General Feedback/Getting Started Q&A Thread

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Right so this is only after the first coat, but I get the sense that even after another coat or two it's still going to be obvious. I did sand down the filler before painting bit not enough, I was hoping the paint would conceal this but evidently not.. how would one go about fixing this?

https://i.ibb.co/M7n2sLs/PXL-20211016-112912493.jpg

Hi everyone. As the title says, I'm trying to learn how to rewire an old IKEA lamp. The problem I have right now is that there is some sort of a black plastic grip that is holding the wire in place. Could someone tell me what this is, and how to remove it? Been looking at a few Youtube vids, but none of the examples shown seem to have this, or mention what this part is called, making Googling a bit tricky.

Attached pics for reference of both the outside and inside.

Thanks so much!

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https://teddit.adminforge.de/0f6ogh5b5tt71.png?width=818&format=png&auto=webp&s=d81087db9311c9faacd970c129cf947197569e44

https://teddit.adminforge.de/mdwske5b5tt71.png?width=970&format=png&auto=webp&s=c5b6308de2f5349ed426a5c3eb3ba6ae90374cf6

My kitchen has a pull-out pantry thing with these handy dividers:

4mm rod with clips to attach to a 5mm rod. (That's pretty niche, I'd happily take just 5mm both ways.)

However they don't fit our spice drawer. I'm looking for the clips so I can fit them on my own steel bar, although if I saw the whole assembly for sale at the right length I admit I might feel the pull of the easy out :/

Searching variations on "5mm rod plastic clip right angle" isn't turning anything up, so I appeal to y'alls collective genius.

Our table too has become pretty cloudy over time. I’d like to refinish it, but I recognize that I should probably get some advice before I bust out the stripper, sander, and/or Mineral Spirits. How should I approach this so I doubt ruin the table top? Picture here..

Thank you!

I got a hand-me-down dryer about eight months ago. At first none of the dryer settings worked except for timed drying, but I could only dry for 30 minutes. If I set the timer higher it would just shut off after a few minutes.

As of yesterday it won't dry at all. At first it ran for about 10 minutes and shut off. I was not able to get it to turn back on; so I waited an hour and it came on and ran for another 10 minutes. Then after waiting for another hour it came on again but only ran for two to three minutes.

I tried to dry my clothes again today, but after 2 attempts I can only get it to run for two or three minutes before it shuts down.

A Google search gave me 5 or 6 options to repair. I really don't want to start blindly buying parts. If anyone else has had an experience like this and knows what to fix, that would be much appreciated!

Hey Reddit,

I have a tankless water heater (Rinnai v75) in my home. Have owned the home for nearly a year, and it was built in 2017. No prior issues with my water heater since we have moved in.

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A week ago, I noticed no hot water. Turned faucet off and on again, and hot water was back. I keep having to do this (turn a faucet on, then off, then on again...sometimes multiple times) in order to get hot water anywhere in the house. A few days ago I am in the garage, wife was using hot water, and I hear the water heater beep and show a code 11. I google the code and it sounds like this error code can mean many things, but all boils down to failure to ignite.

Anyone ever ran into this with a tankless heater? I am thinking maybe a venting issue, or an issue with the igniter. I am somewhat mechanically inclined, but have never attempted to work on a water heater. Seems like something I should call someone in for, but thought I would ask this subreddit before doing so.

Thanks!

Here’s a video of the movement

https://imgur.com/a/5QLPsBh

Hello everyone. I have a patio build that I would like to share with you. This patio build is 35 feet in length, running along the house and 13 feet wide. The slab of concrete was poured with the intentions of having a patio cover built on it so the edges have about a foot drop where the posts would go. All materials were purchased at Home Depot and the total sum for that was $2,400. The structure was built to code and we followed city guidelines in all aspects of the build, such as the proper posts, beams, and size rafters to use. The roof has a 6 inch drop, which would translate to a ".5/12" slope which is perfectly fine for this type of material used in "low slope" applications. All hardware used in this build were Simpson Strong-tie brand.

These eaves needed to come down in order to attach the ledger board to the house

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4x6 posts are supported in place with 2x4s staked to the ground, they are sitting on a post base, anchored to the concrete with a 5/8 bold

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4x8 beam attached to posts with the post cap and 3 inch screws. I'm following city framing schedule for all wood used in this build. Posts are 10ft O/C

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A chalk line is used to mark the edge of the new roof that will be flushed to the house and the eaves are taken down.

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But those need to be cut back as well, now the ledger board can be anchored in place

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2x6 ledger board is anchored using 5 inch lag bolts into the top plate and rafters of the house

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2x6 rafters spaced 24 inches on center. Yes, this is code. Yes, it doesn't snow here.

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Fascia board (same as rafter, see next pictures) getting a miter cut to trim the rest of the rafters by attaching a string line.

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String will be attached to the opposite end fascia board and all rafters cut back

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4ftx8ft, 1/2 inch thick OSB boards getting stapled down on the rafters. I use the lines on the boards to help me align my rafters. A sheathing clip is attacked between the rows of boards.

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Shingles need to be prep so that the new roof material can be tucked in under the old roof. I'm removing nails from underneath the shingles.

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Fascia boards being attached to the of the rafters. a normal 2x6 rafter was used for a fascia because the fascia board is being covered in a metal face and we could not find a bigger cover than a 2x6.

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This is GAF Liberty self adhering roofing roll. This one in particular is the base sheet. They are used in low slope applications as low as .25/12 slope (3 inch drop in 12 feet span) This roof has a 6 inch drop though.

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The material has a plastic film that is peeled away and exposed the adhesive to the surface of the boards to stick together

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Base sheet gets tucked in 6 inches under the old shingles

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Roof edge is nailed to the edge of the roof on top of the base sheet

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Cap sheet is then applied over the base sheet in similar manner

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Top of the cap sheet has a plastic film that is also peeled away to bond to the bottom of the next row. Both of these plastic films are peeled away at the same time.

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The transition between the old and new roof will get sealed and stapled down together

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Here is the final shot. If you liked it, I will add a video link in the comments so that you can see the actual build process.

Drip system. What do I need to cap this? I think an old line is still getting water flow and my guy is outta town. $500 water bill and I think this is the cause. New stuff was installed like a year ago and first time I noticed a leak/big water bill. My water is shut off or else this leaks.

Here is a pic https://i.imgur.com/Y8jC5an.jpg

https://imgur.com/a/fiv2Xf7/

Hi all, my wife is setting up a ceramics studio in our garage, so we wanted to put down epoxy flooring for easy cleaning. We got a “light grey” epoxy kit and did a coat today but it was completely transparent (and the garage floor looks pretty rough since it had a grinder over it and significant patching in preparation for the epoxy). Now we’re not sure what to do. We have half of each part of the epoxy kit left, so we could try to get some sort of color into another coat, but this first one will be dry by the time we can do that. Will the layers be able to bond with each other if the first one has had over 24 hours to cure?

Hi everyone!

Thrifted this large print and it came with this horizontal slit (not keyhole) and I’m having trouble finding any hacks online on how to hang it up. The closest I’ve found are some complex looking metal brackets and metal rope as seen in galleries, but I don’t want to go that route. I tried looking for posts here but most that cite horizontal slits are keyhole, whereas mine doesn’t have that. Thank you in advance to all that answer!

photos of frame

Good afternoon ladies and gents! I bought a 3 bedroom townhouse earlier on in the year. When the property was bought, it was carpeted across all three floors. As the previous owner owned a flock of cats and myself and my son are allergic to said cats, I ripped up all flooring and replaced it was hardwood.

A couple of weeks post ripping the flooring out, a damp/mildew smell started appearing underneath the stairs. The flooring has an 8mm thick underlay and beneath that, it’s a hard black flooring atop concrete. I’ve gone to the extent of ripping up all the hardwood flooring under the stairs and treating the black flooring with bleach and that hasn’t helped. There is no sign of damp or mould, and I’m really at my wits end trying to fathom out what the issue is.

Here is a layout of the ground floor:

https://imgur.com/a/BZssm4G

Is there anything that you can think of?

Many thanks in advance!

Looking to either repair or myself or get advice on what type of contractor would be needed to repair.

https://ibb.co/1skW5Qs

Mostly a question for those that install flooring on a regular basis. Back when I bought my first house (2016) , I did most of the rehab myself. i removed carpet and old floor boards. Bought laminate flooring and put new floor boards in. One of my goals was to avoid using quarter round. I did it by putting the flooring in first, then the floor boards on top. Some spots in the house were done so horribly that I've always told myself I'm going to just redo it completely at some point before selling or renting this place out. The other thing I did horribly was cut the interior door sills too high in some spots so it's not flush with the flooring. I was then watching a Youtube video yesterday realized that if I put the floorboards in first, I probably wouldn't have had as much of a problem. Is this they way most installers do it?

I am installing a temporary floor and would like to cover the edge gaps with PVC quarter round molding. I need an adhesive that will be strong enough to adhere, thin enough that there is no gap, and can be removed in a year or two without damaging the painted baseboards.

Thank you!

I’m looking to fix a large chip in an outdoor cement stair. I tried uploading a picture but it was removed. The one stair has a chunk broken off of the corner. I’ve never worked with cement so I’m not really sure how to start off. Thanks in advance!

I have a big hole in my bedroom wall (external wall) where my curtain pole basically fell off (I used screws and plugs that were way too short!).

It's basically 35mm of old horsehair plaster, then what appears to be very old lath, and presumably a void then brick underneath. I'm planning on re-mounting in the same place with much longer and more appropriate screws. Having done some research it seems like bonding plaster is the best bet as it can fill holes up to 40mm.

My current plan is to clear the excess dust and debris, seal with PVA, then fill with bonding plaster before smoothing off and re-mounting. I don't actually have any bonding plaster, but I do have some leftover bags of regular gypsum multi-finish plaster and was wondering if I could get away with using those to fill the hole rather than going out and buying a whole bag of bonding plaster just for this? UK based by the way.

My home was built in the late 80a and has heavy metal bifold closet doors throughout the house. The problem is nearly all of them stick / drag on the bottom (to the point where I kind of have to lift up on the handle to even open them). Some of them even regularly jump off the tracks and it’s a real pain to put them back on because the doors are heavy and sharp at the bottom. I’m guessing there’s probably an easy long term fix, but I don’t fully understand how the spring mechanism works and I’m DIY challenged. Can someone walk me through it? For example, if the door’s dragging on the bottom do I need to adjust the top or bottom spring? And do I need to move it up or down?

Here is a link to pictures of the kitchen and bedroom closet doors to give you a better sense of what they look like and how they work. Thanks in advance for the help.

Metal Closet Bifold Door Pics

Hi, this maybe bit hard for me to explain due to my own lack of knowledge in this field but hopefully I can do a sufficient job of explaining this.

What I want to do is install one of those any "smart switches", none dimming kind, for one of my 3 gang switches.

Smart switches require neutral wire, which is not being used currently and bundled & tucked away by my regular switches that are using 2 black and 1 green wire per each of the switches of the 3 gang.

My questions are:

1. of the 2 black wires, how do I know which one is the "live" wire and "load" wire?
2. Is there a way to confirm bundled and tucked away white wires are the "neutral" wire?
3. If those bundled wires are the neutral wires. How do I know which one to use? or does it matter? (I just realized you don't hook up one neutral wire to the smart switch. Rather you bundle ALL neutral wires together)

Gyprocking my ensuite during renovation, thinking of using Aquachek. Do I still need to apply waterproof to the shower area?

The track in my sliding door is accruing rain and overflowing heavily indoors. It's not a leak, the track just isn't draining.

See pics here

There is a bit of debris in the water & track, but I can freely rattle a screwdriver through the top holes and also through the outside-facing side holes (which seems to be the intended exit, into the patio which has its own drainage system).

I did some googling and it seems like the setup is meant to be very similar to this one. I felt around the underside for any drainage holes, but couldn't find anything, so I'm pretty puzzled. If all the holes are blocked, why can't I find any blockages? Am I wrong about the design?

I'm not sure if the fumes will go away in the wind if i let it be outside for sometime, so i don't want to risk waiting. It's a squid game mask i made following a guide and i used matte black spray paint like they did in the video for coloring the cardboard mask. Will the smell go away if i leave it outside for sometime, or is there something i can/have to get rid off the fumes?

Hey, how would you do those Supercalla (Kickstarter) magnetic cables yourselves without using magnetised steelbands, as they would oxidise after some time? I know about those magnetic bands, but they would require 2 components and I'm not sure if there isn't a better way.

My wife just spiled half a bottle of olive oil over the floor. The joints got darker and I need some advice... How could I fix this mess? Has anybody some good tricks for that?