The DIY thread - DIYourself

qclabrat said:
hile trying to get the grooves to snap in at the right angle and under trim boards
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one trick is to cut the lip off of the receiving side so the next board can slide in flat under the door frame and into the receiving board (circled).
The extra sheetrock can be used to your advantage here - since the boards can slide an inch in either direction + base trim, allowing it to lock to the adjacent board.
That leaves a good margin to hide the cut..

When going in the other direction, putting the joint at one end of the door frame is the wtg. snap next board in, and tap it down till they meet.

No need to remove the jamb moldings - just undercut them too.


Looking good!


PXL_20220807_195429865.jpg

qclabrat said:
add a gable vent or whole house fan. Thoughts on which would be better?
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Two different animals. Are you trying to cool the house or the attic? The attic should have some sort of venting already?
Soffit/ridge? Or are you are talking about mounting a fan on a gable end, and then installing passive venting?
The problem with this is it will pull air through the attic venting, not just out of your house.

Nothing better than pulling in that cool air after the sun goes down. Is there a layer of sheetrock on the ceiling?
If so, easy enough to add a fan without worrying about the ceiling falling in. Also, if purchasing a large house fan,
it has to be able to exhaust - so you might need passive gable vents anyway. i have the windows open with screens and a heavier screen behind them cause squirrels.
 
qclabrat said:
Fresh coat of paint upstairs and laying down vinyl plank. Door jams are extra wide for a 115 yo house with plaster walls and two layers of sheet rock on both sides. No clue why two, but it makes rooms sound proof. Screwed up by forgetting to remove door trim with the floor trim so there will be some spot painting. Trimming the planks around doors and closets are no fun while trying to get the grooves to snap in at the right angle and under trim boards.View attachment 193386

While working I've noticed the house is really hot due to poor airflow. The front faces a park on the bay which when on the front porch gets a constant breeze. Right now there are window AC units but a mini split system will go in in the Fall/Winter. But before that I'd like to improve the airflow in the house. The attic is unfinished with 3 windows and is not insulated. This Fall/Winter I'm also getting foam insulation installed for the roof but thinking to add a gable vent or whole house fan. Thoughts on which would be better? I'm leaning towards Gable as it's basically easier and opening holes in ceilings of old houses could be a headache.
View attachment 193393
But to improve air flow I'm considering getting fans to pull air from the front of the house out the rear/sides. The house is northwest facing towards NYC, so there's morning sun till about 11am and the back is full sun in the afternoons.
House is also lifted with a garage underneath, so there's four levels including the attic.
Click to expand...

Whole House Fan is totally worth it, but needs to have enough free /exhaust flow behind it. Cool nights crack the farthest windows from the fan or the room you are in and it will instantly cool the house down. My old house I needed to run it on low as there wasn't enough exhaust air available and would push air back through the bathroom vents and high hat lights while running on high. Would pressurize the attic space.

Adding standard thermostat driven exhaust vents to the roof, will aid too, but more so for general ventilation.

EDIT: I agree with @Patrick as he just hit post before I did.
 
Patrick said:
one trick is to cut the lip off of the receiving side so the next board can slide in flat under the door frame and into the receiving board (circled).
The extra sheetrock can be used to your advantage here - since the boards can slide an inch in either direction + base trim, allowing it to lock to the adjacent board.
That leaves a good margin to hide the cut..

When going in the other direction, putting the joint at one end of the door frame is the wtg. snap next board in, and tap it down till they meet.

No need to remove the jamb moldings - just undercut them too.


Looking good!


View attachment 193395



Two different animals. Are you trying to cool the house or the attic? The attic should have some sort of venting already?
Soffit/ridge? Or are you are talking about mounting a fan on a gable end, and then installing passive venting?
The problem with this is it will pull air through the attic venting, not just out of your house.

Nothing better than pulling in that cool air after the sun goes down. Is there a layer of sheetrock on the ceiling?
If so, easy enough to add a fan without worrying about the ceiling falling in. Also, if purchasing a large house fan,
it has to be able to exhaust - so you might need passive gable vents anyway. i have the windows open with screens and a heavier screen behind them cause squirrels.
Click to expand...
For the flooring, I was thinking the same to clip off the connections, but with the traffic at the top of the stairs and hall, figured to give it more effort to ensure no shifting after install. For bedrooms and closets, I'm cutting corners. Much time was put in to align the planks so the widths were the same and lined up for the 3 bedrooms on this floor.

Attic has ridge venting, but I'm looking for both. I'm planning to finish half of the attic next year but needs insulation for this winter first. The bedrooms are extra hot partially attributed to the attic and the living space below lacks air flow despite many window and french doors in the front and rear. There's also zero trees on or around the property which make the house feel like an oven. MrsQ had a whole house fan in her parents house and it was nice, but if it's only used in the evenings I'm not sure will help with air flow during the day time.
 
qclabrat said:
For the flooring, I was thinking the same to clip off the connections, but with the traffic at the top of the stairs and hall, figured to give it more effort to ensure no shifting after install. F
Click to expand...

Dont clip the whole thing. Use a razor to slice off the ridge on the receiving board that locks them together. And only for that short run. Leaving the tab on the bottom and everything on the next board. This is where a little glue helps.

What are you doing for stair nose?

You are making great progress too!
 
ekuhn said:
Whole House Fan is totally worth it, but needs to have enough free /exhaust flow behind it. Cool nights crack the farthest windows from the fan or the room you are in and it will instantly cool the house down. My old house I needed to run it on low as there wasn't enough exhaust air available and would push air back through the bathroom vents and high hat lights while running on high. Would pressurize the attic space.

Adding standard thermostat driven exhaust vents to the roof, will aid too, but more so for general ventilation.

EDIT: I agree with @Patrick as he just hit post before I did.
Click to expand...
I forgot to mention the house has a walk up attic so does that matter for a whole house fan?
Guessing after the mini splits, the house will feel more comfortable, but I'm more of an open the windows person for fresh air so still weighing options
 
Patrick said:
Dont clip the whole thing. Use a razor to slice off the ridge on the receiving board that locks them together. And only for that short run. Leaving the tab on the bottom and everything on the next board. This is where a little glue helps.

What are you doing for stair nose?

You are making great progress too!
Click to expand...
don't know bout the top of the stairs yet, what you suggest?
 
qclabrat said:
don't know bout the top of the stairs yet, what you suggest?
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Get the matching nose piece for the floor that does fits flush. The get glued down with a few 23ga brads. Put something on top for a day.

The hard part is getting the mating cut right. It has to be straight even if a little off parallel. Use a marker or matching caulk for any gaps
 
qclabrat said:
are the treads stained to match the planks or also vinyl?
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treads and risers are vinyl. I had to stain the nose that stuck out, cause they didn't use a 5/4" tread board - dark is easy to match where there is no light.
it also made for some wiggle room in the back (riser hides any gap). they are glued down.

Since the stairs were made of pine 2x lumber, and in bad shape, i couldn't stain them. if they were real treads would stain, i'd paint the risers.
 
Ug
iman29 said:
I swear I looked online the last few weeks couldn’t find any. Will be there later.

nah I’m good now. The online inventory app at lowes is crap I should have called sooner but tonight they only had 3 left and one of them the box was open.

And my other project too is on the agenda this weekend to replace the pool timer. Again.
At least the sky was cool in the parking lot.
View attachment 193372
View attachment 193371View attachment 193373View attachment 193374
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Ugh dammit.

Wrong blue ones. ?? Guess I need the 90lb springs.

Seemed to be the same color but these new ones look too beefy. Other garage door I replaced a few years ago these also look too big.A22F2B6D-38F7-40FF-8463-E4B9E0FCE24D.jpeg2FA52BB2-6622-45C4-B690-A57FDCBE0C81.jpeg
 
iman29 said:
Ug

Ugh dammit.

Wrong blue ones. ?? Guess I need the 90lb springs.

Seemed to be the same color but these new ones look too beefy. Other garage door I replaced a few years ago these also look too big.View attachment 193592View attachment 193593
Click to expand...
Back to lowes for the other blue ones 90lbs springs. Much better. And these were $10 cheaper.

All fixed. Took an hour of actually work and an extra 40 minutes for the drive to and from lowes. Glad I waited until it wasn’t 9000 degrees out.

333DD490-C1A1-4604-86DD-8A1ACCE22219.jpegB2D883D2-6695-4457-811D-DF8A82A86471.jpeg584008E9-4EA2-486F-97E4-7F775EC6A99A.jpeg
 
iman29 said:
Back to lowes for the other blue ones 90lbs springs. Much better. And these were $10 cheaper.

All fixed. Took an hour of actually work and an extra 40 minutes for the drive to and from lowes. Glad I waited until it wasn’t 9000 degrees out.

View attachment 193608View attachment 193609View attachment 193610
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Yeah, I ended up returning a pair of 140, which is goofy because a) it was a set I replaced years ago (at 140), b) the door weighed in at 140 even, but it was just way too strong. Even tried cheating things by using next set of holes on the stanchions, no dice.

Just took a flier on 130’s, still a little strong on the pull down, and yet maybe slightly light on the uptake.

27703639-3A0D-4C80-92F2-E0E7F868DFA4.gif
 
rick81721 said:
Another example of why DIY = NWTE
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if i was retired and rode my bike all day I could certainly hire someone and hover over them, but Im pretty sure this would have cost me more than I spent in parts and gas. :p

Meantime, the stupid door still seems to flicker/pause randomly although much less, so I may actually prove your theory correct and this whole topic end up in the frown thread.

:(
 
iman29 said:
if i was retired and rode my bike all day I could certainly hire someone and hover over them, but Im pretty sure this would have cost me more than I spent in parts and gas. :p

Meantime, the stupid door still seems to flicker/pause randomly although much less, so I may actually prove your theory correct and this whole topic end up in the frown thread.

:(
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Lube your rollers
 
What's the fastest way to take care of these guys en masse?
Fire would likely work, but I already have a charred history with flames, so, no.
I sprayed a lil ammonia on them, and they laughed at me.

They're like The Borg; I'm sure they will assimilate us all soon.

View recent photos.jpg
 
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