The Home Improvement Thread. Successes and Failures

[Kepler]

Re: The Home Improvement Thread. Successes and Failures

This discussion about plumbing parts reminds me of when I first began working for a home builder and remodeler (as an untrained grunt). My boss did his own plumbing on some jobs, so early on they often sent me on runs to the plumbing supply store. It was always an anxious experience for me because I didn't know shyt and they would always listen to me give the order (or hand it over to them) then ask me something like, "male or female" or "right or left-handed" or "this thread or that thread." They ALWAYS had a question I couldn't answer, no matter how careful I was to get the order right.

I eventually learned that the guys behind the counter were good friends with my boss and foreman and were just messing with me. And my boss and foreman knew about it and got a kick out of it. They were all good natured people, and I never caught grief for my ignorance, primarily because the guys behind the counter always made sure I went back to the job with the right parts. Kind of an initiation, I guess.

That's great and it's a gentle initiation that is repeated everywhere, and I'll bet always has been.

When I was 16 my dad sent me running back up the dock to get a second life preserver before we launched out to our (tiny) sailboat. The guy behind the counter said, without looking up, "what kind of water?" I looked out at the Sound and said, "uh, salt water?" and he gave an exasperated look to his flunky and said really patiently, "yeah, but what KIND?"

I'm sure he was rolling on the floor the second I padded back down the dock to ask my dad what kind of water we'd be in that day.

[BassAle]

Not the case in my house. I have a PEX manifold in the utility room with a shutoff for each line, then the PEX runs straight to the faucets with a connector on the PEX to directly attach to the faucet. The one exception is the toilets do have a copper Ell with a shut off.

I really dislike manifold systems that don't also have a shut off at the fixture.


Each of my plumbing fixtures is a homerun with its own shutoff, but there are also shut offs at the fixture, with threaded supply lines from the shut off to the fixture.

[jen]

Re: The Home Improvement Thread. Successes and Failures

I have exhausted my Googling skills. I have an older house (1941) and I need to replace a vent cover (supply, not return). It's basically a baseboard vent, so it's triangular (2.5" projection at the bottom). However - the catch is it needs to be 10" tall (vent is 14" wide - 16" opening). Any good ideas for finding one? Or, at last resort, having one custom made? The previous owners stuck a white metal wall vent in front of it (not even attached - and you can't attach it to the current frame) and after almost 9 years, I am tired of looking at it.

[FreshFish]

Re: The Home Improvement Thread. Successes and Failures

I have exhausted my Googling skills. I have an older house (1941) and I need to replace a vent cover (supply, not return). It's basically a baseboard vent, so it's triangular (2.5" projection at the bottom). However - the catch is it needs to be 10" tall (vent is 14" wide - 16" opening). Any good ideas for finding one? Or, at last resort, having one custom made? The previous owners stuck a white metal wall vent in front of it (not even attached - and you can't attach it to the current frame) and after almost 9 years, I am tired of looking at it.

There is a sheet metal fabricator in our town that takes orders like that: I have had custom pieces built by giving them the dimensions / drawings as needed (e.g., an overflow drain pan for the washing machine had to fit in a really precise space and also have a place to connect the drain hose).

Another alternative that likely will catch on soon is 3-D printing, if you need a plastic part. If I were more adept at it (or the technology were a bit more developed), I could have fabricated a replacement for the soap dispenser cover in our dishwasher. I just need a little flap with a plastic projection; but they don't sell that piece separately; I had to buy the entire component just to scavenge the piece I needed.

[FreshFish]

Re: The Home Improvement Thread. Successes and Failures

A minor victory over a perplexing problem.

Turn on ceiling fan, works fine. Turn on ceiling fan light, after a few minutes they start to flicker off and on. I figure it is a switch problem. Replace the wall switch. Doesn't help.

So we get a replacement unit. When I am taking the old unit down, I find that there is a receptor for a remote control in the circuit. I remove the box and rewire the ceiling fan directly. Everything works fine.

I was right in that it was a switch problem; had I remembered that there was a remote control receptor box in the circuit, I could have saved myself two trips to the store (one to buy the replacement fan, another one to return it).

[St. Clown]

Re: The Home Improvement Thread. Successes and Failures

What's good for getting sticker glue off of putty knifes? I've been painting walls and patching them in the process - the little divots that happen. During that time, the label sticker started to peel away and leaves the adhesive residue. Would mineral spirit work?

[burd]

Re: The Home Improvement Thread. Successes and Failures

What's good for getting sticker glue off of putty knifes? I've been painting walls and patching them in the process - the little divots that happen. During that time, the label sticker started to peel away and leaves the adhesive residue. Would mineral spirit work?

Vinegar or wd40 might too. there's usually some of that stuff around.

[walrus]

Re: The Home Improvement Thread. Successes and Failures

What's good for getting sticker glue off of putty knifes? I've been painting walls and patching them in the process - the little divots that happen. During that time, the label sticker started to peel away and leaves the adhesive residue. Would mineral spirit work?

Goo gone will work https://www.walmart.com/ip/Goo-Gone-...12-oz/13432555

If you have mineral spirits it will work as will WD 40, gas on a rag/paper towel when you fill up your car might work also

[dxmnkd316]

Re: The Home Improvement Thread. Successes and Failures

Blowtorch

[burd]

Re: The Home Improvement Thread. Successes and Failures

Blowtorch

Now what real guy would not prefer this method?

[MarkEagleUSA]

Re: The Home Improvement Thread. Successes and Failures

Running it under hot water will soften the glue. You can try rubbing alcohol too.

[dxmnkd316]

Re: The Home Improvement Thread. Successes and Failures

Running it under hot water will soften the glue. You can try rubbing alcohol too.

Then blowtorch?

[joecct]

Then blowtorch?

H2SO4 would work.

[dxmnkd316]

Re: The Home Improvement Thread. Successes and Failures

Might corrode the metal. Almost certainly would.

Also, even I’m not stupid enough to fark around with sulfuric acid. Source:I’m a chemist and chemical engineer.

[burd]

Re: The Home Improvement Thread. Successes and Failures

Then blowtorch?

Is there a blowtorch big enough and hot enough to do the job right?