Home Improvement/DIY Projects

[mcnuttz]

I’m looking forward to using Kerdi membrane. I don’t think I’ll be putting walk in showers in all 3 bathrooms at the house, but I’m putting a giant 9’x6’ in the master. That’s going to be a fun project.

I’ll probably go cheaper on the addition bathroom and the kids and just put fiberglass enclosures in those.

I look forward to building a similarly sized shower, have always wanted a cavern with water shooting from above and all different angles.

Have gotta build a guest bathroom before we get to that point, so I'm still about 15 years out.

 

[UncleMilti]

Kerdi is good stuff, but if I’m on a slab I will use it only on the floor and the valve wall. The other walls I’ll use a liquid barrier to save some cash.
There’s a ton of new stuff out there now that’s a nice alternative to the extreme cost of Kerdi. I like it, but damn it’s expensive.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Kerdi is good stuff, but if I’m on a slab I will use it only on the floor and the valve wall. The other walls I’ll use a liquid barrier to save some cash.
There’s a ton of new stuff out there now that’s a nice alternative to the extreme cost of Kerdi. I like it, but damn it’s expensive.

And doesn't Redgard or whatever work just fine?

I found it funny when I was redoing both my bathrooms and watching all these instructional videos that my showers built in the 80s broke almost every current rule -- don't use regular sheetrock, don't use mastic, etc. -- but they were just now getting in bad shape 35 years later. Seems to me that unless you make a major mistake, a typical shower with Durock and Redgard should last a lot longer than that.

 

[UncleMilti]

And doesn't Redgard or whatever work just fine?

I found it funny when I was redoing both my bathrooms and watching all these instructional videos that my showers built in the 80s broke almost every current rule -- don't use regular sheetrock, don't use mastic, etc. -- but they were just now getting in bad shape 35 years later. Seems to me that unless you make a major mistake, a typical shower with Durock and Redgard should last a lot longer than that.

Redguard works fine, however there’s a lot of new stuff out that better IMO. Semco, USG, etc are all a bit better and use seam tape to waterproof the seams. Too many Redguard cronies don’t tape the seams.

 

[mcnuttz]

Great info, guys...appreciate the input.

We've been needing a thread like this.

 

[Sheik]

I need to vent. When we moved out here and bought a bigger house than we needed, we extended an invite to my father in law that had a 1 bedroom apartment but rarely stayed there because he has a serious girlfriend. We told him to get rid of the apartment for now and he could stay with us when he needed a break from his old lady.

That somehow gave him the idea that he could make strong suggestions on things I’m doing to the house. Keep in mind, he’s never been a contractor/handyman and he gets all of his ideas from watching HGTV or whatever it is.

I won’t go into everything, but this weekend we were sitting around and he mentioned I should install a garbage disposal. Like all day long he was talking about the garbage disposal. And it should have a push button to activate it in one of the sink holes.

I finally got tired of hearing about it so I ventured over to the sink and realized the reason this 1970s house has never had a garbage disposal is because nobody thought to run power under the sink.

I then told him if I was to install a garbage disposal with a push button, I’d also have to buy a new faucet to change the newer 3-hole faucet that is there to make room for the button.

Basically I was explaining that it wasn’t a priority right now with all the other shit I have going on, but he’d have none of that. Everyone in the household was on the same page at that point. They wanted a garbage disposal with a push button like in those fancy homes on TV.

I went to Home Depot, picked up everything I would need to perform this task. $687 later I was on my way home to install a god damned garbage disposal, a push button, and a new faucet. Oh, and fish electrical down the wall for the new plug.

All this to say, it really irks me to the point of madness and resentment when people don’t understand what goes into doing something like that. It’s not easy, you have to know how to do shit. To them, you just install a garbage disposal. No big deal. No, it’s a big deal. Not any asshole could do that and do it right in a couple of hours so you can have your stupid push button garbage disposal that still hasn’t been used other than testing it after install.

The whole time I was doing ut I was cussing my Wife’s dad. Making snarky comments like “oh, it’s just a garbage disposal.” And “I really wish asshole was here to show me what I’m doing wrong.”, stuff like that. My wife was laughing because she knows I’m right. He tries to tell me how to do shit all the time, not realizing I’ve done this shit for over 20 years and supported my family doing it.

End rant.

 

[Cotton]

I need to vent. When we moved out here and bought a bigger house than we needed, we extended an invite to my father in law that had a 1 bedroom apartment but rarely stayed there because he has a serious girlfriend. We told him to get rid of the apartment for now and he could stay with us when he needed a break from his old lady.

That somehow gave him the idea that he could make strong suggestions on things I’m doing to the house. Keep in mind, he’s never been a contractor/handyman and he gets all of his ideas from watching HGTV or whatever it is.

I won’t go into everything, but this weekend we were sitting around and he mentioned I should install a garbage disposal. Like all day long he was talking about the garbage disposal. And it should have a push button to activate it in one of the sink holes.

I finally got tired of hearing about it so I ventured over to the sink and realized the reason this 1970s house has never had a garbage disposal is because nobody thought to run power under the sink.

I then told him if I was to install a garbage disposal with a push button, I’d also have to buy a new faucet to change the newer 3-hole faucet that is there to make room for the button.

Basically I was explaining that it wasn’t a priority right now with all the other shit I have going on, but he’d have none of that. Everyone in the household was on the same page at that point. They wanted a garbage disposal with a push button like in those fancy homes on TV.

I went to Home Depot, picked up everything I would need to perform this task. $687 later I was on my way home to install a god damned garbage disposal, a push button, and a new faucet. Oh, and fish electrical down the wall for the new plug.

All this to say, it really irks me to the point of madness and resentment when people don’t understand what goes into doing something like that. It’s not easy, you have to know how to do shit. To them, you just install a garbage disposal. No big deal. No, it’s a big deal. Not any asshole could do that and do it right in a couple of hours so you can have your stupid push button garbage disposal that still hasn’t been used other than testing it after install.

The whole time I was doing ut I was cussing my Wife’s dad. Making snarky comments like “oh, it’s just a garbage disposal.” And “I really wish asshole was here to show me what I’m doing wrong.”, stuff like that. My wife was laughing because she knows I’m right. He tries to tell me how to do shit all the time, not realizing I’ve done this shit for over 20 years and supported my family doing it.

End rant.

That sucks, man. But, we all have had FILs that do this shit.

 

[Sheik]

That sucks, man. But, we all have had FILs that do this shit.

I thought you guys might be able to sympathize with my situation.

 

[Cotton]

I thought you guys might be able to sympathize with my situation.

Oh, we do. We absolutely do. Me and my FIL used to go at it all the time.

 

[NoDak]

I never once had a problem with either my mother or father in law. He's gone now, but she's still alive. They were/are absolutely the opposite of the inlaw stereotype. My FIL was a Korean war era Navy man and as long as you didn't fuck with him, he wouldn't fuck with you. Fuck with him, tho and you would regret it. A live and let live kinda guy. He died a couple years ago, and I truly miss him.

Same with all of my brother and sister inlaws. I've never had an issue with any of them. (now, my wife is a whoooole other story) I really got lucky when I married into this family.

 

[Cotton]

I never once had a problem with either my mother or father in law. He's gone now, but she's still alive. They were/are absolutely the opposite of the inlaw stereotype. My FIL was a Korean war era Navy man and as long as you didn't fuck with him, he wouldn't fuck with you. Fuck with him, tho and you would regret it. A live and let live kinda guy. He died a couple years ago, and I truly miss him.

Same with all of my brother and sister inlaws. I've never had an issue with any of them. (now, my wife is a whoooole other story) I really got lucky when I married into this family.

I really miss my FIL too. We lost him 9 months ago. He was my fishing buddy. He also was my arguing buddy.

 

[Sheik]

How many of you have chimneys in your home?

I’ve got this chimney that lets a lot of cold air in. It’s all brick on the entire wall and it has 3 vertical bricks with no mortar on either side of the opening that almost look like they’d be some sort of vent. There’s also a vent right above the doors made up of the same design that goes all the way across.

Is that poor design or is it necessary? I can get pics if I’m not explaining it well enough.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Bricks with no mortar?

Yes, pics please.

 

[Rev]

How many of you have chimneys in your home?

I’ve got this chimney that lets a lot of cold air in. It’s all brick on the entire wall and it has 3 vertical bricks with no mortar on either side of the opening that almost look like they’d be some sort of vent. There’s also a vent right above the doors made up of the same design that goes all the way across.

Is that poor design or is it necessary? I can get pics if I’m not explaining it well enough.

I've seen it before. Has to have been done purposefully.

 

[Sheik]

Bricks with no mortar?

Yes, pics please.

I’ll load some pics tomorrow.

Edit: had a pic in my phone.

 

[Sheik]

I've seen it before. Has to have been done purposefully.

I think so too. It’s unfortunate if it’s not something I can alter.

 

[Sheik]

The vertical bricks in the middle of the photo have no mortar and cold air blows in even when there isn’t a breeze. It’s on both sides of the fireplace and across the top of it.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

View attachment 692672

The vertical bricks in the middle of the photo have no mortar and cold air blows in even when there isn’t a breeze. It’s on both sides of the fireplace and across the top of it.

That's not where the blower is? Like when you run the fireplace does it blow hot air through those bricks?

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I've never seen that before. Seems like I've seen something similar just as a design feature but not where it would let air in.

Is the idea what c-rock said, to let more hot air out? (I haven't seen a blower in a real fireplace though.)

I guess the damper is closed or not damaged? Don't see why there's be so much air coming out.

Interested to see how you fix it. Can you carefully knock the bricks out and replace with mortar?

 

[Rev]

Talked to a friend that was in the construction field and his thought was that it lets the heat escape because if the fire gets too hot it can Crack the bricks.