The DIY thread

[Unchained]

While I've never owned or used one I guess gas grills have their advantages, but I can't imagine not having the smoky taste charcoal adds to food when prepared in a good old-fashioned charcoal grill. (You guys with your gas grills, much too modern for me! )

In Mexico they sell an 8 kilo bag of mesquite. lump charcoal for @90 pesos.. Blows Kingsford and all that stuff away.. I use wood tray with my gas grill ( 20%) of the time

 

[scribers]

I don't even use a tray. I just put bits of cherry wood on the grill itself and it makes a nice flavor.

 

[jmdirt]

The bed in our guest room is our old (30 ish years) mattress that we put in there when we got a new bed 9 years ago. As you might guess, it was lumpy. The spring base seemed OK even though I'm sure that its softer than new so I decided to 'rebuild' it. I didn't want to order foam from the www because I'm pretty sure that most/all of it is like the stuff that ShopKo/BB&B used to sell...not worth buying. There is a small local mattress builder (started in 1910, still family owned/operated) here so I talked them, and bought a 4" piece of base foam.

-Remove 2" convoluted foam topper (very compressed in shoulder and butt area)
-Cut off pillow top (completely squished out in butt area)
-Remove 3" base foam (not really base foam though)
-Put in 4" base foam (held in place, side to side/end to end, by remaining fabric)
--test: too firm to uses alone IMO
-Add 3" convoluted topper
-Wrap everything together in fitted mattress pad
-Feels much better (flatter, more supportive...)

Not a difficult DIY, but it ate up too many hours just like all of my projects. Now on to the noisy, failing roller wheel in my dryer.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

The bed in our guest room is our old (30 ish years) mattress that we put in there when we got a new bed 9 years ago. As you might guess, it was lumpy. The spring base seemed OK even though I'm sure that its softer than new so I decided to 'rebuild' it. I didn't want to order foam from the www because I'm pretty sure that most/all of it is like the stuff that ShopKo/BB&B used to sell...not worth buying. There is a small local mattress builder (started in 1910, still family owned/operated) here so I talked them, and bought a 4" piece of base foam.

-Remove 2" convoluted foam topper (very compressed in shoulder and butt area)
-Cut off pillow top (completely squished out in butt area)
-Remove 3" base foam (not really base foam though)
-Put in 4" base foam (held in place, side to side/end to end, by remaining fabric)
--test: too firm to uses alone IMO
-Add 3" convoluted topper
-Wrap everything together in fitted mattress pad
-Feels much better (flatter, more supportive...)

Not a difficult DIY, but it ate up too many hours just like all of my projects. Now on to the noisy, failing roller wheel in my dryer.

Of all the things to diy I never imagined fixing an old mattress was possible... fixing a dryer I can totally see though.

 

[jmdirt]

Of all the things to diy I never imagined fixing an old mattress was possible... fixing a dryer I can totally see though.

Me either! I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on the mattress in the guest room, and it seemed wasteful to toss a good spring.

I got the dryer done too, and with only one puncture wound.

EDIT: When I thought about rebuilding the mattress this was the video that I watched on YouTube:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri2v0eShDHY&t=319s

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Me either! I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on the mattress in the guest room, and it seemed wasteful to toss a good spring.

I got the dryer done too, and with only one puncture wound.

EDIT: When I thought about rebuilding the mattress this was the video that I watched on YouTube:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri2v0eShDHY&t=319s

Good work! And only one puncture wound is even better!

 

[Tricycle Rider]

I'm crying into my pillow because this is a DIY I can't do myself because I don't have the muscle...

My electric water heater is 20 years old and the fittings up top started leaking. Judging by what I had googled water heaters usually last anywhere from 8-12 years, so 20 years was glorious! But it's time to replace the whole thing because it's just a matter of time and I don't want it simply fixed, so I called the plumber and with labor a new one will cost $2,200. It's not as much as I had expected, but still...

Reason I can't do this myself is because an empty tank weighs about 75 pounds and there's just no way I could haul something so heavy and so massive around. Plus I wouldn't want to mess anything up, so it was time to call a pro.

Have you guys either fixed or replaced water heaters on your own?

 

[Unchained]

I'm crying into my pillow because this is a DIY I can't do myself because I don't have the muscle...

My electric water heater is 20 years old and the fittings up top started leaking. Judging by what I had googled water heaters usually last anywhere from 8-12 years, so 20 years was glorious! But it's time to replace the whole thing because it's just a matter of time and I don't want it simply fixed, so I called the plumber and with labor a new one will cost $2,200. It's not as much as I had expected, but still...

Reason I can't do this myself is because an empty tank weighs about 75 pounds and there's just no way I could haul something so heavy and so massive around. Plus I wouldn't want to mess anything up, so it was time to call a pro.

Have you guys either fixed or replaced water heaters on your own?

You can install a tankless water heater fairly easily. @$2200 is likely normal parts and labor for your region. But if you have time ( and can deal with leak) start working the phone to get estimates. Many home repairs have a great deal to do with psychology and salesmanship. When contractors show up you need to sell the idea that what everyone is looking at is a nuance but not an emergency. The leak everyone is seeing is something you will deal with until boiler just gives up. The more you plant seeds of simplicity, through a little research, it knocks the edge of of aggressive time line and pricing from plumbing contractor. Removal of old, heavy, bulky water heater is not for amateurs or faint of heart. Everything, everyone needs to be in place, couple of Fabio sized guys to get it into a truck that day. The tankless is the size of a suitcase depending on the flow level you need, more gallons per minute, bigger suitcase. Your homework is key, what are your existing conditions, electric, gas and the rest is the existing space or cavity where water heater is currently. Gallons per minute is really the only concern. How much hot water you use..In my experience I was wary of having someone washing dishes and both showers going simultaneously. It's happened but rarely. Are we doing wash and the machine is filling, 2 people need to shower and dirty dishes in the sink all create a hot water demand emergency.. Nah.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Camplux-Camplux-4-22-GPM-102000-BTU-Indoor-Propane-Gas-Tankless-Water-Heater-with-Wall-Thimble/5015257183

And the diagram really is revealing... If you have gas you need to extend the pipe from old water heater, electric is self explanatory also and it's incoming cold water and outgoing hot water. I have used PEX pipe for a few years with zero issues.
If you talk to your possible plumber with some knowledge and buzz words everything can go smooth.
We want to install it here, obvious, and just do PEX extensions to get it up and running, we don't really need to spend time and money creating another broom closet. Tankless is a fifth of the size , just looks like a banana box size thing mounted on the wall.

 

[Unchained]

The only thing I regret about tankless water heater is not switching years ago

 

[Tricycle Rider]

You can install a tankless water heater fairly easily. @$2200 is likely normal parts and labor for your region. But if you have time ( and can deal with leak) start working the phone to get estimates. Many home repairs have a great deal to do with psychology and salesmanship. When contractors show up you need to sell the idea that what everyone is looking at is a nuance but not an emergency. The leak everyone is seeing is something you will deal with until boiler just gives up. The more you plant seeds of simplicity, through a little research, it knocks the edge of of aggressive time line and pricing from plumbing contractor. Removal of old, heavy, bulky water heater is not for amateurs or faint of heart. Everything, everyone needs to be in place, couple of Fabio sized guys to get it into a truck that day. The tankless is the size of a suitcase depending on the flow level you need, more gallons per minute, bigger suitcase. Your homework is key, what are your existing conditions, electric, gas and the rest is the existing space or cavity where water heater is currently. Gallons per minute is really the only concern. How much hot water you use..In my experience I was wary of having someone washing dishes and both showers going simultaneously. It's happened but rarely. Are we doing wash and the machine is filling, 2 people need to shower and dirty dishes in the sink all create a hot water demand emergency.. Nah.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Camplux-Camplux-4-22-GPM-102000-BTU-Indoor-Propane-Gas-Tankless-Water-Heater-with-Wall-Thimble/5015257183

And the diagram really is revealing... If you have gas you need to extend the pipe from old water heater, electric is self explanatory also and it's incoming cold water and outgoing hot water. I have used PEX pipe for a few years with zero issues.
If you talk to your possible plumber with some knowledge and buzz words everything can go smooth.
We want to install it here, obvious, and just do PEX extensions to get it up and running, we don't really need to spend time and money creating another broom closet. Tankless is a fifth of the size , just looks like a banana box size thing mounted on the wall.

I need to hire you, jmd, and scribers for all my heavy Fabio projects, payment will be beer!

 

[Tricycle Rider]

The only thing I regret about tankless water heater is not switching years ago

The leaking started last Friday and I just called Roto Rooter that day because I didn't feel like doing much research... I knew this type of leak wasn't an emergency at least (I put a bucket under where the water was dripping, wasn't much all things considered), so I waited till today for the plumber to come because I didn't want to pay weekend emergency rates!

Anyhoo, I asked the plumber about a tankless water heater and he said they work great with gas, but his company and even some others have had issues with the ones running on electricity, customers were less than satisfied. So I just went with the traditional boiler for now, but next time I live in a gas-powered house I'll get a tankless one!