Home Remodel: Do, Don'ts, Advice

[El Chupacabra]

So what I would do is build some sort of turntable and attach it to that. Set it at about a 45 degree angle to the truck, then get going as fast as you can as quickly as you can. Ideally, it will start spinning really fucking fast and you can take off like a helicopter and fly to wherever you're going. Or if not, at least you can trim the trees along the sides of the road.

Sounds like a grand plan! But you forgot mounting blades at the edges to help pruning.

Gonna trim all the trees along Hwy 101, I-5, and I-80, from Monterey to Reno!

[XXX-er]

I like em but I seen people fuck up thule straps

buddy ( lawyer) tells me he is good at tying down cuz his daughter is a uni canoe racer, then he threads the strap thru the cam buckle backwards

another guy puts strap around bar instead of around foot of rack so it was gona slide off

so I always check, don't depend on others, always check your load if you are the driver or its your gear

[anotherVTskibum]

What brands are people buying plumbing fixture wise?

Minor laundry rooms remodel on a budget… Found a discount wall mount sink. Need a wall mount faucet. Not into spending $900 on a Moen. But also not into buying a budget fixture.

Is there a brand out there that hits high in the “bang-per-buck” meter?


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FWIW, local plumber recommended Delta and we've been happy with the fixtures, although the time frame is still relatively short. He pretty much said, "I can sell you and install the cheap fixture that I've got on the truck, or you can see if we have one in stock at the shop that you like better, but I'll be back in a few years to replace it. Or you can order a better one from Amazon and I'll come back and install it."

He then recommended "whatever you like from Delta or Moen" as far as faucet choice, and noted that if we needed parts, he'd be able to get them, but we probably wouldn't.

Clearly he was more focused on customer service than his boss's profit margin, but I'm not complaining.

[old goat]

What brands are people buying plumbing fixture wise?

Minor laundry rooms remodel on a budget… Found a discount wall mount sink. Need a wall mount faucet. Not into spending $900 on a Moen. But also not into buying a budget fixture.

Is there a brand out there that hits high in the “bang-per-buck” meter?


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For our laundry room I went to a restaurant supply and got a stainless steel pot sink and a wall mounted faucet with the springy spray hose. Adjacent to the kitchen so great for pot washing if we entertain, great for cleaning paint brushes. I don't know what the flow is but I'm sure it's way too high for residential in California.

[zion zig zag]

I need to get a protective layer on some new windows and trim. Both are pine, although the window is a bit lighter than the trim. I was recommended Minwax Hellsman Spar Urethane, although I could be swayed.

I see that the above comes in an oil base with “amber tone” or a water based clear. Will the clear darken the wood at all? In order to match existing I need a touch of darkening. If I could skip the stain and get that from just the protective coat, then that seems ideal. Educate me please.

New:


Existing:

[XXX-er]

Its just a cheap one but I use the sink sprayer every day to fill up the res on the Rancillio Sylvia

[Core Shot]

I need to get a protective layer on some new windows and trim. Both are pine, although the window is a bit lighter than the trim. I was recommended Minwax Hellsman Spar Urethane, although I could be swayed.

I see that the above comes in an oil base with “amber tone” or a water based clear. Will the clear darken the wood at all? In order to match existing I need a touch of darkening. If I could skip the stain and get that from just the protective coat, then that seems ideal. Educate me please.

New:


Existing:

Your new pic has horrible plane chatter on the left side. Sand that shit.
And obviously a bad knot hole on the lower trim. Character on that one I guess.

I had a similar issue twenty years ago. Went with water based but added tint on some sample boards until it got close. It’s hard to match aged oil based finish.
But today it’s still close enough even after the oil finish still ages.

[half-fast]

The pine will darken even with the clear. I’d go with the clear

[Djongo Unchained]

ZZZ - I'd use some Minwax polyshades in Honey Pine color. You get the polyurethane protection and a slight tint.

Your sill and trim pieces don't look especially like pine from here. Are you certain? I'd say Poplar and yes it needs a good sanding sesh w/sponges, vacuum, tack cloth, a lap with some conditioner then a lap of poly.
repeat process 2 or 3 times, less the conditioner after first time. That just helps the wood take the color consistently and not get splotchy.
Multiple applications make it easy to match the existing color.


Helmsman spar urethane is burly and is a tiger to deal with down the road.

[Core Shot]

^^^ poly shades is good shit. And a light tint might match.

Fuckkk. Good call out on the wood species. Yeah. That’s an odd cut of pine. Poplar is usually high end solid wood.

This one is Fast growth. Looks like 1/4” per year. But that might just be the cut angle.

Almost looks like shipping pallet Chinese recycled wood.

Could be hickory. But it isn’t the same pine as your other window.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Is that a Pella window? It's pine.

Some satin clear poly will be pretty yellow, and with natural darkening the pine should look pretty close to the Alder trim. I wouldn't stain, but if you do, use a stain conditioner to prevent a blotchy looking stain. If you are newby, you might try some test pieces first to get the hang of it.

[zion zig zag]

ZZZ - I'd use some Minwax polyshades in Honey Pine color. You get the polyurethane protection and a slight tint.

Your sill and trim pieces don't look especially like pine from here. Are you certain? I'd say Poplar and yes it needs a good sanding sesh w/sponges, vacuum, tack cloth, a lap with some conditioner then a lap of poly.
repeat process 2 or 3 times, less the conditioner after first time. That just helps the wood take the color consistently and not get splotchy.
Multiple applications make it easy to match the existing color.


Helmsman spar urethane is burly and is a tiger to deal with down the road.

I was hoping you’d chime in. Yeah, the trim looks like different wood than the windows, and they’ll get a good sand for sure. They don’t look quite as rough in person as they do in that photo though.

Is the Minwax polyurethane good enough protection wise for the interior window sash? Likely to get occasionally wet when left open for an afternoon storm and will be subjected to sun and temp swings.

It’s too bad the installers didn’t reuse the old trim. All of the windows were trimmed in beetle kill pine with the cool blue coloring in it. But there are so many types, shades and colors of wood in here that it’ll all work out.

[zion zig zag]

Is that a Pella window? It's pine.

Some satin clear poly will be pretty yellow, and with natural darkening the pine should look pretty close to the Alder trim. I wouldn't stain, but if you do, use a stain conditioner to prevent a blotchy looking stain. If you are newby, you might try some test pieces first to get the hang of it.

Andersen casements. But it’s supposed to be pine as well.

So if that’s Alder trim you’d just use a clear poly on it? It’s already darker than the window, and the window makes up the smaller portion of the overall wood.

I guess I can test this out on a small window in the back bedroom before I move to the living room.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Andersen casements. But it’s supposed to be pine as well.

So if that’s Alder trim you’d just use a clear poly on it? It’s already darker than the window, and the window makes up the smaller portion of the overall wood.

I guess I can test this out on a small window in the back bedroom before I move to the living room.

If you ask nicely at any local wood butcher's shop they'll likely let you have some scraps out of the bone pile.

[Foggy_Goggles]

I think that is S4S Alder but I don't think it matters, As mentioned, the game is get a piece of similar material (if you trim carpenter didn't give you that, they are a dick), then start sampling.

Your friendly, pretty much local, fast skiing painter, probably has a box of Minwax or Varathane cans.

[old goat]

The way to see how the wood will look after a clear oil based finish is to wet it with mineral spirits. If it looks too dark compared to the existing then you know you have to use water based. That will also give you an idea if the wood will take up finish unevenly--in which case you would use prestain conditioner, but with most woods it's not necessary.

And yeah, try to get a piece of cutoff to test different finishes.

If you can get me a microscopic picture of the end grain I can tell you what kind of wood it is.

[MultiVerse]

Is the Minwax polyurethane good enough protection wise for the interior window sash? Likely to get occasionally wet when left open for an afternoon storm and will be subjected to sun and temp swings.

If the glass doesn't have a UV coating sunlight will degrade the poly. Polyurethane can protect the wood from moisture but moisture problems are typically caused by water getting behind the wood at the joints, not necessarily sitting on the surface. You can also use exterior grade coatings like Sikkens or Exterior-Polys or Exterior-Varnish but most of them rely on pigments for UV protection.

[Djongo Unchained]

I agree with Alder. It's been a little while since I had to figure species.

The nice thing with the polyshades is that you can add a coat to the lighter pine sections and darken it a shade, increasing durability as well.
It's incredibly versatile for an otherwise simple product.

I laffed at the comment of painters having a box of varathane, etc. hanging around. I have seen some massive collections of partial cans of paint, stains, clears, shellacs, yada yada.

The water getting in the seam between the glass and wood can largely be remedied by proper taping. Line the glass with tape that is smooth and leakproof, non corrugated specifically.
Give yourself a 1/16th gap between tape to wood. Brush it onto the tape. When you pull the tape, you have a fine line of sealant/poly blocking water intrusion into that gap.

Surprising your carpenters didn't save the beetle trim, wtf? That's even easy to hide old nail holes. Oh well.

A good brush helps application and combined with sanding between coats, this is the key to a smooth finish. And vac/tack clothing.

[BC13]

Water softener issue/question.

I opened the softener to pour in some salt and saw the unexpected scene shown in the picture. There is a white substance floating on the water - the circles are areas without the white stuff. I'm not sure what the stuff is, but there is no odor and it is not slimey. More of a wet dust consistency.

Anywho, I put some salt in and cycled the water softener. I wondered if anyone had any experience with these devices. My woefully uneducated opinion is that the thing is toast, but it is cycling.

Does anyone have any strong opinions on the salt based systems versus the fancier systems that use???

Thanks in advance for any info and smart assed remarks.

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[durangobrad]

Looking to add new flooring to my rental property during an upcoming vacancy. I believe this is original pine subfloor, that's been used as the primary flooring (built in the early 1900s), its about 3/4" thick and pretty solid. Im thinking LPV instead of hardwood for its thinner diameter so I wont have to mess around with door heights and thinks like that as much.

Should I put it right on top of this old subfloor or plan to add something on top of it first? I don't want to tear it all out and build a new subfloor (if I was living here full time, id probably go that route). The current pine is pretty solid and fairly flat. Im sure its not perfectly level but all in all its works pretty well.

[old goat]

We had LVP laid on top of the original fir board subfloor (1930 house) and it worked well. The LVP had it's own resilient backing so underlayment wasn't necessary. I don't know if that is true of other brands. As far as fairly flat--I would measure and find out exactly how flat. Go by the manufacturers instructions for how out of flat is allowable. No need to rip out old subfloor but you may need to use leveling compound to get it flat. Actual level doesn't matter if it's flat, unless you plan to practice your putting or play bocce.

[durangobrad]

We had LVP laid on top of the original fir board subfloor (1930 house) and it worked well. The LVP had it's own resilient backing so underlayment wasn't necessary. I don't know if that is true of other brands. As far as fairly flat--I would measure and find out exactly how flat. Go by the manufacturers instructions for how out of flat is allowable. No need to rip out old subfloor but you may need to use leveling compound to get it flat. Actual level doesn't matter if it's flat, unless you plan to practice your putting or play bocce.

I don't want to deal with that liquid leveler if I don't have to, that looks like a lot of prep work and could be messy. I think I would go with 1/4" luan or something like that over the subfloor.

Hoping that a thicker lvp would work with current subfloor.

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[adrenalated]

Liquid leveler isn't as much work as it seems like it would be but yeah if you can avoid it, do.

Get a 6ft level and start walking around and see what you're working with. As Foggy told me, manufacturer specifications for site preparation are... often unrealistic. But if you're flat-ish, you should be OK. Hard edges/steps/ridges/protruding screws or nails etc. are a bigger problem that a bit of waviness - that sort of thing you'll need to smooth out.

Definitely use LVP that has the underlayment attached, makes it super easy to work with.

[durangobrad]

Liquid leveler isn't as much work as it seems like it would be but yeah if you can avoid it, do.

Get a 6ft level and start walking around and see what you're working with. As Foggy told me, manufacturer specifications for site preparation are... often unrealistic. But if you're flat-ish, you should be OK. Hard edges/steps/ridges/protruding screws or nails etc. are a bigger problem that a bit of waviness - that sort of thing you'll need to smooth out.

Definitely use LVP that has the underlayment attached, makes it super easy to work with.

My biggest concern with a self leveler is sealing / filling the cracks between 120 year old pine boards (there's a lot of them and most are quite large) I can see light coming from the basement through the cracks when I leave a light on down there....

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[dan_pdx]

OG and adrenalated have the right idea. 1/4 luan probably won't help much if you have significantly non-flat areas - you'll either have a bouncy void under the luan, or if you screw down the luan so it conforms to the floor, you'll have a void between the luan and the LVP. Check the manufacturer's instructions as OG said, last time I installed flooring (engineered hardwood over an old fir floor), I found that although the existing floor wasn't that flat, it was within the manufacturer's spec. It seems there can be a fair amount of wiggle room before the LVP joints can't tolerate it.