The Home Improvement Thread

[Mass_nerder]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Yes and no. Yes - same quality water proofing (Kerdi, Redguard, etc, with a non-permeable (aka non-concrete) floorpan), but for a steam shower you're effectively going to be waterproofing the entire stall rather than just below the water / head line.

Also, is this thread from 1988? I haven't heard of anyone wanting a steam shower this millennia. Usually its questions about how to rip them out.

My wife used to work at a bathroom reno company a few years ago. They did a lot of steam showers for high-end washrooms.

[Fuzz]

I found, and eliminated the source of my wasp problem this year. It was hiding in my apple tree, looks to have completely enveloped the branch and was assimilating it.

Spoiler!

[Titan]

[RW99]

I've being Googling for awhile and I'm stuck on how to proceed. I'm pretty clueless on thermostats. Anyone that can give some advise on upgrading a basic condo thermostat?

I have the thermostat below. I can find no info on Google about it. I also cant figure out how to detach it, the screws below seem to do nothing.

My question is, can I upgrade this to an auto thermostat that changes from heat and AC? Is it reasonable in price, or am I buying a Nest? Any ideas on how to take the unit off the wall?

Any help would be appreciated!

https://app.photobucket.com/u/flames...d-978553d934a8

[topfiverecords]

Most thermostats, the front snaps into the back. So the back part is screwed to the wall and you can pry the front off. The screws are probably holding the two parts together.

Once inside you'll see how many wires you have and where they're going. There will be about 12 different slots each labeled by a letter. Mine only has two wires. A "W" wire and an "R" wire.

The C wire provides power, which is necessary for some thermostats. Mine doesn't have it run so I'm on battery.

You'll need to know what method of heat you have. Forced air (high efficiency or not), electric baseboard, hot water radiators, etc...

Once you find the thermostat you want to replace it with you can look up what wires it'll need to function.

[Looch City]

It looks like the front face pops off. After you took the screws off, did you try using a screw driver to pry it open?

Installation of smart thermostats (whether ecobee or Nest) is pretty simple to DIY. Just have to take your old one off and see if you have a c-wire. Tons of youtube videos out there for help too.

I have an ecobee 3lite and love it.

[Shin Pad]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Yes and no. Yes - same quality water proofing (Kerdi, Redguard, etc, with a non-permeable (aka non-concrete) floorpan), but for a steam shower you're effectively going to be waterproofing the entire stall rather than just below the water / head line.

Also, is this thread from 1988? I haven't heard of anyone wanting a steam shower this millennia. Usually its questions about how to rip them out.

Make sure you check out what the maximum temperature the waterproofing is good for. Most tile waterproof isn't good enough for a steam shower. Also, use Spectralock Premium Pro Epoxy mortar and grout as manufactured by Laticrete - it is one of the few grouts that will stand up to the heat of a steam shower. Mind you, this is what I usually specified for steam rooms such as in recreation facilities. Since you aren't using your steam shower all day long, you could probably get away with something less.

[RW99]

Originally Posted by topfiverecords

Most thermostats, the front snaps into the back. So the back part is screwed to the wall and you can pry the front off. The screws are probably holding the two parts together.

Once inside you'll see how many wires you have and where they're going. There will be about 12 different slots each labeled by a letter. Mine only has two wires. A "W" wire and an "R" wire.

The C wire provides power, which is necessary for some thermostats. Mine doesn't have it run so I'm on battery.

You'll need to know what method of heat you have. Forced air (high efficiency or not), electric baseboard, hot water radiators, etc...

Once you find the thermostat you want to replace it with you can look up what wires it'll need to function.

Originally Posted by Looch City

It looks like the front face pops off. After you took the screws off, did you try using a screw driver to pry it open?

Installation of smart thermostats (whether ecobee or Nest) is pretty simple to DIY. Just have to take your old one off and see if you have a c-wire. Tons of youtube videos out there for help too.

I have an ecobee 3lite and love it.

Ok thanks. I still cant even get the cover off. Tried prying with a flathead on the sides, tried up and down, no luck.

It's a forced air system. I think its a three stage based on the three fan speeds?

I think the 1st problem I have is how to remove it from the wall lol. Can't even find this brand online...

[Ahuch]

Originally Posted by RW99

Ok thanks. I still cant even get the cover off. Tried prying with a flathead on the sides, tried up and down, no luck.

It's a forced air system. I think its a three stage based on the three fan speeds?

I think the 1st problem I have is how to remove it from the wall lol. Can't even find this brand online...

Did you try applying even pressure from two corners and pulling it off. There's likely several interlocking plastic tabs and a wire connector... I could be wrong, but that's the only style I've ever seen across various brands

[Madman]

Yeah, taking it off the wall shouldn't be your first goal. You need to split the face off the wall plate first and that looks like you should pry/push from those bottom screws.

[RW99]

Yeah sorry, face plate is my first goal. I think the screws got over fastened, so I cant get them out. They appear to be holding the face plate in place. Short of breaking it, I think I'm out of luck. But thank you for the help!

[Fuzz]

When in doubt, use a persuader(big hammer).

[woob]

For those of you who have done your own basement renovations, if you use any software to help with layout, plug/lighting locations, etcetc, what software did you use? Many thanks!

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by RW99

Ok thanks. I still cant even get the cover off. Tried prying with a flathead on the sides, tried up and down, no luck.

It's a forced air system. I think its a three stage based on the three fan speeds?

I think the 1st problem I have is how to remove it from the wall lol. Can't even find this brand online...

Did you remove the two phillips screws on the bottom of the thermostat before trying to pry off the face from below?

There plenty of non-smart thermostat options that should have an automatic AC/HVAC option. I am not really aware of any smart thermostats that do not have that feature (even the lite version of Nest/Ecobee should have it) so you shouldn't have to dish out for a full version of Nest/Ecobee unless you need more features than that.

Originally Posted by RW99

Yeah sorry, face plate is my first goal. I think the screws got over fastened, so I cant get them out. They appear to be holding the face plate in place. Short of breaking it, I think I'm out of luck. But thank you for the help!

If the screws aren't stripped, you either want to get a proper full sized screw driver with grips, or carefully use a drill to torque it loose. If you must "break it" try and strategically break the plastic around the screws below so you can either reverse what you've done, or leave the thermostat there while you figure out your replacement?

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by woob

For those of you who have done your own basement renovations, if you use any software to help with layout, plug/lighting locations, etcetc, what software did you use? Many thanks!

I didn't do my own work, but I did design it myself. I didn't use software, but when I was planning it, I used sidewalk chalk on the concrete to help envision where things were to go (rooms, walls, distance from TV, angle of light etc.), so I could see and determine whether certain dimensions seemed practical (ie: Room size or furniture that would go in), location of plugs, special wiring etc. Then I did some sketching on grid paper.

This visualization of lines on the floor helped immensely with chats with the contractor who suggested improvements on certain things, then sketched the design independently of me and sent it to the city for building permit approval.

The chalk lines helped immensely at first to get the contractor and grunts to get off to a blazing start, but things started going stupid and sideways once the grunts put the hardwood down and started getting lazy on the finishing (by just doing things and not referring to the blue prints nor asking their boss).

[GGG]

Originally Posted by woob

For those of you who have done your own basement renovations, if you use any software to help with layout, plug/lighting locations, etcetc, what software did you use? Many thanks!

Painters tape on the floor and string halfway up to simulate walls and graph paper. For plug ins every 8 feet and on the 1st stud out of every corner. I’d say you can’t have too many plugs.

With graph paper you can make little cut outs. Beware of virtual computer models I find they make things appear to have more space then you will actually have because they in general look from an isometric or top view rather than at eye level. So if you do end up using software make sure it has a way of looking from eye level that you can walk around in.

[TorqueDog]

I feel like I already know the answer, but I'm going to ask in case I've missed something. I've got a detached double garage (~528 sq-ft) and I'd like to find a way to keep it heated in the winter. It certainly doesn't have to be room temperature, but if I could keep it +5 deg. C or higher, that'd be nice. The garage walls and door are insulated, and I found that the garage was routinely 10 degrees or warmer than the outside temperature, with the worst being that -30 period last winter, the garage was measuring around -18 degrees inside.

Now the challenges: I don't have a 240V in there, and I don't have a gas line run to it, those are future projects that just aren't in the cards for a short term resolution.

What options do I have in accomplishing keeping the garage above freezing in the winter? Dumb electric heater on an outlet thermostat? Electric heater with a built-in thermostat? All of them are limited to 1,500 watts anyway, is that just going to be an absurd electric bill and poor performance?

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

I feel like I already know the answer, but I'm going to ask in case I've missed something. I've got a detached double garage (~528 sq-ft) and I'd like to find a way to keep it heated in the winter. It certainly doesn't have to be room temperature, but if I could keep it +5 deg. C or higher, that'd be nice. The garage walls and door are insulated, and I found that the garage was routinely 10 degrees or warmer than the outside temperature, with the worst being that -30 period last winter, the garage was measuring around -18 degrees inside.

Now the challenges: I don't have a 240V in there, and I don't have a gas line run to it, those are future projects that just aren't in the cards for a short term resolution.

What options do I have in accomplishing keeping the garage above freezing in the winter? Dumb electric heater on an outlet thermostat? Electric heater with a built-in thermostat? All of them are limited to 1,500 watts anyway, is that just going to be an absurd electric bill and poor performance?

Something like this?

https://www.amazon.ca/Delonghi-Style...1315108&sr=8-5

It's basically a portable electric baseboard heater with a fan built in. I've used something like this to keep my garage warm before during a reno. With the fan on, I found within 20-30 mins there was a noticeable difference in temperature on really cold days. With the fan off, it was excruciatingly slow to keep the garage warm (barely notice a temp difference after an hour).

Because I did it during the reno before I moved in, I don't have a baseline in terms of differences in electricity usage before and after, but I don't recall being blown away by the electricity bill.

I also acquired something similar to this for my basement for my home office and it constantly surprises me how quickly it can heat up an area.

https://www.amazon.ca/Heat-Storm-HS-...316954&sr=8-10


No idea if IR heaters are better or worse in these conditions than an electric panel heater in terms of heating speed and electricity usage though. I also think there's a huge discrepancy in feeling heat due to the fact this one sends heat out parallel to the ground and I can blow it in my general direction vs the Delonghi sends heat upwards and as such as sorta perform a pseudo convection. I also dunno if it's great for a vehicle to have direct heat blasted (ie: The IR heater) at it directly vs the Delonghi which will not blast heat directly at the vehicle.

[TorqueDog]

I like that Delonghi baseboard style.

I have considered oil heaters too, but I wonder if it'll take too long to warm the garage up again when the overhead door is opened to remove a vehicle.

[Ducay]

A forced air solution (heater with a fan) will help circulate the air better, sure, but I don't think it would be measurably different than the oil heater in recovering the temperature after the door is opened. First, the small fans on those heaters are nothing compared to an actual forced air furnace, so the circulation from them is pretty minimal. And most importantly, remember, the bulk of the heating after the door opens is going to be from the radiant heat of everything in the garage (and the garage itself), not from the heater itself. The bulk of the warm air in the garage is going to be lost either way.

Personally I would go with whatever option makes the most cost/efficiency sense, and then if needed, add a cheap oscillating fan if circulation becomes an issue.