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Home-owners...What are your current projects? (5 Viewers)

We are in the process of putting down some aritificial turf in our side yard where we can't get any grass to grow, landscaping along the fence and eventually, some landscape lighting. Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of doing it in the order that I want so the EZGrass guys are coming on Monday for the install. 

At some point, I am going to be installing the landscape lighting and will be connecting to an outlet on the exterior of the house. Since there will be EZGrass between the outlet and the fence/landscaping, I want to install some sort of conduit/PVC underground so at some point when I need to access the electrical, I won't be having to deal with the EZGrass installation and can just run the electrical line underneath it.

Am I really simplifying things here thinking I can just dig a trench (It's only going to be 6 to 8 feet) underneath the electrical outlet running directly out to the fence, put in a piece of PVC with a 90 degree turn upwards at the outlet and then bury it so whenever I need the electrical at the landscaping/fence, I can just access the PVC and run the wires through it to the outlet? That's a long run-on sentence but hopefully you get what I'm asking....

 
Senor Schmutzig said:
We are in the process of putting down some aritificial turf in our side yard where we can't get any grass to grow, landscaping along the fence and eventually, some landscape lighting. Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of doing it in the order that I want so the EZGrass guys are coming on Monday for the install. 

At some point, I am going to be installing the landscape lighting and will be connecting to an outlet on the exterior of the house. Since there will be EZGrass between the outlet and the fence/landscaping, I want to install some sort of conduit/PVC underground so at some point when I need to access the electrical, I won't be having to deal with the EZGrass installation and can just run the electrical line underneath it.

Am I really simplifying things here thinking I can just dig a trench (It's only going to be 6 to 8 feet) underneath the electrical outlet running directly out to the fence, put in a piece of PVC with a 90 degree turn upwards at the outlet and then bury it so whenever I need the electrical at the landscaping/fence, I can just access the PVC and run the wires through it to the outlet? That's a long run-on sentence but hopefully you get what I'm asking....
Click to expand...
Sounds like a good idea to me.

When you lay the conduit, have your cable/wire already in there. It's much easier than trying to fish it through later (especially with those 90s).

 
Senor Schmutzig said:
We are in the process of putting down some aritificial turf in our side yard where we can't get any grass to grow, landscaping along the fence and eventually, some landscape lighting. Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of doing it in the order that I want so the EZGrass guys are coming on Monday for the install. 

At some point, I am going to be installing the landscape lighting and will be connecting to an outlet on the exterior of the house. Since there will be EZGrass between the outlet and the fence/landscaping, I want to install some sort of conduit/PVC underground so at some point when I need to access the electrical, I won't be having to deal with the EZGrass installation and can just run the electrical line underneath it.

Am I really simplifying things here thinking I can just dig a trench (It's only going to be 6 to 8 feet) underneath the electrical outlet running directly out to the fence, put in a piece of PVC with a 90 degree turn upwards at the outlet and then bury it so whenever I need the electrical at the landscaping/fence, I can just access the PVC and run the wires through it to the outlet? That's a long run-on sentence but hopefully you get what I'm asking....
Click to expand...
Sounds fine to me, but maybe put a few caps, or unglued 90's above ground so that it doesn't fill with rain.

 
Vinyl siding question-

Had this installed a couple years ago and have an issue with the vinyl corner posts. These have a piece of foam that keeps sliding down. What's the best way to stop this? 

 
Punxsutawney Phil said:
Sounds fine to me, but maybe put a few caps, or unglued 90's above ground so that it doesn't fill with rain.
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Couple things 

a 6-8’ trench is not only likely much more work than you are making it out to be, it’s also way overkill. Look up your code, but I expect you only need to go 18-24” deep. 
 

If you’re going to go through the effort of burying a wire, at least hardwire it. Outdoor connections should really be reserved for temporary things. It’s not much work, but if inexperienced hire an electrician. If you’ve got the hole dug /conduit run it won’t be much $$. Add a pull cord (rope) to allow additional wire pulls as needed. 
Use this wire - THHN/THWN. Make sure it is rated for wet conditions (that is the W in THWN). Make the run long enough that you can get into your house (through wall) and to a JB

 
wilked said:
Couple things 

a 6-8’ trench is not only likely much more work than you are making it out to be, it’s also way overkill. Look up your code, but I expect you only need to go 18-24” deep. 
 

If you’re going to go through the effort of burying a wire, at least hardwire it. Outdoor connections should really be reserved for temporary things. It’s not much work, but if inexperienced hire an electrician. If you’ve got the hole dug /conduit run it won’t be much $$. Add a pull cord (rope) to allow additional wire pulls as needed. 
Use this wire - THHN/THWN. Make sure it is rated for wet conditions (that is the W in THWN). Make the run long enough that you can get into your house (through wall) and to a JB
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I’m assuming he means 6-8’ in length, not 6-8’ down…

You should really call the guys to come out and mark utilities before you trench unless you’re positive there’s nothing there.

 
wilked said:
I noted somewhere in here that I am building a new bath.  Part of that bath was a 40x40 corner shower (not neo angle).

I built the shower using the Schluter system, including a Schluter pan (like this Link ).  The pan is premade and slopes to the drain.

I added curbing around it, waterproofed it all, and also did a drain test (ie filled it up 4", let it sit overnight, level held, then drained.  It drained clean, nice and fast, no water left.

Fast forward, I have since hired out a finish carpenter who tiled it.  I filled with water after he was done, drained, and one corner has standing water (not free draining), maybe 1/8-1/4" of water, just the one corner.  Not happy.  You can kick the water over with your foot but I would rather not...

Told my guy, he said he'll look at it, said we'll fix it.  Thing is, only 2 12" mesh tiles left, not enough.  And it's stocked out everywhere til at least Dec per the mfg.  

Thoughts?  Wife says we can live with it, no big deal.  I am not as excited.  Think we will have to live with it til then or rip the whole lot of the tile out which I am also not excited about.  

Thoughts?  Small deal or big deal?  Live with it or focus on getting it fixed once tile is in?

edit to add - we will have frameless glass around it and will expect everyone to squeegee glass once finished, so wife says just squeegee the corner while you're at it
Click to expand...
Update?

I am having a shower redone right now along with some additional work in the bathroom.  Not doing it myself.  I could have done some, but I wasn't going to do the tile work myself and really wanted a good waterproof shower as the old one leaked 10 years after install (not my work).  Guys are using the Wedi system for waterproofing, which is similar to Schluter.

I'll find a way to post pics... maybe.

Wedi seems like a quality product. 

@wilked, I would be pissed if I had to rip out the tile, especially because my wife picked out tile that was like $40/sq ft.

 
The Z Machine said:
Update?

I am having a shower redone right now along with some additional work in the bathroom.  Not doing it myself.  I could have done some, but I wasn't going to do the tile work myself and really wanted a good waterproof shower as the old one leaked 10 years after install (not my work).  Guys are using the Wedi system for waterproofing, which is similar to Schluter.

I'll find a way to post pics... maybe.

Wedi seems like a quality product. 

@wilked, I would be pissed if I had to rip out the tile, especially because my wife picked out tile that was like $40/sq ft.
Click to expand...
Update is as simple as….gonna have to live w the low spot. In the end it’s the one thing that’s not right in the bathroom. Basically after a shower you need to move the water over w your foot oR use the squeegee. It kinda sucks,  but it’s also not the end of the world. And I don’t really have a good alternative at this point. 
 

my advice - just make it clear to the tiler that the shower must be free draining, and you will check after.  He will mud it appropriately to get a good slope. 

 
wilked said:
Update is as simple as….gonna have to live w the low spot. In the end it’s the one thing that’s not right in the bathroom. Basically after a shower you need to move the water over w your foot oR use the squeegee. It kinda sucks,  but it’s also not the end of the world. And I don’t really have a good alternative at this point. 
 

my advice - just make it clear to the tiler that the shower must be free draining, and you will check after.  He will mud it appropriately to get a good slope. 
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The Wedi system has a pre-sloped pan so unless they do the thinset wrong, there won't be a low spot. 

How far from the drain is that spot?

 
The Z Machine said:
The Wedi system has a pre-sloped pan so unless they do the thinset wrong, there won't be a low spot. 

How far from the drain is that spot?
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I had a pre sloped pan as well.  Still not sure what went wrong….

it’s a 40” square drain pan (shower). Basically one corner is a low spot. 

 
Getting ready to rehab my mothers 87-YO house with an eye of possibly selling in 5 years.  Very prime location close to Lake Mich and beach rights.  Hoping to mortgage for $100k, after paying everything off, $75K going into the house.  
 

Maybe I need a reality show.

 
wilked said:
I had a pre sloped pan as well.  Still not sure what went wrong….

it’s a 40” square drain pan (shower). Basically one corner is a low spot. 
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It's odd that one corner would be low.  Maybe the pan got distorted when it was placed on the subfloor? I know you have an old home where the joists are not likely level. When you did the flood test on the pan only, did it have this low spot?

 
STEADYMOBBIN 22 said:
I would guess that he stepped on the corner with all his weight during the install. 
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Interesting.  It's possible the tile guy crushed some of the foam of the pan after the flood test.

Did you see the pan put in? You said it was Schluter. Do you know the pan type and all materials used from subfloor up?

 
Senor Schmutzig said:
We are in the process of putting down some aritificial turf in our side yard where we can't get any grass to grow, landscaping along the fence and eventually, some landscape lighting. Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of doing it in the order that I want so the EZGrass guys are coming on Monday for the install. 

At some point, I am going to be installing the landscape lighting and will be connecting to an outlet on the exterior of the house. Since there will be EZGrass between the outlet and the fence/landscaping, I want to install some sort of conduit/PVC underground so at some point when I need to access the electrical, I won't be having to deal with the EZGrass installation and can just run the electrical line underneath it.

Am I really simplifying things here thinking I can just dig a trench (It's only going to be 6 to 8 feet) underneath the electrical outlet running directly out to the fence, put in a piece of PVC with a 90 degree turn upwards at the outlet and then bury it so whenever I need the electrical at the landscaping/fence, I can just access the PVC and run the wires through it to the outlet? That's a long run-on sentence but hopefully you get what I'm asking....
Click to expand...
A few ideas:

Use bigger conduit than you think you will need.  A pull rope as mentioned above as well.

Try to use sweep el's instead of 90's to make pulling easier.

I don't know what kind of surface prep the ezgrass guys are going to do but you want to make sure the fill on your trench gets tamped down really well so you don't wind up with a dip in the grass.

 
The Z Machine said:
Interesting.  It's possible the tile guy crushed some of the foam of the pan after the flood test.

Did you see the pan put in? You said it was Schluter. Do you know the pan type and all materials used from subfloor up?
Click to expand...
I put the pan in myself and built the shower. One trick is that it started as a 48” shower pan (Schluter doesn’t sell 40”). I trimmed 4” off each side equally to preserve slope. 
 

after the pan you put the curbs on, then use the kerdi band to waterproof the seams. And kerdi corners in the corners. In the end you end up with extra thinset / kerdi raising the face of it. Maybe it got thrown off. 
 

I did the drain test the night before going to Hawaii. Don’t remember if it drained clean (my main thing was no leaks, wasn’t necessarily focused on drainability). That said I think I’d have noticed if it didn’t free drain, but can’t be sure. 
 

I don’t think it’s subfloor. Replaced it all, it was level 

 
So due to an "incident", I had a railing to repair.  Shots with the broken posts and boards disassembled (with the replacement posts installed).  Pic 1, Pic 2.    Healed railing - pic 1, pic 2.  

Not shown is the paint removed from the vehicle.  That also turned out ok.

 
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Anyone know a lot about home theater set ups?

I'm trying to plan one at this time.  I don't know a whole lot about it.  The wife wants to get a couch and a new entertainment center first.  So I'll be researching/planning for a bit. 

I'm going to use it for a bit of everything.  I play Xbox Series X and PS5.  My TV only has 1 HDMI 2.1 connection.  I've considered getting an HDMI 2.1 AV receiver so I don't have to keep changing out the HDMI cord from one system to the other.  I figure I need a receiver for speakers anyway.  The problem being they're obviously very expensive at this point.  Are there any cheaper options on the horizon?

I've read a lot about Dolby Atmos surround sound--I'm hoping to do a system for that.  I'm thinking 3 front speakers, 2 side speakers and 2 ceiling/height speakers along with 1-2 subwoofers.  

Perhaps a silly question, but how does the wiring work for the ceiling speakers and the side speakers in regards to how you connect them to the receiver?  For the ceiling I assume you run the wire through the ceiling and down the wall?  For the sides--do you run the cords across the room?  Are there quality/reliable wireless options?  

Any recommendations on Speakers/Subwoofers/Receivers?

Thanks.  It's a ton to learn/figure out.

 
jm192 said:
Anyone know a lot about home theater set ups?

I'm trying to plan one at this time.  I don't know a whole lot about it.  The wife wants to get a couch and a new entertainment center first.  So I'll be researching/planning for a bit. 

I'm going to use it for a bit of everything.  I play Xbox Series X and PS5.  My TV only has 1 HDMI 2.1 connection.  I've considered getting an HDMI 2.1 AV receiver so I don't have to keep changing out the HDMI cord from one system to the other.  I figure I need a receiver for speakers anyway.  The problem being they're obviously very expensive at this point.  Are there any cheaper options on the horizon?

I've read a lot about Dolby Atmos surround sound--I'm hoping to do a system for that.  I'm thinking 3 front speakers, 2 side speakers and 2 ceiling/height speakers along with 1-2 subwoofers.  

Perhaps a silly question, but how does the wiring work for the ceiling speakers and the side speakers in regards to how you connect them to the receiver?  For the ceiling I assume you run the wire through the ceiling and down the wall?  For the sides--do you run the cords across the room?  Are there quality/reliable wireless options?  

Any recommendations on Speakers/Subwoofers/Receivers?

Thanks.  It's a ton to learn/figure out.
Click to expand...


There is an audiophile thread which does also touch on home theater speakers/setup as well. You have the right idea though - 7.1 or 5.1.2 is what those setups are usually called (sometimes people like to say 7.1 is front, center, side, rear + sub and 5.1.2 is front, center, rear, + sub + atmos/height). There is also a 9 speaker setup 5.1.4 where there are front/rear Atmos. Also, you'll also see Atmos speakers built into the front left/right in some setups, firing up into the ceiling. Pros and cons - obviously easier to install/position the up-firing ones and the speaker wire can run right along your other ones. But sound probably isn't as good as discrete speakers placed up high or in the ceiling.

Your budget is likely going to determine speaker recommendations - as you may expect, the prices start at $500 and just go up from there. Are you considering building your own speakers or sub? And you might just want to go find local shops to listen to the speakers before you buy - everyone is going to have different preferences when it comes to speakers.

A basic/budget receiver that will do Atmos is probably $350 at the lowest to $500, but there are a number in this range that support HDMI 2.1 for your gaming consoles. Obviously you can go quite a bit higher. I'd do 2 things - see if you can see the UI - I thought that didn't matter but fairly unimpressed with the one I got recently (Yamaha TSR-700). Also, see if you can hold the remote and use it - mushy buttons and slow response can be maddening, although once you get it setup it's very possible you won't use it that often after that.

If you are going to run speaker wire in the wall/ceiling, you should probably make sure it's not just the cheap stuff you buy at Lowes. Get some that is properly rated for in-wall installation. Now, I'm not advocating expensive speaker wires, but something like these insulated Amazon Basics 14 gauge should be fine. Grab some banana clips while there and look up how to build your own speaker cables on YouTube, it's really easy and probably the cheapest way to go for cabling. I personally wouldn't go wireless, but that's me. You can get cable hiders at your local hardware store or run wires under your baseboards if you are running along a wall. Or if you have a basement, go down, run to right under the speaker and come back up. Grab some grommets for the holes.

 
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In the process of replacing crappy laminate floor throughout the house with nice 24" x 24" porcelain tile, and getting new cabinets/countertops/microwave, as well as removing two small islands and putting in a single bigger one.

Had the kitchen demo done last week, and we just framed the new island wall. The tile crew is coming Monday to rip the old flooring out and lay the new tile and the new cabinet install is scheduled for Jan 17th. After that, the new countertops and sink will go in, as well as a new microwave.

Not having a kitchen for a couple of weeks is gon a be interesting to say the least.  

Kitchen pre demo

Kitchen post demo

Island wall being built

Can't wait for all this work to be done.

 
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Wingnut said:
In the process of replacing crappy laminate floor throughout the house with nice 24" x 24" porcelain tile, and getting new cabinets/countertops/microwave, as well as removing two small islands and putting in a single bigger one.

Had the kitchen demo done last week, and we just framed the new island wall. The tile crew is coming Monday to rip the old flooring out and lay the new tile and the new cabinet install is scheduled for Jan 17th. After that, the new countertops and sink will go in, as well as a new microwave.

Not having a kitchen for a couple of weeks is gon a be interesting to say the least.  

Kitchen pre demo

Kitchen post demo

Island wall being built

Can't wait for all this work to be done.
Click to expand...
What breed of countertop are you going with?

 
Anyone tell me how to get a cement foundation for a basketball hoop out of the ground.... only more complicated.

Was supposed to be a 4 ft deep hole with cement, only I couldn't get past 2 ft (solid rock), so I drilled holes into the rock and inserted rebar and then cemented the 2 ft hole.  So it isn't as simple as digging out around it, it is connected to rock at the bottom.

Am I just screwed?  Rent a jackhammer and kill myself/piss off the neighbors?  Even then, how do I get rebar out?  

 
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matuski said:
Anyone tell me how to get a cement foundation for a basketball hoop out of the ground.... only more complicated.

Was supposed to be a 4 ft deep hole with cement, only I couldn't get past 2 ft (solid rock), so I drilled holes into the rock and inserted rebar and then cemented the 2 ft hole.  So it isn't as simple as digging out around it, it is connected to rock at the bottom.

Am I just screwed?  Rent a jackhammer and kill myself/piss off the neighbors?  Even then, how do I get rebar out?  
Click to expand...
What's the diameter of the shaft? I assume you never set the post? Can you just cover over it with soil or sod?

To get it out, you'll have to hammer/chip it out as you feared. The rebar, you can burn off once the concrete is out.

 
Uruk-Hai said:
What's the diameter of the shaft? I assume you never set the post? Can you just cover over it with soil or sod?

To get it out, you'll have to hammer/chip it out as you feared. The rebar, you can burn off once the concrete is out.
Click to expand...


It was a concrete base that I set a bracket/screws on top of/into.  To remove the hoop I just had to unscrew from the base.  So now the rebarred concrete with screws sticking out.  The screws are why I am also hesitant to bury... they would be hiding just under the surface for the next kid to step on.

This is what it looks like now.

 
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My guess is it's not coming out without a backhoe.  Who's to say how big of a rock you joined the concrete to?  

Angle grind off the metal plate/screws.  Rent a concrete saw or angle grinder with appropriate blade, make a checkerboard of cuts 1" deep, and chisel the concrete off the top.  Rinse and repeat to the desired depth.  Cover with soil.  The end.  

 
matuski said:
Anyone tell me how to get a cement foundation for a basketball hoop out of the ground.... only more complicated.

Was supposed to be a 4 ft deep hole with cement, only I couldn't get past 2 ft (solid rock), so I drilled holes into the rock and inserted rebar and then cemented the 2 ft hole.  So it isn't as simple as digging out around it, it is connected to rock at the bottom.

Am I just screwed?  Rent a jackhammer and kill myself/piss off the neighbors?  Even then, how do I get rebar out?  
Click to expand...
Jackhammer and gas axe.  

How many pieces of rebar?  Probably not worth renting a gas axe, grind through with a metal blade on the grander if it's only 3 - 4 pieces.  

 
matuski said:
Anyone tell me how to get a cement foundation for a basketball hoop out of the ground.... only more complicated.

Was supposed to be a 4 ft deep hole with cement, only I couldn't get past 2 ft (solid rock), so I drilled holes into the rock and inserted rebar and then cemented the 2 ft hole.  So it isn't as simple as digging out around it, it is connected to rock at the bottom.

Am I just screwed?  Rent a jackhammer and kill myself/piss off the neighbors?  Even then, how do I get rebar out?  
Click to expand...
Just put a 5-gal pail over it. If the neighbors don't like it, just tell them they are lucky not to live next to the guy who put the goalposts in his backyard. 

But seriously, what Ron said. 

 
I guess this thread is as good as any. Not sure if I can explain this well enough or if there's a solution but here goes....

We own a home that we rent out that used to be our home before moving. We did a master bathroom remodel while we lived there and added a rain shower head. The home is a 2 story home, this is on the second floor, and the plumbing for this was run in the attic. This is the only plumbing in the entire house that runs in the attic as everything else is within the walls. My guess is it's maybe a few feet of plumbing (possibly 2' - 4').

Well, one winter while we lived there, when temps dropped to single digits for a prolonged period, the shower head didn't work as it froze. Luckily nothing burst. It's the only time and place it ever happened in the home and I realized it was because it's the only plumbing not insulated by the walls. As a result, we've let tenants know that they need to let that shower head drip whenever it gets really cold for an extended period of time. That might happen once or twice in a given year.

Anyway, our current tenants will be moving out this summer and we will be doing some repairs in the home and was wondering if there was a way to address this so that I don't have to worry about it moving forward. I don't want to forget to do that and have it freeze and possibly burst. I went up into the attic once to even find the area and the attic is really well insulated and I couldn't immediately see what the run looks like. 

Any ideas on how/if I should address this? 

 
Not my project, I just have to pay for it. Getting my house painted (exterior) on Wednesday and Thursday. Initial prep done today.

 
gianmarco said:
I guess this thread is as good as any. Not sure if I can explain this well enough or if there's a solution but here goes....

We own a home that we rent out that used to be our home before moving. We did a master bathroom remodel while we lived there and added a rain shower head. The home is a 2 story home, this is on the second floor, and the plumbing for this was run in the attic. This is the only plumbing in the entire house that runs in the attic as everything else is within the walls. My guess is it's maybe a few feet of plumbing (possibly 2' - 4').

Well, one winter while we lived there, when temps dropped to single digits for a prolonged period, the shower head didn't work as it froze. Luckily nothing burst. It's the only time and place it ever happened in the home and I realized it was because it's the only plumbing not insulated by the walls. As a result, we've let tenants know that they need to let that shower head drip whenever it gets really cold for an extended period of time. That might happen once or twice in a given year.

Anyway, our current tenants will be moving out this summer and we will be doing some repairs in the home and was wondering if there was a way to address this so that I don't have to worry about it moving forward. I don't want to forget to do that and have it freeze and possibly burst. I went up into the attic once to even find the area and the attic is really well insulated and I couldn't immediately see what the run looks like. 

Any ideas on how/if I should address this? 
Click to expand...


My father is a home builder and I asked him his thoughts.  He said they run into this quite often (we live in MI).  The building departments in our area recommend that you build “walls” on either side of the pipe (12 to 18 inches in height) and then fill the inside with insulation.  Nothing fancy with the “walls”, he said they usually use plywood.  My dad said that it is a very effective solution.

A couple pro tips he mentioned………you do not want any insulation below the pipe, only on top of it.  If you think insulation will fall under the pipe he recommended cardboard or some other material to be laid down first to prevent insulation from going under the pipe.  The goal here is to have the radiant heat from the house keep the pipe warm, the insulation under the pipe will prevent that from happening.  The other thing he mentioned is not pack the insulation in there tight, insulation isn’t meant to be compacted but rather stay fluffy (my term not his).  

I hope this helps

 
tonydead said:
Jackhammer and gas axe.  

How many pieces of rebar?  Probably not worth renting a gas axe, grind through with a metal blade on the grander if it's only 3 - 4 pieces.  
Click to expand...
This.  Use an angle grinder and the right wheel for either concrete or steel.  You don't need a full pavement breaker to bust up the concrete.  You can use a chipping or demolition hammer.   Can use the same tools to to cut / fracture the rock.

 
Converting what has served as our kids' "play room" for the past 16 years into a work room for my wife.  Based on the amount of wall prep I'm doing it probably would have been easier to just replace all the drywall.

One thing I noticed and got me thinking, should this gap between the window frame and wall be caulked?  We don't have any casing or trim.  

 
gianmarco said:
I guess this thread is as good as any. Not sure if I can explain this well enough or if there's a solution but here goes....

We own a home that we rent out that used to be our home before moving. We did a master bathroom remodel while we lived there and added a rain shower head. The home is a 2 story home, this is on the second floor, and the plumbing for this was run in the attic. This is the only plumbing in the entire house that runs in the attic as everything else is within the walls. My guess is it's maybe a few feet of plumbing (possibly 2' - 4').

Well, one winter while we lived there, when temps dropped to single digits for a prolonged period, the shower head didn't work as it froze. Luckily nothing burst. It's the only time and place it ever happened in the home and I realized it was because it's the only plumbing not insulated by the walls. As a result, we've let tenants know that they need to let that shower head drip whenever it gets really cold for an extended period of time. That might happen once or twice in a given year.

Anyway, our current tenants will be moving out this summer and we will be doing some repairs in the home and was wondering if there was a way to address this so that I don't have to worry about it moving forward. I don't want to forget to do that and have it freeze and possibly burst. I went up into the attic once to even find the area and the attic is really well insulated and I couldn't immediately see what the run looks like. 

Any ideas on how/if I should address this? 
Click to expand...
If you wanted to go a step further, I would create an upside down trough in the attic that has an open vent at either end.  This would require a room on either side of the bathroom where you could add a vent in the ceiling, hopefully a closet.  I would put plywood across the joists, and then down to the ceiling to create the trough.  With a vent on either end you would have air from the house circulating in that space, basically making it "conditioned".  On top of the trough I would add a bunch of insulation.  Using @Lion to myself idea you are using the heat that transfers through the ceiling to kind of heat the void around the pipe.  With a trough you would have "active" heating of the air and then the insulation above to keep it warm.

 
shuke said:
OK, but what about my question about caulking the window?
Click to expand...
I only saw one question….

it’s hard to tell what’s going on w that photo (reminds me of those old Boys Life photos zoomed in on a beehive and you have to guess what it is). 1-2 more photos, especially zoomed out, would go a long way GB

edit to add - OK, I see what you're doing there...

 
Last edited by a moderator:
shuke said:
Converting what has served as our kids' "play room" for the past 16 years into a work room for my wife.  Based on the amount of wall prep I'm doing it probably would have been easier to just replace all the drywall.

One thing I noticed and got me thinking, should this gap between the window frame and wall be caulked?  We don't have any casing or trim.  
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Yes, I would given that there is no trim, it looks unfinished.  I would add trim but if thats not in your plans then just use the caulk.  If you do decide to trim that no need to caulk unless you think there is air flowing through the gap.  

 
Lion to myself said:
Yes, I would given that there is no trim, it looks unfinished.  I would add trim but if thats not in your plans then just use the caulk.  If you do decide to trim that no need to caulk unless you think there is air flowing through the gap.  
Click to expand...


I don't think the gap is intentional.  I've never gotten around to trimming these, maybe I will at some point.  My question is more around energy savings.  It seems some windows have a wider gap possibly due to settling?  More pics later.

 
Just bought a hot tub. 
 

Now I need to add a 240. Checked the panel and it’s full. Guess I need to add some double breakers to free up some space. 
 

Any electricians on this plane? 

 
STEADYMOBBIN 22 said:
Just bought a hot tub. 
 

Now I need to add a 240. Checked the panel and it’s full. Guess I need to add some double breakers to free up some space. 
 

Any electricians on this plane? 
Click to expand...
you can almost always free up some breakers with a bit of strategy.  

Do you have a good circuit schedule?   I spent a couple hours one day and mapped each electrical use to its breaker - has proved super useful.  If you do the same I can make some recommendations.  Also below is from when I had to free some breakers up a year ago for a project at the time (turn 3 season porches into 4 season) as well as free up breakers for a new master bath

https://i.imgur.com/k13afEe.png

I can share the google sheet template if interested

 
wilked said:
you can almost always free up some breakers with a bit of strategy.  

Do you have a good circuit schedule?   I spent a couple hours one day and mapped each electrical use to its breaker - has proved super useful.  If you do the same I can make some recommendations.  Also below is from when I had to free some breakers up a year ago for a project at the time (turn 3 season porches into 4 season) as well as free up breakers for a new master bath

https://i.imgur.com/k13afEe.png

I can share the google sheet template if interested
Click to expand...
Thanks! I’ll pull the panel cover tonight and take a picture and maybe you can get an idea of what I’m dealing with. 
 

I do need to map out what breakers control what- Ive done a few of them as needed over the years but not all of them. It’s something I should have done many years ago. 

What’s weird is that it’s an older home and a lot of the rooms are on a single breaker so it’s odd that there’s so many breakers. What I’m trying to articulate is that one breaker powers the master bedroom, master bath, 2nd bedroom and hall.

Ive watched a bunch of videos on YouTube trying to learn as much as I can and I’m comfortable working inside the panel but it sure would be nice to bounce my thoughts of a real person. 
 

Thanks again.

 
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