# DIY Thread



## Greg (Dec 1, 2005)

I'm a big time *D*o *I*t *Y*ourself type homeowner (just ask Charlie about all the whacky electrical questions I ask him). I thought this might make for an interesting thread. Feel free to use it to discuss your DIY projects or ask questions.

I'll start. What type of wall anchors have you found the most effective when hanging heavier items (large pictures, mirrors, etc.) when you need to position it in an area without a stud? I plan to use molly bolts like these:







Has anyone else found anything better? I think anything made of plastic basically sucks.


----------



## SkiDog (Dec 1, 2005)

Greg said:
			
		

> I'm a big time *D*o *I*t *Y*ourself type homeowner (just ask Charlie about all the whacky electrical questions I ask him). I thought this might make for an interesting thread. Feel free to use it to discuss your DIY projects or ask questions.
> 
> I'll start. What type of wall anchors have you found the most effective when hanging heavier items (large pictures, mirrors, etc.) when you need to position it in an area without a stud? I plan to use molly bolts like these:
> 
> ...


----------



## HughK (Dec 1, 2005)

There are two other types of fasteners that might work. One is like the molly pictured except there are a pair of spring wings on the nut. It will give you a greater surface of the wall to hold hanger on. You and also more easily use on thicker walls- plaster plus lathe.  Unlike your pictured fasterners the "winged" ones cannot be unscrewed and reused. The "wings" fall behind the wall. Also you will need to pre drill a hole the wideth of the wings. These are good for very heavy pictures or hanging shelves.

The second is made specifically for going into sheetrock. It screws in with a philips screwdriver then you can but a screw into the fasterner. It comes weight tested and is beefier than the little plastic inserts you get with say the picture frame kit. 

With the ones you pictured make sure the depth of your wall matches the shank portion of the fastener between the screwhead and start of the collapsing portion. If it is short it won't hold. :blink: 

My wife and I own a 150 year old farmhouse, our lives are a DIY. Got go Home Depot is bringing in more sheetrock.
Hugh.


----------



## BeanoNYC (Dec 1, 2005)

I like the self tapping ones Hugh spoke about.  It has a phillips head slot on top and you use your screw gun to set it in the wall.  No more drilling and hammering.


----------



## hammer (Dec 1, 2005)

HughK said:
			
		

> There are two other types of fasteners that might work. One is like the molly pictured except there are a pair of spring wings on the nut. It will give you a greater surface of the wall to hold hanger on. You and also more easily use on thicker walls- plaster plus lathe.  Unlike your pictured fasterners the "winged" ones cannot be unscrewed and reused. The "wings" fall behind the wall. Also you will need to pre drill a hole the wideth of the wings. These are good for very heavy pictures or hanging shelves.


How are these different from toggle bolts?

Toggle bolts are strong -- I've hung a towel bar and closet shelves using them -- but since you have to drill a 1/2" hole in the wall, you need to make sure that whatever you mount onto the wall covers a hole that size.

The main advice I can give on the molly bolts (which I think Greg has already said) is to make sure they are all metal.  The ones that are all plastic except for the screw are really tough to attach, and they can chew up your wall.  :angry:


----------



## bvibert (Dec 1, 2005)

hammer said:
			
		

> How are these different from toggle bolts?


I think thats what he's talkig about.



			
				hammer said:
			
		

> Toggle bolts are strong -- I've hung a towel bar and closet shelves using them -- but since you have to drill a 1/2" hole in the wall, you need to make sure that whatever you mount onto the wall covers a hole that size.


Thats the only problem I have with them, the huge hole you need to drill...


----------



## ctenidae (Dec 2, 2005)

The plastic screw-in jobbies are pretty good- the weight rating on them seems to be pretty accurate. 
*DON'T *use them on a plaster wall, though- first, they have trouble punching through the top layer (usually breaking off the drillbit piece), and then they can crack the wall. I've had lots of failures woth those on plaster. Toggles are much better for that.

The plastic one sare pretty good on drywall, and there are metal ones available, too, but I think that's overkill. When you screw them in to drywall, make sure you just barely countersink them (too far and they strip out and leave a huge hole) because if you try to back them out, they don't do so well, and if they're just flush, it's impossible to spackle over them.

That's an awful lot about a simple anchor, isn't it? I think I need a beer now...


----------



## HughK (Dec 2, 2005)

*How they used to do it.*

Toggle Bolts - Thanks, I couldn't get the words out of my brain to the keyboard. Regarding the large holes they create I have had some luck filling them with spackling compound. 

If you have old horsehair plaster walls that maybe too fragile to drill into, one solution is to run a molding, with an 1 1/2 to 2" profile, around the perimeter of the room about 3/4" below the ceiling. Attaching the molding to the wall studs. Paintings and mirrors can be hung on long wires from this molding. They make "S" hooks, usually in brass that the wires hang from. There is also decorative roping available to use for hanging.

Hugh.


----------



## Greg (Dec 2, 2005)

Re: plaster vs. sheetrock. Our first house had all plaster walls and hanging anything was a nightmare. We're in a new construction now and working with sheetrock, from hanging something using anchors, to finding studs, to installing a new work electrical box, is truly a pleasure.

Toggle bolts are the anchors that are spring loaded behind the shoeetrock and are good when you need to screw something tightly flush. I needed to use the molly-type anchors which has a sleeve that compresses tight to the back of the wall because it allows you to back out the screw a bit which I needed to do to hang the mirror on the hook. It turns out that the mirror lined up so I only needed one molly and for the other side I was able to set a screw into a stud.

This was a bathroom project that I thought was going to take a few hours to change out the light and hang the mirror. It ended up taking several days as when I went to install the electrical box for the light (the contractor just poked Romex through the wall and hung a cheap light bar), it fell right on a stud. In my quest to assure the light was centered over the sink, I needed to use a reciprocating saw to notch out the 2x6 stud to make room for the box. I then needed a few days for wall compound and paint to dry. Why do project always seem to take about 6X longer than you expect? I also thought buying a new house would eliminate some of the DIY, but there actually seems to be about the same amount of stuff that needs to be done as our older home did.

Next winter projects - floor the attic and continue refinishing the basement.


----------



## smitty77 (Dec 9, 2005)

Greg said:
			
		

> Why do project always seem to take about 6X longer than you expect? I also thought buying a new house would eliminate some of the DIY, but there actually seems to be about the same amount of stuff that needs to be done as our older home did.


I'm in the same boat, Greg.  I figured my DIY days we basically over when we bought the new house. :roll: My next project is a drop ceiling for the basement.
As for time estimates on projects... My wife has learned to completely disregard any estimate I give her before the project has started.  "Sweetie, it should only take me a half hour."  The response is always :roll:
I would say the molly is the best for your application.  BTW, toggle bolts can be removed intact if you're very careful.  You just back the screw out slowly until the toggle is only a few threads from the end.  Stick a probe (hee hee, probe) or small screwdriver into the hole and pivot the whole toggle until it is parallel with the bolt, and then pull the whole assembly out.  If the toggle won't pivot, back the screw out another half turn and try again.  Eventually it will pivot or just fall into the wall.  It takes some practice and doesn't work every time or with every toggle bolt, but it can be done.

Smitty


----------



## Marc (Dec 9, 2005)

Ah, just sink a screw into the drywall and see what happnes.



Where's your sense of adventure, Greg?   :dunce:


----------



## ctenidae (Dec 9, 2005)

If the first one falls out, use two the next time. Eventually the hole will be big enough you can nail in a brace between the studs, and hang from that.


----------



## Paul (Dec 9, 2005)

Greg and Smitty, I feel your pain...

My first house was 17 yrs old and we bought it from the folks who built it. The owner was a DIY guy, but a pretty poor one. When we built the house we're in now, 4 yrs ago, I thought the same, no more going around and re-working everything the previous owner did. Instead, I've been going around righting all of the things the subs did poorly. Seriously,I've worked harder on the new house over the last 4 yrs, than I did on the first one in the same time period.

The next house will either be really old so I know I'm in for a restoration project one way or the other, or I'll be the GC, so I have more say over the construction.


----------



## Greg (Apr 26, 2006)

Greg said:
			
		

> Next winter projects - floor the attic and continue refinishing the basement.


Thought I'd bump this thread. I did get the attic floor down which resulted in about 280 square feet of storage (I have pics if anyone's interested). My basement is now just about empty and ready to be refinished. I'm in no rush on that project though so I'll just throw a wall up here and there as I get time. Now that the warmer weather is here, it's time to work on the outside. I already had another triaxle full of top soil dumped to smooth out some of the rough areas of the lawn seeding project from last fall. That's all spread and seeded; just waiting for germination. 18 yards of top soil is a lot of dirt to move with a wheelbarrow and a shovel! :blink: I thought the several inches of rain we had Sunday was going to kill it, but it all held up well. The next big project is a 44'x16' ground level deck off the back of the house and garage...


----------



## ChileMass (Apr 26, 2006)

Are you going to build the deck yourself?  That sounds like a BIG job.  

I just paid a guy to re-shingle the backside of my barn.  I suppose I could have done it myself, but a young contractor in my neighborhood needed some sidework and gave me a deal that was too good to pass up.  So I didn't have to schlep 90-lb bags of shingles up onto a 30'x30' roof with a 45* pitch, which worked for me.  

My 1840 farmhouse was a continuous 5-year project after I bought it in 1993, but most of it has been completed.  The downstairs bathroom was my last major project back in 2001.  

Next project for me is to get a dumptruck of fill for my back yard, so I'll be out there with the wheelbarrow and shovel soon, too.  

Later this summer I may take on replacing the insulation in the back of my attic, which will be a serious pain.  The back attic is accessed thru a hatch in my bathroom ceiling, has no other outlet, and all the old cellulose insulation has to come out before the new fiberglass batts go in.  It's a dirty crawl space that's only about 5' tall, and is over 100*F every day in the summer.  It has to be done sometime, but I'm sure not looking forward to it.......


----------



## Greg (Apr 26, 2006)

ChileMass said:
			
		

> Are you going to build the deck yourself?  That sounds like a BIG job.


Yup. It's at ground level though so it'll be pretty straightforward. It's really just a 32'x14' section off the house and a 12'x16' section off the garage. The two outside corners will be 45'd to add a somewhat custom look. It'll likely take several weekends, but the overall design is pretty basic - just a lot of lumber to shlep around. But again, it's at ground level so no railings and no hauling lumber up. The builder put on a 14'x10' deck off the second level slider so we'll integrate the stairs that come down into the new deck which is off a walk-out basement in the back. Once the basement is refinished as a playroom/office, it will be a nice way to get onto it. It'll be a BIG deck, but this is the last house I plan to buy for many many years so I want a deck that I'm satisfied with. Can't wait to get started!


----------



## hammer (Apr 26, 2006)

Greg said:
			
		

> 18 yards of top soil is a lot of dirt to move with a wheelbarrow and a shovel!:blink:


 I'll say...I'm thinking of getting an attachment to my lawn tractor to move 4 yards of loam and 4 yards of mulch so I must be lazy.


----------



## Greg (Apr 26, 2006)

hammer said:
			
		

> I'll say...I'm thinking of getting an attachment to my lawn tractor to move 4 yards of loam and 4 yards of mulch so I must be lazy.


Ha! I think the neighbors probably thought I was nuts.


----------



## 2knees (Apr 26, 2006)

previous owner of my house was most definately a diy guy.  Destroy it yourself.  A drunk 6 year old could've done a better job with the wiring in my house.  That and he obviously prescribed to the Close Enough school of carpentry.  This weekend is finishing my fences.  Need to put up gates across the driveway.  My older one thinks going outside is a chance to run like hell straight for the road.  JAILBREAK!!!


----------



## Greg (Apr 27, 2006)

2knees said:
			
		

> previous owner of my house was most definately a diy guy.  Destroy it yourself.  A drunk 6 year old could've done a better job with the wiring in my house.  That and he obviously prescribed to the Close Enough school of carpentry.


Pretty funny post.


----------



## ckofer (Apr 28, 2006)

Stud finder. And I'm not talking about the personals page. 

This fascinating thread is discussed here .


----------



## awf170 (Apr 28, 2006)

I think I'm going to get some Flexons cheap of ebay, and try this over the summer.
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12032


----------



## Greg (May 18, 2006)

Greg said:
			
		

> Yup. It's at ground level though so it'll be pretty straightforward. It's really just a 32'x14' section off the house and a 12'x16' section off the garage. The two outside corners will be 45'd to add a somewhat custom look. It'll likely take several weekends, but the overall design is pretty basic - just a lot of lumber to shlep around. But again, it's at ground level so no railings and no hauling lumber up. The builder put on a 14'x10' deck off the second level slider so we'll integrate the stairs that come down into the new deck which is off a walk-out basement in the back. Once the basement is refinished as a playroom/office, it will be a nice way to get onto it. It'll be a BIG deck, but this is the last house I plan to buy for many many years so I want a deck that I'm satisfied with. Can't wait to get started!


So my delivery of 141 pieces of 2x8 and 5/4x6 pressure treated lumber arrived yesterday! :-o Gonna be a busy weekend.  Hope it stays somewhat dry... :roll:


----------



## skijay (May 18, 2006)

I am DIY-ing appliance shopping.  Since most of you seem like gurus in electronics things and have new homes or have renovated recently, can someone help me with some appliances I need to buy:

I need a new dishwasher.  I like a Bosch I found at Sears & appliance store but I was told that it does not have a hard food grinder.  I was leaning toward KitchenAid since that was what was installed when the house was built 25 yrs ago.

I want stainless steel tub & stainless exterior & hard food grinder.  Anybody have any recommendations?  I am allocating $1,500 for the purchase.

Next:  I need a new fridge.  I would like it to match the dishwasher.  I would like side by side NO ICEMAKER.  I have that now, Whirlpool circa 1981.  Basically about 25 cubic feet.  KitchenAid makes one and there is one under the Kenmore label.  KitchenAid is $2,500 and the Kenmore is $1,600.  Anybody else see side by side with no icemakers?

If I have to go with an icemaker any brand recommendations?  I am allocating $2,500 to the fridge.  It is funny that non-icemaker fridges are more expensive than icemaker equipped ones.

Next: A electric stove.  Since the fridge & dishwasher are going, why not the stove also.
Standard size, prefer to match the other appliances; I use the microwave and convection oven for most of my cooking so the stove just needs to look good.  

My concern is the cook top, some say they can crack easy.  I can allocate $1,000, perhaps more if the other two appliances come within my budget.  

The last item is the stove hood.  I need stainless to match, but not sure if I want a microwave.  Are the range hood & microwave combos reliable?  My current range hood is vented to the outside.  



Thanks,

Tim


----------



## Greg (May 18, 2006)

skijay said:
			
		

> I am DIY-ing appliance shopping.  Since most of you seem like gurus in electronics things and have new homes or have renovated recently, can someone help me with some appliances I need to buy:
> 
> I need a new dishwasher.  I like a Bosch I found at Sears & appliance store but I was told that it does not have a hard food grinder.  I was leaning toward KitchenAid since that was what was installed when the house was built 25 yrs ago.
> 
> ...


Wow. Whatever way you go, it sounds like you're going to have a pretty rad kitchen when you're done. We just put in basic Kenmore appliances in our kitchen - total cost about $2,500...


----------



## ski_resort_observer (May 18, 2006)

Marc said:
			
		

> Ah, just sink a screw into the drywall and see what happnes.
> Where's your sense of adventure, Greg?   :dunce:



Actually that's pretty close. If it's pictures a mirrors, you can use gallery/picture hangers, hold up to 40 lbs. They are similar to the ones you can buy at the store except they are stronger and better engineered. There is a one, two and three brad sizes. Obviously the one with the three brads hold the 40 lbs. I owned a gallery for 3 years and have been hanging my work for over 20 years with these things. Even the ones you buy at the hardware store can hold up to 40lbs, just get the largest size. Takes maybe 10 seconds to install. Toggle bolts, drywall anchors...mucho overkill and mucho hassle.


----------



## ALLSKIING (May 18, 2006)

skijay said:
			
		

> I am DIY-ing appliance shopping.  Since most of you seem like gurus in electronics things and have new homes or have renovated recently, can someone help me with some appliances I need to buy:
> 
> I need a new dishwasher.  I like a Bosch I found at Sears & appliance store but I was told that it does not have a hard food grinder.  I was leaning toward KitchenAid since that was what was installed when the house was built 25 yrs ago.
> 
> ...


I have never heard of a hard food grinder in a dishwasher, but I have a Bosch and love it. It is by far the best cleaning dishwasher I have ever had as well as the most quiet.


----------



## skijay (May 18, 2006)

Greg,

I would rather spend less, but I have allowed that much based on the appliances that I have priced.  I am not trying to get the most expensive, I just want them to last lets say 25yrs like the ones now.  I am only dumping the fridge because it is not efficient.  The source of my high electric bill is the fridge.  The electrician that was at my house had a device that measured the amount of electricty that an appliance used and he said that mine was an energy hog.  I love the look of stainless steel which seems to up the price on the appliances.  It makes a dull kitchen like mine look much better.  

I also found out this afternoon that it will cost $100 to have a water line put in for a icemaker equiped fridge.  The appliance store does it.   I thought I would have to have a plumber come out and install cold water pipes.  I was thinking about a few hundred dollars if not more.  I did not realize it is a "nothing" job to install it.


----------



## Marc (May 18, 2006)

ski_resort_observer said:
			
		

> Actually that's pretty close. If it's pictures a mirrors, you can use gallery/picture hangers, hold up to 40 lbs. They are similar to the ones you can buy at the store except they are stronger and better engineered. There is a one, two and three brad sizes. Obviously the one with the three brads hold the 40 lbs. I owned a gallery for 3 years and have been hanging my work for over 20 years with these things. Even the ones you buy at the hardware store can hold up to 40lbs, just get the largest size. Takes maybe 10 seconds to install. Toggle bolts, drywall anchors...mucho overkill and mucho hassle.



Interesting...

Where's the best place to find them?  I have a picture that's probably ~10 lbs and I want to put it in a spot that's right between two joists.  When I move out I probably wouldn't even have to do anything to brad sized holes, whereas mud and paint would be required for a drywall anchor.

My other option was going with the 3M adhesive hangers.  The only problem with them is you really need a wire on the frame to hang from them and they tend to tilt the top of the picture forward a bit more than looks good because the hook protrudes so far from the wall.


----------



## ChileMass (May 18, 2006)

Greg said:
			
		

> Wow. Whatever way you go, it sounds like you're going to have a pretty rad kitchen when you're done. We just put in basic Kenmore appliances in our kitchen - total cost about $2,500...



Yeah - I'm with Greg on this one.  A $1500 dishwasher?  Man, it better make me a ham and cheese sandwich every time I walk in the room for that price.  Sears is a fine place to buy appliances.  Kenmore anything is OK with me.  I have a Kenmore electric dryer that is over 20 years old and runs 100%.  The last dishwasher I bought (7-8 yrs ago) was about $400 and does a very good job.  I don't even know what a hard food grinder is........

Tim - When you do get this killer kitchen completed, please be sure to put me on the inviation list for your first house party......I mix a mean martini.......


----------



## loafer89 (May 18, 2006)

Anything Maytag is horrible, we made the mistake of buying the Maytag Neptune washer and dryer in 2000 when we bought the house and both have constantly broke down costing us alot of $$$$$$.

Our Maytag refrigerator seems to have two temperature settings, frozen or luke warm. I really do like the Maytag double oven that we bought, so far so good.

I wil not touch Maytag with a totem pole for the new house.

I have experience with Bosch and LG with my family in Germany, I guess they still have good products even if they are made elsewhere than Germany these days?


----------



## Marc (May 18, 2006)

loafer89 said:
			
		

> Anything Maytag is horrible, we made the mistake of buying the Maytag Neptune washer and dryer in 2000 when we bought the house and both have constantly broke down costing us alot of $$$$$$.
> 
> Our Maytag refrigerator seems to have two temperature settings, frozen or luke warm. I really do like the Maytag double oven that we bought, so far so good.
> 
> ...



I thought LG has always been a Korean company?


----------



## loafer89 (May 18, 2006)

Marc said:
			
		

> I thought LG has always been a Korean company?


 
You are correct, I must have been confused with Siemens AG


----------



## ski_resort_observer (May 18, 2006)

Marc said:
			
		

> Interesting...
> 
> Where's the best place to find them?  I have a picture that's probably ~10 lbs and I want to put it in a spot that's right between two joists.  When I move out I probably wouldn't even have to do anything to brad sized holes, whereas mud and paint would be required for a drywall anchor.
> 
> My other option was going with the 3M adhesive hangers.  The only problem with them is you really need a wire on the frame to hang from them and they tend to tilt the top of the picture forward a bit more than looks good because the hook protrudes so far from the wall.



The gallery picture hangers are at Frameshops, Art Supply, craft stores. The regular picture hangers are everywhere....hardware stores, Walmart. They have the weight limits on the packages. These are for picture frames with wires. I wouldn't trust those adhesive things to hold my toothpaste.


----------



## Marc (May 18, 2006)

ski_resort_observer said:
			
		

> The gallery picture hangers are at Frameshops, Art Supply, craft stores. The regular picture hangers are everywhere....hardware stores, Walmart. They have the weight limits on the packages. These are for picture frames with wires. I wouldn't trust those adhesive things to hold my toothpaste.



Well, the big adhesive hooks are holding my two degrees which are framed in 11 x 17.  They've been up for about 10 months now with no signs of letting go.

I was afraid you were going to say I could find the picture hangers in a craft store.  The last time I went into a Michael's to Christmas shop for my mother it nearly drove me sane.


----------



## ski_resort_observer (May 18, 2006)

Marc said:
			
		

> Well, the big adhesive hooks are holding my two degrees which are framed in 11 x 17.  They've been up for about 10 months now with no signs of letting go.
> 
> I was afraid you were going to say I could find the picture hangers in a craft store.  The last time I went into a Michael's to Christmas shop for my mother it nearly drove me sane.



lol...I know what you mean. How about this. Here is the gallery hanger version that should be available in frameshops that also sell framing supplies or other places that sell picture frames. Here is a pic of the light version(10-20lbs).


----------



## Greg (May 19, 2006)

loafer89 said:
			
		

> Anything Maytag is horrible, we made the mistake of buying the Maytag Neptune washer and dryer in 2000 when we bought the house and both have constantly broke down costing us alot of $$$$$$.


We bought a very basic Maytag washer and dryer in 1999 and the things have been rock solid since. We've moved them twice because we are so satisfied with them.


----------



## smitty77 (May 19, 2006)

skijay said:
			
		

> I would rather spend less, but I have allowed that much based on the appliances that I have priced.  I am not trying to get the most expensive, I just want them to last lets say 25yrs like the ones now.[/QUOTE}
> IMHO you're setting yourself up for disappointment if you're hoping to get that much out of them.  I'd say 10 years is good, anything after that is a bonus, especially for the dishwasher.  I have heard great reviews about Bosch.  Very quiet, reliable, good on energy costs.



Btw, I think most dishwashers come with a hard food grinder (my cheap $300 Maytag has one), but I wouldn't make your decision based on that.  I find my DW unbearably loud when the grinder is doing it's work, and find myself putting in the extra effort to put in dishes free of scraps so that I don't have to listen to the racket.



			
				skijay said:
			
		

> I also found out this afternoon that it will cost $100 to have a water line put in for a icemaker equiped fridge.  The appliance store does it.   I thought I would have to have a plumber come out and install cold water pipes.  I was thinking about a few hundred dollars if not more.  I did not realize it is a "nothing" job to install it.


If you're at all DIY savvy, save the $$ and do it yourself.  I think they sell all inclusive kits at Home Depot or your local hardware store for such a project and I want to say they're like $10.  Click HERE for an example.  They usually consist of a valve that self-taps the water line in the basement and a length of flexible tube that runs up through a small hole in the foor behind the fridge.  Might be worth a try.

As for Maytags, I have a dishwasher and refridgerator made by them, and so far so good.  If you really want to splurge on the oven, I'd go for a gas top / electric oven.  You can't beat cooking over gas (better temp control), but electric always seems to bake more evenly.  It's the best of both worlds.  If you are going for a glass top electric, I wouldn't worry too much about breakage.  Only once did I see one crack, and that was after my 200 lb roomate fell on it while painting the kitchen ceiling.  I'm sure if you drop a pot or something on it you might break it, but under normal use I'd say the chances are nil.

Let us know what you end up getting.
Smitty


----------



## Marc (May 19, 2006)

Greg said:
			
		

> We bought a very basic Maytag washer and dryer in 1999 and the things have been rock solid since. We've moved them twice because we are so satisfied with them.



Example #3,453,265,301 of how anecdotal and individual experiences often mean little or next to nothing when quantifying the reliability of a brand or model.

And it always seems to be either cars or appliances, but holds true for most other things as well.


----------



## Greg (May 19, 2006)

smitty77 said:
			
		

> They usually consist of a valve that self-taps the water line in the basement and a length of flexible tube that runs up through a small hole in the foor behind the fridge.


Exactly. In fact the plumber that installed it in our house never even tapped the line. It's a simple matter of clamping it on a cold water pipe nearest to where you need to run up behind the fridge and then turn the valve to tap the line. Piece of cake. Depending on how long you need to run the tube, it's a 20 minute thing, tops.


----------



## hammer (May 19, 2006)

Greg said:
			
		

> Exactly. In fact the plumber that installed it in our house never even tapped the line. It's a simple matter of clamping it on a cold water pipe nearest to where you need to run up behind the fridge and then turn the valve to tap the line. Piece of cake. Depending on how long you need to run the tube, it's a 20 minute thing, tops.


 Those valves are neat, but one caution...I had one installed in my basement to run a water line for a whole house humidifier and the valve would tend to get clogged...


----------



## loafer89 (May 19, 2006)

Marc said:
			
		

> Example #3,453,265,301 of how anecdotal and individual experiences often mean little or next to nothing when quantifying the reliability of a brand or model.
> 
> And it always seems to be either cars or appliances, but holds true for most other things as well.


 
Maytag just settled a class action lawsuit over problems with the Neptune front load washer and dryer, so my trouble with their products is not an isolated thing. The washer caused flood damage to my ceiling (I have an upstairs laundry room) when the main circuit board fried and the washer door opened after the wash cycle.

As Greg mentioned he has had no problems with his machines, perhaps they are not Neptune front loading machines? If not, these are the model numbers covered in the lawsuit settlement:



List of Included Model Numbers:​
​MLE2000AYW​
MLE2000AWW
MLE2000AZW
MLG2000AWW (GAS STACK UNIT)
MAH3000AAW
MAH3000AEW
MAH3000AGW
MAH3000AWA
MAH3000AWW​
MAH3000BGW​
MAH4000AWW
MAH4000BWW
MAH4000AWQ
MAH4000BWQ
MAH5500AWW
MAH5500BWW
MAH5500BWQ
MAH55FLBWW
MAH55FLBWQ
MAH6500AWW
MAH6500AWQ
MAH7500AWW
MAH7500AWQ
MAH7550AAW
MAH7550AGW​




Home | Important Dates | Maytag® Neptune® Model Numbers | Class Notice 


Claim Form | Frequently Asked Questions | Distribution and Deficiency FAQ | Contact Maytag®

Contact Class Counsel | Final Approval Hearing Information​​


----------



## Greg (May 19, 2006)

smitty77 said:
			
		

> My next project is a drop ceiling for the basement.


How did this go? Any hints/tricks? Seemes pretty straightforward once you get the perimeter of the grid installed, but I'd be interested in hearing any feedback as I've never done it. I'm nowhere near doing this as I still have some walls to build, doors to install and a bunch of sheetrock to hang, but the suspended ceiling is part of the project so I figured I'd ask.


----------



## Greg (May 19, 2006)

loafer89 said:
			
		

> As Greg mentioned he has had no problems with his machines, perhaps they are not Neptune front loading machines?


No. As I said, they were very basic top loading washer and electric dryer. A few different settings, but really pretty basic. I think both costed less than a grand.


----------



## loafer89 (May 19, 2006)

Greg said:
			
		

> No. As I said, they were very basic top loading washer and electric dryer. A few different settings, but really pretty basic. I think both costed less than a grand.


 
We went with their most advanced new models and it was a disaster almost from the start. They paid for the circuit board repair after we called and complained about the damage that the washer had caused. I think they knew at that point that they had problems with the machine.

We just spent $600 last month to replace the front door of the washer because the rubber gasket had torn and the washer was leaking water.

We are staying far, far away from their line of products in the future. I heard there quality slipped alot in th past few years. I bought them because my parents had Maytag stuff with little or no problems for better than 20 years.


----------



## ckofer (May 20, 2006)

Greg said:
			
		

> How did this go? Any hints/tricks? Seemes pretty straightforward once you get the perimeter of the grid installed, but I'd be interested in hearing any feedback as I've never done it. I'm nowhere near doing this as I still have some walls to build, doors to install and a bunch of sheetrock to hang, but the suspended ceiling is part of the project so I figured I'd ask.



It's not too bad. Draw it out first so the cut ceiling tiles end up in smart places.


----------



## BeanoNYC (May 20, 2006)

What kind of ceiling tiles will you be using Greg?  Ones that sit flat on the grid or drop down a half inch or so?


----------



## smitty77 (May 22, 2006)

Greg said:
			
		

> How did this go? Any hints/tricks? Seemes pretty straightforward once you get the perimeter of the grid installed, but I'd be interested in hearing any feedback as I've never done it. I'm nowhere near doing this as I still have some walls to build, doors to install and a bunch of sheetrock to hang, but the suspended ceiling is part of the project so I figured I'd ask.


I've not yet started... Probably wait until next winter when work gets slow again.  I helped my grandfather hang one in our old kitchen about 15 years ago, and from what I remember it wasn't too bad once you got the perimeter rails hung.  A co-worker has one of those neat lasers that mount to the wall, so that should help things out.  As Kofer suggested, plan your 'grid' so that all of your cuts appear balanced and in less noticeable places.  As for tiles, I'm leaning toward something a little on the fancy side that sits right on the rail.  The ones that drop below are nice looking, but every cut tile needs some special "milling" with a razor blade to match the notched profile in the tile edge.  Pain in the @$$ - Granpda cut at least a dozen like this.  They had some nice pseudo pressed-tin-looking designs at Lowes or Home Depot, and I may go that route if I can find something I like.

Like a lot of projects, some careful planning and attention to details in the beginning (ie getting all of your perimeter and cross rails hanging plumb) will make the job go much quicker.


----------



## ski_resort_observer (May 22, 2006)

This my ever continuing DIY project. I did have someone help me with the roof rafters, I hired a pro to tape the drywall and of course hired an electrician to wire the place. Other than that I pretty much did the rest myself, the inside is completed and we moved into the addition over a year ago. I am planning to have it totally completed by Aug 1st...my wife believes that too:lol: I have several other projects going on as well. I am addicted to This Old House on PBS but do not have the DIY network on the cable.


----------



## noski (May 22, 2006)

ski_resort_observer said:
			
		

> This my ever continuing DIY project. I did have someone help me with the roof rafters, I hired a pro to tape the drywall and of course hired an electrician to wire the place. Other than that I pretty much did the rest myself, the inside is completed and we moved into the addition over a year ago. I am planning to have it totally completed by Aug 1st...my wife believes that too:lol: I have several other projects going on as well. I am addicted to This Old House on PBS but do not have the DIY network on the cable.]



interesting use of a pool ladder......is that a coincidence that it is leaning there, or do you really go up on and down off your deck on it...???


----------



## ski_resort_observer (May 22, 2006)

noski said:
			
		

> interesting use of a pool ladder......is that a coincidence that it is leaning there, or do you really go up on and down off your deck on it...???



Boy...nothing gets by you..:lol:  Just a temp place for it. Unfortunately, cleaning the pool and getting it in shape for the summer has to get done by June 15th. I bought a used above ground pool, nothing fancy or really that expensive, for my youngest daughter, took me 2 weeks to put it in last summer. It's actually nice to finally buy something the kids want and actually use!!!  I have yet to set foot in it. I'm a lake guy.


----------



## Greg (May 22, 2006)

smitty77 said:
			
		

> I've not yet started... Probably wait until next winter when work gets slow again.  I helped my grandfather hang one in our old kitchen about 15 years ago, and from what I remember it wasn't too bad once you got the perimeter rails hung.  A co-worker has one of those neat lasers that mount to the wall, so that should help things out.  As Kofer suggested, plan your 'grid' so that all of your cuts appear balanced and in less noticeable places.  As for tiles, I'm leaning toward something a little on the fancy side that sits right on the rail.  The ones that drop below are nice looking, but every cut tile needs some special "milling" with a razor blade to match the notched profile in the tile edge.  Pain in the @$$ - Granpda cut at least a dozen like this.  They had some nice pseudo pressed-tin-looking designs at Lowes or Home Depot, and I may go that route if I can find something I like.
> 
> Like a lot of projects, some careful planning and attention to details in the beginning (ie getting all of your perimeter and cross rails hanging plumb) will make the job go much quicker.


Thanks for the tips. Keep us posted on your progress. My deck installation commences this Saturday. One thing at a time. I could take two months off and work full time just on the house and still probably not get everything done...


----------



## Greg (Jun 4, 2006)

Greg said:
			
		

> So my delivery of 141 pieces of 2x8 and 5/4x6 pressure treated lumber arrived yesterday! :-o Gonna be a busy weekend.  Hope it stays somewhat dry... :roll:


It took the better part of two (partly rainy) weekends, but framing is complete:


----------



## ckofer (Jun 4, 2006)

This may sound weird but I'd put plastic sheeting under it now. Keeps weeds in check and prevents some moisture wicking.


----------



## Greg (Jun 5, 2006)

ckofer said:
			
		

> This may sound weird but I'd put plastic sheeting under it now. Keeps weeds in check and prevents some moisture wicking.


Under it, as in under the joists, or the decking? I would think that in either case plastic would retain moisture. I plan to eventually screen in the area under the upper deck so I might tack down dome screening under the decking though.


----------



## skijay (Jun 5, 2006)

I bought appliance number 1, the dishwasher.  I went with another Kitchen Aid, but this is their "Pro Line".  The KA fridge I was going to buy, did not match completely.  The grain of the Stainless Steel is different (vertical vs horizontal).   The scary thing about this dishwasher is that it makes hardly any noise.  You only here the water leaving it!  I thought it was broken at first.

Anybody who I told about my appliance purchases thinks I am some type of chef, I just respond and say I want something that will last 25 yrs like the factory appliances that were new to the house.  Primary methods of cooking:  Microwave, gas grill, convection oven.

I have been looking for the fridge and may just buy it online if I have to.  
I found this one:

http://www.us-appliance.com/kski25cuft355.html


----------



## ALLSKIING (Jun 5, 2006)

skijay said:
			
		

> I bought appliance number 1, the dishwasher.  I went with another Kitchen Aid, but this is their "Pro Line".  The KA fridge I was going to buy, did not match completely.  The grain of the Stainless Steel is different (vertical vs horizontal).   The scary thing about this dishwasher is that it makes hardly any noise.  You only here the water leaving it!  I thought it was broken at first.
> 
> Anybody who I told about my appliance purchases thinks I am some type of chef, I just respond and say I want something that will last 25 yrs like the factory appliances that were new to the house.  Primary methods of cooking:  Microwave, gas grill, convection oven.
> 
> ...


I don't know your price range but you can't go wrong with Sub-Zero http://www.subzero.com/subzero/description.asp?id=700TF


----------



## Greg (Jun 16, 2006)

Greg said:
			
		

> It took the better part of two (partly rainy) weekends, but framing is complete:


And.............Done!


----------



## Terry (Jun 17, 2006)

Looks good Greg. Good job. I am starting in on fixing my foundation this morning. It is a split stone foundation and the bottom stone is tipping into the cellar. The plan is to lift the house slightly to unload the stones, work out the top three stones on blockings and reset the bottom one. It should be interesting as I have never done this sort of work before. I have a friend who knows how to do it and I swapped labor with him. He is helping me , and I  am helping him fix up an old truck. These stones are 30" tall and 8 - 10 feet long granite. He says it will be easy so we will see. I will keep you updated on the progress. By the way this is on a 200 year old farmhouse! :beer:


----------



## Greg (Jun 19, 2006)

Terry said:
			
		

> Looks good Greg. Good job. I am starting in on fixing my foundation this morning. It is a split stone foundation and the bottom stone is tipping into the cellar. The plan is to lift the house slightly to unload the stones, work out the top three stones on blockings and reset the bottom one. It should be interesting as I have never done this sort of work before. I have a friend who knows how to do it and I swapped labor with him. He is helping me , and I  am helping him fix up an old truck. These stones are 30" tall and 8 - 10 feet long granite. He says it will be easy so we will see. I will keep you updated on the progress. By the way this is on a 200 year old farmhouse! :beer:


Sounds like one helluva project! How'd you make out so far, Terry?


----------



## Terry (Jun 19, 2006)

The house is jacked up, and the top layer of stones are out. I now have to hand dig behind the other bottom stones so that we can push them back in place. We found the cause of the problem after we got into it. There was a large tree root growing right against the stones and pushed them inward.It is interesting work and amazing how they put them in there 200 years ago with only hand equipment!   :beer:


----------



## Greg (Jun 19, 2006)

Terry said:
			
		

> The house is jacked up, and the top layer of stones are out. I now have to hand dig behind the other bottom stones so that we can push them back in place. We found the cause of the problem after we got into it. There was a large tree root growing right against the stones and pushed them inward.It is interesting work and amazing how they put them in there 200 years ago with only hand equipment!   :beer:


Sounds cool. Glad you found what was causing the problem. What's the approach going to be for the root? Just cut it back and away from the foundation, or is that tree history?


----------



## Terry (Jun 19, 2006)

Tree is history. Just sitting here sipping a beer and contomplating going down to dig. Was in the mid 90s and very humid today. SUCKS! I'd much rather have it 10 degrees and snowing!!   :beer:


----------



## ctenidae (Jun 19, 2006)

Terry said:
			
		

> I'd much rather have it 10 degrees and snowing!!   :beer:




May be the single most obvious thing anyone has said, ever.


----------



## ski_resort_observer (Jun 19, 2006)

Greg....nice looking job! Is that cedar decking instead of plain old pressure treated pine? Did you consider the new synthetic stuff? Did you you use 5/4 boards or 1x, thicknesswise? Questions, questions, questions.


----------



## Greg (Jun 20, 2006)

ski_resort_observer said:
			
		

> Greg....nice looking job! Is that cedar decking instead of plain old pressure treated pine? Did you consider the new synthetic stuff? Did you you use 5/4 boards or 1x, thicknesswise? Questions, questions, questions.


Thanks! Yeah, I'm really happy with how it came out. Plain ole 5/4 pressure treated decking. I considered the Trex composite decking, but it would have added $1,600 to the price tag... :blink: It turned out to be about 43' x 14' off the house (16' off the garage section). I got away with building that deck for around $2,500. Not bad! Next is to rework the crappy railing the builder put on the upper deck and to add riser plates to the steps. I'm then going to add some surface mount lighting to some of the riser plates and on the joists on the lower deck where the 45's are.


----------



## Terry (Jun 25, 2006)

We were at it again yesterday on the stone work. We worked the middle two stones so that they weren't bearing on the bottom stone. That was some risky business because if they tipped over you were screwed. They weigh probably at least a ton apiece. once we got them up and suppoted, we could then put a jack at an angle against the bottom stone and push it back upright.  We got all three stones setting where we wanted them and braced by evening. That is where we stand now. Next sat we will dig under the bottom stone and put in big stones under it to support it from tipping over again. Then we will fill in all the voids with small stones and mortar  them in place. Then we can start to back fill everything and set the house back down on it. It is very interesting work but a little nerve wracking teetering these big stones around with crow bars and jacks! :beer:


----------



## Greg (Jul 12, 2006)

Terry said:
			
		

> We were at it again yesterday on the stone work. We worked the middle two stones so that they weren't bearing on the bottom stone. That was some risky business because if they tipped over you were screwed. They weigh probably at least a ton apiece. once we got them up and suppoted, we could then put a jack at an angle against the bottom stone and push it back upright.  We got all three stones setting where we wanted them and braced by evening. That is where we stand now. Next sat we will dig under the bottom stone and put in big stones under it to support it from tipping over again. Then we will fill in all the voids with small stones and mortar  them in place. Then we can start to back fill everything and set the house back down on it. It is very interesting work but a little nerve wracking teetering these big stones around with crow bars and jacks! :beer:


Well...update?


----------



## Terry (Jul 12, 2006)

We dug under the base stones and found that they weren't even close to being straight or square on the bottom so we had to devise a different plan. We put large stones under them and wedged them in tight in several spots and then dug back about 2 feet away and poured concrete up against them. That is where we left it 2 saturdays ago. Last sat I had to go to Somerville Mass to an aniversery party so no work was don that week. This sat the plan is to mortar in the joints between the stones, and also to build a pier for the ell corner to sit on. If all goes well, we should have the house back on the foundation by sat night! :beer:


----------



## hammer (Apr 12, 2007)

*bump*

Can't go skiing anymore so it's time to think about projects around the house...

One thing that's been bothering me is the necessary but ugly 2' - 4' concrete retaining wall at the end of my driveway.

Aside from tearing it down, does anyone have any ideas on how to make it look better?


----------



## Greg (Apr 12, 2007)

hammer said:


> *bump*
> 
> Can't go skiing anymore so it's time to think about projects around the house...
> 
> ...



Interesting that you're bumping this with such a question. I am going to be installing some retaining walls, steps and a walk in front of the house this spring. My plan is to use cinderblocks to build out the foundation and then use this product to face it:

http://www.connecticutstone.com/thinstone.asp

It's a stone veneer that's only 1.5" thick so it seems pretty easy to work with. Apply morter to the retaining wall and "stick" it on. I've seen some samples and to the untrained eye, it looks like professional stone masonry. I was considering then adding a coping of bluestone along the top of the walls and as steps, but I think I just might do that on the steps. Flat areas of the walkway will be blue stone. Perhaps this is an option for you.

I have 10 yards of top soil sitting in my front yard under a tarp right now. The plan is to use much of that to build slightly elevated beds in the front of the house. I scored all my landscaping plants from Costco of all places last weekend. I'd like to start getting that stuff in on Saturday...


----------



## hammer (Apr 12, 2007)

Thanks, Greg.  Doing a stone veneer sounds like a good idea, I'll look into it...


----------



## hammer (Jul 16, 2007)

Bump...here's a question:

How can I remove anchor bolts like the one in the picture below?  I have a bunch of these in a set of outside granite/brick steps that I have iron railings attached to, and I can't keep them from getting all rusted:







So far I've tried drilling through the top and have broken off some of it...


----------



## ctenidae (Jul 16, 2007)

hammer said:


> Bump...here's a question:
> 
> How can I remove anchor bolts like the one in the picture below?  I have a bunch of these in a set of outside granite/brick steps that I have iron railings attached to, and I can't keep them from getting all rusted:
> 
> .



Dremmel.

My question: We're closing on a new apartment in a few weeks, and the ceiling is textured- not popcorn, but swirled and painted. Best idea I've heard so far is to skim coat it with mud to smooth it out. Any ideas?


----------



## hammer (Jul 16, 2007)

ctenidae said:


> Dremmel.
> 
> My question: We're closing on a new apartment in a few weeks, and the ceiling is textured- not popcorn, but swirled and painted. Best idea I've heard so far is to skim coat it with mud to smooth it out. Any ideas?


Doy you mean use the Dremmel instead of a standard drill?  I need to get the portion inside the granite out...

What are you looking to do with the ceiling?  I have a lot of swirled ceilings and I don't like them...they look fine at first but if any cracks appear they can be difficult to fix without looking like they are patched up.


----------



## Greg (Jul 16, 2007)

Greg said:


> Interesting that you're bumping this with such a question. I am going to be installing some retaining walls, steps and a walk in front of the house this spring. My plan is to use cinderblocks to build out the foundation and then use this product to face it:
> 
> http://www.connecticutstone.com/thinstone.asp
> 
> ...





hammer said:


> Thanks, Greg.  Doing a stone veneer sounds like a good idea, I'll look into it...



This project is still in process. The retaining walls are built and veneered. The walkway steps are built (concrete block) and are awaiting the veneer. I applied 160 lbs of mortar to the sides and risers of my cast concrete front steps this weekend in order to eliminate the overhand on the treads. I will start veneering the top steps this week. This ThinStone is a pretty time consuming process. With natural stone, it's like having a jigsaw puzzle with no guarantees the piece will fit. This weekend, I also installed a nice light post along the new steps. I wired it to a mechanical timer box which will turn it on/off each night.



hammer said:


> Bump...here's a question:
> 
> How can I remove anchor bolts like the one in the picture below?  I have a bunch of these in a set of outside granite/brick steps that I have iron railings attached to, and I can't keep them from getting all rusted:
> 
> ...



I guess if you can get the ends of these removed down below the surface a bit, you can apply mortar or something over it? I doubt you'll be able to easy remove them. I used these on my deck to attach the ledger to the foundation and once you tighten them down they expand and fill the hole pretty securely. Aside from really digging them out, you'll have to work around them, I think.



ctenidae said:


> Dremmel.
> 
> My question: We're closing on a new apartment in a few weeks, and the ceiling is textured- not popcorn, but swirled and painted. Best idea I've heard so far is to skim coat it with mud to smooth it out. Any ideas?



You got the right approach. The popcorn stuff is a mess, but the swirled patterns should take the compound pretty well. Sounds messy though...


----------



## ctenidae (Jul 16, 2007)

hammer said:


> Doy you mean use the Dremmel instead of a standard drill?  I need to get the portion inside the granite out...
> 
> What are you looking to do with the ceiling?  I have a lot of swirled ceilings and I don't like them...they look fine at first but if any cracks appear they can be difficult to fix without looking like they are patched up.



Yeah, like Greg said, dig it out and patch it over. Might be hard to match the concrete, though.

On the ceiling, we want it smooth. The ceiling's a little low- 8 feet +/-, so it's got to be really even. Any ideas on how much a pro would cost to come in? the apartment's about 920 sq ft, adn we'd like to get the walls done, too, but may pull out some of the drywall if the brick behind is decent.


----------



## Greg (Jul 16, 2007)

ctenidae said:


> Any ideas on how much a pro would cost to come in?



Boo... That's against the spirit of this thread!


----------



## hammer (Jul 16, 2007)

Greg said:


> I guess if you can get the ends of these removed down below the surface a bit, you can apply mortar or something over it? I doubt you'll be able to easy remove them. I used these on my deck to attach the ledger to the foundation and once you tighten them down they expand and fill the hole pretty securely. Aside from really digging them out, you'll have to work around them, I think.


Unfortunately, If I want to reattach the rails to the steps, I'll have to dig them out and replace the anchors.  The anchors are in holes in the granite, so even if I just patched the holes and didn't bother with the rails I'd see the patches.

The lesson learned here is to spend the extra $$ and make sure that the new anchors are stainless steel...I think the current anchors are galvanized and the coating came off when I cleaned the rust off of the granite. :-?

Congrats on getting the retaining wall done.  I'm a little leery of trying a natural stone veneer, but I guess you don't have to worry as much about the spaces being even...


----------



## Greg (Jul 16, 2007)

hammer said:


> Congrats on getting the retaining wall done.  I'm a little leery of trying a natural stone veneer, but I guess you don't have to worry as much about the spaces being even...



Thanks. So far I think it looks okay. Not totally what I expected, but I've gotten a lot of compliments from neighbors so I guess it's coming out pretty good. I'll post pictures when I'm done. It's kind of like tiling a floor. Yeah, it looks okay after you lay the tiles, but once you grout, it's like, "ah ha! Now _that _looks nice!"


----------



## ctenidae (Jul 16, 2007)

Greg said:


> Boo... That's against the spirit of this thread!




Yeah, i know.

Of course, so is gouging out my own eyes with a trowel...


----------



## bvibert (Jul 16, 2007)

ctenidae said:


> Yeah, i know.
> 
> Of course, so is gouging out my own eyes with a trowel...



As long as you did the gouging of your eyes yourself and didn't pay someone else to do it then I fail to see how it goes against the spirit of the thread...


----------



## hammer (Jul 16, 2007)

ctenidae said:


> Yeah, i know.
> 
> Of course, so is gouging out my own eyes with a trowel...


So are you the type of person who is dangerous around all tools, not just power tools?

I'll admit that I'm definitely among the DIY-challenged...:dunce:


----------



## ctenidae (Jul 16, 2007)

hammer said:


> So are you the type of person who is dangerous around all tools, not just power tools?
> 
> I'll admit that I'm definitely among the DIY-challenged...:dunce:



Depends on your definition of "dangerous". Usually I go well beyond the original scope of the project. One of the happiest days of my wife's life was when my Dremmel broke.

That doesn't sound right...


----------



## hammer (Jul 16, 2007)

ctenidae said:


> Depends on your definition of "dangerous". Usually I go well beyond the original scope of the project. One of the happiest days of my wife's life was when my Dremmel broke.
> 
> That doesn't sound right...


I get your meaning...unfortunately, I'm the other type of dangerous...


----------



## ctenidae (Jul 16, 2007)

So, here's a list of what we plan to do to our new place, once we move in:

Hardwood floors throughout (tile and carpet now)
Expose brick, paint walls, redo ceiling
Kitchen: new counters (concrete, perhaps), new cabinets (may build ourselves) new appliances, convert to gas
Bathroom: move wall 1 foot, new sink and floor
Patio: remove most of the panters (gaining 3 feet), possibly redo brick

That's the short list.


----------



## Marc (Jul 16, 2007)

ctenidae said:


> Depends on your definition of "dangerous". Usually I go well beyond the original scope of the project. One of the happiest days of my wife's life was when my Dremmel broke.
> 
> That doesn't sound right...



I would've guessed it'd be the other way around.


----------



## ctenidae (Jul 16, 2007)

Marc said:


> I would've guessed it'd be the other way around.



Exactly.

So, anyone know anything about heating? Place has electric baseboard, which I'd like to replace with newer more efficient stuff. Hydronic, ceramic, flush mount fan, I'm almost overwhelmed. Standard baseboard stuff sticks out and makes furniture placement tough, and there's no "cool" design to any of them. At the same time, I worry that the flush mount fan heaters won't pack much punch...


----------



## Marc (Jul 16, 2007)

ctenidae said:


> Exactly.
> 
> So, anyone know anything about heating? Place has electric baseboard, which I'd like to replace with newer more efficient stuff. Hydronic, ceramic, flush mount fan, I'm almost overwhelmed. Standard baseboard stuff sticks out and makes furniture placement tough, and there's no "cool" design to any of them. At the same time, I worry that the flush mount fan heaters won't pack much punch...



It's an apartment.

Wait til you're neighbors are gone for the weekend, then knock a hole into one of their coat closets from your unit and install a duct + fan.

Problem solved.


----------



## Marc (Jul 16, 2007)

In all seriousness, if you're spending the time and effort to put in hardwood floors, spend the extra for radiant in floor.  Serious.


----------



## tree_skier (Jul 17, 2007)

Marc said:


> In all seriousness, if you're spending the time and effort to put in hardwood floors, spend the extra for radiant in floor.  Serious.




you are not supposed to put radiant under solid wood flooring.  You can put it under laminate put stay away from under solid wood.


----------



## Marc (Jul 17, 2007)

tree_skier said:


> you are not supposed to put radiant under solid wood flooring.  You can put it under laminate put stay away from under solid wood.



Why not?  Never heard that.  I know two homes with it, one with maple floors, the other with oak.



> Floor Covering
> Hardwood flooring and wood laminates - underfloor heating is actually very good for wooden floors because it maintains a constant even temperature over the surface of the floor eliminating hot spots close to radiators. It is good practise to lay the wood flooring out loose to allow it to acclimatise to the room in which it is to be finally laid.



http://www.selfbuildabc.co.uk/building/underfloor-heating.htm



> "Can wood floors be installed over radiant heating systems?"
> Absolutely!
> A warm, friendly wood floor is a thing of pleasure on a cold winter's day. It is not only beautiful to look at; it adds a high degree of comfort to the room.



http://www.radiantpanelassociation.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=145

The only problem I'd see is if the wood is wet on install, the heat may dry out the floor faster and cause it to warp or crack.  If the wood is sufficiently dry as it should be, I don't see an issue.


----------



## ctenidae (Jul 17, 2007)

Marc said:


> In all seriousness, if you're spending the time and effort to put in hardwood floors, spend the extra for radiant in floor.  Serious.



The difficulty lies in getting hardwood that can handle it. laminates work best, but I hate them- easy to install, sure, but so obviously laminate it hurts. Getting a stable enough floor at a reasonable price could be tough.

Plus, the radiant systems are kind of expensive, up front. We'd have to go with electric, since we can't lose the 2+ inch buildup needed for hydronic. It'd cost $1000+ to put radiant in the living room, though with a tile floor already there as a heat mass, it could be very efficient. I'm exploring some NSTAR and EnergyStar programs that could give a rebate (up to $1500!) for following reccomendations. Radiant heat is 30%+ more efficient than baseboards, so that's a possibility. 

Maybe baseboards in the bedroom, and radiant in the living room/kitchen.


----------



## ctenidae (Jul 17, 2007)

tree_skier's right- solid wood floors are not generally recommended. There are ways around it, though, but it involves a lot of conditioning and time, which may be worth it.


----------



## tree_skier (Jul 17, 2007)

Here is one company statements

http://www.hoskinghardwood.com/radiant-heat/default.asp

basically as a synopsis laminate will come with the manufactures warranty while if you put solid over radiant it voids the manufactures warranty.  They will only install quatersaw (much more expensive) over radiant, and provide no warranty.  Solid wood flooring is a lifetime floor, there are some that are over 300 years old.  The expansion and contraction allong with uneven moisture content caused by radiant heat can ruin the floor.  yes it can be done for example my brother in law did it and so far has lasted 2 years however my neighbor who is a master carpenter didn't and has said he's replaced a number of floors that warped/bubbled from the radiant heat.


----------



## smitty77 (Jul 18, 2007)

Greg said:


> Boo... That's against the spirit of this thread!


Not when it comes to plaster.  Unless you've already got skills or find you really have the knack from the start, get a pro.  You'll see every bump and ripple in that ceiling every day of your life.  A good pro will do it 5 times faster and 10 times better.

My father-in-law built his own house, and also worked in the building construction industry for 30 years, finishing his career as a Clerk of the Works for the state of MA, overseeing construction of school and couthouses mostly.  He once asked a professional plasterer (and friend) how he would fair doing his house himself:
Plasterer:  "How many closets do you have."
Father-in-law:  "5.  Why?"
Plasterer:  "Because that's where you'll learn how to plaster.  You'll probably do them twice before you're happy enough with the results to attempt anything in public view."

I sheetrocked, taped, and mudded my basement myself.  Next time I'm getting a pro to do the mudding.  It took a lot longer than I expected to get the results I expected, and I didn't do the ceilings.

Just my humble opinion.


----------



## Greg (Jul 18, 2007)

smitty77 said:


> Not when it comes to plaster.  Unless you've already got skills or find you really have the knack from the start, get a pro.  You'll see every bump and ripple in that ceiling every day of your life.  A good pro will do it 5 times faster and 10 times better.
> 
> My father-in-law built his own house, and also worked in the building construction industry for 30 years, finishing his career as a Clerk of the Works for the state of MA, overseeing construction of school and couthouses mostly.  He once asked a professional plasterer (and friend) how he would fair doing his house himself:
> Plasterer:  "How many closets do you have."
> ...



I found the key to mudding walls is to not work it too much. Throw it up there and leave it. I used to get anal with it and tried to get a perfect result right away. Better to slap a coat up, let it dry, scrape the high spots and then repeat. Perhaps a third coat and then sand it.


----------



## bill2ski (Jul 18, 2007)

Greg said:


> I found the key to mudding walls is to not work it too much. Throw it up there and leave it. I used to get anal with it and tried to get a perfect result right away. Better to slap a coat up, let it dry, scrape the high spots and then repeat. Perhaps a third coat and then sand it.



I'm in agreement on the "slap it up method" one of the first projects we undertook in our old place was to peel off 7 layers of wall paper in an upstairs bedroom. By the time I had stripped the walls,spackled and resurfaced  them in preperation for primer.I realised it would have been easier to tear out the sheetrock and start from scratch.


----------



## smitty77 (Jul 23, 2007)

Greg said:


> I found the key to mudding walls is to not work it too much. Throw it up there and leave it. I used to get anal with it and tried to get a perfect result right away. Better to slap a coat up, let it dry, scrape the high spots and then repeat. Perhaps a third coat and then sand it.


Edit:  When I was referring to my father-in-law plastering, I meant a full skim-coat.

Totally correct.  Put it on, run the trowel over it, maybe twice, then leave it.  But I've seen the pros at work and they do it so much better and in about 1/4 of the time.  With all of the small walls here and there (a pantry, a closet, an "alcove" for the TV, a computer nook, etc) in my basement and the associated corners, and the sloped portion following the stairway.... It took a lot longer than I expected.  It came out nice... just time consuming.  The sanding is the sucky part, but they make a nice wet system for the shop-vac now.  Saw that little gem at Home Depot about 2 months after I finished the project.  I didn't know such a beast existed for the homeowner.

For the ceilings I'd have it skim-coated.  You can mud and tape the joints only, but the texture always looks different (at least to me) after it's painted, especially with that flat-looking ceiling paint.  Now if you're going for a swirled or otherwise textured ceiling, knock yourself out.  No reason you can't do that yourself with minimal practice.


----------



## ctenidae (Jul 23, 2007)

smitty77 said:


> For the ceilings I'd have it skim-coated.  You can mud and tape the joints only, but the texture always looks different (at least to me) after it's painted, especially with that flat-looking ceiling paint.  Now if you're going for a swirled or otherwise textured ceiling, knock yourself out.  No reason you can't do that yourself with minimal practice.




The ceiling is swirl textured now, which is what we want to eliminate. Once we get in, I'm going to chip at some of it and see what exactly we're dealing with, but I may pull it all down, put up 3/8 or 5/8 drywall, and see how it goes. Worse comes to worst, I'll get a plaster guy to come in and fix it.

On a side note, I ran across Disign Workshop, a cool program that lets you "build" the space, change lighting, and walk through it. Pretty cool. I've only started playing with it, and the textures and color options seem a little limited, but it's got potential. At least, enough to keep me playing with it for a month until I can play with the actual space.


----------



## ctenidae (Aug 13, 2007)

Did some shopping this weekend to take advantage of the taxlessness.
990 sq ft of engineered wood floor "toffee Maple" for $1.99/sq ft, delivered
153 sq ft of travertine tile for $1.11/ sq ft (Home Depot mispriced it, we pounced)
90 sq ft of Italian ceramic wall tile for $1.50/sq ft (should be $5)

Don't know where any of the tile will go yet (probably bathroom, but who knows...), but it's hard to go wrong with travertine, and the ceramics give us a look we wanted but couldn't fit in the budget. Overall, we got about $5K worth of stuff for about $2,200. And paid no sales tax.


----------



## ckofer (Aug 14, 2007)

tree_skier said:


> you are not supposed to put radiant under solid wood flooring.  You can put it under laminate put stay away from under solid wood.



You have to be thoughtful in this department. If  you run the floor temps too high, bad things will happen to the wood. If you run the temps too low, you too will we cold. The laminates make sense here and look better each year.

My home has about half in-floor radiant and half traditional baseboard. Warm floors in the winter can be great (they even help to dry the mudroom area). I have had very good success with using programmable thermostats to control the heat. I never let the temp vary much but can have the heat running about an hour before the floors are used (early AM, after school for the kids).


----------



## ctenidae (Sep 10, 2007)

Major recent projects:
Removed 11 feet of drywall/studs to expose brick, installed 4 recessed lights to shine on wall

Removed/replaced about 25 linear feet of drywall and insulation behind it due to moisture problem

Laid 150 sq ft of engineered wood floor with 3/4 underlayment and vapor barrier. I'm going to be picking glue off my skin for a month.

Enclosed a 2x11 bumpout to make a closet. Still have to hang the rods and doors.

Put down self-leveling cement in preparation for a 100 sq ft travertine tile floor. That stuff (the cement) is pretty cool.

Lots of painting.

This is since Memorial Day weekend. I'm tired.


----------



## 2knees (Sep 10, 2007)

i forgot about this thread.  tore up my front steps a couple of weeks ago to replace them.  much to my surprise, my porch is built over an old existing concrete porch.  Very interesting carpentry work by the previous owner of the house.  needless to say, when i was done, i dubbed my new porch Frankenporch.  It has more shit hanging off of it to stabilize it then you could imagine.


----------



## GrilledSteezeSandwich (Sep 10, 2007)

Wow you guys are amazing..I'm the least handy person I know..My greatest MacGuyver moment was fixing my mini-blinds with a Nastar sticker and I installed my air conditioning unit myself...but ideally I'd have a cleaning service clean my place and if I ever have a house..I'll hire somebody to cut the grass..


----------



## skijay (Sep 10, 2007)

I had my driveway replaced and to save costs I did the fill behind the retaining curb that was installed.  The complete cost of my driveway, sidewalk, and the tree removal was just about 1/2 the cost of the Scion that parks in it.


----------



## tree_skier (Sep 12, 2007)

So far my summer projects have been

1. Travertine down in my kitchen, first floor bathroom and hallway.  

2. New main entry way (porch) Which my neighbor the professional did, $1200 materials and 3800 labor.

3. Replaced the walkway and added a step out of bluestone and granite


----------



## ctenidae (Sep 12, 2007)

tree_skier said:


> So far my summer projects have been
> 
> 1. Travertine down in my kitchen, first floor bathroom and hallway.



How'd the travertine work out? Did you seal it, adn if so, before or after putting it in?


----------



## tree_skier (Sep 12, 2007)

worked out great.  I sealed it after it was grouted.  The travertine was walnut from home depot grout bone used 1/8' spacers.  the one mistake was that i followed the directions and used fiberglass tape on the underlayment joints.  This caused a couple of tiles to be high in places.  My local pro told my they never do that as thats what happens.  However it looks great it just bothers my wife a little.  

2 coats of sealer out of the $69 container (1/2 gal maybe?)with some left over  used new cheap mop to put it on, just poured on floor and spread.


----------



## ctenidae (Sep 12, 2007)

We've got the same tile, 18 inch squares. Since we're on a concrete slab I put down a layer of self leveling cement, and we should be good to go. I also bought the $69 sealer.


----------



## tree_skier (Sep 12, 2007)

Lay them all out before laying them as the vary in color significantly.


----------



## Kerovick (Sep 12, 2007)

I replaced my fluids in my front and rear differentials last weekend.  Trust me, this is a huge deal for me!!


----------



## bill2ski (Sep 12, 2007)

A friends house has been the guinea pig for a long term project involving geothermal. We began 7 years ago. Six zones of radiant heat tubing were installed in the foundation floor as well as the slab for the attached garage. Each zone was connected to a corresponding 100 gal. hot water tank and filled with glycol. A propane on demand hot water heater supplied domestic hot water and was used to supply the air handler for heating with air while we worked the bugs out of the system. Thirteen 18 in. wells were drilled and into each titanium tubing was installed and backfilled with sand slurry to prevent abrasion.After creating a manifold to direct and control the flow the lines were ready to be connected to the compressors. The idea is to take liquid refrigerant compress it to a vapor, pump it down the wells and extract the difference by capturing the rate of change and heating the glycol in the tanks. Long story longer we were forced to abandon the glycol, tanks and the original compressor in favor of a newer compressor type that didn't require as much capacity for storage.In conclusion the system has just completed it's first full cooling season and is committing about 450000 BTU for use as air conditioning with domestic hot water as a byproduct. The guy has a hot water hose to wash his car with in the summer and it runs on about 65-90 $ a month in electricity to heat/cool his 3000 sq ft Bungalow, Oh you can walk on the garage floor in the dead of Feb. in your stocking feet and be toasty.


----------



## bvibert (Sep 12, 2007)

bill2ski said:


> A friends house has been the guinea pig for a long term project involving geothermal. We began 7 years ago. Six zones of radiant heat tubing were installed in the foundation floor as well as the slab for the attached garage. Each zone was connected to a corresponding 100 gal. hot water tank and filled with glycol. A propane on demand hot water heater supplied domestic hot water and was used to supply the air handler for heating with air while we worked the bugs out of the system. Thirteen 18 in. wells were drilled and into each titanium tubing was installed and backfilled with sand slurry to prevent abrasion.After creating a manifold to direct and control the flow the lines were ready to be connected to the compressors. The idea is to take liquid refrigerant compress it to a vapor, pump it down the wells and extract the difference by capturing the rate of change and heating the glycol in the tanks. Long story longer we were forced to abandon the glycol, tanks and the original compressor in favor of a newer compressor type that didn't require as much capacity for storage.In conclusion the system has just completed it's first full cooling season and is committing about 450000 BTU for use as air conditioning with domestic hot water as a byproduct. The guy has a hot water hose to wash his car with in the summer and it runs on about 65-90 $ a month in electricity to heat/cool his 3000 sq ft Bungalow, Oh you can walk on the garage floor in the dead of Feb. in your stocking feet and be toasty.



Sounds like one hell of a DIY project!  You don't hear of too many people using geothermal to heat their homes.  I've always thought it was a cool idea...


----------



## bill2ski (Sep 12, 2007)

The next project is a wind turbine. 3 years from now and he's "off the grid" and petroleum free at home, however, this has been more about advancing the technology than anything. An oil burning FHW-FHA (traditional system) is still a lot cheaper to install than a complete geo setup. Unless you take into account the possibility that light sweet crude could be worth a fortune per gallon someday.
As with anything time will be the judge.
If you have a outdoor in ground pool it's worth looking into, considering the annual cost of heating one, a geo system starts looking pretty attractive especially to hotels,hospitals,university's etc...


----------



## ctenidae (Sep 17, 2007)

Finished the wood floor in the bedroom, hung the new closet doors, and laid 150 sq feet of travertine. Grouting sometime this week. One project got bumped up the "To Do" list though, which is a good thing- installing new heaters in the bedroom. COME ON FALL!


----------



## Greg (Nov 7, 2007)

Greg said:


> I am going to be installing some retaining walls, steps and a walk in front of the house this spring. My plan is to use cinderblocks to build out the foundation and then use this product to face it:
> 
> http://www.connecticutstone.com/thinstone.asp
> 
> It's a stone veneer that's only 1.5" thick so it seems pretty easy to work with. Apply morter to the retaining wall and "stick" it on. I've seen some samples and to the untrained eye, it looks like professional stone masonry. I was considering then adding a coping of bluestone along the top of the walls and as steps, but I think I just might do that on the steps. Flat areas of the walkway will be blue stone.





Greg said:


> This project is still in process. The retaining walls are built and veneered. The walkway steps are built (concrete block) and are awaiting the veneer. I applied 160 lbs of mortar to the sides and risers of my cast concrete front steps this weekend in order to eliminate the overhand on the treads. I will start veneering the top steps this week. This ThinStone is a pretty time consuming process. With natural stone, it's like having a jigsaw puzzle with no guarantees the piece will fit. This weekend, I also installed a nice light post along the new steps. I wired it to a mechanical timer box which will turn it on/off each night.



Well after almost 6 months of on and off work and several *tons *of material, this sucker is officially done:












By far, the largest, most back-breaking and most time-consuming DIY project I've ever done. This is what I started with:






:blink: Bring on the ski season!!!


----------



## BeanoNYC (Nov 7, 2007)

Holy chit!  Great job Greg.  I'm impressed.  You did this all by yourself?  No day laborers?


----------



## Terry (Nov 7, 2007)

That looks awesome Greg. Did you cut the stones to fit in the retaining walls or were they just shapes that you fit together? either way it looks nice!!


----------



## Greg (Nov 7, 2007)

BeanoNYC said:


> Holy chit!  Great job Greg.  I'm impressed.  You did this all by yourself?  No day laborers?



I had two day laborers: me and my father-in-law. I'm very lucky to have him to help me out. For a 60 year old guy, he has the energy of a 20 year old, and loves this kind of stuff. You should see some of the stuff he's done at *his *house. :-o He loved taking this one on as he's never done anything like it; nor have I.

BTW, this was all done by hand. No heavy equipment at all. All hand digging. I'm insane, I know... :roll:



Terry said:


> That looks awesome Greg. Did you cut the stones to fit in the retaining walls or were they just shapes that you fit together? either way it looks nice!!



Thanks! It's actually a thin veneer over cinderblock. Here's some progress photos:











The stone veneer process took much longer than I expected. It's natural stone so there are no guarantees how things will fit. I discovered late in the process that you can use a cardboard template to score the backs of the stone with a diamond blade on a circular saw to be able to break the veneer into a shape you can use. It was amazing how little waste we ended up with and how accurate the measurements were.


----------



## hammer (Nov 7, 2007)

Real nice work, Greg...


----------



## Terry (Nov 8, 2007)

I did some work with granite slabs last summer and it is amazing how accurately you can cut those big slabs by drilling and using feathers and wedges. It was a stressfull but fun project. PS - it is also back breaking work!


----------



## sledhaulingmedic (Nov 8, 2007)

I'm an amatuer gynocologist, does that count?  "Paramedic Sled, at your cervix!"


----------



## ctenidae (Nov 9, 2007)

Nice work, Greg. Looks great.

We installed our kitchen cabinets last weekend, laid a room of hardwood floor in the study, laid the tile floor in the kitchen on Monday night, grouted Wednesday night, then took down 3 cabinets to install a fridge panel and re-hung the cabinets last night. Fun.

This weekend is for pouring the concrete contertops, installing microwave (best part: stove and oven are 220, microwave is 110 plug in. Get to run yet another electric line.) and dishwasher, hanging shelves, and installing the backsplash.

Our living room is a disaster area. I've got to get the kitchen done soon just to get to some level or normalcy.


----------



## hammer (Mar 6, 2008)

I have a small area of wall space in my kitchen that I'm going to put tile on. I have the "score and snap" type of tile cutter, a pair of tile nippers, and a tile cutter attachment for my Dremel to handle the small stuff.

I know that I'm going to have to make some "notch" cuts in tile near where there are corners in the cabinets but I think I would only need to do a few of those. I'm guessing that the cuts for the outlets don't have to be too precise, either, since those will be covered.

Is it worth it for me to invest in any type of a wet saw? After I'm done with this project, I would not expect to be doing any more tile jobs for some time...


----------



## Marc (Mar 6, 2008)

I can't imagine you'd need to own one... you can probably rent a wet saw from Home Despot....


----------



## Paul (Mar 6, 2008)

Marc said:


> I can't imagine you'd need to own one... you can probably rent a wet saw from Home Despot....



Seconded...


----------



## ctenidae (Mar 7, 2008)

Marc said:


> I can't imagine you'd need to own one... you can probably rent a wet saw from Home Despot....



You can buy one for $80 and take your time, or you can rent one for $45 a day, make at least two 2 hour trips to Home Cheapo, and then have to stay up all night finishing so you can avoid another day's charge.

We bought one. Of course, we did tile in 3 separate sections, and will be doing more eventually.


----------



## ckofer (Mar 8, 2008)

If you just need to notch a few tiles you may be better to own a 4" angle grinder and an appropriate wheel. This is a pretty handy tool to own as you can install metal cut-off wheels for zipping through metal things.

It's also possible that all you need is a tile scriber:








*In this section:* 
Using a tile scriber
Using a ceramic tile cutter







 *This page is © Copyright 2001-2008 helpwithdiy.com*




Before you follow this guide you must read and *agree* to the terms of our disclaimer.   









   When working with ceramic tiles *always* wear safety goggles and thick work gloves ! 

Ceramic tiles can be extremely sharp when trimmed or cut.    
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



*Cutting tiles with a tile scriber*






  After marking the tile for cutting, place it face up on a solid surface. 

Place a steel rule (or suitable straight edged guide) on the tile and line the ends up with your cut marks. 

When you are happy with the positioning, use the tile scriber to firmly score the tile from top to bottom. 

Some thicker tiles may need extra attention paid to the edges, score these independently if required.     Once you have scored the tile, get to hand a chopping board (or similar) and a piece of thin wire. 

Place the piece of wire onto the board in a perfectly straight line, it is better to attach the wire to the board if you are making a lot of cuts. 

Position the tile face up onto the board lining up the wire with the score mark at the top and bottom of the tile, once positioned correctly apply pressure to both edges of the tile at the same time, the tile should break along the score mark leaving a clean cut.       
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



*© Copyright 2001-2008 helpwithdiy.com*


----------



## ckofer (Mar 20, 2008)

New project:

Install natural stone veneer on cellar wall. I have been looking down the cellar steps at this concrete for  about 7 years. I scored this nice flat rock from a commercial lot which I own and did the site work on last fall.

So far it's going okay but it's a damn good thing I'm not in a hurry.


----------



## tree_skier (Mar 21, 2008)

Marc said:


> I can't imagine you'd need to own one... you can probably rent a wet saw from Home Despot....



When I put the travertine down on my kitchen I bought a wet saw ($80) from home depot as it was about the same as a 1 day rental.  Now it isn't as good as the rental units but it did the job and I still have it.

Isn't it one of our jobs to collect the most tools?


----------



## andyzee (Mar 29, 2008)

Bump

Getting to be that time of year again. 

Anyone know anything about wood routers, I was thinking of getting one, just not sure how much use I may get out of it.


----------



## ski_resort_observer (Mar 29, 2008)

Many years ago when I was a young wippersnapper I built stairs for Pulte Homes out in Wyoming and a router was one of my main tools. One use is if you want to put fancy edges on any piece of wood furniture and you can use them to make diferent ways for joining boards.Lots of diferents bits to figure out.


----------



## ctenidae (Mar 31, 2008)

andyzee said:


> Bump
> 
> Getting to be that time of year again.
> 
> Anyone know anything about wood routers, I was thinking of getting one, just not sure how much use I may get out of it.



A router is one of those tools that is absolutely indispensible for the jobs you need it for. 

And unless you're doing heavy woodwork, you'll probably need it twice in your life. They are great for edges (especially if you can put the side you mess up on towards the wall), they're good for routing out slots for shelves (if youcan put a tall book in to cover up the part you mess up), they're good for burning up wood, and they're awesome for covering everything within 50 feet in  1/2 inch of fine sawdust.


----------



## Paul (Mar 31, 2008)

ctenidae said:


> A router is one of those tools that is absolutely indispensible for the jobs you need it for.
> 
> And unless you're doing heavy woodwork, you'll probably need it twice in your life. They are great for edges (especially if you can put the side you mess up on towards the wall), they're good for routing out slots for shelves (if youcan put a tall book in to cover up the part you mess up), they're good for burning up wood, and they're awesome for covering everything within 50 feet in  1/2 inch of fine sawdust.



Agreed, however you can get a good router for under $200 if you look around. Its the cost of the bits that ends-up killing you.


----------



## Greg (Apr 12, 2008)

20 yards of top soil sitting at the end of my driveway. Gonna be a challenging next couple of weeks... :-o


----------



## ckofer (Apr 12, 2008)

Greg said:


> 20 yards of top soil sitting at the end of my driveway. Gonna be a challenging next couple of weeks... :-o




Ski it if you can.


----------



## bvibert (Apr 13, 2008)

Greg said:


> 20 yards of top soil sitting at the end of my driveway. Gonna be a challenging next couple of weeks... :-o



You just love to truck dirt around your yard, don't you?


----------



## Greg (Apr 13, 2008)

bvibert said:


> You just love to truck dirt around your yard, don't you?



I kinda do, I guess. Just trying to make the yard look purty...


----------



## ALLSKIING (Apr 13, 2008)

Cleaned out the garden beds and cut back a bunch of stuff. I should really mow my lawn but never got around to getting gas for the mower. Also restained a few tables. I guess its that time of year.


----------



## ALLSKIING (Apr 13, 2008)

Greg said:


> 20 yards of top soil sitting at the end of my driveway. Gonna be a challenging next couple of weeks... :-o


What are you doing with all that? Garden beds?


----------



## Terry (Apr 14, 2008)

I've got 1 small patch of bare ground showing now so will have to start the raking thing soon. God I hate that- would rather be out there skiing. Going to be warm all week so I have to go hike for turns this week also. Maybe the raking can wait a couple more weeks!


----------



## tree_skier (Apr 14, 2008)

I have a couple of small patches of bare ground but it looks like it still may be at least a week before I can start thinking of raking.  The good news is that all of the ice has finally melted from the driveway, the bad news is that it's mud season


----------



## Greg (Apr 14, 2008)

ALLSKIING said:


> What are you doing with all that? Garden beds?



I had a grub invasion last summer so I have some repair to do. They also finally did the second coat of pavement on our road so I want to fix the front edge of the yard. Most of it will be for some more beds and another area of grass. I may need more... :-o


----------



## ALLSKIING (Apr 14, 2008)

Greg said:


> I had a grub invasion last summer so I have some repair to do. They also finally did the second coat of pavement on our road so I want to fix the front edge of the yard. Most of it will be for some more beds and another area of grass. I may need more... :-o


Grubs:angry: I hate those things....I had a huge tree that I took down a few years back and after that I had grubs. The tree guy told me that can happen when taking down trees...I guess they like something about the stumps even if you grind them. The only way I could get rid of them was to put grub killer down. I really did not want to do that with well water but they return year after year.


----------



## hammer (Apr 14, 2008)

Greg said:


> I had a grub invasion last summer so I have some repair to do. They also finally did the second coat of pavement on our road so I want to fix the front edge of the yard. Most of it will be for some more beds and another area of grass. I may need more... :-o


Will you be spreading it all out by hand? I've had to move about 4 - 5 yards by hand a few times, took a long time...really glad I now have a tractor to help out.

Do you have plans to put down stuff for the grubs? I believe that there's a specific time that you need to do that...


----------



## Greg (Apr 14, 2008)

hammer said:


> Will you be spreading it all out by hand? I've had to move about 4 - 5 yards by hand a few times, took a long time...really glad I now have a tractor to help out.
> 
> Do you have plans to put down stuff for the grubs? I believe that there's a specific time that you need to do that...



Well, I have a leaf trailer for my tractor and while I totally overload its recommended capacity when filled with top soil, :lol: it's still way better than pushing a wheel barrow around. But, yes, by hand, meaning a shovel. I did a total of 15 yards last summer so I'm used to grunt work. It does take a while.

I have a well too, but the lawn is getting hit with Grub-Ex this spring.


----------



## deadheadskier (Jun 19, 2008)

Any tips on grouting ceramic bathroom tiles?  The tiles are glazed.  I'm basically most concerned with even distribution of grout between the tiles such that it is smooth.

My contractor (brother) and I had a bit of a falling out prior to the work being completed, so I'm going to tackle the project myself.


----------



## ctenidae (Jun 19, 2008)

deadheadskier said:


> Any tips on grouting ceramic bathroom tiles?  The tiles are glazed.  I'm basically most concerned with even distribution of grout between the tiles such that it is smooth.
> 
> My contractor (brother) and I had a bit of a falling out prior to the work being completed, so I'm going to tackle the project myself.



Work the grout in well with a rubber float, let it set a minute, then wipe off with a well-rinsed and well-rung out sponge. That should smootht he grout well. Any uneven areas can be smoothed over with a moist finger. 

The key to grout work is to know when to leave it alone. Stand back, look at the whole field, then say "That'll do it."


----------



## Sexkitten (Jun 19, 2008)

ctenidae said:


> The key to grout work is to know when to leave it alone. Stand back, look at the whole field, then say "That'll do it."



That's great advice actually.  I had to grout just the other day... we are redoing our kitchen and I had to tile a small area before we installed the new cabinets.  It felt good doing the work and then suddenly I had a flashback to the sore knees and back and ragged hands I'd gotten when doing the original install.  Needless to say I wrapped it up quickly.


----------



## Greg (Jun 19, 2008)

ctenidae said:


> The key to grout work is to know when to leave it alone. Stand back, look at the whole field, then say "That'll do it."



The same hold true for a lot of things like this, wall mudding, cement work, etc.


----------



## ctenidae (Jun 19, 2008)

Greg said:


> The same hold true for a lot of things like this, wall mudding, cement work, etc.



Yup. Probably the hardest lesson to learn.


----------



## Marc (Jun 19, 2008)

ctenidae said:


> Any uneven areas can be smoothed over with a moist finger.



Amazing how that piece of advice transcends home improvement.


----------



## ctenidae (Jun 19, 2008)

Marc said:


> Amazing how that piece of advice transcends home improvement.



I had that thought as I typed it.

Good to have you back.


----------



## ckofer (Jun 21, 2008)

Now here's a cool project:

http://bigmouth.here-n-there.com/


----------



## hammer (Jul 7, 2008)

Looking to replace my front entry door...any recommendations/advice (steel vs. fiberglass, brand) would be appreciated.


----------



## tree_skier (Jul 7, 2008)

hammer said:


> Looking to replace my front entry door...any recommendations/advice (steel vs. fiberglass, brand) would be appreciated.



I would go with fiberglass.  I replaced my steel front entry door with a fiberglass one from home depot last summer.  I also added a storm/screen door at the same time.  The prefinished fiberglass is much nicer then the steel one was.


----------



## Mildcat (Jul 27, 2008)

I'm just about done with the drywall on the dining room I made. I'm almost ready to prime. Ordered an airless sprayer on Ebay. Any recommendations for a primer with good filling properties and easy sanding?


----------



## deadheadskier (Jul 27, 2008)

pretty small scale in terms of DIY, but purchased an unfinished coffee table this weekend, stained and polyed it.  I think this will be the route I take with all future furniture purchases.


----------



## GrilledSteezeSandwich (Jul 28, 2008)

deadheadskier said:


> pretty small scale in terms of DIY, but purchased an unfinished coffee table this weekend, stained and polyed it.  I think this will be the route I take with all future furniture purchases.



I like glass coffee tables the best...JEA!!!!!!!


----------



## deadheadskier (Jul 28, 2008)

GrilledSteezeSandwich said:


> I like glass coffee tables the best...JEA!!!!!!!



....glass coffee tables and rolled up benny's?  that how you roll?  :lol:


----------



## ctenidae (Jul 28, 2008)

We've now ripped out our bathroom, and I'll be roughing in new plumbing this week. Went and dropped $1,300 at Home Depot for tile, pipe, drywall, and Wonderboard.

There's nothing I love more than loading up a bunch of drywall, except maybe unloading it. Urgh.


----------



## GrilledSteezeSandwich (Jul 28, 2008)

deadheadskier said:


> ....glass coffee tables and rolled up benny's?  that how you roll?  :lol:



LMBFAO...well my coffee table is disgusting and painted black..but when I move into a new apartment..I want a glass coffee table...and I haven't done cocaine in months..lol

Ikea is where I buy furniture and some of it requires assembly..which I'm bad at but my Mom helps.


----------



## Moe Ghoul (Jul 28, 2008)

Glass tops needs to be cleaned constantly. They show every ring, crumb, dust particle, etc. Big pain in the ass.


----------



## tree_skier (Jul 28, 2008)

Just finished painting our 2 upstairs bathrooms


----------



## ski_resort_observer (Jul 28, 2008)

ctenidae said:


> We've now ripped out our bathroom, and I'll be roughing in new plumbing this week. Went and dropped $1,300 at Home Depot for tile, pipe, drywall, and Wonderboard.
> 
> There's nothing I love more than loading up a bunch of drywall, except maybe unloading it. Urgh.



The only thing worse is carrying  bundles of shingles up a two floors on an extension ladder. Not too much drywall for a bathroom just be glad your not hucking 4x12 sheets for a whole house. :wink: Transporting 400 cement blocks for the foundation of my addition with a wheelbarrel down a hill was not fun either. :lol:


----------



## Moe Ghoul (Jul 28, 2008)

Good to see hands on peeps getting it done. My wife has been after me to fancy up the counters and backsplash in the kitchen. I can shoot down granite, now that they've revealed it emits radon. Marble is too soft and stains. I kinda like what they are doing with conrete countertops. Maybe next year, lol.


----------



## ctenidae (Jul 28, 2008)

Moe Ghoul said:


> Good to see hands on peeps getting it done. My wife has been after me to fancy up the counters and backsplash in the kitchen. I can shoot down granite, now that they've revealed it emits radon. Marble is too soft and stains. I kinda like what they are doing with conrete countertops. Maybe next year, lol.



I did concrete in my kitchen. Biggest peice of advice I can give you- get a mixer.
Hand mixing 19 bags of cement is not fun, expecially since by the time you get the last bag mixed, the first ones you poured have started to set up.


----------



## ctenidae (Jul 28, 2008)

ski_resort_observer said:


> The only thing worse is carrying  bundles of shingles up a two floors on an extension ladder. Not too much drywall for a bathroom just be glad your not hucking 4x12 sheets for a whole house. :wink: Transporting 400 cement blocks for the foundation of my addition with a wheelbarrel down a hill was not fun either. :lol:



Better down the hill than up, I suppose. I did about 400 bricks a couple of months ago- I still don't have any discernable fingerprints.

Only 7 sheets of 4x8 drywall and 5 3x5 Wonderboard, so not too terrible. 15 cases of 12x12 marble, though. And 3 bags of concrete, 2 bags of thin set, and 2 bags of grout. And 25 2x4s.


----------



## Moe Ghoul (Jul 28, 2008)

ctenidae said:


> I did concrete in my kitchen. Biggest peice of advice I can give you- get a mixer.
> Hand mixing 19 bags of cement is not fun, expecially since by the time you get the last bag mixed, the first ones you poured have started to set up.



If I know myself, I'll get counters made from some faux finish material, some of the product looks decent. Then I just need a plumber for the sink, and I can tile the backsplash. My old formica counters still look good, a little Bon Ami and they come up spotless. I hate tearing something out that still looks good and is functional.


----------



## deadheadskier (Jul 28, 2008)

ctenidae

were you a contractor in a former profession?  Seems like no DIY home project is off limits with you.  I'll do some basic stuff, but crap like concrete counter tops and plumbing.....I'll pass.


----------



## ctenidae (Jul 28, 2008)

deadheadskier said:


> ctenidae
> 
> were you a contractor in a former profession?  Seems like no DIY home project is off limits with you.  I'll do some basic stuff, but crap like concrete counter tops and plumbing.....I'll pass.



I think I helped build the Pyramids in a former life. Which would explin the enjoyment of beer.

Really, there are very few jobs I won't do. I do draw the line at connecting things to the breaker box or tying into the sewer lines. You know, the kinds of things that, if done wrong, are really a problem.


----------



## Terry (Jul 28, 2008)

I am working on a laundry room project for my wife. It is kind of a standing joke between us, because I started it 20 years ago and never got very far. I have restarted it this summer. It is now plumbed, wired, insulated, walls are sheetrocked, taped and mudded. Next step is to sheetrock the cielling and then tile the floor. The only work I have ever hired out in my house has been the installation of a new electrical panel. This had to be done by a licenced electrician. :beer:


----------



## Marc (Jul 28, 2008)

Terry said:


> I am working on a laundry room project for my wife. It is kind of a standing joke between us, because I started it 20 years ago and never got very far. I have restarted it this summer. It is now plumbed, wired, insulated, walls are sheetrocked, taped and mudded. Next step is to sheetrock the cielling and then tile the floor. The only work I have ever hired out in my house has been the installation of a new electrical panel. This had to be done by a licenced electrician. :beer:



So far that's pretty much the only thing I won't do in my new old house, is anything that requires a licensed electrician for the permit.  Other than that.... game on.


----------



## Terry (Jul 28, 2008)

Oh  and I almost forgot- I hired a guy to pour my garage floor because I didn't want to f#&% it up!


----------



## deadheadskier (Jul 28, 2008)

Terry said:


> Oh  and I almost forgot- I hired a guy to pour my garage floor because I didn't want to f#&% it up!



That's typically my only concern with doing various projects.  I'll sheet rock, paint etc, but anything that I couldn't redo for cheap following a mistake, I'll leave to a pro.


----------



## BeanoNYC (Sep 24, 2008)

I'm pretty proud of my latest electrical install.  What do you guys think?


----------



## o3jeff (Sep 24, 2008)

Probably should of did it lower so the water runs over it to keep the connections clean.


----------



## BeanoNYC (Sep 24, 2008)

o3jeff said:


> Probably should of did it lower so the water runs over it to keep the connections clean.



There's always a next time.


----------



## ctenidae (Sep 24, 2008)

BeanoNYC said:


> I'm pretty proud of my latest electrical install.  What do you guys think?



That's funny.

You'd think that at some point someone would have said "Hmm. Maybe not a good idea..."


----------



## Beetlenut (Sep 24, 2008)

ctenidae said:


> That's funny.
> 
> You'd think that at some point someone would have said "Hmm. Maybe not a good idea..."


 
Maybe they were thinking they could knock out a little electrical work WHILE they showered!


----------



## Greg (Sep 24, 2008)

ctenidae said:


> That's funny.
> 
> You'd think that at some point someone would have said "Hmm. Maybe not a good idea..."



How so? I don't really see the problem...


----------



## Mildcat (Sep 25, 2008)

BeanoNYC said:


> I'm pretty proud of my latest electrical install.  What do you guys think?



Reminds me of my stay at the Gorham Motor Inn this past winter. Exposed wires on the floor right in front of the bath tub and exposed wires in the light fixture in the bath tub.


----------



## andyzee (Sep 25, 2008)

BeanoNYC said:


> I'm pretty proud of my latest electrical install.  What do you guys think?



Sad part is, I don't think he's kidding :roll:


----------



## Marc (Sep 25, 2008)

Just finished my new bulkhead doors.... I'll put up a picture later.  After all the hardware is on.


----------



## hammer (Dec 31, 2008)

hammer said:


> I have a small area of wall space in my kitchen that I'm going to put tile on. I have the "score and snap" type of tile cutter, a pair of tile nippers, and a tile cutter attachment for my Dremel to handle the small stuff.
> 
> I know that I'm going to have to make some "notch" cuts in tile near where there are corners in the cabinets but I think I would only need to do a few of those. I'm guessing that the cuts for the outlets don't have to be too precise, either, since those will be covered.
> 
> Is it worth it for me to invest in any type of a wet saw? After I'm done with this project, I would not expect to be doing any more tile jobs for some time...


Well, after putting it off for years (yes, years), my VDW and I finally put the kitchen wall tiles up over the past few days.  For such a small area, it was a lot of work...:roll:

After doing a practice cut with the Dremel, I decided to just go out and get the cheap $89 wet saw at Home Depot.  Ended up being the best decision I could have made...with the large number of cuts (over 45 tiles), it would have taken forever otherwise.  The wet saw also made nice clean cuts, and I was quite pleased with how well it worked.  I didn't realize how precise the cuts around the outlets and wall switch needed to be...the tiles needed to be close enough so that I could remount the switch and plugs flush with the tile.

Hoping to grout this weekend.  Hope that will take a lot less time than putting the tiles up.

Edit:  Did the grout on 31 December...not happy with how it came out, not very smooth despite following the instructions.  Think we made the mix too dry.  Smoothed it out as best we could and let it go at that.  Still on the walls a few months later so I guess we can't complain.


----------



## hammer (Nov 24, 2009)

Bump...new "project"...

Went to Home Depot on Sunday and picked up new faucets to replace the 14YO ones in the kitchen and bathrooms.  Thought this project would be straightforward...right... :roll:

Apparently the old faucets in the kitchen have metal bolts and nuts, and after 14 years the nuts are fused...so after much yelling and cursing, I'm working on cutting the bolts from above with my battery-operated Dremel.  I managed to get one side off by this morning but I need to recharge the battery after some time so it's a slow go.  I've gone through one cutting wheel so far (actually wore it down).

I had a recommendation to remove the whole sink but I think cutting from above is working well enough.

In addition, I disconnected the supply lines only to find out the hard way that the shutoff valve for the cold water does not stay completely shut off.  After reconnecting the lines to the partially disassembled old faucet, it looks like I don't have a leak anymore, but I managed to get water down through to the fire board in the garage below.  It wasn't a lot of water, so hopefully that will dry out enough so I don't have to replace it.

If the shutoff valve won't work or the connections don't stay dry once I hook up the new faucet, then it's time to call a plumber...

I hope the bathroom faucets aren't as difficult but I'm not holding out much hope. :x


----------



## billski (Nov 24, 2009)

You are more talented and I.   My wife and I learned years ago that while I'm talented at electrical work, I FAIL at plumbing.  We have some horror stories to tell.   So whenever there is a plumbing problem, she picks up the phone, and doesn't call ME!


----------



## Glenn (Nov 24, 2009)

I did the faucets in VT awhile back...all two of them! Despite being old and despite being supplied by a well without a filter, everything went pretty smoothly. Well, the bathroom was a little tough. The nuts used to hold the faucet to the sink were really tight. Luckily, the vanity is about 12"x12"...so I disnconnected the supply lines and lifted the entire sink top out. Problem solved! Made adcessing those nuts with channle locks 100x easier.


----------



## billski (Nov 24, 2009)

Glenn said:


> I did the faucets in VT awhile back...all two of them! Despite being old and despite being supplied by a well without a filter, everything went pretty smoothly. Well, the bathroom was a little tough. The nuts used to hold the faucet to the sink were really tight. Luckily, the vanity is about 12"x12"...so I disnconnected the supply lines and lifted the entire sink top out. Problem solved! Made adcessing those nuts with channle locks 100x easier.



You're hired!   This explains why plumbers, electricians, mechanics all want to replace rather than repair...


----------



## hammer (Nov 24, 2009)

Glenn said:


> I did the faucets in VT awhile back...all two of them! Despite being old and despite being supplied by a well without a filter, everything went pretty smoothly. Well, the bathroom was a little tough. The nuts used to hold the faucet to the sink were really tight. Luckily, the vanity is about 12"x12"...so I disconnected the supply lines and lifted the entire sink top out. Problem solved! Made accessing those nuts with channel locks 100x easier.


I'm wondering if I have to do the same for the bathroom sinks...I didn't want to for the kitchen because the sink's a bit large.  I also can't keep the supply lines disconnected in the kitchen for too long because of the valve problem (which isn't a factor when they are left open).

Got one of the bolts off this morning, still working on the other one...

Nice thing about the new faucets is that they got smart and made everything plastic.  Will make things easier in another 15 years.


----------



## ctenidae (Nov 24, 2009)

hammer said:


> Nice thing about the new faucets is that they got smart and made everything plastic.  Will make things easier in another 15 years.



Except they never get tight enough so the faucet will shift. And if tehy do lock up, it's impossible to get enough grip on them. They are easier to break off, though.


----------



## Glenn (Nov 24, 2009)

Plubing is interesting. It's usually my "oh crap, I need to run back to the store" job. But it does save you a boatload of money when you DIY.


----------



## bvibert (Nov 24, 2009)

hammer said:


> If the shutoff valve won't work or the connections don't stay dry once I hook up the new faucet, then it's time to call a plumber...



If the shut off at the faucet doesn't work then turn off the main water to the whole house while you fix it.  Sometimes the shut off valves are threaded onto the pipe, which makes them easy to replace.  If it's soldered on then I would probably just leave it.


----------



## billski (Nov 24, 2009)

bvibert said:


> If the shut off at the faucet doesn't work then turn off the main water to the whole house while you fix it.  Sometimes the shut off valves are threaded onto the pipe, which makes them easy to replace.  If it's soldered on then I would probably just leave it.



We used to live in a house that had one shutoff valve - the main.  Cheapskates.  Everytime we did a repair, we added a shutoff valve.


----------



## bvibert (Nov 24, 2009)

billski said:


> We used to live in a house that had one shutoff valve - the main.  Cheapskates.  Everytime we did a repair, we added a shutoff valve.



The three family house that I used to own not only didn't have shut offs on some of the faucets, but some were plumbed right up to the faucet with copper, no flexible hose or anything.  No way to replace the faucet without shutting off water to the whole house and then cutting the copper pipe.  Of course then I would have had to sweat some valves onto the remaining piping to install the new faucets.  That was beyond what I wanted to deal with, so I left those faucets alone.  They weren't in the apartment I was living in anyway.


----------



## Marc (Nov 24, 2009)

Valves used to be more expensive and much less common.  When the original plumbing was put in my farmhouse in the 40's there were no appliance valves on anything.

Contrast that with today when I get brass body quarter turn ball valves for next to nothing.  Just remember it always pays to exercise all your valves once a year.

As for DIY projects, I've been working on a lot since this summer.

I'm adding a bathroom on the second floor.  Pulled all the permits myself.  Had a guy do the rough framing.  I did all the rough wiring and had it signed off by the inspector.  Almost done with the rough plumbing.  Ran all hydropex with crimp fittings.  Black ABS drain pipe.  Bathroom is going to have a 42" square shower stall, a whirlpool, double vanity and I had to special order a rear outlet toilet because there was no way to plumb a trap into the floor for a drain big enough for a toilet.  Ripped down the horsehair plaster on the outside walls to wire outlets and insulate.  I'm going to have ceiling speakers with an auto on amp hooked up to Logitech Squeezebox.  Hmm... what else.

Oh, I still have to go down to Cranston to pick up the first of my piping for the residential sprinkler system and order my sprinklers soon.

Just installed two of the 13 new double hung windows this Sunday.  The house has 32 total windows but the new section I'm working on now has 13.  Two I just replace are in the future bathroom.

Over the summer I ripped off all the cedar shakes and tar paper because the original clapboards (circa 1812) where still underneath.  I started scraping and filling holes and cracks.  That and repainting plus replacing broken clapboards will get done next spring.

I also prepped the bottom of the house which included taking out the plantings, scraping back the grade and ripping off the clapboards and 1" tongue and groove sheathing so I could have a couple post and beam specialists come in and replace the rotted sill beams.  That was fun.  Also had to partially dismantle two porches.

Also "assisted" my dad's friend (a licensed electrician) in moving the service from the garage to the house and upgraded to 200 amps from 60.

Probably a few things I've missed but that's the big stuff.  Talk about a work in progress.


----------



## mondeo (Nov 24, 2009)

Marc said:


> Pulled all the permits myself.


Ah, Massachusetts.


----------



## Marc (Nov 24, 2009)

mondeo said:


> Ah, Massachusetts.



Don't even get me started.  I could whip out a 500 word, profanity laden rant about Dudley's permitting and inspection process in a matter of minutes.


----------



## mondeo (Dec 31, 2009)

So, sometime between now and Sunday afternoon, I get to install 2 bathroom fans and add insulation to half of my house, before my roommate moves in and hogs her closet with attic access.

Not hard work, but I've got skiing to do. And crawling around in an attic isn't my idea of fun.

Also squeezed into my skiing schedule in January will be adding insulation to the other half of the attic, putting in a new vanity base/sink in my bathroom, some fairly extensive tile repair in the shower, and replacing my stove, refrigerator (adding a water line involved,) and adding a dishwasher.


----------



## Glenn (Dec 31, 2009)

It's better to spend time in the actic now vs. July. Trust me on that!


----------



## wa-loaf (Dec 31, 2009)

Do it today, so you can storm chase the rest of the weekend.


----------



## hammer (Apr 25, 2011)

Now that my new prefinished wood floor and stairs have gone through a winter, I have a bunch of creaks and squeaks... 

What's the best way to handle these DIY?  Already had the stair guy back once and he didn't really fix the problem...just put in a bunch of nails which I have to go back and refill because he didn't bother matching the wood putty. 

Times like these make me wish I had the time/talent to do flooring work myself...:angry:


----------



## wa-loaf (Apr 25, 2011)

hammer said:


> Now that my new prefinished wood floor and stairs have gone through a winter, I have a bunch of creaks and squeaks...
> 
> What's the best way to handle these DIY?  Already had the stair guy back once and he didn't really fix the problem...just put in a bunch of nails which I have to go back and refill because he didn't bother matching the wood putty.
> 
> Times like these make me wish I had the time/talent to do flooring work myself...:angry:



Do you have access from underneath? You could put screws in from the bottom. Just make sure they aren't too long ...


----------



## hammer (Apr 25, 2011)

wa-loaf said:


> Do you have access from underneath? You could put screws in from the bottom. Just make sure they aren't too long ...


Not unless I rip up the basement drywall...:-(


----------



## ctenidae (Apr 25, 2011)

Get powdered graphite lube (not the liquid graphite for locks) and sprinkle some in the gaps between boards around the squeaks, then walk around on the squeaky bits to work the graphite in. Usually the squeak is wood rubbing on wood, and a little lube can fix it.

Be aware, the graphite powder is really really fine, and you want to be careful not to track it around (put a towel down over the graphite after you pour it in the cracks).

If that doesn't work, dust off, and nuke it from orbit.It's the only way to be sure.


----------



## darent (Apr 25, 2011)

Greg said:


> I had a grub invasion last summer so I have some repair to do. They also finally did the second coat of pavement on our road so I want to fix the front edge of the yard. Most of it will be for some more beds and another area of grass. I may need more... :-o



two words--milky spore, won't hurt the kids or dogs and works great. I used it on grass tennis courts and never had a grub problem again. I use it on my lawn because I have a dog and don't want to put down Grubex


----------



## darent (Apr 25, 2011)

deadheadskier said:


> Any tips on grouting ceramic bathroom tiles?  The tiles are glazed.  I'm basically most concerned with even distribution of grout between the tiles such that it is smooth.
> 
> My contractor (brother) and I had a bit of a falling out prior to the work being completed, so I'm going to tackle the project myself.



follow directions on grout bag, that's when most mistakes happen{ Laticrete has good directions. use two hands when working grout into joints, float at 30 * angle moving it diagonally across tiles, stand float up to 90 and run diagonally across tiles again to get excess grout off, let stand for 15-25 minutes, sponge{lightly} excess off with a very wrung out sponge diagonally across tiles , clean up corners from excess grout and were grout butts walls,use a putty knife for flat grout line in these areas----- good luck, I do it for a living and I still hate to grout, finished a 850 sgft floor toda oh my knees


----------



## powhunter (Apr 25, 2011)

Just finished putting in 20 sections of fence...Next week Im doing a complete lawn renovation (about 1 acre)  Gonna till the whole lawn, Seed, fertilize and rake. Then the rest of the summer its just MTBing, and beer drinking.

Steveo


----------



## MR. evil (Apr 25, 2011)

powhunter said:


> Just finished putting in 20 sections of fence...Next week Im doing a complete lawn renovation (about 1 acre)  Gonna till the whole lawn, Seed, fertilize and rake. Then the rest of the summer its just MTBing, and beer drinking.
> 
> Steveo



Rent and an over seeder from HD. You will get a much better job that way, it also burries the seed so you don't have to worry about birds or water washing the seed away.


----------



## hammer (Apr 26, 2011)

ctenidae said:


> Get powdered graphite lube (not the liquid graphite for locks) and sprinkle some in the gaps between boards around the squeaks, then walk around on the squeaky bits to work the graphite in. Usually the squeak is wood rubbing on wood, and a little lube can fix it.
> 
> Be aware, the graphite powder is really really fine, and you want to be careful not to track it around (put a towel down over the graphite after you pour it in the cracks).
> 
> If that doesn't work, dust off, and nuke it from orbit.It's the only way to be sure.


I've done the same before except I used baby powder..,easier to clean up than graphite lube.

On the stairs I'll see if any of the white risers can be secured more...at least for those I can do a better job of filling in the nail/screw holes.


----------



## Nick (Apr 26, 2011)

I've been wanting to redo my basement but I think I'm on hold right now. Way to busy with everything else giong on. 

Plans for this summer: status quo. Keep the lawn up. Install hammocks. Pour drink. Relax


----------



## darent (Apr 26, 2011)

hammer said:


> Now that my new prefinished wood floor and stairs have gone through a winter, I have a bunch of creaks and squeaks...
> 
> What's the best way to handle these DIY?  Already had the stair guy back once and he didn't really fix the problem...just put in a bunch of nails which I have to go back and refill because he didn't bother matching the wood putty.
> 
> Times like these make me wish I had the time/talent to do flooring work myself...:angry:



nails!!  he didn't screw and glue the treads down,


----------



## mishka (Apr 30, 2011)

my summer DIY project to make alpine skis. Currently working on design and tooling


----------



## bvibert (May 2, 2011)

mishka said:


> my summer DIY project to make alpine skis. Currently working on design and tooling



Take lots of pictures!


----------



## mishka (May 2, 2011)

bvibert said:


> Take lots of pictures!



I do is I go alone. 
So far most important piece of equipment .....50 tons press is  done. Getting ready to make mold and core.
my goal to have at least 1, probably 2, different pairs of skis made by next season.


----------



## hammer (Mar 7, 2012)

Bump with new question...

Thinking of getting a finish nailer so that we can install wainscoting and a chair rail.  Should we go pneumatic or cordless?  I know the cordless ones are more expensive but not having to purchase and lug around a compressor is appealing...


----------



## Glenn (Mar 7, 2012)

I bought a cheap-o $40 air compressor from Harbor Freight. If you're just using it for bradnailing, it'll be totally fine. I used it to do some finish work and it held up just fine. I now use it for airing up my ATV tires ect. 

I have a later air compressor I use for my air tools, but that's a PITA to lug around...especially up stairs.


----------



## hammer (Oct 16, 2012)

Have a question for the electricians around here...

I have separate light and fan switches that are 17 YO, and the light switch went out so I tried to replace it with a new one (figured it was well within DIY scope).  The new light switch has a ground wire (the old ones do not) so I connected the two black wires to the same connections that the old switch was connected to, and I also connected the ground wire to the ground wire that was in the box but not connected to anything.  All was fine with the light switch but when I went to operate the fan switch I heard a pop and the switch went out.  I quickly shut off the breaker feeding the switch and plan on getting another fan switch.

Did I make a mistake in connecting the ground wire or is this a case where I just need to replace both the fan and light switches with ones that connect to ground?  I'm hoping I didn't fry the ceiling fan as well but if I did no big deal, it's also 17 YO.

If anything else isn't right after this then I plan on getting an electrician in, don't want to burn the house down...


----------



## ctenidae (Oct 16, 2012)

Connecting the ground shouldn't have caused any problems. Much more likely that the connections weren't put together right. The circuit that gets created with the 2 switches, even though ostensibly to different fixtures, can get weird. 

Could be a defective switch, too.


----------



## Puck it (Oct 16, 2012)

Should have been ok.  Are you sure nothing touched putting it back in box?


----------



## hammer (Oct 23, 2012)

Bought a new fan switch containing a ground wire and wired up both the fan and light switches.  Works fine now, house is still standing.  Only guess is that the fan switch was on its last legs when I replaced the light switch and the moving around to install the light switch somehow did it in.

Next project is to build a ramp to the back deck and a short gate off the back deck to make sure our dogs don't go jumping off/down steps to the back yard.  Older one (just 4 YO) is recuperating from a herniated disk and jumping down is a no-no...and we really need to get the puppy to stop leaping.


----------



## hammer (May 25, 2014)

Bump for spring/summer projects.  Slowly working on repainting and replacing baseboard trim and door/window casing on the first floor.  Removal of the old baseboard trim has been a PITA since the hardwood floor was installed up to the trim instead of under it.  I figure by the time I get to the last segment I'll figure out how to not ding/damage the walls...but as I saw on a home-improvement show every mistake is a chance to learn.

Any tips/tricks for cutting and installing the new trim would be appreciated.


----------



## Cannonball (May 25, 2014)

You're probably doing this as already,  but in case...    Use 1/4 round or base shoe in combination with your new baseboard.  Otherwise you'll have a hell of a time fitting the new to the old. 

I've done literally miles and miles of baseboard (whole condo complexes).  So if you've got specific questions fire away.


----------



## dlague (May 25, 2014)

Cannonball said:


> You're probably doing this as already,  but in case...    Use 1/4 round or base shoe in combination with your new baseboard.  Otherwise you'll have a hell of a time fitting the new to the old.
> 
> I've done literally miles and miles of baseboard (whole condo complexes).  So if you've got specific questions fire away.



Good idea!  My problem is finding the same base board as what I have in my house!  I plan on ripping it out of another room and replacing the other rooms bad board.


i typed with my i thumbs using AlpineZone


----------



## Savemeasammy (May 26, 2014)

hammer said:


> Bump for spring/summer projects.  Slowly working on repainting and replacing baseboard trim and door/window casing on the first floor.  Removal of the old baseboard trim has been a PITA since the hardwood floor was installed up to the trim instead of under it.  I figure by the time I get to the last segment I'll figure out how to not ding/damage the walls...but as I saw on a home-improvement show every mistake is a chance to learn.
> 
> Any tips/tricks for cutting and installing the new trim would be appreciated.



Drive the finish nails THROUGH the baseboard with a nail set, then you may be able to pull the baseboard off the wall.  If any nails are low (below the level of the flooring, you may be able to cut them from behind with a sawzall.  


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone mobile app


----------



## Cannonball (May 26, 2014)

Savemeasammy said:


> Drive the finish nails THROUGH the baseboard with a nail set, then you may be able to pull the baseboard off the wall.  If any nails are low (below the level of the flooring, you may be able to cut them from behind with a sawzall.



Good advice. But, even better than a sawzall for coming at this problem is a 'power handsaw'.  Somewhat of a specialty item, but not that pricey at <$100 and does flush-cut jobs like this so much better that a regular reciprocating saw.  If you have a lot of this baseboard to do it's worth the investment. It's also makes door jam replacement SO much easier.



http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-1640VS-Finecut-Power-Handsaw/dp/B00004SUP4


----------



## Savemeasammy (May 26, 2014)

Cannonball said:


> Good advice. But, even better than a sawzall for coming at this problem is a 'power handsaw'.  Somewhat of a specialty item, but not that pricey at <$100 and does flush-cut jobs like this so much better that a regular reciprocating saw.  If you have a lot of this baseboard to do it's worth the investment. It's also makes door jam replacement SO much easier.
> 
> View attachment 12710
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-1640VS-Finecut-Power-Handsaw/dp/B00004SUP4



I will respectfully disagree here.  If the baseboard was installed AFTER the flooring, I'm going to guess that Hammer owns an old house.  And, if so, his baseboards may be taller than what you see in most new homes - 3 1/2".  His baseboards could well be 8" tall or so.  In such a case, a sawzall with a long metal cutting blade would be my first choice (although any number of "wood with nails" or "demo" blades could work - they just don't cut as smoothly in a hard to reach spot like behind a baseboard.  

As to your tool suggestion, I would opt for a fein multimaster instead.  It is much more versatile.  Although if your only task is to cut a door jamb to install flooring underneath it, a simple pull saw (Japanese saw) will do the trick!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Cannonball (May 26, 2014)

Savemeasammy said:


> I will respectfully disagree here.  If the baseboard was installed AFTER the flooring,



It wasn't.  He said... 




hammer said:


> the hardwood floor was installed up to the trim instead of under it.



Which is why it's such a PIA.  Flush cut saws give you 2 options.  1) cut the baseboard off flush with the floor height leaving anything lower in place.  2) cut the nails off from behind.  If you try to do either of these with a Sawzall you have to come at an angle and will F up the floor or the wall.  Both saws reciprocate the same way and both have multiple blade options.   But only one of them can be worked into tight spaces flush instead of at an angle.


----------



## Savemeasammy (May 26, 2014)

^ I misspoke (or mistyped, I guess).  I meant that the baseboard was likely installed before the flooring, which was common "back in the day" - this is how my house was done when it was built in 1897.   





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Cannonball (May 26, 2014)

Savemeasammy said:


> ^ I misspoke (or mistyped, I guess).  I meant that the baseboard was likely installed before the flooring, which was common "back in the day" - this is how my house was done when it was built in 1897.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Not saying that didn't happen in the unique situation of your house.  But it's pretty uncommon and completely misses the purpose of baseboard.  When baseboard is below/behind the flooring it almost always means the flooring was replaced.


----------



## Savemeasammy (May 26, 2014)

Cannonball said:


> Not saying that didn't happen in the unique situation of your house.  But it's pretty uncommon and completely misses the purpose of baseboard.  When baseboard is below/behind the flooring it almost always means the flooring was replaced.



This situation we are describing is not at all unique.  It was a common building practice during the Victorian era in particular, although it likely originated beforehand, and may have persisted a while beyond...

If you encounter a flooring installation from a modern day house where the hardwood butts into the baseboard, it was likely done by a DIYer who didn't know any better - and probably covered their mistake with a shoe-molding!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## hammer (May 26, 2014)

House is only 19 years old.  We have had original carpet and vinyl flooring replaced with hardwood in the downstairs and upstairs.  The installer for the downstairs ran the boards to the trim and the installer for the upstairs removed the trim, installed the floor, and reinstalled the trim.  Think I like latter method more.

I have a Fein multitool that I have been using to cut at trim and nails as needed.  One does have to be careful but I've only knocked the floor once and the walls a few times.  Not concerned about the wall since we are repainting and the damage has been down low where new trim will be anyway.  It has been a slow process digging out the old trim behind the flooring but I think it will be worth it.


----------



## Savemeasammy (May 26, 2014)

It's a shame that the contractor who did the floors downstairs did not remove the baseboard first.  That's poor workmanship...  I'm glad to hear that you are doing it properly!

Like I mentioned, you could try driving the nails through with a nail set.  If that doesn't work, you could pry the baseboard off the wall with a small flat-bar (put some sort of shim against the wall to minimize the damage).  You will probably be able to bend the baseboard down enough to cut any hidden nails with your multi-master. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Cannonball (May 26, 2014)

I guess I was just giving Hammer the benefit of the doubt that he wasn't ripping the baseboard out of a Victorian.  And that if he was,  it wasn't going to be via a Sawzall.


----------



## hammer (May 27, 2014)

Cannonball said:


> I guess I was just giving Hammer the benefit of the doubt that he wasn't ripping the baseboard out of a Victorian.  And that if he was,  it wasn't going to be via a Sawzall.


Nooo...the old baseboard is the cheap finger joint stuff which I'm replacing with the same material but a slightly different style.  If I had old quality baseboard I wouldn't touch it.


----------



## hammer (May 27, 2014)

Savemeasammy said:


> It's a shame that the contractor who did the floors downstairs did not remove the baseboard first.  That's poor workmanship...  I'm glad to hear that you are doing it properly!
> 
> Like I mentioned, you could try driving the nails through with a nail set.  If that doesn't work, you could pry the baseboard off the wall with a small flat-bar (put some sort of shim against the wall to minimize the damage).  You will probably be able to bend the baseboard down enough to cut any hidden nails with your multi-master.
> 
> ...


I just wish I knew enough to tell the installer to take up the baseboard when I had the floor done 10 years ago.  Don't like the idea of adding quarter round to fill in the gaps but I'm not sure if I'll have any alternative.


----------



## Savemeasammy (May 27, 2014)

hammer said:


> I just wish I knew enough to tell the installer to take up the baseboard when I had the floor done 10 years ago.  Don't like the idea of adding quarter round to fill in the gaps but I'm not sure if I'll have any alternative.



You could always get a thicker baseboard, or fur the baseboard off the wall and hide the cap on the top with a basecap.  This might be an issue with door casings, though...


Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone mobile app


----------



## skijay (May 28, 2014)

Any advice on vinyl privacy fence is appreciated.  Looking at 6 foot tall stockade (tongue and groove) type panels to use as a divider between two yards.  Not for animal containment, just 75' to give each of us privacy.


----------



## hammer (May 28, 2014)

skijay said:


> Any advice on vinyl privacy fence is appreciated.  Looking at 6 foot tall stockade (tongue and groove) type panels to use as a divider between two yards.  Not for animal containment, just 75' to give each of us privacy.


If it's not too close to either house you could consider a row of arborvitaes.  My neighbor on one side planted them 18 years ago and we planted a row as a screen for the neighbor on the other side a year later.  They are all still there...of course they are a bit taller than 6 feet and they do eventually (over many years) thin out at the base a bit.

We had vinyl and chain link fencing put up a few years ago to contain dogs in our back yard.  Was not cheap but with all of the rocks under our thin layer of sandy loam I would not have wanted to take on the job DIY.


----------



## skijay (May 28, 2014)

I did consider the arborvitaes. I need 18 and I was going with the American variety that were 6' tall already. It is double the cost of the fence.

edit: I'm not DIYing the tree removal, planting or a fence install.  My only involvement was finding the arborist / fence company.


----------



## hammer (May 28, 2014)

skijay said:


> I did consider the arborvitaes. I need 18 and I was going with the American variety that were 6' tall already. It is double the cost of the fence.
> 
> edit: I'm not DIYing the tree removal, planting or a fence install.  My only involvement was finding the arborist / fence company.


Didn't realize the cost difference...been so long since we had ours planted I don't remember what ours cost to have planted.  We had a few other trees done at the same time.

Also, I should have paid better attention to the span...we only had to screen about 25' and our neighbor only did about 40' or so.


----------



## skiNEwhere (May 28, 2014)

I got some cement damage from water that seeped in during the spring freeze/thaw cycle.

Normally I patch stuff up myself, but I'm a little unsure about this one. I may be selling my house soon and want to make the color and texture match to a point you can't even tell it was repaired.


----------



## ctenidae (May 29, 2014)

We just bought a house and moved in about 2 months ago. The house was built, as near as we can determine, in 1850, still has the vast majority of the original molding, hardware, and character. 

So far we've only one a few things- repainted the whole house (4300 sqft), installed new window coverings (30+ windows), replaced a 30" cooktop with a36" one, installed a new washer/dryer, stripped and refinished the front door (double, 8 feet all, stained wood), and put together a playset for the kids, and powerwashed/finished a good sized deck.

Near term projects include removing 3 aged arborvitae and a scraggly plum tree (non-producing), repairing about 10 sash windows(opening and sash weights), spray foam insulating the hose/foundation joint, replacing/reconstructing the sewer lines in the basement (oddly it has been repaired so often it's basically an island of cast iron connected to the house by PVC).

Other things that aren't DIY-able include painting the exterior (next summer) screen and recoat 2 stories of hardwood floors (done), and repairing some missing slate roof tiles.

The house is great, but a boatload of work.


----------



## bvibert (May 30, 2014)

ctenidae said:


> We just bought a house and moved in about 2 months ago. The house was built, as near as we can determine, in 1850, still has the vast majority of the original molding, hardware, and character.
> 
> So far we've only one a few things- repainted the whole house (4300 sqft), installed new window coverings (30+ windows), replaced a 30" cooktop with a36" one, installed a new washer/dryer, stripped and refinished the front door (double, 8 feet all, stained wood), and put together a playset for the kids, and powerwashed/finished a good sized deck.
> 
> ...



Just a few things, huh?  I'm getting tired just reading that...


----------



## Nick (May 30, 2014)

I have a laundry list of things I'd like to do. 

Replace gravel out the back door with pavers
Install a patio on the back
Extend my deck
Replace deck boards with Trex
Level out my firepit
Plant more on my back hill
Pressure wash the house
Finish the basement w/ bathroom install
Clean and paint the garage floors
Build / install a shed
Build / install a swingset

Long - range - pool?? 

Ugh. 

@skinewhere, not sure about the cement patching, that's a pain I heard. I have some cracks in some walkways I was just going to use cement caulk.


----------



## hammer (May 30, 2014)

bvibert said:


> Just a few things, huh?  I'm getting tired just reading that...


+1

Outside stuff's adding into the mix...going to get 6 yards of mulch to spread and we have some leftover stone dust from last year we need to move.

Try not to think too much about the laundry list, especially after seeing Nick's...getting a bathroom and the kitchen remodeled in the past year was a resource drain anyway.


----------



## skijay (May 30, 2014)

Consider the pool purchase carefully!  I'm going into my 12th season with mine and each year the season gets shorter and shorter. Last season,  I opened it the week of July 4th and closed the Saturday of Labor Day.  The novelty of owning one wears out after a few seasons.  

If I could do it all over and choose this option, I'd do a paver patio area with a screen house / gazebo and have a small 15' x 15' concrete slab off of the patio to either place a hot tub or a simple Intex ring pool.


----------



## ctenidae (May 30, 2014)

bvibert said:


> Just a few things, huh?  I'm getting tired just reading that...



Reading Nick's outdoor list reminded me of a few other items. Might be getting glad summer is short. Plus, the boy's skiing age next season.


----------



## Cannonball (May 31, 2014)

I'm in the middle of a whole house renovation.  Sometimes I think of it as a list of individual items, sometimes I think of it as one big project. 

When we bought our house in NH it had been in foreclosure and unoccupied for at least a year.  Pretty much everything was wrong with it, right down to the burst pipes.  So far I've done:
- 100% gut and remodel of the kitchen 
- 100% gut and remodel of the bathroom 
- took out a wall 
- tore up 100% of the old carpet and vinyl.  Had someone refinish the antique heart Pine floors that were salvageable.  I put in new floors were needed. 
- replacement windows 
- turned open porch into 3 season room (9 new windows) 
- built new deck
- install new stockade fence    
- lots more 

Other than floor refinishing and interior paint I've done it all myself. 

Still on the list:

- replace exterior trim (did a bunch today) 
- paint exterior 
- replace more windows
- new bulkhead 
- install second bathroom 
Hoping to have most of that done this summer. 

I basically did all of the above to our house in MA 10-15 years ago.  Now the repairs and upkeep list is growing there and I'm semi-ignoring it while I work on this one.


----------



## ctenidae (Jun 1, 2014)

We had removing the 3 arborvitaes and the plum tree on the list this weekend.
Ended up taking out 19 arborvitaes and the plum tree, instead. And spread 4 yards of mulch.
And broke a brand new sawzall (Rigid, for those keeping score at home). Went through 9 blades taking out the trees.

Looks good, though. 15 of the trees lined the street in front of the house, and totally hid it, but not in a good way.


----------



## hammer (Jun 2, 2014)

ctenidae said:


> We had removing the 3 arborvitaes and the plum tree on the list this weekend.
> Ended up taking out 19 arborvitaes and the plum tree, instead. And spread 4 yards of mulch.
> And broke a brand new sawzall (Rigid, for those keeping score at home). Went through 9 blades taking out the trees.
> 
> Looks good, though. 15 of the trees lined the street in front of the house, and totally hid it, but not in a good way.


Wow...how much time did it take for all of this?  Did you also pull up the stumps?

We moved about a yard of leftover stone dust, put down some edging, and spread some mulch on Saturday.  Bought 6 yards, have a lot of topcoating to do this year.  Back yard looks somewhat better but it's the dogs' area so it will never look pristine.


----------



## xwhaler (Jun 2, 2014)

Did 2 small projects this wknd. Rented a Carpet Extraction Cleaner on Sat and spent about 3 hrs doing all the carpets/stairs. Came out better than it looked before and much better than the Rug Doctor cleaner I used a few yrs ago---those are lousy.

Also sanded/primed the trim on the shed my Dad and I are building.


----------



## Puck it (Jun 2, 2014)

Replace rotted exterior trim boards with PVC.  I have one left to do.  A soffet board on the main roof above family room.  I am need some staging for it to put on ladder.


----------



## dlague (Jun 2, 2014)

Cannonball said:


> I'm in the middle of a whole house renovation.  Sometimes I think of it as a list of individual items, sometimes I think of it as one big project.
> 
> When we bought our house in NH it had been in foreclosure and unoccupied for at least a year.  Pretty much everything was wrong with it, right down to the burst pipes.  So far I've done:
> - 100% gut and remodel of the kitchen
> ...



All work no play make Jack a dull boy!  See what summer brings!?

I am sure it will all be worth it in the end!


----------



## dlague (Jun 2, 2014)

skijay said:


> I did consider the arborvitaes. I need 18 and I was going with the American variety that were 6' tall already. It is double the cost of the fence.
> 
> edit: I'm not DIYing the tree removal, planting or a fence install.  My only involvement was finding the arborist / fence company.



We planted some arborvitaes and during one harsh winter the deer ate much of them.


----------



## ctenidae (Jun 2, 2014)

hammer said:


> Wow...how much time did it take for all of this? Did you also pull up the stumps?



Spent about 6 hours on Saturday, and probably 9 less a run to Home Depot on Sunday (had to replace the sawzall). We removed a couple of stumps, cut the rest down to below grade. Next spring when we re-plant that line, we'll have them pulled out. Or may do them onesy-twosy over the summer.


----------



## hammer (Jun 2, 2014)

ctenidae said:


> Spent about 6 hours on Saturday, and probably 9 less a run to Home Depot on Sunday (had to replace the sawzall). We removed a couple of stumps, cut the rest down to below grade. Next spring when we re-plant that line, we'll have them pulled out. Or may do them onesy-twosy over the summer.


Guessing you used the sawzall on the stumps?  That's what I did when I pulled a few a couple of weeks ago.

Not surprised it took that much time.

This is a great time to get yard work done IMO...weather isn't too warm and humid yet.  We plan on going back to inside work later in the summer when it gets too hot to deal with outside stuff.  Guessing the person who will be patching and refinishing our floors will think we forgot him again.


----------



## ctenidae (Jun 2, 2014)

Yep, cut them down, and cut the stumps, with the sawzall. It was a beautiful weekend for working outside- about 75, and a nice breeze.

I kept telling myself it was a bit cool to be out on the boat, yet.


----------



## hammer (Sep 24, 2014)

hammer said:


> I just wish I knew enough to tell the installer to take up the baseboard when I had the floor done 10 years ago.  Don't like the idea of adding quarter round to fill in the gaps but I'm not sure if I'll have any alternative.


After several months we have all of the baseboard off and the walls are painted (one needs touch up, I stink at painting).  Next step is to get the floors patched in the kitchen and refinished throughout.  Looks like there are a few small gaps where the walls are wavy.  Will have to confirm after the floors are done.

One question I have right now is, for those who have done quarter round, is the current trend to paint it or stain it?


----------



## Puck it (Sep 24, 2014)

hammer said:


> After several months we have all of the baseboard off and the walls are painted (one needs touch up, I stink at painting). Next step is to get the floors patched in the kitchen and refinished throughout. Looks like there are a few small gaps where the walls are wavy. Will have to confirm after the floors are done.
> 
> One question I have right now is, for those who have done QR, is the current trend to paint it or stain it?



QR?


----------



## hammer (Sep 24, 2014)

Puck it said:


> QR?


Quarter Round - edited my post.


----------



## Puck it (Sep 24, 2014)

hammer said:


> Quarter Round - edited my post.



Got it.  I have only ever seen it painted.


----------



## Savemeasammy (Sep 24, 2014)

The finish on the corner round should be the same as the baseboard. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## darent (Sep 24, 2014)

nail QR to baseboard, not floor. when things move and you paint QR with baseboard you will get cracks at QR and BB joint if you nail to floor.Also you should buy shoe molding instead of QR. QR is a true 90 degree angle, shoe mold has more angle for a better fit.


----------

