The Home Improvement Thread

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by Raekwon

For reference here is the quote we received from Bender Hall

Details: Supply and install 219 square feet of PVC deck at the rear of the dwelling and install 4 stairs including concrete piles 4ft depth. Supply and install 48.5 lineal feet 42 5/8" hi black aluminum railing on the deck including each side of the stairs. Pressure treated 2x10 joidts, 2x10x3 laminated beam and 5 1/4 PVC decking. (please see attached warrenty information )

$10,100.00



After pricing it out and the fact its a basic rectangle deck I decided to build it myself, should be interesting.

Yikes, 10 Gs and they’re using joidts. Can you trust their “warrenty”?

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

How do people feel about electric cordless mowers for a medium to small lawn? I'm considering getting electric because the vibrations from my gas mower are really killing my wrist (office worker whining sorry)

I’ve had a small Ryobi one for 5 years now. It works excellent. Wouldn’t get one that didn’t come with two batteries as it’s nice to have that extra just in case to finish up and it increases the odds I have one charged and ready to go.

I have a 25’x120’ lot with small century house with a fairly deep boulevard and I can almost always do front/back/boulevard without depleting one battery. Quiet, light and takes up little space.

[Hockeyguy15]

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/ryo...ery/1001072449

I have the prior version of this one, I think the only difference is it's more green than black and not self propelled.

Works just fine on our normal suburban yard, I have 0 complaints. I also picked up a Ryobi trimmer so I could have 2 batteries. I can mow and trim on the same battery.

[puckedoff]

For the vibration, I would check that your mower blade isn't way out of balance. That would likely be the cheapest and easiest fix.

[Engine09]

Have a question for those who have tiled their own shower. Can't decide right now.

Buy a fibreglass base or all tile including floor also. Any reason I'm not thinking of to to go one way or the other?

[woob]

Has anyone worked with this style of garden wall block? I have a small wall I'd like to build in front of my garage and am thinking 2-3 rows of this. Are they easy to work with?

[Fuzz]

The biggest thing is base prep and drainage. One winter and frost heaves can destroy it. So you want to lay down some road crush, and possibly a french drain, or gravel. I did mine with Allan block jr's. You have to fill those blocks with gravel. So depends how high you need.

[psicodude]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

How do people feel about electric cordless mowers for a medium to small lawn? I'm considering getting electric because the vibrations from my gas mower are really killing my wrist (office worker whining sorry)

I have an EGO mower from Home Depot and it's great. While it's not as powerful as a gas mower, it has more than enough power for normal people use. The battery is usually around 20% after mowing the front and back of our average size suburban yard. An advantage it has over gas (beyond the obvious not using gas) is that it folds up nicely and can be stored vertically or even hanging up. It's light enough that my wife is comfortable using it. The battery charges faster than I assumed, maybe 30 minutes to full.

The cons would be that the battery will likely only last 5 years (guess) and that the battery is heavy and somewhat difficult to remove from the mower. I've also had to slow down the mowing speed if the grass is especially long or damp.

[Madman]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

How do people feel about electric cordless mowers for a medium to small lawn? I'm considering getting electric because the vibrations from my gas mower are really killing my wrist (office worker whining sorry)

Bought this for our trailer lot and its fantastic.

https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/w...1321p.html#srp

Batteries last multiple cuts, tons of power and the biggest thing is the main body is metal and not plastic.

[speede5]

Originally Posted by Engine09

Have a question for those who have tiled their own shower. Can't decide right now.

Buy a fibreglass base or all tile including floor also. Any reason I'm not thinking of to to go one way or the other?

Depends on your budget and preferences. I've done a couple for people with the fibreglass base and they look great, nice and clean and easy to install and maintain.

All tile (IF DONE RIGHT) looks more elegant as there's no stark white between the tile walls and the floor. I say done right not regarding the underlayment or anything, but in reference to the tile layout. You can buy a Wedi kit which gives you a great base for a tile floor, but if you make your cuts in the wrong place or space your tiles oddly it can look like complete crap. The time and effort spent laying out your tile needs to be taken seriously.

Honestly for what its worth the nice glass wall and white base shower kits you can buy at the home improvement stores are the best way to go for the home handyman.

Edit: Also, just a tip, I've switched from using Kerdi membrane to a roll on membrane for my tile installs. It's easy to work with and works well. If you aren't going with cement board or Wedi it's something to consider.

[Ducay]

Interesting to hear on the Kerdi vs. roll on (Assume you're talking RedGuard or similar).

Did my shower with Kerdi couple years back; while a bit pricey, I liked that it all worked together and they have great base & drain options. People who still go with poured concrete bases blow my mind. So much water absorption with concrete bases - grout and tile looks way better long term with a non-porous base since it can actually dry out between uses, rather than being permanently saturated with a concrete base.


And your point on tile layout/etc is bang on. I hired out the tile setting for the entire bathroom to a guy who was basically the Michaelangelo of tiles. Slow as molasses but thats what you need with tile laying. It really is an art & science knowing where to start, where to cut, ensuring grout lines and tile junctions line up across the different planes and avoiding awkward off cuts and small pieces. Any monkey or DIYer can lay tile, but its that knowledge that takes it from looking OK to looking professional. Takes years and years master.

[Shazam]

RedGuard has been around for decades and is proven. It's also dirt cheap. Kerdi works well but is horribly expensive.

[speede5]

Originally Posted by Ducay

Interesting to hear on the Kerdi vs. roll on (Assume you're talking RedGuard or similar).

I'm talking the kerdi membrane not the actual kerdi backer boards where you just seal the joints and tape over the fasteners. I've never done the kerdi backer board but it's a great product.

Most times i'm going over drywall and the roll on is so much nicer.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by speede5

I'm talking the kerdi membrane not the actual kerdi backer boards where you just seal the joints and tape over the fasteners. I've never done the kerdi backer board but it's a great product.

Most times i'm going over drywall and the roll on is so much nicer.

Ya I was talking Kerdi membrane too. The Kerdi boards you basically end up sealing so much of the board anyways that it doesn't really offer much for advantages over sheetrock +Kerdi membrane.

[bossy22]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

Feels like the engine. It's an older mower and it takes a while for my hands to stop being numb after using them. Gloves don't help.

KMS tools has the 36v (18x2) makita plus a free blower and an extra 2 5ah batteries and charger on sale for $599.95.

[mrkajz44]

My wife and I haven't really done any renos in our lifetime - our first home was a newly built condo and we've since moved to a house that is about 20 years old, but only lived there a few years.

We are now looking at doing some projects, but don't really know where to start. I know we should get people in to do estimates and such, but there are so many companies out there and I've heard tons of horror stories about bad contractors, so we're finding it difficult to even pick someone to come in for estimates.

Any tips for us reno virgins?

[Fuzz]

Don't pick the cheapest?


Depends on the project, but Homestars made it really easy for me to get some bids in on eavestroughs. Lots of reviews to look through as well. Obviously depends on the project, but I was able to just describe it and had 4 or 5 bids in a day. So it might be good for your smaller stuff.

[Wormius]

Speaking of getting bids - we need to get our windows and main entry door replaced. Any recommendations for who to use or who to stay away from? What kind of work should we expect as far as replacing trim and what not? Does a windows company like Gienow just do the windows and that's it, or will they fix up the trim, stucco, etc?

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Don't pick the cheapest?


Depends on the project, but Homestars made it really easy for me to get some bids in on eavestroughs. Lots of reviews to look through as well. Obviously depends on the project, but I was able to just describe it and had 4 or 5 bids in a day. So it might be good for your smaller stuff.

Who did you end up using? I need some eaves installed and some existing ones re-routed.

Originally Posted by Wormius

Speaking of getting bids - we need to get our windows and main entry door replaced. Any recommendations for who to use or who to stay away from? What kind of work should we expect as far as replacing trim and what not? Does a windows company like Gienow just do the windows and that's it, or will they fix up the trim, stucco, etc?

We've had all our windows and door replaced through Gienow and have been very happy. As with all windows, they're a pricey reno, but well worth it. They handle the whole thing, including removal, install, installing new trim, and (if needed) they can do small patches on stucco, but generally thats not needed (of the 20 windows, only the largest one lost a 2x2 chunk of stucco that they patched.) All you need to do is paint the new trim inside.

[Fuzz]

These guys:


https://homestars.com/companies/2858...eriors-roofing


Second cheapest quote, but more importantly were able to come out a few days later.