The Home Improvement Thread

[kevman]

I'd just keep the boards at 15 1/4" and call it a day. Anything "built in" needs a trim/filler/etc. to hide the imperfections that come from wavey mudding and out of level framing anyway. That said I wouldn't use solid lumber for a built in either, it's going to expand and contract far to much.

IKEA Pax also has an ~15" depth option. Are you trying to display items on the shelves or do you want it to be hidden away?

[Fuzz]

Another option is to go with 1x3's, which are 2.5". Stain 'em up nice, and with 6 you get the 15". Much easier to work with and depending on what you are planning to display, you could space them out an inch or so for a lighter airier look.


Or do something cool like a solid bottom shelf, and increase the gaps each one above.


Now I want to build shelves, but here I am pulling leather.

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Now I want to build shelves, but here I am pulling leather.

Never heard it put that way before. Is it because it is soft and wrinkly?

[Hemi-Cuda]

Furnace is acting weird for the last week or so. 3 times now I've noticed it cold in the house, I check the thermostat (Nest), and it says it's currently heating but the furnace is completely inactive. If I go down and cycle the power to it, then it fires up and starts the heat cycle and works normally for a few days. Seems like for whatever reason the signal to start heating doesn't reach the furnace intermittently. I thought the Nest might be ####ting the bed with Google discontinuing it, but it's still working fine in my Home app and I have no trouble setting the temperature manually on it. Aside from the thermostat itself, would there be any other causes for something like this?

[psyang]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Furnace is acting weird for the last week or so. 3 times now I've noticed it cold in the house, I check the thermostat (Nest), and it says it's currently heating but the furnace is completely inactive. If I go down and cycle the power to it, then it fires up and starts the heat cycle and works normally for a few days. Seems like for whatever reason the signal to start heating doesn't reach the furnace intermittently. I thought the Nest might be ####ting the bed with Google discontinuing it, but it's still working fine in my Home app and I have no trouble setting the temperature manually on it. Aside from the thermostat itself, would there be any other causes for something like this?

I've had that happen to me a few times in the past. In my case, there is a sensor in the furnace flame (looks like a thick wire) that can get coated with carbon over time. I take some sandpaper to it, and it solved the issue.

Hoping that's it as it's an easy diy fix.

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by psyang

I've had that happen to me a few times in the past. In my case, there is a sensor in the furnace flame (looks like a thick wire) that can get coated with carbon over time. I take some sandpaper to it, and it solved the issue.

Hoping that's it as it's an easy diy fix.

Been there, done that. YouTube has a bunch of videos on it. Easy to do. The other thing is that the door you have to access the insides has a switch on it that has to be depressed before the furnace will work (at least on mine) so be aware of that when you put the door back on. The detector can detect whether there is a flame. If not, it won't feed gas for obvious reasons. Easy to do, but if you are not comfortable, call a pro.

[Fuzz]

Depending on your furnace age, you may have a diagnostic LED. Find your manual or Google your model and it might be telling you what is wrong.


Mine is a Trane, and will tell me it has had multiple ignition retries, which reset when I turn the power off. So it sounds like, as Psyasng suggested, it is likely to be the flame sensor not detecting it ignited, or the ignitor not igniting. Both can be cleaned, but look up your model first, as they can be made of different materials that should be cleaned with the appropriate level of abrasion. And if cleaning doesn't fix them, you can buy both parts on Amazon for many furnaces, either OEM or aftermarket. At least watch a youtube on how to do it, as their are parts of the sensor you shouldn't touch with your fingers as skin oils can damage them.


Also, you can check your filter and air intake in case it's an air flow issue.

[psyang]

In addition to looking at the diagnostic LED as Fuzz mentioend, it also helps to restart the furnace and watch the warm up process. In my case, when the sensor was failing, I watched the furnace spin up, the igniter heat up, and initial flame get ignited, and then the flame would just stop. This was consistent with the flame sensor being faulty, and in my case, just needing a cleaning.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Furnace is acting weird for the last week or so. 3 times now I've noticed it cold in the house, I check the thermostat (Nest), and it says it's currently heating but the furnace is completely inactive. If I go down and cycle the power to it, then it fires up and starts the heat cycle and works normally for a few days. Seems like for whatever reason the signal to start heating doesn't reach the furnace intermittently. I thought the Nest might be ####ting the bed with Google discontinuing it, but it's still working fine in my Home app and I have no trouble setting the temperature manually on it. Aside from the thermostat itself, would there be any other causes for something like this?

1. Check the filter. If not enough air getting to high efficiency furnace, this can happen.
2. Check the air intake (ie: Outside). Same reason as #2
3. Are you using a C-wire adapter? Those things are a PITA and can get wonky when they get a little cold. I wish mine had been hardwired instead of using that. One day I'll get a bundle pulled and throw that thing out.
4. Pull the thermostat off the wall and manually charge it up via USB. Sometimes the Nest thermostat is slightly low power but not showing low power error and then it struggles to turn on the furnace.
5. When was the last time you had a furnace tune up/duct cleaning? Similar reasons and 1 and 2.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

The path to finishing the deck starts today... concrete footings being poured. My wallet hurts; this thing is going to be $25k by the time it's all said and done and that's with all wood, no composite.

On an unrelated note, I've had really no luck at all figuring out where I can get a set of bathroom mirrors that will fit my space. The ceiling is high so the light fixtures over the vanity are particularly high up. During the install last summer I put up something temporary that's way too small for the space - this is 38"x22" I believe. Still haven't found something that actually works.



I could get a large piece cut but it would be so much easier if I could just find a couple of framed oval mirrors to hang that are the right size.

[DoubleF]

How about gym/dance studio mirrors? Those can be quite a bit cheaper than large bathroom mirrors by quite a bit at certain sized and probably would have a default sizes that might work for the space. Seems like something to look into before getting a custom cut mirror.

Even if it doesn't work for the bathroom, it's an idea for other parts of the house (ie: Gym, doorway, closet etc.)

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

The path to finishing the deck starts today... concrete footings being poured. My wallet hurts; this thing is going to be $25k by the time it's all said and done and that's with all wood, no composite.

On an unrelated note, I've had really no luck at all figuring out where I can get a set of bathroom mirrors that will fit my space. The ceiling is high so the light fixtures over the vanity are particularly high up. During the install last summer I put up something temporary that's way too small for the space - this is 38"x22" I believe. Still haven't found something that actually works.



I could get a large piece cut but it would be so much easier if I could just find a couple of framed oval mirrors to hang that are the right size.

I hate to be the one to say this but that mirror is no where near the horizontal line. It needs to be about 3 fee higher!!

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by Titan2

I hate to be the one to say this but that mirror is no where near the horizontal line. It needs to be about 3 fee higher!!

Faucet is an inch off to the left from the center of the light, refund!

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Yeah I was centering the mirror and vanity on the light fixture. I just nudged the vanity over a half inch and all's well.

[BlackArcher101]

Is a custom cut mirror out of the question? Any glass place should be able to do one.

[Lubicon]

We're thinking of replacing the windows in our house (Calgary). Got three quotes - Lux, Centra, and Green Fox. Original windows in the house are Supreme (ie Centra) and no issues with them other than they are old. Anyone have any experiences with any of these three? Prices are remarkably close between the three, within about 15%.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by BlackArcher101

Is a custom cut mirror out of the question? Any glass place should be able to do one.

Yeah, I'll do that if I have to. Just seems like getting two mirrors to hang is easier, especially when it comes to transporting the thing to the island, and a bit annoying to work around the power outlets.

[opendoor]

IKEA has an oval mirror that's 24" x 48", though maybe that's too tall? It's hard to get a sense of scale from the picture. Are those 8' tall doors? If so, then you'd probably be OK with a 48" mirror since you'd have about 60-66" between the counter and the light (assuming a 30-36" high counter).

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

We're thinking of replacing the windows in our house (Calgary). Got three quotes - Lux, Centra, and Green Fox. Original windows in the house are Supreme (ie Centra) and no issues with them other than they are old. Anyone have any experiences with any of these three? Prices are remarkably close between the three, within about 15%.

I got my windows done by Lux and overall, I'd say I was 99.9% satisfied. The only thing I thought was strange was that there was a little gap in the weather stripping for the front door where the deadbolt is. If you shine a light at night, you can see light get around the corner and as a result there's the slightest bit of wind can seep through when it's cold. The green energy audit guy said it wasn't out of the ordinary and Lux was going to send someone out to check and address it if it was, but it was easy enough to address myself with a tiny bit of weather stripping, so I didn't bother having Lux send someone out to check it out. I'm sure they would have addressed it to my satisfaction anyways, so I don't think I should hold it against them. Everything else though was excellent and met or exceed expectations. I haven't had an issue with my windows.

Also, from what I gathered, Lux like all the others, contracts out a lot of the work. It was claimed by the contractors though, that Lux had a very specific vetting process and that there were only a select group of contractors Lux contract out to to maintain quality. I don't know how true that is, but the contractors I got were excellent compared to other contractors I've had working around my house before. When I got my roof and gutters done, the foreman randomly asked me who did the cladding for the windows. As someone who focuses on exterior work on houses he said he always appreciated seeing quality work, especially for metal work like gutters and cladding, so that was good to know. But with so many different teams, there's bound to be differences between one team and the next.

Painting indoor trim wasn't part of the services Lux was providing, but because they were an assortment of contracts, some of the guys on that team would consider do it as a side gig if I needed. I only had my main floor and upper floors done. Lux didn't try and upsell me on basement windows, especially if they would have egress requirements upon replacement.

A part that perhaps wasn't too clear was that replaced trim around the windows inside the house, would need painting. That's not part of the services they were offering at the time. You may need to arrange for someone else to do the painting of the trim yourself. The trim outside had color options and didn't need painting.

Other things to note: If replacing doors, buy new door hardware to coincide with the door installation.

If you have plants/bushes near or around windows, I had discussions with the contractor about the possibility of trimming them to below the window line to give better access/avoid having someone accidentally damage/kill the plant if scaffolding or window or something else accidentally crushes it. He said it could be done without, but needed to warn me about that risk and that it might take a little longer to do. He and some of the other installers were very appreciative that I agreed to trimming it lower so they could just set up and install without having to carefully work around it. This wasn't something I had discussed with Lux before, at least not really in detail, so it's worth keeping in the back of your mind to make a fast decision when chatting with the installers.

Another issue we ran into was that there was a section that had rotted due to the water getting through the seal due to how old the original windows were. This wasn't part of the services/quote with Lux and wasn't really noticeable via the original inspection and quote. The contractor showed me the rot and said they could cover it with plastic and I could either call Lux to hash it out with them which might take a little time to agree and sort out approvals, or I could hand him and his team $150 ish as a side gig, to buy some lumber and materials to fix it and keep the project going. He said the labour would be covered as part of the window project anyways. I agreed to pay him for the materials for the side project and the guys went out and were back with lumber and other materials within the hour. He wouldn't take the payment for that side gig until the whole project was done, so I honestly think he was honest about that. I don't think anyone would try to pull something like that for $150. $1500 would make more sense as a dishonest scam, especially for a project that was tens of thousands of dollars.

I didn't chat with Centra, but I did with Green Fox. Maybe it was just the one guy I was chatting with, but Green Fox felt a little bit too eager at in stating their offering was as good or better to other companies offerings and what some of the "other companies" did poorly, instead of focusing solely on what they were offering and what they were good at. My wife rolled her eyes and walked away from the booth then asked me later why he was talking more about other companies than the one he was representing.

[Wormius]

Before I go in an mess something up, is it possible to change the direction of rotation for a diverter knob for a shower. We have something similar to this, but the bar and wand are on the right side of the shower head, and I am probably being OCD on this, but it really annoys me to turn the knob to the left when the wand is on the right. I am not really prepared to move anything, but if there was something that could be flipped around with the valve or something that would be ideal.