Home Improvement

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lurkingdirk

AssHat Taint
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It'd be way more expensive and likely not look as good. Get pressure treated wood, and have someone who isn't an idiot build it. The top decorative part isn't under any pressure, so warping should be at a minimum if you get good lumber.
 
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iannis

Musty Nester
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That's also the kind of thing you plan on rebuilding every ten years.

Like a well built deck can easily last thirty, but really you should resurface it every ten.
 
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Picasso3

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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I keep seeing trex decks that look like shit and can't be older than 10 years. I'll guessing that'll be a massive lawsuit/ bankruptcy thing when all these people don't get the 400 years they were promised.

Look into IPE, it's pricey but the go to for top quality outdoor wood
 
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Dandai

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That composite stuff just doesn’t look good imo. To me they’re like the first “photo realistic CGI” movies that came out 20 years ago that were difficult to watch because they were deep in the uncanny valley.
 

GuardianX

Perpetually Pessimistic
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HAHA...

so road-bump in my timeline, can't say it was unexpected:

1552429816227.png


but I CAN say I switched out the outlets in my kids room to tamper resist and a GFCI / AFCI on the 1st in series plus a deco switch. There is a story on that project too....

This house man, the guy who did it just I don't even..

So found out a few fun things:

Light switch in bed 1 leads to ONE wall + switch for the fan and lights in the master bedroom. Switch off the kids room, lose power to that wall and switch panel in the master.

ONE outlet in the kids room apparently leads to a switch to a closet in the master bedroom meaning...I need to add ANOTHER afci / gfci if I wanna be code compliant...THAT or I gotta wire that outlet into the bedroom series.

Finally the icing on the cake that made me laugh, one outlet in the kids room had a black line with a white load and a white line to a black load. I don't know if it matters all that much but I fixed it anyhow.

---

I also come bearing a question, do I need / want a vapor / moisture-proof barrier on my slab for the bathroom Vinyl? The vinyl has a padded backing attached and I know it's water-proof but should I add like a thin membrane below the floor against the concrete?
 

Dandai

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I don't know anything about flooring, but the vinyl plank floor I installed in my living room had specific directions from the manufacturer as far as vapor barrier and underlayment.
 
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Picasso3

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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Look into arc fault ground vault breakers.

An idiot may have replaced your switch, i would check the box to see if need to move a wire from the load terminal to the line terminal.

You can leave a piece of plastic taped on the concrete for a few days and see if any moisture builds up. I probably wouldn't worry about it for vinyl over concrete because nothing is going to get damaged by water, worst thing i can thing of is a foam backer getting moldy but it's just as likely to get moisture from the top side.
 
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GuardianX

Perpetually Pessimistic
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Look into arc fault ground vault breakers.

An idiot may have replaced your switch, i would check the box to see if need to move a wire from the load terminal to the line terminal.

So I bought an AF/GFCI for the room and placed it on the 1st in series outlet.

Ascertained 1st in series through killing power to the room, DCing outlets 1 by one and then finding the one wire entering the room that remained live while all others were dead.

Wired outlet as required and then tested outlet (Using the outlet and not a testing tool unfortunately).

There was only ONE outlet (So far) that was a wired improperly. Going to wait for my dad to get here to do electrical box shit because he thinks he won't die and I will.

You can leave a piece of plastic taped on the concrete for a few days and see if any moisture builds up. I probably wouldn't worry about it for vinyl over concrete because nothing is going to get damaged by water, worst thing i can thing of is a foam backer getting moldy but it's just as likely to get moisture from the top side.

Good to know, I mean it's slab on grade so I think I'm golden, just wondered if there was a best practice. I need to stop dragging my feet and frame the bathroom door so I can move on to other things in there.

Mainly asked because I, in the process of demo, found out that the laminate flooring (not waterproof, I know...) has a vapor barrier and I wondered if it was a best practice to vape dat floor even on a waterproof flooring.
 
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Lanx

<Prior Amod>
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So I bought an AF/GFCI for the room and placed it on the 1st in series outlet.

Ascertained 1st in series through killing power to the room, DCing outlets 1 by one and then finding the one wire entering the room that remained live while all others were dead.

Wired outlet as required and then tested outlet (Using the outlet and not a testing tool unfortunately).

There was only ONE outlet (So far) that was a wired improperly. Going to wait for my dad to get here to do electrical box shit because he thinks he won't die and I will.



Good to know, I mean it's slab on grade so I think I'm golden, just wondered if there was a best practice. I need to stop dragging my feet and frame the bathroom door so I can move on to other things in there.

Mainly asked because I, in the process of demo, found out that the laminate flooring (not waterproof, I know...) has a vapor barrier and I wondered if it was a best practice to vape dat floor even on a waterproof flooring.
oh wait, this is the same house w/ that fucked up spaghetti plumbing? holy shit!
 
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iannis

Musty Nester
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Electricity scares me. When I do any actual electrical work, which isn't often, I turn the entire damn house off. Fuck yoooouuuu, we're off the grid.

I just don't like the fact that I can't see it. God damn black magic.
 
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Lanx

<Prior Amod>
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Electricity scares me. When I do any actual electrical work, which isn't often, I turn the entire damn house off. Fuck yoooouuuu, we're off the grid.

I just don't like the fact that I can't see it. God damn black magic.
yea i got this combo for electrical and quadtriple check nuttin is coming out of it
411v7abHWVL.jpg
 
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iannis

Musty Nester
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I made a ghetto version. You take 2 insulated copper wires and a small light bulb. If there's current running through the outlet, it will run through the lightbulb and you can see that U GUN DIE.

A little automotive lightbulb, you need for the connector to be poles. Not the screw in ones.
 
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lurker

Vyemm Raider
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I made a ghetto version. You take 2 insulated copper wires and a small light bulb. If there's current running through the outlet, it will run through the lightbulb and you can see that U GUN DIE.

A little automotive lightbulb, you need for the connector to be poles. Not the screw in ones.
Little automotive lightbulbs are 12v. U GUN DIE.
 
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GuardianX

Perpetually Pessimistic
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I made a ghetto version. You take 2 insulated copper wires and a small light bulb. If there's current running through the outlet, it will run through the lightbulb and you can see that U GUN DIE.

A little automotive lightbulb, you need for the connector to be poles. Not the screw in ones.

Bitch you spent more in copper than it would to purchase one of those 100-600v non-contact line testers. LOL

For real though, those line testers are amazing. I bought one as part of a 3 pack that has a wiring tester / volt-meter / non-contact for something like 20 dollars on sale:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Southwire-Digital-100-to-600-Volt-Test-Set/1000095119

oh wait, this is the same house w/ that fucked up spaghetti plumbing? holy shit!

Yes bitch, I didn't burn it to the ground when I saw the plumbing why would I burn it to the ground when I saw the electrical?
 

iannis

Musty Nester
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Pff, I used old speaker wire. I've got a spool of that shit.

My rigs are the best Kangs. It's sooooo ghetto. Works though. Not dead yet!

I'm gonna go lick the backplate on my circuit breaker.
 

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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Not OSHA approved, but if you want to be 100% sure that your GFCI is working, you can test it by plugging in an extension cord and dipping the other end in a bucket of water.
 
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lurkingdirk

AssHat Taint
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I'm in a bit of a pickle. In my continuing kitchen renovation I removed the original pantry to change the traffic flow. I built a new pantry around the fridge, which is three times the size, and makes better use of space. However, the original pantry didn't have tile under it, so I have to replace the tile. I got really close - colour is just right, size is right, texture/finish is a bit wrong - but I can't match it perfectly. Here's my dilemma: I need to put down four new tiles in a pretty highly visible, high traffic area. They don't match exactly. Every time I walk in the room, I'll see it. However, quite a few other people have been over and said they wouldn't have noticed it (I have them laid in place). Maybe no one but me will notice.

This is tile that covers about 1,100 square feet including my kitchen, front foyer, powder room, and laundry. I really don't want to replace all of it, and if I replace any, it would have to be all, or nearly all, as everything is so open and it flows from one room to the next.

So, could you live with four tiles up against the wall that maybe only you could notice are not quite the same?
 

Dandai

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Not OSHA approved, but if you want to be 100% sure that your GFCI is working, you can test it by plugging in an extension cord and dipping the other end in a bucket of water.
That was how my buddy inadvertently tested the GFCI cord I bought him for his pump. Fortunately, it worked as expected.
 

Dandai

<WoW Guild Officer>
<Gold Donor>
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I'm in a bit of a pickle. In my continuing kitchen renovation I removed the original pantry to change the traffic flow. I built a new pantry around the fridge, which is three times the size, and makes better use of space. However, the original pantry didn't have tile under it, so I have to replace the tile. I got really close - colour is just right, size is right, texture/finish is a bit wrong - but I can't match it perfectly. Here's my dilemma: I need to put down four new tiles in a pretty highly visible, high traffic area. They don't match exactly. Every time I walk in the room, I'll see it. However, quite a few other people have been over and said they wouldn't have noticed it (I have them laid in place). Maybe no one but me will notice.

This is tile that covers about 1,100 square feet including my kitchen, front foyer, powder room, and laundry. I really don't want to replace all of it, and if I replace any, it would have to be all, or nearly all, as everything is so open and it flows from one room to the next.

So, could you live with four tiles up against the wall that maybe only you could notice are not quite the same?
I could live with it, especially knowing that as they get that heavy traffic, they’ll quickly become indistinguishable from the rest.
 

Lanx

<Prior Amod>
65,271
147,153
I'm in a bit of a pickle. In my continuing kitchen renovation I removed the original pantry to change the traffic flow. I built a new pantry around the fridge, which is three times the size, and makes better use of space. However, the original pantry didn't have tile under it, so I have to replace the tile. I got really close - colour is just right, size is right, texture/finish is a bit wrong - but I can't match it perfectly. Here's my dilemma: I need to put down four new tiles in a pretty highly visible, high traffic area. They don't match exactly. Every time I walk in the room, I'll see it. However, quite a few other people have been over and said they wouldn't have noticed it (I have them laid in place). Maybe no one but me will notice.

This is tile that covers about 1,100 square feet including my kitchen, front foyer, powder room, and laundry. I really don't want to replace all of it, and if I replace any, it would have to be all, or nearly all, as everything is so open and it flows from one room to the next.

So, could you live with four tiles up against the wall that maybe only you could notice are not quite the same?
only you and probably the home inspector would notice it anyway.

i mean how bad is it, not like this
c350751f1884bfc90fb034bef6d32420.jpg


just take a pic, we'll judge
 
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