The Home Improvement Thread

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Every time I need screws / bolts I dutifully go to Home Depot and buy those outragously priced packs - pretty sure the margins on that fund that entire store.

Is there a bulk barn type of place for screws / bolts in town where you can buy small lots? Calgary Fasteners?

Calgary Fasteners is just fine to buy a couple screws / washers, etc.

Several times i have gotten something from Home depot - it hasn't been what I've needed, and then I've gone to CalFast to get exactly what I need and spend less than a dollar.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

And a dingy self serve popcorn machine.

I may, or may not, go to Ace Hardware for the popcorn.

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by CarlLester

Did a full reno on our house about a year ago. Included all new appliances from various brands. My opinion is they are all crap at worst, and it's a crapshoot at best. I think my opinion now is that you should pay as much as you need to and no more because they are all disposable junk!

Dishwasher - Miele - motor replacement within first few months (can't remember why - the Miele rep was here for something else and recommended the replacement)

Steam oven - Miele - valve failure which caused a flood in the kitchen, water ending up in the basement mechanical room. Oven had to go to Germany for a full autopsy. Service tech coming again tomorrow for another issue.

Stove - Fisher Paykel - tech replaced parts on one of the burners and noticed another faulty part. He ordered the part in and it was defective again - twice. They didn't order a third time until we hounded them. Tech coming tomorrow.

Just last week, new washer and dryer - electrolux - turned on the dryer for the first time and was greeted with an awful metal on metal grinding sound. Replacement was authorized - awaiting delivery.

Just don't buy a piece of #### Samsung fridge. Terrible, terrible item.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Please share with us pictures of the Kjiji contractor digging up the yard or building a platform, I'm interested to know which option they choose, and how janky it is!

Oh god. Do people really hire contractors off Kijiji? That always looks so sketchy.

[surferguy]

Why not try it out for S and Gs. If I was your secret santa I’d gift you a kijiji contractor.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Oh, I didn't realize it was like a vent on the side of the house. I'd personally be digging a hole to level and secure the ladder AND perhaps get a spotter to hold the ladder when you go up. You definitely don't want to fall sideways on that type of job. It seems easy enough to DIY, but you never know with DIY.

Also, pay the extra and replace plastic with metal or I wonder if you're allowed to install something that also has a kind of curved shield on it. In theory you never have to go back up again.

That's what is on my house for the dryer vent. A tin shield than angles the air downwards at an angle that prevents the elements from getting inside and somehow (not sure if up to code) the previous owner left a metal grate inside there to block birds and whatever in lieu of vent slats.

EDIT: Looked like this, but far less fancy looking and a lot smaller. A portion of it (the screen) definitely looks like he made it himself vs it coming with the product.

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/bro...E&gclsrc=aw.ds



I can never remember which drawer or bag that was....

Or "Hell yes! I know I have something left over that will work/fit!" and then it doesn't.

Dammit! Tapered vs straight threads issue again!

With respect to the bolded, I wasn't sure that was appropriate for a kitchen hood fan venting. The one that was on there before and that I was going to replace it with (louvred) specifically mentions that it is designed for kitchens, while the metal one that directs downwards, is just "dryer / general purpose". I can understand why - I don't think you want to exhaust kitchen smoke/ grease particles / etc onto the side of your house.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Wormius

With respect to the bolded, I wasn't sure that was appropriate for a kitchen hood fan venting. The one that was on there before and that I was going to replace it with (louvred) specifically mentions that it is designed for kitchens, while the metal one that directs downwards, is just "dryer / general purpose". I can understand why - I don't think you want to exhaust kitchen smoke/ grease particles / etc onto the side of your house.

I just wondered if the was a metal one that wouldn't get damaged again and linked a random one. My bad. But I'm pretty sure they do exist. This one mentions range hood in the description.

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/bro...een/1001688085

Those one too wide, but has image of range hood in the listing.

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/eve...ite/1001801630

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

I just wondered if the was a metal one that wouldn't get damaged again and linked a random one. My bad. But I'm pretty sure they do exist. This one mentions range hood in the description.

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/bro...een/1001688085

Those one too wide, but has image of range hood in the listing.

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/eve...ite/1001801630

Weird. Those were ones I looked at in store and the packaging descriptions didn’t mention range hoods.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Weird. Those were ones I looked at in store and the packaging descriptions didn’t mention range hoods.

The second one even has a video that confirms range hood application usage.
Odd that range hood might be considered an etc.or general application.

Idk why but I watched the whole video.

[Bill Bumface]

Regarding replacing the vent, I had to do this for my range hood (it was plastic, broken, and code requires metal).

It was attached to flex ducting with no slack left, so it ripped the duct when I pulled it out of the wall.

I replaced it with rigid, screwing the duct to a length of duct and feeding in the rigid duct from the outside and pulling down the range hood to connect everything.

Just curious how that works if you have the same setup in your walls, as you wouldn't be able to pull the duct out of the wall to detach the vent from the ducting. How do you go about fixing that?

[photon]

Anyone have any experience getting someone to design a room? I want to redo my home office, maybe even have some custom built in cabinets/shelves or even desk done, but I'm not good with starting with a clean slate and making good use of a space.

I suppose anyone that would be building the stuff could design something, but maybe getting the design first would let me get different quotes on building it.. or if it's simple enough I could even do it myself.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

The second one even has a video that confirms range hood application usage.
Odd that range hood might be considered an etc.or general application.

Idk why but I watched the whole video.

You replacing a range hood? Get one where the blower is on the outside.

https://www.broan-nutone.com/en-ca/accessory/336

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Shazam

You replacing a range hood? Get one where the blower is on the outside.

https://www.broan-nutone.com/en-ca/accessory/336

Oh man, would that also keep a lot of the noise outside? I don't know anything about these, but I'm suddenly extremely interested! I guess that this is something I would want a contractor to install though, because I don't really get involved with electrical?

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Slava

Oh man, would that also keep a lot of the noise outside? I don't know anything about these, but I'm suddenly extremely interested! I guess that this is something I would want a contractor to install though, because I don't really get involved with electrical?

Yes, the noise is outside. Why should you suffer with the noise when plebs walking outside can suffer instead?

[timun]

1200 cfm?! That is absurdly large for a residential kitchen hood...

[monkeyman]

Originally Posted by Shazam

You replacing a range hood? Get one where the blower is on the outside.

https://www.broan-nutone.com/en-ca/accessory/336

What a monstrosity.

[Sr. Mints]

Some part of my garage door is toast: the door opens about four inches, then just quits, sometimes rolls back to a closed position. The earliest a repair guy can get here is Thursday.

If I pull the emergency cord and lift the door open to take a vehicle out, I should easily be able to manually close it again without making more of a mess of things until Thursday, yes?

[timun]

If you encounter resistance at the same point in the door's travel: don't force it past, and wait for the repair guy. Otherwise pulling the cord and trying to manually open/close the door won't harm anything.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

Some part of my garage door is toast: the door opens about four inches, then just quits, sometimes rolls back to a closed position.

Sounds like possibly a broken spring. Don't hit the button on the opener too many times, it's now trying to pick up an immense amount of weight compared to its normal operating conditions.

Pulling the handle will let you test this out. If the door opens without a ton of he-manning, the spring isn't the culprit. If the thing is heavy AF, it's your spring.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

Sounds like possibly a broken spring. Don't hit the button on the opener too many times, it's now trying to pick up an immense amount of weight compared to its normal operating conditions.

Pulling the handle will let you test this out. If the door opens without a ton of he-manning, the spring isn't the culprit. If the thing is heavy AF, it's your spring.

And if it is the spring, stay the #### out of the garage. It can basically be a ticking time bomb at that point