This article tries to capture the interest of privacy seekers, but then the article itself is hosted in a privacy abusing Cloudflare space that excludes some Tor users. WTF.
I have a few apparently cast-iron chimneys bedded in concrete. They have no hats on them. I’m not sure how the fireplaces were blocked off but it feels solid, as if they bricked them shut and plastered over it....
Going from memory, when I was standing on the roof I think at least the first few cm/inches are open. It might be hard to get close enough to stick my head in, but maybe I can toss a snake cam in for a better view.
It freezes but I guess I wouldn't expect pressure on the masonry because the chimny seems to be a cast iron tube so I would think the expansion would be forced to happen vertically.
Are flues water-tight? When I would close the flue in other homes, I would typically hear the sound of metal hitting something hard, which somewhat implies they don’t have a rubber seal.
There are 3 tubes & none of them have caps, so apparently it’s deliberate. Most of the neighbors have no caps either and I think most fireplaces are blocked off in the region.
To be frank, I'm not sure if replacing the single pane with double pane is: A - something I can afford at the moment and B - something I can DIY (which adds to point A)....
FWIW, I’ve heard that if you let vines grow directly on the exterior (or if you run cables and plant the kind of vines that need to climb cable), the vegetation will insulate/shade the house from the extreme sun.
I can’t say it’s 1st-hand knowledge but perhaps worth looking into. Evaporatie cooling might have a small role in that too. Of course the caveat is if you let vines grow directly on the stucco, they will destroy the stucco which many folks consider a bad trade-off. The other caveat is plantlife brings insects so you might not want to bring insects right up to your walls.
My assumption would be it’s for airation. I’ve seen pipes like that before and have no idea why they are so high off the ground.
I know someone who has a septic tank with an airation appliance. It’s basically a dog house with AC power and an airator on a timer that you can hear periodically turn on. Perhaps that’s an alternative. I would figure an electronic appliance would more effectively air out the septic.
I’m trying to assess if this is worth it before talking to contractors. I’ve done a lot of DIY remodels and hired out some but never anything of this magnitude. I want to build an addition on top of the garage and connect to the rest of the 2nd floor. Here’s some assumptions I have....
I briefly considered adding a 2nd floor to a 1-story home, and the 2nd floor would be a self-contained passive house, effectively, because for environmental reasons I’m unwilling to build anything that’s not passive (that needs heating and cooling). The new floor would need its own support system (could not simply be supported by the existing structure). So the cost came out to the same building costs as it would be for building a whole new home. Upon realizing this, I scrapped the idea. I might as well be building a separate home on an empty lot at that point.
One factor to consider: you never want to be the best house on the block. The low value of other homes will pull yours down while your higher value will prop their values up. Not sure if your plans are significant enough for this to matter.
My façade was old & cracking. Chunks looked like they were close to falling. I removed all the loose bits and re-rendered with new concrete. I did the proper bonding steps with polyvinylacetate (#PVA). That previously cracked part of the #façade seems relatively strong and water resistent now (i.e. the color remains light...
When it rains sometimes it drips water along the top interior window frame. One one occasion water collected behind the interior wall paint and formed a water balloon. I took a guess at how the water was entering and corrected it. But even after that I still have water dripping from the top window frame.
I like the lime idea. Lime comes in many forms (e.g. quicklime, hydraulic lime). I’m not sure I’d be keen to work with the stuff that needs a complex number of steps with a mixer that can withstand heat. Suppose I buy “white lime” (which is marketed as a whitewash for trees as an anti-pest control, and for cosmetic changes on brick walls). Will that do the job? I think I simply mix it with water. How do I bond it? With PVA?
(edit) Since I guess you speak French, perhaps you can tell me if this stuff is right for the job:
^ I have some of that stuff already on-hand but it was opened ~14 months ago, so it might be oxidized into chalk. I’m not sure how to test to see if it’s still usable.
It appears the #Cantillana varieties of lime render are simply rendered on with no bonding steps or additives.
So i am building a 3d printer enclosure that is a 1.2m(4ft) square box. The outside is made out of hardboard with 8 toggle latches to close/open 2 sides but i don’t really like the brown look the hardboard has so i am looking to make it nicer. So i would like some ideas to make it less brown and plain and more...
EDIT: I’ve attached a rough map of the situation. The laundry room is the little room in the middle. The red dot is where the dryer vents into the garage....
They barely exist in the US. Europe is far ahead in this regard. In Europe you won’t even find one of those extremely wasteful vented dryers in most shops.
I did some research on the US market for ventless dryers. The pricing is terrible but if climate matters to you, you will take the hit. One thing that really disturbed me is among the few that are available in the US, only a couple of them is not part of the #internetOfShit. So if you want a dryer that does not connect to the network options are very limited. All the non-discontinued Miele models are “smart”, but this one might be worth a look because it’s 110v and not designed to be on a network. Some Whirlpool ones are wifi-free (this was the biggest one I found but it requires 220v). And indeed it’s hard to find ventless dryers in normal sizes. Most are ½ the size of vented dryers.
(edit)
If you don’t find a suitable ventless dryer, consider putting a dehumidifier in a closet & make that the drying closet. You could perhaps rig up a drain so you don’t have to empty tanks of water.
More generally speaking try to limit your dryer use. It just adds wear and tear on your clothes and costs money to use. Hang dry when you can.
That’s really the best answer.
Note as well that if air drying is not an option, the ventless dryers are much gentler on clothes than vented dryers because they don’t run at high temps. So clothes last longer.
I’ve heard that the lint filters that are on the top of the drier and pull out upwards are supposedly much better than the kind that are just inside the door.
If you decide to keep the vented dryer, it’s worth noting that humidity is good for energy efficiency in the cold season. Some vented dryers in some parts of the world are even designed with no ducting (the dryer just vents where it sits). Not ideal, but just a bit of perspective. Anyway, this guy explains how and why to vent into the house.
Ideally you would have a humidistat that vents into the house until a threshold is reached, then switches to vent outdoors. If you don’t want a complex ventilation project, it might be wise to simply vent indoors in the cold season and space the loads a day apart, and manually move the ducting to go outdoors in the summer.
I’m building a small box in the shower which I will tile over. The box will cover a valve and must be semi-accessible. The valve will actually be controlled from the other side of the wall, so the box need not be opened routinely -- only if the fitting leaks or goes bad will access be needed.
I have an unlimited free supply of Ikea pressboard because neighbors throw it away daily. But I would not use it in a shower. Ikea pressboard is like a sponge with water. It’s also too thick. I have rigid space constraints. No limit on the box height, but the walls of the box must be thin (e.g. 10—15mm thick is what I have in mind). The construction board seems well suited for wet areas.
This is the old box, which was previously a solid block of concrete:
My building style is to make everything accessible and servicable. So in that pic you see a floor tile around the box. That tile is actually removable. I went to great lengths to give a solid mating subfloor but without gluing it down. So if needed I can just remove the caulking around that tile and get under the showerpan. This is why the box walls must be thin. If the box is big enough to overlap the floor tile, then it would ruin the accessibility of the floor tile. Unless I somehow figure out how to make the entire box easily removable.. then it wouldn’t matter if it rested on the floor tile.
While you could cut a V and bend the board, I would not trust it to be waterproof and you would need to seal it with the sealant anyway
I think this is where the different kinds of boards differ. Some tests¹ demonstrate Wedi is not waterproof but Schluter KERDI and another brand is. This guy says KERDI board can be scored and snapped to fit into a car, and unfolded at installation and it maintains its waterproof properties.
If I opt for foam board then it would probably be Wedi so indeed it would theoretically need a waterproofing system on top. I say theoretically because I don’t think the shower is waterproof to begin with (it’s apparently tile directly on concrete rendered over brick). But I should still probably practice doing it right.
it would probably be stronger to just do a butt joint with sealant.
I’ve noticed construction board is fastened using a big washer of sorts and a screw through it. If the board is 10—15mm thick and I use those washers on a corner, they would overhang. I suppose I could cut the overhung portions off with an angle grinder. I’m also unclear on how strong the joint is if a screw is driven just into the foam to fasten the butt joint. Wouldn’t the screw pull out without much force? Perhaps I’ll use a 2×3cm piece of wood on the inside corner and screw both boards to that since I have that wood on hand.
Or when you say “with sealant”, do you mean no screws and sealant alone?
not sure I linked the right video.. I can’t access videos right now to verify.
Does the shutoff valve have to be in the shower? Could it be moved to the other side of a wall outside of the shower?
The valve joins a steel pipe to PEX. Both pipes are still bedded in concrete even though I cleared away the concrete that the valve was embedded in. The valve could be moved but the pipe joints remain in place because it would be too big of a project to unbury all of it, cut the steel pipe & thread it, etc. So if I move the valve the box would still need to be accessible in case the joints fail.
I need to update that other thread. I’ve already drilled a 14mm hole in the wall and ran a shaft through it which is now attached to a right angle gearbox mounted on the new valve, which has a replaceable cartridge. So what’s left to do is getting a custom handle on the shaft that goes through the wall and I need to build the box.
Probably good advice, but I should note that I’ve been in several home improvement stores the past few days and they all have green particle board. One even had green plywood. I’ve seen how conventional particle board becomes like a sponge to water, so it’s a bit surprizing that they can treat it well enough to make it suitable for moist environments.
I told a salesman that although I would prefer a foam cement board Wedi type of thing, it’s too expensive. He then suggested the green particle board. It looks like they soaked the sawdust so that every spec of wood gets the water-resistent treatment before pressing it together. So perhaps it would be good for this.
I’m currently leaning toward using sticks of green (treated) solid wood for the frame, and ordinary drywall for the surface because I have this on hand. Then I would smother the whole thing in a liquid rubber of sorts. The particular liquid rubber I would use is most common in roofing but they advertize that tiles can be glued to it.
(edit) The liquid rubber brocure lists things it can be applied to.
“To be applied on bituminous foundations and on the most common construction materials such as concrete, stone, wood, steel, aluminium, cement plaster and polyester”
Hmm.. no mention of drywall. So perhaps I will need to make it entirely from wood before using the liquid rubber on it.
There are only two cabinets in the kitchen that open at eye level. We need more. My wife does not want to get on a step stool to reach each cabinet. We don’t NEED more counter space, but it would be nice. We are thinking of building into the breakfast nook, or some how pushing into the pantry/butler pantry area....
indeed buffet was my first thought too because it would give the extra countertop space he wants. But otoh, he doesn't want to bend over for the extra storage. There could be cabinets above the buffet though.
What’s the orange knob? Obviously the red and blue are hot and cold water for the washing machine. The orange knob is extremely hard to turn and I don’t want to force it without knowing what it is. Any ideas?
I’ve seen them on the “security group” for boilers in Europe as a pressure release valve. There’s a thick spring inside which is what makes it hard to turn. The instructions say to open that valve once a month and verify that water discharges. If no water discharges, then it means the pressure relief will not function when something else goes wrong and the pressure gets out of control.
I’ve not seen orange nobs anywhere else, but different regions may differ. Orange is just one color by one maker. I’ve noticed sometimes they are green, red, or yellow.
It would be useful to be able to make a local copy of a “thread” from another node without participating in that other other thread. Think of it as a git branch....
Yeah, that’s a decent hack. Though it requires creating the same magazine locally (fair enough), but if there already is a local magazine that’s federated to that other instance, then it’s complicated.
I guess I’m not clear on how federated magazines work. Suppose we have:
domainX.social/m/immigration
domainY.social/m/immigration
domainZ.social/m/immigration
and someone locally creates a local.social/m/[email protected]. Does that mean we can still create a an unfederated local.social/m/immigration? Or can multiple federated magazines be combined in the same local mag?
And what if domainY has a right wing extremist anti-immigration slant which we don’t want. But we want domainZ’s version but domainZ has federated with domainY?
yo idk if this is the right place to put this, so sorry if it's not. Iv been really trying to figure this place out and honestly it feels like they made things overly complicated. I understand the magazines and the federated stuff I guess, maybe. But what the hell is the difference between posts and threads. Also I have noticed...
This is my understanding as well, @a@kbin.social¹. And with this understanding, I concur with @anonymouse:
they made things overly complicated
Indeed. It’s not a meaningful separation particularly when the microblogs have no significant enforcement of being “micro”. The /feeling/ I get is that kbin threads (which are very poorly named as @s6original discovered) are for high effort often lengthy content with a graphic, formatting, and more thought-out content. But kbin supports formatting in both which makes them redundant.
I suspect if someone makes a lot of short off-the-cuff “threads” a moderator might want to have a word with them.
I just moved to a new house, and after setting up my washing machine it now shakes a lot while running, like it moves itself 3 or 4 inches sometimes. It seems to really shake for a 5-15 seconds then runs normal for a while. No real discernible pattern....
i had the same problem with a front-load machine. Feet seemed to be even, but the machine pivots clockwise about left front foot causing it to screw in (and shorten), which then worsens as it goes. My fix was to lengthen that foot more so that it seems to bear more load than the other three feet. I don’t consider it a permanent fix because that leg still manages to eventually get shorter anyway, but takes much longer.
I guess my next move is to drill a hole in a circular piece of wood giving a donut-like shape, and use that as a spacer to stop that foot from shortening under vibration.
I need to come up with a right angle gearbox (example)
I’m not a blacksmith and local hardware stores are coming up empty apart from selling a right angle drill attachment (which would work but they’re a bit pricey for my purpose).
The purpose: to hide a water valve (positioned upright) & control it from the other side of a wall. (back story)
My ideas so far:
find a broken angle grinder that someone threw away (seems unlikely) & cannabalize the gears
build right angle gears out of wood
harvest worn down bicycle cassettes from the trash and orient them at right angles against each other. They are designed to mate with a chain, so I’m not sure how well it would work. The valve is only turned on/off a couple times per year, so maybe I can get away with it.
go to a toy store and find a kid’s Capsela set (do they still make these?); though I imagine it might exceed the cost of a right angle drill accessory anyway and it would possibly break under stress.
What other tools or appliances should I look for on a dumpster dive which would likely contain a right angle gearbox?
@DownwardSpiral Thanks for the suggestion. I’m not sure if a rubber hose (like a garden hose) could take the pressure without kinking. A flex shaft did occur to me, which is in some Dremel kits and also sold for drills. I think a flex shaft accessory would work but then I’m probably approaching the cost of a right angle attachment anyway. I’ll keep it in mind though. It would indeed be cheap to use a small section of garden hose if it can handle the torque. Perhaps a hose inside of a hose to add strength and resist the hose getting twisted.
(edit) I have an old plumber’s snake that’s in rough shape. Perhaps i could cut a bit of that off and run it through a garden hose, and use the snake as a flex shaft. Though it might not do too well in the counter-clockwise direction of rotation.
I would like the hole to be as small as possible. I have a solid steel rod on hand (ø=12mm) but I could even get a smaller one. This would be the least intrusive on a structural wall (brick), which technically I’m not supposed to touch without planning permission. I would bend that rule for a rod ≤12mm. I’m not sure if removing a whole brick is bit risky since it’s an old house and the state of the brick is probably dodgy to begin with.
@francisfordpoopola
It seems a bit sloppy to run water where water isn’t needed just to control it. I’ve not ruled it out entirely but I think that implies cutting two ¾" holes to run ½" pipe in each direction, which is perhaps structurally comparable to removing a whole brick. And if I remove a whole brick, I might as well just stick my hand through to reach the valve. Though to be clear I don’t know if it’s one layer of brick or two. Since it’s interior, probably one.
Regarding PEX, I have very little confidence in it. I just fixed a huge amount of damage because PEX that was only 13 years old leaked enough to collapse a ceiling. I also have a PEX compression fitting that I had to replace every 6 months routinely until I decided to replace the fitting with a longer run of PEX. Normally I would favor soldered copper. However, the input side of the valve is steel (copper-incompatible) and the other side of it is PEX. So indeed it’d be steel (with many threaded joints) or PEX with fewer joints. At least ½ the PEX joints would be accessible.
@Gordon
angle grinder: The gear ratio is probably around 4:1 or more so you’d either be turning the knob forever or it would be very difficult to turn
Once or twice a year, I wouldn’t be too bothered with 4 rotations for every valve rotation. A ball valve is only ¼ of a rotation anyway. Although the valve I’m favoring ATM has a replaceable cartridge which is not a ball valve but I think it only needs 1 or 2 rotations. If I needed to close the valve often, then I would consider the inverse: making it hard to turn but then put a big wheel on the wall & do a steampunk style.
Regarding the wood gears, the pegs had not occured to me and perhaps they are a good approach. Quite simple and may even work with scrap Ikea particle board. I know there are some youtube vids on right angle gears in wood but I’ve not watched them yet. I know flat gears can be done with just a drill and jigsaw (though I don’t have a jigsaw).
Hi all. Anybody have any tips or tricks on making a bathroom sink drain faster without going through the process of taking it apart, cleaning it, and putting it back together?...
I sometimes pour a kettle of boiling water down the kitchen drain to melt the fats. I recall seeing a youtube video of a guy boiling pvc fittings to separate them and reuse them, which caused some concern for my habit of pouring boiling water down. But he had to boil those fittings in a pot for like 30 min with all sides of the fitting getting heat, so I’m not worried.
Budget permitting, it’s best to pour the hot water down ~15-20 min before going to bed, then just before going to bed pour ~50—100ml of enzymes. Enzyme-based maintenence cleaning is most effective when the sludge they will consume is warm. Let the enzymes feast on the nasties all night long.
It would be nice to have curtains that absorb street noise.
Some custom curtain tailors offer a fabric that claims to be soundproof. It’s a little pricey. Not absurdly pricey, but it’s also a bit hard to be confident that such thin fabrics can absorb much sound (they claim 20%).
I would prefer to try hacks. I’ve heard that thick furniture moving pads absorb sound well. I’ve also heard that fiberous fabrics can be effective. For the moment, I probably want to pass on edgy ideas like egg cartons. Maybe later on those. What fabrics are decent for reducing sound? Specifically, I’m wondering about carpets or painter’s drop cloths. Not the simple white canvas drop cloths, but the thicker drop cloths may out of recycled fabrics.
I’m most interested in a cheap option so the paragraph on “Industrial Blankets” caught my attention. But it didn’t give much detail or mention how carpet fairs in comparison.
As an experiment, I took mattress someone threw out and pulled the memory foam-like pad out, and stuffed that into my window, then hung a cheap normal blackout curtain with a drop cloth safety pinned onto that, then i have a thermal curtain hanging on a 2nd support track. It seems to work well although I’ve not tried it on a noisey night. Weekend is coming so maybe I’ll have a better idea next week.
@CCatMan I appreciate the advice. So this kind of answers one of my questions. I wondered if I take a painter’s drop cloth in matching dimensions to the curtain and attach it, would that be much different than if I double the size of the drop cloth and attach it with deliberate folds (like pleated pants). What you said somewhat implies that It would help to use double the size of drop cloth and force some deliberate folds which would create an air gap with the curtain.
Interesting concept. I’m glad to be aware of that option. However, I have very low confidence of any fitting that attaches to PEX. So I would still want the joint of the fitting relatively unburied as well. One side of the valve is galvanized pipe. I suppose I could replace the PEX with steel as well and then join the PEX to the steel under the showerpan. I’ll have to keep that in mind.
@Damage I’m tempted to get a valve with a replaceable cartridge even though I hope to make the fitting accessible anyway— just because it seems like a smarter design.
What do you call that kind of valve?
I tried an image search for “water valve with replaceable cartridge” & most hits were taps & shower mixers. A local shop had one that looked kind of like this. The lower portion was simpler, but the handle is the same. My concern is that the handle is designed for a human hand and I would actually be running a steel rod to the handle so I can control it from an adjacent room. Most valves seem to have a removable handle so you can easily attach a tool to it.
I would like to find one that has a removable handle and a removable cartridge for full versatility.
Car Companies: Stop Your Huge Data Collection Programs ( foundation.mozilla.org )
Nowadays, our cars are anything but a private space — they are full blown data collection nightmares on wheels....
Most chimneys in my neighborhood are open, thus water enters, yet fireplaces are blocked off. What happens to the water?
I have a few apparently cast-iron chimneys bedded in concrete. They have no hats on them. I’m not sure how the fireplaces were blocked off but it feels solid, as if they bricked them shut and plastered over it....
Single pane windows, would shutters be a frugal fix?
To be frank, I'm not sure if replacing the single pane with double pane is: A - something I can afford at the moment and B - something I can DIY (which adds to point A)....
Can I remove this pipe coming out of my lawn? ( lemmy.world )
We moved in to our house a couple years ago and were not told too much about a pipe that sticks out of our backyard....
Building over garage. Is it worth it? ( lemmy.world )
I’m trying to assess if this is worth it before talking to contractors. I’ve done a lot of DIY remodels and hired out some but never anything of this magnitude. I want to build an addition on top of the garage and connect to the rest of the 2nd floor. Here’s some assumptions I have....
Façade absorbs water in some areas. Is paint a decent solution? (update: no it is not)
My façade was old & cracking. Chunks looked like they were close to falling. I removed all the loose bits and re-rendered with new concrete. I did the proper bonding steps with polyvinylacetate (#PVA). That previously cracked part of the #façade seems relatively strong and water resistent now (i.e. the color remains light...
Help choosing Wisteria support ( i.imgur.com )
looking for Hardboard decorating ideas
So i am building a 3d printer enclosure that is a 1.2m(4ft) square box. The outside is made out of hardboard with 8 toggle latches to close/open 2 sides but i don’t really like the brown look the hardboard has so i am looking to make it nicer. So i would like some ideas to make it less brown and plain and more...
Ideas for electric clothes dryer that vents into attached garage
EDIT: I’ve attached a rough map of the situation. The laundry room is the little room in the middle. The red dot is where the dryer vents into the garage....
Using a router on construction board (e.g. “Wedi”) to make a beveled corner
First of all, is my terminology correct? These are brands of synthetic wood alternatives:...
How can I add, or improve, my kitchen? ( lemmy.world )
There are only two cabinets in the kitchen that open at eye level. We need more. My wife does not want to get on a step stool to reach each cabinet. We don’t NEED more counter space, but it would be nice. We are thinking of building into the breakfast nook, or some how pushing into the pantry/butler pantry area....
Plumbing ID help ( lemmy.world )
What’s the orange knob? Obviously the red and blue are hot and cold water for the washing machine. The orange knob is extremely hard to turn and I don’t want to force it without knowing what it is. Any ideas?
kbin feature needed: a way for users to mirror a thread from another node without integrating comments ( fedia.io )
It would be useful to be able to make a local copy of a “thread” from another node without participating in that other other thread. Think of it as a git branch....
What is the difference between a post and thread? ( kbin.social )
yo idk if this is the right place to put this, so sorry if it's not. Iv been really trying to figure this place out and honestly it feels like they made things overly complicated. I understand the magazines and the federated stuff I guess, maybe. But what the hell is the difference between posts and threads. Also I have noticed...
How to stop my washing machine from violently shaking?
I just moved to a new house, and after setting up my washing machine it now shakes a lot while running, like it moves itself 3 or 4 inches sometimes. It seems to really shake for a 5-15 seconds then runs normal for a while. No real discernible pattern....
Unclogging a bathroom sink without removing the P-Trap
Hi all. Anybody have any tips or tricks on making a bathroom sink drain faster without going through the process of taking it apart, cleaning it, and putting it back together?...
Advice needed: exposed water valve in shower ( fedia.io )
(all text is linked)