The Home Improvement Thread

[justkidding]

Yes there is a sensor in the floor hooked up to the thermostat. It was reading 14 deg this morning and after about 3 hours it was reading 17.5 and didn’t get any higher.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Man that's great info to consider, thank you yet again. Feel free to share any and all knowledge when it comes to shop building Bandsaws, dust extraction, drill press etc haha

Bandsaw: totally depends on what you're building. I have a passable 18" one (made by a company that no longer exists, but basically the same as a Rikon), but it's always been a bit annoying to keep adjusted and aligned properly. If you don't see much wide resawing (6+ inches) in your future, a good quality 14" one might be all you'll ever need. Sometimes they pop up used for a good price.

Dust extraction: Cyclones are great (I have a Clearvue one), but they're hideously expensive. But anything is better than nothing, so get whatever you can afford or even just use a good vacuum if that's all you can justify. Too much dust (or pretty any MDF dust) is awful for your health and super annoying to work with.

And if you see yourself doing cabinetry or doing finish carpentry type stuff, consider a track saw. I have a Makita one and it's great. I get cleaner and more accurate cuts in plywood with it than I do on my cabinet saw. It's not crucial if you're mainly doing solid wood furniture though.

Also probably the most important thing for anyone doing woodworking:

USE THE GUARDS AND SAFETY EQUIPMENT THAT COMES WITH YOUR TOOLS!

A lot of guards (particularly table saw ones) can be a little annoying and most people just throw them away, but that's an awful idea. Even seasoned pros make mistakes and end up maiming themselves. My advice is either get used to using the stock ones or replace them with something better. Since riving knives have mandated, the guards on new saws are a lot better, but if you have an older saw it's probably pretty clunky. But don't throw it away, there's usually an easy way to modify it to you can pop it on and off as needed for non-through cuts or dados.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by justkidding

Yes there is a sensor in the floor hooked up to the thermostat. It was reading 14 deg this morning and after about 3 hours it was reading 17.5 and didn’t get any higher.

Does your thermostat allow you to switch to an air temp sensor instead?

I found that mine works better that way. It was a few years ago when I installed it so I don't recall exactly what my reasoning was. I believe mine did get up to an ok temperature with the floor sensor, but kicked on and off more frequently than when on air temp. It now stays on for fewer but longer periods.

Worth a try if the option exists in the thermostat.

Is there any other heat source in the space (ie. furnace register)?

[justkidding]

I’m not sure about the air temperature sensor but I will look in to that.
There is a heat register in there, too.

What temperature is yours running at? Do you keep it on all the time?
My concern is that I can only feel a tiny bit of warmth and it never shuts off, keeps running and seems to top out at 17.5 degrees.

[Slava]

I’ve got a window that I’d like to frost and it appears there are a couple ways to go about this (spray or a film). Has anyone done this and what’s recommended?

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by opendoor

I did woodworking/cabinetmaking part-time through university (more in the summers) and a bit after. I was totally fortunate to have nearly free shop space at the time, so I was able to set up a decent shop pretty early on and run with very little overhead. It was fun, but I never really had any illusions about doing it full time as a career, so I just focused on building up a shop and then eventually slowly phased out of that and moved on to other stuff.

My hat's off to anyone that can make a living doing that, particularly in their own small shop making high quality stuff. You've got to be very talented, a good salesperson/businessperson, and a hard worker to pull it off.

I have no illusions about turning this into a business. In fact, I purposely won’t. The minute you turn your hobby into a profession is when you start to hate it.

I just love wood working, and I want to get better and better at it. It’s about the journey and not the destination for me.

Would be nice to sell a piece here and there to help justify costs to the wife though

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by justkidding

I’m not sure about the air temperature sensor but I will look in to that.
There is a heat register in there, too.

What temperature is yours running at? Do you keep it on all the time?
My concern is that I can only feel a tiny bit of warmth and it never shuts off, keeps running and seems to top out at 17.5 degrees.

Depending on the thermostat, some floor heating systems have max temp limits that are low (like 20 degrees, not 17) as they can be installed directly over wood subfloors. That said, 17 is extremely low so probably not cutoff related.

Couple thoughts:
- How have you confirmed it is running all the time when it holds at 17.5? Possibility it isn't running all the time?

- If it is indeed running all the time and capping out at 17.5, its either woefully undersized or indeed heating the slab and earth below it. A thermal break (like subfloor panels or the insulated tile membranes like insulated-Ditra) is probably what should have been installed ideally, but it could just be a case that the slab/earth is still acting like a heat sink and eventually it will get to a saturation point. Hopefully then some more of the heat will remain in the tile/room.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by Slava

I’ve got a window that I’d like to frost and it appears there are a couple ways to go about this (spray or a film). Has anyone done this and what’s recommended?

Film works great, done a few windows and it looks just as good as our pinhead glass windows.

Just make sure everything’s clean including the frame and sills. Any dirt will get sucked up when squeegee-ing.

[justkidding]

Definitely running all the time you can here the relay click on and off when you lower and raise the temperature setting.

I’m thinking like you that it should have had a thermal break installed.

What do I do now? Leave it in for days and see if it heats up? Will that cost me a fortune in electricity? What it it never heats up? Rip it out and start again?

[81MC]

Originally Posted by Slava

I’ve got a window that I’d like to frost and it appears there are a couple ways to go about this (spray or a film). Has anyone done this and what’s recommended?

Literally just did a custom door like this, here’s what I learned

The ‘spray-on’ stuff is kind of cool, looks sort of close enough to frosted glass, but isn’t very cost effective for large windows, and doesn’t offer a large amount of light filtering. Easily removable with a prepared razor.

You can get glass etching creme (Lee Valley, Kensington Art Supply, probably many other places). Works well, best suited to smaller surfaces from a value perspective, gives that nice etched glass look and feel.

For a large window, just get some window film. The static cling type from Amazon is okay, offers mid-level light filtering and it easy enough to apply, the stuff from Home Depot is significantly less.

Honestly, if it’s large project or you want to really have a nice result - 3M Fasara window films are the way to go. Dozens of options for light transmission, sheen, texture etc, and the real professional products. 1 yard x 60” should run you between $40-60 from ND Graphics. It’s the stuff industry uses, has the nicest finish and is cheaper per square foot.
I used the ‘Milky Milky’ on a glass bathroom door, and from 8 inches away you don’t get any actual shadowing through the window. It’s one of their most opaque films.

[Slava]

^thanks for all the info! That’s awesome!

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by justkidding

Definitely running all the time you can here the relay click on and off when you lower and raise the temperature setting.

I’m thinking like you that it should have had a thermal break installed.

What do I do now? Leave it in for days and see if it heats up? Will that cost me a fortune in electricity? What it it never heats up? Rip it out and start again?

Ya I would keep at it and see what happens (given its already installed, doesn't really hurt to give it a week or two tp see how it fares). I'd also talk to the thermostat/cable manufacturer and see if they have any thoughts as well. Their technical lines are usually quite helpful and they'll know the product well. Would also talk to the contractor to get their thoughts on why one wasn't installed, could have been a reason.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by opendoor

That's actually a pretty common problem, at least if I'm understanding things correctly. Here are a few threads on a plumbing forum about it:

https://terrylove.com/forums/index.p...-filled.38737/
https://terrylove.com/forums/index.p...er-down.43103/
https://terrylove.com/forums/index.p...is-open.74920/

Basically, the issue is usually too much restriction from the valve to the tub spout, which means water enters the valve faster than it leaves the spout, and it then finds its way up to the shower head. That can be caused by using pex pipe from the valve to the tub (the inside diameter is usually too small to deliver the right volume to a tub spout), some kind of blockage, or something wrong with the tub spout. And theoretically at least, too much water pressure/volume could also cause that. So if that's the most likely issue, you could always put a pressure reducing valve on the main line if it's too high.

I don't think it would be a leaky diverter valve as mentioned above; that would normally cause the opposite problem (water coming out the tub spout when you're showering). In the standard shower/bath valve setup, the only thing really keeping water from coming out the shower head when filling the tub is gravity and lack of pressure due to tub spout's flow; the valve doesn't really come into play.

It is probably using Pex to the tub spout, but I am wondering if this will be a problem in the future and if I should bother to rectify it? I think the only way I could fix it properly would be to go in through the wall behind the bathroom, rather than removing tile. Or I could get a longer shower head that extends further to the tub so when it does drip, the water lands in the tub and not onto the edge of the tub onto the floor.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Slava

I’ve got a window that I’d like to frost and it appears there are a couple ways to go about this (spray or a film). Has anyone done this and what’s recommended?

I usually use Gila window film that sticks on (not cling) and I've literally installed like hundreds of feet worth of the stuff saving my business thousands of dollars in installation costs (I think it was like $50-100 a window installation cost and they charge a margin on the film). Life skills wise, I'd rate it a "do our own oil change" level of difficulty. This same skill can be used to install window tint in cars, although I haven't attempted this yet.

Gila's's rice paper one looks nice and it's one I've installed before, but maybe you have a different "frost" look in mind. IMO it's cost effective and relatively simple to do (although it does take a little extra time to do it nice and proper if you're a stickler for detail). I think it's around $25-35 for a decent amount depending on length and you can get it at Lowes, Home Depot etc. and sign up for their newsletter to save $10 on it if you've never done that before.

The trick is to basically clean the window, then use a spray bottle with water and baby shampoo solution in it and soak the window (or use windex, or Gila window application liquid). You spray both sides generously, squeegee the liquid to the side so there's no air bubbles trapped between the film and window, then use a sharp utility knife (I recommend Olfa) to trim the film perfectly to the shape of the window. That way it's a perfect fit to the window with no bubbles.

The reason you want to spray so much stuff on the window is to create a layer of liquid that doesn't allow the glue on the film to stick to the window. You spray on both sides so you reduce the risk you scratch the film when you push out the air bubbles. Once in position, the sun evaporates the water and the film will stay properly in position due to the glue.

One of my early mistakes was not realizing that a good application of window film is based more on being trimmed to perfection and not applied to perfection. This meant I re-positioned the film several times thinking it would look better rather than just focusing on no bubbles and trimming it to perfection. The other mistake was not enough liquid on the window and the film can stick before I push out all the bubbles. I usually will have to mop up a bit of liquid on the floor after I'm done applying the film.

You might want to budget in wasting a single sheet of film for "educational purposes" ($20-30 worth of film), but once you've done it right once, it's pretty straight forward. I watched the Gila application video and just followed it. By the 3rd film application attempt, I was pretty happy with how well it looked and I considered it a learned skill at that point.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00...A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB

There's a video in the product link above that's around 8 mins, but explains how to install the film. IMO I would avoid static cling stuff and always go with adhesive.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by 81MC

Honestly, if it’s large project or you want to really have a nice result - 3M Fasara window films are the way to go. Dozens of options for light transmission, sheen, texture etc, and the real professional products. 1 yard x 60” should run you between $40-60 from ND Graphics. It’s the stuff industry uses, has the nicest finish and is cheaper per square foot.
I used the ‘Milky Milky’ on a glass bathroom door, and from 8 inches away you don’t get any actual shadowing through the window. It’s one of their most opaque films.

Neat. I'll have to take a peek into this. I usually use Gila but I might take a peek at this stuff to see how different it looks.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Wormius

It is probably using Pex to the tub spout, but I am wondering if this will be a problem in the future and if I should bother to rectify it? I think the only way I could fix it properly would be to go in through the wall behind the bathroom, rather than removing tile. Or I could get a longer shower head that extends further to the tub so when it does drip, the water lands in the tub and not onto the edge of the tub onto the floor.

I have one of these:
https://www.homedepot.ca/product/moe...rn-/1001238359


It's great for cleaning the shower area, too. But the big loop might also prevent your dripping issue. It would certianly get past the tub lip.

[Wormius]

For fixing drywall on an inside corner - small short crack, is it fine to put new tape in and feather the mud out? Or would it be better to remove the old paper and tape from the area and start kind of fresh? I am worried about it maybe looking too bulky.

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by Wormius

For fixing drywall on an inside corner - small short crack, is it fine to put new tape in and feather the mud out? Or would it be better to remove the old paper and tape from the area and start kind of fresh? I am worried about it maybe looking too bulky.

Crack from settling or expansion and contraction with temperature changes? I have never had luck with keeping them at bay with mud but a paintable crack filler has worked for me in the past.

Anything smaller than like half an inch wide doesn’t need tape.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Barnes

Crack from settling or expansion and contraction with temperature changes? I have never had luck with keeping them at bay with mud but a paintable crack filler has worked for me in the past.

Anything smaller than like half an inch wide doesn’t need tape.

The cracks were from some water damage from a roof leak that was rectified a while ago. It’s not very wide, but since I plan on doing some interior painting, I’d like to fix it while I am patching up some other things.

[Ducay]

A quick pic makes it a lot easier to assist.