The Home Improvement Thread

[Fuzz]

It's 12/2, which I understand is the required min for 20A.

[PaperBagger'14]

12 gauge wire is needed for 20A circuits. Table 3 in the CEC is misleading as in the table says 14 gauge is acceptable for 20A, however, the subrules it states that isn't. You can just use white electrical tape to properly identify it. It will work the same just show you put in the effort to properly identify it and I'm sure the inspector will pass it.

[Fuzz]

awesome, thanks! will go get white electrical tape tomorrow, along with the extra breaker I need. Then I guess it's drywall and tile repair....

[You Need a Thneed]

Photos taken at three different times today:

[MG153]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

awesome, thanks! will go get white electrical tape tomorrow, along with the extra breaker I need. Then I guess it's drywall and tile repair....

Just remember, The breaker by code. Must NOT be rated for a higher amerage then the device aka standard plugs and switches. so only thing that can be on the 20A breaker is your counter plugs(which need to be 20A tslot plugs. everything else must be on 15's

[Fuzz]

Ya, kept those as single outlet 20A circuits, everything is 20A rated. Drywall repair and tiling time....

Looks good Thneed! Though I don't see any hidden compartment....

[blueski]

All this electrical talk is completely foreign to me. Anyone recommend a good book for learning this?

[timun]

The basics of residential electrical wiring are not very complicated, which is why homeowners are allowed to do most work around the house themselves. Just about any old residential wiring book will give you a solid foundation of knowledge.

However, one thing to watch out for when learning this stuff on your own is many books on the subject are American, written from the standpoint of compliance with the US National Electrical Code. The NEC is broadly similar to the Canadian Electrical Code, but there are differences. What may be recommended in an American-centric book may not be code-compliant in Canada.

For that reason I would recommend P.S. Knight's "Electrical Code Simplified – House Wiring Guide". Peter Knight is a local guy, was formerly an electrician and inspector, and his company has been publishing these guides since the '60s.

https://psknight.com/residential

[PaperBagger'14]

I should have mentioned this earlier, however if you're going to be drilling lots of holes in studs you should invest in a hole hawg bit. Rent a good 1/2" chuck drill and use the bit. You can blast through a stud in about a second or so. NOTE: do not attempt to do this if you have weak wrists or arms. I have literally had the drill lift me off the ground before when drilling a hole and hitting a nail in the stud.

[Wormius]

Update on the CAT6 wiring.

Finally some success! I haven't really been working on this full-time, but this is the area had me stumped, but today I finally got the wires across here. The big headache was at the beam that goes across. There is a little ridge inside the ceiling that catches anything flexible you try to shove through there. Fishing tape was not useful here at all. In fact, most of the time all it did was get caught on something and freak me out when I was trying to pull it out.

Items that made it easier - magnets, twine, electrical tape, and the borescope. I ended up improvising a lot of little tools for this using left-over water line tubing, nuts, cut-up coat hanger pieces, etc. The biggest help was the borescope for boosting my confidence that a clear path existed. Otherwise I would have ended up creating several more holes unnecessarily. The image below (panoramic) doesn't really do the pain of this wiring justice. There is a lot of stuff in that section that impede passing of wires along that joist - water lines, gas lines, ducts, drains, criss-crossing electrical, etc. So, two rooms done, a bunch more to go.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed

Photos taken at three different times today:

Spoiler!

It's too bad you weren't able to repurpose the fireplace as an alcove for storage or something. What was the decision for closing it up completely? Was it just smaller than it looks from the photos?

[PaperBagger'14]

Good job wormius. One piece of advice if I may, I'd grab some twine and another cat 6 and tie them onto one existing cat 6 and pull them through. This will save you the headache of doing it again in case you decide to do another upgrade.

[fundmark19]

Originally Posted by Wormius

It's too bad you weren't able to repurpose the fireplace as an alcove for storage or something. What was the decision for closing it up completely? Was it just smaller than it looks from the photos?

Perfect spot for a hidden wall safe behind a picture! I have always wanted a sweet safe behind a picture.

[Nyah]

We're thinking about switching out our crappy kitchen counter tops and getting something like quartz or granite. I know granite is more expensive. We only have a budget of $2-3K, and we have a pretty big kitchen. Some questions I have:

- Is granite worth the extra money? What makes it better than quartz other than that it's an actual piece of rock?
- What are some decent companies that do counter top replacement? I know that Costco has a service like that, but I've also heard that dealing with their services can be a bit of a gong show.

Thanks for any information!

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Nyah

We're thinking about switching out our crappy kitchen counter tops and getting something like quartz or granite. I know granite is more expensive. We only have a budget of $2-3K, and we have a pretty big kitchen. Some questions I have:

- Is granite worth the extra money? What makes it better than quartz other than that it's an actual piece of rock?
- What are some decent companies that do counter top replacement? I know that Costco has a service like that, but I've also heard that dealing with their services can be a bit of a gong show.

Thanks for any information!

I think that putting granite or quartz in for $2-3k is going to be tough. It will depend on the size of your counters and how many slabs you're looking at, and of course what kind of material you choose.

[Nyah]

We're able to push our budget up as well, would just mean taking money away from other less important projects for the year.

[oilyfan]

Are you sure about which one is more expensive. I had always heard (never did the comparison myself, but have had both in my houses) that Quartz is more expensive than granite.

I prefer granite because it's feels and looks a bit more natural. I find Quartz to be too uniform.

Originally Posted by Nyah

We're thinking about switching out our crappy kitchen counter tops and getting something like quartz or granite. I know granite is more expensive. We only have a budget of $2-3K, and we have a pretty big kitchen. Some questions I have:

- Is granite worth the extra money? What makes it better than quartz other than that it's an actual piece of rock?
- What are some decent companies that do counter top replacement? I know that Costco has a service like that, but I've also heard that dealing with their services can be a bit of a gong show.

Thanks for any information!

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by TheGrimm

Anyone here have any experience finishing barn wood furniture? I am working on a table from some reclaimed wood off the family farm, most of these pieces are from the turn of the last century so I want to retain as much character as possible.

I would like a matte finish if possible and would like to have a faded or grey patina if possible. I've read about vinegar and steel wool techniques etc, but wanted to see if others have attempted a project like this before and had any input before I dive in?

It also would need to be well sealed as I have a family with young children, and the idea of grape juice stains makes me cry inside a bit.

Here is a picture (it's been sanded down a bit further since but is fairly similar in appearance still):

Hey Grimm - the rumors are true that steel wool and vinegar will give you the oxidized patina you are after. That said any of the barn wood tables Ive made I have sanded to edges and joints to smooth those out so that there are no hard joints. When doing that you end up getting back to the original bare wood (no patina left).

Personally I find that the wood will turn darker no matter you end up putting on for a finish - the result can look very nice with a mottled colored top that ranges from bare wood to grey patina.

Finish - I would get it lacquered professionally (in a satin finish). Not super expensive and the result will be better than you can achieve on your own. Ive screwed around with finishes so many times and I just cannot replicate the look. You can go with a Danish oil/beeswax combo as well and that will give you a bit more of a satin look but it will difficult to get a nice polish as the texture of the barn wood will not allow you to buff off all the wax.

I can get more into the minutia of it all but it may be best if you have more questions to send me a PM or call me(details in sig) as there are many factors at play. I've built a few of them and I am more than willing to help you based on my experiences.

What kind of wood is it? Where was the farm at? Always curious about these projects - thanks for sharing.

[TheGrimm]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Hey Grimm - the rumors are true that steel wool and vinegar will give you the oxidized patina you are after. That said any of the barn wood tables Ive made I have sanded to edges and joints to smooth those out so that there are no hard joints. When doing that you end up getting back to the original bare wood (no patina left).

Personally I find that the wood will turn darker no matter you end up putting on for a finish - the result can look very nice with a mottled colored top that ranges from bare wood to grey patina.

Finish - I would get it lacquered professionally (in a satin finish). Not super expensive and the result will be better than you can achieve on your own. Ive screwed around with finishes so many times and I just cannot replicate the look. You can go with a Danish oil/beeswax combo as well and that will give you a bit more of a satin look but it will difficult to get a nice polish as the texture of the barn wood will not allow you to buff off all the wax.

I can get more into the minutia of it all but it may be best if you have more questions to send me a PM or call me(details in sig) as there are many factors at play. I've built a few of them and I am more than willing to help you based on my experiences.

What kind of wood is it? Where was the farm at? Always curious about these projects - thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the input! It is Cedar I am fairly certain, we have a farm just north of Chestermere that's been in the family for over a hundred years now. I am thinking about using a test piece and trying a few different techniques. My hope was for the finish to be on the gray side to match some other barn wood pieces we have that aren't planed but I am also hesitant to do any kind of faux finish or stain because I just feel it wouldn't be right.

I can post the results here if anyone is interested in seeing them? I've also read that a water based polyurethane finish might be good for this application as it tends to not darken the wood as much?

The big thing I want to avoid is a high gloss, super contrasting wood finish like those tree stump tables we've all seen around as I don't really love that "wet" look. Yet still protect the table as much as possible... might be asking the impossible haha.

[peter12]

Yeah, I was going to ask why in heaven's name you would board up such a lovely little fireplace. It looks way worse.