Home Improvement Today?

Building a new portico. Wasnt able to finish the deck/railings because the 4x4 I reluctantly had delivered with the deckboards rather than pick myself due to my bed being full of work equipment was shaped like a damned banana..

 

And they were more then happy to shamelessly deliver it...UGH.

EDIT: Forgot to say, looks good!

 

Ive been going that lumber yard for years and when I wrenched at the bike shop I worked on half of the employees’ bikes/wheelers.. 90% of the time they hook me up. Theyre getting their 4x back, and will then in turn most likely deliver it to someone else, unfortunately.. couldnt use it if I wanted to, the PVC sleeve wouldnt fit over that even if I buttered that bad boy up first

 

I bought a couple of lights last weekend to replace a motion light on the house and swapped a standard porch light on the shop with a motion light. I tried to install them today and ran into a couple of issues. I'm hoping you all can offer some insight, so I can get them installed properly.

The problem with the shop light install was that there's no junction box. Behind the existing light is just a bracket screwed to the siding and a drilled hole for the wire. What would be the proper way to mount a round junction box that the new light wants to mount to.




The existing light on the house is mounted to a single gang outlet box, but the box isn't mounted right and is loose. The new light also wants a round junction box to mount to.

 

^ What you have there is not code legal - unfortunately, most outdoor lights are attached to the house in that manner.

Can you post a picture of the light - the mounting part in particular?

To answer your question, a fairly easy thing to do is cut a round hole in the siding, and mount a pancake box (1/2 height round junction box) to solid substrate under the siding, or run long screws into the studs.

There might be some easier tricks, which is why I want to see the light itself.

 

the first thing I see is a reason to bust out something to kill that damn spider

 

The mounting plate for the light going on the shop looks like the picture below with a couple of long screws to attach the light.



The mount for the house light looks like the screenshot below. It's just clear plastic with a couple of screws to attach it to the junction box.

No worries. That spider is long dead now. I'd already doused the hell out of it with spray. It was just dying a slow death that the time.

 

Finished a Radon mitigation project. The local health unit was doing a Radon survey in January and I participated. 3 months with a sensor, then return it for reading. Turns out I've got Radon at the level they say to do something within 2 years. Been here for almost 40 years, so damage might be done...but I went ahead and vented the sump pump pit.

The basement is an integral part of the house, not something forgotten until there's a problem with the water heater, furnace or whatever. The woodstove that heats the whole house is there, so the basement air is the upstairs air.

I sealed up the pit but haven't re installed the pump. I need to cut a manhole in the plywood and rig a clear Lexan or acrylic porthole for inspection and work, then re-install the pump. I had 12 volts running right past (going to my tracking solar panel array) so I nabbed power from it. Works out that the 12 volt fan is a bit more efficient than the 4inch 120volt muffin fans.

Rented a Milwaulkee hammer drill and 4 inch core bit. It took longer to run the extension cord than to cut the hole. What a pig! Must have weighed 60 pounds. $70 for half day rental. Total cost of the project about $150. No way I was going to pay a professional to install a fan. sorry all you professionals, I'd hire Peter (Oz) in a heartbeat for the right work.

 

I had a similar issue. I used this mounting block

$20 Arlington 8141 Vertical Siding Lamp Mounting Kit with Built-in Box for 1/2" Vertical Siding LAP

https://www.amazon.com/Arlington-Ve...N913R86D6GP&psc=1&refRID=VJ8WJXVX1N913R86D6GP

I'm not sure if it will work in your situation.

 

This... go to a hardware store and ask for a new work light box. To do it right, a 4” hole saw cut into the siding and the new work box placed in that hole. Even if the box is surface mounted, there are ways to hide that.

This was a surface mounted new work box. Easily hidden behind a diy trim piece.

 

Maybe one of these?

 

Wow, what a butcher job, I bet the box is behind the siding. Definitely a code violation. Cut the siding to see if you see the box, if so get a ring extender and mount it the correct way.

 

That's an interesting piece. The light has a rectangular cover plate so that exact one won't work, but it gives options to look for.

Did you mean old work box? The new work box stuff I'm seeing wants to nail into studs for the most part.

I can see the osb sheathing behind the siding through the hole for the wire. No box visible. Also, while I didn't pull the screws holding the bracket to the wall, they look like either self tappers or lags.

 

I would do like @Scott B said in the first reply to your post and screw a shallow round light box to your sheathing. Hopefully u can hit a stud but if not a light doesn’t weigh that much lol. Cut the siding out of the way and use drywall screws or something else that has threads all the way to the head.

I would get a Vinyl j-block That matches your siding or trim, mount it first then put the light box on

When you’re drilling into the sheathing remember there’s at least one set of wires in there lol

 

This is how I did mine. Is it on vinyl siding? You can get this two piece cap to match the color. First piece is nailed to the house then the siding right up to it. Junction box inside then a cap over it to hide the cut siding. Either cap fits for light or recessed outlet.

 

If you need something bigger there's always this one

$33 Arlington 8141DBL Siding Mounting Kits with Built-in Box, White, for 1/2" Lap Double Siding, 1-Pack

https://www.amazon.com/Arlington-8141DBL-Siding-Mounting-Built/dp/B0069KVZZ4

You just have to check your vinyl size.

I had to buy the octagon mounting block that fits my siding plus the Arlington cover that screws onto the the octagon block.

$40 Arlington Industries 8100MLP-1 8100MLP Wall Plates, Super Mega, White

https://www.amazon.com/Arlington-8100MLP-1-Siding-Larger-Fixtures/dp/B002W6ZPVY

Hopefully this will give you more idea. The items are also available at Home Depot.

 

Got me a new shed today, but if the HOA asks, its a kids club house.
Ive got it leveled'ish with some 2x4s, the whole area back here is getting taken down about 6 inches, leveled, then bricked later this summer. So the 2x4s are temporary till my parents drive up here to give me a hand.

 

A little annoyance that comes with houses that have been through multiple owners and multiple renovations over the years: they seem to come with a large collection of paint cans that don't match a single color anywhere on the property. Mine is no exception, I have at least 10 gallons to dispose of, mostly in pastels of all things. Anyone want two half-full cans of lavender?

I chose the least offensive color and attacked the one long-neglected room in the house- the garage.

A typical suburban 1960's garage- considerably small for the land yachts that ruled the road when this was built.


It doesn't help that at some point in history someone made the garage even smaller because they wanted a kitchen pantry. And then a few years later someone built a workbench on the other side. It's crowded and tight, but I'll make it work.
I had to do a couple of laps, swinging the broom like a drunken star wars fan, just to get the massive cobwebs, everywhere. Apparently my garage is the grand central station for the daddy long-legs' fuck shack. Then a scraper to knock down a few fossilized mud dauber nests, and a little spackle to fill 60 years worth of nail holes. Screw those pictures, they're boring. I'll just skip to the after photo.




The baby blue seems to clean it up some. I still have to paint the baseboards, repair the trainwreck that is the ceiling, and I still have a crapload of junk that needs pawning off to the salvation army, but it's a decent start. It's nice being able to walk through without having to get a tetanus booster, or get attacked by the spider nation.

 

I dumped all that stuff when we moved...paint was separated and hard...