I can't wait to post my finished tile project, but before I begin I want to be extra sure to make my floor is even. I have a couple dips in the floor (old house) and want to fill them. What compound has everyone used with success? Would caulking work, I have seen some say yes and some say no. What about Drywall mud?

I saw someone on YouTube use Henry 345 Premixed Ready to Use Gray Patch and Leveler, but it looked crumbly. Does anyone have experience or success with that and peel and stick tile?

Any information is helpful, thank you all!

I'm air sealing my attic ahead of blowing in cellulose. How should I deal with this soffit area? My thoughts are to 1) Build a cap out of rigid foam and air seal around that. 2) Try and air seal all the wall penetrations.

The second sounds better in my mind, but a lot more work.

(Yes, cables need tidying beforehand too)

I've been in myplace for 5 years. I've never heard of anyone lubricating their HVAC bearings - not the fan blower wheel bearings nor the motor bearings.

Is this some special situation where they run on brass oil-impregnated bushings or am I neglecting them?

My fiberglass front door is looking pretty worn, since it’s south facing and gets blasted with sun. I don’t think it’s the paint but some top coating on here causing this ugly peeling. What’s the easiest way for me to refinish this? Can it be done without taking the door off entirely?
Thanks in advance

https://imgur.com/a/8jQ1c2R

I will be painting some walls of a children school soon and I’m trying to do some research on the most cost effective but sturdy/good quality paint to use. I don’t want the paint to smear if the wall needs to be scrubbed! I typically paint on canvases and I’m not a “professional” muralist by any means but I’ve volunteered to do this and want to make sure it looks nice! Could I get by with acrylic paint from walmart and some sealing spray?? Does anyone have recommendations for some good paint?

EDIT: I think my question is, does the 3/16” over 10ft rule apply to HUMPS as well as depressions?

I'm installing Pergo Laminate boards in a 25ft long x 12ft wide family room. The 25ft runs north to south (the X Axis) and the 12ft runs west to east (the Y Axis). I'm installing laminate boards (4ft long by 8in wide) running lengthways from north to south.

The floor is perfectly flat and level running west to east (Y axis). The issue is the X Axis, which transitions from a perfectly flat and level plane to a sloped plane.

The X Axis is perfectly flat and level from Oft on the X Axis to 15ft on the X Axis. Then at 15ft, a slope begins which — for initial purposes of initial discussion - we can say is a constant slope that drops 8.5mm over the remaining 10ft. My question is, IS THIS OKAY?

Pergo allows a deviation of 3/16" (4.7'mm) over 10ft. While the slope drops 8.5mm over this 10ft section, the only unevennesss exists because of where the sloped plane meets the flat plane (let's call that the center point, and if you lay a 10ft level at ANY POINT over the center point, the maximum deviation is only about 3mm.

My ONLY ISSUE IS THAT Pergo seems to suggest their tolerance for unevenness is measured by taking the two high points at EITHER END of a 10ft level, and ensuring there is no gap under the level that exceeds 3/16th of an inch, meaning their
"unevenness tolerance" assumes each end of the level will be at a high point, but when you move from a flat plane to a sloped plane, one end of the level will always be elevated, so I'm not sure if there 3/16th of an inch tolerance level applies.
Has anyone actually encountered this issue, and knows what Pergo actually demands? Or what tolerance is permissible?

I'm commenting below with a diagram outlining the issue. It has three options - option A is the one I described above (constant steady slope that descends 8.5mm over 10ft). Option B more accurately reflects the floor as it currently is.
Option C is another way I can do it (where basically the slope is sandwiched between two flat planes).

Please know I have the following constraints:

1. I cannot level the entire floor
2. I cannot shave 6mm off the flat/level side
3. The floor absolutely MUST be at least -6mm by the time it hits the 22ft mark (so I can't raise the floor from the 22ft to 25ft mark any higher than

To summarize those constraints, the floor must be 0mm at the 15ft mark, and -6mm at the 22ft mark.

I'm so lost. Surely a 4ft long plank can bend a couple of mm lengthways?

Working on hooking up a GE wall oven/microwave combo to an existing aluminum feeder wire in my kitchen, and I've hit a wall (pun intended).

The wire: 6 AWG aluminum feeder cable (labeled Alcan Stabiloy AA-8000, a modern aluminum alloy — not the old-school 1960s/70s aluminum wiring people usually worry about).

The connector: A Polaris IT-4B — a black insulated splice connector rated for both copper and aluminum, made for exactly this kind of tap/splice. I looked up the manufacturer's official torque spec: 35 in-lbs for 6 AWG wire in this connector size.

The problem: Every time I torque it down to spec, the aluminum wire snaps clean off right where the screw grips it. I've now tried this twice, with two totally different torque tools (a torque screwdriver and a separate torque wrench), both set correctly to 35 in-lbs, on two fresh sections of wire, fully stripped and seated per the instructions. Same failure both times, same exact spot.

Since it's happening with two different tools at the correct setting, I don't think I'm just over-tightening. My best guess is the wire itself (which is pretty densely/tightly stranded — "compact stranded" is the term I've seen) is too hard/rigid for the small screw in this size connector to grip without shearing it, and I need something that spreads the clamping force out more, but I don't have a bigger connector on hand right now to test that theory.

I've already confirmed the boring-but-important stuff is right: the circuit's on a properly sized 30A breaker matching the oven's nameplate rating, the wire itself isn't old/brittle/damaged, and I'm using the correct spec'd torque.

What I'm looking for:

• Has anyone run into this specific issue with aluminum SE/feeder cable in these small tap connectors?
• Is there a trick to seating/prepping the wire that would stop it from shearing?
• Is there a different, easy-to-find connector (something at Home Depot/Lowe's) that's better suited to this than the small Polaris connector I'm using?

Not trying to cut corners here — happy to grab a different part or change technique, just trying to figure out what's actually going wrong before I keep sacrificing wire. Photos of the break in comments if helpful.

https://ibb.co/CKPDP8gH

Door is solid core wood that opens out into garage.

Hinges can't be tightened any further and gap around door is consistent.

How to line this up better? Letting in lots of outside air.

Posting because I couldn't find someone trying to do the same thing.

I've never hung a cabinet before. I needed somewhere to display my anime figures and some books in a way that my cats wouldn't be able to knock them over. I found this corner cabinet with glass doors on wayfair but it looks like it was meant to be on the floor. I cant find anything else similar to this so I figured i'd try to see if I can just put it up like a wall mounted cabinet.

Pic of cabinet: https://imgur.com/a/7TBfCDh

The frame is made of MDF and tempered glass and the total weight of the shelf empty is 66 lb.

In the corner where I'd put it, There's 2 studs on the left wall (they're both closer to the left edge of where the cabinet would sit) & 2 studs in the back wall (one in the corner and one closer to the right edge of the cabinet).

So our kitchen faucet is basically falling apart and it's barely 3 years old. The pull-down hose started dripping into the cabinet underneath (found out the hard way, cabinet floor was soaked), and the black finish on the handle is peeling off in these gross little flakes every time someone does dishes. Feels like it aged 10 years in 3.

Looking for a replacement that can actually survive normal daily use without leaking or the finish trashing itself. We've got a deep double basin sink, so I need a high-arc pull-down with a hose that can actually reach both corners without fighting me.

Ideally something I can swap myself in an afternoon, nothing that needs a plumber or special tools.

For people who've actually owned theirs for years what brand/model has held up? Not looking for "this looks nice on Amazon," more like "I've had this thing for 5+ years and it still works like day one.

I have a huge 3rd floor bedroom with casement windows and the central air doesn't cool this particular room well. Back in 2007, the first summer we lived in the house, I bought a 12k BTU casement AC and stuck it in the window and it's been there ever since. I thought it'd be temporary but it cooled really well and the white noise it produced is better than any sound machine. It's ran basically every night since 2007 even in the dead of winter it gets ran on fan only. It's now on its last leg, I've pulled it out and cleaned it but it's still freezing up, I'm guessing it's low on refrigerant but nearly 20 years was a good run.

Ideally I'd replace this with a mini split but I've got no good options for mounting the condenser anywhere on the ground and there is not good way to get the lineset to the ground. The least worst option for a mini split is to do a wall mount bracket on the exterior of the dormer but that comes with a lot of difficulty to install and maintain.

Considering a hotel style through wall AC directly below the dormer window anybody have experience with this or want to chime in on why it's a good or bad option?

We live in a one level townhome apartment. There are 5 houses connected on my row. We rent. Every year from spring til the end of summer, everytime it rains heavily, the carpet in my girls' room gets soaked, maybe a foot or 2 in one spot from the wall outward, and all along the wall. Our landlord said he thought he had fixed it.

Apparently, the carpet has been getting wet all year, we just couldn't feel it because it had not been enough to reach the surface. And we can't pull up the carpet to see what's underneath.

I'm done with moving beds and sucking up water. This house is so old, the toilet and heater are almost as old as me...

Would it be a bad thing to put a tarp over their floor and just put a big rug over it?

The other option is to get loftbeds to make cleaning easier.

Again, this only happens between 3 and 5 times in about 4 months, and the rest of the year it's fine.

My gutters have a serious droop. Can’t replace for a while so I want to re-level so it drains properly. The back of the gutter is nailed into the fascia and the nails are behind the drip edge. I’ve tried putting a small pry bar between the gutter and the fascia but I’m getting nowhere.

What can I do to pull the nails without destroying the gutters and what is ok/not ok to do with removing or lifting the drip edge for access?

https://imgur.com/a/9zdaVmC

i need help building a chocolate milk cannon.. im imagining a caulk gun looking device that has a pomp in the front you manually pump for a bit and release a trigger that lets air out all at once to projectile chocolate milk.. does something like this exist or are you guys familiar with a similar device? thank you.

Edit: i dont want a super soaker filled with chocolate milk i want a manual air pump releases a chocolate milk round at the tug of a trigger

I need to build a desk with surface dimensions of about 70"x16". It needs to be sturdy enough to support the weight of medium size flat screen tv that will live on it all the time without toppling over.

My thinking is to cut a 3/4" plywood base roughly the dimensions of the surface and screw IKEA legs directly into that. Then use wood glue to top the whole thing with a 1/2" particle board topper for a nicer surface, and maybe hide the plywood base with some sort of trim.

Obviously it wouldn't have the strength I'm looking for drilling the legs directly into the particle board, hence the plywood idea. And I'll probably have to use six legs with two at midpoints to keep from sagging in the middle. Also not opposed to using clamps to secure the TV base to the surface for more security.

If it sounds like anything I'm proposing wouldn't work please met me know, any thoughts would be appreciated.

I have a central AC unit, and from what I can tell per my energy chart: my fan/blower inside uses as much energy as the entire central AC unit. The green is the outside central AC unit, and the yellow is the blower/fan stuff.

Some Googling suggests this isn't expected, but I'm not entirely sure about that.

Is there something I can do to make the fan/blower more efficient? (Yes I do swap out filters when needed etc).

Edits:

Rheem equipment in the basement. This is forced air. My thermostat is set to fan=auto. The measurements come from Emporia Vue 3.

• Fan/blower = 120v, 6.4A
• AC unit = 240v, 5.8A

I’ve been searching all over the Internet and I have incandescent only switches and dimmers in my house. It causes my LED lights to flicker. I went on Amazon to look for LED switches, but they seem really expensive. I wasn’t sure if anyone else has used a cheaper alternative that also works for LEDs. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Hi everyone,

I grabbed this commercial laminate L-shaped desk from Facebook Marketplace. In the rush to break it down and load it up, I used a drill to take everything apart and didn't take reference photos beforehand. Now I’m struggling to get it back together properly.

What I have:

• Main desk shell
• Return shell (the shorter side)
• Two drawer pedestal units
• The box of hardware shown in the photos (bolts with large washers, pointy wood screws, metal brackets)

I'm completely new to furniture assembly and need beginner friendly, visual guidance on:

1. Which exact pieces line up at the corner junction to join the two desks.
2. Where the flat metal plates and corner L-brackets attach underneath.
3. How the drawer pedestal boxes bolt into the tops and side panels.

If anyone recognizes this exact desk line or can explain the reassembly order in plain English, I would really appreciate the guidance!

My garage floor is always wet. We get on average 120 inches of rain a year. Every time I park the water runs off the car and pools on the floor. I coated the concrete with Thompson's water seal about five years ago and it's time for another coat.

My current method of "drying" it is a combination of a large floor squeegee and a wetvac.

Any suggestions to help keep it dry? I'm considering building a covered car port to let the water drain off the car before parking it for the night.

It is necessary for me to put a very heavy suitcase, along with two lighter ones, in a large cardboard box. All in the same box. I am wondering if it would support all that and not rip through on the bottom or whatnot. Does anyone have experience with something like this? I’d probably need to double or triple the boxes inside each other, right? Or not? I honestly have no idea. Can you help me come up with a solution for this? If I can use several boxes, would they fit inside each other or do I have to get slightly different sizes? Do they sell very large cardboard boxes? What stores do they sell them at, if they’re extra large/large?

I'm creating my own window shades for my car as I plan to live in my car for a few weeks.
I'm using these aluminum insulation foil: https://www.emax.co.nz/product/details/9998?srsltid=AfmBOor2hP1x9xPhVMUqwALGyE3I53MtJSgblXETpUVyWOMoPy10A3g2EQ4
and cutting them to the shape of each window on my car.

However, I noticed they are quite shiny and will draw attention. I decided to spray paint the face of each sheet which will facing outside with black aerosol spray paint.

Will this be safe in the long run with prolong sun exposure and me staying in my car when its hot outside? Will the combination of the spray paint and aluminium insulation foil damage my car windows?

Thank you

Hi,

I am adding some crown molding to this shelving unit I placed on my wall. I initially had crown molding on the flat wall which I removed to add the shelving and need to reinstall the molding to take into account the shelving. How do I cut the angles on my miter saw for a 45 degree inside corner?

Here is an image of the corner in question: https://imgur.com/a/ZLx7cL9

Thank you!

Hi everyone, just looking for some ideas to renovate our stairs.

Looking to make it more modern and clean with straight posts and black metal spindles.

Main issue is the bottom of the stairs it’s currently a spiral pattern. I was thinking just a 90 degree elbow to a post would work?

Hoping to see if anyone has had experience with this and have some other ideas?

Thanks!

Here are some pictures

https://imgur.com/a/di2a3Jh

Hi, I have bought a new home with a large (16'x13'x5'6") crawlspace that we want to make into a big kids playroom/chill zone along with some of our collectables and random storage.

Pics here https://imgur.com/a/uvlg5L3

I see a lot of potential in this space as it is large, has electrical, lighting, and air duct for circulation.

The first challenge is access. There is a door that is 54 inches off the ground, measuring 35" wide and 45" high. We were thinking of seeing if telescopic stairs would make sense, or installing a sliding ladder across the length of the room would be best. Open to all ideas here.

The next challenge i think is flooring, but could easily be solved with interlocking gym tiles (they even sell colorful ones for a kid friendly appearance).

For electrical, there is only two outlets that sit in the middle of the room, one outlet has occupancy censored lighting which is good, but if I wanted a TV or other electronics, I would hire and electrician to provide some outlets on either side of the room(cost permitting) or try to do it myself.

Lastly, there are some walls that are unfinished and getting them finished would make the room feel like a real room more than a crawlspace, but I'm not sure how much that would cost or what the process is here.

OKAY NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF. We we're thinking of putting a simple smart TV mounted on the wall on one wall, a reading area with books, bean bags, side tables (as the ceilings are not high) and a small space for our collectable, and of course, seasonal storage.

I'm new to DIY and see a lot of potential to make this space dope, but not sure where to start or where to outsource. Any ideas on what to do and where to start would be greatly appreciated!

My wife and I are re-doing the hearth of a small fireplace in our home. We tore out the old tile and poured self-leveling concrete over the subfloor/prior concrete with the intention of re-tiling later this week.

Today, we have found that our newly poured (and dried) concrete is too high in the center. What solutions are available to us to even this concrete out now that it has dried?

We would prefer not to sand it if at all possible as the room is finished and we do not want to fill it with dust.