moonarchia
The Scientific Shitlord
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I have been on these forums for over two decades at this point. I make a point of not googling anything unfamiliar for mental stability.
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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!
Last year we renovated one of our bathrooms and moved the washer/dryer into it. Now we're demoing the old laundry area off the kitchen where there were some known leaks (prior to my occupancy). Turns out the water caused the ends of the floor joists to rot off to the point of floating, along with compromising a 4x6 beam that spans a gap in the foundation. Looks like I get to have fun jacking up the house and replacing the beam, then beefing up the floors. Whee!
(None of this was visible from the crawlspace as the rot was all top-down and the visible surfaces appeared solid.
(None of this was visible from the crawlspace as the rot was all top-down and the visible surfaces appeared solid.
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Daidraco
Avatar of War Slayer
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(Quietly puts the floor back down and reconsiders the remodel.) "Man. Your house is a beaut'! Will sell well on the market!" (Just kidding.. or am I?)
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I don't think it's that bad. My contractor is a good friend of mine and used to run a large demo company. He knows everything there is about structural integrity and assures me that this is a 1-2 day two-man job for the structural work. We'll put temporary beams under the floor joists on both sides of the rotten beam, jack them up 1/16'', replace the beam with a fresh one (making sure that we eliminate any existing sagging), then sister some new joist material from the beam to the nearest foundation piling. The span is only three feet wide and the primary load posts for the surrounding wall are on solid footings.
My main takeaway is fuck the previous owners who knew the washer was leaking and didn't do anything about it for 10 years and didn't disclose it. This is why in my new bathroom I put a floor drain right under the washer and plastic-lined the stud bay that has the plumbing in it. I'm going to make it easy for the next guy.
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Kobayashi
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Allegedly they don't like peppermint. I tried a mint spray once, seemed to have a modest effect, but I didn't keep up with it for the whole reapplication following rainfall part. A covered area like a porch probably has a better shot at working.
Also, the peppermint spray did work to keep out assholes like chipmunks and mice from chewing on my wire harnesses in my vehicles and it's not going to make your mechanic hate you like the hot pepper sprays will.
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Try some Diatomaceous earth. Its tiny little fossils of diatoms. And it gets all over the crawling insects and fucks them up and totally safe to humans.
Diatomite is of value as an insecticide because of its abrasive and physico-sorptive properties.[25] The fine powder adsorbs lipids from the waxy outer layer of the exoskeletons of many species of insects; this layer acts as a barrier that resists the loss of water vapour from the insect's body. Damaging the layer increases the evaporation of water from their bodies, so that they dehydrate, often fatally.
This also works against gastropods and is commonly employed in gardening to defeat slugs.[26] However, since slugs inhabit humid environments, efficacy is very low. Diatomaceous earth is sometimes mixed with an attractant or other additives to increase its effectiveness.
Diatomaceous earth is a natural, abrasive substance made from fossilized diatoms. While it does not directly kill spiders, it can effectively control them. When spiders come into contact with diatomaceous earth, it damages their exoskeleton, causing them to dehydrate and eventually die.Oct 26, 2023
Diatomite is of value as an insecticide because of its abrasive and physico-sorptive properties.[25] The fine powder adsorbs lipids from the waxy outer layer of the exoskeletons of many species of insects; this layer acts as a barrier that resists the loss of water vapour from the insect's body. Damaging the layer increases the evaporation of water from their bodies, so that they dehydrate, often fatally.
This also works against gastropods and is commonly employed in gardening to defeat slugs.[26] However, since slugs inhabit humid environments, efficacy is very low. Diatomaceous earth is sometimes mixed with an attractant or other additives to increase its effectiveness.
Diatomaceous earth is a natural, abrasive substance made from fossilized diatoms. While it does not directly kill spiders, it can effectively control them. When spiders come into contact with diatomaceous earth, it damages their exoskeleton, causing them to dehydrate and eventually die.Oct 26, 2023
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Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
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Next week starts our big summer project delayed until September (of course). 900 Sq.Ft stamped concrete patio, new walkway to the house, new pool deck, new back deck (landing really), new side deck and covering our front concrete steps with new decking.
All told we're at about $30k. Dealing with multiple contractors at once and trying to schedule them is AIDs.
All told we're at about $30k. Dealing with multiple contractors at once and trying to schedule them is AIDs.
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Why so much? is it because of the stamped shit? We had our whole driveway, sidewalk on side of house and patio done, not with stamped just normal, steel reinforced concrete for about $15K maybe 5-6 yrs back? And its a pretty big driveway too.
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
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It seems to be the going rate around here. It's about $15k for the 1000 SQ ft or so of stamped concrete and the other half is all the decking (Trex)
If we wanted pavers the 1000 sq ft quotes we got was $30k.
Might've been cheaper because yours was pre covid pricing
If we wanted pavers the 1000 sq ft quotes we got was $30k.
Might've been cheaper because yours was pre covid pricing
Koushirou
Log Wizard
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Can vouch for this shit when we had a flea problem at our old apartment. Works great indoors, but if you do use it outdoors, yeah you'll have to replace it quite a bit because it's completely useless once it's wet at all. If you do use it inside, need to use a wetvac to clean it up. Also don't breathe it.
Pasteton
Blackwing Lair Raider
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So all of a sudden my pressure in the shower is super low with hot water. When I change the temp to cold the pressure goes back to normal. It seems to only be my shower, the sinks in the bathroom have normal pressure with hot water and all the other bathrooms are fine. Any ideas? This happened suddenly wasn’t gradual
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How old is your place? Some pre 1970s places still had steel pipes. My old place that was built in 60s had steel shit in it and it was all corroded inside so that a pea sized hole existed for the water to get through. Sometimes its not the actual supply lines but the fixtures themselves. I had all copper lines but some of my fixtures, like the shower and the laundry sink in the basement were steel.
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Yeah, then I have nothing. Maybe its just plugged? some foreign matter in the HWT or something in the supply lodged loose? But I dont even know how you would fix something like that. If there is shutoffs for the shower, I would suggest fucking with those, close the valve then reopen it. Like in the basement or a closet behind it?
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Nahh, all fixtures, especially in a new home should have shutoffs. You need to find those and just fuck with them, its only a valve, close it then reopen it a few times, sometimes this is where it plugs up, even from water mineral deposits over time.
Palum
what Suineg set it to
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Be careful because many types of these have seals or packing of one type or another. If you start moving valves that haven't been touched in decades you can cause leaks.