The DIY thread

[Tricycle Rider]

Time to pick the cherries. This is the first time it’s bear fruit. I knew it was cherry but didn’t know what. It’s right off the deck so I’m sure I was spitting pits there that took hold. It’s a nice dark sweet cherry and I don’t know what to do with them all! My gut can’t take anymore!

I cut some lower limbs off to promote growth upward (to reach the deck). That only yielded 6 quarts! I pitted for 2 hours. Making pies now. Cutting the limbs into bits for smoking meats.

Cherries, yummi! Such a nice summer fruit...

I grow tomatoes each year as well as some ornamentals like sunflowers, zinnias, and a wildflower mix that attracts hummingbirds and bees... summer is not may fave season because of the heat, but I enjoy and look forward to my plants blossoming.

 

[jmdirt]

I can definitely live without temps over 90, but I love all of the daylight this time of year!

 

[scribers]

Plumbing with scribes :

The bathroom sink is slow draining. Not one of my favorite diy things to do. But it had to be done. First step is to remove and clean the trap. Loosened and dumped it in the bucket. I gagged from the smell! Ran it outside and hosed it down. Decided the tailpipe at the basin was also clogged. It was easier to take the whole sink outside. I pressure washed the whole damn thing! Just put it back. Testing fittings now for leaks. Should be good to go. I don’t want to put any money into this thing if I can help it. Going to rip this whole thing out and expand the kitchen into it. Put a new powder room in my planned diy extension.

 

[Tim Cahill]

It's been a great day for Cycling-based DIY.

 

[scribers]

Noticed one more detail. There’s gaps in the water lines through the cabinets. Put some expanding foam in there. Rodents hate it.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Plumbing with scribes :

The bathroom sink is slow draining. Not one of my favorite diy things to do. But it had to be done. First step is to remove and clean the trap. Loosened and dumped it in the bucket. I gagged from the smell! Ran it outside and hosed it down. Decided the tailpipe at the basin was also clogged. It was easier to take the whole sink outside. I pressure washed the whole damn thing! Just put it back. Testing fittings now for leaks. Should be good to go. I don’t want to put any money into this thing if I can help it. Going to rip this whole thing out and expand the kitchen into it. Put a new powder room in my planned diy extension.

Adventures in plumbing repair aren't my fave either because they can be pretty icky, but plumbers charge a small fortune. So good job getting rid of the smelly muck yourself!

 

[scribers]

Today’s project is to at long last, remove a boarded up broken window in the cellar. Some snapper head broke it eons ago and now is the time to fix it. With window opening plastic’ed up, I can set about ordering a replacement. I carefully removed the glass molding and the busted insulated pane from the opening. Will clean it out the frame and set everything aside for the glorious day the room is bathed in extra light. This will be the home gym, so getting the room dialed in is essential.

 

[Unchained]

Today’s project is to at long last, remove a boarded up broken window in the cellar. Some snapper head broke it eons ago and now is the time to fix it. With window opening plastic’ed up, I can set about ordering a replacement. I carefully removed the glass molding and the busted insulated pane from the opening. Will clean it out the frame and set everything aside for the glorious day the room is bathed in extra light. This will be the home gym, so getting the room dialed in is essential.

Home gyms are an excellent place to store stuff.. And I have repurposed everything many times.. Treadmills are absolutely awesome for hanging clothes to dry!! And that massive big turkey pan is easy to find sitting on bench press since day after Thanksgiving!! And small workout weights are great ballast for windy days that might blow party sun shade.. Home gyms are not just for working out!!!
My elliptical trainer has been used more by BBQ and party visitors than I have time on it!!

 

[scribers]

electrical with scribes:

i have TWO ceiling fans that were given to me for free. I think the other folks think they are too small for their rooms, but they fit these two bedrooms quite well. I am not entirely happy with them because of the way they are engineered. To prevent wobble, you have to have solid blocking and the hanging mechanism needs to be tight to it. These sort of screw from the canopy edge and actually require the hanger to be a little lower than ceiling box. So there is a natural flex with this arrangement.

Be that as it may, they are free. I took out the light in the one room and old broken fan (blade broke off and nearly killed me!). Hung them both. Each has a similar slight wobble, but should be OK. The room that had the light in it is something of an office, so some air movement is quite pleasant!

 

[Unchained]

electrical with scribes:

i have TWO ceiling fans that were given to me for free. I think the other folks think they are too small for their rooms, but they fit these two bedrooms quite well. I am not entirely happy with them because of the way they are engineered. To prevent wobble, you have to have solid blocking and the hanging mechanism needs to be tight to it. These sort of screw from the canopy edge and actually require the hanger to be a little lower than ceiling box. So there is a natural flex with this arrangement.

Be that as it may, they are free. I took out the light in the one room and old broken fan (blade broke off and nearly killed me!). Hung them both. Each has a similar slight wobble, but should be OK. The room that had the light in it is something of an office, so some air movement is quite pleasant!

You need to be careful and pay attention to the way the existing box is mounted to the stud..usually it's a double gang box that was used for the fixture you removed. It's maybe a real pain but that little wobble can over time cause box to come loose. If the rooms where you are mounting the fans in have attic access, again it's pain in the butt but you can use a small piece of 2x4 to make additional support for the box..
The preferred technique involves @2 people ( wife, friend, neighbor, kid) you go into the attic with tape measure, screws, drill, measure the distance between studs, supposed to be standard, seldom is exactly.. You yell down the measurement, they make the cut on lumber, hand it up, so you don't go up and down from the attic..if you can't do that.. There are normally additional holes in metal boxes and you can use a fender washer and screw(s) if your house was constructed using plastic boxes.The hook tether device with most fans is great, really effective but it's only as strong as the box and fasteners holding it in place.. Unfortunately ceiling fans falling off is a thing.
Replacement blade for the broken item also minor issue, if replacement or repaired blade is different material and weight, even a little will cause a wobble to some degree. If you have a saw, sandpaper, couple of common tools you can use an existing blade as a pattern, depending on your skill level, @30 minutes to make replacement blades, @5 additional minutes to spray paint them.. Often home centers have replacement blades cheap.(@$20 bucks )

 

[scribers]

That blade that broke and flew was integrated into the fan. The rest of them snapped right out when I consolidated into the garbage

 

[scribers]

The box had very little flexion. I think the problem is the design of the fan. The.hanger ball seats into the canopy and the canopy screws into the hanging bar. Awful design. I’ll wait until it comes crashing down before messing with them more. But I’ll have to replace one day for sure. Junk

 

[Unchained]

I bought a big trailer a few years ago, I am in the process of trying to fix and restore it.. Rather than say that I am really, really lazy, instead I will say that I am going slowly, taking great care!! There are multiple plastic skylights that open for ventilation.. Like all things RV everything is expensive, poorly designed and overall cheap feeling.. I bought the trailer from a vet that went into hospice, despite the age of the trailer it's in good shape.. I started looking for new skylights that would fit..@$240 bucks per, cheesy.. And I need 4!! .
So what I really didn't like was yellowed plastic, looks terrible and has that someone smoked one million packs of cigarette appearance..so I went on YouTube and found multiple people fixing exactly what I am troubled with.. And the solution is an inexpensive hair care product!! Salon Care 40 is a white creamy liquid that from reading is used to make your hair have more volume, whatever that means.. You wash the plastic parts, apply some of the liquid and put it in a trash bag, need to wait a day, and depending on results apply more hair liquid. It works really well.. Fairly easy.. Just takes a couple of days for best results. Weird that it looks, smells and feels like hair conditioner that millions use daily.. This stuff burns the skin off your hands!! Feels like battery acid is on your skin..I read the instructions and it says, use gloves.. So sure I am getting restored white plastic parts.. Cool but the whole time I am thinking about some woman in a beauty salon getting this stuff applied to her head voluntarily.. Paying for it!! It's like a liquid torture device!!

 

[Tricycle Rider]

I bought a big trailer a few years ago, I am in the process of trying to fix and restore it.. Rather than say that I am really, really lazy, instead I will say that I am going slowly, taking great care!! There are multiple plastic skylights that open for ventilation.. Like all things RV everything is expensive, poorly designed and overall cheap feeling.. I bought the trailer from a vet that went into hospice, despite the age of the trailer it's in good shape.. I started looking for new skylights that would fit..@$240 bucks per, cheesy.. And I need 4!! .
So what I really didn't like was yellowed plastic, looks terrible and has that someone smoked one million packs of cigarette appearance..so I went on YouTube and found multiple people fixing exactly what I am troubled with.. And the solution is an inexpensive hair care product!! Salon Care 40 is a white creamy liquid that from reading is used to make your hair have more volume, whatever that means.. You wash the plastic parts, apply some of the liquid and put it in a trash bag, need to wait a day, and depending on results apply more hair liquid. It works really well.. Fairly easy.. Just takes a couple of days for best results. Weird that it looks, smells and feels like hair conditioner that millions use daily.. This stuff burns the skin off your hands!! Feels like battery acid is on your skin..I read the instructions and it says, use gloves.. So sure I am getting restored white plastic parts.. Cool but the whole time I am thinking about some woman in a beauty salon getting this stuff applied to her head voluntarily.. Paying for it!! It's like a liquid torture device!!

I had to google this product because I had never heard of it, it's basically hydrogen peroxide you would use to lighten or bleach your hair, not to merely condition it. And yes, you leave that shite on for too long and it most definitely will burn your skin!

I found it on Amazon and judging by consumer reviews many people use it for anywhere from bleaching some stained china and sneakers to using it precisely how you did - to bleach the stain out of old, clear plastics! Some actually use it on their hair...

Anyhoo, good job using this product for how it was intended!

 

[jmdirt]

My DIY stretched out sooo much longer than I planned, but maybe I'm finished. I had a car crash a few weeks ago that stalled things out a bit too (discomfort from the crash, dealing with insurance, vehicle shopping...). Also working, riding, and watching the TdF didn't help!

 

[jmdirt]

Plumbing with scribes :

The bathroom sink is slow draining. Not one of my favorite diy things to do. But it had to be done. First step is to remove and clean the trap. Loosened and dumped it in the bucket. I gagged from the smell! Ran it outside and hosed it down. Decided the tailpipe at the basin was also clogged. It was easier to take the whole sink outside. I pressure washed the whole damn thing! Just put it back. Testing fittings now for leaks. Should be good to go. I don’t want to put any money into this thing if I can help it. Going to rip this whole thing out and expand the kitchen into it. Put a new powder room in my planned diy extension.

Use some type of lube to reassemble plastic plumbing. I've had as good a luck with petroleum jelly from the dollar store ($1.25 store) as I have with over priced plumbers lubes. Sometimes plumber's putty can help with a connection that you just can't get tight though (like the tailpiece to trap joint).

 

[jmdirt]

electrical with scribes:

i have TWO ceiling fans that were given to me for free. I think the other folks think they are too small for their rooms, but they fit these two bedrooms quite well. I am not entirely happy with them because of the way they are engineered. To prevent wobble, you have to have solid blocking and the hanging mechanism needs to be tight to it. These sort of screw from the canopy edge and actually require the hanger to be a little lower than ceiling box. So there is a natural flex with this arrangement.

Be that as it may, they are free. I took out the light in the one room and old broken fan (blade broke off and nearly killed me!). Hung them both. Each has a similar slight wobble, but should be OK. The room that had the light in it is something of an office, so some air movement is quite pleasant!

I spent WAAAAY too long trying to get the 'swing' out of a ceiling fan at my mom's house, and nothing made it better so it swings a bit.

Funny/not funny: due to several neck surgeries, my mom couldn't reach the fan speed adjustment chain so I extended the chain by 10 inches. I warned my sister to watch out for the low hanging chain...she just about took out an eye.

 

[scribers]

My DIY stretched out sooo much longer than I planned, but maybe I'm finished. I had a car crash a few weeks ago that stalled things out a bit too (discomfort from the crash, dealing with insurance, vehicle shopping...). Also working, riding, and watching the TdF didn't help!

July is shot for me. lol

 

[Tricycle Rider]

I spent WAAAAY too long trying to get the 'swing' out of a ceiling fan at my mom's house, and nothing made it better so it swings a bit.

Funny/not funny: due to several neck surgeries, my mom couldn't reach the fan speed adjustment chain so I extended the chain by 10 inches. I warned my sister to watch out for the low hanging chain...she just about took out an eye.

You and scribers too? This appears to be a crisis of extreme proportions...

I recently had to change the switch on my ceiling fan because the chain broke inside the switch, so I couldn't just reattach the chain. The fan has always had a swing to it so I was afraid it would fall on my head while I was working on it, thankfully it didn't. But, I only turn the fan on on the lowest setting because anything higher and I'm afraid it'll fly off into outer space! 🤣

 

[scribers]

Statistically, the chance of a ceiling fan injuring you or worse are very very low.

But never zero !

Refrigerator crapped out. I turned to the miracle that is Facebook marketplace for a cheap suitable replacement. Viola! Might go ahead and replace this oven too.

 

[Unchained]

Gas BBQ has light gauge sheet metal grease deflector shields that protect the burner element from getting dripped on . they are bent on a 45 degree angle, they last less than @18 months and cost $29 dollars for 2 replacement pieces. I found a piece of scrap heavy stainless, made some cuts using angle grinder and used 2 concrete blocks to hold sheet metal and used the edge as a break. Banged it to 45 degrees angle.. Installed with some sheet metal screws. It looks like it will last for many years, likely outlast the grill itself... Total cost $6 bucks for grinder wheel.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Autumn is in full swing so I gave my maple tree a good, overdue pruning...

I had bought a wood chipper from Amazon because there were so many branches and leaves I needed to reduce, and the chipper works well on the smaller stuff. But the thicker branches I will have to cut into smaller pieces so I can stuff them into a yard debris recycling bin. So many branches and leaves it's taking several days to reduce them, but I have to get this done before it rains again because the chipper doesn't take well to wet stuff. The chipper has its limitations, but I like it.

On a sidenote I usually read customer reviews on Amazon before I buy stuff like a wood chipper, and you know you can't trust a review when the customer says he doesn't get why they included a hex key with the chipper, he found it pointless. Well, dumbshit, if you had bothered to read the instructions you'd know the hex key is for changing the blade! (Amazon reviews can be pretty sketchy, especially the ones that give products either glowing reviews or especially crappy reviews.)

 

[scribers]

Gas BBQ has light gauge sheet metal grease deflector shields that protect the burner element from getting dripped on . they are bent on a 45 degree angle, they last less than @18 months and cost $29 dollars for 2 replacement pieces. I found a piece of scrap heavy stainless, made some cuts using angle grinder and used 2 concrete blocks to hold sheet metal and used the edge as a break. Banged it to 45 degrees angle.. Installed with some sheet metal screws. It looks like it will last for many years, likely outlast the grill itself... Total cost $6 bucks for grinder wheel.

EVERY SINGLE GRILL IVE EVER OWNED THE IGNITION STOPS WORKING IMMEDIATELY! (yes, I know I am yelling)

 

[Unchained]

EVERY SINGLE GRILL IVE EVER OWNED THE IGNITION STOPS WORKING IMMEDIATELY! (yes, I know I am yelling)

Mine is self created problem, grease and junk dripped down on the ignition devices, I cleaned them and installed reliable cover so I am hoping that just the little spark will work reliably instead of using a lighter and burning my arm hair.

I had a Dukane grill before and it was great, gave it to my neighbor when I moved from Long Island.. I have feelings of regret multiple times per month.
I also grill in advance so I will make chicken for that day and put the excess in the refrigerator and heat it up, I like the taste better. And carne asada you can eat it for a few days it is reanimated by heating it up, burritos, tacos, tortas ready in a couple of minutes.
I don't look too much but what you get at Home Depot and Lowe's for @$3-600 bucks is junk, In true old guy form, BBQs aren't what they used to be, get off my yard.. Trick or treat is coming!

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Mine is self created problem, grease and junk dripped down on the ignition devices, I cleaned them and installed reliable cover so I am hoping that just the little spark will work reliably instead of using a lighter and burning my arm hair.

I had a Dukane grill before and it was great, gave it to my neighbor when I moved from Long Island.. I have feelings of regret multiple times per month.
I also grill in advance so I will make chicken for that day and put the excess in the refrigerator and heat it up, I like the taste better. And carne asada you can eat it for a few days it is reanimated by heating it up, burritos, tacos, tortas ready in a couple of minutes.
I don't look too much but what you get at Home Depot and Lowe's for @$3-600 bucks is junk, In true old guy form, BBQs aren't what they used to be, get off my yard.. Trick or treat is coming!

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! )