Home Remodel: Do, Don'ts, Advice

[Supermoon]

Could rent one for like $30. Would take you an hour max for that size

[Core Shot]

If you don't want go spend $500 for a quality roto hammer they sell cheap Chinese ones at Harbor freight. Might be enough for your job.

Harbor freight kills it. Not ideal for daily use. But for occasional jobs it’s awesome.
I got a Hilti demo chisel from father in law. Already had a hazard fraught cheapi. Was chiseling through 12” concrete wall to install a window and the cheapo was the better tool.

I think they’re around a hundo and would pop that slate tile quick.

[Djongo Unchained]

CG - re: pulling up pavers...it can be a bitch if there's no wiggle room. If there's a gap, try to shape a hanger and get beneath it. Best case scenario is to get 2 beneath it and shimmy it up.
But I tend to put a masonry blade in the circular saw and score an x across the top then sledge it to bring out parts. It's fast and pretty easy really, although that's to replace damaged ones usually.
I hate dealing with this BS because they were out of a color.

Izzat 6 skylights on that lid? dang.

[Timberridge]

CG - re: pulling up pavers...it can be a bitch if there's no wiggle room. If there's a gap, try to shape a hanger and get beneath it. Best case scenario is to get 2 beneath it and shimmy it up.
But I tend to put a masonry blade in the circular saw and score an x across the top then sledge it to bring out parts. It's fast and pretty easy really, although that's to replace damaged ones usually.
I hate dealing with this BS because they were out of a color.

Izzat 6 skylights on that lid? dang.

Really it's only a problem getting the first one out, no? Take a cold chisel and blast it to bits then just replace when done.

[snoqpass]

Oh, with the state of the remodel I figured you were talking vinyl squares.
Impact hammer as per above sounds cheap and easy but I’ve never tried it on that application.

I’ve torn out a few tile floors a rotohammer and a chisel bit is the way to go

[old goat]

If you have the headroom (you probably don't) sleepers and a new subfloor on top of the tile and new floor on that. We did that on a slab in what was a nonconforming second unit under our house. The ceiling is 7 1/2 ft, which suits our purposes, especially since the rooms have lots of windows so it's not too claustrophobic.

[riser4]

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Kinda along the same lines. Best part was the circle UL drawn with a sharpie.

[EWG]

Ok, here’s another one. I fucking hate plumbing.

Shower head pressure dropped radically some time ago. Pulled the head apart, drilled out the flow restrictor, reassembled, same problem. Then I took the head off and turned the water on with just the raw pipe sticking out of the wall. Very low flow. Problem is somewhere in the pipes.

It’s an old two handle shower control. The water flow is very low with both hot and cold. All the other bathroom fixtures are fine. That leads me to believe it must be between the valves and the outfall pipe (shower head pipe).

But it can’t be the valve handles because it’s happening equally with both hot and cold, right? So it has to be above the handles? At the mixer? Is there some crap in the pipe? Obstruction?

I’m baffled.



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[Ted Striker]

Spitballing here... have you measured the psi at a hose bib or the laundry? (thinking maybe the pressure is low everywhere, but more noticeable at the shower because of the rise) And along those lines maybe there's a leak somewhere (not necessarily at/near the shower).

Is the house of a vintage that might have galvanized pipes lurking somewhere? They can 'grow' on the inside and restrict water flow.

Oh, and is it a tub with a diverter or just a shower?

[EWG]

Just a shower. Water pressure at other second floor fixtures seems fine. I don’t THINK it’s the whole house PSI. It’s dramatically different here.

Turn on the other op stairs shower and it comes out like a garden house, a full pipe width stream. Turn on this one and it’s probably a quarter of the flow, a small amount that is only running out of the bottom of the pipe.


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[Timberridge]

Have you tried pulling the mixing valve cartridge?

[Ted Striker]

So it's either leaking or blocked just before the shower pipe.

Yeah, my money's on the mixing or flow valve (if installed) or manifold being blocked.

[Timberridge]

Before you pull the mixing valve cartridge make sure all the pressure upstream is out of the system.

[ntblanks]

Before you pull the mixing valve cartridge make sure all the pressure upstream is out of the system.

whatever happened to learning by doing?

[house]

Ok, here’s another one. I fucking hate plumbing.

Shower head pressure dropped radically some time ago.
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"It's the classic plumber's lament."

There shouldn't be a "mixing valve" if it's a two handle faucet. With old two handle style valves, it's probably time to just replace them. You might be able to get away with just replacing some washers inside if they're buggered up and restricting flow. Watch a couple videos to see what things should look like, and then attempt to remove the valves (after shutting off your water!). Take the valves to a real plumbing store and they should be able to help you. Going to a big box store is a crap shoot - you might get lucky but the pro plumber supply shop should set you up much more easily. Aurora plumbing in Seattle has saved me lots of time (and money, considering I haven't had to hire a plumber).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6gE...l=ThisOldHouse

[Timberridge]

whatever happened to learning by doing?

Trying to save him an eye.

One more thing. Depending on when this was installed, if its separate h/c valve with no mixer there may be an antiscald valve upstream of those valves. If so there should be an access hatch to that. Those can get plugged up over the years.

[old goat]

Might be time to consider replacing the two valve system with a single handle pressure balanced valve. Can be fairly straightforward for a plumber, depending on what the shower wall where the valves come through is made of--tile would make it more difficult.

[XXX-er]

my shower wall is in the main wall of the house which is dumb cuz the tile needs to come out if the valve ever needs to be fixed and it would have been susceptible to -40

the builder or plumber could have easily just swapped the tub 180 and put the valves on an inside wall that would be easily accessible by cutting a little DW out of the closet

if it ever fucks up i might just leave it all there cap it off and put the new plumbing in the other end of the tub

[EWG]

Trying to save him an eye.

This is why I send you holiday cards.

"It's the classic plumber's lament."

There shouldn't be a "mixing valve" if it's a two handle faucet. With old two handle style valves, it's probably time to just replace them. You might be able to get away with just replacing some washers inside if they're buggered up and restricting flow. Watch a couple videos to see what things should look like, and then attempt to remove the valves (after shutting off your water!). Take the valves to a real plumbing store and they should be able to help you. Going to a big box store is a crap shoot - you might get lucky but the pro plumber supply shop should set you up much more easily. Aurora plumbing in Seattle has saved me lots of time (and money, considering I haven't had to hire a plumber).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6gE...l=ThisOldHouse

Kickass video. That's the ticket right there. Hoping it's something in the handles. But it doesn't make sense it's on both hot and cold.

Hoping it's not the manifold, cause I'd to rip wall out to get to that.

[old_newguy]

Looking to tighten up a storage shed so it is a little less open to rodents and spiders. I will probably replace the existing 2x4 framed door with a salvaged exterior steel door, but I also need to deal with small gaps (1/4”) where siding has some gaps and where the roof framing ties into the top wall plate.

My lazy brain says to just go buy some spray foam cans, but I’m not clear on if that stuff will repel rodents? My other thought is to get a roll of metal flashing and foam the gap and then put the flashing over it?

This shed is big enough that I can set it up for a small workshop so it’s worth it to me to put some time into keeping the critters and bugs out.

[3s]

Looking to tighten up a storage shed so it is a little less open to rodents and spiders. I will probably replace the existing 2x4 framed door with a salvaged exterior steel door, but I also need to deal with small gaps (1/4”) where siding has some gaps and where the roof framing ties into the top wall plate.

My lazy brain says to just go buy some spray foam cans, but I’m not clear on if that stuff will repel rodents? My other thought is to get a roll of metal flashing and foam the gap and then put the flashing over it?

This shed is big enough that I can set it up for a small workshop so it’s worth it to me to put some time into keeping the critters and bugs out.

Ive never seen any bug or critter mess with expanding foam
Get all the levels of the shed straight because enough of the foam, after drying should really make the shed more sturdy. dont want the door to not close correctly
Any cans of foam opened need to be completely used
That stuff will clog the valve and make trying to save any useless

[::: :::]

Steel wool is your friend re: toothy critters — jam it into the crevices
Back it with foam to prevent air/bugs

[spanghew]

Ive never seen any bug or critter mess with expanding foam.

I've seen swarms of carpenter ants chew through it like ice cream. Without reinforcement, mice too will gnaw their way through if they know there are goodies on the other side.

[3s]

I've seen swarms of carpenter ants chew through it like ice cream. Without reinforcement, mice too will gnaw their way through if they know there are goodies on the other side.

I thought its common sense not to have goodies or goodie crumbs in a shed
Mice will knaw thru wood for food
Mice wont know the shed is a shed if they cant smell something attractive