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Lejina

Lejina

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Using the tone generator, I followed the tone along the wall and found an outlet behind the fridge that had been buried under ten coats of paint. Sure enough, it is the end of the daisy chain line from the original dead outlet and that one is dead too. So that explain a pair of wires on the original socket but not the pair that was tied together or where the hell a wire may be cut.

I suspect they cut a wire with one of the dozens of nails/screws they used to hang pictures and never attempted to fix it beyond switching off the breaker and forgetting about those outlets.
 
Vinen

Vinen

God is dead
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495
Anyone know of any DIY guides for basic basement finishing? Basically going to hire an electrician for some plugs and handle the rest with friends.
 
P

Picasso3

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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got (semi) floating shelves up in kitchen. They were a pain in the ass but it was cool to turn a big block of wood into something i really wanted for kitchen.

Ignore the liquor collection, i have 90 bottles with 1 drink each i'm too jew to throw away.
 
Joeboo

Joeboo

Molten Core Raider
8,157
140
Vinen_sl said:
Anyone know of any DIY guides for basic basement finishing? Basically going to hire an electrician for some plugs and handle the rest with friends.
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My only piece of advice...do a drop ceiling, don't drywall your ceiling. My finished basement has a drywalled ceiling and it absolutely sucks not being able to access the main floor of the house from underneath it. Its a bitch for running wiring. or if you ever need to access plumbing, etc. The drop ceiling in the basement will make any renovations or additions you ever do to the main level above a LOT easier.
 
lurkingdirk

lurkingdirk

AssHat Taint
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And drop ceilings have evolved a lot. You can put them in with as little as about a half inch clearance. They also look a lot better than they used to. The finished part of my basement has a finished ceiling, but if I had done it, it would have a drop ceiling. I might still do this when I do the big basement renovation.
 
A

a_skeleton_03

<Banned>
29,948
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I bought a Nest thermostat today, took 15 minutes to install. Pretty excited about it. It's a rental so I am taking that $250 with me when I leave.
 
Lejina

Lejina

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Well, after trying to trace the tone by wanding next to the walls, floor and ceiling for over 2 hours, I give up. Best guess is the signal disappear somewhere in the ceiling. There's like 2 feet of that cellulose insulation stuff up there and the access trap is in the middle of the stairwell downstairs, which makes it ridiculously challenging to access and a pain in the ass to work in. I'll have to power thru at some point to install a bathroom fan, so I'll give a look then, but I'm not going thru this just for that electric issue alone.

Thanks to those who gave some pointers, appreciated.
 
Oldbased

Oldbased

> Than U
28,436
67,425
Lejina_sl said:
Well, after trying to trace the tone by wanding next to the walls, floor and ceiling for over 2 hours, I give up. Best guess is the signal disappear somewhere in the ceiling. There's like 2 feet of that cellulose insulation stuff up there and the access trap is in the middle of the stairwell downstairs, which makes it ridiculously challenging to access and a pain in the ass to work in. I'll have to power thru at some point to install a bathroom fan, so I'll give a look then, but I'm not going thru this just for that electric issue alone.


Thanks to those who gave some pointers, appreciated.
Click to expand...
As someone who remodels for a living I run into this all the time. Hell in the house I rent I still have 2 such plugs I have yet to track down.
When I moved in I replaced all the plugs/switches and fixed a dozen fucking shorts in the lights. It was a goddamn mess, some idiot had put a 220 electric fireplace on the bedroom 20amp line as well. We didn't even know until winter came and it kicked on out of nowhere and the bedroom went HALF dark, it had a 20 amp circuit breaker FUSE that didn't fully trip and was getting suddenly 60 volts. Fucked up.

I've been in houses doing demo and find random wires in the wall, no wing nuts or nothing just sitting there or in the attic that was still LIVE.
I'm no electrician, but I do a lot of electrical for various things when I can and would never do some of the shit I've seen. Some of these contractors/people fucking with it must have a IQ of a rock.
 
krysanth

krysanth

Golden Knight of the Realm
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Vinen_sl said:
Anyone know of any DIY guides for basic basement finishing? Basically going to hire an electrician for some plugs and handle the rest with friends.
Click to expand...

I gutted and redid my basement, took me about 9 months. HAd some friends help out here and there. First step after demo is framing. Take your time and get some good tools. Plenty of framing material to look up online.

Also: spray foam insulation. I payed a lot for it but 100% worth it
 
BrotherWu

BrotherWu

MAGA
<Silver Donator>
3,263
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Just bought this house a couple of years ago and it has pretty much always been a lake cottage so they let the siding go a little. I'm paying a guy to swap out some of the siding but the painters want $5-6k to paint. I know it will be a pain in the ass but I think I am going to just bite the bullet and get it done myself and use the extra money to change out some windows. I figure the wife and I can knock it out over a few weekends.

Any recommendations on paint sprayers vs. brushes for this? Anything else that will help with efficiency?
 
lurkingdirk

lurkingdirk

AssHat Taint
<Medals Crew>
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I have this paint sprayer:

Shop Wagner ProCoat 0.5-HP Electric Stationary Airless Paint Sprayer at Lowes.com

I have had it (similar, older model) for years, and have sprayed a whole crap load of different things - interior drywall, exterior siding, rough surfaces and smooth. With a little practice, the paint goes on incredibly fast, and at the thickness you decide. If you're painting siding, I think a sprayer is absolutely the way to go, and for a minor investment, you'll have this thing forever if you take care of it. I did my entire house exterior (cedar siding) a few years back, and I can't imagine doing it with a roller.
 
D

Draegan_sl

2 Minutes Hate
10,034
3
Ive been using a nest for a few days. It sends me emails with tips from time to time. I can also adjust it from my cell phone.

I like it.
 
Vinen

Vinen

God is dead
2,790
495
joeboo_sl said:
My only piece of advice...do a drop ceiling, don't drywall your ceiling. My finished basement has a drywalled ceiling and it absolutely sucks not being able to access the main floor of the house from underneath it. Its a bitch for running wiring. or if you ever need to access plumbing, etc. The drop ceiling in the basement will make any renovations or additions you ever do to the main level above a LOT easier.
Click to expand...
Totally plan on drop ceilings, have way too many cables, etc running across the ceiling. Only have around 8 feet of clearance so I am working with semi-limited space.
 
mkopec

mkopec

<Gold Donor>
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So anyone ever do any cast concrete type stuff?

I want to make a slab for my hearth, covering up the bricks and I just wanted to know if its worth the trouble or not. It seems pretty straightforward from what I watched on youtube. I dont need anything fancy, as in countetop nice, just a nice semi-smooth rustic looking slab to put over the bricks on my raised hearth, then tile the rest.
 
P

Picasso3

Silver Baronet of the Realm
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mkopec_sl said:
So anyone ever do any cast concrete type stuff?

I want to make a slab for my hearth, covering up the bricks and I just wanted to know if its worth the trouble or not. It seems pretty straightforward from what I watched on youtube. I dont need anything fancy, as in countetop nice, just a nice semi-smooth rustic looking slab to put over the bricks on my raised hearth, then tile the rest.
Click to expand...
I poured a 3.5" colored slab with profinish and black dye on my oddly shaped hearth. I'm generally terrible with concrete finishing but it turned out ok. I used regular sand paper and a polisher and smoothed the top. Used patching mix to touch of the front, had large holes ofc but i didn't vibrate at all (regret).

But yeah, it's pretty fuckin easy to do the rustic look. Cover your adjacent floors so you can finish the top without worrying about spilling it over on the floor. Picture makes it look more faded than it is... evening time with just interior lights i really like it.
 
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