Otis in the Suburbs (2 Viewers)

[the moops]

I recommended the hacksaw because I think we all know Otis doesnt know how to use a jigsaw.

 

[squidrope]

I recommended the hacksaw because I think we all know Otis doesnt know how to use a jigsaw.

I'll do it for 4.5K

 

[SuperAwesomeDude]

so far the most fun one is blowtorch. give her hell oatis

 

[Otis]

Oat,Are you going to go for the mainicured look for those trees, creating a hedge, or let them grow however? I find them to be fairly ugly ATM. Sorry.

Wait you mean the old ones are ugly? New ones looks nice. But yeah the idea is a privacy hedge.ETA - they came back and added mulch along the bottom all the way down. Looks pretty nice. Also, the dead ones are already starting to look a little greener and healthier. Hopefully we can bring those puppies back. It still may look odd having them spaced close together in one area and far apart in the other, but once they fill in hopefully that won't be a big deal.

 

[Otis]

Yeah it's pretty thin. I have no idea what the difference is between a jigsaw and hacksaw but I can find out the hard way.

 

[The Football Freak]

Yeah it's pretty thin. I have no idea what the difference is between a jigsaw and hacksaw but I can find out the hard way.

Would you drill 4 holes to make the cutting easier?

 

[SuperAwesomeDude]

Yeah it's pretty thin. I have no idea what the difference is between a jigsaw and hacksaw but I can find out the hard way.

hacksawjigsaw

 

[squidrope]

Yeah it's pretty thin. I have no idea what the difference is between a jigsaw and hacksaw but I can find out the hard way.

Would you drill 4 holes to make the cutting easier?

I would use a dremel with a metal cutting wheel. Trying to drill holes through thin sheetmetal is difficult as the drill will want to grab violently as it breaks through the metal. This could bend the sheet or cut the #### out of your hands. The Dremel will cut a nice clean line through the sheet with a much better chance of success IMO.

 

[Otis]

Dremel-type jammy seems like the best option here. I'm guessing I'll find use for this thing again in the future and it's worth the investment? What'll it run me, 50 bucks?

 

[squidrope]

Dremel-type jammy seems like the best option here. I'm guessing I'll find use for this thing again in the future and it's worth the investment? What'll it run me, 50 bucks?

$100 if you get one with a bunch of attachments.

 

[squidrope]

Model 4000-5/36H

and

Model EZ456

make sure you get the arbor for the blades

 

[Otis]

ARBOR?

 

[squidrope]

ARBOR?

lol the thingy the blade mounts to

 

[Reaper]

(also could use one of these handy things with an appropriate attachment - bought one awhile back, big fan)

I came here to post that I use my Dremel a lot to cut through almost anything.... But, that thing Rules!!!!

I'm getting that.

 

[gianmarco]

I recommended the hacksaw because I think we all know Otis doesnt know how to use a jigsaw.

I'll do it for 4.5K

 

[The Football Freak]

Yeah it's pretty thin. I have no idea what the difference is between a jigsaw and hacksaw but I can find out the hard way.

Would you drill 4 holes to make the cutting easier?

I would use a dremel with a metal cutting wheel. Trying to drill holes through thin sheetmetal is difficult as the drill will want to grab violently as it breaks through the metal. This could bend the sheet or cut the #### out of your hands. The Dremel will cut a nice clean line through the sheet with a much better chance of success IMO.

I've used a dremel to cut ceramic tiles, but didn't think to use it on metal. Is any dremel powerful enough to cut this type of metal, as long as you have the right head?

 

[squidrope]

Yeah it's pretty thin. I have no idea what the difference is between a jigsaw and hacksaw but I can find out the hard way.

Would you drill 4 holes to make the cutting easier?

I would use a dremel with a metal cutting wheel. Trying to drill holes through thin sheetmetal is difficult as the drill will want to grab violently as it breaks through the metal. This could bend the sheet or cut the #### out of your hands. The Dremel will cut a nice clean line through the sheet with a much better chance of success IMO.

I've used a dremel to cut ceramic tiles, but didn't think to use it on metal. Is any dremel powerful enough to cut this type of metal, as long as you have the right head?

Shouldn't be a problem as long as he let's it cut/grind the metal and doesn't try to force it through. Slow and steady.

 

[the moops]

I recommended the hacksaw because I think we all know Otis doesnt know how to use a jigsaw.

I'll do it for 4.5K

I can do it for a roundtrip ticket from Minneapolis and two good nights of hanging out with the O and his Mrs.

 

[lumpy19]

I'd buy tin snips first and try those, if that doesn't work then go with the dremel.

tin snips

 

[Reaper]

I'd buy tin snips first and try those, if that doesn't work then go with the dremel.

tin snips

Tin Snips tend to mangle metal and are fine when you can pound it back to shape or it doesn't matter much like a hidden A/C duct....

The Dremel has metal blades and is just a great tool to have around. I use mine all the time...

You just have to wear goggles, go slow and hold on tight because it likes to catch and jump around on you.

I have THIS for metal.

 

[squidrope]

I'd buy tin snips first and try those, if that doesn't work then go with the dremel.

tin snips

Tin Snips tend to mangle metal and are fine when you can pound it back to shape or it doesn't matter much like a hidden A/C duct....

The Dremel has metal blades and is just a great tool to have around. I use mine all the time...

You just have to wear goggles, go slow and hold on tight because it likes to catch and jump around on you.

I have THIS for metal.

This guy knows things

 

[squidrope]

I recommended the hacksaw because I think we all know Otis doesnt know how to use a jigsaw.

I'll do it for 4.5K

I can do it for a roundtrip ticket from Minneapolis and two good nights of hanging out with the O and his Mrs.

Moops:What's that?Mrs. Oats:A bottle?Oats:

 

[Otis]

ELECTRICAL QUESTION

Next to the TV in our den we have a two-prong outlet. Any problem with me plugging a power strip into one of those 3 prong-to-two prong adapters and then running my TV, router, Apple TV, Bluray, etc. through that? My first inclination is that maybe it's less safe for the electronics, but then again it's a high-end surge protector in my power strip so I'm assuming that will protect all the components regardless of what it's plugged into?

Alternatively I wonder if I should swap out that old two-prong outlet for a three.

 

[Rohn Jambo]

I recommended the hacksaw because I think we all know Otis doesnt know how to use a jigsaw.

I'll do it for 4.5K

I can do it for a roundtrip ticket from Minneapolis and two good nights of hanging out with the O and his Mrs.

Good luck with the second hand smoke.

 

[Otis]

I recommended the hacksaw because I think we all know Otis doesnt know how to use a jigsaw.

I'll do it for 4.5K

I can do it for a roundtrip ticket from Minneapolis and two good nights of hanging out with the O and his Mrs.

Good luck with the second hand smoke.

Wuss. Would the staying up late and drinking alcohol also make you nervous?

 

[Otis]

Nevermind. Per the internet it seems this is probably fine.

 

[Britney Spears]

Oreos,

As recommended, get a dremel, rotozip, or some other rotary tool to cut the metal. This is a very handy tool to have. I have a used rotozip that I got that comes in handy a lot. Good to have available.

Mark your hole on the sheet: To line it up with the wall outlet, get some of Mrs. O's old lipstick. Take the outlet cover off, and remove the old outlet so you just have the box. This is probably a great time to upgrade your outlet to a kitchen safe one. Put 4 small dots of lipstick on the corners of the outlet box. Press your sheet up on the wall in place just how it will be when you attach it, and the lipstick will leave a mark where your 4 corners are. This also works great when you need to hang drywall.

Use a sheet metal bit to drill holes in the 4 lipstick marked corners, and connect them with your rotary tool, or tin snips.

 

[Britney Spears]

Oh, don't forget to turn the breaker off for that outlet!

 

[Otis]

Oreos,

As recommended, get a dremel, rotozip, or some other rotary tool to cut the metal. This is a very handy tool to have. I have a used rotozip that I got that comes in handy a lot. Good to have available.

Mark your hole on the sheet: To line it up with the wall outlet, get some of Mrs. O's old lipstick. Take the outlet cover off, and remove the old outlet so you just have the box. This is probably a great time to upgrade your outlet to a kitchen safe one. Put 4 small dots of lipstick on the corners of the outlet box. Press your sheet up on the wall in place just how it will be when you attach it, and the lipstick will leave a mark where your 4 corners are. This also works great when you need to hang drywall.

Use a sheet metal bit to drill holes in the 4 lipstick marked corners, and connect them with your rotary tool, or tin snips.

Upon further reflection we may not end up installing the stainless backsplash. After I swapped out the old white hood/blower for a new stainless one (all the appliances are stainless now), it looks like there may be enough stainless in there. And now that the kitchen was painted, the back wall looks ok.

However, I still bought a dremel. I had one years ago and remember getting use out of it, so I'm sure it will come in handy.

This weekends projects included so far:

- install knocker on front door (nice knockers)

- install new hood/blower over oven

- install knobs/handles on all drawers and cabinets in kitchen

- order granite counters; went direct to a granite guy and are saving a few hundred bucks off Home Depot prices; should be installed much faster too -- within a week or so;

- watch the painter finish painting the chimney and garage door; write him another check :5k:

- clean windows in den

- weed hunt; that weed killer crap is amazing. Made a first pass last night over the whole front yard with a hand pump one. Took a while and the Omitts got a good workout, but wake up this morning and most of the weeds are shriveled up. I have another one that connects to the hose which seems like a better option of this wide area, so I will probably lay into that tomorrow with another pass. SUCK IT WEEDS/FRED

Painter finally done inside and we are getting our lives back and getting cleaned up and organized. Place is really starting to look great.

 

[Angus Lok]

ELECTRICAL QUESTION

Next to the TV in our den we have a two-prong outlet. Any problem with me plugging a power strip into one of those 3 prong-to-two prong adapters and then running my TV, router, Apple TV, Bluray, etc. through that? My first inclination is that maybe it's less safe for the electronics, but then again it's a high-end surge protector in my power strip so I'm assuming that will protect all the components regardless of what it's plugged into?

Alternatively I wonder if I should swap out that old two-prong outlet for a three.

You should probably swap that outlet out. Surge protector will work a lot better with the ground in a regular outlet...just my thought

 

[Drifter]

Swapping the outlet wont ground the outlet if there's no ground run to it. The very fact that there's two prong in the house at all would have me worried about how much of the wiring is grounded in general

 

[Otis]

Swapping the outlet wont ground the outlet if there's no ground run to it. The very fact that there's two prong in the house at all would have me worried about how much of the wiring is grounded in general

Understood - I'd need to hope there is a ground wire in the wall. I'm assuming there is not, but who knows.I'm guessing the wiring is a mess. Is what it is. One day when I have Chetloot I'll have someone come in and have it redone/upgraded.

 

[OC Zed]

Swapping the outlet wont ground the outlet if there's no ground run to it. The very fact that there's two prong in the house at all would have me worried about how much of the wiring is grounded in general

Understood - I'd need to hope there is a ground wire in the wall. I'm assuming there is not, but who knows.I'm guessing the wiring is a mess. Is what it is. One day when I have Chetloot I'll have someone come in and have it redone/upgraded.

...and then you'd move to another house 5 months later.

 

[JerseyToughGuys]

Sweet weekend plans. Hope the wine and cigs are a plenty on that back deck.

 

[Drifter]

If all that's wrong is wires in need of grounding, that's not too expensive. They can run into the basement and ground off any pipe

 

[Rohn Jambo]

Upon further reflection we may not end up installing the stainless backsplash. After I swapped out the old white hood/blower for a new stainless one (all the appliances are stainless now), it looks like there may be enough stainless in there. And now that the kitchen was painted, the back wall looks ok.

However, I still bought a dremel. I had one years ago and remember getting use out of it, so I'm sure it will come in handy.

This weekends projects included so far:

- install knocker on front door (nice knockers)

- install new hood/blower over oven

- install knobs/handles on all drawers and cabinets in kitchen

- order granite counters; went direct to a granite guy and are saving a few hundred bucks off Home Depot prices; should be installed much faster too -- within a week or so;

- watch the painter finish painting the chimney and garage door; write him another check :5k:

- clean windows in den

- weed hunt; that weed killer crap is amazing. Made a first pass last night over the whole front yard with a hand pump one. Took a while and the Omitts got a good workout, but wake up this morning and most of the weeds are shriveled up. I have another one that connects to the hose which seems like a better option of this wide area, so I will probably lay into that tomorrow with another pass. SUCK IT WEEDS/FRED

Painter finally done inside and we are getting our lives back and getting cleaned up and organized. Place is really starting to look great.

Does this list include Mrs. Otis' projects? Those I bolded may be at your skill level.

 

[Rohn Jambo]

I recommended the hacksaw because I think we all know Otis doesnt know how to use a jigsaw.

I'll do it for 4.5K

I can do it for a roundtrip ticket from Minneapolis and two good nights of hanging out with the O and his Mrs.

Good luck with the second hand smoke.

Wuss. Would the staying up late and drinking alcohol also make you nervous?

You can't sweetalk me into doing it for free. My raccoon whisperer service will cost you $5k.

 

[YSR]

Otis, while you've spent a pretty penny getting stuff done (and it looks great, btw), don't fear - you'll inevitably find things you need to do every single weekend. Walk room to room in your house. Those old-ish doorknobs that seem fine? Guess what. Lowes and Home Depot have these really nice looking doorsets that will make your house look even better.

I only mention this because we are trying to get our house ready to sell and we are so in "go" mode that in the 4 days we have idled for carpet to be installed, we have decided to switch out the majority of our door hardware (12 sets thus far = $$).

I've got to think that pouring this money into a place you're going to call your own has to feel good. Doing do just to list and hope to get out what we've put in feels pretty deflating at this point.

 

[Drifter]

I recommended the hacksaw because I think we all know Otis doesnt know how to use a jigsaw.

I'll do it for 4.5K

I can do it for a roundtrip ticket from Minneapolis and two good nights of hanging out with the O and his Mrs.

Good luck with the second hand smoke.

Wuss. Would the staying up late and drinking alcohol also make you nervous?

You can't sweetalk me into doing it for free. My raccoon whisperer service will cost you $5k.

Sounds sexy

 

[the moops]

You can swap out the two prong outlets for GFCI outlets and they will pass code and suffice. Not ideal, but cheaper (a little bit, each gfci outlet will cost you 15 bucks or so) and easier than rewiring everything.

 

[Britney Spears]

Swapping the outlet wont ground the outlet if there's no ground run to it. The very fact that there's two prong in the house at all would have me worried about how much of the wiring is grounded in general

Understood - I'd need to hope there is a ground wire in the wall. I'm assuming there is not, but who knows.I'm guessing the wiring is a mess. Is what it is. One day when I have Chetloot I'll have someone come in and have it redone/upgraded.

You should have a plug in electrical tester. They are very cheap and useful. I like the kind with 3 lights. Also it likely (should) say in your home inspection if your outlets are grounded. I agree with Moops and would go GFCI in the kitchen. You can definitely swap outlets yourself (I assume you already have been with the home automation stuff) with a wire stripping tool and a screwdriver.

 

[Otis]

You can swap out the two prong outlets for GFCI outlets and they will pass code and suffice. Not ideal, but cheaper (a little bit, each gfci outlet will cost you 15 bucks or so) and easier than rewiring everything.

Interesting. The GFCI ones just have that built in breaker with a reset button right? Good option.

 

[Otis]

Otis, while you've spent a pretty penny getting stuff done (and it looks great, btw), don't fear - you'll inevitably find things you need to do every single weekend. Walk room to room in your house. Those old-ish doorknobs that seem fine? Guess what. Lowes and Home Depot have these really nice looking doorsets that will make your house look even better.

I only mention this because we are trying to get our house ready to sell and we are so in "go" mode that in the 4 days we have idled for carpet to be installed, we have decided to switch out the majority of our door hardware (12 sets thus far = $$).

I've got to think that pouring this money into a place you're going to call your own has to feel good. Doing do just to list and hope to get out what we've put in feels pretty deflating at this point.

All true. Super rewarding so far. And the good thing is I see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Once these major projects are done, life will be back to normal and we can spend time on some cheap projects.

 

[ODoyleRules]

Otis, while you've spent a pretty penny getting stuff done (and it looks great, btw), don't fear - you'll inevitably find things you need to do every single weekend. Walk room to room in your house. Those old-ish doorknobs that seem fine? Guess what. Lowes and Home Depot have these really nice looking doorsets that will make your house look even better.

I only mention this because we are trying to get our house ready to sell and we are so in "go" mode that in the 4 days we have idled for carpet to be installed, we have decided to switch out the majority of our door hardware (12 sets thus far = $$).

I've got to think that pouring this money into a place you're going to call your own has to feel good. Doing do just to list and hope to get out what we've put in feels pretty deflating at this point.

I changed all the door knobs and hinges in our house from brass to brushed nickel. Made a huge difference and it's a good project since you can do 1 or 2 when you have time. Ordering online saves some $. Between that and changing all the outlets and switches, the house seems a lot newer and the investment was low.

 

[the moops]

You can swap out the two prong outlets for GFCI outlets and they will pass code and suffice. Not ideal, but cheaper (a little bit, each gfci outlet will cost you 15 bucks or so) and easier than rewiring everything.

Interesting. The GFCI ones just have that built in breaker with a reset button right? Good option.

Yep.GFCI's are required in bathrooms, garages, and some areas of a kitchen (not sure the details exactly but something like within 10 feet of any water source or something). We have old wiring in our house. And while most of the outlets are three prong, there is no ground wire attached to them. Our inspector recommended either rewiring the entire house (wasn't happening with how much it would cost) or swapping out the outlets for GFCI (have done a couple here and there).

 

[ODoyleRules]

Follow-up on some suburbia minutiae:

The ugly saw blades recommended earlier are great. Got a new sawzall and I've been pruning the hell out of our yard. Fun so far.

The Thermacell mosquito repellant is just OK and definitely way over-hyped (typical FFA hyperbole - I should know better by now). I had the thing with a new cartridge 2 feet from me on a windless night and still got bit 3 times.

Ran into my mouse friend while I was in the basement drinking and playing PS3. Little runt was teasing me by running along the baseboard. I cornered him and took a lunge at him with a fireplace poker. Pretty embarrassing really. He got away and went under the couch. Mouse 2 ODoyle 0. I stepped up the amount of poison and traps and we'll see what happens.

 

[Otis]

I'll second that on the Thermacell. Got it and I'm not sure it works any better than citronella candles. Hate them bugs.

 

[JerseyToughGuys]

Follow-up on some suburbia minutiae:

The ugly saw blades recommended earlier are great. Got a new sawzall and I've been pruning the hell out of our yard. Fun so far.

The Thermacell mosquito repellant is just OK and definitely way over-hyped (typical FFA hyperbole - I should know better by now). I had the thing with a new cartridge 2 feet from me on a windless night and still got bit 3 times.

Ran into my mouse friend while I was in the basement drinking and playing PS3. Little runt was teasing me by running along the baseboard. I cornered him and took a lunge at him with a fireplace poker. Pretty embarrassing really. He got away and went under the couch. Mouse 2 ODoyle 0. I stepped up the amount of poison and traps and we'll see what happens.

that blows. was going to order one this week.

 

[glock]

Follow-up on some suburbia minutiae:

The ugly saw blades recommended earlier are great. Got a new sawzall and I've been pruning the hell out of our yard. Fun so far.

The Thermacell mosquito repellant is just OK and definitely way over-hyped (typical FFA hyperbole - I should know better by now). I had the thing with a new cartridge 2 feet from me on a windless night and still got bit 3 times.

Ran into my mouse friend while I was in the basement drinking and playing PS3. Little runt was teasing me by running along the baseboard. I cornered him and took a lunge at him with a fireplace poker. Pretty embarrassing really. He got away and went under the couch. Mouse 2 ODoyle 0. I stepped up the amount of poison and traps and we'll see what happens.

that blows. was going to order one this week.

Just picked one up at Home Depot...

 

[NutterButter]

Ran into my mouse friend while I was in the basement drinking and playing PS3. Little runt was teasing me by running along the baseboard. I cornered him and took a lunge at him with a fireplace poker. Pretty embarrassing really. He got away and went under the couch. Mouse 2 ODoyle 0. I stepped up the amount of poison and traps and we'll see what happens.

I'm not trying to push some tree hugger animal lover freak product though I'm partially one of those, but this mouse trap from Peta is just awesome. I probably caught about a dozen mice in my attic a few winters back and I don't think I recall one failed attempt.