Siliconemelons
Naxxramas 1.0 Raider
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And us Florida people use heat pump water heaters to cool our house or attic (air gap insulation)
Home Improvement
- Thread starter Picasso3
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Guest, it's time once again for the massively important and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!
Go here and give us your nominations!Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Give us your worst ones!
Palum
what Suineg set it to
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Well that's probably because in order to properly insulate your basement it's way more than $600 for most houses. If you don't let moisture evaporate out of concrete it will cause significant damage over time. It's very expensive to install proper drainage against the basement walls, and most builders didn't know or care historically. That means you need to create a significant air barrier with say a false interior wall to hang the insulation in, which means you're finishing it.
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That's the thing. There was already a 2x4 wall framed in, it just wasn't insulated. The drainage outside was done right, so it was just getting the right insulation and hanging it. $600 gets you a lot of insulation when it's on super sale and you're installing it yourself.
Lanx
<Prior Amod>
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just browsing hd clearance and i picked up a wyze thermostat for 30bucks, i just had the ecobee on 1 floor and the other floor i left dumb. install was simple, common wire was left unconnected at the furnace, so i just had to screw it in, unfortunately it replaced a huge wall plate and theres a gang box for the connections. (and the wyze is smaller than the box), so i guess i'll have a bit of drywall patching to do. (right now it's connected but just hanging off the wall)
Lanx
<Prior Amod>
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it was a huge wall plate, i still have a bucket of paint from the previous owner so patching wouldn't be a problem
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Kobayashi
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Was just up in my attic today and noticed all the screens on the attic vents were busted. Any recommendations on a solution? I see some stainless covers that go over the attic vent on the roof side - from an animal ingress standpoint, this seems like the best solution, but I hate nailing anything into my shingles. I'd prefer to do something on the attic side, but I don't see much except just buying some sort of screen material and nailing/stapling it up. Looks like it was red squirrels, so, I'd think that would just encourage those assholes to chew deeper into the wood on the roof.
Palum
what Suineg set it to
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What type of vents? Normally I would just use steel wool, but I don't understand why you couldn't fit some sort of bird cage in there like the stainless gutter downspout guards.
Kobayashi
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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They look like these:
I thought about stuffing some steel wool in there, but I figured it would rust pretty quickly, plus I would be slightly concerned about obstruction air/moisture.
This is what I was looking at that mount on the roof side:
HY-C ROOF VENT GUARD 16"x16" GALVANIZED
The roof vent guard from HY-C prevents raccoon, opossum, squirrel and other animals from entering your home through roof vents.
www.animaltrapsandsupplies.com
Palum
what Suineg set it to
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They look like these:
I thought about stuffing some steel wool in there, but I figured it would rust pretty quickly, plus I would be slightly concerned about obstruction air/moisture.
This is what I was looking at that mount on the roof side:
HY-C ROOF VENT GUARD 16"x16" GALVANIZED
The roof vent guard from HY-C prevents raccoon, opossum, squirrel and other animals from entering your home through roof vents.
Can't you just make a cylinder of stainless mesh and shove it up in there?
Daidraco
Avatar of War Slayer
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I know your ass is going to sand that square out before you paint that area. Over here talking like you're going to do a landlord special! "Oh, nah - I dont need your handyman to do it. I got it!" (as he paints over the dead cock roach. Forever sealing it in as a reminder to tenant and cockroach alike.)
In other news, and very similar look to what I believe is your thermostat - some nog tried to steal a Ring doorbell from one of my personal properties yesterday. It proved too difficult for him to figure out that its just one fucking security screw holding on the cover plate. Im sure he would have got it had the neighbor not pulled in - but to watch some 'groid struggle with thin plastic on camera for a few minutes was interesting to watch at least. Dude even broke out his phone and as far as I can see, youtubed the installation of one. Just another +1 to racism for me. Tenant said she tried to threaten him with the cops, but it would take 10 minutes for them to get out there.
Lanx
<Prior Amod>
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i would actually sand 6inches beyond the sand b/c idk if you can see it, but there are brushstrokes around the wall plate
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Cutlery
Kill All the White People
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I figure this is probably a better thread for this than the car one, just based upon the level of handyman bullshit shenanigans I'm planning on doing here.
So, I drive a 2004 Ram. Bought it new. 253k on it. It's.....well used. The running boards fell off. Well, not exactly fell - you can lift them off. I can't exactly tell how the fuck they were secured in the first place.
The underside looks like this. No threads, just holes.
The mounting brackets all look like this. Those are bolts with...I don't fucking know. Round nuts? I have no idea. They're all exactly like that, so it's not like they rusted out. They're perfectly circular and I have no idea how I'm gonna get them off aside from cutting them. Also, there's no hardware inside the running bars themselves...so it's not like the bolt rusted off and there's a nut rattling around in there or anything.
Anyway, everything is in fine shape except the connection hardware. The bars are fine, the brackets attached the frame are fine, it's just that I have no idea how they were secured, or how to secure them again, given that I can't exactly get a wrench inside the running bar to put a nut on or anything.
So I'm thinking - toggle bolts. I'll get the biggest size I can, thread on the toggle, cut off the bolt, throw some threadlocker on it and drop it into the hole.
You guys have any other ideas for jury rigging this? Because I think that's what I've gotta do here, considering the weirdness of this.
So, I drive a 2004 Ram. Bought it new. 253k on it. It's.....well used. The running boards fell off. Well, not exactly fell - you can lift them off. I can't exactly tell how the fuck they were secured in the first place.
The underside looks like this. No threads, just holes.
The mounting brackets all look like this. Those are bolts with...I don't fucking know. Round nuts? I have no idea. They're all exactly like that, so it's not like they rusted out. They're perfectly circular and I have no idea how I'm gonna get them off aside from cutting them. Also, there's no hardware inside the running bars themselves...so it's not like the bolt rusted off and there's a nut rattling around in there or anything.
Anyway, everything is in fine shape except the connection hardware. The bars are fine, the brackets attached the frame are fine, it's just that I have no idea how they were secured, or how to secure them again, given that I can't exactly get a wrench inside the running bar to put a nut on or anything.
So I'm thinking - toggle bolts. I'll get the biggest size I can, thread on the toggle, cut off the bolt, throw some threadlocker on it and drop it into the hole.
You guys have any other ideas for jury rigging this? Because I think that's what I've gotta do here, considering the weirdness of this.
Palum
what Suineg set it to
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Those grey lumps around the bolts are the old threaded inserts, probably just tack welded so they just disintegrated apart?
I wouldn't trust toggle bolts personally. I'd probably try to just get the whole thing welded together as a monolithic piece if you really don't care and the brackets are still attached to the frame securely. Otherwise I'd just get a used set somewhere and replace it all. If the underside the running boards look like that, I'd be worried about the bolt on brackets failing.
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Cutlery
Kill All the White People
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The bolts on the brackets are super heavy duty, they're bolted directly to the frame and completely solid still. I initially thought about replacing the whole set, but getting those fuckers off would probably do more damage to the frame than it's worth. Probably just best to let sleeping dogs lie on that one.
Palum
what Suineg set it to
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You can maybe just find the rails and cut off the old hardware from the brackets if they're good?
Cutlery
Kill All the White People
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Tried that. Actually really hard to find Mopar shit that old after the Chrysler/Ram split. Theres a ton of aftermarket shit, but the brackets aren't the same or same distance apart, which leads me back around to not wanting to remove the supports.
The other thing I forgot to mention is they haven't been attached...for awhile. The brackets kinda cradle the running boards, and just those inserts have been holding them on for, I dunno, weeks, months? So that's what makes me think the toggle bolts will be fine. 6 of those on each side, some thread locker....it'll be pretty obvious if a bolt breaks, because I'll hear the hardware rattling around inside the running board.
Plus, it's a 20 year old truck. We ain't looking to put in a ton of effort or cash into this. My other option was to buy a green treated 4x4 and Tuco the shit outta this!
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Kobayashi
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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I'd assume they're some sort of PEM nut. If you have a good set of locking pliers, you could try backing out the bolt - might need to spray with some anti seize. If that won't do it, I think cutting is your only option to get the bolts out. If you're able to get one out, you could try to get the dimensions and find a replacement.
Assuming you don't know someone who is good at welding, toggle bolts sound kind of janky, but I think they'd work. I think you'd get some lateral play, could maybe use some hose clamps to keep it snug? Only other thing would be to make sure your toggle bolt is outdoor rated - even then I might inspect often to make sure they're not disintegrating.
Burns
Avatar of War Slayer
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Surf around McMasters-Carr and see if you can find some specialty fasteners that will work. Take a hacksaw (least chance of collateral damage) to those bolts, or any of the other various solutions to getting the old bolts gone (soak in Kano Aerokroil Penetrating Oil; use a torch, smartly; or just angle grinder the shit out of everything...including catching the door and your leg, probably).