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The Home Improvement Thread. Successes and Failures

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unofan said:
Just FYI, west-facing shade trees / windows have more of an impact on AC usage than south- facing stuff. Especially at medium latitudes, a July or August late afternoon sun is hitting you from slightly WNW.
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Makes sense in our latitude. This tree, though, is a monster and is only 15 feet from the side of the house and located in the middle. I guess I could move it to our west side yard.
 
Sooo I have a 3 or 4 year old kitchen aid dishwasher. I just learned about cleaning the sump filter (I know, I know). Was quite filthy so I soaked it in some hot water and dawn for a bit.

when you remove the filter, is it normal to have some water down on the hole it came from? Or does that signal some kind of blockage/issue? I only use it once a week at most and have had no drainage issues or issues with it cleaning dishes.
 
SJHovey said:
Ha!! And people are worried that robots and AI are going to be the end of us.

All of us humans understand that every kitchen renovation begins when your wife decides she needs new carpeting in the family room.
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So here’s the thing, every project I finish leads to a “What if…?” I have a serious list of projects to complete right now. My wife doesn’t understand how I’ve managed to become slower with completing each subsequent project. It’s wallet-preservation! I have fun doing these things, often learning some new skills, but we need a realistic set of goals.
 
I'm done with WiFi home automations. Too finicky and hard to get it to play nice.

Thread is preferred, zigbee as backup if thread not offered.
 
Where does everyone stand (sit?) on toilet height? Comfort height looks to be the trend, but it seems that’s in part because it meets ADA standards. Standard is supposed to be healthier, but all of the best/most recommended models are comfort with no standard counterpart.
 
Spartanforlife4 said:
Where does everyone stand (sit?) on toilet height? Comfort height looks to be the trend, but it seems that’s in part because it meets ADA standards. Standard is supposed to be healthier, but all of the best/most recommended models are comfort with no standard counterpart.
Click to expand...
I installed a tall toilet in the main bath because my wife is 6ft tall and has very long legs. The basement toilet is standard height. I’d like to replace that one with a slightly taller version, and I’d like to have an elongated bowl.
 
What would cause a water heater to spike VOCs in the house when it runs? It shared a flue with the furnace and it doesn't spike when the furnace runs. It's a non-specific VOC detector so it could be spiking because whatever it's detecting is more reactive than background.

A couple days ago it spiked extremely high, probably 2x than has ever been read in the basement.

I have a working CO detector. No alarms. I also have a CO2 sensor in the basement and it does not spike when the water heater runs. Makes me wonder if there's a some sort of issue with the burner.

any thoughts?
 
Backdraft? Ours will sometimes do it in the summer when the furnace isn’t warming the flue to help create a good draft and when we have numerous vents (bathroom, range hood, etc.) going. It did it more often before I realized the fresh air intake was partially blocked, for obvious reasons.

Edit: Missed the part where you mentioned other readers aren’t spiking. Odd. Then again, our CO detector in the same room never sounded an alarm either. I only noticed a problem because the plastic rings around the pipes going in and out of the top of the tank were warped from heat.
 
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I'm wondering if it's not a natural gas leak or something like that. The only two sensors I have that would pick that up are the VOC sensors and my nose.

I haven't smelled any natural gas downstairs. So it seems unlikely that's the compound being picked up. Is it possible there are heavier compounds than CO2 and H2O being formed from the flame?

I do wonder that because my furnace has also been having its every-other-year tantrum where the flame sensor needs to be cleaned. The oven has also not been burning cleanly lately. Anyways. Something I've suspected for almost six or seven years now but have no evidence, that somehow the natural gas makeup changes (or comes in cold enough to change the flame properties) enough to change how things are working.

My other thought is that my furnace has an exhaust blower where my water heater doesn't. So I suppose it's quite plausible that the exhaust air from the water heater is not having the push it used to to get out of the house.
 
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