Projects/Home Improvement Thread

[GoldenDome]

It's a top-load washer, not a dryer.

The belt has to thread around the drive pulley that is underneath the drum, and also around the small motor up front.

I just can't get my belt to stay on the drive pulley as I rotate it on. I know what I'm doing, it's just much more frustrating than the video experts make it seem (duh).

If you can get an extra pair of hands (friend, neighbor, child, etc..) it would be easy with a simple pry bar or flathead screwdriver. I was that extra pair of hands once for this job. I think the old man's washer is about 40 years old now and still running strong.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

AC coil took a dump. Unit is only 8 years old. I'm seeing all kinds of age ranges for unit lifespan. 10-12, 12-15...just depends. What are your experiences? We're talking $2000 for the coil repair versus $4850 for all new unit. Risk versus reward scenario: Pay the $2000 now and hope that my system lasts another 5 years. Pay the $2000 now and it lasts till next summer. Or just bite the bullet and buy a new one now? Home ownership: The American Nightmare (literally just replaced a garage door system last week and now this...)

 

[calvegas04]

AC coil took a dump. Unit is only 8 years old. I'm seeing all kinds of age ranges for unit lifespan. 10-12, 12-15...just depends. What are your experiences? We're talking $2000 for the coil repair versus $4850 for all new unit. Risk versus reward scenario: Pay the $2000 now and hope that my system lasts another 5 years. Pay the $2000 now and it lasts till next summer. Or just bite the bullet and buy a new one now? Home ownership: The American Nightmare (literally just replaced a garage door system last week and now this...)

I love owning my house, but shit if it isn't one thing breaking its something else.

 

[Monk]

AC coil took a dump. Unit is only 8 years old. I'm seeing all kinds of age ranges for unit lifespan. 10-12, 12-15...just depends. What are your experiences? We're talking $2000 for the coil repair versus $4850 for all new unit. Risk versus reward scenario: Pay the $2000 now and hope that my system lasts another 5 years. Pay the $2000 now and it lasts till next summer. Or just bite the bullet and buy a new one now? Home ownership: The American Nightmare (literally just replaced a garage door system last week and now this...)

I don't know the life span of these units/repairs, but it sounds like you have done some research on this. If you are going to spend $2,000 now and the best outcome is you get another 5 years in which time you have to spend $5,000 to replace for lets say 12 years of service. That's $7,000 for 17 years of service verse $5,000 now for 12 years of service and no worries that it is going to shit the bed on you tomorrow. If the max you are going to get out of the repair is 5 years with a risk it could be much much less, I would pay the $5,000 now for the replacement. If you think it could actually last another 10 years I would go with the repair.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

I don't know the life span of these units/repairs, but it sounds like you have done some research on this. If you are going to spend $2,000 now and the best outcome is you get another 5 years in which time you have to spend $5,000 to replace for lets say 12 years of service. That's $7,000 for 17 years of service verse $5,000 now for 12 years of service and no worries that it is going to shit the bed on you tomorrow. If the max you are going to get out of the repair is 5 years with a risk it could be much much less, I would pay the $5,000 now for the replacement. If you think it could actually last another 10 years I would go with the repair.

No way of truly knowing, which is why I'm leaning towards replacement. Just sucks that it's in that age range where you have to decide. Because if taken care of, with a little maintenance here and there, it could last another 7 years. But there's no guarantee.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

I love owning my house, but shit if it isn't one thing breaking its something else.

I told my wife the other day that I'd give anything for her to be cool with living in a small, two-bedroom apartment. Rent can be pricey in parts of Indy, but if you shop around, you can find a decent place for $800-$1000/month. No trash/sewer bill, utilities are much cheaper, dont' have to worry about fixing stuff that breaks...That's a massive amount of savings over the course of a year, 5 years, 10 years.

Back when I was fresh out of college, I lived in some nicer apartments in Indy. I had three neighbors who were much older and all made well into the six-figure range. I asked them why they rent. They all said the same thing...."It's cheaper. Gives them more play money and more money to invest." I wish that advice would've sank in.

 

[Monk]

No way of truly knowing, which is why I'm leaning towards replacement. Just sucks that it's in that age range where you have to decide. Because if taken care of, with a little maintenance here and there, it could last another 7 years. But there's no guarantee.

I would probably do the same thing. It sucks now, but the feeling I would have if it failed within a few years would be a lot worse.

 

[Irish#1]

I told my wife the other day that I'd give anything for her to be cool with living in a small, two-bedroom apartment. Rent can be pricey in parts of Indy, but if you shop around, you can find a decent place for $800-$1000/month. No trash/sewer bill, utilities are much cheaper, dont' have to worry about fixing stuff that breaks...That's a massive amount of savings over the course of a year, 5 years, 10 years.

Back when I was fresh out of college, I lived in some nicer apartments in Indy. I had three neighbors who were much older and all made well into the six-figure range. I asked them why they rent. They all said the same thing...."It's cheaper. Gives them more play money and more money to invest." I wish that advice would've sank in.

Most new models now come with a ten year parts and labor warranty, so put that into the equation.

I'll need to spend about $3,500 to paint my house this or next year, but I love living on an acre of land. I would have a hard time going back into a subdivision let alone an apartment or condo.

What part of Indy do you live in?

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Most new models now come with a ten year parts and labor warranty, so put that into the equation.

I'll need to spend about $3,500 to paint my house this or next year, but I love living on an acre of land. I would have a hard time going back into a subdivision let alone an apartment or condo.

What part of Indy do you live in?

Currently Westfield. But have been all over during the ten years I've lived there.

 

[Irish#1]

Currently Westfield. But have been all over during the ten years I've lived there.

Nice area, getting busy up that way.

 

[Henges24]

Hey guys. Looking for a quick answer. I am starting to paint the living room of my new house and one of the electrical outlets has a dimmer. I've unscrewed the plate but I can't get the plate off because the dimmer knob is still attached. Do I just rip it off or is there a "secret" way of doing it? I never had dimmers growing up so I'm clueless on this and I don't want to break it. Thanks for the help in advance.

 

[woolybug25]

I can't tell if you're kidding or not. Lol

 

[Henges24]

I can't tell if you're kidding or not. Lol

I'm literally serious. I've tried prying it off and twisting it off and nothing is working. Can't find anything on google about it either.

 

[dshans]

My suggestion is to turn off the power at the breaker, destroy the face plate if need be, remove the dimmer and spend six bucks at Ace Hardware/Home Depot/Lowes to replace the switch and plate.

My (ex) wife liked to call me "Dimmer Switch King," and with good reason.

I know whereof I speak.

I do find it hard to believe that the exterior control, be it rotary or vertical action, cannot be easily removed.

Perhaps it was foolishly super glued or sloppily painted in place.

 

[pumpdog20]

Looking to build a cornhole set. Does anyone have a ND themed design I can steal?

 

[calvegas04]

Looking to build a cornhole set. Does anyone have a ND themed design I can steal?

I want to build one as well, can you post some pictures as your are building it?

 

[Henges24]

My suggestion is to turn off the power at the breaker, destroy the face plate if need be, remove the dimmer and spend six bucks at Ace Hardware/Home Depot/Lowes to replace the switch and plate.

My (ex) wife liked to call me "Dimmer Switch King," and with good reason.

I know whereof I speak.

I do find it hard to believe that the exterior control, be it rotary or vertical action, cannot be easily removed.

Perhaps it was foolishly super glued or sloppily painted in place.

I finally got it to pop off by using two flathead screwdrivers. I had to pry a lot more than I was comfortable doing. My guess is that it was painted in place since 3/4 of the plates were held in place by dried paint it seemed like. Thanks for the help.

 

[Irish Insanity]

I have a asphalt driveway. It's looking quite shity and has some pretty big cracks in it. Will a top coat sealer do the trick? I've never done anything with asphalt and I'd prefer to do it myself.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

Looking to build a cornhole set. Does anyone have a ND themed design I can steal?

I want to build one as well, can you post some pictures as your are building it?

I'm in the process of doing one myself. I've already made two other sets for family (one was just basic stripes, the other is half IU, half Colts). Idk how to upload pictures or I would. For myself, I'm doing ND for myself, I just can't settle on the logo choice or design.

 

[IrishLion]

The finished set in the middle is sweeeeeeeet.

I also like the bottom set for a more "bold" feel.

Middle set would be for a classy backyard setting. Bottom set for tailgating and going ND all over everybody's asses.

 

[Monk]

I have a asphalt driveway. It's looking quite shity and has some pretty big cracks in it. Will a top coat sealer do the trick? I've never done anything with asphalt and I'd prefer to do it myself.

Depending on how bad the cracks are there may not be much you can do. If the cracks are not that bad you will want to seal them with hot tar. The hot tar will seep into the cracks and keep moisture out. Then normal sealing will take care of the rest of the driveway. May I ask why you want to do it yourself? I typically do things like this myself, but when I started pricing everything out it was almost the same amount of money just for the material as it was to have someone come and do it for me. I have 1800sf and it cost me $250 to have someone seal it every other year. I do not have any cracks to seal though and that would increase the cost. Also I believe professionals do a better job in this case, because they heat everything up.

Crack sealer you can buy at any hardware store:

Type of crack sealing you should get if you pay a professional:

 

[BleedBlueGold]

The finished set in the middle is sweeeeeeeet.

I also like the bottom set for a more "bold" feel.

Middle set would be for a classy backyard setting. Bottom set for tailgating and going ND all over everybody's asses.

Yeah my other sets have been similar to the middle sets. I like the stained wood look with team color-painted boarder and classic logo in the middle. That's probably what I'll stick with for my ND set but I want to use the vintage leprechaun logo on one board and probably ND-interlocking on the other. The "IRISH" will be painted on the back side frame.

 

[Irish Insanity]

Depending on how bad the cracks are there may not be much you can do. If the cracks are not that bad you will want to seal them with hot tar. The hot tar will seep into the cracks and keep moisture out. Then normal sealing will take care of the rest of the driveway. May I ask why you want to do it yourself? I typically do things like this myself, but when I started pricing everything out it was almost the same amount of money just for the material as it was to have someone come and do it for me. I have 1800sf and it cost me $250 to have someone seal it every other year. I do not have any cracks to seal though and that would increase the cost. Also I believe professionals do a better job in this case, because they heat everything up.

Crack sealer you can buy at any hardware store:

Type of crack sealing you should get if you pay a professional:

The cracks I have are much larger than the pics. Not necessarily longer, but wider. My GF has owned the house 15 years and I don't believe it's ever been sealed or coated in that time. Most of the driveway is on a 30% incline so we don't have much moisture issues. I'd just like to have it look nicer and make sure it doesn't crumble completely. As far as me doing it myself, I'm cheap and we do most of our stuff by ourselves. I've not procedure a contractor or even the product to do it myself yet. Just figured I'd get a feel for what it all entailed.

 

[RDU Irish]

Depending on how bad the cracks are there may not be much you can do. If the cracks are not that bad you will want to seal them with hot tar. The hot tar will seep into the cracks and keep moisture out. Then normal sealing will take care of the rest of the driveway. May I ask why you want to do it yourself? I typically do things like this myself, but when I started pricing everything out it was almost the same amount of money just for the material as it was to have someone come and do it for me. I have 1800sf and it cost me $250 to have someone seal it every other year. I do not have any cracks to seal though and that would increase the cost. Also I believe professionals do a better job in this case, because they heat everything up.

Crack sealer you can buy at any hardware store:

Type of crack sealing you should get if you pay a professional:

Agree 100% on this - in our old neighborhood with asphalt driveways, neighbors would price it out together and get someone to do a dozen at once for a really good price. Then rinse and repeat every two years.

 

[Irish#1]

The cracks I have are much larger than the pics. Not necessarily longer, but wider. My GF has owned the house 15 years and I don't believe it's ever been sealed or coated in that time. Most of the driveway is on a 30% incline so we don't have much moisture issues. I'd just like to have it look nicer and make sure it doesn't crumble completely. As far as me doing it myself, I'm cheap and we do most of our stuff by ourselves. I've not procedure a contractor or even the product to do it myself yet. Just figured I'd get a feel for what it all entailed.

GF owns the house? Tell her to pay for it.

 

[calvegas04]

I'm in the process of doing one myself. I've already made two other sets for family (one was just basic stripes, the other is half IU, half Colts). Idk how to upload pictures or I would. For myself, I'm doing ND for myself, I just can't settle on the logo choice or design.

those are beauties, you should build them and sell them.

 

[nsisk157]

Bout to start a paver patio in about 3 weeks. Dreading it. Gotta demo existing stairs (block that is super oversized and has 4' wall enclosing it with a whiskey tango awning attached), replace bilco door, and demo existing concrete patio.

Thrilled.

 

[BleedBlueGold]

I should have specified...those ND boards are not mine. Just ideas I found on the internet for when I make my own. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[pumpdog20]

I should have specified...those ND boards are not mine. Just ideas I found on the internet for when I make my own. Sorry for the confusion.

Those designs are sweet! Do you paint the logos (if so, how do you pull that off?), or use decals (where did you get them). That one with the Golden Dome in the background is freaking awesome!

 

[Wild Bill]

Bout to start a paver patio in about 3 weeks. Dreading it. Gotta demo existing stairs (block that is super oversized and has 4' wall enclosing it with a whiskey tango awning attached), replace bilco door, and demo existing concrete patio.

Thrilled.

About to lay some pavers too. I've never done it but it looks fairly simple. Hopefully I don't dick it up. Any advice is more than welcome.