Home Remodel: Do, Don'ts, Advice

[::: :::]

I’ve also seen people gluing rigid foam into joist bays w/ the joint sealing foam then lining the perimeter with the joint sealing foam to finish ea bay

[toast2266]

That reinforces my desire for a tracksaw
new sauna could be the right project to do it

I started a thread in tech talk a little while back asking about table saws. The maggot brain trust talked me into a track saw instead. They were 100% right - it's awesome. I use it all the time (with the caveat that I also have a small table saw that I also use all the time).

I got the makita and two 55" tracks that can be joined. Works great.

[wendigo]

+1 on the track saw, also have the makita as well as a small table saw.
have built a sauna, and it would have sucked without the table saw.
track saw is a star when cutting sheet goods, or odd angles, currently using it while replacing some boat decking.

[old goat]

Table saw would be my first choice for furniture making. It's a more versatile tool. Miter saw is number two. A track saw is a nice luxury if you're making a lot of plywood boxes and for construction.

[dunfree]

Table saws are the only tool for casework, but for other types of furniture and other work other saws might be useful (the old school tool for planking/decks is a ship saw, a bandsaw where the table stays flat but the whole blade assembly moves), and if you don’t have a huge workspace a track saw makes cutting down sheet goods much easier, even if it is slower.

multitools are fantastic, and the difference in vibration reduction between the shit ones and the good ones (fein) is worth the money.

[old goat]

Table saws are the only tool for casework, but for other types of furniture and other work other saws might be useful (the old school tool for planking/decks is a ship saw, a bandsaw where the table stays flat but the whole blade assembly moves), and if you don’t have a huge workspace a track saw makes cutting down sheet goods much easier, even if it is slower.

multitools are fantastic, and the difference in vibration reduction between the shit ones and the good ones (fein) is worth the money.

I've also heard the opinion that a bandsaw is better than a table saw because it can ripa crooked board, which a table saw can't, I disagree because I do a lot of joints on the table saw. In the end it comes down to what kind of work you are doing, what tools you already have, and how the various tools complement each other. Also how old and arthritic you are. I used to do a lot more sawing, jointing, and planing by hand than I do know.

[plugboots]

This isn’t exactly the right thread, but maybe I should start a new thread with “previous owner’s comedic fuck ups”. We moved into a new place and I’m basically just fixing shit.
This one’s really good because you can see the outline of the crawlspace right next to where they drilled the hole.

Also retrofitting in coaxial cable and phone lines. What the fuck ?

[mattig]

Amen. I won't buy a house again without having enough money left over to fully gut and remodel the previous owner's fuck ups into oblivion.

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[old goat]

When we bought our house in Truckee all the outlets were wired with the polarity reversed. The cathedral ceiling was paneled with 1x6 redwood suspened between the rafters on narrow strips. They were cut too short so every once in a while a plank would fall out. Somehow no one was ever brained and nothing was broken. When we doubled the insulation between the rafters we rehung the planks on thicker ledgers.

[singlesline]

This isn’t exactly the right thread, but maybe I should start a new thread with “previous owner’s comedic fuck ups”. We moved into a new place and I’m basically just fixing shit.
This one’s really good because you can see the outline of the crawlspace right next to where they drilled the hole.

Also retrofitting in coaxial cable and phone lines. What the fuck ?

Possibly in the previous owners defense...that looks like the horrible shit that cable company installers love to do. Zero thought for aesthetics or anything else...just drill the most direct path and GTFO.

When I lived somewhere that had two competing cable companies, you'd see it get real bad in older multifamily buildings with rentals and limited oversight...new tenant would move in, call company B for service. Company B installer sees a line from Company A and doesn't want to trace it outside and patch into it so he just drills a new one. Next tenant moves in and calls Company A...but they also want a line in the bedroom (and the last line was company B anyways), so the A installer runs a new line on the other side of the room and then passes a split leg through the closet walls to get to the bedroom.

And the outsides of the building end up turning into rats nest of cables run in straight lines in every direction rather than being nicely packed together and routed to each unit. I lived in a 100 year old walkup in a college neighborhood and twice in 2 years we had a tech cut our line when trying to disconnect someone else's service...

Field tech that fixed it says he sees it a lot...the independent contractors that do installs/disconnects are paid by the visit and don't want to spend time figuring out how to trace the right line to the box and unplug it...so they just start guessing cutting cables until the cutoff customer is disconnected (and it works out ok 80% of the time since most of the cables hanging off the building are inactive).

[zion zig zag]

I'm doing a kitchen remodel and found one of the outlets in the dining room was run from knob and tube in the attic, to aluminum to speaker wire for the outlet. The speaker wire insulation was just crumbling off when touched. 100 year old house with signs of multiple homeowner done electrical stuff over the years. Turn off the breaker for a bedroom and half of that bedroom, a light in the basement and something random in the kitchen quits working type of thing.

I've spent 10k on electrical so far and they still have to come back and take out all of the knob and tube in the attic

[skaredshtles]

I'm doing a kitchen remodel and found one of the outlets in the dining room was run from knob and tube in the attic, to aluminum to speaker wire for the outlet. The speaker wire insulation was just crumbling off when touched. 100 year old house with signs of multiple homeowner done electrical stuff over the years. Turn off the breaker for a bedroom and half of that bedroom, a light in the basement and something random in the kitchen quits working type of thing.

I've spent 10k on electrical so far and they still have to come back and take out all of the knob and tube in the attic

"Buy a house," they said...

[zion zig zag]

"Buy a house," they said...

"I'm going to redo this vanity in the bathroom", my wife said. Next thing I know, half the upstairs is down to studs and all of my stuff is in a pod in the driveway.

[nickwm21]

Possibly in the previous owners defense...that looks like the horrible shit that cable company installers love to do. Zero thought for aesthetics or anything else...just drill the most direct path and GTFO.

When I lived somewhere that had two competing cable companies, you'd see it get real bad in older multifamily buildings with rentals and limited oversight...new tenant would move in, call company B for service. Company B installer sees a line from Company A and doesn't want to trace it outside and patch into it so he just drills a new one. Next tenant moves in and calls Company A...but they also want a line in the bedroom (and the last line was company B anyways), so the A installer runs a new line on the other side of the room and then passes a split leg through the closet walls to get to the bedroom.

And the outsides of the building end up turning into rats nest of cables run in straight lines in every direction rather than being nicely packed together and routed to each unit. I lived in a 100 year old walkup in a college neighborhood and twice in 2 years we had a tech cut our line when trying to disconnect someone else's service...

Field tech that fixed it says he sees it a lot...the independent contractors that do installs/disconnects are paid by the visit and don't want to spend time figuring out how to trace the right line to the box and unplug it...so they just start guessing cutting cables until the cutoff customer is disconnected (and it works out ok 80% of the time since most of the cables hanging off the building are inactive).

I had 5 overhead cables coming off the power pole in the alley behind the house; then routed chaotically; three dead (coax, coax, phone) and two live (power and fiber)… I ripped out all the dead coax and phone and I may or may not have gotten a ladder out and chopped it off the power pole…. Now I only have the power supply and fiber coming in overhead through my backyard and cleanly to the house… Makes me happy.


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[plugboots]

I had 5 overhead cables coming off the power pole in the alley behind the house; then routed chaotically; three dead (coax, coax, phone) and two live (power and fiber)… I ripped out all the dead coax and phone and I may or may not have gotten a ladder out and chopped it off the power pole…. Now I only have the power supply and fiber coming in overhead through my backyard and cleanly to the house… Makes me happy.


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This. Makes me happy.
I just can’t look at that shit. It kind of makes me a little bit crazy.
Today’s first project is to crawl in the crawlspace, (always a fun time), and figure out where the wires from the volume control for the ceiling speakers go. I think it’ll be cool to have sound throughout the house if I could actually figure out how to connect it.
The one good thing is, I was at a party last night, and I was standing kind of in a circle with a bunch of couples just laughing, and I was telling these stories and it was a riot, because all the men kind of were looking at their shoes, just shaking their heads.

[dan_pdx]

"Buy a house," they said...

I don't know why people think monster trucks and Euro sleds are the way to flex your wealth, my house is 20x the money pit of any vehicle I've ever owned. Granted, those vehicles have been Subarus, but still

[skaredshtles]

"I'm going to redo this vanity in the bathroom", my wife said. Next thing I know, half the upstairs is down to studs and all of my stuff is in a pod in the driveway.

"Find a woman and get married to her," they said...

[skaredshtles]

I don't know why people think monster trucks and Euro sleds are the way to flex your wealth, my house is 20x the money pit of any vehicle I've ever owned. Granted, those vehicles have been Subarus, but still

[plugboots]

Update.
I have found where the speaker wires come out of the wall.

I also have this distribution device to connect the speakers to, then connect the device to something.

All I want to do is play music from my phone. What should I connect this to? I’ve looked at cheap receivers with Bluetooth like a Sony STR-DH190, Sonos thing for $699, and Bluesound expensive node. There are also expensive receivers that will take the 3 pairs of speakers directly. Why shouldn’t I just buy the cheap Sony, or…?

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

I'm going to make a list of everything I've done to the hippie house. Might take a few days..

[jm2e]

Update.
I have found where the speaker wires come out of the wall.

I also have this distribution device to connect the speakers to, then connect the device to something.

All I want to do is play music from my phone. What should I connect this to? I’ve looked at cheap receivers with Bluetooth like a Sony STR-DH190, Sonos thing for $699, and Bluesound expensive node. There are also expensive receivers that will take the 3 pairs of speakers directly. Why shouldn’t I just buy the cheap Sony, or…?

Fuck wires. Get a few Apple Home Pods. Big one for living room. Small ones for bedrooms and office. You never want the music playing everywhere. You never want to trudge all the way back to the “stereo” to select speakers.


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[jackattack]

Update.
I have found where the speaker wires come out of the wall.

I also have this distribution device to connect the speakers to, then connect the device to something.

All I want to do is play music from my phone. What should I connect this to? I’ve looked at cheap receivers with Bluetooth like a Sony STR-DH190, Sonos thing for $699, and Bluesound expensive node. There are also expensive receivers that will take the 3 pairs of speakers directly. Why shouldn’t I just buy the cheap Sony, or…?

We chose Sonos. I’ve been happy with everything but their roam line I terms of hardware. They had some missteps with a software/app update that bricked some of their devices which wasn’t great but I think it’s still a decent product.

I would like to get one of their amps or nodes for an external wired system in due time but I’m happy with the standalone speakers for now.

[nickwm21]

Update.
I have found where the speaker wires come out of the wall.

I also have this distribution device to connect the speakers to, then connect the device to something.

All I want to do is play music from my phone. What should I connect this to? I’ve looked at cheap receivers with Bluetooth like a Sony STR-DH190, Sonos thing for $699, and Bluesound expensive node. There are also expensive receivers that will take the 3 pairs of speakers directly. Why shouldn’t I just buy the cheap Sony, or…?

You don’t necessarily want a Bluetooth device; you want something you can “cast” music to. You want the device itself streaming the content…

Google used to make a little legendary $30 streaming puck called a “chromecast audio”. You can buy a used one on eBay for like $80…
I use one plus a mini amp for my setup.

WiiM is a Sonos / Chromecast Audio alternative worth looking into.

Sonos is extremely overpriced IMO (that $700 device is essentially a $30 streaming device + an $100 amp….) However, everyone that has a setup seems to love it….


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[jackattack]

With Sonos you’re paying for the software in advance with the hardware purchase. It’s the opposite of the subscription tech model and it isn’t cheap but I don’t think there’s a better iot audio solution.

[climberevan]

I love wires for audio/video. My home system is a big Denon receiver running 3x huge speakers that I built (+in wall rears & ceiling Atmos). The subwoofers are 2x infinite baffle modules, each with 2x 18" drivers running off of a 3000W amp that lives in the crawl space bc its fans are so loud. There's a projector hanging from the ceiling for video, which of course has like a 40' HDMI cable going to it.

For streaming we use a Chromecast for audio, controlled by various tablets and phones. Many apps can stream directly to it now. Spotify connects directly to the receiver and skips the Chromecast altogether. For video we use an Nvidia Shield, which allows side-loading of apps that do cool things like allow YouTube streaming with zero ads.

People love Sonos for the same reason they love Apple products: reliable mediocrity with minimal knowledge required. But for good sound & video, there is still no replacement for displacement.