CM away from the wall? Eye strain avoidance?
---
To make due with what you have, you would likely be raising your desk up a ton (6-10 cm), securing your bottom to your top in a heavy-duty way (steel threads and nuts) and adding in bolts to the top of your desk (Which honestly could look pretty cool / new-modern / trendy if you "aged" or went with a solid black color).
The wheels:
Amazon product ASIN B07DL6R3GP
you want to make 100% sure that the top and the drawers are anchored to eachother VERY well. My "art" only has 4 bolts but I would use 8 personally.
Last edited: