The Home Improvement Thread. Successes and Failures

[psych]

a 2 by 4 by 8 KD was 12 bucks the other day, was 3 or 4 bucks last spring at most. 7/16 OSB, cheapest crap sheathing you can buy is up to 60 dollars a sheet in some places. Last spring, 8 bucks a sheet on sale. 3/4 plywood over a 100. No way would build a fence out of wood right now.

Thank you. That’s what I’ve heard/read, just didn’t know how much more expensive it was right now.

 

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

My neighbor has a yard half the size of mine. He got quotes for a wood privacy fence. Cheapest was $14k. It shouldn’t be more than 8k

 

[dxmnkd316]

So, should I wait a little longer on building a privacy fence around my backyard?

The joke I saw yesterday:
Lumber traders coping with concept that it literally grows on trees

But to answer your question, probably. Two reasons why:
1) My feeling is this isn't actual, long-term inflation. It's inefficiencies in the supply chains caused by reopening significantly quicker than originally anticipated.
2) This seems to be backed by the markets. The futures contracts on lumber are:
Jul - $1,397
Sep - $1,262
Nov - $1,108
Jan - $1,083
Mar - $1,043
May 22 - $943
July 22 - $943

Before things went cuckoo, lumber was at like $375 +/- $75 going all the way back to the early 90s. $1,400 isn't going to be supported long term. It can't be.

A lot of people are going to be really screwed when they're left with these late 2021 $1,000+/1k-foot contracts. Good luck closing those even money.

 

[St. Clown]

The joke I saw yesterday:
Lumber traders coping with concept that it literally grows on trees

But to answer your question, probably. Two reasons why:
1) My feeling is this isn't actual, long-term inflation. It's inefficiencies in the supply chains caused by reopening significantly quicker than originally anticipated.
2) This seems to be backed by the markets. The futures contracts on lumber are:
Jul - $1,397
Sep - $1,262
Nov - $1,108
Jan - $1,083
Mar - $1,043
May 22 - $943
July 22 - $943

Before things went cuckoo, lumber was at like $375 +/- $75 going all the way back to the early 90s. $1,400 isn't going to be supported long term. It can't be.

A lot of people are going to be really screwed when they're left with these late 2021 $1,000+/1k-foot contracts.

I was reading an industry analyst last week, and he thinks they’ll be back to within $100 of the average from prior to the run up. It’s just a matter of when and if it’s a convenient time for DIY people.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

My neighbor has a yard half the size of mine. He got quotes for a wood privacy fence. Cheapest was $14k. It shouldn’t be more than 8k

I just bought a house and one of my new neighbors told me he's been wanting to replace the privacy fence between our backyards. He's a GC and would easily do the work himself, but the price of lumber is at the point where even he is waiting it out. The current fence is not in really bad shape, just over-weathered.

Like every other GC at the moment he's also booked out for the next 4-6 months, so paying him to re-do my gross 1980s master suite bathroom likely isn't going to be in the cards either.

 

[psych]

The joke I saw yesterday:
Lumber traders coping with concept that it literally grows on trees

But to answer your question, probably. Two reasons why:
1) My feeling is this isn't actual, long-term inflation. It's inefficiencies in the supply chains caused by reopening significantly quicker than originally anticipated.
2) This seems to be backed by the markets. The futures contracts on lumber are:
Jul - $1,397
Sep - $1,262
Nov - $1,108
Jan - $1,083
Mar - $1,043
May 22 - $943
July 22 - $943

Before things went cuckoo, lumber was at like $375 +/- $75 going all the way back to the early 90s. $1,400 isn't going to be supported long term. It can't be.

A lot of people are going to be really screwed when they're left with these late 2021 $1,000+/1k-foot contracts. Good luck closing those even money.

Thank you. I find many things interesting; futures contracts on lumber, or any commodity for that matter, isn’t one of them. I guess it should be, now that I own a house.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Oh good. The fridge might have died. Luckily we have a small chest freezer and a mini fridge/freezer in the basement. Hoping the temps start dropping soon.

Moved a shit ton of water bottles into the basement freezers after moving the meats into them from the kitchen freezer. Hoping we can use those to keep the fridge cold until we can get a new one.

 

[state of hockey]

I had a real dumb moment last week. I thought our fridge was dying as well. Went as far as to start planning the moves you're making, and searching for a new one. Wife comes in and moves the half gallon of milk blocking the vent.

oy.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Yeah we might be in the same boat. Tbd. But it's not making it's normal noises.

if this thing is dead, I'm getting the new model with 8g, 480 channels, and the hibachi built in.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Well, the freezer section is lower in temp. the fridge has inched down but still holding at 50 drgF. Interesting because it's not making it's usually pop and gurgle sounds...

my dad's fridge had something similar. Turns out the evaporator coil in the freezer wasn't getting defrosted. Continuously ran but was absolutely covered in ice. I'm less confident that is my problem since it's not making it's normal sounds. But then again, the freezer has gotten colder.

Last night I did some googling and one guy said his fridge had a little plastic fan between the freezer and fridge to regulate temp. That went out and his symptoms were similar to mine. So might try to find the manuals to see if I have that or if I can even repair it myself.

otherwise... it is memorial weekend and our fridge is the only appliance I don't have an affinity for. Still going to try to repair, I'd rather not drop $2k if $200 or even $20 will suffice.

Side note, we noticed fridge prices have gone cuckoo when our dishwasher went out last August. Almost everything on the floor was $3+ with the aforementioned WiFi, hibachi, etc. I just want a fridge that works.

 

[Deutsche Gopher Fan]

On fridge ...yeah. I got a new fridge just over a year ago. Was horrified at the WiFi and features as I’m sure that crap breaks. I just wanted a fridge to keep my food cold. A camera to show me what door to open? Christ no.

my parents live near you and theirs died last month. They ran into stock issues everywhere too, culminating in success at some small appliance place over Warner’s. In fact they’ve now sworn off WS after being lied to on stock

 

[dxmnkd316]

So decided to take the whole dam thing apart.

The evaporator coils were frost free. So started pull everything else apart and test it. Stuck my fingers down the two vent holes and they were completely plugged with ice. Cleaned those up and then, because I'm a bad engineer and I don't have a multimeter, I partially reassembled the controls and tested components manually. The fan in the freezer wasn't working. Gave it a push and it started up. Guessing that's our problem. Fan was working so reassembled everything and set it back to normal operation. Sure enough. Temps in both compartments are going down

So now I guess I get to order a new fan motor and fix that. $20 << $2,000. So I'll take that even if it's temporary.

I have to say, glad my wife got us the freezer alarm. Saved a ton of food. Getting another one so we can keep tabs on the fridges too. Kind of a blind spot figuring the freezer would die before the fridge compartment. Wrong.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BL6KN8Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_HXKGF6HGMYCPT4FMA0RH

 

[Handyman]

In our kitchen remodel we got a fridge that has a Keurig...why you ask? No clue so I'm going with "We are White Suburbanites".

(It was also cheaper than the other model that fit our remodel)

 

[St. Clown]

So...my A/C needs refrigerant, R-22, and my house is therefore hot. Damm hot.

Add to that, the spigot to my front lawn hose broke when I tried to replace the broken handle. While pulling off the handle, the metal snapped within its valve socket (for lack of better knowing the correct term). While I’d love to replace it myself, I’ve never successfully soldered anything, and I also don’t want to burn down my house during the process.

 

[walrus]

So...my A/C needs refrigerant, R-22, and my house is therefore hot. Damm hot.

Add to that, the spigot to my front lawn hose broke when I tried to replace the broken handle. While pulling off the handle, the metal snapped within its valve socket (for lack of better knowing the correct term). While I’d love to replace it myself, I’ve never successfully soldered anything, and I also don’t want to burn down my house during the process.

Shark bite fittings, don't bury them in a wall but if you can see them

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Refinish your own hardwood floors, they said. It's a great job for DIYers, they said. :-/

At least the sanding is done, after three days of back-breaking labor. As someone else pointed out to me, the pain of cutting a check to a pro only stings for a minute. Sage advice for anything requiring a multi-day effort.

 

[burd]

Refinish your own hardwood floors, they said. It's a great job for DIYers, they said. :-/

At least the sanding is done, after three days of back-breaking labor. As someone else pointed out to me, the pain of cutting a check to a pro only stings for a minute. Sage advice for anything requiring a multi-day effort.

Why did you not rent a drum or vibrating floor sander.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Why did you not rent a drum or vibrating floor sander.

We did, but it was still a chore lugging it around and trying not to gouge or burn the floor. My girlfriend struggled to control it, so I ended up doing most of the work. Trying to find 36 or 40-grit paper for a small edge sander is apparently a tall order, too. Ended up having to use an orbital palm sander on the edges because that was the only type of handheld sander we could find 40-grit paper for and the old topcoat was not completely coming off with 60-grit. Home Depot and Lowes only carry 36-grit pads for the big floor sanders they rent. Our local Ace only had the 40-grit orbital pads.

Now I'm looking at the forecast and seeing 90s/humid and going, "Oh fck, we need to get two coats of new poly down before the weekend."

 

[burd]

We did, but it was still a chore lugging it around and trying not to gouge or burn the floor. My girlfriend struggled to control it, so I ended up doing most of the work. Trying to find 36 or 40-grit paper for a small edge sander is apparently a tall order, too. Ended up having to use an orbital palm sander on the edges because that was the only type of handheld sander we could find 40-grit paper for and the old topcoat was not completely coming off with 60-grit. Home Depot and Lowes only carry 36-grit pads for the big floor sanders they rent. Our local Ace only had the 40-grit orbital pads.

Now I'm looking at the forecast and seeing 90s/humid and going, "Oh fck, we need to get two coats of new poly down before the weekend."

Sounds like you rented a drum sander. They take off a lot of wood but are tricky to master.

Good luck with the finishing.

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Good luck with the finishing.

Two coats down and dry, and it looks quite a bit better than I feared it would. Not a pro job, but most people aren't going to notice my handful of small defects, especially once furniture and rugs go down over them.