Home Improvement Today?

I've done wider flooring planks before, but first time doing 2.125" and holy sheet it took me forever.
My back is killing me from such a weird body position with the flooring stapler. Hats off to you pro flooring guys. How are you all walking around and not looking Quasimodo?

 

Back on that old Farmhouse porch today to wrap up installing/weaving the cedar shakes on the corner wall/support section. Had some leftover oil based primer and used it on all the new cedar (shakes and 2 porch boards). One more trip to do the new railing.

 

Any GE techs on here? Have a GE Cafe fridge. making humming noise than I hear a click. Fridge is cooling and freezing. Just started today.

I changed the start relay about 2 years ago.

 

Looks good! How you liking the mini hvac system ?

 

Over I pleased with our mini splits. We have one in the living room also.
Our house has oil forced hot air and when the previous owners add the master BR they just extend the ducts and never did any balancing of the air flow so the room was cold. There was a Rinnai propane heater in the MB but the board failed so we yanked it and got the split.

Pros: Overall our heating costs have come down. I was burning multiple oil tanks a winter and now I’m down to less than one.
We now have AC thanks to the splits but living in Maine most of the time dehumidify mode is enough to cool the house during the few sweltering days we get. Late spring to early fall the units are typically off.
They do a good job metering heat so there is less temp fluctuation in the house
I got state rebates so both units installed was only a couple thousand.

Cons: At about 20F they start falling behind so we run the oil furnace.
Our basement is unheated but the heat from the furnace would warm the basement to the low 60’s. Without the furnace running the basement can get down to 55. This makes the first floor flooring cold if you’re barefoot or just wearing socks.
The oil furnace heats the house faster. Probably because it’s got multiple ducts instead of one head passively radiating heat to other rooms. If we come back from a trip I’ll bring the house to temp with the furnace the use the splits to maintain.

In hindsight, the living room units compressor is big enough to accommodate another head so I should have added one for the basement to both heat and a summer dehumidify During the spring/ summer I run a 240 pint dehumidifier in the basement to keep Rh at 55%.
I’ll probably add another head in the basement someday.

 

4 or more years ago I bought some paintable silicone caulk for my reserves. Planning to use it today rather than buying a new tube, cut the tip, poke the barrier, and felt a little stiff. Upon inspection it is all stiff. Off to the store I go.

 

What’s that use by date say in the bottom corner?

 

2023

 

I have a matching set of custom strippers!

 

Had some concrete work to do. It was enough i wasnt willing to hand mix it. Noticed this guy at the rental place and have to say...thing is awesome. Made quick of the work and definitely wasnt as hard on the body (IMO) as the drum mixers. Was simple to use too and its nice that it poured right where I needed it instead of having to transfer it.

But it basically just has a small auger in the chute. Then two water nozzles you can adjust the flow to at the start of the auger. Load up the hopper and it mixes and pours out for you. Nice thing is you can adjust the water on the fly too. And has the spray hose so you only need one connection.

Doesnt beat a concrete truck by any means, but for smaller at home projects its a nice thing to have. Wouldnt buy one as they are pricey but for a rental it wasnt bad in my area ($75 a day)

 

I've seen them on you tube videos and looks pretty slick , good way to save some money and your back. Was it hard to get the right mix ?

 

Yeah i watched a youtube video or two on them. One the guy loved it, the other the guy was kinda meh about it. I could see it depending on the project too. Like for filling holes or even a footing it would work well. For a slab...guess it just depends.

I didnt find it hard at all to get the mix right. I used two brands (sakrete and menards brand). The Sakrete was "easier" to set and pretty much once i set it it stayed there the whole time. The menards wasnt hard either but i did have to adjust things. That seemed more like the brand on concrete though as sometimes it was more "sandy" then it would get "rocky". But really...changing the amount of water is super simple....it just takes like 8-10 seconds to really tell (for it to come out the end of the auger).

Still definitely is some work! If you had two people it would be perfect. It does actually go through bags decently quick too. Not to much time to do other things unless you turn it off. Sort of a plus and minus thing lol. One nice feature is the hopper has a "bag opener". Basically just a piece of metal you sort of drop the bag on in the middle of the bag and it opens it. Then just lift up each side of the bag to empty it out.

 

Good post. I set 8 posts recently using 3 bags per post. Handmixed. I'll use this contraption if there is a next time.

 

Couple years ago got a new roof and leaf guards were never the same.

Cleaned gutters this week and renewed guards, $70.00 home depot. A gutter guy gave me an estimate guards only at $540.00. Nope.

I was brutally attacked by ants cleaning gutter in rear, one finger sustained 4 bites swelled up 5 ring sizes and woke me up at 4am scratching like mad. It's been all about the bites past 2 days...

Guards and bite pics follow.

I think these were soldier fire ants trained at knuckles assault.

 

Gotta love DIY done by people that don't have a clue


I'm sure there's a good use for galvanized iron pipe. Plumbing isn't one of them.

Flue pipes don't need to connect to one another if you use aluminum tape, right? The heat had cooked the adhesive. Your guess is as good as mine why the homeowner isn't dead from carbon monoxide.

Through the magic of cuss words the water heater is no longer going to kill the owner. To get it done right I had to re-do the entire vent stack from the furnace, move the water heater, and install a new gas line. I could tell the previous owner had gone out of their way to make the water heater install a hack job.

 

Where is that hot water tank venting to?

 

Here's another angle on the vent. It now goes up through the roof using the same Type B steel vent pipe as the furnace. I could tell that this was a replacement water heater that the previous owner had installed 6" over from the original. I'm like WTF dude? Just put the replacement back where the original one was. I mean I'm as DIY as you can get, but DIY doesn't have to mean crappy, dangerous workmanship.

 

Ah missed it in the expansion tank photo.


Is that a high Efficiency furnace?

 

now you know why he wanted to charge $540... ant bites cost money!

 

i mean it looks better, but if the furnace has an exhaust fan, and the water heater is running, what's the easier exhaust exit point? back-blowing out the 'vent' on the top of the water heater 3' away, or up 20'+ of vertical exhaust stack?

i had this problem with my water heater. the plastic tag on the pressure relief was all torched and crinkled up from that exact scenario. i plugged the exhaust stack so it's dedicated to the furnace, and ran a power vent water heater out the side of the house.

but to be fair, i installed co detectors near the baseboard in the basement the week i moved in, and that setup existed for another 2 years after that, with zero alarms.


my takeaway from the situation, and it's commonality in most houses, is that most older houses are not anywhere near air tight, and despite the obvious safety concerns, it takes a significant amount of exhausted natural gas fumes to build up co levels to anything near dangerous.

frankly, and the reason i did it the week i moved in, i wouldn't ever have gas appliances without a co detector mounted low nearby--i hope you included or at least recommended one to that homeowner. newer gas powered appliances are supposed to have their own own leak detection, but for anyone that grew up in the tv/vcr-combo era, 'included' devices rarely work as well as dedicated standalone versions.