Home Remodel: Do, Don'ts, Advice

[Thaleia]

Got rid of the creaks in my floor!But now seeing it is ridged significantly right in the centre of the room.(without redoing the entire floor) I take it carpet is the only finishing option?

[liv2ski]

I have a dip in a rentals floor and I was told carpet is it. Certainly sounds like the easiest option.

[Thaleia]

Been reading that LVP is an option for slight dips (but not ridges)

[riser4]

So my basement dehumidifier is definitely not doing its thing anymore. Unfortunately its not worth sinking time and money into. Im not going to buy the current iteration of it because this is the second one and im ready to try something else. We got five good years and two so so years out of it. The space is about 900 square ft, basically unfinished. There's paneling floating over the wall that has the vapor barrier and drain channel. All the water that comes in has a place to go and never sees light before getting pumped out. The temp usually never goes below about 60 and if we're down there, which is daily, we heat it. The square footage includes an unfinished basement section under the addition which is accessed through the opening that used to be the bulkhead There's a pottery studio in that space. There's a gas HE boiler and and a gas room heater down there.

I need a gravity drain dehumidifier that is durable as it will need to run fairly constantly for at least half the year. The pottery studio produces dust.

Ice got a screaming deal on an AprilAire E050. Its doable at that price but not at full price. Im also concerned that the filter is only a washable MERV-8 and not a replaceable 11 or better. My current one uses the latter. My budget is more inline with AlorAir, but the reviews regarding durability on those aren't great. Several of those have the option to upgrade to a replaceable MERV-10 filter from the stock MERV-1.

What brands of basement/crawlspace capable dehumidifiers do the job and last? It seams like they're all disposable these days. $600 +/- (AlorAir) for 3 years is better than $2500 (Sante Fe/Sani Dry) for 3-5 years. The equivalent SaniDry to the rebranded one i have now is about $2650. They're based on the Sante Fe "classic". They're not known for their longevity.

[XXX-er]

this place has the fake wood floors up which is in keeping with the local hood, so after seeing what hides in a carpet I would never live with carpet again

so I put cheapest vynal floor in my basement rental space the instaler told me he was doing the instal of anything like leveling compound or the flooring but the more shit I could ripout the cheaper it would be

so i took out all the old carpet & carpet nailers to the dump, moved appliances out ect so buddy had a completely clean and empty space to instal flooring in

which saved 1000$ off the prep of a 4000$ estimate on a 1000sq' basement definatley worth a little sweat

[muted reborn]

Anyone have advice on what poles to buy for sunshades on Amazon or locally? I see a bunch on Amazon, $200-500 each. I'm looking for 8 ft tall poles for a 12ft x 8ft sunshade. Needs to hold up to maybe a 20ish mph gust. Looks like most poles on Amazon have bent for someone - which I take with a grain of salt as they may live in a more exposed windy area than I do - and not all have metal thickness details - which Id like to know before buying. And reviews are not accurate so Im really unsure- for example this pole looks like its well reviewed until you see people are mainly reviewing the hardware pack and never bought the pole, so I cant rely on the reviews on Amazon to know what I'm getting:

https://www.amazon.com/ShadeMart-Sta...0CB789427&th=1

Should I just go to wasatch steel and buy a round or square hollow steel tube cut to size? How thick? Will it be smooth? Or rough as shit or will a sand and paint make it fine? How would I cap it....will it be a pain to set in concrete as it's so heavy... https://www.wasatchsteel.com/buy-steel/ Any other ideas besides a 4x4 wood post?

[Skistack]

Anyone have advice on what poles to buy for sunshades on Amazon or locally? I see a bunch on Amazon, $200-500 each. I'm looking for 8 ft tall poles for a 12ft x 8ft sunshade. Needs to hold up to maybe a 20ish mph gust. Looks like most poles on Amazon have bent for someone - which I take with a grain of salt as they may live in a more exposed windy area than I do - and not all have metal thickness details - which Id like to know before buying. And reviews are not accurate so Im really unsure- for example this pole looks like its well reviewed until you see people are mainly reviewing the hardware pack and never bought the pole, so I cant rely on the reviews on Amazon to know what I'm getting: https://www.amazon.com/ShadeMart-Sta...0CB789427&th=1 Should I just go to wasatch steel and buy a round or square hollow steel tube cut to size? How thick? Will it be smooth? Or rough as shit or will a sand and paint make it fine? How would I cap it....will it be a pain to set in concrete as it's so heavy... https://www.wasatchsteel.com/buy-steel/ Any other ideas besides a 4x4 wood post?

Steel is expensive. I went w/ 12ft 6x6 pressure-treated posts set in concrete for a 12 x 16 sunshade. Colorado front range, so the wind can blow pretty hard, no issues yet. 4x4's will probably warp and look like shit in a couple years.

[jackstraw]

You could go to an electrical supply or plumbing supply and buy galvanized pipe (grc). I would think 2" would be maybe too big, but you'd have to guess. Then Jerry rig the base, maybe bury in cement, and the rest of it with pipe clamps or drill holes and thru bolt to tie off to. It definitely could be done, but it wouldn't be stainless pipe. Galvy would work fine I'd think. A 10' piece of 2" should be $100-$120 or so.

[Thaleia]

Wtf is it with repeated shut off valve failures?Every time (I swear I'm at 7 for 7 at this point) I need to shut one off to service slash replace a faucet, toilet etc fixture the valve fails and needs immediate replacement. These aren't more than 20 years old. Is this at all normal?

[nickwm21]

Commodity angle stops are cheaply made - chrome plated mystery metal….

Combine that with the fact that it’s installed, turned, and not touched for a decade…

I bet if you exercised it once a year you wouldn’t have failures. (Not that I or anyone does that…)


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[Thaleia]

When I had to replace the main valve for the whole house the hardware store bro said to turn them all off and on a few times a year which weve been doing. (yes, even the main valve failed. Which meant the city had to come out and turn off the outside valve in the lawn. I shit you not IT failed as well. That was.. quite the day. Tell me I'm not cursed)I guess they're just crap.Still kinda blows my mind though the bad luck I have with these.