The Home Improvement Thread

[CroFlames]

You know how in most attached garages, the drywall comes down and meets the concrete foundation wall? The top of the concrete wall is typically clad in 2x4.

What is an attractive way to cover that up? MDF trim? Drywall the actual 2x4? I plan on putting in a nice floor coating when the budget allows that also goes up the concrete foundation wall to meet the drywall one day.

My only goal in life is to beat Silvers garage.

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

You know how in most attached garages, the drywall comes down and meets the concrete foundation wall? The top of the concrete wall is typically clad in 2x4.

What is an attractive way to cover that up? MDF trim? Drywall the actual 2x4? I plan on putting in a nice floor coating when the budget allows that also goes up the concrete foundation wall to meet the drywall one day.

My only goal in life is to beat Silvers garage.

Well, your gonna need two cats to start...

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

You know how in most attached garages, the drywall comes down and meets the concrete foundation wall? The top of the concrete wall is typically clad in 2x4.

What is an attractive way to cover that up? MDF trim? Drywall the actual 2x4? I plan on putting in a nice floor coating when the budget allows that also goes up the concrete foundation wall to meet the drywall one day.

My only goal in life is to beat Silvers garage.

This sounds a bit too pretty for my liking. The garage should be covered in sawdust at all times representing the last thing you built.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by surferguy

This sounds a bit too pretty for my liking. The garage should be covered in sawdust at all times representing the last thing you built.

I prefer it looking like all cumulative jobs since its last annual spring clean, including tools used for said jobs all covering the workbench, rendering it useless for actual work.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

You know how in most attached garages, the drywall comes down and meets the concrete foundation wall? The top of the concrete wall is typically clad in 2x4.

What is an attractive way to cover that up? MDF trim? Drywall the actual 2x4? I plan on putting in a nice floor coating when the budget allows that also goes up the concrete foundation wall to meet the drywall one day.

My only goal in life is to beat Silvers garage.

https://www.lowes.ca/search?query=ro...b=products-tab


PVC baseboard is great. It's what I used.

[Ozy_Flame]

Anyone have a silver bullet for removing a small bit of mold from a shower corner? I tried straight up bleach but it doesn't seem to remove much / maybe I'm not doing it properly.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

You know how in most attached garages, the drywall comes down and meets the concrete foundation wall? The top of the concrete wall is typically clad in 2x4.

What is an attractive way to cover that up? MDF trim? Drywall the actual 2x4? I plan on putting in a nice floor coating when the budget allows that also goes up the concrete foundation wall to meet the drywall one day.

My only goal in life is to beat Silvers garage.

Definitely don’t use MDF anywhere near moisture. It’ll last a day.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Anyone have a silver bullet for removing a small bit of mold from a shower corner? I tried straight up bleach but it doesn't seem to remove much / maybe I'm not doing it properly.

Is it on the caulking? My only success in that case has been removing it all and starting over.

[Ozy_Flame]

It definitely is on the caulking. Drat.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

You know how in most attached garages, the drywall comes down and meets the concrete foundation wall? The top of the concrete wall is typically clad in 2x4.

What is an attractive way to cover that up? MDF trim? Drywall the actual 2x4? I plan on putting in a nice floor coating when the budget allows that also goes up the concrete foundation wall to meet the drywall one day.

My only goal in life is to beat Silvers garage.

Are you planning on putting anything along the wall? Deep freeze, work bench, etc? Maybe you don’t need to cover it up.

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

It definitely is on the caulking. Drat.

Spray nine marine is very strong and effective. I would try that.

[Fuzz]

After spending way to much of my summer fixing attic airflow issues and soffits(that no one will ever see), I finally got around to the last step of the shed project.


I'm really bad at not taking "before" pictures, but this area was a mess of old brick, shrubs and random detritus. I'll be putting a 1000l water tank next to the shed which will collect most of the house and roof rain. I went with the relativly thin 1.5" blocks, because they are lighter to deal with, and won't be dealing with vehicle weight. Plus I already had about 150 of them...

Spoiler!

[Calgary14]

Fuzz, what was the solution for your attic and did you upgrade the vents to max vents? Dealing with that right now and thinking either increased insulation, or different vents (cheap duraflo right now) or both

[Fuzz]

I had enough roof vents, the problem was that under the soffits was plywood, so zero intake air. So I pulled that down, and saw that between the roof and wall, it was stuffed with blown in insulation. So I pushed it back the best I could, then cut 6' long boards the width of the opening and inserted them from inside the attic, sliding them down, then fastened them down to create a ~2" air gap. I fastened the boards in the attic to maintain the gap. Repeat about 40 times.

One major issues is that the ceiling joists also run into that space, at odd spacing, so I had to cut gaps for them, most being unique. So I had to have a key of what board went where. Generally, it was all a miserable experience I'd like to never repeat, but I couldn't figure out another way to tackle it. Anything inserted from outside wouldn't get past the joists, and they needed to be long enough to clear the depth of the insulation. But just being in the attic feels way better now, so I think I've resolved it.

Spoiler!

You can see the board I made screwed down that angles up parallel to the roof line. Also visible, the numerous roofing nails that mangled my hands and head at every turn.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I had enough roof vents, the problem was that under the soffits was plywood, so zero intake air. So I pulled that down, and saw that between the roof and wall, it was stuffed with blown in insulation. So I pushed it back the best I could, then cut 6' long boards the width of the opening and inserted them from inside the attic, sliding them down, then fastened them down to create a ~2" air gap. I fastened the boards in the attic to maintain the gap. Repeat about 40 times.

One major issues is that the ceiling joists also run into that space, at odd spacing, so I had to cut gaps for them, most being unique. So I had to have a key of what board went where. Generally, it was all a miserable experience I'd like to never repeat, but I couldn't figure out another way to tackle it. Anything inserted from outside wouldn't get past the joists, and they needed to be long enough to clear the depth of the insulation. But just being in the attic feels way better now, so I think I've resolved it.

Spoiler!

You can see the board I made screwed down that angles up parallel to the roof line. Also visible, the numerous roofing nails that mangled my hands and head at every turn.

holy fata that would've been hell

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Sliver

holy fata that would've been hell

It felt like hell. At the peak I could half stand. I'd crawl over or belly scrambled under trusses, kicking up dust that covered every inch of my sweaty sticky body. My shins were bruised for weeks. It was a good 45 degrees up there, and at one point I had what I figured was 10 minutes left. I couldn't do it anymore. I felt like death was near. But going down would have meant a full strip down, mask removal, shower, recharge etc. And I wasn't going back up for 10 minutes of work. So I crawled into the next section and suffered to completion. I think I spent the next 6 hours in my basement cooling off, and drank about 40 litres of water.

That 36 degree day we had? My infrared thermometer registered 75C pointed at the inside of the roof, so something had to be done. My shingles are cooked(yay another job!). The next time that heat shows up I'll have to re-check, see how much difference it made. I really should have given myself a reference on a normal day...

[opendoor]

That's one of the most miserable projects I've ever done, and mine would have been a lot easier than that. I was able to do in the fall so I didn't have to deal with the heat, my trusses are spaced regularly, and I was able to use prefab polystyrene baffles which would be a lot lighter and easier to fasten than wood (though fragile). Even then, it was absolutely awful work.

[Fuzz]

I wish I could have used foam, but the wood got hung up on roofing nails, and I had to hammer it in to get past. The foam would have just got shredded. I ended up using 1/4" plywood, so it wasn't heavy.

[opendoor]

Yeah, the foam baffles are super flimsy. Anything other than pushing them straight on perpendicular to the nails would absolutely ruin them, so I was lucky in that regard. I also had batt insulation (since replaced) so moving around was a lot easier than with blown insulation already in place.

Yours looks fairly well sealed below the baffle too, which will pretty much eliminate the chance of blown insulation wind washing. I plugged the gaps between the top plate and the baffle as best I could with rockwool, but because it's air permeable there's a small chance that my insulation will shift over time.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Spoiler!

Nice brickwork and sheds turns me on.