The Home Improvement Thread

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by Table 5

That's pretty much why I'm asking here if there are any recommended places to call, as it's not really my area of expertise.


Yeah, that could definitely be a nice option too and what I was initially thinking as I want to make sure as much light gets into the basement window as possible. Is there a place in town that could fabricate something custom with plexi? Although I wonder if plexi would be as durable or be able to handle as much weight if kids start jumping on the thing?

This is the window well btw (picture it without the wood). Id like the grate/cover to be flush to the concrete as possible, and I haven't really seen any plexi options that would do that. (not on google images at least, ha).

Spoiler!

What I would do for that situation would be play off the structure as it is now.

Use some nicer wood to create a lip all the way around for the plexi to sit on. Then drill one or two finger holes to lift the plexi from the top. If you needed to escape the basement in a hurry the plexi is just pushed up from below. It would only be resting in place.

I would try sabic polymershapes in the NE to see what they have available for thicker material - say 1 inch? I know they will cut custom sizes, but not sure if they will bore the finger holes

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Table 5

That's pretty much why I'm asking here if there are any recommended places to call, as it's not really my area of expertise.


Yeah, that could definitely be a nice option too and what I was initially thinking as I want to make sure as much light gets into the basement window as possible. Is there a place in town that could fabricate something custom with plexi? Although I wonder if plexi would be as durable or be able to handle as much weight if kids start jumping on the thing?

This is the window well btw (picture it without the wood). Id like the grate/cover to be flush to the concrete as possible, and I haven't really seen any plexi options that would do that. (not on google images at least, ha).

Spoiler!

I wouldn't do anything with plexi glass for a number of reason:
1. I think it would look weird and cheap.
2. Plexi (or any solid surface) would allow snow to pile up on top if you don't shovel that area every time it snows. If there is snow piled up on top it could be difficult or impossible to push the plexi up from below in case of an emergency.
3. Plexi (or any solid surface) would inhibit air flow into the basement (this may or may not be a concern.)

I would stick with some sort of metal grate.

Isn't there a member on CP that owns a metal works company? I remember reading posts about him getting married not too long ago and now having two ski boats and trying to figure out what to do with them. Maybe I'm mistaken though.

[Madman]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

2. Plexi (or any solid surface) would allow snow to pile up on top if you don't shovel that area every time it snows. If there is snow piled up on top it could be difficult or impossible to push the plexi up from below in case of an emergency.

A metal grate would allow the window well to become completely filled with snow though making it useless for an escape route.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Madman

A metal grate would allow the window well to become completely filled with snow though making it useless for an escape route.

In that situation though you could at least open the window and use your hands/arms to pull snow into the room and clear a path to escape. If the snow is piled up on top of escape hatch and you can't push it up you are screwed.

[wooohooo]

Going from the Homedepot site they have a few options

http://www.homedepot.ca/catalog/wind...AndAccessories

I'm sure there are better options, but a cover like this wouldn't be bad. Or something like this



This is something my sister has at her house. The last owners had it installed I believe. Works pretty good

[kevman]

Originally Posted by Circa89

Can anyone guesstimate the cost of a Plan-it Builders/ car shacks type company building a very basic 22x22 garage with Pad in the Spring, versus me hiring a pad company and then buying a package and framing it up myself? I am having a hard time finding estimates on line.

I haven't built a garage yet myself but I got quotes a few years ago and I reckon you're in the $25,000 range for a standard double to have someone build it. It breaks down to approximately $6,000 for the pad, $10,000 for a package and $10,000 for labour so if you do it yourself expect to save about $10,000.

[agulati]

Any ideas for good LED strips? I am looking for some options that I can put in the bar in the basement. Am able to only find the flexible ones online or the warm white color for shorter options. Problem with the flexible ones is usually they are much longer and once cut to length the rest seems to become useless. I am looking for 3 feet and cool white/blueish white colors

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by agulati

Any ideas for good LED strips? I am looking for some options that I can put in the bar in the basement. Am able to only find the flexible ones online or the warm white color for shorter options. Problem with the flexible ones is usually they are much longer and once cut to length the rest seems to become useless. I am looking for 3 feet and cool white/blueish white colors

Ikea has some LED strips at a fairly reasonable price. I looked at them this weekend but decided on some LEDs from Costco. The Ikea ones were a warmer colour (more like a standard incandescent.)

The LED strips I purchased at Costco were (maybe still are) on clearance for $19. I believe there were 6, 2 foot sections. The LED colour could be selected between about 20 different shades (white, blue, green, yellow, purple, red, etc.) This is the Costco one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s9cAoWC_9w)

[Regular_John]

So my biggest "eff it, I'll get to it later" project is our kitchen ceiling. We have small galley style kitchen, with a low ceiling, and a (dead) exhaust fan similar to this mounted in the ceiling.



It looks like at some point a portion of the ceiling drywall was replaced, but with the wrong thickness and it's sagged in some places. Coupled with the lack of working exhaust fan and the paint is starting to crack/peel due to the humidity getting trapped.

So what's my best course of action here given that I need both electrical & drywalling done on relatively small scale. Talking to a general contractor? Talking to a dry walling company? Both?

[You Need a Thneed]

We took possession of our new-to-us house on the 17th. This is a list of home improvements completed so far (other than repainting the awful colours):

-Replaced old 1981 furnace with a craked heat exchanger with a new high efficiency furnace (95%), new Honeywell Prestige thermostat - wifi enabled.
- Brought power out to the garage, where no power had ever been run to. Previous homeowner ran an extension cord to open the garage door. While we did that, the electrician put in a three way switch that controls the outdoor lights on both the house and the garage, which switches inside both the house and the garage. I didn't understand why this was a good idea until it was done. Seriously, this is the bet thing ever. Never am I going to have to fumble around for keys in the dark going between the house and the garage.

-Installed a dishwasher - there was never one before. Removed a 24" wide section of lower cabinet, ran the power, hot water, anddrain pipes under the corner cabinet, and brought them up under the sink. Fortunately, someone had previously roughed in under the sink for a future dishwasher. The take off of the hot water line, the nipple for the dishwasher drain, and power under the sink were already installed.

- Replaced nearly all of the incandescent track lighting with LED bulbs. It was painful thinking of the potential power bills when you have multiple rooms with 1000W of lighting if you turn on all the lights.

-Have started replacing the ivory plugs/switches with ugly wooden coverplates with white decora style switches.

- Switched the door swing of both the washer and dryer.

-Replaced ugly curtain rods and Valences with modern ones (still in progress for whole house

- turned alcove with nick nack shelves near the back door leading to the garage into a place with hooks for jackets and lower shelves for shoes. As generally, the back door is going to be our primary entrance point, and there wasn't any closet near that door, something was required.

-One bedroom had to have wall paper removed prior to painting. What a pain. No one in their right mind should ever install wall paper.

Yet to do:
-Showerhead replacement
-Light fixture replacement in several places.
-Thinking of doing a more thorough kitchen remodel, which will include removing a pantry closet and removing some false bulkheads. Will open up the space between the kitchen front entrance and living dining room. Also, we don't need to have a place for two separate tables for eating. The Kitchen can use the extra space where the breakfast table dining area is.
-Landscaping - including raised garden beds.
-Kids play structure
etc.

[Knalus]

My house has been in a project stage for the last two years, and the end was in sight till this morning. I was having a shower, and was trying to figure out why the floor was so wet, turns out, it was a crack between the wall and the tub, the caulking had gone bad, and was coming out on the floor.

I know the quick patch fix, but how would you go about fixing it in the longer run? How do you check to see if there is any issues without pulling the whole thing out??

[surferguy]

How old is the bathroom?
Is this the first time there has been water evident?
is there any indication of mold around the caulking or grout lines? ie black forming in the grout lines or behind caulking?

any signs of water damage on floor/walls?


Start there - if yes then you may be looking at opening up the walls to investigate the issue.

Any small cracks in the grout will allow water to seep into the substrate

[Knalus]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Is this the first time there has been water evident?
is there any indication of mold around the caulking or grout lines? ie black forming in the grout lines or behind caulking?

any signs of water damage on floor/walls?

How old is the bathroom?

Start there - if yes then you may be looking at opening up the walls to investigate the issue.

Any small cracks in the grout will allow water to seep into the substrate

Caulking, Yes. Grout lines, No. I replaced the floor about 4 years ago, no evidence of water damage then. The water on the floor, tiles coming up is new in the past two/three weeks.

[surferguy]

If there is some blackening of the caulking it is likely that water has penetrated behind the tile to some degree. The amount of water damage is then a function of the substrate and how the shower was built out. ie drywall vs concrete board. Waterproofing vs no water proofing etc

[photon]

Speaking of mould, and I think I've asked this question before but maybe a new set of people and some time might get different answers, anyone know someone that would do mould remediation for a bathroom for a decent price? I.e. tearout of drywall and such. There's lots of places with nice websites that'll charge me $5000 to tear out 5 sheets of drywall and wash/treat the studs, there's got to be someone who'll do it for a more reasonable price...

[kevman]

Do it yourself?

Personal home or rental unit?

A proper mask and disposal-able coveralls are $50 and $7 respectively at home depot. Once the drywall is out you can assess how bad the mould actually is. Minor mould is a bleach scrub and some "mould control" spray. Major, well then you can call a remediation company. The only tricky part is achieving some sort of negative pressure. A bathroom fan might be sufficient depending on the level of mess.

Just my 2 cents. I believe most "health scares" are slightly blown out of proportion by the advertising from those in it to make money. If your'e smart about it there is no reason you can't do it safely yourself. Most remediation guidelines are put in place by workplace health and safety to protect those doing it everyday. A homeowner with a mask and some due diligence in a one time job is at very little risk.

If it's a rental however there might be some rules around it that prevent you from tackling the job.

[photon]

Rental unit, and doing it ourselves is an option, we already have some of the stuff, but as you say there's such wide information about what's necessary and what's risky. Companies that make it scary as you say are the ones that benefit. But health is health and I don't want to be sick or make tenants sick.

A remediation company is what I would like but one that would charge a reasonable rate.

Or if we do it ourselves, as you say the tricky part is the negative pressure, maybe I'll see if there's somewhere we can rent that and a good HEPA vacuum.

Though I've been told that bleach doesn't actually do anything, for anything that isn't being removed (and everything that can be removed should be) to wash it with detergent and water, dry it out and then treat it with this stuff: http://www.benefect.com/

Though reading that site now that seems as scammy as the panic-its-mold guys.

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by kevman

I haven't built a garage yet myself but I got quotes a few years ago and I reckon you're in the $25,000 range for a standard double to have someone build it. It breaks down to approximately $6,000 for the pad, $10,000 for a package and $10,000 for labour so if you do it yourself expect to save about $10,000.

This is accurate but slightly on the high side, I built a 22x22 garage for myself this summer. My total came out to roughly $13000 thanks to a friend who works in concrete. The breakdown went as follows:

$4500 concrete pad
$5700 garage package (wait until April to buy it, Rona has a good sale every year)
$1000 siding and eaves trough
$700 electrical (I went way above and beyond what most would need, I did it myself as well)
$400 for a TV
And a few hundred on various tools I didn't have. The general rule of thumb though is labour and material are equal in cost.

[Madman]

Originally Posted by surferguy

If there is some blackening of the caulking it is likely that water has penetrated behind the tile to some degree. The amount of water damage is then a function of the substrate and how the shower was built out. ie drywall vs concrete board. Waterproofing vs no water proofing etc

That's concerning to hear.

We have some black spots in the bottom edge of caulking in our shower. I've always thought it was just a shoddy caulking job or product and not caused by water behind the tile itself.

If I remove the caulking, any way to know if the water is behind things without ripping tiles off?

The house is less than 10 years old - anyone know if is this a home warranty thing possibly?

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by Madman

That's concerning to hear.

We have some black spots in the bottom edge of caulking in our shower. I've always thought it was just a shoddy caulking job or product and not caused by water behind the tile itself.

If I remove the caulking, any way to know if the water is behind things without ripping tiles off?

The house is less than 10 years old - anyone know if is this a home warranty thing possibly?

It doesn't automatically mean water behind the tiles. A shoddy caulking job (or trying to caulk over caulk) is going to allow water in behind and will mould/mildew up pretty quickly. If it is "good" caulk and water is behind it, then yes, probably came from behind. But even the best installed wall tile will still allow some moisture behind it (grout is pourous even when sealed). Key is mitigating the risk by installing correctly (vertical thinset channel, proper backerboard, drainage).