Fuck Bob Vila... the Home Repair Thread

It's a couple hundred square feet. I'll try to flush the attached floor to one side.

I'm thinking of just cutting the lip off a few pieces to fill in the end and finish it with a three quarter.

Not sure if that will look like shit, but the wood is fairly dark and hard to see the seams.

 

I actually had to do this on a fix about four months ago. You might be able to cheat an extra 3/4" by breaking the drywall, about the thickness of a piece, right against the wall. I actually slipped a piece under the drywall.
A good thing about laminate, it doesn't swell and contract like real wood does.

Another time I ripped a small strip off like you suggested.

 

Just like the person above me said, I've been able to shift the floor by an inch or more, even when it was almost complete (had to shift it to make it fit around some weird door jambs, then shift it back). The trick of shifting it underneath the drywall is absolutely right as well. The drywall in my living/dining room just happened to be installed so that the floor fits underneath it. That made it a lot faster and easier to install and shift around to make up for some less-than-square walls.

 

Not at all calling you out, but that's not entirely true. It doesn't contract or swell NEARLY as much, but it can a bit (enough to sometimes cause seam pops), especially during the dramatic climate changes in spring and fall, but the only reason it will misshape is due to improper installation. A quarter inch expansion gap around the outside will eliminate any worries.

 

Or dogs that pee on the floor in the corner when you're not looking or not home, and the puddle sits on a seam for hours. Could just be that the laminate I have is cheap, but the joints are definitely swelled in a couple places.

 

Brick Sealant:

I live in a renovated factory building and have a decent amount of brick wall. I love the way it looks, but the brick is older and has a tendency to flake off a decent amount of red dust.

I know that there has to be a way to seal it so that it stops flaking the way it is (or at least drastically reduces it). I also don't want to make the brick shiny looking, so if there's a sealant that will let it keep a natural look, that's what I'm looking for.

Thanks in advance.

 

Drafty Windows...

I live in an old house that was renovated this past summer and all of the windows were replaced. My room, however, is draftier than hell and I can feel the air flowing from the moulding around the windows. Thus, my room is often cold and I can hear anything that goes on outside. There's an approx. 3/16" gap from the moulding to the wall and I'm almost certain it's the source of the drafts. I located the source by taking a small bottle of talcum powder and puffing it into the air around the gaps.



I've considered taking a can of Great Stuff and running a bead all the way down the gap (landlord doesn't care what I do) or some sealant caulk. Would either of those work well or is there a better alternative? I should have done this months ago but it only got bad once it started to warm up outside.

 

Since it's not your place, I'd just go the easy route and seal the gaps with a bead of caulk. If it were my house, I'd probably caulk or spray-foam (use the low-expansion stuff or you'll mess up the window/wall) the gaps, then cover with window moulding. When they installed the windows, they should have done a better job sealing the exterior, you can take a look at that as well.

 

This isn't so much home repair as "I need something that doesn't exist" but I'm hoping one of you can help me anyway.

June 1st my girl and I start a lease on a new apartment. Clean, cheap, great location, everything perfect except for the arched doorway to the bedroom. There's really not a privacy issue between the two of us but we'd like to have some sort of a door up.

My curtain solution didn't fly with her. What she wants to do, which I'm convinced will rip the drywall down and ruin the doorway, is to put a track door up, she claims we can use plywood, this is stupid because it WILL rip the drywall down. I'm thinking we might be able to use some sort of cheap plastic that looks like wood, but that's still not an option I like.

Anyone have any ideas how we can make a door here? I know that I COULD make french doors with arched plexiglass or even wood above them, but she doesn't trust me to do so and thinks her track door idea is brilliant. Picture below.

 

A track door like a pocket door? No idea what else you could mean.
I'm not sure what kind of door you could put up without putting a couple of holes somewhere.

Since you don't own and you're spending your own money...
How about a Japanese style shoji screen? Or hippie beads?
Hell, I'd tack a sheet over the door if you're worried about privacy and saving money.

 

I think they're talking about something like the sliding doors you see on sheds and barns. A friend of mine got a miniature version of the track from some home place, and then made his own door for it out of a decorative panel. They use it for their closet door.

It's entirely possible to mount something like that over that opening, as long as you fasten into the studs. You'll have to use some good size lag screws, so it will leave some big holes to patch.

Is this the general idea of what you're talking about?

 

Yeah exactly, sorry my description was shit.

Would we be able to use wood on that though? I'm just worried that, even if we're careful to only get the studs, it still might pull down the drywall. I'm not so worried about patching up big screw holes. Those fucking doors have got to be hard to open though.

Her latest big idea is to paint the thing with chalkboard paint. I'm getting ill just thinking about it.

 

I wouldn't worry about the drywall too much. As long as you hit the studs.
How big a door are you talking about? I'd worry if you were using something over a couple hundred pounds.
It sounds like it'll be kind of ugly.
.02

 

As long as you use lag screws, and hit at least 2 studs, you could hang a door that weighs a couple hundred pounds without problems. As long as the lag screws are in studs, it won't pull on the drywall, the drywall just sits between the track and the stud. My buddy's closet door he did like this is a 1 1/2" thick butcher-block style wood door, so it's pretty damn heavy. Just make sure you hit the studs.

 

I read this and I thought; "Well, no shit. You could hang damn near anything off a lag bolt. Better make sure you hit that stud good too."
And then the idea of a metal framed wall hit me. How would that work out? I know it could be done but, what a fucking nightmare.
Makes me glad I'm not renting my place out.
If I did, the doorway would have a door already.
Oh, and don't worry about drywall. It's cheap and easy to fix.

 

I've got some questions regarding window-hung A/C units. It broke 90 today so a few of my roommates decided to pull them out of the basement and get 'em going.

Because the seals that extend to fit the window frame suck, I cut polystyrene blocks and jam fitted them together to create a tight seal around the units (filled cracks with newspaper and covered joints with masking tape- can't use duct tape because they don't want to paint when we remove them).



I think it will work well, but is there anything I can do to ensure the things run as efficiently as possible?

I've also been making sure people keep all other windows shut and the doors shut tight so we don't let warm air in, but I'm wondering about the units in individual rooms and doors. Would they run best if we kept the doors shut or does it make a difference if they're open?

It pisses me off that my very "environmental" roommates didn't have a damn clue why I was trying to seal these things up. Sure, they'll yell at me for leaving lamps on in my shop (to make sure epoxies cure right) and they use organic (porcine, as opposed to bovine) bone meal in the backyard garden, but it never occurred to them that the A/C units will destroy our electricity bill. What other simple, practical stuff should I do that makes a difference to the electricity bill? My dad always hounded me to keep shades shut and avoid using the oven or stovetop as much as possible... stuff like this?

 

Keep everything air-tight. Keep the doors inside the house open as long as possible, but outdoor doors and windows stay shut. Also, try putting those insulation squares you can get at hardware stores behind all your electrical plug-in outlets and switch covers, too. You'd be shocked how much draft escapes though those fucking things.

The seals around the air conditioners don't have to be pretty if you don't care, just sturdy and air-tight. MAke sure the units DO NOT MOVE AT ALL, too. If they move, they break the seal (or fall and smash somebody into a bloody mess). If they break the seal, you're air conditioning the outdoors, which is worthless.

Usually, running the untis at night is cheaper, and you only really need to run them at home, so keep them turned off if nobody is there. Older units use a fuckload of energy, so take warning. If you need to chill out quickly, you can fill the bathtub up with ice and water and all get in at once. Preferrably after booze.

 

Keep light colored shades closed on windows that the sun shines in, the light shades will reflect a good amount of the energy back out through the glass. You could also get some film from a hardware place that goes on the windows and blocks the energy from ever coming in.

Otherwise, everything Crown Royal said. Don't bother running those things when nobody is home, it's just a waste. Try to "suffer" through keeping the house warmer during the day, and crank it at night when the sun isn't working to warm things up.

If you're trying to cool the entire house, leave all the doors open. If you're only trying to cool a couple rooms and not the entire house, keep the doors to those rooms closed. At night, you're probably better off keeping your individual doors closed, and cooling just the bedrooms as long as you all have your own coolers.

One thing to double check along with your sealing job around the sides of the unit - Since your window is now half open, make sure there's not a big gap between the two panes that's open now.