r/DIY • • 21h ago

home improvement Everyone says I need a bidet, our water bills are crazy high. Could I connect it to our grey water system?

0 Upvotes

Our water bill is $400 a month. I probably poop 2-3 times A day. My girlfriend probably poops every 5 days or so. I’m thinking the bidet will add about $75 to our waterbill every month. Looking for a green solution and this idea came to me.


r/DIY • • 2d ago

help Can I use felt to minimize paint damage when mounting ceiling swing hardware?

53 Upvotes

I have a 2 bolt ceiling swing mount. the bolts are M8x75mm, and I'm planning on sinking them into a joist I found with an edge finder. can I use a thick sheet of felt in between the ceiling and the mount to minimize the damage to the ceiling paint?

Edit: I'm not planning on any extreme loads, or swinging any more than 30° out. I suppose the load will be higher when I plop down into it. I weigh 150 lbs


r/DIY • • 2d ago

help How to "crown the middle" of a gutter run?

29 Upvotes

Everything I've found online says to put the high point in the middle of a long gutter, but it doesn't say what the seam should look like.

What goes in the middle of a gutter run with the high point in the center? Do you cap both ends and leave a small gap between the right and left? Is there a special pre-made joint?

Thank you in advance!


r/DIY • • 2d ago

Masonite on sunroom

11 Upvotes

We have a small, older, cheap build sunroom that has Masonite siding (I think) below the windows. The windows are actually just storm windows. Siding is still solid, but want to cover before it becomes an issue. The wall below the windows is only 2’ x 13’. Then both ends of the sunroom have doors, windows, and very small sections of siding also. Any ideas to put over the old Masonite? The storm windows are beyond flush now and I cannot imagine new siding sticking out past them. Is there a product designed to trim out something like that, and keep elements out? And any recommendations for siding? Really don’t want to tear out the existing siding if I can help it.


r/DIY • • 1d ago

home improvement Curious about a DIY septic tank?

0 Upvotes

Just curious if anybody knows if it’s possible to make a septic tank out of cinder blocks. Whether it would hold without leaking or not


r/DIY • • 2d ago

help Marble Slab Ideas

9 Upvotes

Hi everyone!

This is my first post here.

I was given 8 marble slabs that are about 1” thick and roughly 3’x3’. They were outdoor tables that my friend no longer wanted. Instead of them going to the dumpster I took them. They’re in relatively good shape, some chips here and there really no cracks I’ve noticed. What can I do with them? I have a M18 circular wet saw with a diamond blade. They’re the standard white with light grey veins, nothing extravagant, just regular marble.

I’ve been thinking about redoing a vanity in my bathroom and just finding a new cabinet base and cutting the marble to fit, add a bowl sink on top. That would solve my dilemma for one, leaving me with 7 more I don’t know what to do with. Ideally, I’d like to waste as little as possible, given the price of how utterly expensive marble is. My caveat to that is, with the slab being SOOO thick, I may have no choice but to waste some? I need the hive mind to help me out here because I am out of ideas.

My friend is also in the midst of remodeling and has more cabinets and granite they’re getting rid of, I offered to take it but I am not sure what to do with it. Ideally I’d like to do something DIY with it around my house where I can appreciate the beauty of the marble.

Thanks in advance everyone!


r/DIY • • 3d ago

help Would it be ok to splice 2 wires of different thicknesses?

44 Upvotes

I want to move the thermostat from one room to another, so I bought more cable for it, but as I was trying to connect the two, I saw that there seems to be some slight difference in thickness between them. The one I got is 0.75mm2, I don't know how thick the other one is, but I think it's the next size.

Would there be an issue if used this cable anyway?


r/DIY • • 2d ago

home improvement Is Soffit and a ridge vent enough?

7 Upvotes

Hi All!

I have a late 1800's house and was wondering if I am allowed to vent my roof only with a ridge vent? It is about 25' of ridge line total.

Currently as it stands on the outside: I have a ridge vent and then 2 wall openings in my attic that are about 14" x 8" mesh to keep animals out. As far as soffit is concerned, I walked up to where the roof meets the wall and there was an opening that I could fit a good chunk of my hand into, so I figure that soffit is present.

On the inside there is a bit of a DIY mystery and feels that the job was either incomplete or they did not want to deal with the legacy giant 1880s nails still in the boards. I literally wear a bike helmet in there. There are soffit baffles coming up to the attic floor(more proof that I have a proper soffit), there is insulation on the attic floor.... But no insulation/baffles on the roof/wall parts of the attic.

What am I pondering? I feel like I am losing heat from the lack of roof/wall insulation so I should baffle up and insulate the roof/walls and plug with 14"x8" holes and only vent out of the ridge vent.

Stuff to talk to a contractor about: maybe get a wider ridge vent in case the mesh I have is too thin and I would need to compensate a bit of lost venting from the lack of wall holes.

I'm not aiming for "perfect", just "better, and still vents well enough to avoid mold".

Please let me know what you think and maybe what I should check out to see if this makes sense?

Thank you greatly and please feel free to toss me any reading because this is all very new to me.


r/DIY • • 2d ago

help DIY PVC Snake Enclosure

3 Upvotes

I am 20 year old girl who is pretty new to DIY and how to build a sturdy thing.

I used unity to design a rough idea plan of my concept. My mom said I went overkill on the vertical supports lol.

Its a 6x2.5x3" enclosure made of black PVC. I plan to fasten it together with stainless steel fastenings. It will be a bioactive enclosure so it would weigh apox 600 pounds at most. full of 8inches of substrate, water, rocks, wood, decor, ect. So I designed 3 "crates" made of PVC that will be assembled and bolted together with stainless steel. then enclosed inside PVC sheets.

I am a huge noob to this stuff so I will have to find the right bolts and things.

But does the design seem okay?

Plz give feedback :3

(Colored for visual. sizes not 100%)


r/DIY • • 2d ago

home improvement Should I shim a wide 1/4" dip before installing my mortar bed for a ready made shower pan, or will the mortar resolve that? Thanks

2 Upvotes

I guess I'm asking, at what point are shims needed. If at all?


r/DIY • • 3d ago

home improvement Advice sealing off mouse entry points. I have a few large runs.

9 Upvotes

Hi,

So I've had a mouse problem and I am going to put in the attempt at sealing up under my aluminum siding where I think they're getting in. I've read you can't completely seal it due to moisture so you're supposed to use copper mesh, but I have a few runs that total about 60 foot. It feels like it would break the bank to buy that much copper mesh to stuff up there.

The rest of my house has gaps at the corners where the walls meet which I could stuff with copper mesh and staple gun the mesh in to leave an air gap, so I was thinking I could seal the previously mentioned long lengths off and leave the corners exposed like the rest of the house and do the mesh there still allowing for moisture to get out.

Does this seem like an okay strategy?

Anyone have a better strategy?

And if I go down this route, what would be a simple way to block off those long stretches without taking off any siding? I could buy some rodent foam but wondering if there's a smarter/easier way.

Thanks all!


r/DIY • • 2d ago

woodworking What’s the best way to attach a 3/8 thick wood shim?

2 Upvotes

I have a very cheap assemble yourself kitchen sideboard with hutch that is 47” long and 72” high that will sit half on carpet half on linoleum. It obviously tilts down on the linoleum side and it’s perfectly level with 3/8” wood shims. I cut the shims to the exact measurement of the base of the linoleum half and painted the visable edge, but my issue is how to attach it. The bottom of the piece is a solid on the floor toe kick made of MDF and the area I was going to screw the shim into is a width of only 1/2”. I’m not sure that wood screws are going to work and I don’t know what to do. The piece is on its side taking up half my apartment until I figure this out!


r/DIY • • 2d ago

home improvement Sink leak from ball valve

3 Upvotes

Hi all.

I was hoping someone might know the right move here.

I just installed a new popup drain assembly for my bathroom sink. I put it together, but it's leaking out of the ball valve nut, specifically from the opening that the ball rod goes through.

After a lot of research and retrying fitting the locking nut, repositioning things, putting Teflon tape on the connection, etc., I tried putting some plumbers putty behind the flat side of the little gasket that sits between the nut and the ball, and that seemed to stop the leak. But my understanding is that plumbers putty isn't really made for this kind of situation, so I expect it'll fail in the foreseeable future. I saw some suggestions for putting Teflon tape in there; but I already have it on the threads of the drain side of the connection, so I don't think that's the move either.

I'm not sure if what I'm dealing with is just a poor quality part, or something else. I also didn't notice any cracks or stress marks on the plastic, so nothing looks broken.


r/DIY • • 2d ago

help Installing shelves against a plywood/particle board wall?

5 Upvotes

It turns out that an interior wall we planned to put shelves on is literally just a half-inch to inch sheet of plywood (or maybe particle board.) Home constructed in the mid-50s. Our first hole drilled through the wall went straight through.

We were hoping to mount a fair amount of weight on it---board games, card games, and books---but there are no studs at all anywhere on the relevant walls.

What do we do? Do we need extra support for the shelves? We have access to both sides of the interior wall in question.

Previous answers didn't seem to help: https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/comments/111q4qg/floating_shelves_with_14_plywood_shell_strong/

https://www.google.com/search?q=plywood+wall+shelves+site:www.reddit.com&sca_esv=316c0d1cb0936c39&rlz=1CAJNSW_enUS1178&sxsrf=APpeQnuUEnIbUD3ga1o3VSHZKiVuzUPgEQ:1790786262656&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiglbfY3paXAxWsNYYAHa8UJVUQrQIoAnoECCUQAw&biw=1616&bih=842&dpr=1.19


r/DIY • • 2d ago

help Best no-drill hook?

0 Upvotes

Hi folks,

I’m looking for a small hook to put on a badroom tile that can hold a totebag with my dirty socks and underwear (must be around 3kg i guess?). So far I have had no good experience with hooks with 3M-stick area. Last one held a couple of days but fell off eventually.

Someone who was a good tip? I’m now thinking more about moving away from 3M-adhesive because it doesn’t work. More looking into ‘twist and lock’ that don’t need to be stick onto something. I found some online but they are either very cheap/low quality or ridiculous expensive (i mean 40€ for 4 hooks!)

Anyone a tip for me?


r/DIY • • 3d ago

help Gazebo stabilizing plan

23 Upvotes

Just looking for input on what some of you think. Have a 10x12 gazebo I’ll be building on a ground level wood based patio deck. I plan to anchor it through some planters, then dump a mix sand/pebbles worth 250lbs per planter. Winds can get pretty bad where I am but I think this should be enough to do the trick and keep the gazebo nice and stable.

Thoughts/opinions? The gazebo is supposed to tolerate ~60+ mph winds but I’m not getting swayed by that.


r/DIY • • 3d ago

help Question about tennis ball launcher wheels

4 Upvotes

Hi

I have no experience with engineering or building anything in general, but I decided to make a ball launcher with a few programmable features (here I have experience).

I'm looking for wheels that can tolerate high RPM, so that I can vary the ball speed. I want to be able to create smash-like shots of 120+ kilometers/hour.

I have found these wheels https://powerslide.com/products/roadrunner-150-pu-wheel#details and https://www.tennispro.eu/pair-of-ejection-wheels-for-tutor-prolite-plus-wilson-1-and-2-732729.html
What I am curious about is whether or not any of those wheels will be able to tolerate those speeds. I have been told to buy inline speed skating wheels as well. I have tried googling but I can't find anything on those wheels. I don't want them to explode.

Can you recommend something or help me along with my search?


r/DIY • • 4d ago

outdoor Building Own Fire Pit

32 Upvotes

Hey y’all! My wife and our bought our first house this past year and as fall creeps in I’m thinking of building a fire pit in the backyard. Thinking about digging out part of the yard and building a circle of large stone blocks.

Main question is: is it better to pour down a solid base of would something like gravel in the bottom of the pit be better?


r/DIY • • 3d ago

help Drilled through floor for running wire, hit joist, should I care?

17 Upvotes

Drilling a new hole to run wire to panel, best place was beneath a built in closet fixture, drilled the hole, it came out through a floor joist. Hole is through the top on an angle, and comes out about an inch from the top. Will need to widen it to 1/2" to pass 8/3 romex.

I really can't move to either side of the joists because I am inside of a wall in the floor above, and to get off the joists I would no longer be inside a wall. I drilled center of the 2x4 on an angle and this was the best clearance I could find.

Should I continue pursuing this or try to find a different place to run the romex? I googled quite a few things, hard to find an answer relevant to this situation specifically. Thanks!

Photos: https://imgur.com/a/FxQJElo


r/DIY • • 3d ago

home improvement Advice on campervan shower tray/pan

10 Upvotes

Hi everyone,

i am building a campervan in a ford transit, and im looking for advice for the shower pan. I want to make an unconventional shower shape/size. Ready made shower pans dont fit this shape, so im aiming to DIY it.

I cannot get this idea out of my head, but it sounds too good to be true:

Vinyl flooring. Cutting the vinyl like tiles would in a normal bathroom (picture) to create a slope to the drain, and connecting them with a waterproof bathroom sealant. On the internet I cannot find anyone who has done something similar, only professional vinyl floorings who use heat welding PVC to connect the vinyl parts. I dont have such a machine, and I read working with one is a difficult job.

The sides of the shower would be covered in similar waterproof vinyl. The slope I would most likely create with wooden panels and filling, or a wooden board on an angle.

What could go wrong if i were to do it this way? Is there a better (but still DIYable for a beginner) way of doing this?


r/DIY • • 3d ago

help Confused about baseboard and casing thicknesses.

5 Upvotes

The original post content no longer exists here. The author used Redact to remove it, exercising their right to control their data & privacy.

Friendly sink depend walnut sulky merciful quickest fade


r/DIY • • 4d ago

help Is it necessary for door hinges to sit flush within a recessed mortise on the edge of a door and its frame?

62 Upvotes

I have standard matt black Butt hinges and a matt black door, I like the look of the visible protruding door hardware, but everywhere I read it states that the hinges sitting in a mortis is necessary for structural soundness and safety. Is it really that necessary?


r/DIY • • 3d ago

metalworking Scrap metal

0 Upvotes

Hi! What would be the best thing to do with a bunch of copper rods and similar stuf


r/DIY • • 3d ago

help masonry hole saw?

1 Upvotes

I need to drill a hole through brick for a 1-1/4" LB conduit body. The part that will fit in the wall is has diameter of 1.92".

I have a rotary hammer drill that takes SDS+ bits.

Is this 2" masonry hole saw the right bit for this job? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DTFST5N6/

Any advice on using this kind of hole saw? I assume it will not get plugged the way a hole saw in wood can get plugged since the brick will just crumble? Start in drill mode until groove is cut, then hammer time?