Home Improvement Today?

I see the problem now, no place for the screw due to the latch hole. Oz offers a viable solution: The framing is only 1/2" beyond the jamb, so a longer screw will work in that location. And yes, you can use wood putty, but that has minimal structural integrity, so the long screw is the simple answer.

As stated above also, the settling of the house is likely the cause: Both door jambs are probably leaning slightly in the direction of the latch, and the bottom of the door below the latch is about to scrape the floor... your next project.

 

I was talking about running a long screw through the top hinge and into the cripple stud to pull the top of the door over

 

Tons and tons of painting. Pulled baseboards off last night, bought new today and laid a coat of paint, will re-coat with a better brush and cut/install. Try and run the dishwasher again tomorrow and see if it leaks again, ran it today after sitting dry for 3 weeks and had drips, hopefully just the seal being dry?

Also, the only bowl I had in the dishwasher was sitting right side up, at the end of the cycle I opened the door and poured the water out of the bowl. It had a very fine, black sediment in it. We're on city water, should I flush the water heater? I have no clue when it's been drained last, we just bought, and in process of getting ready for move in.

 

I'll be checking the filter area next time I'm there (we aren't moved in yet) and checking to see if it's full of sediment also. I didn't notice any specks of black on that interior of the dishwasher walls and while I'm not sure how long the unit has been there, it looks brand new inside. No sign of wear or use, and the utensil basket still had a plastic ziptie type fastener holding it to the bottom rack of the dishwasher, so I'm guessing it's new/never used.

The dishwasher was leaking from the same location during escrow, which was corrected at the time under house re-inspection prior to closing and had no leak, but I believe it's been 3 1/2 weeks since we closed and got keys. I'm not sure how quickly they dry out, so was going to run it tomorrow and see if that was the reason for today's drips. It's a minor leak, maybe 2-3 tablespoons throughout the cycle.

Washing machine was bought by us and is good to go, kitchen sink has all new plumbing and had a leak in escrow also, which is also corrected, so far so good at least on that end.

I'm just glad the dishwasher isn't full of food scraps. The PO was there for 2 months but not occupying the house, and he bought it through foreclosure auction. Contractor said it's been empty longer than that, I'm guessing 5-6 months, but that's only what I gathered from general conversation.

 

Hi James, welcome to home ownership! Yes, flush the water heater. Connect a garden hose to the bottom drain, run it for a couple minutes every six months.
You'll get the same sediment in all your faucet strainers. Use electrical tape and pliers if they are stuck.

Dishwasher leak is likely from the connecting hose. Remove the baseboard, then the two screws at the top front, so you can wiggle the washer out to check the connection, it's just a hose clamp. Protect the floor with cardboard before you wiggle it out.

Did you get the wide baseboard?

No word yet on the tailgates. I'll give Eric a couple more weeks then give him a holler.

 

James, if it was a callout on the inspection, it's on the their dime.

 

I'd think it isn't the connecting hose as it leaks from the bottom left corner of the door.

Old base board was standard height, new is 5 1/4" tall. 16 foot length looked kinda funny on the ride from Home Depot, I normally try to not have stuff passing through my rear slider but on this trip I needed to have one end on the dash (with a t-shirt wrap to protect dash) and running out to the other end 3 feet or so off the tailgate, tied around the receiver to keep it centered and steady. Did the trick for the 5 mile drive.

I'll flush the water heater, do you flush it fully or partially? There has been very little maintenance done by the POs so I'd just as soon guess it's not been maintained either. Do you turn the water off to the heater and then drain? Or just drain?

 

Oops.. you're saying the dishwasher leak (if not a dry seal issue) is on the home inspection companies dime for the repair?

 

Thanks for the "welcome to home ownership.." I've discovered that it's essentially a never ending list of things to do. Hopefully I have everything squared away before the baby is due in July.

 

Either the home inspection or the PO, or the RE Broker, depending. Usually, a home inspection is also an insurance policy against such failure, but in this case, it sounds like it was a callout, meaning you had an option to take whatever action on it you wanted, either demand its repair, or even to opt out of the purchase. Sounds like it had been addressed, so the PO is on the hook for it since it wasn't repaired properly. Your broker would have also done an inspection, and noted all discrepancies, as well as what he had been told by the seller and his agent. Your best bet at this point is to contact your broker who will take the complaint to the other broker. Either way, you should be OK.

Don't do anything to the water heater but simply hook a garden hose to it and open the drain wide open for no more than a couple minutes. What happens is the sediment swirls round at the bottom and is purged out the hose. No need to drain further than a minute or two. Take care not to damage the cheapo plastic hose bib on the water heater. It's replaceable, though. I always put in a good brass bib before putting them in service. Does a bit of damage to the insulation, but better than a dripping faucet ...or worse.

Glad you got the wide baseboard! You're gonna need more long stuff, so...
Check out the thumbnail pic. It's a Lund 601021 hitch rack bed extender. Amazon $138.99. It assembles in multiple configurations, even running vertical to become a rear leg of a pipe rack. (Hope you have a hitch?) Am I scaring you yet?

 

Nope. Thanks for the info, I'll run it again and check for leaks and if it's still a problem I'll fire some emails off.

 

I just got these too!have you broke them in yet?I switched from Makita to milwakee. I wouldn't go back. When I bought mine it came with a money towards another tool..so I got a grinder pretty much free.

 

Broke out the level, door frayis perfectly straight. Found a slightly larger striker plate at HD and i'm just going to go that route. Think main culprit is the temperature changes out here causing it to expand and contract.

 

If the hinge side jamb is plumb , is the top hinge fully seated in the hinge gain and screws tight ?

 

Yes and Yes. Even the door itself is level vertically. think the gap, which I never noticed before, is due to the builders shaving it down to fit.

replaced it with the elongated plate and it works now. bought a wood chisel to scrape the jamb down for the longer plate (yay new tools! lol)

I'm really thinking it is just a hot/cold issue and things shrinking/expanding when the temp changes.

 

Is the margin between the head jamb and the top of the door equal or tapered ?

 

i assume head jamb is the top. not sure what you mean by margin. there is a narrower gap at the hinge side vs the latch side at the top.

 

Yeah , the margin is the gap between the door itself and the jamb

If the hinge jamb is plumb and the door hinges tight in the hinge gains on the jamb and door , and the top margin tapered to be wider at the latch side , that means the door was installed with the hinge side of the jamb too low , or the hinge side has settled in relation to the latch side

 

My backdoor gets slightly out of plumb in the winter. It will slowly open on its own. In the summer, it will stay wherever you leave it and not open anymore.

 

Please allow me a minute to bask in modest achievement, and celebrate the first day of new house labor that isn't paint work.