This is the front before and after, I've done more since this picture was taken, but it's a fair representation. We bought the place as a renter, but kinda got carried away with the reno’s and we moved in 6 months ago. It's about 30 minutes walk to the city and has 2 cafe's within 5 minutes walk.
So I'm moving into a 100 year old house with original windows and they are of course sticky as hell. It's hot and humid and they must be really swollen because a lot of them don't give at all. Anyone got any tips on getting them open? I've got some candle wax to put on the tracks but I don't know how that's going to help when the window won't budge a fraction of an inch.
Have you checked to make sure they aren't painted shut? Both on the inside or the outside? If they are they'll be really difficult to open. Get a utility knife and score around the edges.
Bingo. I thought it was the humidity because they opened fine a week ago when I was first checking out the place but the cheap ass landlord hired some stoners to paint the entire exterior in the time I wasn't here. They sealed most of our windows shut the bastards.
I purchased a home with a basement that was finished by the previous owner - it is a concrete floor with carpeting laid over it. Some time after I moved in, the waterproofing along one of the basement walls stopped working well, leading to regular water intrusion into part of the basement. After a repeated soaking, I determined that my only move was to remove the carpet that had been wet (approx 200 sq.ft.), as it was ruined and leaving it there would only trap moisture and encourage mold. Since that time, I cleaned off the concrete floor, including removal of the carpet glue and the carpet tack strips. I've also had the exterior waterproofing redone, and once I'm sure that no more water is going to come into the basement, I will install flooring over the concrete. I am leaning toward using the same type of bamboo floor which was installed on the main floor of the house. Question 1: how hard is it to install an engineered wood floor over concrete? I've never done something like this before, but I watched a Lowe's how-to video and it didn't seem all that difficult. For the purposes of this question, assume that the slab is flat enough to require no planing/leveling, and that I would need to rent a circular saw. Question 2: Should I strongly consider any other flooring option, such as a tile floor? To my mind, the disadvantage of tile is that it would be far colder in the winter than wood flooring.
If you go with any type of wood flooring, especially engineered wood, you need to make sure that it's approved by the manufacturer for your specific application. When I was looking, I remember most of them specifically warning against installation in basements or over concrete floors because concrete causes a lot of moisture problems which swells and ruins the flooring. All of that waterproofing was only done to the walls, not the underside of the floor. Moisture can still wick through the concrete floor. The products that are designed for that type of application usually have some very specific, sometimes expensive, installation procedures that have to be followed exactly, or your floor will end up ruined, and the warranty void. If you're installing wood floor, don't use a circular saw. Rent a radial arm saw, or a sliding miter saw. Those will keep your cuts nice and straight. Also stock up on blades, engineered wood dulls blades amazingly fast. If you go with a tile floor, you can install underlayment designed to insulate the tile from the concrete floor. It will still be cold, but not any worse than tile would be on an upper floor.
I'm a big fan of the bamboo floor. I would look into floor sealants, I'm sure that for a few hundred you could find something that will give you peace of mind. If your worried about more damage and have the space buy several extra planks, it will mean you can replace a small section with a perfect colour match. You could also look at commercial vinal, there are some surprisingly cool products available now. And buy a sliding miter saw, so fucking handy, makes every project 100% easier.
Anyone have experience using an outdoor wood furnace? I'm thinking of adding one to heat an outbuilding and my garage but the model that's available (at an equipment auction) can heat 10,000sqft so I'm also thinking about piping it into my house too. My one issue is that I want to retain my oil heat in the house as well since won't be able to stock the furnace all the time. Thanks for any thoughts/opinions/advice
I was going to do something similar to a garage, but I didn't because my house insurance would have been totally fucked. It was enough of a change to the heating that the policy was going to consider the majority of the house and structures to be wood heated, and was going to raise my policy by almost $7k per year as a result. (They consider primary wood heat to be a bad and dangerous thing).
Wow. We get tax rebates and shit for using wood heat and since it's an outdoor unit (48ft min) away from the house it doesn't change the insurance. Unless of course I want to insure the furnace since it's technically a building.
It's because they're a bunch of hippie socialists in BC. I bet in Alberta the'd encourage it and give you a hunting license so that you could bag a moose head to mount over it.
Anybody know anything about fixing holes in poured concrete foundations? On the eve of my brand-new drywall getting finished, the carpenter discovered a place behind the old drywall that is still leaking. I pulled off a 2x4 panel, pulled away the insulation and vapour barrier, and discovered what appear to be three filled holes: The filling is almost like grout - very hard and doesn't easily chip away. However, judging from the stains running down the wall, this is where it's coming from. Question is: how do I fix it, cheap? I will not excavate, and I'd like very much to only remove this portion of the drywall. I suspect at some point that a different water service came in to the house, since this is directly above my present water meter. Thoughts and suggestions are most appreciated.
Can't be done, in my opinion. Concrete is porous, and it's leaking from the outside. Only way to stop it is by fixing the external vapor barrier. Otherwise the concrete will become saturated and it'll leak through wherever it's able. I'm no expert though... Just worked concrete for a few summers.
If you can't peel'n'stick the outside are of the foundation with Blueskin or the like, you may have to call in a foundation specialist to give you an epoxy injection (I don't know the process, but I do know it's very effective). It works like none other, and they'll no doubt warranty it for you. It's either that or put a messy clump of concrete (with mesh reinforcement) over the shitty patch job, which probably won't work for you AT ALL.
You can spend many times the value of your house making the foundation walls waterproof, but the only guarantee you'll have is that if the water is pushing up against the wall, it will find its way in. Somehow, somewhere, it will find its way in. Water proofing on this side of the leak will stop the water coming through for the short term. That being anywhere between 3 months to several years, depending on the weather. The first solution is to locate where water is coming down on the outside and above the ground. If your gutter is broken and you have no gutters leading the water away from the house you need to rectify this. Just watch during a heavy or a long rain. If the water is splashing down up against the wall, or not being carried as far away as possible or reasonable, then you fix it. The second and better solution is to fix the excavation and fill around the house so that water drains away quickly and easily.
Flooded the front of the house with a hose this weekend; if you can believe it, none of those patched holes leak. One of the form ties rusted through and a tiny little dimple was the culprit. I filled it with basement concrete patch, and tomorrow I'll seal it with paint that's rated for hydrostatic pressure. I realize this is temporary, but I can't afford the $20 or $30k right now to excavate the perimeter and put in a weeping tile system.
I'm pretty hopeless when it comes to home repair stuff, but this thread helped me out in the past so I'll see what I get again. I want to install a ceiling fan in my bedroom where there has never been one before. I'm sure I can figure out the physical installation easily enough, but I'm more than willing to listen to any advice on that. My real question is concerning the electrical aspect. My room (and where I want to install the fan) is directly below the attic, which I think would make this easier, but right now there's no electricity run up there. I've got no electrical experience, so is there any way I can get electricity up there myself, or do I definitely need to hire someone? I'm pretty good at executing things I'm unfamiliar with once I receive some direction, but I don't want to kill myself either. Any advice, pointers, and help is greatly appreciated.
I'm leaning towards hiring somebody. If there isn't already overhead lighting or any kind of power in the attic, you'll either have to run a new line from the box, or determine a circuit that can handle the draw from the fan and junction from that. Further, if you want a switch by the door, you have to run it down the wall, which if it's an insulated wall can be a bitch and a half. Any of your buddies any good with electrical work? It's not that complicated, but having a set of familiar eyes on the project is def recommended.
When you say there's no electricity up there, do you mean there are no lights and outlets in the attic, or are there actually no wires running anywhere up there? That would mean you have absolutely no overhead lights anywhere on that floor. If you do have some ceiling lights that are accessible from the attic, you can cut the wire going to the switch for that light and put a junction box there. You have to use the wire going from the main box to the switch, not between the switch and the light. It may be tied to other things too. Take the power from the junction box to the switch in the wall and then to the fan. If you have no overhead lights on that floor and there are no wires in the attic, you'll need to take the power off an outlet in the wall up to the attic, over to the switch, and then to the fan. Make sure you use wire that is rated for the circuit the fan will be on - typically 14 ga. for 15 amp and 12 ga. for 20 amp. Go ahead and buy Klein cutting/stripping pliers to strip the wires properly. They're about $20, but they will last you the rest of your life and you'll always have them for any electrical projects. Just keep them away from your wife because she'll try to cut something else with them and dull them. You can use a pocket knife to strip the wires, but you always nick the wires and may create a hot spot in it. It should go without saying to turn off the power to the circuit before you do any work, and use a meter to check that it's off. Even a cheap $10 meter is fine for checking that. When you mount the fan, make sure to either use a ceiling fan bracket that fits between the joists or use a 2x4 cut to fit between them. Don't try to install a ceiling box to the side of a joist. That's okay for a light but not for the weight of a fan. I used 2x4's screwed between the joists - no nails to work loose if the fan wobbles. The bottom of the ceiling box that the fan mounts to should be flush with or slightly recessed above the ceiling surface. Go to Lowes's or Home Depot or a hardware store and ask the electrical guys for help. If you don't understand something, ask them to explain it. Everyone has to learn things the first time. Unless his bedroom door opens directly to the outside, it's almost guaranteed to have no insulation.
Plumbing question.. Problem: My shower water doesn't get hot. It gets luke warm, which is just barely tolerable. The water in the sink next to the shower will get scalding hot. I've replaced the shower head with an awesome one that probably puts out 3 gpm or something, still not changing the temperature. This is the case for every shower in my house (3). I've turned up the water temperature in the water heater, and it doesn't help. Water all over the house gets scalding hot, just not the showers. I think they've installed some type of pussy device to keep me from enjoying my shower. Anyone ever had something like this? Is there any feasible way for me to fix this without shelling out to the plumber? I would rate my Bob Vila rating as a 0.7/10. I did install a shower head, which raised my score significantly.