The Home Improvement Q&A Thread

[velocityg4]

Thank you both for this info.

I’m not sure it I want video recording, but acknowledge that it might be good for a security incident. However, I could imagine how easy it would be to wear a mask and smashing the item, before attempting to come in through the front door. Fortunately, I have a monitored security system, and I guess I could ask them how much it would cost through them, but I anticipate more than $30 a year.

The cool one is the one you answer through your phone, regardless of where you are, home or not.

If you don't want a yearly fee. You'd likely have to look at a home DVR (surveillance kind) and run a Cat6 cable for PoE. More hassle but better for privacy.

I've found Ring are not that reliable. Especially if you have more than one WiFi access point using the same SSID. While a hardwired DVR is very reliable.

There also appears to be options now to receive Push notifications to smartphone apps for DVR systems. Which appear to be possible to configure via DDNS. So that a third party isn't receiving your footage.

You should also be able to do the same with IP Cameras and a home server.

 

[jeyf]

thieves are making off with the doorbell cameras
go figure?

i see QNAP and other NAS box manufacturers are providing space you can install firmware and have it pay out on to your private, the lan side of your home network
maybe private? but along those lines
nice to see a few home security offerings, firmware that doesn't include google

 

[Weaselboy]

thieves are making off with the doorbell cameras

Ring will replace your camera if it gets stolen. I have not really heard of this happening though.

 

[Huntn]

Let’s talk Toilets
See this pretty, expensive toilet- American Standard Town Square:

​

See how the connections to the floor are covered up? Well it gets even better. The water connection in the back is in a tunnel through the base up to the tank, you can’t get your wrench on. The screws that connect the tank to the base are not much better.

So, the bottom line is you ever have to go in and replace parts, there is a good chance you’ll have to remove the tank to get at water flush components connection of the outside. If your water hose needs to be replaced, the tank has to be removed so you can get at it’s thread on the outside. Ok maybe they have special tools for this project, but I don’t have them.

​

I had to remove the tank so I could hang wall paper behind it, and when I put it back together it leaked. So each time I troubleshot I had to remove the tank. This will also apply in the future when you have to change the water shutoff valve inside the tank. I just told my wife, never again, will we buy a toilet which is very hard to access connections. Someone will be cursing, you or the plumber.

Something like this with the water connection on the exposed part of the tank is much better when it is time to replace parts:

​

 

[0388631]

Yeah, I'd have skipped that myself. I can install a toilet. It's simple stuff. But that would piss me off. With toilets, I usually look for:

A) Brand quality
B) Highest GPH delivery and suction vacuum

Not every 1.2 or 1.6 potty is the same. I personally like Toto because they're dead easy to fix, superior to nearly all domestic brands and they're powerful. I don't have a real opinion on single vs. dual flush. I think both are good. Our second home has a mix of them throughout the house.

Depending on use frequency, the interior plastics in the tank will be the most replaced. Though I imagine this has more to do with local water supply rather than product build quality.

All toilets built after 1995, I think, are capable of removing waste of a minimum amount. More expensive toilets that aren't tech products are more expensive because they have minute design changes allowing you to flush more matter down that can be 3-5x the minimum spec without clogging.

 

[willmtaylor]

I’ve yet to be let down by the Cadet Pro by American Standard. My plumber swears by them more than the gimmicky ones at twice the price. We now have 3 in our house. Zero issues.

 

[0388631]

I’ve yet to be let down by the Cadet Pro by American Standard. My plumber swears by them more than the gimmicky ones at twice the price. We now have 3 in our house. Zero issues.

The Cadet Pro is very good. It's better than most of the powerful Kohlers or Totos. Apparently under the right conditions it can flush 1,500 g of waste. Which is a lot. And by that I mean I spend way too much time on DIY and home improvement forums.

My issue with toilet test videos is the materials choice. Sand is a better options than golf balls or whatever. Anything that can create some form of seal to resemble waste is a better option that anything where water flow is generally unimpeded.

 

[Huntn]

Yeah, I'd have skipped that myself. I can install a toilet. It's simple stuff. But that would piss me off. With toilets, I usually look for:

A) Brand quality
B) Highest GPH delivery and suction vacuum

Not every 1.2 or 1.6 potty is the same. I personally like Toto because they're dead easy to fix, superior to nearly all domestic brands and they're powerful. I don't have a real opinion on single vs. dual flush. I think both are good. Our second home has a mix of them throughout the house.

Depending on use frequency, the interior plastics in the tank will be the most replaced. Though I imagine this has more to do with local water supply rather than product build quality.

All toilets built after 1995, I think, are capable of removing waste of a minimum amount. More expensive toilets that aren't tech products are more expensive because they have minute design changes allowing you to flush more matter down that can be 3-5x the minimum spec without clogging.

I’ve yet to be let down by the Cadet Pro by American Standard. My plumber swears by them more than the gimmicky ones at twice the price. We now have 3 in our house. Zero issues.

This toilet functions well, my complaint centers around replacing parts.

 

[0388631]

That's why you have children.

 

[jeyf]

too late now but someone should have removed the unit in tact, as one, at the floor and kept the tank in attached. depending on the age on the initial installation replace the unit to the floor with a new wax seal. The homeDepot wax seals can be less than expected. I usually spend the extra money for a second wax extender. New stainless steel mounting hardware as well. New supply hose too.

HomeDepot has repair kits to re attach the tank to the base and the kit will likely work. If not your bad. I give homeDepot the 1st try but if it fails i take a few photos of the toilet and go to a more commercial plumbing supply counter. Toilets don't last that long and often better to just junk the whole appliance. Especially for a rental.

at the local homeDepot there are 2 sales people that have excellent plumbing knowledge. Ill ask the store manager who is working on the floor that day. Be serious about a plumbing project and complete it with success and walk away from it for 5+ years. Why not be kind to your self today.

 

[Huntn]

I’ve got two flagstone walkways. In between them is ground granite, which is supposed to solidify and not wash away in the rain, except, it does wash away. I wonder if there is something I could mix in with this ground granite or another filler material that would truly set and not wash away, something like a resin made for this purpose?

Advice appreciated even though I think I asked this before.

 

[Weaselboy]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/SAKRETE-PermaSand-40-lb-Paver-Joint-Sand-65470004/202070568

I put in a cobblestone patio a few years ago and the contractor just put sand in the joints and after a year or so much of it was gone... same problem you are having.

I bought a product like the one I linked here from Home Depot and it is holding up really well. You just pour it over the whole patio then broom it into the joints. Then afterward lightly spritz it with a hose and it sets up. It has been on there abut five years now and blowing and hosing off the patio has not removed a bit of it.

 

[velocityg4]

I’ve got two flagstone walkways. In between them is ground granite, which is supposed to solidify and not wash away in the rain, except, it does wash away. I wonder if there is something I could mix in with this ground granite or another filler material that would truly set and not wash away, something like a resin made for this purpose?

Advice appreciated even though I think I asked this before.

Have you tried pea gravel? It doesn't solidify. So, it can be disturbed by people kicking it around. Not much though. I use it for a walking path. None of it has washed away and I get some heavy downpours. Although none of it sees fast moving water. Plus it has timber borders.

Have you considered raised borders along the walking path? Something to slow or direct the flood of water and at least contain the granite.

I know decomposed granite can't handle heavy water flow. You'll likely need larger pebbles or rocks. Say one inch stones. I've got 1/2 to 1 inch granite directly under a downspout which gets a lot of heavy flow. It doesn't move much.

 

[Huntn]

Have you tried pea gravel? It doesn't solidify. So, it can be disturbed by people kicking it around. Not much though. I use it for a walking path. None of it has washed away and I get some heavy downpours. Although none of it sees fast moving water. Plus it has timber borders.

Have you considered raised borders along the walking path? Something to slow or direct the flood of water and at least contain the granite.

I know decomposed granite can't handle heavy water flow. You'll likely need larger pebbles or rocks. Say one inch stones. I've got 1/2 to 1 inch granite directly under a downspout which gets a lot of heavy flow. It doesn't move much.

Pea gravel sounds like a good idea. I have that and half s bag of sacrette left over from my bathroom project and thought, hmm, I wonder if that or that mixed with the ground granite, would set up and last a while?

Update: I had a half a bag of pea gravel and spread that around. It looks good, now let’s see how it holds up in the rain! Thanks!

 

[Huntn]

https://www.homedepot.com/p/SAKRETE-PermaSand-40-lb-Paver-Joint-Sand-65470004/202070568

I put in a cobblestone patio a few years ago and the contractor just put sand in the joints and after a year or so much of it was gone... same problem you are having.

I bought a product like the one I linked here from Home Depot and it is holding up really well. You just pour it over the whole patio then broom it into the joints. Then afterward lightly spritz it with a hose and it sets up. It has been on there abut five years now and blowing and hosing off the patio has not removed a bit of it.

Next time I’m at HD or Lowe’s, I’ll check this out. The only thing that might concern me is how big of a joint it is made to fill. With the irregular flagstone, some of the joints/areas are more than an inch wide. Thanks!

 

[Apple fanboy]

I use sharp sand on my block paving.
Every year or so I give it a good wash with the Karcher and have to replace it.

 

[jeyf]

might border on becoming a craft project but buy some regular mortar mix; sand, portland, whatever all in one bag. Wet down the flag stone and match that color with a cement dye. use a small trowel, lots of clean water and apply the colored mortar between the joints. Dosnt have to that thick.
or
just ignore the situation.

 

[velocityg4]

View attachment 845321

Pea gravel sounds like a good idea. I have that and half s bag of sacrette left over from my bathroom project and thought, hmm, I wonder if that or that mixed with the ground granite, would set up and last a while?

Update: I had a half a bag of pea gravel and spread that around. It looks good, now let’s see how it holds up in the rain! Thanks!

You're welcome. My only concern would be such a thin layer may end up getting carried along with the decomposed granite. Concrete with a pea gravel topping. Like those 60s/70s pavers would hold up.

 

[0388631]

Weasel's sand to cement like suggestion is a good one. Any decent contractor would have used a thumping rig to press that stand and compact it. Though they also wouldn't have left large margins like that. Sand is used for tight margins on level ground with bricks or other materials.

 

[Huntn]

Anyone familiar with ground fault recepticals? I have 3 in my house, three of them have a test button, which tests it’s ability to cut the circuit by killing the plug and any plug hooked in series to it down the line. They trip until I reset them by pushing a different button.

However, one of them, the newest one, when I press the test button, it kills the current as long as I hold it, but does not trip. As soon as I release it and power is back on. I want to say this is not functioning correctly, but maybe there are some designed this way? So I’m debating about replacing it.
Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[chown33]

Anyone familiar with ground fault recepticals? I have 3 in my house, three of them have a test button, which tests it’s ability to cut the circuit by killing the plug and any plug hooked in series to it down the line. They trip until I reset them by pushing a different button.

However, one of them, the newest one, when I press the test button, it kills the current as long as I hold it, but does not trip. As soon as I release it and power is back on. I want to say this is not functioning correctly, but maybe there are some designed this way? So I’m debating about replacing it.
Thoughts? Thanks!

Sounds like a failure to me. I'd return it to the store.

On second thought, I'd start by looking up the exact model on the internetz and seeing if it's supposed to work that way or not.

It still sounds like a failure to me, because the TEST button is supposed to put an actual ground-fault into the circuit. If it's not doing that, then it's not testing what it should. And if it's not tripping and staying off, then that sounds like a serious failure and possibly a code violation.

 

[Huntn]

Sounds like a failure to me. I'd return it to the store.

On second thought, I'd start by looking up the exact model on the internetz and seeing if it's supposed to work that way or not.

It still sounds like a failure to me, because the TEST button is supposed to put an actual ground-fault into the circuit. If it's not doing that, then it's not testing what it should. And if it's not tripping and staying off, then that sounds like a serious failure and possibly a code violation.

That’s what I think. A test should test by tripping the circuit.

 

[ejb190]

Anyone ever put up their own siding? I'm debating giving it a go. Right now we have aluminum siding over wood siding. I was looking at putting stone veneer around the garage door and front door as well. I still need to figure out what I'm doing with the roof and overhang over the front door. I need something there, but the current aluminum awning has GOT to go!

Between a new concrete driveway, a new roof, extending the roof over the front porch, residing the house, building a garage, and removing a 50 year old silver maple, I have got to find a way to do some of this myself to keep it affordable!

 

[Huntn]

Anyone ever put up their own siding? I'm debating giving it a go. Right now we have aluminum siding over wood siding. I was looking at putting stone veneer around the garage door and front door as well. I still need to figure out what I'm doing with the roof and overhang over the front door. I need something there, but the current aluminum awning has GOT to go!

Between a new concrete driveway, a new roof, extending the roof over the front porch, residing the house, building a garage, and removing a 50 year old silver maple, I have got to find a way to do some of this myself to keep it affordable!

I built a third garage stall and wrapped it in vinyl siding. It is very easy to work with. At the time, the rest of our house had aluminum siding which is undesirable these days, too susceptsble to damage. I hired a company to pour the foundation, but did everything else myself.

When it came to a stone veneer on the exterior of our house, 4’ high across the front, I selected manufactured stone, but hired a company to put it on. But after watching them, I could have done it. Double tar paper, covered by chicken wire, slather on a base coat of cement, let it dry, and then clue on the stone.

The big thing I learned from watching them do it for this application, 4’ High with a ledge across the top, is start at the top and work your way down. In this way you can scribe a perfectly straight ledge. If you started from the bottom and worked up it would be impossible to get the nice straight edge. The manufactured stone relatively light weight, sticks to the wall and does not rely on resting on the stone below it.

 

[Huntn]

Sounds like a failure to me. I'd return it to the store.

On second thought, I'd start by looking up the exact model on the internetz and seeing if it's supposed to work that way or not.

It still sounds like a failure to me, because the TEST button is supposed to put an actual ground-fault into the circuit. If it's not doing that, then it's not testing what it should. And if it's not tripping and staying off, then that sounds like a serious failure and possibly a code violation.

That’s what I think. A test should test by tripping the circuit.

Got a new GFI receptacle and this one works properly, when tested, it trips the circuit!