The Swamp

If/when doing new floors, what's the plan if tearing up the old floor leaves a complete disaster underneath? Trying to figure out if the kitchen is eventually going to be a DIY update or something bigger and costlier.

What's the old floor made out of?

Commonly known as tongue-and-groove with a lock.

(Not as interesting as tongue-in-groove.)

P.D.X. wrote: ↑Wed Nov 06, 2019 6:31 pm What's the old floor made out of?

It’s some gross ceramic tile but it’s also raised about that height above the wood floor that leads into it.

(But the tile area includes a small 8x10-ish area that was added after the original wood flooring so it’s doubtful we’re going to get that lucky.)

mister d wrote: ↑Wed Nov 06, 2019 6:15 pm If/when doing new floors, what's the plan if tearing up the old floor leaves a complete disaster underneath? Trying to figure out if the kitchen is eventually going to be a DIY update or something bigger and costlier.

Based on the shows my wife watches, you have to have a testy phone call with the owners in which you inform them of the disaster, tell them you're not sure if you can meet the budget/timeline, then spend 3 nights straight without sleeping working on it before it's totally fine at the end of the project.

We have hardwood floors throughout the house. In our family room, they are badly in need of refinishing. But, none of the contractors we spoke with want to do just one room. They want to do the whole floor or nothing at all. Contractors are so busy around here with remodels and new construction that they can pick and choose what jobs they want to take. So, we will suck it up and wait a few years until we don't have a dog or are selling the house to do it.

(And, no , there is no fucking way I'm trying to do it myself.)

sancarlos wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2019 12:55 pm But, none of the contractors we spoke with want to do just one room. They want to do the whole floor or nothing at all.

Practically speaking, if the floor is contiguous it would be pretty difficult to refinish only part of it.

P.D.X. wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2019 12:59 pm

sancarlos wrote: ↑Thu Nov 07, 2019 12:55 pm But, none of the contractors we spoke with want to do just one room. They want to do the whole floor or nothing at all.

Practically speaking, if the floor is contiguous it would be pretty difficult to refinish only part of it.

Yeh, there's that, too.

You need a handyman, not a contractor.

brian wrote: ↑Fri Dec 21, 2018 11:56 am

mister d wrote: ↑Fri Dec 21, 2018 11:46 am We have very hard water here and my plastic dishwasher filter seems calcified in place. Any ideas here?

Buy a new dishwasher?

Seriously, though we usually use CLR cleaner for anything like that. That stuff has probably given me cancer 10x over, but it does the job.

Now the filter is stuck in place and the motor is all fucked up. Time to sink this cost and get a brand new dishwasher baby wooo!!!

mister d wrote: ↑Mon Jan 13, 2020 8:37 pm

brian wrote: ↑Fri Dec 21, 2018 11:56 am

mister d wrote: ↑Fri Dec 21, 2018 11:46 am We have very hard water here and my plastic dishwasher filter seems calcified in place. Any ideas here?

Buy a new dishwasher?

Seriously, though we usually use CLR cleaner for anything like that. That stuff has probably given me cancer 10x over, but it does the job.

Now the filter is stuck in place and the motor is all fucked up. Time to sink this cost and get a brand new dishwasher baby wooo!!!

Bosch or gtfo.

A_B wrote: ↑Mon Jan 13, 2020 8:46 pm Bosch or gtfo.

This man speaks the truth

I beat a whirlpool dishwasher last week. Vomited water everywhere but I made it drain again without buying a new machine. The 1am Tuesday night deal wasn't so ideal but no dishwasher is an emergency in my home

Moen faucets are pieces of junk. Never buying one again.

Please don’t be rash.

We remodeled our kitchen about five years ago and had a Moen kitchen faucet installed. After about 18 months, it started leaking. The cartridge in the handle had failed. Moen sent a replacement cartridge, which I installed. About 18 months later, it leaked again. Called Moen, and they deemed the original faucet was defective and sent a replacement. And I just replaced the cartridge for the replacement faucet, so I don't think the original was "faulty".

We also have a Moen faucet in the main bath and I had to replace the cartridge in it two months ago. My guess is Moen wanted a consistent revenue stream from their parts division and thus created a shitty design that requires these stupid cartridges. The repair is simple but it's still annoying as hell to open the cabinet and see water.

Sabo wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 12:20 pm We remodeled our kitchen about five years ago and had a Moen kitchen faucet installed. After about 18 months, it started leaking. The cartridge in the handle had failed. Moen sent a replacement cartridge, which I installed. About 18 months later, it leaked again. Called Moen, and they deemed the original faucet was defective and sent a replacement. And I just replaced the cartridge for the replacement faucet, so I don't think the original was "faulty".

We also have a Moen faucet in the main bath and I had to replace the cartridge in it two months ago. My guess is Moen wanted a consistent revenue stream from their parts division and thus created a shitty design that requires these stupid cartridges. The repair is simple but it's still annoying as hell to open the cabinet and see water.

Why would the cartridge cause water in the cabinet?

NVM: I was thinking diffuser.

Is it memorial day or July 4 when the big boxes do appliance sales? I have this 90's dishwasher that literally only sprays from the bottom up. How do the dishes on the top rack get clean? They don't and I have no idea how they ever would.

Sabo wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 12:20 pm We remodeled our kitchen about five years ago and had a Moen kitchen faucet installed. After about 18 months, it started leaking. The cartridge in the handle had failed. Moen sent a replacement cartridge, which I installed. About 18 months later, it leaked again. Called Moen, and they deemed the original faucet was defective and sent a replacement. And I just replaced the cartridge for the replacement faucet, so I don't think the original was "faulty".

We also have a Moen faucet in the main bath and I had to replace the cartridge in it two months ago. My guess is Moen wanted a consistent revenue stream from their parts division and thus created a shitty design that requires these stupid cartridges. The repair is simple but it's still annoying as hell to open the cabinet and see water.

Do you have extremely hard water?

P.D.X. wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:43 pm Is it memorial day or July 4 when the big boxes do appliance sales? I have this 90's dishwasher that literally only sprays from the bottom up. How do the dishes on the top rack get clean? They don't and I have no idea how they ever would.

Pretty much every time there's something resembling a holiday. Like today for instance.

isn't today supposed to be the best time of year to buy appliances?

(we need a washer/dryer but I don't exactly like the thought of buying sight unseen and we're both working today so a sprint to a store seems out of the equation)

Yeah, gotta test drive those babies first.

mister d wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:54 pm Yeah, gotta test drive those babies first.

I roll in to a new store every week with a full laundry basket. Then they say "Sir you can't do that here" and I'm like "Bitch, I gotta clean my BVDs!" and they're all like "Sir, this is a Wendys."

The Sybian wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 1:47 pm

Sabo wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 12:20 pm We remodeled our kitchen about five years ago and had a Moen kitchen faucet installed. After about 18 months, it started leaking. The cartridge in the handle had failed. Moen sent a replacement cartridge, which I installed. About 18 months later, it leaked again. Called Moen, and they deemed the original faucet was defective and sent a replacement. And I just replaced the cartridge for the replacement faucet, so I don't think the original was "faulty".

We also have a Moen faucet in the main bath and I had to replace the cartridge in it two months ago. My guess is Moen wanted a consistent revenue stream from their parts division and thus created a shitty design that requires these stupid cartridges. The repair is simple but it's still annoying as hell to open the cabinet and see water.

Do you have extremely hard water?

I don't know about "extremely" hard water, but yes, we have hard water.

A_B wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 3:10 pm

mister d wrote: ↑Mon Feb 17, 2020 2:54 pm Yeah, gotta test drive those babies first.

I roll in to a new store every week with a full laundry basket. Then they say "Sir you can't do that here" and I'm like "Bitch, I gotta clean my BVDs!" and they're all like "Sir, this is a Wendys."

I'm laughing way too hard at this.

Fixed the ice maker in the freezer.

Fridge was making a hellacious noise - researched the issue, tried a couple of things and holy shit! It worked.

First the dishwasher, now the fridge - I should do a 23 & Me test to see if I'm actually Jewish.

Pruitt wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 7:31 pm Fixed the ice maker in the freezer.

Fridge was making a hellacious noise - researched the issue, tried a couple of things and holy shit! It worked.

First the dishwasher, now the fridge - I should do a 23 & Me test to see if I'm actually Jewish.

My father always says, "we are Jews, we don't fix things, we pay people to do it for us." I've found I really love learning to fix stuff on my car and around the house. Come to think of it, my father took pride in doing all of the work on his cars by himself, until everything became computerized. Youtube is the greatest. I fix and replace all sorts of things I would have been afraid to try before watching a video. Actually just put in dimmer switches in a bunch of rooms around my house. Electrician quoted $250/switch, I was able to buy switches for $27. Took about 10 minutes each, most of which was me being overly cautious ensuring I shut off the correct circuits. Interesting note that they need to be wired differently when there are two switches for the same light.

While I'm here, I noticed something weird with one of the lights. It works great, but I took a video to show my wife the dimmer worked, and on the lights in one room make a loud humming noise when the dimmer hits a certain position. Nobody can hear the noise in real life, but everyone hears it on the video. This just happened in one room. WTF would cause that, and is it going to cause my house to burn down?

First thing to check would be the bulbs.

Pruitt wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 7:31 pmFridge was making a hellacious noise - researched the issue, tried a couple of things and holy shit! It worked.

So, like, how did you do that? My one-fourth Jewish heritage really takes over when it comes to this stuff.

Steve of phpBB wrote: ↑Thu Feb 27, 2020 4:07 pm

Pruitt wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 7:31 pmFridge was making a hellacious noise - researched the issue, tried a couple of things and holy shit! It worked.

So, like, how did you do that? My one-fourth Jewish heritage really takes over when it comes to this stuff.

My old freezer used to make a loud noise. I opened up the back wall and saw ice around the fan, like condensation froze. I'd periodically scrape away the ice or slam the door to get the ice to fall off.

Yeah we have major buzzing. Our fridge is 15 years old. But I’m scared to move it because I don’t want to see what’s back there now.

Steve of phpBB wrote: ↑Thu Feb 27, 2020 4:07 pm

Pruitt wrote: ↑Wed Feb 26, 2020 7:31 pmFridge was making a hellacious noise - researched the issue, tried a couple of things and holy shit! It worked.

So, like, how did you do that? My one-fourth Jewish heritage really takes over when it comes to this stuff.

Thanks to my friends on YouTube, figured that the noise from the fan was because no water was getting into the ice maker.

Did a bunch of things, but what might have done the trick was cleaning the condenser. Appallingly dusty.

Not long after that, the noise stopped. Couple hours later heard the first cubes being made.

I mean, it might have been something else that did the trick, but it may have been as simple as cleaning the damn thing.

Related in terms of simplicity, was I the only one who didn’t know you could plunge a tub or sink? Just never occurred to me as a fix.

mister d wrote: ↑Thu Feb 27, 2020 7:18 pm Related in terms of simplicity, was I the only one who didn’t know you could plunge a tub or sink? Just never occurred to me as a fix.

I plunged a shower this past weekend.

Bought a toilet auger a month or two ago for my wife’s and daughters massive shits. Worked great!

rass wrote: ↑Thu Feb 27, 2020 7:52 pm Bought a toilet auger a month or two ago for my wife’s and daughters massive shits. Worked great!

Teach them swampcrash!

There's standing water in one of my floor ducts. Google is telling me this is REALLY, REALLY BAD.

Single story House on a slab foundation and the ducts cannot be rerouted to a attic.

Fucking A. Not what I need when deployed.

Anyone worked on a stump? Burned out my pole saw. Sawzall ended up doing better but it still isn't out the ground. I've got all the big roots severed but can't gut under the thing. It's probably only a 8 in trunk but it remains and I'm sore. The car chain is a no go. Can't get a straight line to the vehicle.

Only stump I removed I used some stuff where you drill down in 50 places with your normal drill and dump some killing stuff inside. The a couple of weeks later it was fairly easy to get out. But yeah I think you do have to cut most roots first.

HaulCitgo wrote: ↑Mon Apr 06, 2020 8:00 pm Anyone worked on a stump? Burned out my pole saw. Sawzall ended up doing better but it still isn't out the ground. I've got all the big roots severed but can't gut under the thing. It's probably only a 8 in trunk but it remains and I'm sore. The car chain is a no go. Can't get a straight line to the vehicle.

Rent a grinder.