The Home Improvement Thread

[Anathollo]

Installed new LED lights in my mother in laws kitchen (she got these goofy old style LED ones which were more of a pain to install due to the design).

Also put in a new modem for my mom's house and swapped out her super fancy & expensive shower head with a cheaper more common one. she says the fancy one is too heavy to hold. )

 

[Oswego]

Do yourself a favor and take thousands of pictures of everything around the pool. Also, make a drawing with underground pipe locations and where the pipes terminate or which way they run. If there is a coupler, 45°, 90° or 3-way tee in the pipes then take a measurement and document it. I'd use the house or something that is not going to change over the years as a point of reference (don't use fences, trees or something like that because that location can/will change over time).
Does it sound a bit overkill to do all of that? Yes, but it will be a time saver in the future. Trust me.

I wish I had the foresight to do this when I had my mom's pool renovated. We ended up with a leak underneath the concrete and had to cut out a good sized concrete section to find it.

Great idea - I had similar issues growing up when our pool settled and broke the main drain at the deep end. What a PITA to fix.

Funny you mention it coming through your ceiling. My sister and her boyfriend used to live in some ghetto apartments and they had a leak in their roof and it started to form a wet spot in the ceiling right above their bed. The worthless landlord was dragging their feet getting it repaired and getting another apartment ready for them to swap over to so in the meantime they moved their bed to the living room. My sister was taking a nap one day before she went I to work and heard a crash in the bedroom. Opened the bedroom door and a raccoon had fallen through where the ceiling had rotted from the water. She called animal control and they told her they couldn't be there until Monday unless it was an emergency. She said "yeah, there's a god damn raccoon in my fucking apartment!".

He's gone for sure....luckily.

Now I just need to rip off the soffit, gutters, and fascia and replace them all with the right materials. I just temped them back together with some 8" screws for now. Oh and add a drip edge to the roof so it never happens again. If the roofer had installed a drip edge last time my house had shingles put on it I'm sure it would of been fine, but alas a few dollars in trim is going to cost me thousands in materials to repair because I'm sure the rest of my gutters, fascia, and soffits are ready to fall off from rot.

 

[Silverback]

Do yourself a favor and take thousands of pictures of everything around the pool. Also, make a drawing with underground pipe locations and where the pipes terminate or which way they run. If there is a coupler, 45°, 90° or 3-way tee in the pipes then take a measurement and document it. I'd use the house or something that is not going to change over the years as a point of reference (don't use fences, trees or something like that because that location can/will change over time).
Does it sound a bit overkill to do all of that? Yes, but it will be a time saver in the future. Trust me.

I wish I had the foresight to do this when I had my mom's pool renovated. We ended up with a leak underneath the concrete and had to cut out a good sized concrete section to find it.

I did take tons of pics... still am.

 

[Oswego]

ended up ordering the DeWalt DWO882. It's an older model and I wanted green lasers for use in the sun, but those things are pricey and use their special batteries. I also wanted something small for my measuring bag so it's not a hindrance to carry it 24/7. My boss said he would pay for the best one they have - but I said no thanks. Thing is so huge I'd never take it with me rendering it useless + it's time I acquired my own tools. tired of having to go and buy new stuff every time I change jobs (4 times in the past decade )

https://www.diamondtool.net/dewalt-...ne-and-plumb-spots-laser/product/0/dew dw0822

 

[Oswego]

Anyone up to date on composites or pvc trim? Seeing the major disadvantages being huge amounts of thermal expansion/contraction + the inability to be painted. On one hand I want to fix it right so I never have to mess with it again, but if I do that, a good species of wood will work fine. Also wondering why no one seems to use PT wood for the fascia boards especially if I cap them? I'd think the fumes would never make it back into the house.?. Most things Ive read online say Cypress or Cedar is good. Last idiot to "fix" the soffit capped the old rotten wood with even thinner pine then covered that with aluminum so the lack of a drip cap was never addressed. I should of known better when I did my roof inspection before I bought the house 13 years ago, but I did not.

Whatever I use I can cap easily and inexpensively. I can borrow a break from work + we have a good cladding shop I buy materials from for work. They sell me .060 dirt cheap. Only downfall is their shear & break are 12' long and my works portable model is only 6' long. Les seams the better so Ill prob order it through work and borrow a truck with some scaffold one weekend.

 

[Oswego]

Got the new dewalt laser. not really impressed. the magnets will not hold it up to a drywall screw in our drywall which is where I need it to hold. little disappointing, but maybe Ill just epoxy a better magnet to it. the bocsh magnets are way weaker so it's an upgrade I guess. everything else is ok, but the hard case is HUGE as well. In hindsight I should of ponied up the $$ for a PLS as I had before and was happy with. The PLS had great magnets with small soft case. magnet was so good I used to use it as a stud finder. Unless I'm using it the laser will never leave my measuring bag that offers protection so I really have no use for a huge hard case that fills my entire bag up.

 

[Taco Loco]

Anyone up to date on composites or pvc trim? Seeing the major disadvantages being huge amounts of thermal expansion/contraction + the inability to be painted. On one hand I want to fix it right so I never have to mess with it again, but if I do that, a good species of wood will work fine. Also wondering why no one seems to use PT wood for the fascia boards especially if I cap them? I'd think the fumes would never make it back into the house.?. Most things Ive read online say Cypress or Cedar is good. Last idiot to "fix" the soffit capped the old rotten wood with even thinner pine then covered that with aluminum so the lack of a drip cap was never addressed. I should of known better when I did my roof inspection before I bought the house 13 years ago, but I did not.

Whatever I use I can cap easily and inexpensively. I can borrow a break from work + we have a good cladding shop I buy materials from for work. They sell me .060 dirt cheap. Only downfall is their shear & break are 12' long and my works portable model is only 6' long. Les seams the better so Ill prob order it through work and borrow a truck with some scaffold one weekend.

I used pvc in old house, there was no warped pieces to deal with and was easy to wipe clean and paint

 

[Anathollo]

Got the new dewalt laser. not really impressed. the magnets will not hold it up to a drywall screw in our drywall which is where I need it to hold. little disappointing, but maybe Ill just epoxy a better magnet to it. the bocsh magnets are way weaker so it's an upgrade I guess. everything else is ok, but the hard case is HUGE as well. In hindsight I should of ponied up the $$ for a PLS as I had before and was happy with. The PLS had great magnets with small soft case. magnet was so good I used to use it as a stud finder. Unless I'm using it the laser will never leave my measuring bag that offers protection so I really have no use for a huge hard case that fills my entire bag up.

Go ahead and return that DeWalt laser and get the PLS unit. If you're not happy with it then get what you want since your livelihood depends on your gear.

 

[Anathollo]

Anyone up to date on composites or pvc trim? Seeing the major disadvantages being huge amounts of thermal expansion/contraction + the inability to be painted. On one hand I want to fix it right so I never have to mess with it again, but if I do that, a good species of wood will work fine. Also wondering why no one seems to use PT wood for the fascia boards especially if I cap them? I'd think the fumes would never make it back into the house.?. Most things Ive read online say Cypress or Cedar is good. Last idiot to "fix" the soffit capped the old rotten wood with even thinner pine then covered that with aluminum so the lack of a drip cap was never addressed. I should of known better when I did my roof inspection before I bought the house 13 years ago, but I did not.

Whatever I use I can cap easily and inexpensively. I can borrow a break from work + we have a good cladding shop I buy materials from for work. They sell me .060 dirt cheap. Only downfall is their shear & break are 12' long and my works portable model is only 6' long. Les seams the better so Ill prob order it through work and borrow a truck with some scaffold one weekend.

Pressure Treated lumber needs to be Kiln dried before it can be painted. Most contractors don't use it because Home Despot or Lowe's doesn't stock it.

PVC (we call it vinyl) is typically good. I had vinyl trim and siding installed on one of my mom's rent houses and it help up great for over a decade. I tore it all off to remodel the house and found that there was a buildup of dirt on every seam of the siding (this was due to how the vinyl was engineered to snap together). Only issue I found was that it was hard to find replacement pieces years later when the renter would smash the corners with his riding lawn mower. The vinyl also dented kinda easy as well.

Cedar is great for siding but you'll need to touch it up every decade or so.

I mainly use Hardi-board now down here since it holds up great in Houston's crappy climate. I just have the houses repainted or touched up as needed.

Here's some quick articles for you.
Engineered Exterior Trim

Top 10 Questions about PVC Trim | THISisCarpentry

 

[Oswego]

Go ahead and return that DeWalt laser and get the PLS unit. If you're not happy with it then get what you want since your livelihood depends on your gear.

I'm going to keep the DeWalt. I like everything but the lack of a soft case and weak magnet both of which I can make/fix by myself. Thinking Ill just make a soft case out of reflectix and remove/replace the stock magnets with some hyper strong rare earth mags.

Pressure Treated lumber needs to be Kiln dried before it can be painted. Most contractors don't use it because Home Despot or Lowe's doesn't stock it.

PVC (we call it vinyl) is typically good. I had vinyl trim and siding installed on one of my mom's rent houses and it help up great for over a decade. I tore it all off to remodel the house and found that there was a buildup in dirt on every seam of the siding (this was due to how the vinyl was engineered and not installed incorrectly). Only issue I found was that it was hard to find replacement pieces years later when the renter would smash the corners with his riding lawn mower. The vinyl also dented kinda easy as well.

Cedar is great for siding but you'll need to touch it up every decade or so.

I mainly use Hardi-board now down here since it holds up great in Houston's crappy climate. I just have the houses repainted or touched up as needed.

Here's some quick articles for you.
Engineered Exterior Trim

Top 10 Questions about PVC Trim | THISisCarpentry

I looked at Hardy due to it being so fire resistant, but with the temp ranges we have up here Ive been told to stay away because it tents to crack. I've been thinking cedar clad in aluminum should last my lifetime so long as I do it right. Debating doing the entire roof now - it's not going to last more than another 5 years. Double layer of crappy asphalt shingles on thin ass 3/8" plywood with roof rafters too far apart for our snow load .

 

[Silverback]

Got a bit of good news today. One my "medium ass fans" I've had for about 15 months died. I had called the manufacturer and they warrantied it even though I did not have my receipt. Guy was nice enough to use the mfg date on the remote to enable the 2 year warranty. Better than nothing.

 

[Anathollo]

@Silverback where's the pool updates?

 

[Silverback]

Getting there.. still got work to do. Finish up the firepit, steps and cleanup. Then SunDek the concrete, Quartzcoat the pool, and hook up all the pumps/heater. Wife wants me to move the playscape... way to the back of the yard. That ain't happening.

 

[tx_shooter]

It looks really good. So when are you going to put in a retractable shade canopy over the pool?

 

[Silverback]

It will have 8 places to insert a 9' umbrella to provide shade. Probably get a couple umbrellas.

 

[Anathollo]

Awesome!

 

[Taco Loco]

As soon as I popped my head into the attic I could smell it and that's with a 3m respirator on. I cleaned every bit of poop I could find and it was only 2 huge turds.

Only fear now is I trapped it up there, but I did a pretty good search before I closed it back up. Fingers crossed it wasn't hiding real good on me. Still shaking my head as to how it was coming & going. I can assume how it got up on my roof through the trees that were close to jump down onto my roof, but not how it was getting down once it was on my roof.

Any trapped dead animals found inside yet??

 

[Anathollo]

Any trapped dead animals found inside yet??

No...nothing to see here @Oswego

 

[Oswego]

Any trapped dead animals found inside yet??

Nada. I'm lucky. Thought I heard something a few nights ago, but it was a branch that fell onto my roof from my neighbors dilapidated tree

No...nothing to see here @Oswego

Too easy for noise to travel in the attic - they go in the cellar/dungeon.

 

[PSU Taco85]

Started working on the garage heat since temperatures started getting colder up here. Tied the water in and added a hose bib inside, I can always expand to a sink in the future which is the beauty of pex!

Got all the piping tied in and the gas line and vent pipe routed for the heater, just need to finish up some electrical, plumb in the back flow preventer, air scoop, expansion tank, then wire up the thermostat. Good news is all the outside work is finished so I can work independent of the weather now