The Home Improvement Thread

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

If you want to DIY you can buy stucco powder, you mix it with a little water and mash it in. Really easy stuff to work with.

Theoretically. My results always look like ####. I'll never be a sculptor.

(I will say all of the repairs lasted just fine, I just never could get a nice contour/texture match).

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by kcin

Neighbor across the alley backed into my green bin which wedged against my garage and created a fist sized hole in the stucco. He didn't take ownership or tell me about it so that sucks but a small win (karma) he smashed his taillight in the process. Bit of a lose-lose situation but oh well.

Any recommendations to hire someone to patch a small hole and match paint? Thanks in advance.

Don’t know anything about this company but might be worth a try.

[DoubleF]

Half gear grinder, half update...

So a friend of mine in Cochrane got a quote from Fortis for nearly the identical service upgrade work that I needed (across the street/sidewalk from transformer about 50-100 ft away)... $1600.

That's a huge fricken difference than the $50K quote I got from Enmax.

Insane.

[DoubleF]

EDIT: Double post

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Half gear grinder, half update...

So a friend of mine in Cochrane got a quote from Fortis for nearly the identical service upgrade work that I needed (across the street/sidewalk from transformer about 50-100 ft away)... $1600.

That's a huge fricken difference than the $50K quote I got from Enmax.

Insane.

Those sweet divis don't come from nowhere mister.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Putting the basement renos into high gear.

Electrical is almost done.

Does it matter if I do the floor then drywall or should I drywall then install the floor?

All else being equal I'd end with the floor, but timing wise it might (but not necessarily) be quicker to do the floor first.

[Zary's-Mustache]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

Putting the basement renos into high gear.

Electrical is almost done.

Does it matter if I do the floor then drywall or should I drywall then install the floor?

All else being equal I'd end with the floor, but timing wise it might (but not necessarily) be quicker to do the floor first.

Electrical. Plumbing. Drywall. Prime. Install doors and casings. Paint. Install floors. Install baseboards. In that order.

Doing the floor first is just going to make it harder for everyone.

[Geraldsh]

Spilling paint on a new floor is frowned upon.

[indes]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

Putting the basement renos into high gear.

Electrical is almost done.

Does it matter if I do the floor then drywall or should I drywall then install the floor?

All else being equal I'd end with the floor, but timing wise it might (but not necessarily) be quicker to do the floor first.

I'm in the same boat, just got the plumbing done and will be roughing in electrical this weekend. Then on to drywall!

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Electrical is done.

Next is spray insulation, then drywall.

Was originally thinking drywall ceiling, but I'm switching to drop. Any suggestions or tips on drop ceiling?

[kevman]

If you don't have a good laser level, pre mark your perimeter line in a few spots before installing. Nothing worse than thinking you've kept everything level only to find out that you're off by 2" when the two ends meet up.

[Torture]

Anyone have recommendations on a contractor to drywall a detached garage?

[Sr. Mints]

I have a toilet issue and I'd be curious if anybody has any advice.

I noticed this morning some black sediment in the toilet bowl, when I flushed the water down more appeared. I only repeated that about five times cause believe it or not I'm trying to be water conscious right now!

When I opened the tank, I noticed some of the rubber seals appear to be disintegrating. I checked the other two toilets in my house which were installed at the same time (~5 years ago) and they're both starting to go but not as bad.

I wonder if this is a design flaw, or the quality of my water is at play. Is this an issue I need to get corrected right away? Or is it something I can do (plumbing skill level: 1/5). Or are we looking at whole new toilets.

They are Totos, and like I said installed sometime in 2019. Also, my water is hard AF.

[opendoor]

I think it's both water quality and substandard seals causing the disintegration. But no, it's not something you should need new toilets for. You can just replace the rubber washers.

Normally they're pretty generic, so you should be able to get what you need at any hardware store. It's possible Toto ones have something unique about them, but I doubt it. And I'd replace them on that toilet relatively soon; once they disintegrate enough, you're going to have a leak.

In terms of difficulty, it's not very hard or anything, but you do have to take the tank off. I'd watch some videos of that (Toto 2 piece toilets are basically the same as any others) to see if it's something you think you could tackle. And check out the manual for your toilet too, as that should explain the process of installing the tank. Which is basically what you'd be doing, first in reverse, and then in the normal order.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

I have TOTO's too - the original rubber parts aren't the greatest in Calgary water (like your sticker says, I think it's the chlorine), and have had better luck with the Korky replacements from HD lasting longer.

Also check your flapper valve - the original ones tend to cauliflower and leak / waste water.

[GGG]

One thing when replacing those gaskets is don’t over tighten. The rubber gaskets are soft and designed to compress so the nuts will continue to turn as the gasket compresses. If you over tighten too much eventually the gasket is fully compressed and you crack the brittle tank.

So you tighten enough to partially compress the gasket.

[PepsiFree]

Toilet repairs and even replacements are extremely easy. Probably one of the easiest plumbing jobs there is (outside of unclogging a drain).

I’m a 1/5 skill plumbing person myself and have repaired/replaced several toilets.

[DoubleF]

Yeah, you don't need new toilets. New internal hardware and seals at most and based on the pics, it's probably just the seals.

If you can build IKEA furniture, you can do this work yourself easily. But by easily, keep in mind that a 1/5 skill newbie like us will take several hours to complete this vs a plumber will take less than an hour. Hiring a plumber isn't out of the question based on your thoughts of what your time is worth and whether to save a few hundred bucks for the cost of a plumber or handyman.

[Bagor]

Doing a complete reno of my main bathroom.

Not my first one but still no wiser as what is proper and best procedure for tile backer board to tub flange transition.

Online research shows three different options and lots of strong opinions regarding each one.

1. Backerboard sits on top of top of tub flange with bottom tile overlapping. Caulk up under tile?

2. Backerboard sits over flange on tub. Caulk around bottom tile.

3. Backerboard sits over flange with ~ 1/4-3/8" gap at bottom between it and tub for caulking.

I do #3. Curious if anyone has thoughts. I don't get the point of #1 except it protects against movement?

[opendoor]

I've only done a few tubs, but I always did #1. But that's mainly because I used Schluter stuff and that's what they recommend. It probably wouldn't work with a fluid applied membrane.

Though thinking about it, I'm not even sure how you'd do #2 or #3 in my installs. The flange sat flush against the studs and was about 1/4-3/8 thick. So if the backerboard overlapped the flange, it'd be bent out at the bottom unless I cut away at the back of the board or something. Unless you fur the studs out to be flush with the flange?

But basically for #1, the board bumped up against the top of the flange and it's thickness stuck out towards the center of the tub by about 1/8-1/4". Then when I put thinset on the wallboard for the membrane, I put a bead of caulking on the upper part of the flange to adhere the membrane to it. That creates a flat plane from board down to the lip of the tub, so you can just tile normally up from the tub with a small gap at the bottom which you caulk at the end.