Home Remodel: Do, Don'ts, Advice

[Flounder]

PEX is easy, the worst part will be working in the crawl space. I went to a local plumbing supply store instead of a big box, hoping it was a bit better quality. Think it was $100 for a good tubing cutter and the crimp tool for the bands they sold. Glad I’ve got them on hand, added lines over the years.

[Rideski]

Valid concerns. I looked into it when I did our last deck.

Have you ever stained your deck? Are you sure the chemicals aren’t getting tracked into your house?

The chemicals remaining after stain dries are in a whole different level than pesticides and antifungals.

[XXX-er]

Linoleum is a high-end product these days. People often conflate cheap-ass vinyl with linoleum (Marmoleum is linoleum), but they don't know what they are talking about. I would link it for you but since the very beginning of this thread you have been singing the praises of shitty engineered flooring products while denigrating time-tested materials, so I won't waste my time.

Also, your slate floors aren't waterproof. If you are regularly dumping water on them, you are probably getting whatever is underneath wet for extended periods of time.

I would disagree I have been singing the praises of shitty engineered wood exclusively

I would say its fine in this area of small DT 40yr old mostly starter homes , in a new high end house surrounded by a bunch of other highend houses by all means instal high end, you the reader are suposed to decide what is low end or what is high end

I'm not using slate to tile a swimming pool but its way more water resistant than warped hard wood

maybe some of you like sleeping in the wet spot but I'm not really hearing any ideas for handling the wet areas

suggest you wash the sand out of your shorts and don't get any of the water on the hardwood floors or any floor that can't handle the moisture

[liv2ski]

Flooring experts (I am a jong) I want to remove the carper from a rental and do some sort of wood looking flooring. Issue is, last time I tried this the installer said the laminate flooring would not work in the upstairs living room as the floor was not level. I was told it has a fairly large dip in one spot. Any suggestions?

[XXX-er]

anything but an enginered flooring product

[skaredshtles]

Linoleum.

[old_newguy]

The chemicals remaining after stain dries are in a whole different level than pesticides and antifungals.

I haven’t seen anything that indicates I should be overly concerned with the current generation of products. The older generation was pretty nasty. The deck will be sealed and stained with a typical product.

I don’t know. Have something I should look at that would change my mind? Not a hill I’m going to die on, I just haven’t seen anything in the MSDS or EPA (or Canadian equivalent) that makes me concerned.

[dunfree]

The chemicals remaining after stain dries are in a whole different level than pesticides and antifungals.

[dan_pdx]

Flooring experts (I am a jong) I want to remove the carper from a rental and do some sort of wood looking flooring. Issue is, last time I tried this the installer said the laminate flooring would not work in the upstairs living room as the floor was not level. I was told it has a fairly large dip in one spot. Any suggestions?

Do you know what's under the carpet? Any chance there's an existing wood floor that can be refinished? If not, I guess you need to fill in the dip with self leveling compound / self leveling underlayment, but I have zero experience with that, so I'll leave further advice to those who know what they're talking about.

[XXX-er]

I haven’t seen anything that indicates I should be overly concerned with the current generation of products. The older generation was pretty nasty. The deck will be sealed and stained with a typical product.

I don’t know. Have something I should look at that would change my mind? Not a hill I’m going to die on, I just haven’t seen anything in the MSDS or EPA (or Canadian equivalent) that makes me concerned.

whatever you do be very careful of linseed oil soaked rags I have seen the spontaneously combust very fast

[cspringsposer]

Flooring experts (I am a jong) I want to remove the carper from a rental and do some sort of wood looking flooring. Issue is, last time I tried this the installer said the laminate flooring would not work in the upstairs living room as the floor was not level. I was told it has a fairly large dip in one spot. Any suggestions?

A buddy of mine that owns more than a dozen rental units is switching to commerical grade LVT as carpets need replaced. Said it is insanely durable, waterproof and install is easy yourself or reasonable if hiring a contractor.

As far as the dip, as long as the subfloor is somewhat solid, you should be able to put self leveler in. Pretty much just pour it on the dip and it will fill and self level.

[XXX-er]

that doesnt sound like ^^ a time tested material ?

[climberevan]

Lots and lots of LVT is going in projects around here. I just did some custom cabinet work on a $350k refresh and they went LVT for the whole place. It's a great product if you get the nicer versions.

[dunfree]

whatever you do be very careful of linseed oil soaked rags I have seen the spontaneously combust very fast

boiled linseed oil rags. Without drying salts or actual boiling Linseed oil aka flaxseed oil, the hippie yuppie cooking stuff, generally drys too slow to produce enough heat.

[XXX-er]

we weren't making salad, these were the rags used to wipe off house stain, I don't remember the brand or anything but we thru them on a gravel DW after the wipe and watched them combust pretty quick on a hot day, i read something about boiled linseed oil curing and giving off heat, easy to goggle, something to be careful of

[Garbowski]

My sewer connection is about 4' off the ground in my basement. There is a utility sink and drain that go through the floor, but this house is 115 years old, and I can almost guarantee whoever installed it was mad at the next guy for some reason.

Should I forget about putting a bathroom down there? I know they have pump systems but I fear it will really cut into the steam shower budget to get a good one- if that even exists.

[GiantManta]

So have some lower flows on some faucets and showers since we moved in but not all. So started pulling valves and aerators and found this on the new shower I just put in which was source of boss lady frustrations. Buddy says this is hard water issue and calcium build up and need whole house water softener. Anyone else seen this issue - seem right/. If this the case seems like I’ll be cleaning valves for a while as it will take some time to get rid of or reduce calcium bits in-the system or will a flush at each faucet/shower get rid of most of it. Thanks for the help!

[Skidog]

So have some lower flows on some faucets and showers since we moved in but not all. So started pulling valves and aerators and found this on the new shower I just put in which was source of boss lady frustrations. Buddy says this is hard water issue and calcium build up and need whole house water softener. Anyone else seen this issue - seem right/. If this the case seems like I’ll be cleaning valves for a while as it will take some time to get rid of or reduce calcium bits in-the system or will a flush at each faucet/shower get rid of most of it. Thanks for the help!

Looks like calcium to me. Either you'll be replacing/cleaning fixtures a lot, or get a softener. We had one put in during remodel. Wasn't too big a hit. Gotta fill with salt yourself. I think an earlier poster, in this thread, did a non salt softener recently. Search back a couple pages.

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[GiantManta]

Thanks much -will search for that post.

[tuco]

So have some lower flows on some faucets and showers since we moved in but not all. So started pulling valves and aerators and found this on the new shower I just put in which was source of boss lady frustrations. Buddy says this is hard water issue and calcium build up and need whole house water softener. Anyone else seen this issue - seem right/. If this the case seems like I’ll be cleaning valves for a while as it will take some time to get rid of or reduce calcium bits in-the system or will a flush at each faucet/shower get rid of most of it. Thanks for the help!

Might be a good idea to flush your water heater too.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Thanks much -will search for that post.

Yeah, that was me over in the own hands thread. I installed a whole house conditioner system (along with new pressure tank, pre filter, carbon filter, UV filter and water heater) to replace our old softerner system. I did it because adding salt to the tank, and the sometimes bridging were a pain in the tookis. Also I've been good about eliminating added sodium in my diet over the last 5 years to keep the BP down, so I figured I'd might as well get it out of the water. The nightly brine flush was a waste of water, too.

So far so good. The water isn't slimey soft anymore and the soap doesn't suds up like before, but the dishes and glasses aren't turning white in the dishwasher as they would if the softener was out of salt, and the water tastes fantastic now.

[climberevan]

Should I forget about putting a bathroom down there? I know they have pump systems but I fear it will really cut into the steam shower budget to get a good one- if that even exists.

Macerating toilets are kind of miraculous. I've put in several and none have ever had a problem, including one that deals with an entire kitchen, laundry, and bath in an illegal AirBnB in a downstairs apartment in San Fran. I just spoke to a client who replaced one after 15 years of trouble free service. I haven't checked prices lately but they were only like $1000 a few years ago.

[climberevan]

The nightly brine flush was a waste of water, too

Your softener should not need to flush nightly. Weekly, maybe.... Who did the setup on that thing? They are programmable to accommodate the size of the softener, hardness of your water, and amount of water you're using.

My research indicates that truly hard water can only be dealt with using brine-based softeners, and the amount of sodium in the water is so minimal that you'd have to be on a very strict zero sodium diet to worry about it. Is there another technology that isn't BS marketing out there now?

[XXX-er]

Might be a good idea to flush your water heater too.

and while its empty instal a catch pan with a drain pipe to floor drain for when the water heater kacks

they are really cheap

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Very old system, small resin bed, very hard water, high usage in summer watering plants.

Softeners are a pain in the ass, sodium is bad, so far so good.