Home Repairs

[ktang 34]

FML...Drywall and plaster are easy to do...but hard to do well LOL!

My turn to drywall. 1st of 14 steps done today (paper tape embedded into the mud). 2nd step - wait for it to dry!

[RadioGaGa 162]

My turn to drywall. 1st of 14 steps done today (paper tape embedded into the mud). 2nd step - wait for it to dry!

I've already done 3 coats of plaster on most of it (that SHOULD be my finish coat)...still not as smooth/flat as I'd like. It also suck that I've only had a few weeknights and a weekend to work on it...so I've living/working around in a mess. Might have to take a week off and just get it done.

[ktang 34]

I've already done 3 coats of plaster on most of it (that SHOULD be my finish coat)...still not as smooth/flat as I'd like. It also suck that I've only had a few weeknights and a weekend to work on it...so I've living/working around in a mess. Might have to take a week off and just get it done.

I've always been a real beginner at taping and mudding, so this time I'm mixing up a thinner mixture and planning to use a few more coats over the tape. But, because the mixture is thinner, it's taking more than a day for each coat to dry and then shrink enough to put on the next one, and it's shrinking a little more.

[Jason Harris 31]

Isn't it funny how laziness can lead to better decisions?

I bought a vanity at Habitat For Humanity to replace those in the bathroom my daughters use, because those vanities literally seem like a previous homeowner built them out of 2x4's, plywood and a melamine top. Yesterday, after I tore out one of the vanities, I saw that the drain pipe was going to the side wall, rather than straight behind into the wall with the water pipes. After taking measurements, I realized I'd have to somehow adjust the height of the vanity, or else the drain pipe was going to interfere with the tracks for the drawers.

That's when my laziness led to a better idea!

A previous family had had eight kids living in four small bedrooms, so it was obvious they had retrofitted the bathroom with a pocket door and second sink. It finally hit me that I had no reason to have two separate sinks, especially with the hassle of trying to make the drain pipe work with my new vanity, so I'm going to cap off the water and drain pipes, patch the walls, and then put in a cabinet for towels and storage. Then I'll replace the second vanity -- again, homeowner 2x4's -- with this new vanity. The downside is it's not as wide, so the girls will lose counter space, but I'll find a way to create shelves to the left of the vanity. The net result is they'll have slightly more floor space, plus drawers and shelves, and it will look better.

All because I'm lazy!

[wrangler 157]

Interesting. Seems that you worked pretty hard to make your case for laziness.

[ktang 34]

Luckily, discovered a couple of pinhole leaks in the Poly-B tubing in the basement late at night 2 days before Christmas. Also luckily, Home Depot and Rona were open early Christmas Eve (Saturday), so between the two stores I was able to get enough Poly-B to PEX couplings, shutoff valves, tee fittings, etc. to seal the plumbing.

Now, a few days later, it looks like everything around the leaks (wood joists, wood studs, some drywall) is drying out properly. The grading of the basement floor brought all of the water to the floor drain.

The main hot and cold lines going up from the basement through the wall to the 2nd floor master bedroom's sink, toilet, shower, and tub looks like they have a leak or two somewhere along the way, so they will need to be replaced. Should be do-able, but it's not urgent. Unfortunately I'm probably going to have to take out some drywall on the ceiling in the 1st floor to get to the tubing that leads away from the vertical lines, and then try to match the popcorn ceiling afterwards.

[b33f 0]

Luckily, discovered a couple of pinhole leaks in the Poly-B tubing in the basement late at night 2 days before Christmas. Also luckily, Home Depot and Rona were open early Christmas Eve (Saturday), so between the two stores I was able to get enough Poly-B to PEX couplings, shutoff valves, tee fittings, etc. to seal the plumbing.

Now, a few days later, it looks like everything around the leaks (wood joists, wood studs, some drywall) is drying out properly. The grading of the basement floor brought all of the water to the floor drain.

The main hot and cold lines going up from the basement through the wall to the 2nd floor master bedroom's sink, toilet, shower, and tub looks like they have a leak or two somewhere along the way, so they will need to be replaced. Should be do-able, but it's not urgent. Unfortunately I'm probably going to have to take out some drywall on the ceiling in the 1st floor to get to the tubing that leads away from the vertical lines, and then try to match the popcorn ceiling afterwards.

I would try to avoid taking down the drywall if possible, that stuff is pretty much impossible to patch. But, I know sometimes you are left with no chioce but to do it.

[ktang 34]

Luckily, discovered a couple of pinhole leaks in the Poly-B tubing in the basement late at night 2 days before Christmas. Also luckily, Home Depot and Rona were open early Christmas Eve (Saturday), so between the two stores I was able to get enough Poly-B to PEX couplings, shutoff valves, tee fittings, etc. to seal the plumbing.

Now, a few days later, it looks like everything around the leaks (wood joists, wood studs, some drywall) is drying out properly. The grading of the basement floor brought all of the water to the floor drain.

The main hot and cold lines going up from the basement through the wall to the 2nd floor master bedroom's sink, toilet, shower, and tub looks like they have a leak or two somewhere along the way, so they will need to be replaced. Should be do-able, but it's not urgent. Unfortunately I'm probably going to have to take out some drywall on the ceiling in the 1st floor to get to the tubing that leads away from the vertical lines, and then try to match the popcorn ceiling afterwards.

I would try to avoid taking down the drywall if possible, that stuff is pretty much impossible to patch. But, I know sometimes you are left with no chioce but to do it.

I might be lucky, because from the basement to the 2nd floor shower it's a straight run that can be reached through an access panel in the adjoining closet. The access panel was originally put there to reach the shower controls from the back.

Still planning this out, but theoretically I will be able to drop the main lines straight to the basement (using the old Poly-B tubing to pull it through), and then make some small holes in the ceiling drywall to start threading the PEX tubing through the holes in the joists (again, using the old Poly-B tubing to pull it through) and crimp the connectors.

If I can't patch the popcorn, I'm thinking about removing all the popcorn, properly skimming the ceiling, and then just painting it matte white.

This has been an interesting home repair. If it goes well I might as well replace all the rest of the Poly-B with PEX. I also need to see if the city inspector needs to see my work before I cover it back up.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Okay...new project. I want to build a new new fence. Thankfully, it is small...less than 10' total...with a small gate....and the posts are already there, supporting the existing POS fence that the previous owner build in (probably) the late 70's

Excuse the crude drawing....not to scale. Measurements are all fairly accurate The main question I have is....if the fence is 6'....how high should the gate be? I'm thinking just slightly over 5'...

1x6 fence boards....2x4 frame.

Thoughts/advice?

[Chadd 916]

Do you want it to provide privacy, allow people to see through or does it not matter?

[wrangler 157]

It's up to you. Match the fence, or pick a non-matching height to suit your whim or needs.

But if you have a reason to make the fence 6' tall, doesn't that reason also apply to the gate?

[RadioGaGa 162]

It's up to you. Match the fence, or pick a non-matching height to suit your whim or needs.

But if you have a reason to make the fence 6' tall, doesn't that reason also apply to the gate?

I just think anything lower than 6' wouldn't really provide any privacy at all...but a 5' gate allows a spot to peak and and see the driveway. Also a more interesting design than solid wall all the way along. The fence that is there now has much wider slats/spaces than this one will....so seeing what is on the other side is not hard at all.

Do you want it to provide privacy, allow people to see through or does it not matter?

Well...I don't need sunbathing naked kind of privacy, lol....but enough to obscure an open view into my yard. What is there now offers very little.

[ktang 34]

If the right hand side of the drawing is where the corner of your lot is, and if there is a perpendicular fence to form a corner, I would use the right-most post as the gate's hinge post, if possible. The perpendicular fence and your re-built fence would anchor the gate post more strongly.

If you do this, your gate's Z-brace would become a reverse-Z brace, and strap hinges if used would have to allow the gate to open all the way along the perpendicular fence.

If you want a little less privacy while giving a better view of the driveway, you could use a "U" at the top of your gate instead of the arch.

Since you won't be putting in the slats at the top of the fence, perhaps a few post caps would add to the look and keep rain from going down your fence posts.

[RadioGaGa 162]

The right hand side is actually against the corner of the garage. The door will be hinged on the left with (don't know the actual name...what you called "strap hinges") flat hinges across the face....not against the inside of the frame...so it will swing back against itself and out of the way to allow easy in and out of the yard with lawn mower, wheel barrow etc...I can't hinge it the other way....it would swing into the garage door.

...and the posts are metal. It's a cement pad/patio...They are already poured right into the slab. There is actually a 3rd one right against the house, that I assume used to be a clothesline. I will likely end up cutting the 3 fence posts down to the size of the new fence....they are way higher than they need to be.

The "Z" Brace is supposed to slant down from latch to the bottom hinge...right?

[ktang 34]

Yes, if the hinges are on the left the "Z" brace as you have drawn it would be correct. The diagonal helps to keep the far side elevated.

[chk hrd 164]

you don't show the dimension but why not make the gate full with between posts. If you hinge the gate off the post it would be much stronger than hinging it off the wood. I like a wider gate, it makes getting through with garbage cans, wheel barrows, lawn mowers, etc alot easier.

[RadioGaGa 162]

The posts aren't wood. If they were, this would be so much easier. They are cast Iron....cemented right into the poured patio slab. I'm not building the fence between the posts....I'm building a segment of fence and essentially 'hanging' it on the posts...with carriage bolts through the existing holes that the old fence hung on.

No turning back now....tore down teh old fence when I got home...now I gotta put something back in it's place! LOL

[Chadd 916]

Last time I had to help build a fence/gate, we built a square frame behind the face of the gate and attached the hinges to the frame. It really tied the whole thing together and distributed the weight very well.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Last time I had to help build a fence/gate, we built a square frame behind the face of the gate and attached the hinges to the frame. It really tied the whole thing together and distributed the weight very well.

I want to put hinges on the face of the gate so that itcan open all the way back against the fence. If I use the inside frame...it will only open so far.

[RadioGaGa 162]

May still router/cut down the gate..as in my original design....but for now....here is the finished project.

[wrangler 157]

Good move, making it even with the fence, and taking your time to see if you'd prefer to cut it.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Good move, making it even with the fence, and taking your time to see if you'd prefer to cut it.

Speaking of "even" I realized how uneven/unlevel my patio slab is....1/2 inch gap at the right....against the ground on the left. But your eye is drawn to the top...which is nice and even.

[ktang 34]

The patio is probably sloped for drainage.

[RadioGaGa 162]

So, with a fence behind me (literally) I have moved on to finally replacing the old stove. It is actually hard wired into the fuse box....but I was told, that I could likely remove that wiring and re-wire it to an oulet...so I bought a sove. Now....I'm reading that likely...the old stove is a 3 wire hook up...while the new is 4. Add to that that the external conduit wiring is no longer allowed....and I am probably going to have to call an electrician and have them re-wire back to the box.

Crap! This cheap fix (I bought the stove, refurbed for $250)...is going to cost much, much more than I planned! I just hope I don't need permits.

[wrangler 157]

The electric stoves I've seen run on 220, and have dedicated breakers and wiring because of the power requirement. If your old stove has dedicated wiring (through conduit), but it's not adequate, you should be able to pull the old wiring and fish new wiring through the conduit. Depending on your service panel, you may need new breakers for this wiring. It's always a good idea to have someone who knows what he's doing handle work on a service panel. It may even be that you need to upgrade your electric service because of this.

Hopefully you can call a couple electricians for free estimates to get an idea of what's needed.