The Home Improvement Thread

[photon]

Yeah I thought about a typical deck rail but with the pickets it might be much more annoying to shovel in the winter, so was thinking of something with just the top part.

[Fuzz]

Hrmm, I wonder how structural that bottom railing is? The pickets are not, and the upper railing is screwed solidly into the posts. Save a bunch of money!

[photon]

I could 3D print some things to put in the bottom holes! That's definitely an idea.

Also found this system of stuff that's a fixed length I could maybe just put in a number of those and live with the gaps. The stairs are really shallow (i.e. the tread length is like 2-3').

[Fuzz]

Note if you do not want to break bolts in concrete, absolutely clean the holes of dust after drilling with compressed air or vacuum.

[EldrickOnIce]

Just make sure it meets all current building standards for minimum and maximum height. The problem with long treads is the railing tends to be too low in spots. Maybe there are no regulations, as longer treads (like you are talking 2-3 feet) do not require a railing AFAIK.

[photon]

Good point on that, even if they aren't required they should still be useful and the code is a good guideline for that. 'A handrail must be between 865mm and 1070mm (34" and 42") above the nosing', I'll have to math that out to see if a straight rail will fall within those limits.

EDIT: Tread depth is 26-27" and height is 7"

[photon]

One place says $55 a linear foot, that's totally reasonable! Theirs is pretty plain but it's metal. Hopefully the more fancy ones come in the same order of magnitude.

[Nufy]

www.home-rail.com

Used for my Deck railing.

I'm sure they could help you come up with a solution for DIY.

[photon]

I talked with a few aluminum deck railing places and they say I could leave off the pickets if I liked and it would still work ok. I'd have little holes where the pickets would go on the underside of the rail but that wouldn't be visible. I could also move the railing to be on the other side then pickets actually wouldn't be a problem.

I also found a guy that would fabricate a steel pipe hand rail (everything just looks round and powder coated), waiting on a price for that. Would be super sturdy and durable but very plain looking.

And finally talking to a few of the iron wrought places that have nicer stuff, prices haven't been too bad so far but should have better prices next week.

[Wormius]

I have a door strike that seems a little offset from the deadbolt and as seasons change I have to lift on the door a bit to get the deadbolt to go through. I have tried filing at it, but it’s starting to look a little ugly. Any suggestions for fixing this?

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I have a door strike that seems a little offset from the deadbolt and as seasons change I have to lift on the door a bit to get the deadbolt to go through. I have tried filing at it, but it’s starting to look a little ugly. Any suggestions for fixing this?

I assume the screws on the top or bottom hinges are weak and slowly pulling out of the stud.

Tighten the top/bottom in a way that straightens it out?
Use wood filler or other anchors to make the existing screws tight again?
Consider using longer screws to hit more wall stud to hold the top hinge in place?
Worst case, get a higher quality door/deadbolt?

I have solid core doors that replaced hollow core ones. Both bathroom doors sorta drooped at the top due to reusing the old holes. Both were using kinda ####ty door levers. One I swapped the lever from whatever brand to Schlage and I all worked out great. The other already has a Schlage lever on it, so I have to buy longer screws or do a filler in the holes.

[Shazam]

Adjust the hinges with a wrench and a towel.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Adjust the hinges with a wrench and a towel.

That's what I did, but the screws are the issue now and the door doesn't close easily. So I guess I'll sort that out first and do this again.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

That's what I did, but the screws are the issue now and the door doesn't close easily. So I guess I'll sort that out first and do this again.

Gentle. Be very gentle. And you barely have to move them.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Gentle. Be very gentle. And you barely have to move them.

Yep. But an issue I have is weight difference of solid core (current) vs original hollow core doors. Gravity has manipulated the door out of alignment again due to the weight.

The top screws spinning in place vs being nice and tight is a factor I want to address with a longer deck screw or something before doing all of that adjustment all over again.

[keratosis]

We just had a front door installed and were told that each hinge should have at least one 2.5" screw on each side to accommodate the weight of the door. Makes sense if you think about it. Also 4 screw hinges are recommended.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Yep. But an issue I have is weight difference of solid core (current) vs original hollow core doors. Gravity has manipulated the door out of alignment again due to the weight.

The top screws spinning in place vs being nice and tight is a factor I want to address with a longer deck screw or something before doing all of that adjustment all over again.

Ah, the hinge screws are also loose? Yeah, you can replace those easily. Just get some nice long screws. That's what she said.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by keratosis

We just had a front door installed and were told that each hinge should have at least one 2.5" screw on each side to accommodate the weight of the door. Makes sense if you think about it. Also 4 screw hinges are recommended.

Yeah, the bathroom door ones are the standard 1.5" ones and I was considering buying 2-2.5" ones to replace it.

Or fill with wood + wood glue, drill new hole and screw it again. (That's what she said)

[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.

[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. To paint match take a chip of paint in to any paint store and have them scan it.