Home Improvement Thread

[mitlen]

As long as they properly secured it, but yeah.  I would just slap a couple of wire brads on it and hope the shingles held it all together.

It's good to go.

[HalfSmokes]

After the rainfall, my basement did not fare well. We had to remove the bottom two feet of drywall. I’ve heard conflicting advice on how long to wait to replace it replace. My father in law says immediately, the contractor who dried the basement said wait a couple of months, and I’ve heard opinions of a whole lot in between. Does anyone have experience with this

[GburgNatsFan]

After the rainfall, my basement did not fare well. We had to remove the bottom two feet of drywall. I’ve heard conflicting advice on how long to wait to replace it replace. My father in law says immediately, the contractor who dried the basement said wait a couple of months, and I’ve heard opinions of a whole lot in between. Does anyone have experience with this

Replace immediately as opposed to leaving the wall open to dry completely?

Think your contractor is trying to save you from another problematic rainstorm, or just put you off until he can get you on his schedule?

(I'd wait and let everything dry, but that's not based on evidence, just what seems like common sense.)

[HalfSmokes]

Our contractor won’t touch it- they’re just a clean out company- so I don’t think they have a financial stake

[blue911]

After the rainfall, my basement did not fare well. We had to remove the bottom two feet of drywall. I’ve heard conflicting advice on how long to wait to replace it replace. My father in law says immediately, the contractor who dried the basement said wait a couple of months, and I’ve heard opinions of a whole lot in between. Does anyone have experience with this

You want it as dry as possible. Run a dehumidifier if you’re in a hurry.

[wj73]

You want it as dry as possible. Run a dehumidifier if you’re in a hurry.

You want to make sure everything behind the drywall is completely dry before replacing it. If you replace it now, you’re just trapping all that dampness behind the wall with no air circulation, which is a perfect environment to grow mold. Run fans 24/7 and buy/rent a dehumidifier. We had that issue of mold behind the drywall and besides the smell, it can be deadly. Hubby ended up having a horrible auto-immune reaction from breathing mold spores.  In a few months he dropped 20+ pounds and was unable to a even walk up a single flight of stairs. By the time he was properly diagnosed, the massive inflammation had decreased his lung capacity to 27% of normal. It was so bad that we were beginning the process of getting him on the lung transplant list. Massive doses of prednisone (70mg a day) finally arrested the reaction. He was on pred for months, and while it saved his life, he’s still dealing with some of the side effects 20 years later. Believe me, you do NOT want to take any chances.

[HalfSmokes]

Thanks, I think we’ll just leave everything open with fans and dehumidifiers for now

[HalfSmokes]

You want to make sure everything behind the drywall is completely dry before replacing it. If you replace it now, you’re just trapping all that dampness behind the wall with no air circulation, which is a perfect environment to grow mold. Run fans 24/7 and buy/rent a dehumidifier. We had that issue of mold behind the drywall and besides the smell, it can be deadly. Hubby ended up having a horrible auto-immune reaction from breathing mold spores.  In a few months he dropped 20+ pounds and was unable to a even walk up a single flight of stairs. By the time he was properly diagnosed, the massive inflammation had decreased his lung capacity to 27% of normal. It was so bad that we were beginning the process of getting him on the lung transplant list. Massive doses of prednisone (70mg a day) finally arrested the reaction. He was on pred for months, and while it saved his life, he’s still dealing with some of the side effects 20 years later. Believe me, you do NOT want to take any chances.

Thanks for this advice- I shared it with my wife, we’re going to wait until September/October to drywall. In the meantime, we have two dehumidifiers, two Honeywell air filters and a half dozen drying fans going 24/7 (dominion is going to love me).

[wj73]

 

[NatNasty]

The automatic light on the garage door opener quit working.  Replaced the bulb and still no dice.  Anyone had this happen?

[MarquisDeSade]

Thanks for this advice- I shared it with my wife, we’re going to wait until September/October to drywall. In the meantime, we have two dehumidifiers, two Honeywell air filters and a half dozen drying fans going 24/7 (dominion is going to love me).

Probably need to have the walls waterproofed and drainage installed.  Someone was kind enough to do that years ago in our current house and it's kept things nice and dry down there.  Whatever you do don't let wet drywall stick around if you care for your lungs.

[HalfSmokes]

Probably need to have the walls waterproofed and drainage installed.  Someone was kind enough to do that years ago in our current house and it's kept things nice and dry down there.  Whatever you do don't let wet drywall stick around if you care for your lungs.

We’re getting new walls in a couple of weeks- everything has been bone dry through saturated soil, but we’re doubling down on drainage and pulling the new walls further off of the foundation walls to allow better drainage and discourage moisture- old code allowed framing to be nailed directly into cinderblock, new code calls for a gap, so we’re bringing things up to current standards

[MarquisDeSade]

We’re getting new walls in a couple of weeks- everything has been bone dry through saturated soil, but we’re doubling down on drainage and pulling the new walls further off of the foundation walls to allow better drainage and discourage moisture- old code allowed framing to be nailed directly into cinderblock, new code calls for a gap, so we’re bringing things up to current standards

If they don't put a barrier and proper drainage in that won't matter.  Moving the walls out will help but you really don't want mold hidden in the insulation and studs.

[HalfSmokes]

Studs are moving off of the wall ,no insulation below grade and a drain running the whole perimeter inside

[DCFan]

We have a Jenn-Air gas range. One of the burners didn’t ignite but now that we’re approaching a home sale I wanted to get it working properly. So I ordered the igniter part and went on YouTube to see how it’s replaced (very easy) and installed the new part. Buttoned it all up flipped the knob and it still doesn’t work.    So a call to an appliance repairman is in order.

[NatNasty]

Anybody know a plumber or someone who works on wells that works in the Central VA area?  I've called a couple but getting no response.

[NatNasty]

Never mind.  Got in touch with the plumber!

[imref]

We have a Jenn-Air gas range. One of the burners didn’t ignite but now that we’re approaching a home sale I wanted to get it working properly. So I ordered the igniter part and went on YouTube to see how it’s replaced (very easy) and installed the new part. Buttoned it all up flipped the knob and it still doesn’t work.    So a call to an appliance repairman is in order.

what ended up being the issue?  I replaced an ignitor in our GE oven last year, piece of cake.

[DCFan]

what ended up being the issue?  I replaced an ignitor in our GE oven last year, piece of cake.

I ended up calling a repairman and it was a string of electric connectors that go from one knob to the next across the front of the range in a daisy chain.

[DCFan]

Everyone down here is screaming bloody murder (on Nextdoor) about their electric bills from Duke Energy. But then I'm seeing on the net of a device called PowerVolt which purports to reduce your electric bill by up to 90%.  Has anyone bought such a device and if so does it work like advertised and is it worth the not very high cost?

https://orderpowervolt.com/

[HalfSmokes]

Reading their intro, this seems to be designed for the same crowd that buys fuel additives to increase gas mileage. I’d love to hear them explain (better yet diagram) what “straightening your current” actually entails. The advertise that they were featured in lifehacker and techradar- I cant find a review on either site

[DCFan]

Reading their intro, this seems to be designed for the same crowd that buys fuel additives to increase gas mileage. I’d love to hear them explain (better yet diagram) what “straightening your current” actually entails. The advertise that they were featured in lifehacker and techradar- I cant find a review on either site

I'm 99% sure that they're full of it but a small part of me wonders if such a thing exists.  But if it did then it'd be sweeping the country as a genuine energy saver.

[HalfSmokes]

You can buy a Tesla wall that charges at night when rates are low and kicks in during the day when rates are high- it’ll set you back 10-20k so the break even point is basically never

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Or take the 30% solar energy tax credit before it gets axed   

[GburgNatsFan]

It'll reduce your electric bill by 90% if you turn off every device that it determines is drawing electricity.

Everyone down here is screaming bloody murder (on Nextdoor) about their electric bills from Duke Energy. But then I'm seeing on the net of a device called PowerVolt which purports to reduce your electric bill by up to 90%.  Has anyone bought such a device and if so does it work like advertised and is it worth the not very high cost?

https://orderpowervolt.com/