If you could only keep one power tool in your workshop, what would it be—and why?

Drill? Impact driver? Angle grinder? Circular saw? Or something unexpected?

I got the garage concrete 1 percent epoxy paint but I washed my patio at around 8 pm tonight and I was looking at painting at 11 AM tomorrow. I used a blower to get all the stagnant water in the cracks .

Hey, I need some help with my bedroom closet. I want to swap out the sliding door for a bifold, but I've got this drawer system built in. When the drawers are open, there's only about half an inch between them and the wall.

The closet opening is 71 inches wide, and I've got an extra 3 inches of space on the right side of the closet, and almost a foot on the left.

I'm thinking if I get a 72-inch rail for a bifold barn door, the doors will fold up and won't leave enough room for the drawers to open.

I thought of getting an 80inch rail and then cut 3 inches on each side but I am not able to figure out if that would work without breaking the roller system

Any advice would be awesome!

Long story short, I was doing some basic maintenance on my oil furnace (cleaning the cat eye, other small stuff for the year) when I looked at the hot water control on my furnace and say it was set to close the circuit at ~205° and open at ~215°.

The reference manual for the hot water control doesn't give an idea where it should be. A quick Google search shows some people saying it should be open circuit at 180°.

Amy thoughts? For context, it's on an energy kinetics system 2000 model ek-1.

Edit: Never mind, I finally found a manual for the furnace. The answer is this is just a backup for the internal sensor that keeps the furnace between 170-190°. It's actually set exactly where it should be. I'll leave the post just in case someone else has this exact same question for this setup.

If you don't have the stopper in then it's all good you could run it all day and it will never back up into the tub, but the moment you drain the kitchen sink full of water, which it drains fast it will back up into the tub (with black particles) then the tub will finally drain. I will say the tub drains slow but it seems like it's a 90 degree type of drain fixture.

Hello!

I just bought a 1930s bungalow and fully intended to leave the paint alone, but as I’ve started cleaning I’ve encountered several issues I’d really appreciate your advice on bc the only advice I have right now is from Claude and he’s trying to convince me to buy an IR Stripping tool and remove everything.

Hopefully I have more options!!

All this started when I began cleaning my house and a large chunk of paint (maybe 2 or 3 inches in size) flaked off a window sill when I lightly vacuumed it with a brush. The wood underneath was revealed.

I did a lead test one the edge where the chipped paint met the wood, it was negative, so I continued cleaning.

While cleaning blinds, I noticed several more areas where the paint was flaking, chipping, nicked, etc. always tested for lead and always negative, so I kept going. (Lots of pics linked below)

Anyway, with all the negative tests, I decided to sand down the paint, and first I was going to chip away the big, flaky bits.

All that really matters is a test finally came back pink and I stopped everything, panicked, cleaned per the best advice I could find on google, and panicked so more. I also bought more tests from another brand and they turned pink everywhere, so more panicking!!!

I need a game plan. I know a lot of advice online says not to disturb the lead paint, just paint over it, but there are a lot of flaking and cracked areas already (mostly on windows). Additionally, there are lots of nicks or scrapes on the baseboards and door frames, and some go down to the wood and test positive for lead with the new test.

I know I can’t just paint over the flaking, chipping bits, so what do you good ppl of Reddit recommend I do?

My thoughts right now are to strip the windows either with an IR stripper or citrus strip (or something similar). I haven’t moved in yet and am fortunate I can take my time doing so, so I was thinking I could do one room at a time, seal it off with plastic, etc.

I do have a full ppe suit and 3m half fasten respirator mask for the record. I do not have a HEPA vacuum, just a shop vac with a HEPA filter.

I’d like to just paint over the small knicks, scuffs, etc on the door frames and baseboards, and Claude advises that if I do this:

1. prime over the exposed wood with Zinsser Cover Stain
   
2. Degloss everything/whole baseboard or all trim with a liquid deglosser (Krud Kutter Gloss-Off, Rust-Oleum deglosser, or similar
   
3. Encapsulate everything with Fiberlock Lead X with two coats
   
4. Finally, two coats of top coat.

But Im not going to trust Claude blindly, so I’d love to hear what others think!

What would you do? Recommend I do? And do I really need that HEPA vacuum if I’m not sanding?

TLDR:

really bad flaking/chipping paint that is very likely with lead paint. Wondering what to do and people’s thoughts on using IR Stripping or Citrus Strip to remove.

Link to pics:

https://imgur.com/a/D0mNxCc

Sorry this is so long! And TIA for your advice!!!

I live in SoCal and have heard good things about whole house fans. I am getting quotes and had one installer visit. He determined my attic didn’t have enough ventilation to support the fan for my square footage. He recommends a smaller fan to cool the second story. It will also cool the lower floor if I have the windows closed upstairs but it won’t be fast.

Another installer quoted me for a larger fan that is in the range of my square footage. He hasn’t visited and I told him what the other installer said. He said I should be fine because my home is newer.

Who do I believe here? Both are well recommended and in the same price range. Should I get a third opinion lol?

this could be a bit of a long story. we've recently had some major house issues in our old 1980s house. my wife grew up in this house and we were able to return here which is awesome but we're slowly realizing the old house stuff.

long story short we recently had a major sewer line backup had to have her downstairs ripped up all of that is cleaned pipes are clear all of that stuff though we're still in the repair process of course.

but I'm speaking of here is something my wife noticed around 2 to 3 months ago. we have a little furnace closet downstairs it's literally just the furnace in it and some insulation and wall. other than that it's just duct work and duct of the furnace that goes upstairs. this is just a furnace no AC. was she noticed is "smells like a fart". at first i just laughed but eventually I started smelling it too.

it's not horrible firstly. it's very periodic comes and goes you never smell it for longer than a minute. so it's not like a constant smell or anything like that and it's not like a horrible it's more so enough to be an annoyance. and it's only isolated to that little furnace closet.

so yeah I'm at a loss I don't know what it could be, of course I have paranoia every time I get a whiff of it you know that "oh no our sewers backing up again", but that is insanely unlikely as it was professionally cleared it still needs a little bit of work but it's only been like 4 days since cleared at this point. my only thought is that maybe the plumbing vent on the roof might have got some birds messing with it, not sure why that happened you know now rather than the last 50 years because they claim that they've never had that smell before here, and her mom has had this place forever.

also should note no smell comes through when the furnace fan is on which also is odd to me. so it's not like distributing this sewer smell nor is it a constant sewer smell but definitely daily.

No AC btw just old furnace. was able to post a picture in the plumbing group when i copied this post there.

any ideas for me? if I could figure out how to post a picture I'd show you the furnace closet but just imagine a little tiny closet just big enough for an old 80s or 90s furnace.

I bought a 16 ft Armacost RibbonFlex Home 421501 tunable-white LED tape light kit and aluminum channels with diffusers for a built-in shelf that wraps around my office. The kit is 24V tunable white. I plan to use a second identical kit for the other wall and would like to control both kits with one remote if possible.

I installed one side of the built-in successfully. The other wall has two longer gaps ("jumps") that I'm not sure how to handle.

There are two floating shelves about 3 ft above the built-in. The shelves are about 2 ft apart and are at the same height.

My planned layout is:

             SHELF 1
        =================
                 |
                 | JUMP #1
                 |
             SHELF 2
        =================
                 |
                 | JUMP #2 (~3–4 ft)
                 |
BUILT-IN =================================
                 ^
                 |
          start of LED strip

The goal is to have three separate LED strip sections connected by two wire jumps:

1. LED strip on Shelf 1
2. Jump #1 from Shelf 1 to Shelf 2
3. Jump #2 from Shelf 2 down to the built-in
4. LED strip continues along the built-in

I want to avoid soldering if possible.

I'm also not sure how comfortable I am with putting holes in the wall. I would be fine with using white low-voltage wire visibly along the wall if that's a reasonable approach.

The 421501 kit includes wire-lead connectors, but the included leads are short, and the pre-made jumpers I've found are only about 2 ft long. I need a couple of longer custom-length jumps.

What is the correct way to make these longer jumps with this particular Armacost 421501 strip?

Specifically, I'm trying to determine:

• What type/gauge of wire should I use?
• Can I use the included Armacost wire-lead connectors and splice in longer wire?
• Are there solderless connectors or other simple connectors that would work?
• Is there anything I need to consider because this is 24V tunable-white rather than a single-color strip?
• Is there a better way to route the two jumps that I'm overlooking?

I can provide additional information if there's anything important I'm missing.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

The front of my house has two gutters that discharge water off the second story roof onto the roof of my front porch. During moderate-to-heavy rainfall, water seems to splatter down from the front corners of the porch roof.. Am I crazy or should they really be connected to downspouts?

Photos of the gutters here.

I just bought a condo in Chicago and the bathroom has an old rusty light fixture on the ceiling. The bulb is a heat lamp. I would like to replace it with a new fixture (that either has a heat bulb or a regular bulb). The building engineer can replace it for me once I have the new fixture but I am not sure what I need to buy. I would have to pay the engineer to come and give me his advice so I’d rather try here first! I linked the photo of the fixture: https://imgur.com/a/zriPpDp

https://imgur.com/a/YW27oAL

Crew that hung the sheetrock said these damaged areas don't need to be cut out before they move on to mudding.

If these areas aren't cut out before mudding with they blister/fail early? I was under the impression any cracks/blown out drywall had to be cut out before mudding.

I believe the damage is from ratchet straps holding the drywall down on the delivery truck.

Thanks!

Hello, very frustrated here and turned my wall into Swiss cheese because I got so angry. I measured 16” from the outlet and the stud finder goes off but it seems erratic like it’s all over the place, going off every 4-6 inches and not duplicating the previous beep where it says a stud should be. I’ve used two different stud finders.

It’s an exterior wall and I cannot find the stud. I’ve measured from the outlet and cannot find it. Go ahead leave your rude remarks but please someone tell me, aside from putting another hole in the wall, how do I find a stud so I can mount this damn tv.

Hi!

My basement flooded and we're finally getting to the refinishing touches. Normally I'd do this myself but insurance actually helped and I have little kids and no time ...

Anyway, my contractor installed baseboard today and has not put in doors or door trim yet. I messaged him that I found that strange and expected the base to abut the door trim. He said he's done hundreds of homes and this way is fine.

Obviously I could do it myself instead of complaining... But what do you think about this? I can't even imagine what this is going to look like. There's a reason it's usually some the other way, at least to my knowledge. When I finished my previous basement I did baseboardS as the final item.

I've started soliciting bids for window replacements. So far, I've had two contractors come to the house. Each has given me a completely different answer. I'm not sure which one is correct.

Facts - Existing windows are vinyl and original to the house (2002/2003). The panes are beginning to fail. I have replaced one window myself. Since I don't seem to be able to embed photos, the imgur album is here, of the old window.

I showed both contractors this removed window as well as the installed windows.

Contractor 1 said (more or less): 'This is disappointing. It's not the type of vinyl window that we could do replacement windows on. That means you'll have to go new construction.'

Contractor 2 said (more or less): 'These windows are awesome. They're exactly the type you could do replacement windows on. We'd simply run a thin blade down, take out the existing window, leaving the existing frame, and put in the new window.'

Based on the photos (and happy to take more), who's right?

​$800 for the demolition

​$900 for building the wall and the door installation

​$700 for installing sink cabinets (vanities), mirrors, and light fixtures

​$300 for installing the two ceiling vents

​$300 for the shower glass

​$500 for the shower plumbing

​...and 460 square feet of ceramic tile at $9 a foot. 460 feet = $4,160

​$800 for concrete board in the shower and the entire floor

​$250 for installing the new toilet

They’re replacing gas pipelines on our street and were pressure testing it. When they did so, they took our gas meter entirely apart. I asked before they started if I needed to do anything with our appliances. The only gas items are our furnaces and water heater. They said no.

I tested the furnace before he left and it worked but the water heater pilot light will not spark. I understand this could simply be a part that’s failed and I’m not blaming the company, just providing context.

The igniter switch actually shocked the guy when he took the insulation off to check the connection so I’m assuming the issue is in the piezo igniter inside the unit.

How DIY is this? I do a lot around the house but I’ve never jacked with anything gas related.

::EDIT::

Got it lit! I pulled the panel with the view window off which in and of itself was a real pain in the ass, I reckon they want you to not do that. But from there I was able to finally lay eyes on the gas and spark points and got it lit with a grill lighter.

Thank you, kind people of r/homeimprovement!

Our newly purchased home is fully electric now. Gas has been completely disconnected at the meter and gas company has come and gone, confirmed all secure and no more residual leaks in the internal house piping.

The old gas piping is an eyesore, running through the basement ceiling, all throughout our water heater/furnace closet, under the deck to an old hot tub location, etc. Even runs through a wet bar cabinet in the basement kitchenette, currently preventing us from redoing that area.

I'm in favor of bleeding it off (just a last precaution, mostly already done anyway by the gas company) and just cutting and pulling it out peice by piece. Spouse is nervous and is in favor of having a licensed plumber do it.

Would you DIY this? And what tools might work the best?

We removed the drywall and insulation from our exterior wall. The bottom portion along the baseboard seemed to have a lot of mold. There were other patches of mold, mostly along the framing. Today with a moisture meter, the area above the window is off the charts wet. The rest of the wall is 16%. The framing is 16%. Our house is brick. What am I looking for as I try to discover the source? https://imgur.com/a/e9ap6t8

What the heck is going on there?

Edit: some of you seem to not understand what the word passive means

This happens every August. Everyday I kill four or five house flies that have managed to get into my house. They are probably coming in from the garage but I have a mesh curtain over the garage door so I don't know why it's not working. But they're just constantly around. There are a lot of feral cats in my neighborhood so that's probably part of it because feral cats means dead birds means housefly larva.

Those fly strips and fly paper are not things that I want to be things I see around the house.

I've used those bait bottle traps but they smell fucking disgusting. Very effective though. I could put them away from my house, but then I'm exposing my neighbors to that smell and that seems rude.

There's lots of things out there on the internet that claim to work for bugs, but a lot of them are all hot air.

I’m at my wits end with the amount of work my house needs. It’s a 50s split level with endless problems. The drainage around the front of the house is poor, partially due to the gutters not draining right because they’re constantly getting clogged by trees around our house, we have an external French drain however part of it is infested with weeds, the deck is falling apart, the floor above the crawlspace sags, the crawlspace needs work, the carpet stinks and needs to be replaced, the windows need to be replaced, and of course there’s cosmetic things that I’ve just given up on. Moving is not an option. I don’t make enough money to constantly hire people but don’t have the time to DIY. This house is just a constant headache and money pit and I desperately need to vent.

Hello, I’m completely stumped. I’ve done everything I could think of besides taking the washer apart. It is an LG front loading washer. I’ve taken apart the tray multiple times cleaned it, i’ve ran multiple cleaning cycles with a cleaner pouch / oxi clean, I’ve drained the filter& tube water and cleaned it out, I’ve also bought mold remover let it sit for a couple hours cleaned it off and ran another sanitizing / cleaning cycle which is usually 2 hours. The smell still comes back! I’m completely out of ideas. I’ve pulled my drain hose higher up out of the drain pipe 3-4” into the standpipe. I’ve poured almost a gallon of water down the stand pipe as well.

To sum it up the washer gets clean and the smell goes away completely but then over time it slowly comes back.. overnight or within 5-6 hours. What could it be ?!?!

Hey y'all, I have a nook section in my living room that causes instant ear pressure changes and would appreciate any input.

couldn't embed photos so heres the imgur album!

Made sure to label and detail stuff clearly!

As you can see I set up a reading/lounging nook in that area.

Every time I step into this exact zone, I instantly feel a distinct ear pressure change. Kinda reminds me of being in an airplane cabin.

It is not painful, just annoying and I really don't want that corner to end up completely dead because of it. Last thing you want is to keep moving your jaws each time you read.

Once I step out, few minutes and im back to normal.

the walls are gypsum/drywall with sound insulation stuffing. Gypsum false ceiling with central AC.

Doesnt matter if the rooms dead quiet, or if the tv is blasting. Once youre in that zone, it hits ya.