Home Remodel: Do, Don'ts, Advice

[Mustonen]

What's it called, if you know.

I don’t, and that’s a little frustrating. There’s not an obvious, low-traffic place to start taking it apart to investigate further.

When I bought the house, I figured I was 5 years away from worrying about the floor. But three teens (well, one almost) and three dogs ranging from 50 to 80 pounds have moved that timeline up a bit.

There’s attic stock of every other flooring except this one.

[anotherVTskibum]

Tempted to buy a table saw, particularly for the ability to rip stuff (sheets, 1x/2x stock, possibly clapboard, probably miscellaneous trim). Not getting into serious woodworking but highly likely that I'll want to build some shelves and such. I'm living in a house that was originally built in the eighteenth century and hasn't seen a ton of recent work, so there will be no end of projects.

Amazon currently has the DeWalt 8 1/4" (DWE7485) for $286, which I could pull the trigger on without flinching at all, even with needing to come up with a stand.

The DWE7491RS is $530 with a stand, which pushes it into the "will I really get that value from it?" price range, but I'm also pretty convinced that I'm unlikely to ever feel like I don't have enough saw at that point. It also seems to be at the same price from other retailers, which means I can be more confident of getting a new saw from an authorized dealer rather than a repacked return from a questionable Amazon seller.



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[dunfree]

The 10” dewalt will take a dado head, the 8.25” isn’t supposed to.

[old goat]

The stand is worth it if the price isn't a deal breaker. But good luck cutting a 4x8 sheet of plywood on that saw. It can be done but you'd likely get a better cut with a circular saw and a straightedge. Cutting big sheets of plywood on a table saw is tough for one person even with a side extension and an outfeed table.
And I'd recommend a 10in saw.

[climberevan]

I have a Powermatic cabinet saw, and I pretty much just use it for ripping and dadoing. I use a Festool track saw for most sheet good cutting. If I couldn't dado with the TS it would hardly be worth having.

Used "contractor" saws are better than the portable ones and are usually available. Unless space or portability are major concerns, putting a bit of work onto tuning a used one up will get you a better performer for less $.

Eta: clarify that TS above is table saw. Dadoing with a track sawwould be awesome but not possible.

[fastfred]

X

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[::: :::]

The stand is worth it if the price isn't a deal breaker. But good luck cutting a 4x8 sheet of plywood on that saw. It can be done but you'd likely get a better cut with a circular saw and a straightedge. Cutting big sheets of plywood on a table saw is tough for one person even with a side extension and an outfeed table.
And I'd recommend a 10in saw.

Two pieces of cabinet ply stacked (glued/screwed) can make a reasonable DIY 8’ long guide. Take factory edge on top strip as guide edge; raise skilsaw blade enough to pass skilsaw body over guide edge & rip through lower piece to create cut line; no measuring required. Then use that edge to line up long cuts on whatever you are working on. Non working edge can be any shape; just needs to be shallow enough to have clamping space with enough clearance for skilsaw to pass.

(I almost suggested just getting a track saw in lieu of table saw, but the dado element doesn’t make it sensible [tho it looks like climberevan does use his for that…])

[Mustonen]

Tempted to buy a table saw, particularly for the ability to rip stuff (sheets, 1x/2x stock, possibly clapboard, probably miscellaneous trim). Not getting into serious woodworking but highly likely that I'll want to build some shelves and such. I'm living in a house that was originally built in the eighteenth century and hasn't seen a ton of recent work, so there will be no end of projects.

Amazon currently has the DeWalt 8 1/4" (DWE7485) for $286, which I could pull the trigger on without flinching at all, even with needing to come up with a stand.

The DWE7491RS is $530 with a stand, which pushes it into the "will I really get that value from it?" price range, but I'm also pretty convinced that I'm unlikely to ever feel like I don't have enough saw at that point. It also seems to be at the same price from other retailers, which means I can be more confident of getting a new saw from an authorized dealer rather than a repacked return from a questionable Amazon seller.



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I just bought the 7491 a couple days ago for that price @ Lowe’s. This is actually my second of this model. I still own the first, but it’s buried in the ex’s garage and I’ve given up on ever recovering it.

Anyways, the stand is worth it, especially for casual use. If you have a place to set one up and it never has to move, then whatever. But I’m typically a one man show as a DIYer, and being able to roll it around was a revelation after years of owning one that did not have a stand, or wheels, just a bunch of sharp edges that left grooves in my soft desk worker hands every time I needed to take it out or put it away.

And I’ve ripped plenty of 4x8 sheets on it solo. Not the best idea maybe, but a couple sawhorses strategically placed plus either plenty of time or a general disregard for your own safety make it plenty possible.

[adrenalated]

Tempted to buy a table saw, particularly for the ability to rip stuff (sheets, 1x/2x stock, possibly clapboard, probably miscellaneous trim). Not getting into serious woodworking but highly likely that I'll want to build some shelves and such. I'm living in a house that was originally built in the eighteenth century and hasn't seen a ton of recent work, so there will be no end of projects.

Amazon currently has the DeWalt 8 1/4" (DWE7485) for $286, which I could pull the trigger on without flinching at all, even with needing to come up with a stand.

The DWE7491RS is $530 with a stand, which pushes it into the "will I really get that value from it?" price range, but I'm also pretty convinced that I'm unlikely to ever feel like I don't have enough saw at that point. It also seems to be at the same price from other retailers, which means I can be more confident of getting a new saw from an authorized dealer rather than a repacked return from a questionable Amazon seller.

I bought a cheap Ridgid table saw recently with zero research as I had a lot of trim boards and flooring to rip. So while not familiar with the Dewalt stuff here's my general uneducated opinion:
-as others have said small table saws suck for sheet stock. Circ saw plus some sort of guide (DIY or purchased edge guide, Kreg track kit, or full-on tracksaw) is the way to go.
-get a 10" blade. More capable, better blade selection, etc.
-if you're going to use it a lot I would spring for a rack and pinion fence. The fence on my Ridgid is garbage and doesn't always lock square. It good enough for what I was doing but I'll most likely sell it at some point and pick up whatever Dewalt model it is that has the better fence.
-whether or not a stand matters kinda depends on how often you need to move it around. Pretty easy to build your own if it can stay more or less fixed in place but the portable stands are nice if you need to move it around a lot.
-if you're not planning to build anything more advanced than shelving then I wouldn't worry about shit like dado compatibility

[old goat]

The Dewalt has a good rack and pinion fence. Full size saws these days have T square style fences that slide and only lock at the front. Those were considered an improvement when Biesmeyer introduced them. It's all in the quality.
I used to get tired of chasing the knob on my old Delta around the garage floor every time I moved the fence.

[adrenalated]

Yeah, I wasn't trying to say that sliding fences are inherently garbage - but I bet most of the ones on current model budget jobsite saws are.

[::: :::]

i have the ridgid 10" contractor saw - the fence is pretty good & reliably cuts to correct dimensions

only complaint is the tilt angle indicator is garbage; dialing it in is not easy; and additionally, the tilt mechanism itself is geared way too high to allow micro adjustment to a dialed in angle without some magic involved. It does 90 easily enough tho once you get the detent set.

[Norseman]

... or full-on tracksaw is the way to go.

This.

I bought the Makita cordless track saw last year and it's really amazing for cutting sheet goods. So much easier and safer than trying to wrangle something onto a table. Of course it doesn't replace a table saw for general duty, but it has completely replaced it for sheet breakdown for me. Highly recommended if that's the main use case.

[dunfree]

Yeah, I wasn't trying to say that sliding fences are inherently garbage - but I bet most of the ones on current model budget jobsite saws are.

With the small table of a job site saw does that matter? The 8.25 has a 19”*19” table, the 10” dewalt is 21+”*26+”

aluminum angle iron makes a decent guide. Easy to clamp and light. 3/4”*3/4”*1/8”*16’ is $12. Cut that into several smaller pieces, some spring or quick clamps

[adrenalated]

I mean, I would say that how important it is for your fence to be square kinda depends on what you're doing, no? Regardless of the size of the table. Some cuts it matters, some cuts it don't.
There's always ways to work around it but my (limited) experience doing fairly basic flooring and trim work is that I wish I had spent more money on a saw that I could make small adjustments to the fence easier and faster and be confident that it's square every time when I lock it back down, and I've found that the cheap saw I bought (Ridgid R4518) doesn't do that very well. I would expect most cheap saws (ie sub $400) are similar but I haven't used them so could be wrong.

[dunfree]

What you are doing, and also what the rest of the system is. I mean, I’ve a skil 6307 folder at that price point with a better fence (easy to adjust the fence square, can adjust to fractions of a mm for cuts) that’s undone for repetitive work because of the poor motor mount (deforms under load after xx passes) and short fence length. A “real” table saw has a long fence, a hefty motor, and a big table. Too reach the platonic ideal (manual diesel euro wagon if table saws, aka northfield) you gotta go systemically

[old goat]

There's a school of thought that says that the tail end of a table saw fence should be angled away from the blade and off square by a hair, for less chance of binding between the fence and the blade. The downside is is slightly more saw marks on the cut surface. If the boards are always going to be jointed that doesn't matter. And of course the fence has to repeatedly set to the same hair out of square and stay that way. I keep my fences square.

[old goat]

I have a 28 year old stove and double wall flue pipe. The flue pipe is inside the preexisting flue for a fireplace. We use the stove--wood burning-- at least a few hours every day 6 months of the year, all day if it's storming. The pipe needs to be removed to correct some problems with the installation. The stove and chimney guy is recommending a new pipe because of the age of the flue but can reuse the old. The difference is about $1600. The internets say life of the pipe is 30+, depending. The existing pipe looks ok at the top and bottom.
New or reuse the old?

[nickwm21]

It’s only going to get more expensive to replace it later. How long do you plan on staying in the house?


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[old goat]

It’s only going to get more expensive to replace it later. How long do you plan on staying in the house?


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I'm 71, How long do you give me?

But seriously, I guess my question is, how long are stainless steel flue pipes good for IRL. I get it that it depends on what is going up the flue and how much how often. But IME appliances, furnaces, water heaters seem to last longer than the webs say they do. I realize that's an insanely risky thing to say.

[nickwm21]

I'm 71, How long do you give me?

But seriously, I guess my question is, how long are stainless steel flue pipes good for IRL. I get it that it depends on what is going up the flue and how much how often. But IME appliances, furnaces, water heaters seem to last longer than the webs say they do. I realize that's an insanely risky thing to say.

My point was that’s it’s cheaper and easier to do it now while you already have someone working it….

Who the fuck knows how long it’s going to last really. So many factors to its life; climate, use, installation, quality of material, etc…

But when it goes it’s going to cost a lot more than $1600 to replace…

How old is your roof? Assuming it penetrates the roof, the other somewhat convenient time to get it done is when your reroofing…


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[Core Shot]

Goat has a flue liner. That goes in the chimney flue.

Wtf is the installation problem goat? Have joints separated?
If so? It’s in a brick flue. Who cares.

Also, what’s price of repair vs the extra $1,600 for new pipe.

Finally, why not risk being out of a fire in summer season. Let him pull the pipe and inspect it. Might be in decent shape. Of course supply chain Covid blah blah might not get new pipe right away but I would risk it.

PS. Just noticed you said pipe looks good at the bottom and top. Would it magically fail in the middle? Doubt it.

[old goat]

The pipe is in a larger double wall steel flue from the prefab fireplace that the stove replaces. The problem with the flue is that the screws connecting the segment were too long so the inner layer is dented inward. (Maybe I should have posted this in the "bitch about a bad binding mount thread.) The stove guy says he can replace the screws, flatten the dents and replace.

The other problem is that there should have been some kind of seal at the top between the old and new flue. As it is,
ash is getting between the two and collecting in the fireplace firebox, which is currently sealed off with a piece of painted-black sheet metal behind the stove. (It looks better than it sounds.)

The third problem is that the flue is not supported from the top but is resting on an extension that sits on the bottom of the firebox. Which I guess is ok as long as the mason who is rebuilding the hearth gets the height of the hearth exactly right.

The stove guy wants to hang the flue from the top, seal the space between the old and new flue, and either fix or replace the inner flue. He can adjust the height of the T joint ( the stove vents out the back) so the height of the new hearth isn't critical. The stove guy has all the parts in stock except the T. If the T is going to take a long time to get that might make up my mind for me. It's also possible that in the part of the flue he can't see the long screws pierced the inner layer, which would also make my mind up.

Otherwise it still comes down to whether a flue that seems to be in good shape after 30 years likely will last another 15 or 20, or could suddenly fail. I know nothing about how flues fail--I assume they leak. I can imagine what the consequences might be. CO poisoning would be the least painful.

We're redoing the hearth because it looks like shit. It's a present for my wife. It's lava rock with mortar joints as wide as a fist, with holes mice can get through.

[climberevan]

Tgapp, have you and your trash can been in Minden, NV?

[tgapp]

Tgapp, have you and your trash can been in Minden, NV?

looks like amateur work to me

you can tell because it looks like it was poured in one layer not 13.

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