The Home Improvement Thread

[Fuzz]

Anyone know where I can get a belt for a washing machine? Is this something Rona/Home Depot carries, or do I need a specialty shop?

[Shazam]

Check Amre, Reliable, Atlas.

[puffnstuff]

Amre and Reliable have great part look up websites. Havent used Atlas. Get your model number, plug it in and search for the part. Will also tell you if its in stock and at which location.

[Fuzz]

Thanks, I realized I needed a snubber ring as well, and don't need the washer for awhile so just ordered online. Hopefully will be here by Friday.

[rayne008]

Building a pergola this summer, and I'm looking for some black iron brackets, like these below. I found a few suppliers in the US, but nothing really in Canada. Any suggestions?

[DoubleK]

Timbertown?

[Shazam]

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...45&cat=1,71685

[rayne008]

Originally Posted by Shazam

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...45&cat=1,71685

Thanks, i had checked LeeValley and it said it was discontinued. This looks good!

[mrkajz44]

Over the past few weeks it seems like I need to turn up my shower more to get hot water like we used to get. We are still getting enough hot water for the shower, its just that we are almost at "max" on the shower handle, when we didn't used to have to turn it up so high.

The rest of the house still seems to get hot water like it used to (I'm using the kitchen sink as a comparable as we use very hot water for the dishes). Is this a sign that the hot water tank is about to fail? Or is there something I should be doing with the shower handle?

I'm wondering if I can't really tell that the rest of the hot water in the house is not actually as hot as it used to be and the shower is the only place I can really tell?

[Fuzz]

Some showers have a thermal balancer, it's possible it has loosened and adjusted itself, or gone bad. This would limit how much hot water is getting through. It's an easy enough thing to adjust yourself.

[TopChed]

Originally Posted by mrkajz44

Over the past few weeks it seems like I need to turn up my shower more to get hot water like we used to get. We are still getting enough hot water for the shower, its just that we are almost at "max" on the shower handle, when we didn't used to have to turn it up so high.

The rest of the house still seems to get hot water like it used to (I'm using the kitchen sink as a comparable as we use very hot water for the dishes). Is this a sign that the hot water tank is about to fail? Or is there something I should be doing with the shower handle?

I'm wondering if I can't really tell that the rest of the hot water in the house is not actually as hot as it used to be and the shower is the only place I can really tell?

I would think that you're probably right with your assessment, your hot water tank could be needing a replacement soon.

[psyang]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Some showers have a thermal balancer, it's possible it has loosened and adjusted itself, or gone bad. This would limit how much hot water is getting through. It's an easy enough thing to adjust yourself.

I second this - this happened to us in our last house. We noticed the basement shower didn't get as hot as all other faucets/shower heads in the house. I finally took the shower control apart, and noticed a little plastic ring that was preventing the hot water inlet from maxing out. After turning it about 30 degrees, I put everything back and hot water was fully restored. Never even knew this existed before then.

In our case, it was installed that way. If this has been happening over time, it could be that the limiter has started to slip, and now doesn't allow the full flow of hot water. One way to test, if you have access to the hot and cold shut off valves to the shower, is to turn off hot, then turn on your shower and see how much water is coming out. Next, turn hot back on, and turn off cold and repeat. If you see a marked difference in water flow, this is probably the issue. If the flows are roughly similar, and the hot water that does come out is not hot, then you might have an issue with the tank, though that would be odd if your other faucets get hot water.

[Wormius]

I have kind of a related issue on our shower. If I leave it at it's comfortable setting, it takes forever to heat up, so I have to crank it to hot and then lower it. Is that normal?

[mrkajz44]

Alright - I'll check out the shower control first and hope its just something in there. I'm not sure how old the hot water tank is as we moved in about 3 years ago, but it looks relatively new so that's why I'm doubting it needs to be replaced.

[GoinAllTheWay]

If you're getting hot water everywhere else, it's not your HWT.

[Flames_Gimp]

recommendations of a good electrician for a main service/panel upgrade?

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

recommendations of a good electrician for a main service/panel upgrade?

Just had Cattoni Electrical wire up my kitchen renovation. Absolutely amazing service. Dan came out the day after I called, gave me a full quote on a weekend and had his team out within a few days. I’m in the building industry and have worked with plenty of companies but they’ll be my go to now. 403-710-7686

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

recommendations of a good electrician for a main service/panel upgrade?

What's the reasoning for the bigger service? Most of the time I've seen it where people simply run out of room for breakers meanwhile not drawing much power.

What type of heavy drawing items do you have? Hot tub/A.C. etc.

[Table 5]

Not really a home improvement question, but the closest thread I've found.

So my family owns some commercially property. It’s a fairly basic strip mall setup, with parking directly across from the retail bay steps. The problem is that people keep hitting the railings when they back out of the parking spot, deforming them. We’ve painted the railings yellow so people can see it better (you’d think they’d want to avoid hitting the stairs regardless, but who am I to judge), but it still happens.

Curious if anyone would have a solution. Is there such a thing as a flexible railing? Ie ie something that is mounted on some spring-loaded hinge, so that it has some give if it’s hit, but is still usable as a railing?

Railing:

[Sliver]

Steel-encased cement pillar in front of it is all I can think of.