The DIY thread - DIYourself

[jmanic]

A power washer will likely make that little area shine. Also, I think the "Welcome to my Hot Tub" sign should stay for good!

Yeah, I'll probably hit it with a deck brush and call it good.
Don't want to set the bar too high with the Mrs
Seriously I think a powerwashing would lead to a re-staining project,
and I've got enough on the punchlist right now.

@pearl had one of those for exactly 1 minute before buying a lawn mower

Mine came with the house, that's my excuse.

 

[qclabrat]

need to cut a few cinder blocks but don't want to buy a concrete saw. Is the best way to score the block with a hand saw then use a hand chisel and hammer? Doesn't need to be perfect.

 

[rick81721]

So what's the dealio with z-wave? We met the only other neighbor on our cul de sac who has a finished home and he was saying that's the way to go for smart home control. I never heard of it - this guys a little nutty but he's going to be a good neighbor - from queens, used to be a building inspector and flipped homes.

 

[rlb]

need to cut a few cinder blocks but don't want to buy a concrete saw

Walter I have an angle grinder w/ cutoff wheel that you can borrow. Should do the job to get a few cinder blocks cut. Let me know.

 

[rlb]

So what's the dealio with z-wave?

It's a protocol for home automation stuff. I'm not too familiar with that particular protocol because all of my stuff is Insteon. It's a pain in the ass in some sense because you need to deal with setup to get stuff working, troubleshooting when it breaks, etc. On the other hand, I've had my system offline for a little more than a month now and I miss it. If you're good with the technical stuff then I'd say got for it, otherwise you'll have to pay someone to get it up and running for you. Essentially you have "smart devices" and some sort of controller hardware that configures and controls the devices.

It's a complicated market right now because there are a lot of players (some using their own proprietary stuff, some compatible with more common things like zwave, and some mixing both). There's no one clear standout at this point and no single do-it-all solution that's reasonably priced and easy.

 

[Patrick]

So what's the dealio with z-wave? We met the only other neighbor on our cul de sac who has a finished home and he was saying that's the way to go for smart home control. I never heard of it - this guys a little nutty but he's going to be a good neighbor - from queens, used to be a building inspector and flipped homes.

I'm running it -
auto controls lights, heat, security. Can do things like sense if the garage door is open (and close it for you)
outdoor lights on at sunset, off at sunrise (it knows the seasonal changes)
another cool thing is "scenes" - i have one for cleaning, lights all the way on, and watching tv, correctly lowers the lights to a good level.
many other things too - runs my door locks, doorbell sensors, motion detectors.

there are other ways now. but you need to pick one for it to be simple. like having a nest thermostat, and drop cams, combined with wifi door locks, and light control.
they were supposed to come together under apple home/google home, but the companies that created these things have IP in their protocols, and won't license it for a reasonable amount.

i think we started a thread somewhere else about this.

 

[rick81721]

I'm running it -
auto controls lights, heat, security. Can do things like sense if the garage door is open (and close it for you)
outdoor lights on at sunset, off at sunrise (it knows the seasonal changes)
another cool thing is "scenes" - i have one for cleaning, lights all the way on, and watching tv, correctly lowers the lights to a good level.
many other things too - runs my door locks, doorbell sensors, motion detectors.

there are other ways now. but you need to pick one for it to be simple. like having a nest thermostat, and drop cams, combined with wifi door locks, and light control.
they were supposed to come together under apple home/google home, but the companies that created these things have IP in their protocols, and won't license it for a reasonable amount.

i think we started a thread somewhere else about this.

I wouldn't need all that - would like the outdoor lights to come on and off, especially now when we're not there full-time. Linking to the security system would be good too.

 

[qclabrat]

So what's the dealio with z-wave? We met the only other neighbor on our cul de sac who has a finished home and he was saying that's the way to go for smart home control. I never heard of it - this guys a little nutty but he's going to be a good neighbor - from queens, used to be a building inspector and flipped homes.

what? is AMX already dead...

 

[hotsauce]

I just bought a Wink2 hub which is Z-wave compatible. Will set it up this week to work with 2 Ecobee 3 thermostats, Kwikset Z-wave deadbolt, Amazon Echo, and whatever else I find along the way. Hopefully it's worth it!

The one bummer is some Z-wave accessories don't work with the Wink hub. How dumb is that! A protocol is a protocol, right!??

Also @fidodie is right, there's a smart home thread or two kicking around here somewhere.

 

[Patrick]

I wouldn't need all that - would like the outdoor lights to come on and off, especially now when we're not there full-time. Linking to the security system would be good too.

you also need the thermostat, and a water sensor near the ac unit, in case the condensate drain gets clogged (you'll leave it set at 88 or so in the summer - not for cooling, but for humidity)
motion detection would be a good idea - remote door control is also nice. for when i use it and you aren't there.

 

[rlb]

@fidodie what are you using to control everything?

 

[Patrick]

@fidodie what are you using to control everything?

Nexia Home - I hate it, but it works, and is cloud based. I'd rather be using something lower level, that i can code/access the devices.
has some geofencing stuff, nice collection of sensors/controls. most of my devices are GE, some lutron. the locks are schlage

i run a lockstate wifi connected lock in the cabin. seems to be working ok.

 

[rick81721]

you also need the thermostat, and a water sensor near the ac unit, in case the condensate drain gets clogged (you'll leave it set at 88 or so in the summer - not for cooling, but for humidity).

Water sensor is a good idea. Set a/c at 88? They told us with new construction gotta keep it at 78 max for the first year.

The front door lock is already an automated schlage. Worried about that being hackable? We took the batteries out when we left so only a key can open it.

 

[rlb]

I'd rather be using something lower level,

I was eying one of these for a while
https://www.universal-devices.com/residential/

But is lacks a good native app. There are some 3rd party apps that seem to be maturing.

I'm running everything through an insteon hub which is cloud based also. That used to bug me but for the moment it serves as a workaround for my home network setup, where all the IOT stuff is on it's own isolated VLAN. That way I can be connected to my "secure" wifi and still control devices that are part of the IOT vlan.

 

[rlb]

Worried about that being hackable?

Yes, worry. All of this IOT shit has security as an afterthought.

 

[Patrick]

Water sensor is a good idea. Set a/c at 88? They told us with new construction gotta keep it at 78 max for the first year.

The front door lock is already an automated schlage. Worried about that being hackable? We took the batteries out when we left so only a key can open it.

if someone picks the lock, you won't get a door-open alert from it. as long as the default codes are changed, you are good. maybe next time.
also useful, if you needed to unlock the door for someone. each person that needs to get in is assigned a code - you can disable the code, when they don't need access.

---

builder wants things to dry out - go with it. We went higher at my dad's without a problem.

 

[rick81721]

if someone picks the lock, you won't get a door-open alert from it. as long as the default codes are changed, you are good. maybe next time.
also useful, if you needed to unlock the door for someone. each person that needs to get in is assigned a code - you can disable the code, when they don't need access.

---

builder wants things to dry out - go with it. We went higher at my dad's without a problem.

Yeah we put a second code in for painters when we were down there - one mistake they made was wrong color so they had to repaint the entire house. The security guy is going to link exterior cameras to dvr for storage instead of the cloud - ny neighbor said this is a better way to go. Taking auto train down in a few weeks for a longer stay so will have more time to get all this setup.

 

[qclabrat]

Digging almost done then it started to rain again on the koi pond, didn't expect to be digging this long, as the block stacking and overall design evolved during the process
First attempt so lots of trial and error, I went with 6" thick blocks instead of 8" to allow for more pond surface area
All walls will have mortared concrete blocks to prevent erosion and a gravel base. The pond is partially raised and will be at the deepest 4 feet which will allow the fish to stay outside along with a small deicer. The size has grown from 1000 to 1500 gallons so I needed to order a larger EPDM liner, which weighs about 150 pounds.

The pond will come off the deck sort of like this

but will have a bog filter behind it like this

but had to dig more yesterday to add a bowed front and a side waterfall
I've now got tendonitis on both elbows

 

[clarkenstein]

So I have been in a money pit situation at my house the past month. I had some projects on the docket for the year, but then unearthed some crap I really didn't expect which has not only blown my budget but also has taken all of my time on top of work. One issue I just unearthed is that my upstairs shower has been leaking into my kitchen ceiling for a while. So I need a new subfloor in my bathroom along with a standup shower basin - in other words I gotta gut my bathroom and start from scratch. Anyone know any bathroom guys? Because I am knee deep in other crap I'm trying to fix... like my floors.

Which brings me to my other question- how the F do you get linoleum adhesive off your subfloor? I have been pouring hot water on the stuff and scraping it up. It has been a job and a half but it works, just slowly. I'm about halfway done, but is there an easier way other than just tearing out the subfloor and putting in a new one or scraping up this bubble gum-like smelly shit?

I need to pull it off because I'm putting in a hardwood floor where this linoleum was. The linoleum was an unexpected issue that has set me back on time. I was gonna do the bathroom myself but at the speed I put in my new floors upstairs and with my job about to get stupid busy I won't finish it until August if I am lucky - and I need that bathroom back up and running sooner than later.

Here's a gratuitous self-installed hardwood floor pic. Finished both upstairs bedrooms last weekend. That was fun. Gotta paint and pick trim... oh and do new doors on the closets... and still do the lights in the kitchen... and...

 

[rick81721]

So I have been in a money pit situation at my house the past month. I had some projects on the docket for the year, but then unearthed some crap I really didn't expect which has not only blown my budget but also has taken all of my time on top of work. One issue I just unearthed is that my upstairs shower has been leaking into my kitchen ceiling for a while. So I need a new subfloor in my bathroom along with a standup shower basin - in other words I gotta gut my bathroom and start from scratch. Anyone know any bathroom guys? Because I am knee deep in other crap I'm trying to fix... like my floors.

Which brings me to my other question- how the F do you get linoleum adhesive off your subfloor? I have been pouring hot water on the stuff and scraping it up. It has been a job and a half but it works, just slowly. I'm about halfway done, but is there an easier way other than just tearing out the subfloor and putting in a new one or scraping up this bubble gum-like smelly shit?

I need to pull it off because I'm putting in a hardwood floor where this linoleum was. The linoleum was an unexpected issue that has set me back on time. I was gonna do the bathroom myself but at the speed I put in my new floors upstairs and with my job about to get stupid busy I won't finish it until August if I am lucky - and I need that bathroom back up and running sooner than later.

Here's a gratuitous self-installed hardwood floor pic. Finished both upstairs bedrooms last weekend. That was fun. Gotta paint and pick trim... oh and do new doors on the closets... and still do the lights in the kitchen... and...

View attachment 52926

If hot water works but slow I'd think steam would work faster. Probably can rent a heavy duty steamer. Just a guess tho