The Home Improvement Thread

[EverfresH15]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Looks like we need to get a new stove. Our whirlpool broiler element is not working. Rolled the dice on a replacement element from Amazon, still no worky so must be a control board issue. Heard a few times having repair guy come out winds up being same/similar cost of new one.



Seem to recall a discussion a while back saying some manufacturers are better at some appliances than others (bosch for dishwasher, Whirlpool for washers/dryers). Anyone been down this road recently? We don't need anything at all high end but would prefer flaptop over coils and convection would be kinda neat?

We bought LG and it’s been great.

[photon]

When we got our induction range there was very little out there in a reasonable price range, it was all high end stuff. So we ended up with an Electrolux. It's needed one repair in the 10+ years we've had it where a couple of the plates stopped working but otherwise has been solid.

One nice thing about LG is their flat price repair service. Our LG fridge stopped cooling in the main part a couple of years after we got it.. one price and the guy came out and just replaced a bunch of parts shotgun style to fix it.

[chedder]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

When my oven died, I pulled the board and there was a bad solder. Grabbed the $15 crap soldering iron from the basement, and has been working for years since.

Echoing both this and the Samsung is junk posts. On our Samsung induction range, 2 of 4 burners don't work. Cost would be more than a new one to fix. But there is a YouTube on how to solder to fix. Big disassembly job but I may try before junking it.

[Sr. Mints]

I've been disassembling and gutting a basement bathroom since about Christmas.

Last night I noticed the bathroom exhaust fan simply vents between the joists, there is no venting that leads to the outside of the house, or anywhere. However, there is an outside wall vent about 20-25 feet away which I can see in daylight If I pop my head up there.

Is that normal?

The room is in the middle of the house and it's a walkout basement (i.e. the bathroom is closer to the front of the house) if that's relevant.

[Zary's-Mustache]

I also forgot to mention my Samsung dryer went after 2 years and was not worth fixing. Since it was a stacking dryer I didn't wanna buy a whole new set so reluctantly gave samsung some more money by just buying the dryer again and buying the 5 year warranty this time.

I hate Samsung with a passion. They should stick to making phones.

[photon]

Originally Posted by Sr. Mints

Last night I noticed the bathroom exhaust fan simply vents between the joists, there is no venting that leads to the outside of the house, or anywhere. However, there is an outside wall vent about 20-25 feet away which I can see in daylight If I pop my head up there.

Is that normal?

You mean it's basically trying to use the space between the joists and the flooring material above and the ceiling material below as a "pipe" for the moist air? Lol..

I don't think that's normal, seems like a number of issues that could stem from that.. mold due to moist air being vented right onto wood/drywall/plywood, outside air filling that area, etc.

"Why is this exact spot on the kitchen floor so cold every winter?!"

Why would they NOT vent it if it seems like it's possible/easy?? I've only ever seen something like that when venting outside would have been expensive.

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by photon

Snip...one price and the guy came out and just replaced a bunch of parts shotgun style to fix it.

That's how I fixed my stupid Samsung Fridge.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Originally Posted by Bill Bumface

When my oven died, I pulled the board and there was a bad solder. Grabbed the $15 crap soldering iron from the basement, and has been working for years since.

Worth a look as I have skillz with the soldering iron. I think it's a relay though, weird "clunk" noise when I switch to broil. When I activate the bake function, much smoother sounding "click". Sophisticated diagnosis for sure.

[Sr. Mints]

Originally Posted by photon

You mean it's basically trying to use the space between the joists and the flooring material above and the ceiling material below as a "pipe" for the moist air? Lol..

I don't think that's normal, seems like a number of issues that could stem from that.. mold due to moist air being vented right onto wood/drywall/plywood, outside air filling that area, etc.

"Why is this exact spot on the kitchen floor so cold every winter?!"

Why would they NOT vent it if it seems like it's possible/easy?? I've only ever seen something like that when venting outside would have been expensive.

Yeah, there is no mold or anything, but the bathroom is basically never used.

My theories are that it was originally just a toilet/sink bathroom and at some point a remodel happened and a shower added, but the floor drain kind of kills that idea. However, this house has a crawlspace beneath the basement floor and then a concrete foundation, so maybe not out of the realm of possibility.

My other theory is it was just f'n lazy housebuilding.

[EldrickOnIce]

^should definitely be vented to exterior. It is a current building standard. (and not using joist box as vent pipe haha). Sounds like someone forget to connect it and it was just closed up by the next guy up.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

Worth a look as I have skillz with the soldering iron. I think it's a relay though, weird "clunk" noise when I switch to broil. When I activate the bake function, much smoother sounding "click". Sophisticated diagnosis for sure.

That would be good news too, a fried relay would be a few bucks to replace.

[bizaro86]

Does anyone have any recommendations for good carpet installation?

We already have the carpet, my father-in-law installed most of it (all except a stairwell) as he's a retired flooring guy. But his vision has gone and he can't do the rest.

I'm sure there was someone recommended on here specifically for carpet on stairs but I can't find it, so any suggestions appreciated.

[curves2000]

I don't know if this should go in this thread or not, but I am wondering about heat pumps for homes and how loud they are. My neighbor's furnace went during the January cold snap and rather than repair an excellent, but older furnace for $1000, he got a new replacement furnace and a heat pump installed.

The issue I am having is that I can hear his heat pump working while I am INSIDE my home, at the opposite end of the house. This is at night with the windows and doors closed.

He indicated that Reliance Home Comfort, the company that installed it has not finished the work. They are suppose to come up and vent it through the roof I guess. Currently it is venting through the side of the house.

Are these things suppose to be this loud? I can't imagine during a heat snap where this heat pump is working overtime to cool his house down.

Our houses are detached and 2.5 meters apart.

[EldrickOnIce]

Heat pump should not typically be louder than an AC unit, AFAIK. Don't understand what would be vented through roof. Typically that just for gas dispersion. Will not help how loud the unit is.

[powderjunkie]

Our double garage door is acting up a little bit...it started during the really cold snap a while back and now it seems a little bit louder and jankier than usual. I can see that the bottom panel looks ever so slightly crooked in the up position, and one of the side supports has a little dent near the bottom...it's nothing super obvious and it looks fine in the down position.

I'm trying to decide if it's worth getting some maintenance/repair or just letting it ride until dies. Pretty sure it's original = 32 yrs old. Does anyone DIY regular maintenance on their door? I feel like mine is at the stage where cleaning/relubricating seems more likely to #### it up more than improve it, but who knows? Has anyone experience failure - how annoying is it?

The other thing is that it's a 3-car garage with another single door (zero issues), so I'd probably need to replace that door at the same time.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

Our double garage door is acting up a little bit...it started during the really cold snap a while back and now it seems a little bit louder and jankier than usual. I can see that the bottom panel looks ever so slightly crooked in the up position, and one of the side supports has a little dent near the bottom...it's nothing super obvious and it looks fine in the down position.

I'm trying to decide if it's worth getting some maintenance/repair or just letting it ride until dies. Pretty sure it's original = 32 yrs old. Does anyone DIY regular maintenance on their door? I feel like mine is at the stage where cleaning/relubricating seems more likely to #### it up more than improve it, but who knows? Has anyone experience failure - how annoying is it?

The other thing is that it's a 3-car garage with another single door (zero issues), so I'd probably need to replace that door at the same time.

I'd personally probably recommend looking into cost effective repairs/maintenance and waiting to replace at the last possible moment.

How are you lubricating it? I'd probably recommend buying the WD 40 garage door lubricant, using a brush to brush off any chunks of old grease and dirt gumming things up, then wearing a mask and basically emptying half the can on every bit of exposed metal, joint, chain, wheel etc. and ride it till it dies. It'll cost you less than $15. It works way better than other options I've tried such as regular WD40 and other greases. I do this maybe 2-3 times a year? Mainly when door opening/closing is not smooth or if I see some salt accumulation I want to lazily displace.

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/3...w.ds#store=419

I guess you could try to straighten out the rails, track and bars or whatever to make it smoother if it has warped? Maybe reinforce the bar, track or rails if they're wobbling around while the door is moving?

Failure wise, whether it's a huge deal is whether you're somehow trapped in the garage. For most garage doors I've seen, there's a release you can pull to pull the garage door open manually. Someone strong enough to yank it open manually and go on with their day, it's a minor inconvenience. Someone whose door gets jammed/due to personal circumstances, can't get their car out and is in a rush that day, huge inconvenience.

[Arsenal14]

Perhaps a stupid question but I'm looking to replace our double front doors with a more modern single door and sidelights. I see I can buy the door from a place like Home Depot, but I'd need to find somebody who can prepare the opening and install it. Do any of you know of a company that sells and installs doors? Or a contractor who would be a good fit?

[Geraldsh]

Home Depot usually has a list of contractors if you don’t get a hit here.

[justkidding]

Originally Posted by Arsenal14

Perhaps a stupid question but I'm looking to replace our double front doors with a more modern single door and sidelights. I see I can buy the door from a place like Home Depot, but I'd need to find somebody who can prepare the opening and install it. Do any of you know of a company that sells and installs doors? Or a contractor who would be a good fit?

Lux windows. We had all our windows and doors replaced. They were great.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by justkidding

Lux windows. We had all our windows and doors replaced. They were great.

We used them a few years ago and despite a few installation issues, which they’ve addressed in a fairly timely manner - not super fast but at least they kept us in the loop about the status and ETA, etc, we are very happy. Get a lot of compliments about the front entry door.